Shadowing Practice: 悲慘世界｜英文故事｜聽故事學英文｜英文聽力練習｜睡前英文故事｜英文學習（初學者友好） - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
Les miserables.
2
What can change a person's life?
3
Punishment or kindness?
4
When someone has made mistakes, should we only remember what he did in the past?
5
Or should we give him a chance to become a different person?
6
In 19th century France, many poor people lived hard and difficult lives.
7
Valjean was one of them.
8
He was a strong young man, but he had very little money.
9
After his parents died, he had to help take care of his sister and her children.
10
One winter, the family had almost nothing to eat.
11
Valjean tried to find work, but there was not enough work for everyone.
12
One night, he saw a bakery with warm bread inside.
13
His family was hungry and he was desperate.
14
He broke a window and took a loaf of bread.
15
He was caught and sent to prison.
16
His punishment did not end quickly.
17
Because he tried to escape several times, his prison sentence became longer and longer.
18
In the end, he spent 19 years in prison.
19
When Valjean was finally released, he was given a yellow passport.
20
It showed that he had been a prisoner.
21
Wherever he went, people saw the passport and refused to give him a room or a job.
22
He was free, but he was not truly accepted by society.
23
He walked for a long time, tired and angry.
24
People had treated him like a dangerous man for so many years
25
that he began to believe he could never become good again.
26
One evening, he arrived in the town of Dean.
27
He asked several people for food and a place to sleep, but they refused him.
28
At last, someone told him that he could go to the home of Bishop Mariel.
29
The bishop welcomed him into his house.
30
He gave Valjean warm food, a bed, and a safe place to sleep.
31
Valjean was surprised because he had expected another rejection.
32
That night, however, However, he made a terrible decision.
33
He took the bishop's silver plates and left the house.
34
The police soon caught him and brought him back.
35
They believed he had stolen the silver, but when the bishop saw him, he did something Valjean never expected.
36
Instead of accusing him, the bishop told the police that the silver had been a gift.
37
He even gave Valjean two silver candle holders and said that he should use the silver to start a new life.
38
The police released him.
39
Valjean could hardly understand what had happened.
40
The bishop had every reason to punish him, but he had chosen forgiveness instead.
41
Instead, that moment changed Valjean.
42
He realized that someone had trusted him when everyone else had rejected him.
43
From that day on, he decided to become a better man.
44
Years passed and Valjean created a new identity.
45
He became Monsieur Madeleine, a successful businessman in the town of Montré -sur -Mer.
46
He worked hard, created jobs, and helped poor people.
47
The town became richer because of him.
48
The people respected him, and he eventually became the mayor.
49
But there was one man who never stopped watching him.
50
His name was Javert.
51
Javert was a police officer who believed strongly in law and order.
52
Years earlier, he had worked in the prison where Valjean had been held.
53
Something about Mayor Madeleine made Javert suspicious.
54
The man was strong, quiet, and unusually generous.
55
Javert began to wonder if he was really the former prisoner Valjean.
56
At the same time, another unhappy story was beginning.
57
A young woman named Fantine lived in Montre.
58
She had a little daughter named Cosette.
59
Fantine was poor and alone.
60
Because she needed work, she had left Cosette with a family called the Thanardiers.
61
The Thanardiers owned an inn.
62
They promised to care for Cosette, but they were not kind people.
63
They treated the little girl like a servant and demanded more and more money from Fantine.
64
Fantine worked in a factory owned by Mayor Madeline.
65
She tried to hide the fact that she had a child because she feared losing her job.
66
But someone discovered her secret, and she was dismissed.
67
Without work, Fantine quickly became poorer.
68
She sold her belongings, then her hair, and finally almost everything she had.
69
She only wanted to send enough money to the Thenardiers so that Cosette could survive.
70
Her health became worse, but she continued working whenever she could.
71
One day, Fantine was walking down the street
72
when a man deliberately put some snow down the back of her clothes and laughed at her.
73
Fantine became angry and fought back, and the two of them got into a struggle.
74
Javert arrived and only saw Fantine fighting with the man.
75
He believed that she was causing trouble in the street, so he decided to arrest her.
76
Fantine felt frightened and helpless, because she had already lost her job and her life had fallen into a desperate situation.
77
Mayor Madeline arrived and stopped Javert.
78
He ordered him to take Fantine to a hospital instead.
79
At first, Javert was shocked.
80
His suspicion of Madeline became stronger.
81
Then news came that another man had been arrested.
82
The authorities believed that this man was Valjean, the former prisoner who had disappeared years earlier.
83
Mare Madeline knew the truth.
84
If he said nothing, the innocent man would be sent to prison for the rest of his life.
85
Valjean faced a terrible choice.
86
He had built a new life and had become respected by everyone.
87
If he revealed his identity, he would lose everything.
88
But if he remained silent, another man would suffer for his crime.
89
He could not accept that.
90
He went to the court and revealed that he was Valjean.
91
The truth shocked everyone.
92
He was arrested again, but he managed to escape.
93
Before leaving, he remembered Fantine, who was seriously ill in the hospital.
94
He had promised to find her daughter, Cosette.
95
Fantine died before Valjean could bring Cosette to her.
96
Valjean never forgot his promise.
97
After escaping from the police, he found Cosette living with the Thenardiers.
98
The little girl was poorly dressed and forced to work.
99
She was treated very differently from the Thenardiers' own children.
100
Valjean paid the family and took Cosette away.
101
For the first time in her life, Cosette had someone who truly cared for her.
102
Valjean became like a father to her.
103
They moved to Paris and lived quietly.
104
Valjean wanted Cosette to grow up safely, so he kept his past secret.
105
He knew that Javert was still searching for him.
106
For many years, Valjean and Cosette lived a peaceful life.
107
Cosette grew into a beautiful young woman.
108
Then she met a young man named Marius.
109
Marius came from a family with strong political opinions.
110
He was a serious young man who cared about justice and the poor.
111
His relationship with his grandfather was difficult, and he eventually left home.
112
In Paris, Marius became friends with a group of young students who dreamed of changing France.
113
They believed that poor people deserved a better life.
114
Marius often saw Cosette in a garden.
115
They did not know much about each other at first, but they slowly fell in love.
116
Valjean noticed that Cosette had changed.
117
She was growing up, and her heart was no longer completely centered on him.
118
He did not understand Marius, but he could see that Cosette loved the young man.
119
At the same time, the political situation in Paris became more dangerous.
120
In 1832, people were angry about poverty, inequality, and the government.
121
The students decided to build a barricade in the streets and fight for what they believed was right.
122
Marius joined them.
123
When Valjean discovered that Marius was in danger, he went to the barricade.
124
There he saw Javert.
125
Javert had been captured by the students and was being held as a prisoner.
126
Valjean was given the chance to kill him, but he did not.
127
Instead, he secretly allowed Javert to escape.
128
This was difficult for Javert to understand.
129
In his mind, Valjean was a criminal and criminals were supposed to be punished.
130
Yet the man he had spent years hunting had just saved his life.
131
The fighting at the barricade became worse.
132
Many of the young students were killed.
133
Marius was badly wounded.
134
Valjean found him and carried him away through the Paris sewers.
135
It was a dangerous journey through darkness and dirty water, but Valjean continued because he wanted to save the young man Cosette loved.
136
As Valjean carried Marius through the sewer, Javert eventually found him.
137
Valjean was exhausted and could barely move.
138
Javert could have arrested him immediately.
139
But something inside Javert had changed.
140
He had spent his whole life believing that people were either good or bad, and that the law could clearly separate the two.
141
Valjean had always been a criminal in his eyes.
142
Yet again and again Valjean had chosen to help others.
143
He had saved Fantine's child.
144
He had saved Marius.
145
He had even spared Javert, when he could have killed him.
146
Javert could no longer fit Valjean into his simple idea of justice.
147
He let him go.
148
For Javert, this was almost impossible to accept.
149
His whole life had been built around the belief that the law was always right.
150
If Valjean could be a good man despite breaking the law, then perhaps his own understanding of justice was incomplete complete.
151
Unable to live with this conflict, Javert ended his own life.
152
Meanwhile, Marius survived his injuries.
153
After he recovered, he married Cosette.
154
For a short time, everything seemed peaceful.
155
However, Valjean believed that Marius should know about his past.
156
He told Marius that he had once been a prisoner and had also lived under another name.
157
But he did not explain everything he had done for Cosette over the years,
158
nor did he tell Marius that he had saved his life at the barricade.
159
Marius was shocked when he heard this.
160
He did not know what Valjean had really done in the past.
161
All he knew was that this man had once been a prisoner.
162
Marius began to feel uneasy about Valjean's past.
163
He did not know that he was slowly misunderstanding a man who had once saved his life and had always protected Cosette.
164
In the end, Valjean chose to leave Cosette and Marius.
165
He believed that only by leaving them could they live a peaceful life.
166
Later, Marius learned the truth.
167
He discovered that Valjean had saved him at the barricade.
168
He also learned that Valjean had spent years caring for Cosette and protecting her.
169
Marius finally understood the kind of man Valjean had become.
170
He and Cosette rushed to find him they found Valjean very weak and close to death.
171
Cosette sat beside him holding his hand.
172
Valjean was happy to see Cosette again.
173
He told her about Fantine and explained how he had promised her that he would take care of her daughter.
174
He also told them about the bishop who had changed his life many years before.
175
Valjean died peacefully with Cosette and Marius beside him.
176
Valjean was not a perfect man, but he chose to become a better one.
177
That is the heart of Les Miserables.
178
A person's past does not have to decide his future.
179
Sometimes, one act of kindness can change a life, and that kindness can then be passed on to others.
📺 Same Channel
✨ Recommend Video
B11
178 sentences
Learn English with Stories ⭐ A Stranger at the Cafe | Level 3 English Listening & Speaking Practice
High School StudentsUniversity Students+2
B1108 sentences
Cruelty Has a Price | A Motivational Story About Kindness
TeensHigh School Students+2
B13
48 sentences
365天逐句学完绝望主妇不用字幕看美剧 Day1
High School StudentsUniversity Students+1
B11
32 sentences
Chapter 7
High School StudentsUniversity Students+1
B15
120 sentences
Learn English with Stories ⭐ The Cruel Daughter | Level 3 English Listening & Speaking Practice
High School StudentsUniversity Students+1
B2155 sentences
Train Your Listening with a Beautiful Story of Love & Kindness | What Men Live By by Leo Tolstoy
British Accent, en-GBHigh School Students+3
B116
21 sentences
One story a day level 2 book 2 Story 3 A Simple Men
High School StudentsUniversity Students+1
B11
137 sentences
International Jokes: 001 - 015
High School StudentsUniversity Students+2
B148 sentences
The Boy with No Shoes...Who Changed the World | The Power of A Dream | Motivational Story in English
TeensHigh School Students+3
B12
89 sentences
Daddy Longlegs 4 A Foreign Country Little Fox TEST 2
High School StudentsUniversity Students+1
B12
316 sentences
The Extraordinary Rise of Coco Chanel | B1 English Story ✅️
High School StudentsUniversity Students+1
B22
98 sentences
INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH STORY ⛈️ A Stormy Night ⛈️ B2 | Level 4 | BRITISH ENGLISH ACCENT WITH SUBTITLES
British Accent, en-GBHigh School Students+3
Learn English with a Heartwarming Story: Practice Listening and Speaking
In this lesson, you’ll dive into a classic tale from *Les Misérables* while sharpening your English listening and speaking skills. Follow Valjean’s journey from despair to redemption as you absorb natural speech patterns, build vocabulary, and practice the shadowing technique—perfect for beginners ready to grow!
Key Vocabulary & Phrases to Master
- Desperate: Feeling hopeless and willing to take risks (e.g., "He was desperate to feed his family").
- Rejection: Being refused or turned away (e.g., "Valjean faced rejection everywhere he went").
- Forgiveness: Choosing to let go of anger toward someone who wronged you (e.g., "The bishop showed great forgiveness").
- Identity: Who a person is (e.g., "Valjean created a new identity to start over").
- Respected: Admired for good qualities (e.g., "He became a respected mayor").
Practice Tips: Use the Shadowing Technique to Improve
The video’s slow, clear tone makes it ideal for shadowing—repeat lines aloud *immediately* after hearing them. Start with short phrases, like "What can change a person’s life?" Focus on matching the speaker’s rhythm and intonation. For tricky words like "desperate" or "forgiveness," pause and practice saying them slowly, then speed up. This helps with english pronunciation and english speaking practice!
Remember, shadowspeaks is all about mimicry—don’t worry about mistakes. The story’s emotional arc will keep you engaged, making practice feel like a conversation, not a chore. Over time, you’ll notice your fluency and confidence grow. Ready to start? Press play, listen closely, and shadow speak your way to better English!
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.