Shadowing Practice: This Lunatic Stole a Helicopter - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Have you ever loved someone so much that you'd be willing to break them out of prison?
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Because I haven't.
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Now this all starts with this woman, Samantha.
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And Samantha is about 31 during this time, living in Valdosta, Georgia.
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And Samantha has a problem.
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It's 1981, and she recently got busted for robbing a bank.
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And she's been sentenced to 50 years in prison.
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So now she's in Dublin, California, locked up, waiting for this 50 -year sentence to pass.
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But then, one day, in 1985, her life changes forever.
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Because this guy enters the picture, Ronald.
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And Ronald recently got busted for investment fraud, and he scammed about $18 million, and he was sentenced to four years in prison.
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Prison in Dublin, California.
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Same prison Samantha was sentenced to.
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And so these two end up meeting, and Ronald thinks he can't afford, and Samantha thinks he can't afford, and they start spending time together,
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and eventually they start dating.
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Now, how are a man and a woman allowed to date in the same prison?
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Well, I'm so glad you asked.
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So in the 1970s and 80s, the Federal Bureau of Prisons experimented with co -ed prisons, which would house both male and female inmates.
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And And they would have separate units for sleeping and showering and stuff, but they were allowed to co -mingle outside of that.
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The prisoners were even allowed to date and like hold hands and stuff.
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But obviously they aren't allowed to smash.
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So Ronald and Samantha are at one of those kinds of prisons, and they're taking full advantage of that.
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They hang out in the prison yard together, they eat meals together, they take classes together, they even watch movies together during this time.
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And these two fall super duper in love.
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And in just six months after they meet, Ronald is so into her that he gets down on one knee and he proposes to her.
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And Samantha says yes.
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So now they're engaged.
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However, there's a major issue they're going to need to address.
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Ronald is scheduled for parole in 15 months while Samantha still has 45 more years of her sentence left to serve.
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And so that is when they come up with a wild idea.
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Ronald is going to escape from prison, steal a helicopter, then come back and rescue Samantha.
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Perfect plan.
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I can't imagine how this could possibly fail.
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And so Ronald gets to work on this plan.
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He puts in a request to the prison admins to be transferred to this federal prison camp in Lomho, California.
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Sometimes they allow prisoners to transfer there to work and stuff.
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And because he's considered a low -risk, non -violent inmate, they not only grant him the transfer,
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but he's allowed to travel there on a Greyhound bus without an armed escort.
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So Ronald gets taken to the bus station, where he's supposed to catch the bus to this new prison.
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Except, instead of boarding the bus, Ronald just leaves the bus station and he walks away.
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And he goes and he hides out, I don't know, somewhere.
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But now, he's officially a fugitive.
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But, here's the thing.
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Ronald has plenty of resources left over from his former civilian life where he was scamming money.
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Like, he still owns a car, he owns a yacht, he has several fake IDs, he even has an apartment waiting for him outside of Sacramento.
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Plus, not all of that $18 million he scammed was recovered by the government,
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so it's speculated that he still has access to about $1 .7 million of it.
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All that is to say, Ronald could take these resources and go and like fuck off and live a quiet, happy life somewhere.
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But that's not what he's about to do.
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The guy is in love with Samantha, and he's committed to busting her out with a helicopter.
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Now, Ronald was actually a former helicopter pilot in the army.
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He flew in the Vietnam War.
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So he actually has a lot of experience.
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So three days after he escaped, he goes to a helicopter rental company in San Jose, and he gives them a fake name and he pretends
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that he's a real estate developer who wants to rent a copter to inspect some land from the air.
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And these guys, they buy it.
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They're like, cool.
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Then the big day comes, the day of the prison escape.
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And Ronald, he shows up to the helicopter rental company, ready to take one of their copters.
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Now, these companies, they don't just let you take one of these things willy nilly all on your own.
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No, no. One of their staff.
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has to fly with you.
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So the company staff pilot climbs into the helicopter with Ronald, and they take off, and they fly around,
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and suddenly, boom, Ronald pulls out a gun, and he orders the pilot to land.
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And the pilot lands kind of in the middle of nowhere.
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Then Ronald kicks him out, and he flies the copter himself, and he heads toward Dublin, California, his old prison where Samantha is being held.
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Meanwhile, Samantha is outside in the prison yard, exactly where Ronald had previously told her to be.
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And so suddenly, she hears a whirlybird approaching, and it flies right over the prison fence, and it lands in the prison yard.
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And Samantha knows exactly what to do.
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She runs across the yard, and she gets in.
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And reportedly, all the other inmates are out there watching, and they realize what's happening and they like start applauding and cheering them on.
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Go!
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Then the two of them take off and they fly out of there.
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Minutes later, they land the helicopter in a nearby field and they abandon it.
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And Ronald has an escape vehicle set up there and they flee in that.
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And from there, they go to Ronald's secret apartment in the Sacramento area and they hide out there.
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But this means that they're both now officially wanted and on the run.
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Now, instead of immediately fleeing the country like they should have done, like a smart person would do, Ronald and Samantha start planning their wedding.
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Because remember, they got engaged back in prison.
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So a few days after hiding out,
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they go to a local shopping mall and they hit up a jewelry store and there they order engagement and wedding rings.
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But you can't just like buy expensive rings and leave.
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You have to wait a few days for them to be sized or whatever.
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And so Ronald is going to have to come back.
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But before they leave, he pays by check
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and the check he uses has the same fake name that he used when he rented the helicopter.
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So the feds have been waiting for him to use
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that bank account again so that they can use it to track him.
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And so now they know that he's trying to buy jewelry from this mall jewelry store.
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And so 10 days after the prison escape, Ronald and Samantha come back to the mall to pick up the rings.
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And the feds are waiting there for them.
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And so, bam, Ronald is arrested.
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Also, bam, Samantha is arrested.
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And I don't have mug shots, but here is Ronald in custody.
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And in that same photo, here is Samantha in custody.
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Here's the crazy thing, though.
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While they're both at the federal courthouse waiting on their sentencing, they secretly get married.
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So now they're officially husband and wife for about an hour.
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And then they each get sentenced.
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And the court splits them up and sends them to different separate prisons.
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And they're allowed to, you know, write each other letters and whatnot.
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But they're not allowed to talk on the phone or, of course, see each other.
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And from here, these two stay married for the rest of their lives.
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Regardless, ultimately, Ronald gets an additional 25 years in federal prison for stealing the helicopter and helping Samantha escape.
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But then later, he gets sentenced to life in prison when they find out that he was connected to a murder.
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But that's a completely different story.
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Regardless, he gets life in prison, while Samantha gets another five years added on to her previous 50 -year sentence.
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And from what I read, they communicated, they kept writing each other, but they never got to see each other again.
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However, they stayed married for like the rest of their lives.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “This Lunatic Stole a Helicopter”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Ronald, prison, Samantha, helicopter, allowed. This video has 109 sentences and 1407 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:42. The speaker talks at a natural 162 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.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| helicopter noun | /ˈheliːˌkɔptə(ɹ)/ | An aircraft that is borne along by one or more sets of long rotating blades which allow it to hover, move in any direction including reverse, or land; and… |
| mall noun | /mɔːl/ | A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct. |
| bust verb | /bʌst/ | To break. |
| scam noun | /ˈskæm/ | A fraudulent or dishonest deal. A swindle. |
| jewellery noun | /ˈd͡ʒʊ-/ | Collectively, personal ornamentation such as rings, necklaces, brooches and bracelets, made of precious metals and sometimes set with gemstones. |
| inmate noun | /ˈɪn.meɪt/ | A person confined to an institution such as a prison (as a convict) or hospital (as a patient). |
| regardless adverb | /ɹɪˈɡɑɹd.lɪs/ | Without attention to warnings or indications of bad consequences. |
| steal verb | /stiːl/ | To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it. |
| resource noun | /ɹɪˈzɔːs/ | Something that one uses to achieve an objective, e.g. raw materials or personnel. |
| engage verb | /ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/ | To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied. |
| custody noun | /ˈkʌstədiː/ | The legal right to take care of something or somebody, especially children. |
| prisoner noun | /ˈpɹɪzənə/ | A person incarcerated in a prison, while on trial or serving a sentence. |
| rental noun | /ˈɹɛntəl/ | Something that is rented. |
| flee verb | /ˈfliː/ | To run away; to escape. |
| meal noun | /ˈmiːl/ | Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
| hide out verb | To hide somewhere. |
| take off verb | To remove. |
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| get down on verb | To come to be down (hostile to) regarding something. |
| hit up verb | To visit with or contact someone, especially with a definite purpose. |
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 sentenced · was sentenced · were allowed |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | Have you ever loved · she's been sentenced |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | start spending · start dating · start applauding |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | they're taking · is being · he's trying |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 20 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, can't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: helicopter /ˈheliːˌkɔptə(ɹ)/, experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/, developer /dɪˈvɛləpɚ/, reportedly /ɹɪˈpɔːtɪdli/
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 helicopter, mall, bust.
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.