Shadowing Practice: the office try not to laugh challenge | Comedy Bites - Learn English Speaking with Video

Here's what's going to happen.

I am going to have to fix you.

Manage you to, on a more personal scale, a more micro form of management.

Jim, what is that called?

Micro -Jimin?

Boom, yes.

Now, Jim is going to be the client.

Dwight, you're going to have to sell to him without being aggressive, hostile, or difficult.

Let's go.

All right, fine.

Ring, ring.

Hello?

Hello, this is Dwight Schrute from the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.

Wow, that's great, because I need paper.

Excellent.

Then you are in luck, because we are having a limited -time offer only on everything.

Wow, this is my lucky day.

Ask him his name.

What is your name, sir?

I am Bill Buttlicker.

Really?

That's your real name?

How dare you?

My family built this country, by the way.

Be respectful, Dwight, please.

Yes, Michael.

Could you hold on one second?

That's my other line.

What?

No, but I...

Hello?

No, I'm just on the phone this stupid salesman.

He's so dumb.

Probably just gonna keep him on the line forever and not buy anything.

Okay, it's up to you to change his mind.

Sorry, that was a family emergency.

Oh no, what's wrong?

You know what?

That's private.

Boundaries, Dwight, come on.

I'm sorry, Mr. Buttlicker.

As I was saying, we're having a limited...

Son, you just have to speak up a little bit louder.

I'm hard of hearing.

He's hard if he's an old man.

Okay, as I was saying, right now we're having...

You gotta talk Okay, our prices have never been lower.

Son, you have to talk louder.

Never been lowered.

Louder, son!

Buttlicker!

Our prices have never been lowered!

Stop it! That is totally inappropriate.

You'll never yell at the client.

Now, you listen to me, sir.

Here we go.

The three words I would describe you as is aggressive, hostile, and definitely difficult.

Give me the phone.

I'm irate right now.

Give me the phone.

Please give me another chance.

Give me the phone.

Mr. Buttlicker, I have to put you on with my boss.

Well, I should hope so.

Who is this?

Hello, this is Michael Scott, regional manager.

Well, this is William M.

Buttlicker.

Hello, Mr. Buttlicker.

How may we help you?

Michael, I like the sound of your voice.

You know what I'm gonna do?

I'm gonna buy one million dollars worth of paper products today.

See how it's done?

Thank you very much, sir.

I don't think you'll regret it.

Do you know what I did?

You are the master.

There is one condition, Michael.

Yes.

You have to fire the salesman that treated me so terribly.

Don't do it, Michael.

It's a million dollar sale.

It's Brittney, bitch. Did you forget something?

What happened to you guys?

Can't hit that.

The gift basket.

Give it back.

What is this?

It's real simple.

If you don't appreciate what we do, then give us back our basket.

Maybe you should leave.

Yeah, maybe we should.

Maybe we should leave.

Come on, let's leave.

But before we leave, my wet friend and I are going to wait for our cabs on your nice couch.

Can you call us a cab, please?

I'm going to...

Oh, sorry.

100

Look, my clothes are so wet.

101

Wet.

102

Nice leather.

103

Oh, my shoes are so muddy.

104

all right here you go take it back it's been opened yeah it was mine what's missing

105

the turtles where are the turtles where are the turtles come

106

on guys get out of here where are the turtles where

107

are they well guess what i just drove my car into a lake you did what No, stop yelling at me!

108

No, it's not yelling!

109

There's no room here!

110

Remain calm.

111

I have trained for this.

112

Okay.

113

Exit the window!

114

Here we go.

115

Make a U -turn, if possible.

116

Look out for Leighton!

117

Michael!

118

Are you okay?

119

Swim for it!

120

I got you!

121

I got you!

122

Get out of here.

123

Get out of here.

124

Michael!

125

Michael!

126

Let go of me!

127

Let go of me!

128

I got you!

129

I got you!

130

I got you!

131

Come on!

132

Come on!

133

Come on!

134

I drove my car into a lake.

135

Oh, I get it.

136

Everybody knows about the ultimatum.

137

Yes, I told everyone.

138

Hey, right back at you, bitch.

139

We'll be right back.

140

What's your daughter's name again?

141

Peepi?

142

Peepa.

143

Peepa, how is she?

144

Great.

145

Great.

146

Well, to be fair, Jim...

147

James...

148

Jimothy.

149

To be fair, Jimothy, the.. that sounds weird.

150

Are you okay with being called Jim?

151

I am.

152

The busiest beaver award goes to Phyllis Lappin!

153

Yeah!

154

Way to go, Phyllis.

155

Nice work.

156

Per usual.

157

This says bushiest beaver.

158

What?

159

I told them busiest idiots.

160

It's fine.

161

We'll fix it.

162

We'll fix it up.

163

You don't have to display that.

164

You know what?

165

Today is not a good day for a sales contest.

166

We're not doing this today.

167

That doesn't seem fair.

168

You want to talk about fair?

169

Does anyone need to smell my old carpet?

170

You explain to me how that was fair, and I'll explain to you how this is fair.

171

Plus, I just, I think that picking today was sort of taking advantage.

172

But you're the one who picked today.

173

I am a victim of a hate crime.

174

Stanley knows what I'm talking about.

175

That's not what a hate crime is.

176

Well, I hated it a lot, okay?

177

I manage my department, and I've been doing that for several years now.

178

And, God, I've learned a lot of life lessons along the way.

179

Your department's just you, right?

180

Yes, Jim, but I am not easy to manage.

181

You know, your partner's got a lot of attitude, but I like that.

182

How long have you guys been dating?

183

Jim couldn't land me in a thousand years.

184

But you're saying there's a chance.

185

Shut up.

186

Seriously?

187

You're gonna set me back?

188

Uh, yeah.

189

That's the safest part of a car.

190

In the event of a crash, the driver always protects his side first.

191

Yeah, that's no problem.

192

Pam.

193

Sure.

194

Uh -huh.

195

Pam, knock knock.

196

I'm on the phone.

197

I know you are.

198

Knock knock.

199

You can fax it over.

200

Yeah, 570.

201

555. 491.

202

seven four five length zero one seven five thank you bye

203

-bye it really makes us look unprofessional they would never know it was me doing it here we go knock knock

204

who's there buddha buddha who buddha the spread for me won't

205

great i i need something to wipe my head no there's there's butter that was melting It was a classic.

206

I got a knock -knock joke.

207

No. Oh, God.

208

Michael, please, please, please.

209

Please let me.

210

All right.

211

Knock -knock.

212

Who's there?

213

KGB.

214

KGB.

215

We were asked the questions.

216

What the hell was that?

217

What are you doing?

218

What are you doing?

219

Hey, hey, stop it.

220

You like that?

221

Hey, come on.

222

What are you doing?

223

Mine is part of a hilarious joke.

224

Mine was retribution.

225

What are you doing?

226

No more knock -knock jokes.

227

That's it.

228

Ding dong.

229

Who's there?

230

KGB.

231

Try to get the door.

232

I'm not answering the door.

233

Ding dong.

234

No way, it's the KGB.

235

Ding dong.

236

I'm not answering that.

237

Yes, you're going to.

238

I'm not going to answer it.

239

I'm not going to answer it.

240

It's the KGB.

241

The KGB will fit for no one.

242

It's true.

📺 Same Channel

teddy proposing to amy for five minutes straight | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Comedy Bites

TeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students

brooklyn nine-nine moments that have no business being this funny | Comedy Bites

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

try not to laugh challenge: brooklyn nine-nine edition | Comedy Bites

Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students

✨ Recommend Video

99 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “the office try not to laugh challenge”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: knock, Michael, Buttlicker, kgb, Jim. This video has 241 sentences and 1231 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:02. The speaker talks at a natural 153 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 43 of its 241 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
turtle noun	/ˈtɝtl̩/	Any land, aquatic, or semi-aquatic reptile of the order Testudines, characterised by a protective shell enclosing its body. See also tortoise.
dong noun	/dɔŋ/	The currency of Vietnam, 100 xus. Symbol: ₫
yell verb	/jɛl/	To shout; holler; make a loud sound with the voice, especially to express intense emotions such as anger or excitement.
beaver noun	/ˈbivɚ/	A semiaquatic rodent of the genus Castor, having a wide, flat tail and webbed feet, native to the Northern Hemisphere.
salesman noun		A man whose job it is to sell things, either in a shop / store or elsewhere.
microwave noun	/ˈmaɪkɹoʊˌweɪv/	An electromagnetic wave with wavelength between that of infrared light and radio waves.
hostile adjective	/ˈhɑstəl/	Not friendly; appropriate to an enemy; showing the disposition of an enemy; showing ill will and malevolence or a desire to thwart and injure.
basket noun	/ˈbæskɪt/	A lightweight woven container, generally round, open at the top, and tapering toward the bottom.
aggressive adjective	/əˈɡɹɛs.ɪv/	Characterized by aggression; highly combative; prone to behave in a way that involves attacking (especially if unjustly) or arguing.
retribution noun	/ˌɹɛt.ɹɪˈbju.ʃən/	Punishment inflicted in the spirit of moral outrage or personal vengeance.
ultimatum noun	/ˌʌl.tɪˈmeɪ.təm/	A final statement of terms or conditions made by one party to another, especially one that expresses a threat of reprisal or war if the terms are not met…
unprofessional adjective		Unbecoming of a professional; hence inappropriate in the workplace.
muddy adjective	/ˈmʌdi/	Covered or splashed with, or full of, mud (“wet soil”).
respectful adjective	/ɹɪˈspɛkt.fl̩/	Marked or characterized by respect
terribly adverb	/ˈtɛɹ.ɪ.bli/	Very; extremely.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
get out of verb		To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.
shut up	/ʃʌt ʌp/	Stop talking (usually in the form of making annoying, irrelevant, or false comments, during a period of peace and quiet, or when one is not allowed to talk)…
speak up verb	/ˌspik ˈʌp/	To talk more loudly or clearly.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

What is your name, sir?
That's your real name?
You know what I'm gonna do?
What's your daughter's name again?
You're gonna set me back?

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	been lowered · been opened · being called
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have never been · have never been lowered · have trained
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	was saying · was melting
Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea	should hope · should leave

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 42 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: retribution /ˌɹɛt.ɹɪˈbju.ʃən/, shoe /ˈʃu/
Long words — get the stress right: retribution /ˌɹɛt.ɹɪˈbju.ʃən/, ultimatum /ˌʌl.tɪˈmeɪ.təm/, inappropriate /ˌɪnəˈpɹoʊpɹi.ət/, hilarious /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/

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 turtle, dong, yell.

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: the office try not to laugh challenge | Comedy Bites - Learn English Speaking with Video

teddy proposing to amy for five minutes straight | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Comedy Bites

brooklyn nine-nine moments that have no business being this funny | Comedy Bites

try not to laugh challenge: brooklyn nine-nine edition | Comedy Bites

The First 5 Minutes of The Office - The Office US

Dwight's Health Care Plan - The Office US

Company Meeting Stereotypes

我剛抱怨完工作，一轉身才發現老闆全都聽見了｜Real Life Office English

Annoying Customers

The Hecks Are Bad at Their Jobs | The Middle

Um Senhor Estagiário - Trailer Oficial 1 (leg) [HD]

Michael Begs Jan for Dundies Funding (Clip) | The Office | TBS

POV: Your boss is soooo funny 🤪

Working from Home: The Video Call Goes Wrong

Family Guy - Stewie Gets a job

Post Pandemic Office Behavior Tips

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?