Shadowing Practice: Step Mom Made Dad Hate Me - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hi, I'm Jasmine from California.

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I was raised in an orphanage until I was 8 years old, and I never spoke a word.

Hi there, sweetie.

What's your name?

Say something to the nice people, Jasmine.

They want to get to know you.

It wasn't that I couldn't speak.

I was just shy.

I didn't have many friends, at least not the type that stood on two feet.

One day when I was 8, I saw my best friend furry stuck in a tree.

I ran over to the firehouse across the road and banged on the door.

What's wrong?

I dragged the fireman to the tree, and he immediately rescued my cat.

He was amazing!

The next day, I decided to thank him by making him a special meal.

Thank you.

You like spaghetti?

After that, the fireman came to visit me every week, and I felt so comfortable that I started to speak.

In fact, I couldn't stop talking, and I hated it when we had to say goodbye.

One day, the fireman came to visit with the biggest smile.

Jasmine, how would you feel if I was your dad?

And the next morning, I moved in with him.

I had my own room, my own fireman's hat, and as much spaghetti as I wanted.

We did everything together, and life was good.

But in the seventh grade, Dad brought home some guests one day.

A beautiful woman and her daughter, who was my age.

This is Leslie and her daughter Tiffany.

Leslie and I are getting married.

I was happy at the news.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

Of course it is.

I'm lovely.

Shh, but it's not a pleasure to meet you.

It's worse than that day I ate a whole jar of chilies and pooped fire out of my butt, and also I had to get a tooth extraction and my appendix removed on the same day.

And I hate you already.

Soon, Leslie and Dad were married, and we moved into a bigger house.

It was beautiful on the outside, but the inside needed work.

It's a disaster.

We're not living here.

Come on, babe.

It just needs a little love.

Over the next few months, Dad and I fixed up the house.

By the time we were done, it was perfect.

But nothing made those two happy.

What do you think?

Like we're too poor to get a professional interior decorator.

We're going to the cat massage place.

Yeah, the cats there give the best head massages.

It feels so good when they pull on your hair.

Really?

Because I can do that for free.

Tiffany glared at me and the two left.

Dad, I don't get it.

Leslie is so materialistic and shallow.

And Tiffany is even worse.

You can do so much better.

Honey, no one's perfect.

Leslie and Tiffany just like nice things.

What's really important is family.

Promise me you'll give them a chance.

I'll try.

So I did.

Things were better for a few months.

But then I started to notice Leslie and Tiffany acting strange.

One night, I caught Leslie and Tiffany whispering to each other in the dark till they spotted me.

Go to bed now, or you're grounded for a month.

And you won't be allowed to take a shower or wax your mustache for three months.

The next day, Leslie said she wanted to cook dinner for a change.

And hours later, Dad had food poisoning.

He was released from the hospital the next day, but he was still really weak.

Instead of taking care of him, Leslie and Tiffany went out on a shopping spree.

I think Leslie tried to poison you.

Poison me?

That's ridiculous.

I don't think so.

Those two are hiding something.

I just know it.

Jasmine, Leslie's been trying to connect with you for months, but you're always giving her a hard time.

You have to accept them as family and stop making up these crazy stories.

A few weeks later, while Dad was out of town, I woke up at night to get some water, but I heard voices coming from the backyard.

I looked out the window and saw Leslie and the strange man arguing.

Before I could get closer, Tiffany jumped in the way.

You should mind your own business.

Who is that man?

What man?

The man you were talking to in the backyard.

Oh, Jasmine, you have such an active imagination.

I wasn't talking to anyone.

Isn't that right, Tiffany?

Yes, Mommy.

Too active of an imagination compared to her small -shaped head.

Why is it so small?

Did you crack it open like an egg and the doctors forgot to put some pieces back in?

You know, back in the orphanage since you were neglected?

I went to my room and tried to call Dad, but my calls went straight to voicemail.

In fact, he didn't answer his call for days.

and it looked like he was missing.

We contacted the police to find out where he could have gone, but he'd vanished without a trace.

100

I felt miserable, but Leslie and Tiffany seemed to go on like it didn't matter one bit.

101

Sometimes, I couldn't help thinking if they had something to do with Dad's disappearance.

102

Two months passed, and one day, Dad's lawyer showed up to talk to me.

103

Your dad told me that in the case of something ever happening to him, I can tell you about his will.

104

What will?

105

Your husband left a million dollars in a trust for Jasmine, half to be released to Jasmine when she turns 18,

106

and the other half to her legal guardian to take care of her.

107

What about me and my daughter Tiffany?

108

Yeah, what do we get?

109

I mean, that man had the longest ear hair, and my eyes hurt seeing that, so yeah, I deserve something.

110

The last time your husband updated his will was when he adopted Jasmine.

111

Here's a check for $500 ,000 to cover Jasmine's expenses.

112

Leslie and Tiffany went ballistic.

113

They ripped all of my dad's pictures off the wall.

114

Stop!

115

Don't!

116

Tiffany shoved me out of the way as she and Leslie ran around the house destroying everything that reminded them of dad.

117

I grabbed my dad's guitar from his bedroom and hid it under my bed.

118

The next day, Leslie cashed the check.

119

She sold the house and we moved to another city.

120

Leslie made the down payment for a fancy house and car and got new clothes for herself and Tiffany.

121

But the two made me live in the dusty old attic.

122

A few weeks later, Tiffany and I started high school.

123

The moment I stepped on campus, all the kids laughed at me.

124

Leslie had sold all my clothes and gave me only $20 to replace my wardrobe at the second -hand store.

125

Hey, freak.

126

Who are you calling a freak, dummy?

127

Where'd you get your clothes? a dumpster.

128

My mom took her off the street.

129

It took my mom three months to get rid of the lice in her head.

130

Our house kept smelling like gas.

131

Because gas is the most effective way to get rid of lice.

132

And it took three months.

133

You get what I mean.

134

After a few weeks, I learned to ignore them and focus on my schoolwork.

135

School helped me get my mind off of how much I miss dad.

136

Then one day, a new boy arrived at school.

137

He was gorgeous, and all the girls, including Tiffany, couldn't stop staring at him.

138

He sat next to me in science class, and when the teacher told us to choose a partner for a project, he turned to me.

139

Hey, I'm Kyle.

140

You want to be my partner?

141

You any good at science?

142

I'm gonna need more than a pretty face.

143

You're funny.

144

Kyle and I started meeting in the library after school.

145

He was a science nerd just like me.

146

He loved music and was super funny.

147

We class he walked me to my locker.

148

Jasmine, I really like hanging out with you.

149

I was wondering if you wanted to… Before he could finish, Tiffany appeared out of nowhere.

150

Hi, Kyle.

151

How's it going?

152

I was thinking the two of us could go to the movies this weekend.

153

Actually, I was gonna ask Jasmine.

154

It's so sweet you've been spending time with Jasmine.

155

Did she tell you about her boyfriend?

156

He's blind and Jasmine is really taking care of him.

157

I mean, two needy people in a relationship?

158

It makes perfect sense.

159

Don't you agree?

160

Boyfriend, what are you...

161

It's pretty serious.

162

They've been hot and heavy for five dark years.

163

You know, because he's blind.

164

That night, Tiffany barged into my room.

165

Don't even think about messing things up with me and MHK.

166

MHK?

167

My hot Kyle?

168

Why are you so stupid?

169

You and Kyle?

170

You're not even his type.

171

You're a liar and...

172

Say one word to him and I'll destroy your dad's stupid guitar.

173

From then on, I strapped the guitar to my back and carried it with me everywhere, even in the bathroom.

174

You're a weirdo.

175

A couple nights later, I watched from the window as Kyle picked Tiffany up for their date.

176

He glanced up at me and I quickly closed the blinds.

177

Kyle still sat next to me in science class.

178

He tried to joke with me, but I ignored him.

179

Hey Jasmine, you want to study later?

180

That's not a good idea.

181

Why not?

182

Please, just leave me alone.

183

I don't understand.

184

What did I do?

185

I closed my locker and walked away.

186

Kyle didn't sit next to me or try to talk to me anymore.

187

He and Tiffany seemed to be getting really close, so it was better that I stayed away.

188

A few weeks later, I was walking to class when I heard a huge commotion in the hallway.

189

It's our two -month anniversary, and you get me this?

190

What's wrong?

191

Please, calm down.

192

Everybody's staring at us.

193

I told you, I wanted a diamond necklace.

194

I thought you were joking.

195

I can't afford a diamond necklace.

196

Wait, are you suggesting you're poor?

197

Why did you look rich to me?

198

You shallow people pretending to be someone you're not.

199

I'm dumping your poor butt.

200

A few weeks later, Tiffany found a new rich boyfriend named Matthew, and she was smitten.

201

She even invited him over for dinner one night, and all he did was brag about all the expensive things he owned.

202

Leslie and Tiffany couldn't get enough.

203

One day, I stayed late after school to study in the library.

204

As I was walking down the hall, I heard someone playing guitar.

205

It was the song my dad used to play when I was a kid.

206

I darted toward the sound.

207

From the window, I saw a man.

208

He was tall with short hair like dad, but I couldn't see his face.

209

You almost scared me to death.

210

Sorry, I thought you were someone else.

211

I didn't know you played guitar.

212

You'd know if you ever talked to me.

213

I'm sorry, I shouldn't have blown you off.

214

I understand.

215

Tiffany never liked the fact that I was friends with you first.

216

So, are you any good or do you just carry that thing around as a fashion statement?

217

I pulled the guitar off my back and started to play.

218

Kyle and I played together, and it was magical.

219

A few days later, we entered a local talent show.

220

We won first prize and took home $1 ,000.

221

Soon, Kyle and I started playing a weekly gig at a popular venue in town.

222

People came from all over to see us.

223

We became popular in school, and we were making good money.

224

I stashed it all away under a loose floorboard in my room.

225

One day during lunch, Kyle and I were in the cafeteria when Tiffany came up to us.

226

Hey, rock star, how about we hang out this weekend no thanks jasmine

227

and i are busy with practice oh my kyle you're

228

so ignorant jasmine would die to please me she won't mind

229

actually i do we have to work on a new song

230

also why would he want to hang out with you fine whatever later

231

that night tiffany barged into my room you stole my boyfriend

232

what boyfriend kyle why are you acting like you have memory loss you broke up with Kyle, and we aren't dating.

233

You won't get away with this.

234

You took something from me, and now I will too.

235

Then Tiffany grabbed my father's guitar and smashed it to pieces.

236

Now we're even.

237

I charged towards Tiffany, and we got into the biggest fight ever.

238

What's going on here?

239

She attacked me, Mom.

240

She's crazy.

241

I'm scared, Mommy.

242

Hug me.

243

She broke my guitar.

244

She stole my boyfriend, and now she's trying to kill me.

245

Let's get a restraining order against her mommy.

246

Jasmine, you've always been jealous of Tiffany and now you've gone too far.

247

No more cell phones, no more music, no more anything.

248

I couldn't stay in that house another minute.

249

So I climbed out the window and ran away and I ended up on Kyle's doorstep.

250

He and his mom were really sympathetic and gave me a room to stay in.

251

But the next morning, when I went home to get my things, the doors were locked and all the furniture was gone, there was no sign of Tiffany and Leslie anywhere.

252

Kyle and I went to talk to the lawyer about my trust fund, but the lawyer's office was boarded up.

253

I asked one of his neighbors where I could find him.

254

He closed his law firm yesterday and moved away.

255

He didn't leave a forwarding address.

256

I was devastated.

257

I had no money and nowhere to go.

258

You can stay with me for as long as you need.

259

I reported Tiffany and Leslie to the police, and a few weeks later they got back to me.

260

This woman who calls herself Leslie, she's a con artist.

261

She's gone from state to state conning single men out of their fortunes.

262

You and your father were her latest victims.

263

And this girl Tiffany is her niece.

264

What about the money she stole?

265

Can I get it back?

266

I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do.

267

I went back to Kyle's house, but I was too depressed to get out of bed.

268

Then one day, I opened my door and found a new guitar resting outside the door.

269

Then, Kyle and I wrote a song.

270

We posted it online, and it went viral.

271

Five years later, we were world famous.

272

We spent all our time together writing songs, performing on tour, and falling in love.

273

The next summer, we were married and moved to a house on the beach.

274

But a few months later, Tiffany showed up on our doorstep in tears.

275

What are you doing here?

276

Leslie and her boyfriend skipped town after conning someone and left me behind.

277

They even took my savings.

278

Leslie's my aunt who raised me since I was a kid

279

and I had no choice but to help her steal money from people.

280

I'm so sorry for what I did to you and your father.

281

I wanted to turn Tiffany away, but she had nowhere to go.

282

I remembered my father's kind spirit, so I helped her to get back on her feet.

283

Tiffany worked with the police to track down Leslie and her boyfriend and they were eventually successful.

284

Leslie landed behind bars for years.

285

Some months later on my birthday, Kyle and Tiffany came home with the biggest smiles.

286

We have a surprise for you.

287

Tiffany and I discovered a lead on your father a while ago.

288

It was a long shot, so we didn't tell you before, but we found something.

289

What did you find?

290

Kyle opened the door.

291

Dad?

292

Yes, honey, it's me.

293

I've missed you so much.

294

Oh God, me too.

295

Where were you all this time?

296

I was on a road trip and I was in an accident.

297

I woke up with no memory, only this.

298

I drew this picture every night, but I never knew who I was drawing or if she was even real.

299

I tried to start a new life, but I knew there was something missing.

300

I had a hole in my heart, but then Kyle and Tiffany found me.

301

They showed me videos of you performing our song, and then all my memories came flooding back.

302

I'm sorry I wasn't there for you all these years.

303

Dad hugged me tight.

304

It was a dream come true.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 304 sentences and 2794 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:32. The speaker talks fast, about 192 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 81% 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
tiffany noun		A kind of gauze, or very thin silk.
kyle noun	/kaɪl/	A narrow arm or channel of the sea between an island and the mainland, or between two islands.
jasmine noun	/ˈd͡ʒæzmɪn/	Any of several plants, of the genus Jasminum, mostly native to Asia, having fragrant white or yellow flowers.
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).
steal verb	/stiːl/	To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.
nowhere adverb	/ˈnoʊ.(h)wɛɹ/	In no place.
poison noun	/ˈpɔɪ.zən/	A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested.
ignore verb	/ɪɡˈnɔː/	To deliberately not listen or pay attention to.
diamond noun	/ˈdaɪ.ə.mənd/	A glimmering glass-like mineral that is an allotrope of carbon in which each atom is surrounded by four others in the form of a tetrahedron.
honey noun	/ˈhʌni/	A sweet, viscous, gold-colored fluid produced from plant nectar by bees, and often consumed by humans.
butt noun	/bʌt/	Body; self.
con verb	/kɑn/	To trick, lie or defraud, usually for personal gain.
imagination noun	/ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/	The image-making power of the mind; the act of mentally creating or reproducing an object not previously perceived; the ability to create such images.
scare verb	/skɛɚ/	To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.
shallow adjective	/ˈʃæloʊ/	Having little depth; significantly less deep than wide.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
calm down verb	To become less excited, intense, or angry.
come up to verb	To approach.
find out verb	To discover, as by asking or investigating.
fix up verb	To provide (someone) with something; to furnish.
get away with verb	To get away, or escape, taking (something) with one.
get back to verb	Return to (an activity)
get out of verb	To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.
go back to verb	To stem from; to originate in.

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was raised · were done · won't be allowed
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	They've been · you've always been · I've missed
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	were talking · wasn't talking · was missing
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group	the biggest · the best · the longest

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 66 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, couldn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: seventh /ˈsɛvənθ/, tooth /tuθ/, sympathetic /ˌsɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: imagination /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/, shallow /ˈʃæloʊ/, massage /məˈsɑ(d)ʒ/, smash /smæʃ/, extraction /ɪkˈstɹækʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: imagination /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/, ridiculous /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/, miserable /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/, sympathetic /ˌsɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/, disappearance /dɪsəˈpɪəɹəns/

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 tiffany, kyle, jasmine.

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: Step Mom Made Dad Hate Me - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?