Shadowing Practice: Surviving Across The Top (NEW ADVENTURE BEGINS) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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G'day guys, we're Strick and Fran

and in this new series we're planning to take our quirky floating home further than ever before.

Hoping to reach the Indonesian archipelago where 17 ,000 islands wait to be explored.

But together we'll first have to sail down the mighty Gulf of Carpentaria, one of the most remote and unexplored parts of Australia.

A wild place where crocodiles and prehistoric creatures still rule the waterways.

Then a cross into Arnhem Land, a land filled with ancient history,

spiritual landscapes, hidden caves and a return to hunting the traditional way.

Oh, you got it!

And then our first international ocean crossing.

So buckle up, this is shaping to be one of our wildest adventures yet.

Holy shit, look at the size of those fish!

What an incredible fish, eh?

Definitely looks like human bones, doesn't it?

Subscribe to the channel to join us for it.

Good morning guys and welcome back to a brand new series.

Brand new series guys, we cannot wait to show you everything to come.

But first of all, this morning you can see behind us the tide is really low and there's dolphins feeding, crocodiles feeding, hopefully that means barramundi feeding.

So before we go anywhere, let's go see if we can catch a fish in here.

And then we're gonna set off and to be honest, we're a little bit nervous about sailing for the first time

since the cyclone All different parts of the boat have been broken

and repaired and we're a little bit nervous But we'll get to that a little bit later.

Let's go catch a fish.

Oh, hello guys!

Ready for me to come on board?

Yeah, jump on.

The engine just coughs on a little bit.

That'll be alright, that'll be alright.

Let's go get some barrels!

Let's do it.

Ready.

There's a fish that lurks up in the murky mangrove waters in northern Australia.

You'll often hear them before you see them.

It sounds like a gunshot as they inhale bait fish off the surface.

And if you're lucky enough to hook a good one, mate, it's absolute chaos.

They jump, they pull like a freight train and they'll do everything they can to brick you back in the snaps.

You can spend all day getting eaten alive by sand flies, sweating your guts out, casting for hours in pretty miserable conditions.

But the second a big barra explodes out of the water, none of that matters anymore.

Because landing one of these fish, that's the kind of memory that sticks with you for life.

I'm using a surface lure that pops along the top.

Fran's using a golden bomber which rattles and twitches just below the surface.

Oh!

Yes!

Oh no!

Shooter, I didn't set the hook properly.

Oh look at all the bait.

Oh there's a barra under it.

Oh Fran, look at this barra under it!

Oh no!

Oh yes!

Oh!

I'd given up on him, I was just winding it in quickly to like get it out and then he went go - Yeah, not quite legal size.

There's definitely some more in there though, Fran, so I'll get the hook out and your turn to have a crack at one of them.

Yep.

Okay, see ya, mate.

Here you go.

Barra jumping everywhere at the moment, this is so exciting.

Oh, there's a bigger one there as well.

The one that you've got to go.

No!

He spat the hook straight back past the camera.

What is he doing with these hooks?

He needed this one.

It's a very similar size to the barra angle.

Whoa!

Eww!

Finally!

This is my first barra of the trip!

He's a nice fish, well done.

Yeah, nice voice.

Good work.

Thank you!

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Oh, there is!

Yes!

Get him!

You almost woke!

Ha ha ha!

Got another one!

Wait, there's a serious amount of fish in there, right?

Wow!

I'll help.

Yee -hoo -hoo!

That's actually garf spraying in there.

There's some bigger ones too, I reckon.

Nice bag.

Big in there.

Oh I need to get the big one though, Fran.

Oh that's the big one there.

The little one.

Whee!

How cool is that, eh?

This would have to be some of the hottest barramundi fishing I've ever had, like 100 metres from our boat.

This is awesome.

Off he goes.

There's some big ones in here.

Let's have another crack.

Oh yes!

That was a huge bull.

Yeah.

100

How good was that?

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He feels like a fish.

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Oh!

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Wow, he just looked at us and smatted out.

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Even the bigger one, eh?

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When they hit it on the surface, so exciting.

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Oh yeah, yes!

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I can't believe this spot!

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This spot is incredible!

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Every cart!

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I've never had parafishing like this, hey?

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This is amazing!

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I thought we might have...

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Oh! jumping out the back this one could be lunch Fran

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look look look yeah you go go you might be too

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small as well you go for try for a double double hook up Fran it's not fighting much double hook up

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spit it did he? yeah catch and release how's that though what an awesome fishing session.

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Catch and release on your one?

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Yeah.

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This one is gonna be lunch.

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It's just big enough for us.

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And it just started raining.

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What a timing.

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Back to Rummy.

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Fish fillets in cubes going straight in the fridge.

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And now we're gonna embrace the rain and go get some coconuts.

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There's a heap of old boats washed in on the beach here, tenders there, a lot of junk.

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I wonder if this is from that recent cyclone or whether it's a bit older.

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Let's have a walk and see what else we can find.

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So have a look at the quartz, the huge stone on the back of the...

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Right next to the boat.

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How good is that?

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It's pretty good, eh?

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Something in the air at the moment.

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The barra absolutely chewing the heads off.

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Packing up is not going to be easy on this trip.

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We have all the toys.

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Surfboards, spear guns, bow and arrows, you name it.

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And all has to go into the hulls.

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Yum, thank you very much, it looks amazing.

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Barra alone wants to eat at the front so No,

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make it full Yum! So good.

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This is the softest fish I bet they had.

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Yeah?

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So soft, it melts in your mouth.

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No, it doesn't get much fresher I suppose.

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I don't think it's the last meal barramundi we'll be having anytime soon.

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There's a few around isn't there?

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Taste?

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Five out of five.

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Five out of five?

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I agree.

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You believe it?

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One out of five today.

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Today, yeah, very easy.

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You're everywhere.

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Alright, I think we're all ready to go.

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How are you feeling?

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Nervous, to be honest.

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I haven't been this nervous since our first sail.

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Obviously, the boat's been to Recycline.

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We've done a bit of work to it, just fingers crossed everything holds.

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At the moment, the sound doesn't want to turn on.

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And it's so shallow.

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Far out, good job.

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Really narrow.

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We're gonna build a guitar.

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Yep.

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We're gonna show a little bit of a piece.

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We're going the right direction now.

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We sort of got all tangled up and had to go the wrong way for a little bit.

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But I think we're all good now.

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There's been a crocodile right here in this spot.

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That has been watching us every night having a shower.

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Excited?

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Yeah, I'm very excited.

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It's perfect conditions.

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It's quiet, not quiet, it's quiet and there's wind.

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Alright, so far so good.

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Touch wood, but everything's running well, motor's running well.

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It's now time to put the sails up.

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This is what we're most nervous about.

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Let's see how we go.

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Alright, wait up, I'm winching on.

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Watch your head.

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The mast is moving too much.

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Yeah, we're going to come down.

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We're going to loosen the jib sheet.

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Oh wow, that was a bit of a bummer but we're sailing.

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The engine is off, the jib is off and we're doing 3 .4 knots and there's a big stall coming.

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You alright Danny, watch out here?

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Yeah.

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I'm gonna go learn some Spanish.

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Nice, good luck.

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I've been doing my Spanish with Rosetta Stone.

195

I recently went on a surf trip with some friends in Nicaragua

196

while Jack was filming with his mate and I hurt myself twisting my ankle on a wave.

197

If it wasn't for Rosetta Stone I would have been completely lost at the hospital

198

and that's what we love about Rosetta Stone is that it's immersive

199

so it recreates real life situations and you're not just learning words

200

but you learning how to communicate on a practical point of view.

201

It covers a wide variety of everyday conversations from home to health to dining out.

202

So you can build language skills that you'll truly use.

203

For example, Jack has been doing his Italian to speak with my family for a

204

while now and he's getting so much better.

205

Più vino per favore.

206

It really swears by it.

207

Another thing is that it's super convenient so you can do 10 minutes

208

while sailing or while you wait for the squall to pass,

209

before bed, on the bathroom or even when you wake up instead of scrolling on Instagram.

210

We know that a lot of you like to travel and meeting people all over the world.

211

If you're learning even a little bit of the local language, it will allow for a more authentic travel experience.

212

The locals will welcome you in instead of treating you like a complete tourist.

213

And we got good news for you guys.

214

Rosetta Stone is offering a massive discount to all of you.

215

So you can scan the QR code or click the link in the description to start learning now.

216

I'm sure you'll find it as useful as we did.

217

Cheers.

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Yeah, we've definitely got a fish.

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No, no, we don't need to drop the sail.

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It's only a little one.

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What do you reckon it is?

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I don't know.

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We're going over pretty shallow, so it could be anything.

224

I was hoping for a finger mark, but it, uh, it's a mackerel.

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Hey!

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Look at the crazy set of sharp teeth he's got, eh?

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But we'll let this guy go. in hope.

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We can only really catch one fish a day for dinner, hey, so let's try and make that a barramundi or a finger mark.

229

Oh, did you hear the thunder?

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Holy moly.

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Hopefully we can stay ahead of it.

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Land ahoy! Are you ready?

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Ready!

234

Oh, it's nice to be back out here.

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This is going to be Anchorage for at least the night.

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It's pretty incredible, hey?

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Those really dramatic red cliffs behind us under this bluey green water.

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But we do have one issue.

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This was a shakedown trip, and unfortunately there's an issue with the mast.

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It just, when we tried to get the sail up, it was flapping around like that, which it's not meant to do.

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So we've got a bit of work to do

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and I'm a little bit nervous about that but anyway it's a nice spot to be doing some boat jobs.

243

All right there's something really cool happening at the moment.

244

I was flying the drone as we anchored and there's dolphin mating in the shallow, real shallow.

245

There's modular race, there's eagle race, there's tony and lemon sharks feeding on the rocks

246

and the most exciting part but Jeff will tell you that one because he's very excited about that.

247

I can't believe it what you spotted on the drone Fran.

248

You're like what are all these fish?

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I'm like I think they're all barramundi.

250

No we've never seen schools of barramundi like this and they're just literally like sitting in potholes in the shallows.

251

It's incredible.

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How many you reckon?

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You wouldn't believe it if someone told it to you at the pub.

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It'd be like in each pothole there might be like 20 fish I think

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and so like a hundredths of barrel it's crazy

256

but there's only gonna be there while the tide is at this exact height

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so we're gonna get in the tent and race down and see if we can see if we can catch one

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couple camera gear how excited are you from one to ten

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oh definitely a ten you got all the weapons yeah yeah

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very very excited like we've been droning for years looking for

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barrel money I've never never seen anything even closer like this this is amazing what's going on here

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all right i'll draw a new calf what i'm thinking what are you thinking

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if we hook a fish straight away it'll spook

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that entire like pothole of fish

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so i'm going to throw out a lure with no hooks on

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if we can capture these bara feeding in the shallows like a couple of boofs it would just be

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absolutely incredible so we'll do that first and see

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if we can get a bit of action on camera

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and then we'll try catch one what do you reckon sounds good

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so they're literally just potholes like this all right going three two one

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Oh, two of them.

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Again, three.

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Another one.

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They're still going it, Fran.

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How cool was that?

276

Go down the middle.

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Oh just here!

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Going.

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Oh yes!

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He just spat it straight back at me.

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Oh right on the heat's head.

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They're chasing it, they're chasing it.

283

Oh.

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Oh yes, yes, woohoohoo.

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Yes we go up, no. No he's spout the hooks again right there.

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Oh, one hit it.

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Come on.

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Yes.

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Oh, big.

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Yes.

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Woohoo.

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Yes.

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Yes, he jumped all the way in.

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Woohoo.

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He jumped.

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What a beauty.

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That's what they're doing.

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They're just sitting in these potholes like that.

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yeah we got him in the shallow pool yeah and

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that is exactly what they look like on the drone just

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sitting in these shallow little pools harassing any bait fish amazing eh That is just incredible.

302

We've seen about a hundred at least of these fish right in the shallows there.

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Watching him smash that popper over and over again.

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I think he was fighting for it over with a couple of others.

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And that is just amazing.

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It doesn't get any better for land -based fishing in Australia than that.

307

I'm on!

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Woohoo!

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Nice work, Frank.

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Get him in!

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In the city!

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Great job.

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Yeah.

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Look at that.

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Woo!

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Oh, catch and relief!

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Bye!

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Nice work.

319

Well done.

320

Got one for dinner eh?

321

Ah, ah, ah, get it off.

322

It's just the weight.

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No, no, it wasn't the spike, so it was just the weight for some reason.

324

It was getting me on a weird angle.

325

Mission success.

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So we actually weren't sure we could catch something for dinner tonight, So I got some steak that needs to be eaten

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and then one is going to fridge for tonight It only

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leaves like with one meal of steak as a bit of a treat

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and I think it needs to be eaten tonight So Mr. Barra can be on tomorrow night's menu

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What a treat steak Bon Appetit.

331

See you in the morning Morning.

332

Still all wet.

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There's a big storm coming Fran That looks nasty This is potentially a pretty nasty one

334

Nice being out here Fran, but I don't miss these moments

335

Where you like just hanging on with the boating gear hoping

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that the anchor line doesn't drag and you end up on the rocks Just okay,

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we're gonna drag anchor just in case

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so normally where you want to anchor is Like to have some land protecting you

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which is what we've got the wind is normally coming

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that way But this storms come through and it's straight onshore So if our anchor gives way, we drag, we're going to end up on the rocks.

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So this start at the end is just in case.

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There's a bit of wind in this as well.

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Oh, that's fouling.

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It's pretty nasty, this one.

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It's scary.

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Yeah.

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It's scary.

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Anything out there at the moment can breathe a little sigh of relief.

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Looks like the worst of it has gone.

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But man, it was a pretty tense hour or so.

351

You forget about all these dodgy times.

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You just kind of remember the good times.

353

But yeah, a bit of a wake -up call and a reminder.

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We always need to be onto it.

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Alright, the storm has passed.

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We're going ashore to stretch our legs.

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We've been inside working all day and outside in the rain.

358

We're right.

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That's right.

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It's been pretty full on.

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Let's go and explore.

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It almost looks like there's a couple of swimming holes that might have some fresh water there that run down the beach.

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Let's go have a look.

364

Water in the tender?

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Yeah.

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We just spotted something really cool.

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There's a waterfall traveling off the cliff.

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It's going to be a bit hard to anchor.

369

As we get closer there's actually water coming off everywhere on the cliff.

370

Wow you can hear it.

371

All this water around us is like that bright red color of the walk side.

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Yeah.

373

How cool is that?

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Water falls through the red cliffs.

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We go and have a fresh water shower.

376

Yeah Watch out there's a couple of rocks sinking out.

377

That's awesome there must be like a swamp or a billabong

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or some kind of a body of water up the top and then it just flushes through the red rocks like that.

379

Yeah so murky you can't see anything.

380

There's a crazy amount of rubbish here.

381

I was not expecting it.

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Look at all the plastic, there'd be hundreds if not thousands of plastic water bottles just in this section,

383

all sorts of trash, but maybe in amongst it there might be something like a glass bubble or a treasure for it.

384

Out of a different planet, hey?

385

It looks like Mars.

386

It does look like Mars.

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Wow, this massive shell.

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You think a croc tried to eat it?

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Something has crunched it, haven't they?

390

I think so.

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It's pretty cool.

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It's very big.

393

Nice find, in amongst all the rubbish.

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Not the best idea with my ankle like that.

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It's really hot.

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I'm waiting for it to come back up.

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Isn't it quite eerie?

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There's like a four -meter crocodile.

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We can't see them, we can't see them.

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They're so sneaky.

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When they don't want to be seen, they're just, yeah, you want to see them.

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They're just along the bank here.

403

Jack what are you up to?

404

Just taking the guts out of this barramundi.

405

Getting them ready for the fire.

406

There's a perfect bed of cold there now for this barramundi.

407

Move them over.

408

Alrighty, here we go.

409

Cheers!

410

Mmm yum it's actually cooked to perfection isn't it?

411

Yeah oh good the chippy.

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That's probably the chippy.

413

Mmm this is one of the better beach kitchens we've had.

414

Bloody beautiful eh?

415

Crocodiles out the front, hammerheads, sharks, oh there's maybe a dugong or turtles.

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See that look look look.

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Oh that's the hammerhead.

418

That's the hammerhead.

419

That's the hammerhead.

420

How was that right when I was talking about him?

421

The hammerhead, he just popped up.

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138 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 421 sentences and 3250 words to shadow. The speech runs for 28:07. The speaker talks at a steady 116 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% 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

15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

hook /hʊk/ (noun) — A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment.
shallow /ˈʃæloʊ/ (adjective) — Having little depth; significantly less deep than wide.
sail /seɪl/ (noun) — A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination…
anchor /ˈæŋ.kəː/ (noun) — A tool used to moor a vessel to the bottom of a sea or river to resist movement.
cliff /klɪf/ (noun) — A vertical (or nearly vertical) rock face.
drone /dɹoʊn/ (noun) — A male hymenopteran (ant, bee, hornet, or wasp), whose sole primary function is to mate with the queen.
reckon /ˈɹɛkən/ (verb) — To count; to enumerate; to number; also, to compute; to calculate.
dragon /ˈdɹæɡən/ (noun) — In European mythologies, a gigantic beast, typically reptilian with leathery bat-like wings, lion-like claws, scaly skin and a lizard-like body, often a…
nasty /ˈnæs.ti/ (adjective) — Dirty, filthy.
barrel /ˈbæɹəl/ (noun) — A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends…
steak /steɪk/ (noun) — Beefsteak: a slice of beef, broiled or cut for broiling.
bait /beɪt/ (noun) — Any substance, especially food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap, or net.
spit /spɪt/ (verb) — To evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.
finger /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ (noun) — A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…
meal /ˈmiːl/ (noun) — Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

look at (verb) — To observe or watch.
sit in (verb) — To attend a class, educational presentation, meeting, etc. for one time, as a visitor.
come on /ˌkʌm ˈɒn/ — Come along with me; join me in going.
hook up (verb) — To assemble the parts of a mechanism, especially by connecting wires.
wake up /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ (verb) — To stop sleeping; to awake.
watch out — Used to warn someone of an imminent danger.
back in (verb) — To reverse a vehicle into a space.
back out (verb) — To reverse (a vehicle) from a confined space.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 116 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, I'm, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, thunder /ˈθʌndɚ/, authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shallow /ˈʃæloʊ/, rubbish /ˈɹʌbɪʃ/, sharp /ʃɑɹp/, wash /wɑʃ/, capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/
Long words — get the stress right: potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/, miserable /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/, barramundi /ˌbæɹəˈmʌndi/, archipelago /ˌɑɹkəˈpɛləˌɡoʊ/

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 hook, shallow, sail.

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	has been watching · I've been doing · has been doing
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have been broken · I've ever had · I've never had
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	be explored · have been broken · be eaten
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	was just winding · was filming · was hoping

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: Surviving Across The Top (NEW ADVENTURE BEGINS) - 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

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?