Shadowing Practice: Olivia Dean on 'Love Island', Being a Pisces, & 'The Art of Loving' | Ask Me Anything | ELLE - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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white trainers, If you know, you know.
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Hello, I'm Olivia Dean and today I'm letting Elle ask me anything.
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Here we go.
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Which song of yours best represents you as an artist?
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That's a toughie because I feel like all of my songs are quite different versions of my personality depending on the day.
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I'm gonna go with nice to each other.
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I feel like that one's a good all -rounder.
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She's fun, she's flirty, she's cheeky but her overall message is joy and positivity which I feel like is my vibe.
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What is your earliest memory of music?
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I was thinking about this the other day.
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I think my the piece of music was Pocahontas, Colors of the Wind.
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I would sit in front of the TV and watch it again and again, and again, and again, and again.
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And my mom and my granny would get sick of it.
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And I just loved it.
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I wanted to be Pocahontas.
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Love you, sis.
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Is there a song that almost didn't make the track list for The Art of Loving?
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Many songs did not make The Art of Loving.
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Some because I just felt like they didn't fit the story, but also some because they were rubbish.
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There's one in particular that almost was on the album and didn't make it, but I might put it out.
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I don't know.
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I still like it, so I'm not going to say the name of it or anything like that, just in case I do.
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Describe the moment when Man I Need hit number one.
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I was in America about to go on the Sabrina Carpenter tour, I was in the airport and we were having a pint and we said, "Cheers !" It was very surreal.
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I think the album went number one at the same time.
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And I was just like, either of these things happening separately would be crazy and felt like a very big life moment.
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What do you think is your most underrated song?
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I have a song called "What Am I Gonna Do On Sundays?" from an EP
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that I put out called "Growth." And I think it's before it's time, to be honest.
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I think it's a really...
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I think it's heartbreaking.
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It doesn't fit in my normal style, but I think it's a great song.
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Well, I guess if you've been listening to me for a long time, my first song was a song called 'Reason to Stay'.
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We haven't been playing that live recently, so I guess the day ones will remember that one. Or...
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white trainers, If you know, you know!
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I don't think I've ever...
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I don't know.
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Maybe I have played that live.
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Not for a very long time and I probably never will again, unfortunately.
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She's a cutie but she's old.
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Oh, it's too cold.
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Bye.
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I'm enjoying the throwaway.
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Describe your pre -show ritual.
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I wish it was something more exciting.
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I normally am having loads of fun and listening to Usher and Alicia Keys and sort of fab things like that.
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And then the music goes off and it's classical music
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and we kind of clear the room
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and I just do my vocal warm -ups and maybe have a sip of a beer if I'm feeling it that night.
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Otherwise a hot honey and lemon.
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And then just get out there, you know, and just have a good time.
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I wish it was something crazier, like all the, what do people do?
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All the green M &Ms or something.
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Which of your tour looks was your favorite?
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I've worn lots of amazing things on tour, and I'm so excited about all the new things I'm going to be wearing on tour.
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But I think whenever I look at photos back, I did a show in, was it Melbourne or Sydney?
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Sydney. In Sydney.
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I had a high rise on one of the legs and like feathers coming out.
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And I just think it was just gorgeous.
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I think fashion and my music and career right now feel very intrinsically linked.
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I love playing with clothes.
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I love working with Simone, my stylist.
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And I think it's kind of, aside from the music, my favourite part of the job.
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What's one song you wish you wrote?
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There are so many songs that I wish I wrote, but currently Midnight Sun's Zora Larsson.
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me.
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I think that answer speaks for itself.
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The best songs are.
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Name your dream collaborator.
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Stevie Wonder.
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Stevie Wonder would be really cool.
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Maybe just sort of standing next to Stevie Wonder while he's singing is enough of a collaboration for me.
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I would say probably him would be cool.
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What's the most Pisces thing about you?
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I think that Pisces have a real problem with boundaries.
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I'm like a sponge.
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So like anyone else's emotions around me, I'll have a bit of that.
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Yeah, you're feeling sad.
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I'm feeling it too.
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A bit of a emotional sponge.
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Let's see.
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Do you think at short school, compatibility matters in a relationship?
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No, I don't think it matters.
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Remember in school when you do like the love calculator, like you put your like birthday in and be like, oh we match.
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It doesn't matter.
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Doesn't matter guys.
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Describe your favorite memory from the Brit School.
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That time in my life was so joyful and I met all my friends there.
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And I think it just really allowed me to blossom as an individual and kind of find myself.
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My favorite memory.
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I mean, I think just the shows we got to do, to be honest, like we would do these really big school shows in the music strand.
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guitar in my room and we did a show where everybody had to write their own song
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and then like put it together with a band
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and I played timbalay and it was just I remember thinking like wow I'm in the music industry.
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When was the last time you were starstruck yesterday met Oprah Winfrey guys.
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Yesterday I went to the Chanel show and she came up to me
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and I was like oh my god it's Oprah
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and I don't really remember what I said I think I kind of blacked out
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but there is a video of it better than Oprah.
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So love you, girl.
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What's a fashion trend you will never take part in?
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Listen, I like the tabby shoe, okay?
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I've got some tabbies.
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I can do two toes separated.
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I can't do all five.
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I can't do all five.
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I'm not going to be doing those shoes.
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They look really good on some people.
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Me, I look a bit aquatic or some sort of like little animal.
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So not that for me personally.
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What is your go to comfort show?
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At the moment, I'm watching Narcos.
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Narcos?
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I don't know if I'm supposed to say it with a Spanish accent.
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Narcos.
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I'm really enjoying it.
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I never saw it when it came out and I love kind of like thrilling shows like that.
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at the moment, so it's going well for me with Narcos right now.
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- Do you watch any reality TV?
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- I do watch reality TV.
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I just watched "Love Island All Stars" and oh my God, what amazing television that was.
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Thank you, everybody involved for that.
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It really got me through the last couple months, and I loved it.
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No notes, can't wait for the next season.
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Maya Jama, I love you.
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- What does your dream acting role look like?
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- Yeah, I think I would really like to be in a movie A movie musical, so I can sort of sing and like lean less on the actual acting
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because that is a real actual skill that people professionally do.
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Or a silent movie.
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Do you know what I mean?
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So I could just look really fabulous and like wear some fabulous clothes to some like gorgeous kind of Italian music, but I'm not talking.
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That's the last question.
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What is a hill you die on?
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Again, I have many of these, but will be here all day.
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So I'm just gonna stick to one that I feel the most strongly about, which is that a carbonara should not have any cream in it.
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If you go to a restaurant and you look at the carbonara and you see under that cream, abort.
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Don't even bother to order it.
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It's not gonna be right.
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And there should never, be peas in a carbonara, okay?
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Thanks so much for watching and you can check out my Elle cover, which is out now.
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you
Why practice speaking with this video?
In the video featuring Olivia Dean, she shares insightful anecdotes about her music journey, offering an excellent opportunity for English learners to enhance their speaking skills through shadowing. By mimicking her speech patterns and intonations, learners can gain confidence in their conversational English. The interactive format of an 'Ask Me Anything' session allows viewers to engage with informal language and expressions, making it a perfect choice for IELTS speaking practice. Engaging with real-life conversations helps learners to apply vocabulary and grammar in context, promoting better retention and fluidity in speech.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In Olivia's dialogue, several grammatical structures and expressions stand out that can be valuable for learners:
- Descriptive Adjectives: Olivia uses descriptive adjectives extensively, such as “fun,” “flirty,” and “cheeky,” to convey her personality. Practicing these types of adjectives can help learners express emotions and traits more vividly.
- Conditional Clauses: Phrases like “if I'm feeling it that night” demonstrate the use of conditional sentences. This structure is useful in conversation for expressing possibilities and hypotheticals.
- Colloquial Language: Expressions like “cheers!” and “too cold, bye” provide insight into casual English. Incorporating such colloquialisms into speech can enhance authenticity and relatability in conversations.
- Reference to Personal Experience: Olivia mentions specific memories and emotional responses, such as “my earliest memory of music.” This approach encourages learners to share personal stories, enriching their speaking practice through storytelling.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As learners engage with Olivia's speech, some pronunciation challenges may arise:
- Word Stress: Words like “beautiful” and “heartbreaking” can often be mispronounced due to their syllable emphasis. Observing the natural stress patterns in her pronunciation helps learners master these tricky words.
- Contractions: Olivia uses contractions like “I'd” and “she's” frequently. Mastery of these contractions is essential for fluent speech, as they are often used in casual conversation.
- Linking Sounds: Observing how Olivia smoothly connects words (e.g., “what am I gonna do”) can improve learners' fluency. Practicing these links will help learners sound more natural in their speech.
Utilizing a shadowing site or app can facilitate practice with these elements. Whether through shadow speech or targeted practice, learners will find the insights from this video supportive for enhancing their speaking abilities.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.