Shadowing Practice: ONE HOUR ENGLISH LESSON | Understand Native Speakers - Learn English Speaking with Video

Welcome to this one hour English lesson to help you improve your listening skills.

Here's my promise to you.

By the end of this lesson, you're going to feel a lot more confident understanding native English speakers on TV,

movies, YouTube, and everywhere outside of the classroom.

Welcome back to J4s English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

Here's how this lesson will work.

I'm going to say a sentence and you need to write down exactly what you hear in the comments.

And I'm going to say each sentence three times.

Let's get started.

They've been bickering all day.

Did you get this one?

I said they've been bickering all day.

Let's talk about the pronunciation changes.

Notice I have they've.

This is a contraction.

They have they've they've they've native speakers use contractions in spoken English almost 100 % of the time.

So you need to be very, very comfortable hearing the contraction, because it affects the grammar of the sentence,

you need to have, they have been bickering, because that shows the grammar and the grammar is the present perfect continuous.

So if you didn't have that, it would be grammatically incorrect.

They've been bickering all day.

Now notice I said been been a very unstressed been.

This is how we pronounce the past participle of the verb be been in American English.

I don't speak British English, but I believe in British English, they pronounce it more stressed been.

But in American English, we don't do that.

We just say been been, they've been, they've been bickering all day.

Now to understand fast English outside of the classroom, you need to hear the individual words.

But you also have to understand the meaning of the words.

So let's talk about the verb to bicker.

This is when you argue about things that are not important.

The concept of bickering is extremely common and everyone does it.

And we usually do with people we spend the most time with our family, our spouses, husbands and wives,

boyfriends, girlfriends, our close friends, are co workers that we spend a lot of time with.

Anytime you spend a lot of time with someone, it's common that you'll bicker.

But it's different from fighting because when you're fighting with someone, usually there's a strong emotion involved.

But when you bicker, you don't really have that emotion.

It's less serious because the things you're arguing about fighting about are not actually important.

Like I said, this can be very common in the workplace, when you spend a lot of time with your co workers.

So maybe you're in a meeting and you've been discussing an issue for hours with your co workers,

but people start bickering, they start arguing about things that aren't important.

You could say, we didn't get anything done today because we bickered all meeting.

Let's try this again with another listening exercise.

I'll say it three times.

That street's pretty sketchy.

How'd you do with this one?

I said that streets pretty sketchy.

Did you hear that streets the s?

Well, that is the verb to be in a contraction form.

The street is the streets.

The streets pretty sketchy.

Again, it's extremely important that you hear these contractions for grammar, because we need the verb to be grammatically.

The sentence would sound very awkward if you didn't have it because it would be grammatically incorrect.

That street's pretty sketchy.

Sketchy Let's talk about to be sketchy.

That street is our verb to be to be sketchy.

This is used to say that something is not completely safe.

So by saying that streets pretty sketchy, I'm saying that street doesn't look completely safe.

I don't think that street is safe.

So I'm saying we shouldn't go down that street, we should avoid that street.

Now why would I say this street is sketchy?

This is an adjective that native speakers use a lot.

If I say a street's sketchy, it's most likely because it's dark or lacks lighting.

There aren't a lot of people around, there's broken glass or broken windows,

or there are a lot of abandoned buildings on that street.

It could be all of those reasons

or it could be just one of those reasons for me to say that street doesn't look safe.

That street is pretty sketchy.

I could say let's take another street.

This one looks sketchy.

So I can also use the verb look, look, sketchy, but I have to conjugate it.

This street looks sketchy.

Or let's say your friend or your husband or your wife came to you and said, Hey, I heard this amazing business proposal today.

All we need to do is invest $1 ,000.

And we're guaranteed $100 ,000.

And you could say That sounds sketchy.

So notice here the verb is to sound sketchy.

And you're saying the idea, the plan, the business proposal doesn't sound completely safe.

We also use this to describe people.

He's a sketchy guy, or he's sketchy, she's sketchy.

In this case, you're saying the person isn't safe, which means you can't trust the person.

So with people, it's a way of saying, I don't think I can trust him.

She's sketchy.

He's sketchy.

Seems a little sketchy.

You're kind of sketchy.

Laundry to some sketchy laundromat?

Let's try another listening exercise.

I'll say it three times.

You must have seen it.

Did you get this one?

You must have seen it.

But notice, I didn't actually say have, I reduced that entirely to just ah,

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you must have, you must have.

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I could also reduce it to more of an of sound, which is very commonly done by native speakers you must have,

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you must have, you must have seen it.

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Notice for seen it, I use that n, that n sound to connect the two words together.

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Seen it, seen it, seen it.

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So you hear a n in front of it.

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It sounds like knit.

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But if you say those two words together, it blends together.

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Seen it, seen it, You must have seen it.

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Now let's talk about the grammar of this must is a modal verb.

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And grammatically, you need must plus base verb, which is the verb without to.

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So grammatically, you need must have in written English,

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you must use must have seen it, because that's grammatically correct.

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But in spoken English, it will sound like must -uh or must -of.

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But in written English, if you wrote you must -uh or of, it would be incorrect grammatically.

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So just remember what I'm explaining is for spoken English.

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You must have seen it 200 times.

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You must have seen it too.

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You must have seen them here.

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Let's try this one more time.

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I'll say it three times.

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What's the ETA?

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What's the ETA?

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What's the ETA?

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I said, what's the ETA?

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Of course, we have what's, that's a contraction of what is, what's, what's the.

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Now, because ETA, it begins with a vowel sound E,

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I could say either the or the because we do a more stressed the when the next word starts in a vowel.

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But this isn't a rule that native speakers follow all the time.

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But if I did a more stressed E in the,

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it would really blend together with ETA, the TA.

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And it would almost sound like it's just one word,

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the TA, because I wouldn't really repeat the E on ETA, the TA.

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I believe in my example when I did the listening test, I think the first time I did it more of the ETA.

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And the second time I did it more of the ETA and the sounds blended together.

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Let's listen to that again and see what I did.

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What's the ETA?

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What's the ETA?

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What's the ETA?

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Now, ultimately, either way that you pronounce it, the ETA or the ETA is fine.

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Now, you're probably wondering, well, what's ETA?

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This stands for estimated time of arrival.

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So your ETA, the ETA,

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or someone, something's ETA is the estimated time of arrival for that someone or something when it's expected to arrive.

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So let's say we're talking about a project

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and your boss wants to know when this project will arrive in his inbox or on his desk.

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He could say, what's the ETA?

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And he could just say the if it's obvious you're talking about the project.

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He could say what's your ETA because you're the one submitting the project.

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Or he could say what's the projects ETA.

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So the ETA belongs to the project.

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So you need that possessive.

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What's the projects ETA.

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And they all have the same meaning.

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We commonly use this with friends or co workers, family members to let them know when we're going to arrive.

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So let's say you were supposed to be at your family's house at seven o 'clock for dinner,

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but you're running late, you could send them a text message and say running late,

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Google says my ETA is 642 or 15 minutes.

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Now Google says because when you put something in a GPS, Google will tell you or whatever you use,

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Google will tell you when you're expected to arrive.

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That's your ETA.

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What's their ETA?

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Okay, ETA.

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ETA, 11 minutes.

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Now let's do an imitation exercise so you can practice your pronunciation as well.

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So I'm going to say each sentence again

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and then I want you to repeat the sentence out loud and try to imitate my pronunciation as closely as possible.

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And I'll say each sentence three times.

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Let's do that right now.

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They've been bickering all day.

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They've been bickering all day.

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They've been bickering all day. That street's pretty sketchy.

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You must have seen it.

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You must have seen it.

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What's the ETA?

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What's the ETA?

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What's the ETA?

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That's out of our budget.

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That's out of our budget.

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That's out of our budget.

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Did you get this one?

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I said, That's out of our budget.

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Let's talk about the pronunciation changes.

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Notice that's.

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This is a contraction of that is, that's.

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Now we have out of.

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We can combine these two sounds together and it will sound like out of, out of.

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That's out of our budget, are, are.

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Notice the word is our because it's a possessive our budget, the budget belongs to us.

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But I pronounce it just as a very unstressed are, are our budget, our budget.

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But based on the context, it's obvious that it's not the verb to be are and it is in fact,

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our the possessive that's out of our budget.

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Do you know what this means?

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The expression to be the verb to be that is to be out of one's budget.

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So we need a possessive here one's budget.

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That's another way of simply saying that something is too expensive.

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The cost exceeds what you're either willing to pay or what you're able to pay.

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Now, of course, you have a budget for your household.

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And you can often use the expression, oh, sorry, that's out of our budget to say that you're not willing or able to pay for that item.

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But there's a budget in the workplace, for example, as well.

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So let's say you wanted a standing desk.

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So a standing desk is a desk that you're able to raise

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so you can work at it standing up because it's more comfortable and it's better for you.

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So you ask your boss, can you buy me a standing desk?

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But your boss says no. And he might say, Oh, sorry, that's out of our budget.

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So this doesn't necessarily mean the company doesn't have the money to buy you a standing desk,

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but they're unwilling to buy you a standing desk.

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They don't want to spend the money.

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So remember, it can be unable because you don't have the money

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or unwilling you have the money but you don't want to spend it on that specific item.

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Sorry, that's out of our budget.

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I found one for sale, but it's out of my budget.

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Do you see a budget?

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I don't see budget.

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Let's try this again with another listening exercise.

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I'll say it three times.

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Money is no object.

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Money is no object.

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Money is no object.

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This one was easy, right?

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I said money is no object.

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Notice at the beginning here money is money is this is a contraction money's money's no object.

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Now it's important that you hear these contractions because they're necessary for grammar because the expression is to be no object.

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Money is no object.

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If you don't hear that contraction, then the sentence won't make sense grammatically.

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This is an expression that means the opposite of what we just learned.

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If you say money is no object, it means that the cost of something is not a concern or a limitation.

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So basically, you're saying I'm willing to pay any price for this specific item.

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It's common to use this in specific situations.

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Maybe it's your husband or your wife, your best friend, your mother's birthday, and it's a very special birthday.

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So on this specific occasion for planning that special someone's birthday, money's no object.

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So you might say, Can you recommend somewhere special for my husband's birthday?

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Now when someone recommends something, of course, they're going to think about the price.

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So you can tell the person and money is no object.

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So they know that they can recommend the most expensive restaurant and you're comfortable with that in this specific situation.

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Or maybe in our last example, you asked your boss to buy you a standing desk and he said,

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Okay, sure, we'll buy you a standing desk.

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So you can go into the store and you can say, my boss is paying for this desk.

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So money's no object.

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Money is no object, as you probably know.

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Sure, money's no object.

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Okay.

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I told you, money's no object.

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Let's try this again with another listening exercise.

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I'll say it three times.

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I'm beyond livid.

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I'm beyond livid.

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I'm beyond livid.

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I said I'm beyond livid.

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For pronunciation, just notice that contraction.

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I am I'm I'm beyond livid.

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What does livid mean?

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Well, it's an adjective that means extremely angry.

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I'm livid.

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Now when we add beyond, this is an intensifier.

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So extremely angry, livid is already very intense.

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But if you add beyond livid, it makes it 10 times stronger.

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I'm extremely, extremely angry.

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I'm beyond livid.

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Just remember to conjugate that verb to be so if you're speaking about a past emotion,

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you could say I was beyond livid when my boss denied my desk reimbursement.

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So here, a desk reimbursement is when you pay for something.

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And if you're reimbursed, it means someone gives you that money after, usually your company.

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But in this case, your boss denied your desk reimbursement, even though in the last example,

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you bought the most expensive desk because remember, money was no object.

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But now you have to pay for that very expensive desk.

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So that's why You were beyond livid.

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You can use beyond to intensify any emotion, any adjective.

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She was beyond happy when she passed her IELTS.

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I'm beyond awful.

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I'm beyond scared.

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That is beyond exciting.

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Let's try this one more time.

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I'll say it three times.

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Her comments been gnawing at me.

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Her Her comments been gnawing at me.

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Her comments been gnawing at me.

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I said her comment has been gnawing at me.

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In spoken English, it's very common to take that auxiliary verb has and form a contraction with the subject.

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This is more informal,

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but it happens most of the time by native speakers in spoken English her comments been her comments been gnawing at me.

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So you have to hear that auxiliary verb in the contraction.

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But the sentence structure tells you that the contraction is there because grammatically it's required.

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Now in written English, it would be more common and proper to say her comment has been gnawing at me.

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But even if I were to see that in written form, if I were to read it out loud,

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I would just automatically form that contraction in spoken English.

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Notice that pronunciation for gnawing that G is silent.

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gnawing gnawing her comments been gnawing at me.

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What does this mean?

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The expression is to gnaw at someone.

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When something gnaws at someone, it means that something really irritates or bothers that person.

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That something really preoccupies your thoughts, which means you keep thinking about it, you can't get it out of your head.

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So maybe you were telling your co worker how you bought the most expensive desk because money

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was no object or so you thought but then your boss denied your desk reimbursement and you were beyond livid.

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You were telling this whole story to your co worker and instead of sympathy, your co worker said, I told you not to buy the most expensive desk.

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And that comment what your co worker said has been gnawing at you, which means you keep thinking about it,

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it keeps bothering you and irritating you, you can't get it out of your mind, even though it happened hours ago, days ago or weeks ago,

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it's been gnawing at you.

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Something was still gnawing at me.

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It's secretly gnawing away at you.

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No, no, why?

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Why didn't he?

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Now let's do an imitation exercise so you can practice your pronunciation and imitate how a native speaker would say each sentence.

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I'll say each sentence again three times and I want you to repeat that sentence out loud to practice your pronunciation.

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That's out of our budget.

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That's out of our budget.

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That's out of our budget.

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Money is no object.

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Money's no object.

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I'm beyond livid.

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Her comment's been gnawing at me.

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her comments been gnawing at me her comments been gnawing at me don't snap at me

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don't snap at me Don't snap at me.

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Did you get this one?

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I said don't snap at me.

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Let's talk about snap at one of the ways that native speakers can speak quickly is because we combine our sounds together.

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So I don't say snap at I say snap at pat.

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So what I do is I take that P from snap.

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And I also add it to at.

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So it sounds like snap pat.

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And then I combine them together snap at snap at native speakers will also drop sounds

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that force us to take a pause in the middle of a sentence.

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If I pronounce the T on don't, I have to take a pause to pronounced that T.

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So I just won't say it.

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And this is the same thing for at I won't say it.

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Don't snap at me.

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So I make those T's silent, I drop the T's.

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Now a lot of times students don't understand native speakers because we use a lot of phrasal verbs, idioms and expressions.

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Like in this example, to snap at someone.

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What does that mean?

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This is literally snapping right now.

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I'm snapping.

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Now notice it happens very quickly.

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So when you snap at someone, you speak to someone in a irritable or abrupt way.

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So your words come out quickly like a snap.

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And they're often negative.

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This happens quite frequently.

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If we are feeling a negative emotion like stress,

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anxiety, worry, let's say I'm working on a project that has a very important deadline,

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and I have a lot of work left.

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So I feel quite anxious about this.

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And then my husband or friend coworker asked me a question.

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And then without even thinking, I snap at them and I say, I'm busy.

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What do you want?

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I can't help you.

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And I say something very abruptly.

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And my words have a lot of irritation in them annoyance frustration that is snapping at someone.

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We do this all the time time.

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And unfortunately, people who work in customer service are on the receiving end of this.

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So a person in customer service might say, customers snap at me every day.

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I don't take it personally.

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You just snap at me because I think he just snapped at me.

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Bean gargling.

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Well, don't snap at me.

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You're snapping at me again.

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Let's try this again with another listening exercise.

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I'll say it three times.

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It was a knee jerk reaction.

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It was a knee jerk reaction.

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It was a knee jerk reaction.

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Did you hear what I said?

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I said it was a knee jerk reaction.

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Let's talk about knee.

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Notice the K is silent.

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You don't hear it at all.

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Ni, ni.

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This happens most of the time when words start with k, n.

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The k is silent.

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There are many common words that start with k, n, such as knife, night,

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knot, knit, no, and now knee.

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All of these words, the K is silent.

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So the word starts with an N knee.

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What is a knee jerk reaction?

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A knee jerk reaction is a reaction that happens automatically, unconsciously, you don't think about it, it just happens.

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Just like when you're at a doctor's office and they test your reflexes.

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And if this is your knee, they hit your knee, and then your your leg goes like this.

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Have you ever had that done?

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They test your reflexes.

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But when your leg does that, you don't control it, it happens automatically.

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So that's where the expression comes from a knee jerk reaction.

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And I'm sharing this expression because generally when you snap at someone, one, it is a knee jerk reaction.

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When you're busy working on a report and your husband asks you if you want a cup of tea, and you shout, I'm busy, leave me alone.

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That is a knee jerk reaction because you didn't sit there and think about responding in that way.

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It happened automatically.

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So yes, you snapped at your husband, but it was a knee jerk reaction.

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So you could apologize to your husband and say sorry for snapping at you.

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It was a knee jerk reaction.

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Or is this just another knee jerk reaction for you?

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It was a knee jerk reaction.

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You got that half right.

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You're not saying no is a knee jerk reaction.

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Let's try this again.

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I'll say it three times.

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She rubs me the wrong way.

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She rubs me the wrong way.

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She rubs me the wrong way.

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Did you get this one?

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I said she rubs me the wrong way.

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I think the pronunciation is clear there.

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But this is another case where if you don't understand what it means, even if you hear the words, you wouldn't be able to reply.

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So let's talk about the expression to rub someone the wrong way.

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This is when you annoy someone without intending to.

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So it isn't your intention, you don't try to annoy anyone.

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But for just some reason, you are annoying someone else.

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This often happens when people's personalities just clash,

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they clash, which means their personalities are different in a way that they're not compatible.

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So I might do something that annoys you simply because my personality is different from your personality.

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But someone else would not be annoyed by the thing I do.

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This could happen in a workplace situation, where there's an employee and they're really great at their job.

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They're very skilled.

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But for some reason, that person just rubs you the wrong way.

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And it's very unfortunate for that person because it's nothing they're actually doing wrong.

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But if there's a conference or an event and you have to bring one employee, you might say, let's bring Marcos.

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Tim rubs me the wrong way.

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So Tim is annoying to you, but it's not Tim's fault.

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Maybe he is a very outgoing person.

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And he's always laughing and telling jokes.

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And you're more of a shy reserved person and your personalities just clash.

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And for that reason, Tim rubs you the wrong way.

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Poor Tim.

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Just rubs me the wrong way.

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Not Jay.

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Guy rubs me the wrong way.

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Something about always rub me the wrong way.

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Let's try this one more time.

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I'll say it three Three times.

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I always pick up the slack.

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I always pick up the slack.

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I always pick up the slack.

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How do you do with this one?

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I said I always pick up the slack.

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For pronunciation, let's talk about pick up because this is another great opportunity to combine these sounds together.

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So what a native speaker will do is they'll take the last sound on pick and they'll put that on up.

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So it will sound like cup, pick up, cup, pick up, pick up.

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And then you can say those two words as one because you combine them together.

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Pick up, pick up the slack.

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Now what does this mean to pick up the slack?

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This is when you do work, that is someone else's responsibility.

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But you do it because that person maybe isn't doing it, and it needs to get done.

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So you pick up the slack.

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This can happen in the home.

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And of course, it can happen at work.

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But at home, everyone has their own responsibilities, things that they're responsible for.

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Maybe you're responsible for cooking dinner and your partner is responsible for cleaning up after dinner, for example.

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But let's say there's a situation where someone at home is busy with something else.

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So you have to pick up the slack.

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For example, I've been picking up the slack at home while my wife's taking care of her sick mother.

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Now, in this case, you're probably happy with picking up the slack or you understand why you need to pick up the slack because

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your wife is dealing with a sick parent, which is a stressful situation for her.

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So you're happy to do that.

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But there's other situations where maybe your co worker just isn't doing the work they need to do.

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And you end up picking up the slack and you're not happy about it.

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For example, I'm sick of picking up everyone's slack.

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And we're here picking up the slack.

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But no worries, I'll pick up the slack.

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I just want to thank you for picking up the slack.

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Now let's do an imitation exercise so you can practice these pronunciation changes and these new expressions.

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So I'm going to say the sentence again.

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And then I want you to say the sentence out loud.

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And I'll say each sentence three times.

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Let's do that now.

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Don't snap at me.

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Don't snap at me.

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Don't snap at me.

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It was a knee -jerk reaction.

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It was a knee -jerk reaction.

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It was a knee -jerk reaction.

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She She rubs me the wrong way.

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I always pick up the slack.

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I always pick up the slack.

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She has her presentation down pat.

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She has her presentation down pat.

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She has her presentation down pat.

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Did you get this one?

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I said she has her presentation down pat.

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Maybe you noticed that has her sounded like has her, has her, her.

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So we often drop the h on her. Has her. Has her.

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She has her.

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She has her presentation down pat.

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Now what does down pat mean?

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To have something down pat is when you have information or a routine memorized perfectly.

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For example, I have my YouTube video creation process down pat.

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So you can think of the process as a routine.

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First, I do this, then I do this, then I do this.

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And I have these steps memorized, I don't even need to think about what should I do to create a video,

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I have the process down pat.

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Now if you have an upcoming speech presentation interview, you want to practice practice practice, so you can memorize what you want to say.

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And then once you memorize it perfectly, you can say, I'm not nervous.

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I have my speech down pat.

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I have my speech perfectly memorized.

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Have this whole Chloe thing down pat.

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I got my routine down pat generic.

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We've got every move down pat.

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Let's try this again.

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I'll say it three times.

495

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

496

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

497

We didn't have a lot of prep time time.

498

Could you dictate this one?

499

I said we didn't have a lot of prep time. Of course,

500

didn't is a contraction of did not we didn't have a lot of native speakers will combine these sounds together

501

and it will sound like a lot of a lot of we didn't have a lot of prep prep time.

502

Prep is short for preparation.

503

Native speakers will take this word preparation

504

and shorten it to prep prep time simply means time to prepare that is prep time.

505

For example, the recipe looks delicious, but there's too much prep time.

506

If there's too much prep time, it means it takes too long to prepare this recipe.

507

So you don't want to do it.

508

You could also say I have to prep for my interview.

509

In this case, prep is short for the verb prepare.

510

I have to prepare for my interview.

511

I have to prep for my interview.

512

You know what, we got to prep.

513

Prep time, let's go.

514

Go prep the patient.

515

Including prep time?

516

Just do it.

517

Let's try this again.

518

I'll say it three times.

519

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

520

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

521

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

522

I said thanks for rejigging your schedule.

523

Notice how for sounded like an unstressed for.

524

Thanks for.

525

Thanks for rejigging.

526

Your sounds unstressed.

527

Your, your.

528

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

529

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

530

Let's talk about the verb to rejig.

531

You probably don't know this.

532

When you rejig something, you change and improve the arrangement of something.

533

The arrangement is the order of something.

534

So in our example, thanks for rejigging your schedule.

535

Maybe you moved a meeting from the morning to the afternoon.

536

So we could meet for coffee.

537

And I appreciate that.

538

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

539

Or maybe in a meeting you let your boss know we rejigged the presentation.

540

Now the video comes before the grass.

541

So you change the order the arrangement of the presentation, the video was here, and now it's here.

542

And you're doing this because you want to improve the presentation.

543

We rejigged the presentation.

544

Let's try this one more time.

545

I'll say it three times.

546

She spoils those kids rotten.

547

She spoils those kids rotten.

548

She spoils those kids rotten.

549

Did you get this one?

550

I said she spoils those kids rotten.

551

When you spoil someone rotten, in this case, rotten is optional.

552

You could just say spoil someone, spoil someone rotten rotten, it means you do whatever they want you to do,

553

you give them whatever they want.

554

So when I say she spoils those kids rotten, generally, this isn't considered a good thing.

555

Because when kids are spoiled rotten, they often develop bad behaviors, bad manners as a result.

556

So this sounds like a negative thing.

557

However, I frequently say my kitties are spoiled rotten.

558

And that is very true.

559

Now notice here the grammar to be spoiled again rotten is optional, you can use it or not use it, it doesn't change the meaning.

560

In this case to be spoiled, it means the same thing to receive whatever you want.

561

But it can also mean to be treated very well.

562

Well, just remember when we use this with children is generally seen as a negative.

563

But if you say my husband spoils me rotten, my company spoils me rotten,

564

I'm spoiled by my company, those sound more positive.

565

Because it sounds like you're treated very well.

566

Boo, we won't spoil.

567

We won't spoil them.

568

Is it so easy to please?

569

I really hope we're not spoiling them.

570

You sure are spoiling me lately.

571

Now it's time for you to practice your pronunciation.

572

We're going to do an imitation exercise.

573

I'm going to say each sentence again, and I want you to repeat the sentence out loud, and I'll say each sentence three times.

574

Here we go.

575

She has her presentation down pat.

576

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

577

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

578

We didn't have a lot of prep time.

579

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

580

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

581

Thanks for rejigging your schedule.

582

She spoils those kids rotten.

583

She spoils those kids rotten.

584

She spoils those kids rotten.

585

Maybe I'm just in a rut.

586

Maybe I'm just in a rut.

587

Maybe I'm just in a rut.

588

Did you get this one?

589

I said maybe I'm just in a rut.

590

Of course, I'm is a contraction.

591

I am, I'm and notice how in a sounds like one word in a, in a, I'm in a rut, in a rut.

592

The expression here is to be in a rut.

593

Now you can also say to be stuck in a rut.

594

Stuck is optional.

595

When you're in a rut, it means you've been doing an activity like your job

596

or a hobby or a task you've been doing it too long and you feel like you need to change.

597

Why are you in a rut?

598

Same thing every day knowing exactly what to expect.

599

That's a rut.

600

So let's say every day you work all day, you eat dinner, but then at night, every night, you watch Netflix,

601

that could be your rut.

602

We watch Netflix every night.

603

We're stuck in a rut.

604

We're in a rut.

605

Are we in a rut?

606

So to help you get out of that rut, you just need to do something different.

607

So you might say, let's go to the park tonight.

608

So instead of watching Netflix, you go to the park, you enjoy the beautiful day to help you get out of your rut.

609

You're a writer.

610

Ruts are normal.

611

Let's try this again.

612

I'll say it three times.

613

My boss is stuck in his ways.

614

My boss is stuck in his ways.

615

My boss is stuck in his ways.

616

How'd you do with this one?

617

I said, my boss is stuck in his ways.

618

Notice how boss is, we say it as one word bosses bosses.

619

It's the exact same pronunciation as the plural form of the noun bosses.

620

I have two bosses.

621

But here with the verb to be my boss is stuck in his ways.

622

It's the exact same pronunciation.

623

The expression to be stuck in one's ways.

624

Notice ways is plural and it's one possessive.

625

My boss is stuck in his ways.

626

This is when someone is unwilling to change how they do things or how they think about things.

627

Kind of stuck in his ways.

628

For example, my boss won't let me work remotely.

629

He's stuck in his ways.

630

Because he's too stuck in his ways, Gloria, this is good for him.

631

So he has a specific way of thinking about how work should be done.

632

And he's unwilling to change his thinking.

633

Now the same expression can also use the verb set to be stuck or to be set in one's ways.

634

And it has the exact same meaning.

635

You're young me I'm setting my ways.

636

Let's try this again.

637

I'll say it three times.

638

Need a hand?

639

Need a hand?

640

Need a hand?

641

This one was easy, right?

642

I said need a hand.

643

And notice need a sounded like one word need a need a hand.

644

Need a hand?

645

Grammatically, this is missing the auxiliary verb and the subject.

646

Do you need a hand?

647

But native speakers commonly drop that and just say need a hand.

648

And this is the same as saying need any help?

649

Do you need any help?

650

Exactly the same meaning.

651

Now to answer and to accept that help, you could say, sure, I could use a hand.

652

And this is the same as, sure, I could use some help.

653

Hey Tamar, I could really use a hand in here.

654

And if you want to request the assistance using this expression, you can say, can you give me a hand?

655

Can you give me a hand?

656

And this is the same as, can you help me?

657

Can you help me?

658

Hey Rach, can you give me a hand with this box?

659

And you can give me a hand right now by liking this video, subscribing to my channel and sharing this video with your friends.

660

That would really give me a hand.

661

Let's try this again.

662

I'll say it three times.

663

How can I get my foot in the door?

664

How can I get my foot in the door?

665

How can I get my foot in the door.

666

Did you get this one?

667

I said, how can I get my foot in the door?

668

Do you know this expression?

669

To get one or a foot in the door.

670

This is used when you join an organization, a company, you take a specific job that's at a low level.

671

But you're doing that because you hope that low level will turn into a higher position.

672

That's getting your foot in the door.

673

You've already got a foot in the door.

674

For example, I'm a journalist, but I took a job as a receptionist to get my foot in the door.

675

I was just trying to get one foot in the door.

676

But you have to be careful with this strategy

677

because you don't want to say I took this job five years ago to get my foot in the door

678

but now I'm stuck in a rut That would mean that you're still a receptionist five years later.

679

So you haven't moved up.

680

So your strategy of taking a lower position to get your foot in the door hasn't been very successful.

681

Now let's do an imitation exercise so you can practice your pronunciation.

682

I'll say each sentence again, and I want you to repeat the sentence out loud.

683

Let's do that now.

684

Maybe I'm Maybe I'm just in a rut.

685

My boss is stuck in his ways.

686

Need a hand?

687

need a hand, need a hand?

688

How can I get my foot in the door?

689

How can I get my foot in the door?

690

How can I get my foot in the door?

691

Did you enjoy this lesson?

692

Do you want me to make more lessons where you test your listening skills?

693

If you do then put more more more put more more more in the comments and I'll keep making more lessons.

694

And of course, make sure you like this video, share it with your friends and subscribe so you're notified every time I post a new lesson.

695

And you can get this free speaking guide where I share six tips on how to speak English fluently and confidently.

696

You can click here to download it or look for the link in the description.

697

And if you want to keep expanding your vocabulary so you can better understand native speakers, I recommend this video because you'll learn a lot more phrasal verbs.

698

So watch this video right now.

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Mastering Native English: Insights from a Practical Listening Lesson

Many English learners struggle to follow native speakers in real-life scenarios—TV, movies, or casual conversations—because of fast speech, contractions, and unique vocabulary. The video addresses this by focusing on listening exercises that bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world communication, helping learners feel more confident in understanding everyday interactions.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication (and Their Nuances)

"They've been bickering all day": A common present perfect continuous phrase. "They've" is a contraction of "they have," and "bin" (unstressed) replaces "been" in American English. "Bickering" means arguing over unimportant things, distinct from serious fighting.
"Contractions in spoken English": Native speakers use contractions 100% of the time, so recognizing "they've" (they have) or "it's" (it is) is key for grammar and comprehension.
"Unstressed 'bin'": In American English, "been" is often pronounced "bin" (e.g., "they've bin working"), unlike the stressed "bean" in British English.
"Bickering vs. fighting": Bickering is low-emotion, trivial arguing (e.g., with coworkers or family), while fighting involves strong feelings.
"Practical listening practice": Repeating sentences three times (as in the video) helps train ears to catch fast speech and contractions.

Step-by-Step Shadowing Guide to Improve Pronunciation & Comprehension

Shadowing—repeating speech immediately after a native speaker—is a powerful technique to boost pronunciation and listening skills. Here's how to use the video for effective practice:

Listen first: Play the sentence once and focus on catching the overall meaning. Don't stress about every word.
Shadow the speech: Pause and repeat the sentence, mimicking the rhythm, stress, and contractions (e.g., "they've bin bickering"). Use a shadowing site to slow down audio if needed.
Analyze pronunciation: Note how "been" becomes "bin" and "they have" shortens to "they've." Practice these changes to sound more natural, a key tip for IELTS speaking practice.
Learn vocabulary in context: Understand "bickering" by connecting it to real-life scenarios (family, coworkers) to remember its meaning and usage.
Repeat daily: Spend 10-15 minutes daily with the video to build consistency. This shadowspeak method trains your brain to process fast English and improves your own pronunciation over time.

By combining listening exercises with shadowing techniques, you'll not only understand native speakers better but also speak more fluently—making this video a valuable tool for anyone aiming to master real-world English.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	They've been bickering · have been bickering · you've been discussing
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	if you didn't have that, it would be · if you hear the words, you wouldn't be
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	would not be annoyed · isn't considered · are spoiled
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	safe, which means · sound, which is · verb, which is

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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