Shadowing Practice: Pulp Fiction - the gold watch monologue - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Oh that paddlefoot, he's from the city dog, eating totem pole alive.
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Oh that paddlefoot, he's from the city dog, eating totem pole alive.
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He aren't the tenderfoot.
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That totem pole been here forever.
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Butch?
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One more thing to put on this landmove.
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Time for Captain Roadtide.
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Butch, stop watching TV a second.
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Call Spinner.
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Yeah?
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We've got a special visitor.
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Spinner!
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Spinner!
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Now, do you remember when I told you your daddy died in the POW camp?
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Well, this here is Captain Kunz.
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He was in the POW camp with Daddy.
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Hello, little man.
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Boy, I sure heard a bunch about you.
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See, I was a good friend of your dad's.
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We were in that Hanoi pit of hell together over five years.
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Hopefully, you'll never have to experience this yourself,
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but when two men are in a situation like me and your dad were for as long as we were,
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you take on certain responsibilities of the other.
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If it had been me who'd not made it,
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if it made you cool as you'd be talking right now to my son, Jim.
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The way it turned out, I'm talking to you.
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Butch.
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I got something for you.
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This watch I got here was first purchased by your great grandfather during the First World War.
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It was bought in a little general store in Knoxville,
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Tennessee, made by the first company to make wristwatches.
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Up till then, people just carried pocket watches.
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It was bought by private doughboy,
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Ryan Coolidge, on the day he set sail for Paris.
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This was your great-grandfather's war watch,
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and he wore it every day he was in that war.
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And he'd done his duty,
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went home to your great-grandmother,
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took the watch off, put an old coffee can,
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and in that can it stayed until your granddad,
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Dane Coolidge, was called upon by his country to go overseas and fight the Germans once again.
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It's time to call it World War II.
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Great grandfather gave this watch to your granddad for good luck.
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Unfortunately, Dave's luck wasn't as good as his old man's name was a Marine,
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and he was killed, along with all the other Marines at the Battle of Wake Island.
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Granddad was facing death.
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He knew it.
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None of those boys had any illusions,
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but they were leaving that island alive.
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So three days before the Japanese took the island,
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your granddad asked a gunner on an Air Force transport named a Wanaki,
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a man he'd never met before in his life,
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to deliver to his infant son we'd never seen in the flesh, his gold watch.
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Three days later, your granddad was dead,
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but Warnocky kept his word.
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After the war was over,
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he paid a visit to your grandmother,
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delivering to your infant father his dad's gold watch.
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This watch.
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This watch was on your daddy's wrist when he was shot down over that Hanoi.
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He was captured and put in a Vietnamese prison camp.
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He knew that if the Gooks ever saw the watch, watch.
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It'd be confiscated, taken away.
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The way your dad looked at it,
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this watch was your birthright.
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You'd be damned if any slope's gonna put the greasy other hands on his boy's birthright.
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So he hid it.
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In one place he knew he could hide something, his ass.
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Five long years he wore this watch up his ass.
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Then he died of dysentery.
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Give me the watch.
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I hid this uncomfortable hunk of metal up my ass two years.
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Then, after seven years, I was sent home to my family.
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And now, little man, I give the watch to you.

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About This Lesson

This lesson focuses on an iconic monologue from the film "Pulp Fiction," specifically the passage about a family heirloom watch. Through this engaging content, learners will practice essential speaking skills while listening to natural dialogues from a popular movie. This exercise will help you improve your fluency and comprehension skills, making it a perfect opportunity to learn English with YouTube. As you shadow the dialogue, you will develop an ear for intonation, emotion, and context—crucial aspects of effective speech. This lesson is particularly beneficial for those preparing for the IELTS speaking practice.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Paddlefoot: A colloquial term that may refer to someone awkward or clumsy.
  • POW camp: Short for Prisoner of War camp, a facility for captured soldiers during wartime.
  • Heirloom: A valuable object passed down through generations.
  • Doughboy: A term used to refer to American soldiers during World War I.
  • Good luck: A common expression wishing success in a future endeavor.
  • Facing death: An expression indicating someone is in a life-threatening situation.
  • General store: A retail store that sells a variety of goods, often found in rural areas.
  • Transport: Refers to the means of moving people or goods; in military terms, it often refers to vehicles used to transport troops or supplies.

Practice Tips

To maximize your learning experience, try using a shadowing app while you listen to the monologue. The key to effective shadowing is to match the speaker's speed and intonation. Start by playing the dialogue at a normal pace, then pause after each sentence to repeat what you hear, mimicking the cadence and emotion of the speaker. If you find the original speed challenging, slow down the playback to better grasp the phrases before attempting to shadow at full speed.

Since the dialogue has a conversational tone, pay attention to the rhythm and natural pauses. This practice will not only improve your pronunciation but will also enhance your ability to engage in everyday English conversations. Remember, consistency is key—incorporate this exercise into your daily practice to see significant improvement in your speaking skills.

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.

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