Shadowing Practice: Tricks with Monuments | MAGIC OF THE MONTH - August 2022 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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113 sentences
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Hey everybody welcome to Magic of the Month for the month of August where I'm reacting to your magical videos.
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Let's get into it.
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Grabbing a souvenir from France.
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Oh, merci beaucoup.
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I'm here in beautiful Dubai.
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I hope I don't get sent to Alcatraz.
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There is like no better place on the planet
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that I'd rather be sitting watching your videos about travel and landmarks than in Tuscany in Italy.
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I'm on vacation with my family, which is why I grew this massive beard.
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I'm feeling a little self -conscious because I never, I'm always clean shaven for my videos.
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Also, there's a really special announcement at the end of this video, so stay tuned.
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It's gonna talk about why
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Magic the Month is, well, you'll just have to see, wait till the end.
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okay brandon's got the first video here what an amazing background play i don't even know how you got
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that that's incredible that is so trippy what don't jump don't do it wait
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he's like on some sort of vr uh i think it's vr or augmented reality thing and
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that's so cool oh so it is virtual reality
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and uh that's awesome brandon
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and then he's got a little loop to it all right sippy
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and uh and kaylee this uh she's on tiktok she makes some crazy dance stuff
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and edits oh no it's deflating wait it was an air thing the whole time all right
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so we've got john next who uh man i'm always blown away by his stop motion
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but now he's got a hand -drawn animation so he's got a way to travel through the city that's incredible
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uh
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and in times square there in new york that's awesome
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i wonder what the little character's name is all right we've got how here taking a selfie
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but no he's gonna do he's always cleaning it off
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it looked a little dirty like there was some moss on there amazing
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if only washing the monuments were that easy
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because some of them are a little
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you know dirty over the years all right
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we got hiroki here in japan i've been there i don't remember what it's called
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but it looks similar to the eiffel tower but it's um obviously red
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and white placing it down and i wonder if that's the real location that's cool
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premium late for the bus he's gonna travel with no way
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that is a sweet monument and
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so he's in Dubai right I really want
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you guys to comment below what monuments you recognize what locations you you notice because I don't know all these
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Carter oh let's go Eiffel Tower that is whoa
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and turn the puzzle I think it's turned into puzzle pieces all right
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I hope I'm saying your name right Zuriol pulling some kind of like a shirt
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or a magic scarf or something out
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yep and I can't quite see what
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that is it's forming the pieces too oh the burj khalif in dubai oxygen uh
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we are oh breaking the castles uh oh yeah you gotta get out of there they gotta charge you for
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that oh somebody could fix it that's great be great
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if he was like dressed as a construction worker
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and was like oh
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this happens all the time all right samir has got a really uh what is this he's changing
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it with balloons water balloons these snails
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i feel like these snails are real okay don't forget my souvenir from Barcelona I love
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Barcelona so Alex what are you gonna of course not see you tonight I feel like he for he did forget
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Oh with the crane was an extra fun touch Harris is
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I don't know where this it looks like a giant spider oh don't pass underneath it no wait
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that plate that they got of the gal was so good it match so well.
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Alright, Artem's here taking a photo of a friend
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or a loved one or somebody at the beach and I imagine there's an illusion here.
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No, they're cardboard.
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That's so sad.
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Alright, we got Janoush and oh, flicking the monument.
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I think they made the Harry Potter one last time where it shot and broke that.
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That's a crazy sim.
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Cool, good job.
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Ah, that's so he's he's prepped for his vacation oh i love the interaction with
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that window there that he bumped out
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and then turns out the desktop is his final destination fassal
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oh no a lot of you guys are bumping the monuments
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which is really fun you have all your unique framing
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i love the framings in this one oh no yep get out of there take
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that moped and go hola um this giant this looks real i think this is a real thing somewhere whoa
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what all right we got vinnie here who uh
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oh that's that's trippy we got street king here
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going to the beach love it um imagine this door is gonna be some sort of
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wait i gotta watch i'm gonna try to break down how they're doing this
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so it's a yep got it street king i see you and it was very well done the kinettos
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oh catching your flight i've been talking about
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that trick for years you pulled it off
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so i don't need to do it anymore thank you
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so matthew's at this monument this person wraps it
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and i don't maybe this actually is under construction i think that's probably the case
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that is a cool trick i just i uh that's awesome
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and then he takes it at the end
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and wraps matthew always goes all out in his stunts
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and just falls flat on his face i hope
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you're okay matthew man your guys's creativity this month was absolutely crazy
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and i just love seeing the locations anyways
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if you were featured this month you're getting one of our landmark edition pins
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and sadly this is the last magic of the month pin
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that we're ever giving out because this leads to the news
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that I wanted to talk to you about magic the month after three
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and a half years of making
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this series is gonna be ending with the coolest part about this whole series has been the community
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that's going around it I mean
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when we started it was for me to connect with the filmmakers out there on YouTube
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and people that were already fans of mine making recreations
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and I just wanted to react to them and
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and share them with my audience that I still want to do
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that but in a different kind of a in a little bit bigger way
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and so i'm really excited for this next step of the show
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but it's not gonna be called magic of the month
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it's gonna be not every single month i have a couple ideas
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and i can't say them all right now but just know
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that um i'm excited about this community that's grown here
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but i just want to pivot it into something a little bit different
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and also keep it fresh i just can't do magic of the month every single month
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and do the new version of what i want to make
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i'm excited to see how this is going to evolve
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and i've got a link down below
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if you're really curious just to get an email
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when the thing comes out
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that i'm working on uh i just put a little link below you can just sign up to get notified
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but I'll see you guys later thanks
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so much for watching two videos here subscribe there and I'm gonna enjoy this lovely Italian city that I'm in
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Tricks with Monuments”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: month, magic, monument. This video has 113 sentences and 1296 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:20. The speaker talks at a natural 177 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 82% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| monument noun | /ˈmɑnjʊmənt/ | A structure built for commemorative or symbolic reasons, or as a memorial; a commemoration. |
| trick noun | /ˈtɹɪk/ | Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle. |
| vacation noun | /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ | An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure. |
| wrap verb | /ɹæp/ | To enclose (an object) completely in any flexible, thin material such as fabric or paper. |
| react verb | /ɹiːˈækt/ | To act in response. |
| bump noun | /bʌmp/ | A light blow or jolting collision. |
| puzzle noun | /ˈpʌzəl/ | The state of feeling confused or mystified because one cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.; bewilderment, confusion; (countable) often in… |
| balloon noun | /bəˈlun/ | An inflatable buoyant object, often (but not necessarily) round and flexible. |
| landmark noun | /ˈlændmɑːk/ | A recognizable natural or man-made feature used for navigation. |
| whoa | /woʊ/ | Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down. |
| snail noun | /sneɪl/ | Any of very many animals (either hermaphroditic or nonhermaphroditic), of the class Gastropoda, having a coiled shell. |
| wash verb | /wɑʃ/ | To clean with water. |
| castle noun | /ˈkɑːsəl/ | A large residential building or compound that is fortified and contains many defences; in previous ages often inhabited by a nobleman or king. Also, a house or… |
| curious adjective | /ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs/ | Tending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying. |
| worker noun | /ˈwɝ.kɚ/ | One who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. | |
| blow away verb | To cause to go away by blowing, or by wind. | |
| break down verb | To stop functioning. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| give out verb | To utter, publish; to announce, proclaim, report. | |
| go around verb | To move or spread from person to person. | |
| turn out verb | To end up; to result. |
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 been · has been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were featured · be called |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | gonna talk · gonna do · gonna travel |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | I'm reacting · he's always cleaning · I'm saying |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 55 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, wash /wɑʃ/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/, animation /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/, animation /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/, recreation /ɹiːkɹiˈeɪʃən/, creativity /kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/
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 monument, trick, vacation.
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.