Shadowing Practice: The whole Springfield is devastated by radiation [The Simpsons] - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

213 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

Here's your nuggets.

Chicken nuggets?

Yes.

Including things that ate or were eaten by a chicken?

Mmm.. chicken nuggets.

She's living in LA With my best old ex-friend Ray Isn't that the way the nugget tastes?

Well, let's forget all that- Halt on!

AHHHHH!

GASP!

You're fired!

Okay, fine.

You know what?

This is just a kick in the pants I need to turn my life around.

I am really, really getting tired of this.

The losing the jobs, the going to Moe's, the Halloween bucket by the bed.

My heart's looking.

I'm really, really trying.

I've applied to every place in town.

Even Lisa's lemonade stand lemonade stand.

You drank half the lemonade.

You need to find another job.

But I found a new passion.

Watching Korean soap operas.

Out of a job?

You're in luck.

The high-tech startup company Cargo is moving to Springfield.

Okay, Marge, you see that?

It's a sign.

I'm gonna get one of those jobs.

Homer, cargo is on the forefront of autonomous vehicle technology.

We're looking for highly passive humans to road test our self-driving cars.

Perfect answer.

And somehow, you've driven over yourself.

Amazing.

Is there anything we don't know about you that we should?

I'd like you to know, sometimes my road rage is actually home rage that I bring onto the highway.

Congratulations, everyone.

You're our finalists.

We just have one last test for all of you.

Who's capable of sitting for hours at a time doing absolutely nothing?

You're hired.

The car drives itself.

Awesome, awesome.

So is it like a joystick or like a turning wheel for steering?

You just tell it where to go.

Oh, I speak into the steering wheel.

Mmm.

Wait a look at that.

The car is driving home.

Wow, as far as I'm concerned, I would never forfeit my control of the wheel.

Whoa, Homer's making a smoothie while he drives.

No operator, the car just drives itself.

Its computer brain knows where the roads are.

You don't do a thing.

And where is the seat belt?

Cause I can't find it.

Ready, sweetie?

Almost.

You're just finishing up my banh mi.

That's what tech people call sandwiches.

There you go, sir.

He forgot to charge me.

Oh, no, sir.

It's free.

All the food here is free.

Take the day off.

Homie, when you lost your job, I was so worried.

But this is the nicest place to work I've ever seen.

Come on, let me show you around the campus.

How come no one uses these things?

All these coders never stop working.

We should help them enjoy themselves.

Hey, nerd!

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Yay!

Look at Homer and his surprisingly slim wife leading that team building exercise.

We want to be number one in employee satisfaction.

We're offering you a promotion and making Marge your partner.

We need people like you to help our workers relax help our workers relax.

Yeah, well, I'll have to check with my wife.

I'd love to.

She said yes.

At the cereal bar, you can request nothing but prizes.

The only thing I don't like is how I don't understand what everyone is saying.

Uh, yeah, is that the new X4P1?

Good morning, everybody.

I made lemon squares.

Some, if not most, appear to be rhombuses.

Rhombi.

Both are acceptable.

That was so fun.

Thank you, Marge.

Oh!

Physical activity makes me so sad.

Oh no. Doug's in the worst position of all.

Fetal!

100

I know it'll cheer us all up.

101

The Christmas song that was written by an AI program.

102

The world is a blessing.

103

Okay, stop, stop, stop, stop.

104

I have a better idea.

105

Oh my god.

106

I'm actually happy at work.

107

I haven't looked at my watch in 7 minutes and 23 seconds!

108

And I'm optimistic about our future!

109

Guy, you'll never guess where I'm calling you from.

110

Work!

111

That's work?

112

What are we doing here?

113

Let's check it out.

114

I got a feeling there's green-up pastures just outside this door.

115

What happened to our workers?

116

Apparently this new self-driving car company is poaching our employees.

117

They do have an excellent LGBT policy.

118

All right, Smithers.

119

What say you and I go undercover and check out this company?

120

Tugs of War?

121

Ice cream?

122

I could never offer this.

123

You could if you just deferred one half percent of your compensation.

124

I could never offer this.

125

Let's go home, please.

126

Wait a minute.

127

This isn't home.

128

That's so weird.

129

You just mentioned hero sandwiches.

130

It's almost like the car was listening to us.

131

Yeah, let's test this out.

132

Say, Marge, I could go for some donuts.

133

Hmm.

134

Smithers, do you realize how brilliant this is?

135

Instead of paying them more, they make the workplace pleasant.

136

So the employees never want to leave.

137

I can never beat this.

138

There's a problem with the driverless car.

139

Oh, there's no problem.

140

It's our sponsored Rise program.

141

The cars passively combine your conversations, facial expressions, and data we stole from Equifax to determine which of our corporate sponsors to take you to.

142

That's what all websites want.

143

Not datagrab.net!

144

Yep.

145

And you can't stop us.

146

When you joined, you signed non-disclosure agreements, which nobody ever reads.

147

Now I'm gonna defiantly exit on this moving walkway.

148

Good day.

149

I should have gotten off.

150

That wasn't the kind of coke I was talking about.

151

Why, I can't believe they invaded the sanctity of my car.

152

I mean, what's next?

153

Alexa?

154

Alexa is only here to help.

155

Ordering calming tea.

156

I'm going for a drive in an old-fashioned freedom mobile with nobody tracking me except I kept the apps on my phone.

157

Mr. Burns, what are you doing here?

158

There's no way to stop them with their fleet of horseless driverless carriages.

159

Yes, the whole town is besotted with them.

160

If we could just shut down the cars, we'd kill the whole company.

161

Will you help me?

162

Hey, we're all employees.

163

Wouldn't it be less suspicious if we weren't skulking?

164

Fine.

165

I just need to reconfigure the deep neural net and disable the car's fuel cells.

166

They'll all stop dead, and the company will be ruined.

167

No, you don't.

168

Don't.

169

Homer, but we have a contract.

170

And we're having so much fun.

171

Guys?

172

We're moving the microphone from the car to the fob.

173

It goes everywhere.

174

Even the powder room.

175

Um, we call it the unisex voidatorium.

176

Don't touch that button.

177

You'll leave fingerprints.

178

Allow me.

179

Marge, you've come over to the side of good.

180

That's right.

181

For the first time ever, I'm the lesser of two evils.

182

The cow will move!

183

Get, get out!

184

I tend to paradise.

185

Not this song!

186

Never been to me.

187

Excellent.

188

Would you consider hiring her at the power plant?

189

A woman?

190

I don't believe in the perils of personal attraction at the workplace.

191

Right, Smithers?

192

Away from you, no words can say the heart that breaks me.

193

Let's leave them be.

194

Now let's go home.

195

Self-driving the old-fashioned way.

196

This was a bump in the road, but I have a new way into consumers.

197

Talking tattoos.

198

Dove Mexicana!

199

Para que el sur del sabor de la frontera!

200

Oh si!

201

I'm putting this car in snuggle mode.

202

Oh, I'm gonna snuck to you, baby.

203

I did

204

not see that coming.

205

I'm gonna have to go to the front of me.

206

Can't you tell my voice from a ten year old kid?

207

Like a rumba Oh yo, Zhang is refusing to fall back on his old catchphrases Like a rumba?

208

Huh?

209

Don't!

210

Don't have to go to the front of me Don't!

211

Don't!

212

Don't!

213

Don't!

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

📺 Same Channel

It only snows here in Springfield [The Simpsons]

TeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students

✨ Recommend Video

183 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 213 sentences and 1286 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:11. The speaker talks at a steady 126 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.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
worker noun	/ˈwɝ.kɚ/	One who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor.
hire verb	/ˈhaɪɹ/	To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment.
relax verb	/ɹɪˈlæks/	To make something loose.
cargo noun	/ˈkɑɹɡoʊ/	Freight carried by a ship, aircraft, or motor vehicle.
sandwich noun	/ˈsæn(d).wɪd͡ʒ/	A dish or foodstuff where at least one piece, but typically two or more pieces, of bread serves as the wrapper or container of some other food.
rage noun	/ɹeɪd͡ʒ/	Violent uncontrolled anger.
sponsor noun	/ˈspɒn.səː/	A person or organization with some sort of responsibility for another person or organization, especially where the responsibility has a religious, legal, or…
workplace noun	/ˈwɝkˌpleɪs/	The place where someone works.
steer verb	/stɪɹ/	To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel).
pants noun	/pænts/	An outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards, covering each leg separately, usually as far as the ankles; trousers.
passion noun	/ˈpæʃən/	A true desire sustained or prolonged.
belt noun	/ˈbɛlt/	A band worn around the waist to hold clothing to one's body (usually pants), hold weapons (such as a gun or sword), or serve as a decorative piece of clothing.
promotion noun	/pɹəˈmoʊʃn̩/	An advancement in rank or position.
steal verb	/stiːl/	To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.
congratulations	/kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/	Expressing praise and approval, expressing approbation.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
check out verb	To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
fall back on verb	To turn to as a substitute; to rely on as a backup.
finish up verb	To complete the last details of a task.
get off verb	To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it.
get out verb	To leave or escape.
shut down verb	To close, terminate, or end; to stop operating, either permanently or temporarily.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 62 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: passion /ˈpæʃən/, promotion /pɹəˈmoʊʃn̩/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, compensation /ˌkɑm.pənˈseɪ.ʃən/, satisfaction /sætɪsˈfækʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, compensation /ˌkɑm.pənˈseɪ.ʃən/, operator /ˈɑpəˌɹeɪtɚ/, acceptable /əkˈsɛp.tə.bəl/, satisfaction /sætɪsˈfækʃən/

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 worker, hire, relax.

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	I've applied · you've driven · I've ever seen
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	were eaten · was written · is besotted
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	was listening · was talking · weren't skulking
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group	my best · the nicest · the worst

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 whole Springfield is devastated by radiation [The Simpsons] - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

It only snows here in Springfield [The Simpsons]

The Simpsons - HE LOST HIS MIND (S32E02)

Kimchee's illegal new side hustle!

I'll Never Forgive Star Rail

Friends: Joey and Chandler Go On A Road Trip (Season 5 Clip) | TBS

Learn/Practice English with MOVIES (Lesson #19) Title: Cars

Married With Children 0101 Pilot

Family Guy - Brian gets the manliest car

I Tried Selling a Car for $0

The Office BUT It's Just Outdated Tech

Everytime Sonic gotta go FAST (Sonic + Sonic 2 Best Scenes) ⚡ 4K

Learn English with THE SIMPSONS — Homer Meets Marge

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?