Shadowing Practice: The Little Prince, chapter 21 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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The Little Prince by Anton de Saint -Exupery Chapter 21 The Little Prince Befriends the Fox
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It was then that the fox appeared.
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Good morning, said the fox.
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Good morning, the little prince responded politely.
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Although when he turned around, he saw nothing.
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I am right here, the voice said, under the apple tree.
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Who are you?
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asked the little prince and added, You are very pretty to look at.
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I am a fox, said the fox.
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Come and play with me, proposed the little prince.
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I am so unhappy.
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I cannot play with you, the fox said.
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I am not tamed.
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Ah, please excuse me, said the little prince.
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But after some thought, he added, What does that mean?
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Tame.
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You do not live here, said the fox.
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What is it that you are looking for?
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I am looking for men, said the little prince.
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What does that mean?
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Tame.
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Men, said the fox.
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They have guns and they hunt.
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It is very disturbing.
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They also raise chickens.
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These are their only interests.
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Are you looking for chickens?
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No, said the little prince.
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I am looking for friends.
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What does that mean?
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Tame.
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It is an act too often neglected, said the fox.
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It means to establish ties.
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To establish ties?
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Just that, said the fox.
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To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys, and I have no need of you, and you, on your part,
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have no need of me.
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To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes, but if you tame me, then we shall need each other.
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To me, you will be unique in all the world.
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To you, I shall be unique in all the world.
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I'm beginning to understand, said the little prince.
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There is a flower.
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I think that she has tamed me.
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It is possible, said the fox.
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On the earth, one sees all sorts of things.
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Oh, but this is not on the earth, said the little prince.
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The fox seemed perplexed and very curious. On another planet?
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Yes.
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Are there hunters on this planet?
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No. No?
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Ah, that is interesting.
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Are there chickens?
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No. Nothing is perfect, sighed the fox.
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But he came back to his idea.
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My life is very monotonous, the fox said.
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I hunt chickens, men hunt me.
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All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike.
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And in consequence, I am a little bored.
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But if you tame me, it'll be as if the sun came to shine on my life.
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I shall know the sound of a step that'll be different from all the others.
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Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground.
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Yours will call me like music out of my barrow.
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And then look, you see the grain fields down yonder?
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I did not eat bread.
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Wheat is of no use to me.
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The wheat fields have nothing to say to me.
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And that is sad.
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But you have hair that is the color of gold Think of how wonderful that'll be
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when you have tamed me The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat
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The fox gazed at the little prince for a long time Please, tame me, he said I want to,
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very much, the little prince replied
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But I have not much time I have friends to discover
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and a great many things to understand." One only understands the things that one tames, said the fox.
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Men have no more time to understand anything.
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They buy things already made at the shops, but there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends anymore.
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If you want a friend, tame me." What must I do to tame you?
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asked the little prince.
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You must be very patient, replied the fox.
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First, you will sit down at a little distance from me, like that, in the grass.
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I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing.
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Words are the source of misunderstandings, but you will sit - a little closer to me every day.
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The next day, the little prince came back.
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It would have been better to come back at the same hour, said the fox.
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If, for example, you come at four o 'clock in the afternoon, then at three o 'clock I shall begin to be happy.
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I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances.
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At four o 'clock, I shall already be worrying and jumping about.
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I shall show you how happy I am.
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But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour my heart is to
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be ready to greet you One must observe the proper rites What is a rite? asked the little prince
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Those also are actions too often neglected, said the fox They are what make one day different from the others,
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one hour from other hours There is a rite,
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for example, among my hunters Every Thursday they dance with the village girls So Thursday is a wonderful day for me.
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I can take a walk as far as the vineyards But
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if the hunters danced at just any time Every day would be like every other day, and I should never have any vacation at all
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So the little prince tamed the fox and when the hour of his departure grew near Ah,
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said the fox, I shall cry It is your own fault, said the little prince.
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I never wished you any sort of harm, but you wanted me to tame you.
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Yes, that is so, said the fox.
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But now you are going to cry, said the little prince.
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Yes, that is so, said the fox.
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Then it has done you no good at all.
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It has done me good, said the fox, because of the color of the wheat fields.
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And then he added, Go and look again at the roses.
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You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world.
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And the roses were very much embarrassed.
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You are beautiful, but you are empty, he went on.
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One could not die for you.
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To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you, the rose that belongs to me.
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But in herself alone, she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses
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Because it is she that I have watered Because it is she
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that I have put under the glass globe Because it is she
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that I have sheltered behind this screen Because it is for her
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that I have killed the caterpillars Except the two or three
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that we saved to become butterflies Because it is she
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that I have listened to when she grumbled or boasted
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or even sometimes when she said nothing because she is my rose
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and he went back to meet the fox
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goodbye he said goodbye said the fox
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and now here is my secret a very simple secret it is only with the heart
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that one can see rightly what is essential is invisible to the eye What is essential is invisible to the eye,
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the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.
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It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.
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It is the time I have wasted for my rose, said the little prince, so that he would be sure to remember.
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Men have forgotten this truth, said the fox, but you must not forget it.
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You become responsible forever for what you have tamed.
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You are responsible for your rose.
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I am responsible for my rose, the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “The Little Prince, chapter 21”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: fox, prince, rose, shall, tame. This video has 127 sentences and 1326 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:52. The speaker talks at a natural 150 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| tame verb | /teɪm/ | To make or become tame; to domesticate (an animal). |
| wheat noun | /ˈwiːt/ | Any of the several cereal grains, of the genus Triticum, that yields flour as used in bakery. |
| neglect verb | /nɪˈɡlɛkt/ | To fail to care for or attend to something. |
| invisible adjective | /ɪnˈvɪzəb(ə)l/ | Unable to be seen; out of sight; not visible. |
| alike adjective | /əˈlaɪk/ | Having resemblance or similitude; similar; without difference. |
| grain noun | /ɡɹeɪn/ | The harvested seeds of various grass food crops, especially wheat, maize, rye, barley, and rice. |
| goodbye | /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/ | Farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker, writer, or person addressed is departing. |
| barrow noun | /ˈbæɹoʊ/ | A hill. |
| caterpillar noun | /ˈkætɚˌpɪlɚ/ | The larva of a butterfly or moth; leafworm. |
| grumble verb | /ˈɡɹʌmbl̩/ | To make a low, growling or rumbling noise, like a hungry stomach or certain animals. |
| monotonous adjective | /məˈnɑtənəs/ | Having an unvarying pitch or tone. |
| perplexed adjective | /pɚˈplɛkst/ | Confused or puzzled. |
| politely adverb | /pəˈlaɪtli/ | in a polite manner |
| yonder adverb | /ˈjɑndəɹ/ | At or in a distant but indicated place. |
| boast verb | /boʊst/ | To brag; to talk loudly in praise of oneself. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. |
| put under verb | To anesthetize someone or render them unconscious through the use of narcotic substances, usually either alcohol or pharmaceutical drugs. |
| turn around verb | To physically rotate (usually around a vertical axis) for a half turn (180 degrees), a whole turn (360 degrees), or an indefinite amount. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What is it that you are looking for?
- Are you looking for chickens?
- I'm beginning to understand, said the little prince.
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 tamed · have tamed · has done |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | will be · it'll be · that'll be |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | are looking · am looking · I'm beginning |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | must I · must observe · must not |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as that'll, I'm, it'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shine /ʃaɪn/, shelter /ˈʃɛltə/
- Long words — get the stress right: invisible /ɪnˈvɪzəb(ə)l/, caterpillar /ˈkætɚˌpɪlɚ/, monotonous /məˈnɑtənəs/, misunderstanding /ˌmɪsʌndɚˈstændɪŋ/
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 tame, wheat, neglect.
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.