Shadowing Practice: Tom Hiddleston Defends His 5 Most Controversial Takes | SubwayTakes Uncut - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Thank you.

Thank you

so much for watching.

Thank you.

4 .91, so why don't...

I want to know, how did I lose the .9?

I don't know.

What's the matter with my feet?

I don't know.

Maybe there's not enough natural photos.

I feel like it was pretty natural there.

No, you were kind of posing.

You think?

I could see that the feet were prim and proper.

And I think people want some raw.

Right.

Like raw dog.

Raw dog feet.

Like a little dirt.

Maybe one painted toe.

But then you've exposed your toes.

I kind of want to expose my toes on this episode.

You really want to do that on a downtown train?

Oh, my goodness.

I'm going to show you this one because I have one pain to tell.

Okay, that's unique.

Because I did it for my daughter.

If that's from your door, that's so sweet.

Who's getting this?

I think...

Can you do this?

100 % no. Sorry.

Never seen it.

Are you okay?

Oh, you haven't.

Look.

I haven't either.

You have never seen this. Where are you from?

Maine.

Maine?

They don't have this in Maine.

My dad could raise one eyebrow, but he couldn't separate his toe.

How do you feel about exposing your toes?

I think only when the cameras are rolling.

I like your hat.

Yeah.

Me, I'm like, expose your toes on the beach and nowhere else.

I agree.

But that was very brave.

And also, can I say, I think you've been underscored.

I've been underscored.

Wildly underscored.

You've got beautiful feet, man.

Thank you so much.

And you get extra points because your daughter painted your big toe.

It feels so good to hear this.

That's dad points.

God, it feels good to hear this.

Bro's greatest dad.

This episode would go so viral if I sucked your toe.

I'm not going to do it.

I'm sort of disappointed and relieved at the same time.

That I'm not going to do it?

There's more relief than disappointment.

Can I tell you something?

I didn't know I was going to tell you this story transfer is available

but here we go i made a film last year called tenzing

and it's about the sherpa tenzing norgay who was alongside edmund hillary they were the first two men on everest

and we were on location in this uh place called jomsom in upper mustang

and i was introduced to a traditional uh doctor who goes from valley to valley

and he doesn't use any western medicine at all

and his diagnosis was you're very healthy tom your heart's in

good shape your lungs uh in good shape my uh prescription for you is to take off your shoes

and socks and go barefoot on the grass wow

so having said don't expose your toes he was like you need to take your shoes off more wow

and i forgotten that story until today.

And I remember thinking, how does he know that?

And I think he was just like, he was like, I think you move quite fast in your life

and I think you need to take your shoes and socks off and just, and be grounded in the air.

I think we don't gotta stop and smell the roses.

We gotta stop and feel the feet on the grass, baby. So what's your take?

Okay.

My take is happiness is overrated.

100 % disagree.

Happiness is sick.

I love it.

I want more of it.

Okay.

I'm going to be overlooking.

I know.

100

There you go.

101

I love that.

102

And I feel it too.

103

And actually, I feel it's contagious.

104

Okay.

105

Happiness is overrated.

106

Meaning is underrated.

107

Ah, there's a second half.

108

So happiness is like a sunrise or a sunset.

109

Bear with me.

110

You're there.

111

It's lovely.

112

You're present with it.

113

The sun's rising or the sun is setting.

114

It's perfect.

115

after 15 minutes the moment is over and it's gone trying to sustain it is impossible

116

because it's over and a life spent chasing the permanence of that feeling

117

i think will make you unhappy

118

because you can't hold on to it the moment

119

you try to hold on to it it slips through your fingers

120

and is lost meaning is a structure

121

that only you create in your own life an architecture with your own particular spiritual fingerprint whereby

122

if you're going through a hard time

123

if you're going through challenge struggle obstacles suffering

124

or pain only you know why you're going through it you might know this is hard now

125

I'm doing it for my kids I'm doing it for my mom yes I'm doing it for my future yes

126

and then it makes the it makes enduring the hard times bearable

127

because you know what it means yes

128

and meaning this is the tape meaning yields joy yes

129

which joy is deeper than happiness yes all right

130

I like this I like all of this I'm saying I'm I'm 100 % agree now okay

131

if you taste happiness you kind of have to do it every day yeah like you wake up

132

and you and you have to get a hit yeah a little yeah a little hit of happiness

133

and it always goes away and maybe it doesn't come

134

and maybe it doesn't maybe the circumstances aren't right life is like a casino

135

and sometimes you get happy one day

136

and the other day you don't no i'm serious that's it you may just wake up one day

137

and just be in a bad mood right

138

and more circumstances will conspire against you to put your happiness is impossible

139

and then you have to accept happiness because resistance is futile the more you resist the more friction the more unhappiness Exactly.

140

Resistance is unhappiness.

141

Acceptance is, okay, it's a bad day or it's a difficult day. And meaning.

142

Meaning is there and is always there.

143

I think you can always pull joy. From meaning.

144

Yes.

145

Because at the end of the day, you have a bad day.

146

And you go, let me look at the overall picture.

147

Yeah.

148

I have meaning in this or I'm doing this for my family

149

or I'm doing this for myself because I feel it's busy.

150

And the meaning is something that's authored by you.

151

So meaning is completely self -created, self -authored, and unique to you, which is why it's special.

152

And when did you come about this fairly profound realization?

153

When did I hold on to it?

154

I think it's because basically life is hard.

155

And not eternally hard, but I'm aware that life contains hardship.

156

And life is suffering, as the Buddhists say.

157

That's it.

158

And to accept that is actually to release something in yourself, which means you don't have to resist it

159

and it comes to all of us and I'm aware like I speak from a really privileged position but hardship and difficulty

160

and challenge comes to all of us nobody gets out like you can be the healthiest person in your family

161

and then still hit the cancer that's it or something

162

and it just changes in one day 100 yeah

163

but also like where do you where do you get meaning in your life

164

I get meaning in two places work and family there you go

165

and my work is very important to me and I And I love it.

166

And honestly, I was very unhappy my whole life, actually, until I found a job that I like.

167

And then everything changed.

168

And it took me 33 years to get there.

169

All the hardship and all the struggle now has meaning because you found your purpose and you found what gives you joy.

170

Yeah.

171

It's a great privilege to be alive and to get to do this, honestly.

172

I'm in a good timeline.

173

In the multiverse, I'm in probably one of the better ones for myself.

174

I see what you did there.

175

Which is how I feel.

176

Yeah.

177

You're speaking to the guy who holds the timelines together.

178

You're like the Rachmaninoff of the New York subway.

179

I don't know who that is.

180

I don't know anyone that you know.

181

Are you familiar with Playboy Cardi?

182

Yes.

183

Fuck.

184

What about the Rizzler?

185

The Rizzler, is it connected to the Riddler?

186

Nope.

187

Okay, the Rizzler is lost on it.

188

I wanted to start a website called obscurereferences .net where everyone put in their obscure references.

189

That's the next idea, obscurereferences .net.

190

Obscure references.

191

I don't know why I want the .net.

192

It doesn't sound as good with the .com.

193

And you say it like this.

194

When you go to the website, it goes, obscurereferences .net.

195

I love that.

196

Yeah.

197

Anyways, we're doing another take.

198

Okay.

199

So what's your take?

200

My take is there are too many street signs.

201

100%.

202

Disagree.

203

Wait, do I agree or disagree?

204

Honestly, think about it.

205

Yeah, I disagree.

206

You're walking down the street.

207

I'm often with my dog and or one of my children.

208

Maybe that child is on my shoulders.

209

The dog is attached to my waist.

210

We're a team.

211

We're a tribe.

212

We're walking down the street.

213

I walk past the bus stop.

214

My child has to duck for the bus stop.

215

Before I get to the bus stop, we have to avoid a sign saying there's a bus stop here.

216

and then the lead slash leash gets in a tangle my dog goes one way

217

i go the other way then we have to go back around the

218

but the sign for the bus stop doesn't need to be there okay

219

because everyone can see there's a bus stop that's true

220

then you go to the net you get past the bus stop

221

and there's a sign for city bikes that you can rent

222

but you can see them

223

but you can see the city bikes right it's an it's a nightmare wait why are there

224

so many signs why sometimes then there's a sign for parking when you can see there's parking already.

225

And sometimes there's signs that are meaningless like this.

226

I don't even know what that is.

227

I think that they should not make it a riddle and they should just say don't be annoying as fuck.

228

There you go.

229

Don't be a piece of shit on the train.

230

Don't be a piece of shit on the train.

231

Don't be rude to other passengers.

232

Don't be someone's subway.

233

Sorry people are like oh that sounds awesome.

234

I'll go viral if I like suck a guy's toe.

235

How much of a subway

236

New York moment would it be if it just said don't suck anyone's toe.

237

I think that that's a better sign than that.

238

Okay, obscurefacts .net.

239

Can you name the rest of the cast of Saving Private Ryan?

240

Do you have any clues?

241

Salt and...

242

Clooney?

243

Salt and Pepper Clooney.

244

His last name might be Salt and...

245

He has a...

246

Pepper?

247

Yep.

248

Who are you talking about?

249

Barry Pepper.

250

Who's Barry Pepper?

251

Barry Pepper, he's like...

252

Do you know Barry Pepper?

253

No, but I want to say that downtown's like Petula Park.

254

Downtown's what?

255

Well, that's his original version.

256

i am stunned i've liked this whole this is why we don't

257

this is why i've never heard of it does patsy klein have a version

258

so maybe patsy klein has the version that is maybe it was petula clark

259

oh patsy klein did not record a signature song titled downtown oh my god well whoa god that was scary

260

Thank God I have a game.

261

Petula Clark.

262

Petula Clark.

263

Should we just...

264

Here's the P and C.

265

You have my unreserved apologies.

266

What should we do?

267

What should we do?

268

What do we do?

269

I'm stunned.

270

I'm stunned I got that wrong.

271

I know, but it's okay.

272

You know what I would have done if that was my mistake?

273

I would go, meh.

274

And I would make that exact noise.

275

I'd go, meh.

276

Try it.

277

No. Meh.

278

Exactly.

279

See how good that feels?

280

It actually feels good.

281

All right, let's do another.

282

My take is we're running out of time.

283

All the time.

284

100 % agree.

285

If you're alive, you're dead. Or dying.

286

Yep.

287

Well, I don't think anyone can disagree with that.

288

Was it 4 ,000 weeks, 28 ,000 days?

289

That's all they get.

290

Is that true?

291

The average human life is 4 ,000 weeks long.

292

That's so low.

293

28 ,000 days.

294

That's really low.

295

If you think of your childhood as probably the first 10 ,000, you're learning to walk, you're learning to talk, you're learning to eat, clothe yourself.

296

add two plus two speak english or italian or german

297

or japanese or mandarin mandarin i don't know i said

298

that whatever your whatever your native tongue maybe there are three or four

299

uh and then like that's

300

so you get to 20 years old 10 000 days are gone the last 8 000 days

301

you're probably in your seniority and you know maybe slowing down a bit

302

So that middle 10 ,000 days, what are you going to do?

303

That's a really good point.

304

But then it makes you feel alive.

305

Yes!

306

Live now.

307

I had a moment with this recently where, so I have a two -and -a -half -year -old daughter.

308

Right.

309

We had the best summer in the world.

310

Yeah.

311

And then I realized that she's like three now.

312

She's three -ish.

313

She's going on three.

314

And then I was like, wow, I have 15 more summers.

315

100 % agree.

316

And actually, between 14 and 18, she's not going to like me that much.

317

So really, I only have, like, 10 summers, which is not a lot of summers.

318

Yeah, running out of time.

319

Until she goes, yeah, I'd rather not hang out with you tonight.

320

I want to hang out with my friends or blah, blah, blah.

321

And then she's 18, and then the summers are over, and I'll probably never see her again because she'll be backpacking in Italy.

322

100 % agree.

323

With some boyfriend named Giovanni.

324

Giovanni.

325

Fucking bastard.

326

100 % agree.

327

But I feel like this gives you an impulse to live, right?

328

Gives you this urgency.

329

Whatever you're going to do, climb the mountain, write the song, have kids, go back to school, do that.

330

Do it because we only have now.

331

It's never too late to start.

332

We don't have forever.

333

You know, I wrote that in my notebook once.

334

It's never too late to start.

335

Right.

336

It's true.

337

I don't know if that's a profoundthoughts .net.

338

And if you're ready, you're late.

339

If you're ready, you're late.

340

That's pretty good, too.

341

If you wait until you're ready, you'll never do it.

342

That's great.

343

You're never ready to start.

344

If you're ready, you're late.

345

Did you write that on a post -it note ever?

346

I should have done.

347

If you're ready, you're late.

348

That's a good one.

349

It's never too late, and if you're ready, you're late.

350

It's never too late to start.

351

Profoundthoughts .net.

352

That's the next website.

353

There's an ancient proverb which says, we all have two lives.

354

You'll like this, I think.

355

We all have two lives.

356

The second begins when you realize you only have one.

357

That's fire.

358

my man's full they should put

359

that on a they should put them on a subway a subway sign yes

360

that's exactly what i'm saying what is this voice ai

361

that doesn't sound like an ai voice i learned nothing i don't want

362

that i want there's no insight i want it to say you have two lives the second one begins

363

when you realize

364

that you only have one did i butcher it it was good

365

you just missed the last word we put voice ai on a silent sign

366

you see the problem what the fuck does

367

that mean are these fake do you really think

368

if this billboard could talk

369

it would sound exactly like it would not sound like it wouldn't be british i'll tell you

370

that much it'd be from new york it would say fuck off

371

all right let's do another one let's do another one

372

we got a couple more stops um my take is stuttered run -ups in penalty shootouts are a disaster

373

you're saying that because no i don't know what i mean no no

374

but i think i know why you're saying that why is he saying

375

that for the for the misses in the final there's

376

so many so many misses but but in the Champions League final in particular.

377

That's right.

378

This man who's on the side of the mic off.

379

Right, right.

380

There's something about, and it was all over the World Cup.

381

No, keep the mic.

382

It was all over the World Cup.

383

It's all over elite football.

384

You have these extraordinary precision instrument athletes who have dedicated their lives to scoring goals.

385

They could put it anywhere in

386

that net within inches they have like inhuman power in their legs

387

and you get a spot kick where you're guaranteed to score

388

and there's a stuttered runner like it's you know

389

i mean like you know what the problem like it's not

390

like the spot kick is there the goal is there

391

and you go what's the problem with that well

392

because you tend to overthink you spend so much time

393

and the goalkeeper reads where you're go sometimes they miss

394

sometimes they get a the goalkeeper it gets saved

395

it just is like put your laces through it put your laces through it you agree

396

it's 100 agree it's like a contagion in football

397

or in soccer no don't don't call it soccer don't call

398

it soccer you don't have to you're in a safe place okay okay okay you're in a safe space it

399

but don't be nervous yeah

400

if you're one of the great strikers in the world just

401

go for it just kick the ball just pick a spot and put your laces through.

402

Okay, I like it.

403

I'm in.

404

You're guaranteed to score.

405

I don't, what do you call it?

406

Start?

407

Stuttered?

408

Stuttered.

409

Stuttered, yeah, yeah.

410

Like a stuttered runner.

411

God, English accent's so much better.

412

Stuttered.

413

You know, like, it's...

414

Stuttered.

415

But you've got...

416

Stuttered.

417

You've got all the advantages if you're the striker.

418

You hear that, Arsenal?

419

Maz's done his homework.

420

Come on, you gunners.

421

He likes Arsenal.

422

They are the Premier League champions.

423

Not for long.

424

Oh.

425

That's a take that's a subway take do you play football yeah let's just say i've been down to not

426

okay so now we're gonna do takes on takes the only breakfast is a full english breakfast

427

hard disagree really yeah i like the full english breakfast

428

but it's not the only it's not the only breakfast the whole country has made a thing of breakfast

429

It's called the English.

430

People visit England to have an English There are times when it's

431

Urgent and necessary.

432

You're not a yogurt and granola guy are you?

433

I'm more of a boiled eggs on toast guy.

434

Hey, that's my boy Me too.

435

Yeah, I like soft -boiled.

436

How many minutes?

437

six six is good

438

Hundred percent agree.

439

Okay, if aliens landed on earth people would stop caring after two weeks I 100 % agree.

440

Yeah, right?

441

Yeah.

442

I agree with that, too.

443

It's an indictment of our species.

444

Because we, tell me more.

445

Well, a lifetime of curiosity, are we alone in the universe?

446

And the aliens would arrive, and we'd be like, oh, we're not. And there you go.

447

The recliner seat has ruined the movie -going experience.

448

Disagree.

449

100 % disagree as well.

450

I love the recliner seat.

451

I love a recliner seat.

452

I see more movies because I'm comfortable.

453

Yeah.

454

Yeah, it's the best, actually.

455

I don't want to sit on a wooden bench.

456

I'd be happy to.

457

I don't think I'd go to that theater.

458

You wouldn't?

459

We'll see you at the movies.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Tom Hiddleston Defends His 5 Most Controversial Takes”. This video has 458 sentences and 3327 words to shadow. The speech runs for 23:42. The speaker talks at a steady 140 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 83% 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
happiness noun	/ˈhæpinɪs/	The emotion of being happy; joy; elation.
disagree verb	/dɪsəˈɡɹi/	To fail to agree; to have a different opinion or belief.
subway noun	/ˈsʌbˌweɪ/	An underground railway, especially for mass transit of people in urban areas.
toe noun	/təʊ/	Each of the five digits on the end of the human foot.
expose verb	/ɪkˈspoʊz/	To reveal; to uncover; to make visible; to bring to light.
soccer noun	/ˈsɑk.ɚ/	Association football.
suck verb	/sʌk/	To use the mouth and lips to pull in (a liquid, especially milk from the breast).
shoe noun	/ˈʃu/	A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of…
lace verb	/leɪs/	To fasten (something) with laces.
hardship noun	/ˈhɑɹdˌʃɪp/	Difficulty or trouble; hard times.
suffer verb	/ˈsʌfɚ/	To undergo hardship.
guarantee noun	/ˌɡæɹ.ənˈtiː/	Anything that assures a certain outcome.
downtown noun	/ˈdaʊ̯nˌtaʊ̯n/	The main business part of a city or town, usually located at or near its center.
grass noun	/ɡɹɑːs/	Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by leaves that arise from nodes in the stem and leaf bases that wrap around the stem, especially those grown as…
privilege noun	/ˈpɹɪv.(ɪ.)lɪd͡ʒ/	A particular benefit, advantage, or favor; a right or immunity enjoyed by some but not others; a prerogative, preferential treatment.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.
wake up verb	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	To stop sleeping; to awake.
walk down verb		To continually advance (on an opponent) and punch (the opponent) in order to control the fight and dominate the opponent, while shrugging off the opponent's…
get out verb		To leave or escape.
get past verb		To continue around a blockage; to get around (something); to surpass something that is in the way.
go away verb		To depart or leave a place.
go back verb		To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
go back to verb		To stem from; to originate in.

Sentences worth repeating

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

What's the matter with my feet?
How do you feel about exposing your toes?
That I'm not going to do it?
I don't, what do you call it?
You're not a yogurt and granola guy are you?

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	If you wait until you're ready, you'll never · if aliens landed on earth people would stop
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	you've exposed · have never seen · you've been underscored
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	you've been underscored · I've been underscored · was introduced
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	yourself, which means · guy who holds · summers, which is

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 144 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: theater /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/, athlete /ˈæθ.liːt/, clothe /ˈkloʊð/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shoe /ˈʃu/, hardship /ˈhɑɹdˌʃɪp/, precision /pɹɪˈsɪʒ.ən/, prescription /pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/, realization /ˌɹɪə.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: overrated /ˌəʊvəˈɹeɪtɪd/, architecture /ˈɑː.kɪˌtɛk.t͡ʃə/, disappointed /ˌdɪsəˈpɔɪnɪd/, extraordinary /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/, difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/

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 happiness, disagree, subway.

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: Tom Hiddleston Defends His 5 Most Controversial Takes | SubwayTakes Uncut - Learn English Speaking with Video

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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?