Shadowing Practice: The Last Leaf by O. Henry | Learn English Through Story - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Learn English through stories with shadowing and conversation.
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In a small district in New York, many artists lived in a building.
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Two young women, Sue and Johnsy, shared a studio on the top floor.
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They had come from different places, but they both loved art and food, so they became great friends.
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In November, a cold and invisible visitor arrived in the city, pneumonia.
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It struck many people and poor Johnsy became very ill.
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She lay in her bed, barely moving, and looked through the small window at the brick wall of the house next door.
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One morning, the doctor spoke to Sue in the hallway.
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She has one chance in ten, he said.
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But that chance depends on her desire to live.
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Your friend has decided that she is not going to get better.
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Is she worrying about something?
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She wanted to paint the Bay of Naples one day, Sue said.
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but she has nothing else on her mind.
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Does she have anything worth living for?
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the doctor asked.
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A man, perhaps?
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A man?
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Sue said, sounding annoyed.
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Is a man worth more than the sun?
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No, doctor, there is nothing like that.
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After the doctor left, Sue went into the room with her drawing board.
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She was whistling, trying to be cheerful.
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Suddenly she heard a low sound johnsy was whispering.
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She counted backwards.
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Eleven, ten, nine.
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Sue looked out of the window.
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She saw an old ivy vine climbing the brick wall.
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The cold autumn wind had blown almost all the leaves away.
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What is it, dear?
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Sue asked.
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Six, Johnsy said, her voice weak.
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They are falling faster now.
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Three days ago there were almost a hundred.
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It makes my head ache to count them.
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But now it's easy.
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There goes another one.
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Only five left now.
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Five what, sweetheart?
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Leaves on the ivy vine.
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When the last one falls, I must go too.
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I've known it for three days.
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Oh, what a load of rubbish, Sue said, trying to sound firm.
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The doctor said you have a good chance of getting better.
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Try to eat some soup.
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There goes another one, Johnsy said.
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No, I don't want any soup.
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Only four left now.
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I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark.
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Then I'll go too.
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Sue went downstairs to visit Mr. Bearman, an old painter who lived on the ground floor.
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He was a fierce-looking little man who was a failure in art.
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For 40 years he had talked about painting a masterpiece, but he had never started it.
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Sue told him about Johnsy's silly idea.
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Behrman shouted, Are you mad?
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Is it possible that anyone could be so stupid as to die because leaves fall from a vine?
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I will not paint.
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I am going up to see Johnsy.
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They went upstairs.
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Johnsy was sleeping.
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They went into the other room and looked out of the window at the ivy vine.
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They looked at each other for a moment without speaking.
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A cold rain was falling, mixed with snow.
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Behrman sat down and started to paint.
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The next morning, Johnsy woke up and immediately asked Sue to pull up the curtain.
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Sue was afraid, but she did it.
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The ivy vine was still there and look.
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On the wall against the brick there was still one leaf.
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It was the last one.
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It was still dark green near the stem but its edges were yellow.
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It hung bravely from a branch, twenty feet above the ground.
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It is the last one, said Johnsy.
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I thought it would fall during the night.
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I heard the wind.
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But the day passed and even through the night the wind blew but the leaf stayed.
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The next morning, Johnsy looked out again.
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The leaf was still there.
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She called Sue to her side.
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I've been a bad girl, Sue, Johnsy whispered.
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Something made that last leaf stay there to show me how wicked it was to want to die.
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It is a sin to want to die.
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Please, bring me some soup.
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An hour later, the doctor arrived.
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You are doing well, he said.
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In a few days, you will be out of danger.
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Later that day, Sue went to see Behrman.
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He was in his room, very sick.
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He only had pneumonia for two days.
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The janitor found him in his room, helpless and in pain.
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His shoes and clothes were soaking wet and cold.
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They couldn't understand where he had been on such a terrible night.
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Then they found a lantern that was still lit A ladder
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that had been moved And some brushes with green and yellow paint on them Look out of the window,
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dear, Sue said to Johnsy Look at that ivy leaf on the wall
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Didn't you wonder why it never fluttered or moved when the wind blew?
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Oh, darling, it is Behrman's masterpiece.
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He painted it there the night the last leaf fell.
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District In the story, Sue and Johnsy lived in a small district of New York.
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A district is an area or neighbourhood within a city.
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Different districts often have different characteristics.
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This particular district was known for artists and small studios.
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They lived in a quiet district where many painters and writers worked.
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What a load of rubbish!
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When Sue says, what a load of rubbish, she doesn't mean actual rubbish or garbage.
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means that's nonsense don't be silly it's a very common British expression used
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when you strongly disagree with what someone has said example I'm
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going to fail the exam what a load of rubbish you've studied really hard.
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Fierce looking.
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The story describes Behrman as a fierce-looking old man.
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Fierce looking means someone looks tough, strict or a little frightening.
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However, it describes appearance, not personality.
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In many stories, a fierce-looking character turns out to be kind-hearted.
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The old man looked fierce-looking with his thick beard and serious face, but he was very kind to the children.
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In this story, Behrman looked rough and intimidating, but inside he was caring, brave and generous.
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O. Henry was an American short story writer famous for his emotional stories and surprising endings.
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His real name was William Sidney Porter.
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The Last Leaf is one of his most famous works and is still loved by readers around the world.
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And that brings us to the end of The Last Leaf by O.
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Henry.
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This touching story reminds us that hope can appear in the darkest moments
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and that even a small act of kindness can change someone's life forever.
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Thank you for listening and I'll see you in the next story.
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Goodbye for now.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 123 sentences and 1113 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:23. The speaker talks slowly, about 107 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| leaf noun | /lif/ | The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants. |
| fierce adjective | /fɪɹs/ | Exceedingly violent, severe, ferocious, cruel or savage. |
| rubbish noun | /ˈɹʌbɪʃ/ | Refuse, waste, garbage, junk, trash. |
| vine noun | /ˈvaɪ̯n/ | Any plant whose stem requires support and which climbs by tendrils or twining. |
| brick noun | /ˈbɹɪk/ | A hardened rectangular block of mud, clay etc., used for building. |
| soup noun | /sup/ | Any of various dishes commonly made by combining liquids, such as water or stock, with other ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, that contribute the food… |
| silly adjective | /ˈsɪl.i/ | Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance. |
| arrive verb | /əˈɹaɪv/ | To reach; to get to a certain place. |
| painter noun | /ˈpeɪntɚ/ | An artist who paints pictures. |
| masterpiece noun | /ˈmæstɚˌpis/ | A piece of work that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career. |
| pneumonia noun | /njuˈməʊniə/ | Inflammation of the lungs caused by viruses, bacteria or other infectious microorganisms. |
| whisper verb | /ˈ(h)wɪspɚ/ | To speak softly or under one's breath, so as to be heard only by one near at hand; to utter words without sonant breath; to talk without that vibration of the… |
| strongly adverb | /ˈstɹɔŋli/ | In a strong or powerful manner. |
| thick adjective | /θɪk/ | Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension. |
| shadow noun | /ˈʃædəʊ̯/ | A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| look out verb | To be vigilant and aware often as an imperative to alert a person to danger. | |
| look through verb | To take a view of the contents of; search in, either with the eyes or by hand. | |
| pull up verb | /ˌpʊl ˈʌp/ | To lift upwards or vertically. |
| sit down verb | To assume a sitting position from a standing position. | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has decided · I've known · I've been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | had been moved · was known · is still loved |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was whistling · was whispering · was sleeping |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | I'll go · will not paint · will be |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'll, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thick /θɪk/, cloth /klɒθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: rubbish /ˈɹʌbɪʃ/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, shoe /ˈʃu/, brush /bɹʌʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, invisible /ɪnˈvɪzəb(ə)l/, characteristic /ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/, intimidate /ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/
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 leaf, fierce, rubbish.
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.