Shadowing Practice: Tate McRae Talks Ghosts, First Kiss, & Emo Phase | W Magazine - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
113 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Do you believe in ghosts?
2
Yes.
3
People always make fun of me because whenever they have a sleepover with me,
4
I'll be in bed and at some point in the night there's a hundred percent chance that I will wake up screaming,
5
run around the room, something will be in the room.
6
I will always pick up on the ghost that is there.
7
In my dreams, kind of like I'll wake up and I'll see a guy in the corner.
8
He like banged his head and then I'll be like, we need to save him, we need to save him.
9
Then I'll wake up the next morning and everyone's like, you were crazy last night.
10
And then we search it up and it's like 30 year old man died in room, blah, blah, blah.
11
And I'm in that room.
12
It's happened to me so many times.
13
I don't think they're mean.
14
I usually am pretty scared of them.
15
One of the things on my rider
16
now is they have to scrub the internet for the word haunted beside any place
17
that we go to because they will come visit me in my sleep. So.
18
I started dancing when I was six.
19
My mom was my dance coach my whole life.
20
My mom is one of the scariest people to walk into the room during rehearsals, for sure.
21
Honestly, my mom would just be like, tell a story and perform from your heart.
22
And she was my biggest motivator.
23
I loved her.
24
Were you always this ridiculously limber?
25
No, I was actually pretty stiff when I was younger.
26
And then when I was seven, I made a bet that I would get all my splits.
27
And then I did.
28
I also worked with this really intense Russian rhythmic gymnastics coach.
29
She would make me sit on two chairs,
30
one leg on one chair and then one leg on the other and she would like sit on my knees.
31
It was crazy.
32
I was definitely a theater kid.
33
Dancing was the only place I really felt understood.
34
You can see it all over the internet.
35
I have way too many videos of me at musical theater competitions, me trying out for Broadway shows.
36
I did everything on the planet and I had a YouTube channel with all of them.
37
I was really intense.
38
I would get to the competitions two hours early.
39
I'd have like an abs set, a squat set.
40
I was like eight years old.
41
And what were your costumes?
42
They were kind of ugly because me and my mom were designing them, so they were always a little ugly.
43
But I didn't really get too nervous.
44
Stages don't really freak me out.
45
Did you go up to auditioning for So You Think You Can Dance?
46
I did.
47
I was 11 or 12 years old, and I had to get an O1 visa to go audition.
48
I was in this long yellow dress, and I did this really emotional violin orchestra piece, and it was really intense.
49
What posters did you have in your room growing up?
50
I didn't have any posters.
51
For a while, I went through a really emo phase.
52
I would write everything on my wall, be like, nobody understands me.
53
It was actually like the most embarrassing high school thing I could have done
54
because then we would have people over and then they would see this wall.
55
It was a phase.
56
I loved to play dress up when I was younger.
57
I would always come downstairs and have my mom's pearls and like a beret and like wings on.
58
Every single Halloween, I would be seven different characters mixed into one.
59
When I was three, my mom wanted me to be Bam Bam from The Flintstones.
60
I had bone in my head and then I said I also want to be a cowboy and a fairy.
61
So then I had cowboy boots on, fairy wings, pearls.
62
My mom was like, you are too and you look like a hooker.
63
I was literally like, had her lipstick on, her makeup on, it was crazy.
64
Who was your cinematic or movie or TV crush when you were growing up?
65
It used to be Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can specifically.
66
I love him in Titanic too.
67
Have I ever crashed a party?
68
I've definitely crashed a party when I was younger.
69
I went to the same school as my brother.
70
I was just like, get me into your parties.
71
I just want to be your friend.
72
I was like, you're not my friend.
73
It was a time with lots of friction between us.
74
I would just try to get in anywhere he was.
75
I'd be like, why are you here?
76
Do you have any good scars?
77
I have one scar on my foot, on like the side of my foot.
78
Wow, I've literally never talked about this before.
79
I got cut by coral when I was five.
80
It has stayed with me my whole life.
81
I used to live in the Middle East, so we were swimming in the ocean.
82
I thought I got bit by a shark.
83
I'm like the most dramatic person ever.
84
I'm like, Mom, a shark got me.
85
It's like the smallest little scar.
86
My dad's like running in to save me.
87
Where was your first kiss?
88
My first kiss was on a couch with my first boyfriend in his living room.
89
It was crazy.
90
I remember explaining to my friends, like you will never experience this feeling in your life.
91
It's the craziest rush of emotions.
92
They're like, girl, you're the last one to kiss out of our friend group.
93
Maybe it just made it really amazing in my head.
94
Did you stay together after the first kiss?
95
Yeah, for a year and a half.
96
It was very cute.
97
What was the best event on your birthday?
98
I was always competing on my birthday.
99
When I was younger, because I have the same birthday as Canada,
100
so I'd be like, walk outside and see all the fireworks and be like, for me?
101
My dad's like, Jesus, we're raising a diva.
102
But I'd be like, I can't believe he did all this for me.
103
And they're like, it's Canada.
104
Do you do karaoke?
105
When I was like eight years old, I did karaoke.
106
Grenade by Bruno Mars.
107
It's literally like the best song ever.
108
It's not your usual eight -year -old song.
109
Definitely not.
110
No, I was an emotional child.
111
I was that kid that every Friday would pull on my mom's laptop, photo booth it, karaoke for like six hours.
112
Oh yeah, every karaoke song I'd be like in front of the laptop.
113
Today's the day that I'm going to become famous.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
B21
Charli xcx On Her First Kiss & Grammys Plans | W Magazine
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
Rachel Sennott on ‘I Love LA’ and the Ghosts of Chateau Marmont | W Magazine
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
Angelina Jolie Will Always Land on Her Feet | W Magazine
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
Addison Rae Talks Pet Peeves and Loving ‘The Girls Next Door’ | W Magazine
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
Taylor Russell on Being a Night Owl and Fangirling Over Zadie Smith | W Magazine
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
Cara Delevingne On Being Naked, Her Foot Tattoo, and Crush on Brangelina | Screen Tests | W Magazine
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B25
Rosamund Pike on James Bond, Jack Reacher, and Patrick Dempsey | Screen Tests | W Magazine
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B214
Emma Watson Chats About Julia Roberts, Harry Potter, and The Bling Ring | Screen Tests | W Magazine
Interview EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B22
Brad Pitt on His First Kiss, What He Wore to Prom, and His Early Days as an Extra | W Magazine
TeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B21
Robert Pattinson Chats About Twilight, Harry Potter, and His First Kiss | Screen Tests | W Magazine
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B24
Zendaya Is a Virgo, Through and Through | W Magazine
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone Have a Lot in Common | W Magazine
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B12
80 sentences
behind the scenes of my halloween photo shoot | get ready with me
TeensDaily Conversation
B11
309 sentences
IVE Tries Not To Sing or Dance To IVE Songs!
TeensDaily Conversation
B11
215 sentences
Olivia Rodrigo Answers The Web's Most Searched Questions | WIRED
TeensDaily Conversation
B2167 sentences
Does Tate McRae Know Her Lyrics?
TeensDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
186 sentences
Heated Rivalry's Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams Answer Rapid-Fire Questions | Cosmo Goes Deep
TeensDaily Conversation
B15
10 sentences
Taylor Swift’s fall speech!! (I worked SO hard on this!!) #fall #leaves #swiftiesforever #spooky
TeensDaily Conversation
B1346 sentences
Britney Spears' First Appearance on The Ellen Show (Full Interview) (Season 1)
TeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B21
213 sentences
Adéla Sings Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus & More | Teen Vogue
TeensDaily Conversation
B12
339 sentences
Girl Is ALWAYS Getting PICKED On At SCHOOL, They Live To Regret It | LOVE XO
TeensDaily Conversation
B2169 sentences
Having a "Weird" Phase...
TeensDaily Conversation
B13
107 sentences
Answering Your Questions! | HAILEY RHODE BIEBER
American AccentTeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B27
162 sentences
Jenna Ortega Creates a Sculpture of Herself | Vanity Fair
TeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Tate McRae Talks Ghosts, First Kiss, & Emo Phase”. This video has 113 sentences and 1129 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:55. The speaker talks fast, about 230 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 |
|---|---|---|
| intense adjective | /ɪnˈtɛns/ | Of a characteristic: extreme or very high or strong in degree; severe; also, excessive, towering. |
| scar noun | /skɑɹ/ | A permanent mark on the skin, sometimes caused by the healing of a wound. |
| ghost noun | /ɡoʊst/ | A disembodied soul; a soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death. |
| ugly adjective | /ˈʌɡli/ | Displeasing to the eye; aesthetically unpleasing. |
| 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. |
| laptop noun | /ˈlæp.tɑp/ | A laptop computer. |
| poster noun | /ˈpoʊstɚ/ | A picture of a celebrity, an event etc., intended to be attached to a wall. |
| pearl noun | /pɝl/ | A shelly concretion, usually rounded, and having a brilliant luster, with varying tints, found in the mantle, or between the mantle and shell, of certain… |
| cowboy noun | /ˈkaʊˌbɔɪ/ | A man who tends free-range cattle, especially in the American West. |
| audition noun | /ɑˈdɪʃən/ | A performance, by an aspiring performer, to demonstrate suitability or talent. |
| rush verb | /ɹʌʃ/ | To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully. |
| bone noun | /boʊn/ | A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates. |
| dramatic adjective | /dɹəˈmætɪk/ | Of or relating to the drama. |
| compete verb | /kəmˈpiːt/ | To be in battle or in a rivalry with another for the same thing, position, or reward; to contend. |
| scary adjective | /ˈskɛə.ɹi/ | Causing fear or anxiety |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. | |
| dress up verb | To put on special or fancy clothes. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| pick up on verb | To notice, observe, learn, or understand, especially something otherwise overlooked. | |
| run around verb | To be very busy doing many different things. | |
| stay together verb | To remain loyal in times of stress or difficulty; to avoid separation despite pressure to do so. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Do you believe in ghosts?
- Were you always this ridiculously limber?
- Have I ever crashed a party?
- I'd be like, why are you here?
- Do you have any good scars?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to be · used to live |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | Have I ever crashed · I've definitely crashed · has stayed |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the scariest · my biggest · the most embarrassing |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | were designing · were growing · were swimming |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 27 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'd, I'll, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: theater /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/, booth /buθ/, rhythmic /ˈɹɪð.mɪk/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: audition /ɑˈdɪʃən/, rush /ɹʌʃ/, emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, crush /kɹʌʃ/, friction /ˈfɹɪkʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: ridiculously /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs.li/, karaoke /ˈkæ.ɹiˌəʊ.ki/, kinematic /kɪn.əˈmæt.ɪk/, motivator /ˈməʊ.təˌveɪ.tə/
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 intense, scar, ghost.
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.