Shadowing Practice: Tactics for Listening Third Edition Developing Unit 8 Mishaps - Learn English Speaking with Video
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380 sentences
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1
Listening one.
2
One.
3
I just walked in and there's water everywhere.
4
Calm down.
5
What seems to be the problem?
6
I don't know.
7
I've been out all day and now there's water everywhere.
8
Did you leave the sink running?
9
No. Oh, wait a minute.
10
I think it's the dishwasher.
11
It must be broken.
12
I turned it on this morning before I left, and now the kitchen is flooded.
13
Two.
14
Hello, Amy.
15
It's Mark.
16
Hi, Mark.
17
Are you on your way?
18
Yes, but I'm calling because I'm going to be late.
19
Did you get lost?
20
No, but I missed the six o 'clock train.
21
I'll have to catch the next one.
22
That's okay.
23
Thanks for calling.
24
Three.
25
Oh, no. The entire bathroom is flooded.
26
Did you leave the water running or something?
27
No, I never do that.
28
I don't know what happened.
29
Wait a minute.
30
Do you feel that?
31
Yes, there's water dripping from the ceiling.
32
Look.
33
I guess the upstairs neighbors left the water running in their bathroom.
34
Now ours is flooded.
35
We better call the manager, quick.
36
4. Hey, can you help me?
37
I've got a 10 o 'clock appointment, and I think I'm going to be a little late.
38
Did you get lost?
39
I'm afraid so.
40
Where are you?
41
I'm just opposite the new train station.
42
According to my map, there's a street that goes right through it.
43
Yes, there used to be.
44
Now you have to go down to Main Street and take a right, and then another right.
45
Oh, okay, thanks.
46
I'll be there in a little while.
47
Five.
48
Hello, this is Robert Baldwin.
49
Yes, Robert, what can I do for you?
50
I'm calling because I'm going to be late.
51
Did you get lost?
52
No, I've got a flat tire.
53
I'm going to have to call a tow truck.
54
Well, why don't we just reschedule the appointment?
55
Okay, I guess we'll have to.
56
6. Listening to One Uh -oh.
57
I just spilled some tomato sauce on the rug.
58
What?
59
You spilled tomato juice on the floor?
60
No, on the rug.
61
Tomato sauce.
62
Now there's a stain.
63
Oh, I have the best solution for that.
64
Really?
65
Just pour soda on it.
66
Soda?
67
That sounds crazy.
68
I'm serious.
69
Pour plain soda on it.
70
Don't you think plain water will work?
71
Trust me.
72
Soda is the best thing.
73
I've seen it work.
74
Okay.
75
I'll try it.
76
Two.
77
I need your advice.
78
What's the matter?
79
Lisa invited me over for tea yesterday.
80
When we finished, I was carrying this heavy teapot in a tray, and I slipped.
81
Oh, no. Did you spill tea on your clothes?
82
No, worse.
83
I dropped the tray, and Lisa's teapot broke into little pieces.
84
It was her favorite teapot, and it looked expensive.
85
Well, if I were you, I would offer to buy her a new one.
86
You don't think an apology is enough?
87
No, you should at least offer to buy her a new one.
88
You're right.
89
That's the best thing to do.
90
Three.
91
Oh no, I've got a stain on my new shirt.
92
What should I do?
93
Is it a food stain?
94
No, unfortunately it's ink.
95
Ink?
96
That's very tricky.
97
Should I just put some water on it?
98
Hmm, let me look it up on the internet.
99
Here it is.
100
For ink, use plain soda.
101
It will lift the stain right out.
102
That doesn't sound right to me.
103
I'm sure this is right.
104
Let's try it.
105
No way.
106
I'm not going to do an experiment on my best shirt.
107
I'm going to take it to the dry cleaner.
108
Four.
109
Remember that jacket my aunt gave me for my birthday?
110
Sure.
111
The one you lost at the theater?
112
No. The one I spilled coffee all over.
113
Oh, yeah.
114
It was ruined.
115
Yes.
116
Anyway, she's invited me to dinner.
117
I'm afraid if I don't wear the jacket, her feelings will be hurt.
118
You should just buy a new one exactly like it.
119
Gee, I don't know.
120
That sounds expensive.
121
But you don't want to offend your aunt, do you?
122
No. But she's very understanding.
123
I'll just show up without it.
124
If she says anything, I'll tell her the truth.
125
The truth is always the best.
126
Five.
127
Uh -oh.
128
What happened?
129
I can't find my wallet.
130
Whenever I sit in a theater, things fall out of my pockets.
131
Oh, wait a minute.
132
There it is.
133
But my keys are missing.
134
Oh, great.
135
How will we get back into the house?
136
Well, we could go back to the theater and try to find them.
137
But the theater is closed.
138
It's past midnight.
139
Well, I guess we'll have to call a locksmith.
140
Is there such a thing as a 24 -hour locksmith?
141
I'm sure there is.
142
I'll look one up on my phone.
143
Why are you stopping?
144
Is there something wrong with the car?
145
No, the car is fine, but we're lost.
146
What should we do?
147
I don't know.
148
I've got it.
149
You wait here.
150
What are you doing?
151
I'm going to ask someone for directions.
152
But there's no one around here.
153
It's completely deserted.
154
In fact, it looks kind of dangerous.
155
Do you have a better idea?
156
Yes.
157
Let's just call the restaurant and ask them how to get there.
158
That makes sense.
159
Listening to 1 Uh -oh.
160
I just spilled some tomato sauce on the rug.
161
What?
162
You spilled tomato juice on the floor?
163
No, on the rug.
164
Tomato sauce.
165
Now there's a stain.
166
Oh, I have the best solution for that.
167
Really?
168
Just pour soda on it.
169
Soda?
170
That sounds crazy.
171
I'm serious.
172
Pour plain soda on it.
173
Don't you think plain water will work?
174
Trust me.
175
Soda is the best thing.
176
I've seen it work.
177
Okay.
178
I'll try it.
179
Two.
180
I need your advice.
181
What's the matter?
182
Lisa invited me over for tea yesterday.
183
When we finished, I was carrying this heavy teapot and a tray, and I slipped.
184
Oh, no. Did you spill tea on your clothes?
185
No, worse.
186
I dropped the tray, and Lisa's teapot broke into little pieces.
187
It was her favorite teapot, and it looked expensive.
188
Well, if I were you, I would offer to buy her a new one.
189
You don't think an apology is enough?
190
No, you should at least offer to buy her a new one.
191
You're right.
192
That's the best thing to do.
193
Three.
194
Oh, no. I've got a stain on my new shirt.
195
What should I do?
196
Is it a food stain?
197
No, unfortunately, it's ink.
198
Ink?
199
That's very tricky.
200
Should I just put some water on it?
201
Hmm.
202
Let me look it up on the Internet.
203
Here it is.
204
For ink, use plain soda.
205
It will lift the stain right out.
206
That doesn't sound right to me.
207
I'm sure this is right.
208
Let's try it.
209
No way.
210
I'm not going to do an experiment on my best shirt.
211
I'm going to take it to the dry cleaner.
212
Four.
213
Remember that jacket my aunt gave me for my birthday?
214
Sure.
215
The one you lost at the theater?
216
No. The one I spilled coffee all over.
217
Oh, yeah.
218
It was ruined.
219
Yes.
220
Anyway, she's invited me to dinner.
221
I'm afraid if I don't wear the jacket, her feelings will be hurt.
222
You should just buy a new one exactly like it.
223
Gee, I don't know.
224
That sounds expensive.
225
But you don't want to offend your aunt, do you?
226
No, but she's very understanding.
227
I'll just show up without it.
228
If she says anything, I'll tell her the truth.
229
The truth is always the best.
230
Five.
231
Uh -oh.
232
What happened?
233
I can't find my wallet.
234
Whenever I sit in a theater, things fall out of my pockets.
235
Oh, wait a minute.
236
There it is.
237
But my keys are missing.
238
Oh, great.
239
How will we get back into the house?
240
Well, we could go back to the theater and try to find them.
241
But the theater is closed.
242
It's past midnight.
243
Well, I guess we'll have to call a locksmith.
244
Is there such a thing as a 24 -hour locksmith?
245
I'm sure there is.
246
I'll look one up on my phone.
247
Six.
248
Why are you stopping?
249
Is there something wrong with the car?
250
No, the car is fine, but we're lost.
251
What should we do?
252
I don't know.
253
I've got it.
254
You wait here.
255
What are you doing?
256
I'm going to ask someone for directions.
257
But there's no one around here.
258
It's completely deserted.
259
In fact, it looks kind of dangerous.
260
Do you have a better idea?
261
Yes.
262
Let's just call the restaurant and ask them how to get there.
263
That makes sense.
264
Listening 3 1.
265
I had the worst thing happen to me this morning.
266
I was running to catch the bus and I was talking on my cell phone at the same time.
267
Anyway, it was raining hard and just as I got to the bus stop, I dropped my phone in a gigantic puddle.
268
Some nice man helped me find it.
269
It was completely soaked.
270
The man told me to take the battery out and let all the parts dry out during the day.
271
It sounded like a good idea, so I tried it.
272
I put the battery back this afternoon and tried to make a call, but it doesn't work at all.
273
Now I'll have to go to the phone store and get a new one.
274
2. I had quite a mishap last night.
275
I got home from my office really late, about 11pm.
276
I reached in my pocket for my keys.
277
My phone was there, but no keys.
278
I was locked out of my apartment.
279
Then I remembered that I left my keys on the checkout counter at the grocery store at lunchtime.
280
But it was too late to go back there.
281
My apartment manager has an emergency number, but she charges a fee if you get locked out at night.
282
I decided to call anyway.
283
She came over and let me in.
284
She was pretty nice about it, but as soon as I get my key back,
285
I'm going to make a copy and give it to a neighbour.
286
3. I had a little problem this morning.
287
I was in my boss's office.
288
As I was heading back to my own office, I accidentally knocked some things off her desk onto the floor.
289
I was horrified.
290
She had a picture of her kids on her desk.
291
I was afraid that I broke it.
292
Actually, the picture was fine, but I knocked her coffee cup over.
293
There was coffee on her rug.
294
She said not to worry about it.
295
She was going to call someone to clean the rug at the end of the day,
296
but I ran into the kitchen and got some plain soda.
297
It worked perfectly.
298
The stain is completely gone.
299
Now my boss doesn't have to call a rug cleaner.
300
Four.
301
I got some ink on my new shirt at work yesterday.
302
At first, I thought it was just some food I spilled at lunchtime, but then I realized it was ink from a leaky pen.
303
I just bought that shirt last week.
304
Anyway, I called my friend Lisa.
305
She told me to put some plain soda on it and then wash it in cold water.
306
I thought I should take it to the dry cleaner, but she said this would work.
307
It sounded like a cheaper solution too, so I poured some soda on it and threw it in the washing machine.
308
When I took it out, the stain was still there.
309
In fact, it looked worse.
310
Now I'm going to have to buy a new shirt.
311
Listening 3 1.
312
I had the worst thing happen to me this morning.
313
I was running to catch the bus and I was talking on my cell phone at the same time.
314
Anyway, it was raining hard and just
315
Just as I got to the bus stop, I dropped my phone in a gigantic puddle.
316
Some nice man helped me find it.
317
It was completely soaked.
318
The man told me to take the battery out and let all the parts dry out during the day.
319
It sounded like a good idea, so I tried it.
320
I put the battery back this afternoon and tried to make a call, but it doesn't work at all.
321
Now I'll have to go to the phone store and get a new one.
322
2. I had quite a mishap last night.
323
I got home from my office really late, about 11pm.
324
I reached in my pocket for my keys.
325
My phone was there, but no keys.
326
I was locked out of my apartment.
327
Then I remembered that I left my keys on the checkout counter at the grocery store at lunchtime.
328
But it was too late to go back there.
329
My apartment manager has an emergency number, but she charges a fee if you get locked out at night.
330
I decided to call anyway.
331
She came over and let me in.
332
She was pretty nice about it, but as soon as I get my key back,
333
I'm going to make a copy and give it to a neighbour.
334
3. I had a little problem this morning.
335
I was in my boss's office.
336
As I was heading back to my own office, I accidentally knocked some things off her desk onto the floor.
337
I was horrified.
338
She had a picture of her kids on her desk.
339
I was afraid that I broke it.
340
Actually, the picture was fine, but I knocked her coffee cup over.
341
There was coffee on her rug.
342
She said not to worry about it.
343
She was going to call someone to clean the rug at the end of the day,
344
but I ran into the kitchen and got some plain soda.
345
It worked perfectly.
346
The stain is completely gone.
347
Now my boss doesn't have to call a rug cleaner.
348
4. I got some ink on my new shirt at work yesterday.
349
At first, I thought it was just some food I spilled at lunchtime, but then I realized it was ink from a leaky pen.
350
I just bought that shirt last week.
351
Anyway, I called my friend Lisa.
352
She told me to put some plain soda on it and then wash it in cold water.
353
I thought I should take it to the dry cleaner, but she said this would work.
354
It sounded like a cheaper solution too, so I poured some soda on it and threw it in the washing machine.
355
When I took it out, the stain was still there.
356
In fact, it looked worse.
357
Now, I'm going to have to buy a new shirt.
358
Pronunciation 1.
359
Did you call a plumber?
360
2. Did you try pouring plain soda on it?
361
3. Did you offer to replace it?
362
4. Did you call a locksmith?
363
5. Did you take it to the dry cleaners?
364
6. Did you buy a new one?
365
Dictation.
366
I heard you had a terrible mishap yesterday.
367
What happened?
368
I slipped on the steps.
369
I dropped my phone and my cup of coffee.
370
Wow.
371
Did you break your phone?
372
Yes, but I got a new one.
373
What happened to the coffee?
374
Did you spill it?
375
Yes.
376
Now I have a stain on my new pants.
377
Did you take them to the dry cleaners?
378
Yes.
379
I hope the stain comes out.
380
Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Tactics for Listening Third Edition Developing Unit 8 Mishaps”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: soda, stain, plain, rug, ink. This video has 380 sentences and 2541 words to shadow. The speech runs for 18:16. The speaker talks at a steady 139 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 69 of its 380 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 |
|---|---|---|
| soda noun | /ˈsoʊdə/ | Sodium bicarbonate. |
| stain noun | /steɪn/ | A discolored spot or area caused by spillage or other contact with certain fluids or substances. |
| plain noun | /pleɪn/ | An expanse of land with relatively low relief and few trees, especially a grassy expanse. |
| spill verb | /spɪl/ | To drop something so that it spreads out or makes a mess; to accidentally pour. |
| theater noun | /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/ | A place or building, consisting of a stage and seating, in which an audience gathers to watch plays, musical performances, public ceremonies, and so on. |
| pour verb | /poɹ/ | To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it. |
| tomato noun | /təˈmeɪ.toʊ/ | A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit. |
| pocket noun | /ˈpɑ.kɪt/ | A bag stitched to an item of clothing, used for carrying small items. |
| desk noun | /dɛsk/ | A table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a… |
| knock verb | /nɑk/ | To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood. |
| jacket noun | /ˈd͡ʒæk.ɪt/ | A piece of clothing worn on the upper body outside a shirt or blouse, often waist length to thigh length. |
| invite verb | /ɪnˈvaɪt/ | To ask for the presence or participation of someone or something. |
| aunt noun | /ɑːnt/ | The sister or sister-in-law of one’s parent. |
| tray noun | /tɹeɪ/ | A small, typically rectangular or round, flat, and rigid object upon which things are carried. |
| flood noun | /flʌd/ | An overflow of a large amount of water (usually disastrous) from a lake or other body of water due to excessive rainfall or other input of water. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come over verb | To affect in a sudden, unprecedented or surprising manner; to overwhelm a person's ordinarily contrary impulse. | |
| dry out verb | To cause moisture to be completely removed from; to make dry. | |
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. | |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. | |
| calm down verb | To become less excited, intense, or angry. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Did you leave the sink running?
- Are you on your way?
- Did you leave the water running or something?
- Don't you think plain water will work?
- You don't think an apology is enough?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if I were you, I would offer · If she says anything, I'll tell |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | must be broken · is flooded · was ruined |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've been · I've seen |
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should at · should I do · Should I just put |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 77 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: theater /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/, cloth /klɒθ/, locksmith /ˈlɑksmɪθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: wash /wɑʃ/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, dictation /dɪkˈteɪʃən/, dishwasher /ˈdɪʃˌwɑʃɚ/
- Long words — get the stress right: experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, accidentally /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛnt(ə)li/, apology /əˈpɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
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 soda, stain, plain.
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.