Shadowing Practice: Owen Wilson Answers The Web’s Most Searched Questions | WIRED - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hi, I'm Owen Wilson and this is the Wired Autocomplete Interview.
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No, I have not Googled myself.
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I can't think of anything worse.
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How did Owen Wilson get his start?
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I guess University of Texas,
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Wes Anderson and I became friends and college roommates and then we started writing a screenplay together that became Bottle Rocket.
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How did Owen Wilson get his nose broken?
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At University of Texas, yeah, playing...
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We were doing intramural flag football and I got banged.
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But also I think just like as a kid, just roughhousing.
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How many movies are Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller in together?
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I don't know, feels like 70.
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You know, because we have a lot of sequels and stuff.
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So we have the Meet the Parents, so there's three.
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We have the Night at the Museums.
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That's three right there.
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Although Ben was never there at Night at the Museum because, you know, Steve Coogan and I play these little miniature characters, so they didn't need him there.
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Then we were in Royal Tenenbaums and Starsky and Hutch,
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and the first movie, Permanent Midnight.
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I feel like there's one more, but that's nine right there.
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I'm going to say 12.
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12?
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12 movies.
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There's 12 with Ben?
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What am I leaving out?
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Oh yeah, Zoolanders!
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Yeah, how could I forget that?
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Yeah, yeah, we had two Zoolanders.
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I think it's 11, but they're telling me 12.
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Okay, how many movies are Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in together?
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Wedding Crashers, of course, and Zoolander, and...
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Oh, and Internship, so it's just three.
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Four.
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Four?
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Thirstbeat Hutch, too.
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Oh, he was, yeah, that's right.
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He's really funny.
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He kind of does a little dancing thing in the bar mitzvah scene that makes me laugh.
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Let's go right here.
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Is Owen Wilson in every Wes Anderson movie?
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No, I'm not.
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I wasn't in Moonrise Kingdom and I wasn't in a few others.
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I guess my favorite, I mean I always have a soft spot for Bottle Rocket, the first one, but then Darjeeling Limited,
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I think the story kind of about Three Brothers was something that, of course, I can relate to.
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And I just love being in India, so maybe that's my favorite.
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Is Owen Wilson Australian?
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Yes.
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He is.
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G'day.
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Why do people think that?
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Do they think that?
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Is that something they think?
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I think that's kind of nice because Australians kind of, they sort of have the reputation of sort of a kind of a hail fellow well met.
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And maybe there is sort of,
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I'm from Texas, and maybe there is a slight overlap in kind of the brashness of Texans and Australians.
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I like a lot of Australian movies and I've had fun being there.
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So, yeah, let's say yes.
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Okay, next one.
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Is Owen Wilson a good skateboarder?
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You know, this one people think a lot that I'm a skateboarder because I did this skate video, yeah, right, that Spike Jonze directed.
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I do a trick in it that people think is me, but some people say it's Eric Costin and they did a cowboy switch
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and it wasn't me but I think it was me.
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Is Owen Wilson coming back to Loki?
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Um, yes, he is coming back to Loki, and I think we're gonna start filming that pretty soon.
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I had a great time working on Loki.
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I really enjoyed Tom Hiddleston and all the people on that.
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It's very satisfying doing that.
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Who was older, Luke or Owen Wilson?
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That would be, I'm older, I'm three years older than Luke.
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Was Owen Wilson in a fraternity?
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Decidedly not in a fraternity.
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I didn't graduate from college.
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Were you in the frat pack though?
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That's kind of like a fraternity of...
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Um, yeah, was that, what did they call that?
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Frat pack.
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They, no, I think the frat...
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Wasn't that the thing with Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez in them?
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I think they, that's what got called the frat pack.
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But maybe the group of comedians that they talk about, sort of...
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Ben Stiller and Jack Black.
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I forget what the name was for that, but yeah, maybe I was a member of that.
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I wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would have someone like me as a member.
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What's that joke?
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Was Owen Wilson a model?
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No, I wasn't. Who...
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What does this one mean?
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What's this one?
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Who is your daddy, Owen Wilson?
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My father, who's my dad?
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My dad is Robert Wilson, Bob Wilson, Great dad and from Boston,
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although we grew up in Dallas because my dad worked in Dallas.
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And when we were kids, he was the head of the PBS station in Dallas.
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Just a great guy.
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Yeah, I miss him.
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Well, I worked with Ed Helms on that movie Father Figures, and we just had a great time working together.
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It's funny, kind of when you show up to work, kind of, you know, some days you kind of look forward to it more than others, but when I was working with Ed, I knew, you know, when I showed up,
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it was gonna be fun just kind of talking.
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Sometimes it can be kind of awkward when you're kind of left sort of sitting, you know, in a car doing a scene when they're not rolling, but with Ed and I,
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I don't know, we just really got along.
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Owen Wilson turkey movie, Freebirds, where I think the tagline was, hang on to your nuggets.
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Pretty good.
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And Owen Wilson's Zoolander quotes.
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I mean, the one that people always say is, Hansel's so hot right now.
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But I think that was Will Ferrell who says that.
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Oh, there's something about with spider monkeys, like tripping with spider monkeys,
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doing chocolate mesclun, I can't remember what it was.
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Oh, who you trying to get crazy with, essay?
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Don't you know I'm loco?
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Yeah, and that came from that Cypress Hill song.
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Owen Wilson and Jennifer Lopez together again in Marry Me.
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And we worked in Anaconda,
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and I think this movie was about proving that that chemistry that we showed in Anaconda wasn't just a fluke.
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Owen Wilson, yellow jumpsuit.
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That would be Bottle Rocket, but, you know, I've worn a jumpsuit in a lot of movies, and I feel like it's always a good...
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When I see that in my wardrobe, I feel like it's gonna be a good movie, because I wore it in Zoolander, in Behind Enemy Lines.
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I'm sort of wearing a jumpsuit, a flight suit.
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With Jackie Chan, did I have one?
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That seems like I had a jumpsuit, but they're saying no. But yes, Canary Yellow Jumpsuit and Bottle Rocket.
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Owen Wilson haunted house movie.
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Well, this is a genre that I'm returning to.
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I did The Haunting, and that wasn't wonderfully received,
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and so, you know, a lot of people would have maybe shied away from that genre, but I'm going back, and this time we're going to get it right.
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Although I think it still did well.
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And it was fun.
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There was a good cast on that movie.
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And I had fun doing it.
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Owen Wilson, Boba Fett.
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What's the connection there?
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I don't know.
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I mean, I...
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No, not that I know of.
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But I like that character.
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Boba Fett is like one of the...
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He's the bounty hunter, right?
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Yeah, so as a kid, you know, that was like one of the cool characters, Bubba Fett.
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Great name, too, Bubba Fett.
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What is Owen Wilson filming?
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Right now, I'm in New Orleans, and we're making a movie called Haunted Mansion.
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And what is the source material for this?
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Is it a book or is it this?
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No, it's actually a ride, a Disney ride.
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What animal does Owen Wilson play in Fantastic Mr. Fox?
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I played Coach Skip, I think, and the name of the game is, uh, Slap, Slap Bat?
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Or Slap Back?
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Or Hot Box?
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No, Hot Box is something we've played as kids where it's like a man in the middle
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that you're trying to tag out.
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What is Owen Wilson's middle name?
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My middle name is Cunningham, and that's my mom's maiden name, and Luke and Andrew, my two brothers, they also have the same middle name you know
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when you're like a kid and people kind of look up your middle name in school so they would kind of, you know, say Richie Cunningham and stuff,
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kind of make fun of it from Happy Days.
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What color are Owen Wilson's eyes?
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Blue.
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Azure.
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Does Owen Wilson play guitar?
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No, I don't, although in Starsky and Hutch, they have me kind of playing a guitar,
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and I'm actually on the soundtrack for Starsky and Hutch, singing a David Soule song, Don't Give Up On Me Baby, I think.
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And actually, when I was in Australia, I remember walking into a bar and hearing a song going, God, that voice sounds familiar.
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And it was my voice, although I'm not very musical.
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My friend George Straculius, who did the music on Starsky & Hutch, said that I broke three auto-tune machines trying to get that song right.
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Does Owen Wilson have tattoos?
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I just have one tattoo that I got in college on my shoulder, a four-leaf clover that says luck.
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I wanted it to say lucky, and then I kind of chickened out and just had it say luck.
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Does Owen Wilson sing?
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Well, I kind of answered that.
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That was part of my guitar answer.
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I wish I did sing, or wish I did sing well, but I'll do karaoke.
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And if you can't sing that well, you know a good karaoke song, one that I choose?
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Tequila.
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Because there isn't much singing.
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All you have to do is go, tequila.
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Okay.
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That's it.
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Well, that was just kind of a real walk down memory lane for me, and it was great just kind of freestyling and kind of moonwalking and,
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you know, going through that.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 175 sentences and 1674 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:42. The speaker talks at a natural 157 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| guitar noun | /ɡɪˈtɑɹ/ | A stringed musical instrument, of European origin, usually with a fretted fingerboard and six strings, played with the fingers or a plectrum (guitar pick). |
| fraternity noun | /fɹəˈtɜɹnəti/ | The quality of being brothers or brotherly; brotherhood. |
| spider noun | /ˈspaɪ̯dɚ/ | Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey. |
| genre noun | /ˈ(d)ʒɑnɹə/ | A kind; a stylistic category or sort, especially of literature or other artworks. |
| tattoo noun | /tæˈtuː/ | An image made on a body part, usually the skin with ink and a needle. |
| monkey noun | /ˈmʌŋki/ | A member of the clade Simiiformes other than those in the clade Hominoidea containing apes, generally (but not universally) distinguished by small size, tails… |
| haunt verb | /hɔnt/ | To inhabit or to visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts). |
| trick noun | /ˈtɹɪk/ | Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle. |
| reputation noun | /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/ | What somebody or something is known for. |
| hunter noun | /ˈhʌntɚ/ | One who hunts game for sport or for food; a huntsman or huntswoman. |
| daddy noun | /ˈdædi/ | Also used as a term of address: a father; one's father. |
| chemistry noun | /ˈkɛm.ɪ.stɹi/ | The branch of natural science that deals with the composition and constitution of substances and the changes that they undergo as a consequence of alterations… |
| bang noun | /ˈbæŋ/ | A sudden percussive noise. |
| awkward adjective | /ˈɔk.wɚd/ | Lacking dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments. |
| tune noun | /tjuːn/ | A melody. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| get along verb | To interact or coexist well, without argument or trouble. | |
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| leave out verb | To omit, to not include, to neglect to mention. | |
| look forward to verb | To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to. | |
| look up verb | /ˌlʊk ˈʌp/ | To have better prospects. |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. | |
| walk down verb | To continually advance (on an opponent) and punch (the opponent) in order to control the fight and dominate the opponent, while shrugging off the opponent's… |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 50 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, wasn't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: genre /ˈ(d)ʒɑnɹə/, reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, shy /ʃaɪ/, azure /ˈæʒɚ/, brashness /ˈbɹæʃ.nəs/
- Long words — get the stress right: fraternity /fɹəˈtɜɹnəti/, reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, comedian /kəˈmiː.di.ən/, automobile /ˈɔː.tə.məˌbil/, miniature /ˈmɪn.(i)ə.tʃəɹ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like guitar, fraternity, spider.
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.