Shadowing Practice: Rochelle Tries Being Calm at Dinner | Everybody Hates Chris | CBS - Learn English Speaking with Video

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76 sentences

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Outside, calm.

Inside, furious.

Tanya, why are you reading at the table?

Why aren't you eating your dinner?

I'm just not hungry.

Well, maybe it's all that ice cream you had before dinner.

Yep, maybe.

Who said you could eat ice cream before dinner?

Nobody.

That's the problem.

What?

Nothing.

So, Chris, how's your project coming along?

Okay, um, me and Dad are just trying to figure out a time that's good for us to go looking for cans.

Yeah, we're working on the time.

Oh, okay, that's nice.

I'm sure you two will work it out.

I'm not.

Well, I finally figured out my project.

I hope you figure out how to clean that mess up.

I built a potato clock.

Now all I have to do is paint it.

Paint?

On my dining room table?

Mm -hmm.

I know you don't.

You're not getting me.

I'm keeping that $5.

Paint all you want.

Paint 20 potatoes if you have to, Drew.

Are those my good potatoes?

Not anymore.

Yeah, but I'll chop them up and make french fries after I turn my project in.

Hey, check it out.

I put a calendar on the front.

I thought you were supposed to be making the car.

I thought you were supposed to be eating your dinner.

I was, but the potatoes were too weak to running.

I wonder how many potatoes we need to get rid of the light bill.

Enough to make mashed potatoes for the next million years.

So, Dad, you think you can pick me up after school tomorrow? For what? To pick up cans.

Yeah.

Yeah, cans.

No problem.

Work tomorrow.

No problem.

Unfortunately for me, if you offered my dad a job, he forgot about everything else.

So, Dad, I'm going to come straight home after school tomorrow, okay?

Oh, I'm sorry, Chris.

I just picked up an extra shift.

I get paid time and a half

but hey you doing okay though right yeah then i'm fine all right i do you in that's my boy

we learned the reason my mother yelled wasn't

because she liked yelling it was because if she didn't yell no one would hear him drew wake up

chris you gonna be late i'm coming okay fine don't go to school grow up stupid Tanya,

wake up, baby.

All right, all right.

Five more minutes.

See?

This is what I'm talking about.

I try to be nice, and this is the thanks I get.

Yeah, I try not to be rude and belligerent.

If I wasn't, nothing to get done around here.

But that's OK.

Oh, okay.

I guess I'm supposed to clean this up, too.

Oh, no, no, no, no problem, Mr. Potato.

I'll clean you up.

I have nothing else better to do.

No, please, you sit right there.

I'll be back.

No, really, stay.

No, it's okay.

It's okay, because...

Uh -oh.

Now that is just nasty.

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102 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 76 sentences and 490 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:15. The speaker talks at a natural 151 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
potato noun	/pəˈteɪ.təʊ/	The edible starchy tuber of the plant species Solanum tuberosum.
yell verb	/jɛl/	To shout; holler; make a loud sound with the voice, especially to express intense emotions such as anger or excitement.
hungry adjective	/ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/	Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food.
clock noun	/klɑk/	A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
calendar noun	/ˈkæl.ən.də/	Any system by which time is divided into days, weeks, months, and years.
rude adjective	/ɹuːd/	Lacking in refinement or civility; bad-mannered; discourteous.
nasty adjective	/ˈnæs.ti/	Dirty, filthy.
furious adjective	/ˈfjʊəɹi.əs/	Feeling great anger; raging; violent.
fry verb	/fɹaɪ/	To cook (something) in hot fat.
chop verb	/t͡ʃɑp/	To cut into pieces with short, vigorous cutting motions.
mash verb	/mæʃ/	To convert into a mash; to reduce to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure
belligerent adjective	/bəˈlɪd͡ʒ.ɚ.ənt/	Engaged in warfare, warring.
dine verb	/daɪn/	To eat; to eat dinner or supper.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
pick up verb		To lift; to grasp and raise.
wake up verb	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	To stop sleeping; to awake.
come along verb		To accompany.
grow up verb		To mature and become an adult.
mess up verb		To make a mess of; to untidy, disorder, soil, or muss.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 22 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, I'll, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

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 potato, yell, hungry.

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: Rochelle Tries Being Calm at Dinner | Everybody Hates Chris | CBS - Learn English Speaking with Video

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