Shadowing Practice: POLLY POLLY POSSUM - 2 - And Her Henchman, Watermer! - Learn English Speaking with Video

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111 sentences

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The End The End The End Things I do, things I don't.

Things I do.

I do remember living here.

I remember running for captain of the neighborhood watch.

I remember seeing my campaign commercials on TV.

I don't remember...

electricity.

I remember torches.

I remember spells, magic, violence.

Cutthroat ambition, but now it's domestic disturbances.

Petty displays of neighborly dispute.

Well done, Watermer.

Watermer?

What do you remember?

Uh, what do I remember about what? About before.

Back in the black and white place.

Whatever it was.

How much do you remember from before living here?

I've always lived here, Miss Melissa.

And if I hadn't known better, I thought you had too.

Hey!

You were a baron.

You lived in a castle, remember?

We both did.

Right next to that stupid Polly's house.

Stupid?

Is this some kind of party game?

Game.

Close the door.

I was at the potluck.

Mr. Loops was saying something to me.

I had just arrived.

I was holding something.

So, uh, can I get you anything to drink, or...?

The camera flash didn't affect anyone else, and that wasn't the start of it anyhow.

Wow. So what was?

Maybe a consultation?

It was the light.

A flash of reflected light, and the camera flash caught me off guard too.

It's gotta be a surprise.

Watermer!

Oh, you're talking to me now.

Get me that glass of water.

Well, why not?

Please be forgiving.

Uh, what'd you do that for?

Malice.

Easy now.

I don't want to hurt anyone.

What have you?

Motion.

I couldn't move before.

Everything was etched in stone.

We were portraits of existence.

Some lachrum of life.

Calm down, Watermer.

You've got to breathe.

Sorry, I...

Wait.

You called me Baron.

You'd seen it too.

Yes, and I'm sorry, Watermer.

It was a healthy partnership.

Mutual hate and control.

I understand that now.

I don't want to go back to being evil.

I can't ignore it either.

Whatever it means, I don't want to figure it out without you.

I just hope that with time and perspective, I can earn your goodwill and...

Malice!

What a bad dream.

I can't believe it.

What happened to us?

I'm a doctor.

And you, you look great.

Ah, that life.

Like different people.

There was so much desperation and pain back then.

But there was a lot less when I followed you.

Don't exaggerate.

No, I mean it.

A disgraced baron.

No land, no reputation.

When I wasn't a guest at your castle, I was homeless.

Nobody else saw value in me.

Especially with, well, with all the crimes.

I'm still sort of reconciling all the crimes.

But you, Malice, you never turned me away.

As long as I brought some commissary with me, your gates were open.

Misery.

There was certainly a lot of that.

Yes, and it all came from one person.

So, what's the plan?

How are we going to finally get that goody gumdrop Polly out of the way?

No, no, no, no. Don't be hasty.

I believe we're the only ones who remember before, and all its atrocities.

I don't know what to do with this sort of advantage.

If we wanted to be wicked again, they would never see it coming.

It'd be like killing the family pet.

100

But living beside them, knowing what we do, that did, that's also going to be pretty bizarre.

101

Unless you wanted to help them remember too?

102

Heavens no. Our every day was spent tormenting them to the best of our abilities.

103

There's no way they'd just let us get away with that.

104

Maybe.

105

I don't know.

106

You're at least right that we shouldn't rush.

107

Exactly.

108

For now, I want you collecting your thoughts and your memories.

109

Luckily, this place is like a playpen with safety locks, so it should be effortless to let low.

110

Ah, did I leave my bowl again?

111

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180 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “POLLY POLLY POSSUM - 2 - And Her Henchman, Watermer!”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Watermer, Malice, baron, flash. This video has 111 sentences and 654 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:02. The speaker talks at a steady 130 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 18 of its 111 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
flash verb	/flæʃ/	To cause to shine briefly or intermittently.
baron noun	/ˈbæɹən/	The male ruler of a barony.
castle noun	/ˈkɑːsəl/	A large residential building or compound that is fortified and contains many defences; in previous ages often inhabited by a nobleman or king. Also, a house or…
earn verb	/ɝn/	To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work.
ignore verb	/ɪɡˈnɔː/	To deliberately not listen or pay attention to.
partnership noun	/ˈpɑɹtnɚʃɪp/	The state of being associated with a partner.
rush verb	/ɹʌʃ/	To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully.
gate noun	/ˈɡeɪ̯t/	A doorlike structure outside a house.
reputation noun	/ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/	What somebody or something is known for.
electricity noun	/ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪsɪti/	Originally, a property of amber and certain other nonconducting substances to attract lightweight material when rubbed, or the cause of this property; now…
reflect verb	/ɹɪˈflɛkt/	To bend back (light, etc.) from a surface.
arrive verb	/əˈɹaɪv/	To reach; to get to a certain place.
collect verb	/ˈkɑlɪkt/	To gather together; amass.
spell noun	/spɛl/	Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.
dispute noun	/dɪˈspjuːt/	An argument or disagreement; a failure to agree.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
calm down verb	To become less excited, intense, or angry.
get away with verb	To get away, or escape, taking (something) with one.
go back to verb	To stem from; to originate in.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

What do you remember?
How much do you remember from before living here?
You lived in a castle, remember?
Unless you wanted to help them remember too?
Ah, did I leave my bowl again?

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 30 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, cutthroat /ˈkʌtθɹəʊt/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: flash /flæʃ/, partnership /ˈpɑɹtnɚʃɪp/, rush /ɹʌʃ/, reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, consultation /ˌkɑnsəlˈteɪʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, electricity /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪsɪti/, consultation /ˌkɑnsəlˈteɪʃən/, desperation /ˌdɛspəˈɹeɪʃən/, atrocity /əˈtɹɑsɪti/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like flash, baron, castle.

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 →

Shadowing Practice: POLLY POLLY POSSUM - 2 - And Her Henchman, Watermer! - Learn English Speaking with Video

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