Shadowing Practice: Vietnamese Coffee Was Easy… Coconut Coffee Took 3 Tries 😂 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello, Joni here.
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Today I'm going to be showing you how to make authentic Vietnamese coffee.
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So as you may know, we spent quite a bit of time in Vietnam recently and we grew to,
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well we didn't grow, we pretty much instantly loved Vietnamese coffee.
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Wanted to start making it here at home.
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So that's what I'm going to show you today is how to make Vietnamese coffee using this cute little Vietnamese fin filter.
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So as you see here the filter has multiple parts.
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This part comes out, has holes in it.
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This part has holes in it.
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This part has holes in it.
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This filter is great, like I said, not only for making coffee here at home, but also when you're on the go.
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We do a lot of camping and van trips.
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We recently took a trip across the country and back in our van, took the little thin filter, boiled our water, made our coffee every morning.
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It was great.
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So if you want that as an alternative or as an option for making coffee on your camping trips, I highly suggest it.
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So first thing we need to do is boil our water. and we've got
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that going already we've got boiling water we've got our jar here we're using a clear jar
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because we're going to make some pretty coconut coffee iced coffee
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and we want you to be able to see it
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so that's why we're using this big clear jar first thing we want do is put this on top.
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Next, this part on top of that.
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This is the coffee that we've been using, Don Francisco's Columbia Supremo medium roast.
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We've tried lots of different coffees, and this one we have found we like the best.
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So for a typical I would say maybe 12 ounce cup of coffee I would do three heaping teaspoons of coffee.
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That's what I'm going to do today because that's what I know the ratios to be.
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So I know it's going to look maybe kind of weird in this giant jar,
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but one, two, three.
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And I like to kind of shake it down a little bit and level it out.
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so that when we put this little, I forget what this is called, it's like a weight but it's not that heavy.
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You're supposed to put it on there, kind of drop it on there, press it down just ever so slightly.
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Now it's time to pour in our boiling water.
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My lovely assistant will bring that.
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Got this little teapot at Walmart.
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It's really handy for pouring the water.
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We were using a, just a, like a pot, and it was disaster.
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Hot water would go everywhere, so this works much better.
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and we learned in making this you want to bloom your coffee
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so to do that you just pour in a little bit of water just covering
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that bottom part and you're gonna want to let it sit for two to four minutes
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So the purpose of blooming our coffee is it just gives it a better flavor,
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but also it saturates the grounds so that when you do the rest of the pour, it just doesn't channel through the coffee.
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And it just it saturates those grounds and absorbs the water so that you get better flavor extraction, I guess.
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Alright, so as you can see, the coffee has dripped through.
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It's probably been about two minutes I would say.
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Maybe a little less, but that's okay.
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We can go ahead and finish.
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Alright, so now we're going to take our boiling water, our hot water again, and pour the rest slowly and carefully.
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And as you can see, it's dripping through.
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I'm just going to fill it all the way up since we have a nice big jar to catch it.
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Put our little lid on.
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Take a few minutes for that to drip through.
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One thing I will say too, which you'll see in a minute, but when we go to take this off, just keep in mind it's really hot.
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It's done.
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So we're going to go ahead and take this off carefully.
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It's very hot.
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I should probably use a potholder, but I'm just going to set it on this little plate right here.
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So not too bad.
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As you can see, we've got a lovely dark coffee.
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Vietnamese coffee is very strong.
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They use a lot of grounds, I think.
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And so that's what makes it so strong and so delicious.
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Now we're going to be turning our brewed coffee into an iced coconut coffee one of our favorite coffees of Vietnam.
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To do that we're gonna take our coconut cream, longevity brand sweetened condensed milk.
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It's not in its original container because
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it doesn't keep well in its original jar so we're gonna that's why we have it in this little jar.
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So we're gonna take these two things, some ice, blend it all up.
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The recipe we're using calls for a cup of ice,
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a quarter cup of coconut cream.
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This doesn't look like coconut cream.
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It's usually a lot thicker.
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Oh well, we'll see how that goes.
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And two tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk.
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The star of the party.
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It's the coconut.
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Look at that.
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Ooey gooey goodness.
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It's not a good idea to blend without the lid.
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Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.
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Here we go.
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Got our blended coconutty goodness.
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Now we're going to pour it into our jar.
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You know what?
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Might be better to scoop it out, actually.
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Hmm, not looking as pretty as the coffee we got in Vietnam.
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So, I'm sad to say the first attempt was a bit of a fail.
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Uh, the, I don't know, the coffee maybe was too hot, and the, this wasn't fluffy and frothy enough, and so when we scooped it in there,
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it just melted, and, uh, so now we're gonna try scooping this in first.
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Got a different glass.
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Oh yeah, this is gonna be good, I can tell.
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Should I put all this?
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There we go.
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Okay.
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We've got another cup of coffee here.
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We did two pours with that last filter.
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Ooh.
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Here we are yet again.
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Our first two attempts at making Vietnamese coconut coffee complete fails.
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I don't know what we're doing wrong.
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Honestly, this seems so simple.
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but we just can't seem to get it right.
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I don't know why.
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So here we are.
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Try number three.
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Third time's a charm, they say.
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So I've already got it.
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Oh, that water's hot.
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That handle is hot.
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So as soon as I can handle this, I will pour it.
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Do our bloom again.
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All right.
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Let her sit for a couple minutes.
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I think one of the problems with the first two cups
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was first of all our coffee was just too hot so
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when we poured it over when we poured our coconut mixture over the coffee it just melted into a lukewarm
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mess so the second cup we used we did a second pour over on the same cup of grounds
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so it wasn't strong enough.
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So this time I think what we're gonna do is cool our coffee before we put in the coconut.
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I vaguely remember
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when we were in Vietnam the baristas would pull a jug of coffee out of the refrigerator before putting in the coconut.
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We wanted to cool our coffee fast so we broke out the high-tech fast freeze contraption here.
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Just a little ice water in there.
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We submerged our coffee, so hopefully it'll cool quickly.
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And we can finish our coffee, and it'll be amazing this time.
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I just know it.
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All right, our coffee is nice and cool now.
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and in an effort to dirty every dish in our house
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we're going to use a clean jar to put the coconut
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cream in first since that's what the recipe said I didn't do that the first time
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oh there's our spoon it's hiding in there oh yeah we added a little bit more coconut cream
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and a little bit more sweetened condensed milk so we get more of that coconut flavor more sweetness looking yummy
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it's a little bit more liquidy i think than traditional but that's okay all right moment of truth here
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Looking a little better.
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You can see layers.
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Should I stir it up a little bit?
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Coffee's nice and strong.
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I'm going to stir it up.
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It's a lot closer.
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It's pretty tasty.
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Alright, I'm going to have Keith come try it, see what his opinion is.
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Okay, that's how you did.
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I think it could still be a little bit sweeter.
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What do you think?
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More coconutty?
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It's like a really good sweet coffee.
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I'm not getting as much coconut as I expected.
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It's still not like in Vietnam, we got like really coconut forward.
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Right.
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This is still not coconutty enough.
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I mean it's a good cup of coffee, but it's uh...
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It's not quite there, is it?
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It's still not there.
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Oh, well.
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So we did a video on making Vietnamese coffee and our struggles today.
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We showed you how to use a fin filter, but obviously we still can't replicate that Vietnamese experience at home.
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So we appreciate everybody for watching.
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Again, feel free to drop us tips and tricks because we're always looking for ways to improve.
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Hope you enjoyed the video.
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Bye!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Vietnamese Coffee Was Easy… Coconut Coffee Took 3 Tries 😂”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: coffee, coconut, jar, Vietnamese, pour. This video has 158 sentences and 1584 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:46. The speaker talks at a steady 115 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| coconut noun | /ˈkəʊ.kə.nʌt/ | A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed. |
| pour verb | /poɹ/ | To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it. |
| filter noun | /ˈfɪltɚ/ | A device which separates a suspended, dissolved, or particulate matter from a fluid, solution, or other substance; any device that separates one substance from… |
| boil verb | /bɔɪ(ə)l/ | To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas. |
| coconutty adjective | Resembling coconuts, coconut-like | |
| condense verb | /kənˈdɛns/ | To concentrate toward the essence by making more close, compact, or dense, thereby decreasing size or volume. |
| sweeten verb | /ˈswiːtən/ | To make sweet to the taste. |
| drip verb | /ˈdɹɪp/ | To fall one drop at a time. |
| scoop noun | /skup/ | Any cup-shaped or bowl-shaped tool, usually with a handle, used to lift and move loose or soft solid material. |
| blend verb | /blɛnd/ | To mingle; to mix; to unite intimately; to pass or shade insensibly into each other. |
| flavor noun | /ˈfleɪvə/ | The quality produced by the sensation of taste or, especially, of taste and smell in combined effect. |
| saturate verb | /ˈsatjʊɹeɪt/ | To cause to become completely permeated with, or soaked (especially with a liquid). |
| bloom noun | /blum/ | A blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud. |
| stir verb | /stɝ/ | To disturb the relative position of the particles (of a liquid or similar) by passing an object through it. |
| melt verb | /mɛlt/ | To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| break out verb | To escape, especially forcefully or defiantly. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- It's probably been about two minutes I would say.
- Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.
- Should I put all this?
- We've got another cup of coffee here.
- Should I stir it up a little bit?
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 | We've tried · has dripped · It's probably been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is put · is called |
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should probably use · Should I put · Should I stir |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | may know · Might be |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 60 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, I'm, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: extraction /ɪkˈstɹækʃən/, dish /dɪʃ/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/
- Long words — get the stress right: longevity /lɒnˈd͡ʒɛv.ɪ.ti/, refrigerator /ɹɪˈfɹɪd͡ʒ.əˌɹeɪ.tɚ/
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 coconut, pour, filter.
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.