Shadowing Practice: We Rode FIRST CLASS On America's NEWEST, FASTEST Train - Learn English Speaking with Video

I'm becoming obsessed with trains, and America just launched a new train that also happens to be the fastest.

Ever since riding my first train last year, I've been dreaming of riding trains all over the world.

So today, we're putting America's fastest train to the test.

But there was just one catch.

Cole wasn't exactly sold on the idea, so I had to get creative.

Hey, remember that sandwich you heard about?

The Falford Nutter sandwich?

Yeah, want to go to Boston and try it?

Really?

The next thing we knew we were in Washington DC in

the most beautiful train station I've ever seen about to ride the fastest train in America now

Today we're riding first class on the next genicella from Washington DC to Boston for a very specific reason are you excited?

We're about to travel over 400 miles crossing eight states on America's fastest train 14 stops stand between us and Boston

But the real surprise is what we'll find along the way.

Now normally, we'd be riding in coach because first class isn't cheap.

But thanks to our sponsor Nomad Lane, we can afford to ride first class today.

And I have a feeling it's going to make all the difference.

Is this the menu?

How are you this morning, Mr. Marlin?

Another day above ground is always a blessing.

Amen to that.

With the first class ticket, you get access to the private lounge before the train ride.

But we wanted to save our appetites.

I've heard that lunch is the real highlight.

I haven't had my coffee yet this morning, so.

Are you happy?

Have coffee on whatever else you want on that menu.

I will also do a coffee, please. Have coffee?

Thank you so much.

Um, we have a little bit of a problem.

We're already late.

Here's why this matters.

Cole's favorite food is sandwiches.

And recently, our friends told us about this iconic sandwich they had growing up.

I made a deal with Cole to go to Boston on this train to try it.

So we have to get there before the sandwich shop closes.

I got a question for me.

I know you're from Jamaica, but have you ever had a fluffernutter sandwich?

A fluffernutter?

You must be from New England.

No, we're going just to get one.

Oh, are you?

All right, we are officially moving.

The train is leaving.

I'm so excited right now.

I feel like a little kid.

You are a kid in the candy store right now.

Have you ever had a fluffernutter sandwich?

What is that?

You messing with me?

Have you ever heard of a food so good that you needed to try it?

Think about the first time maybe you had Chick-fil-A or a Texas brisket, one of our patrons who lives in Boston recently told us about this fluffernutter sandwich.

So today, not only are we trying out this brand new train, we're gonna see if it's worth traveling 400 miles to get this fluffernutter sandwich.

The buzz on the train this morning actually reminds me of when we rode the Brightline train last year.

And that's where I fell in love with train travel.

Please be prepared to exit the train.

I don't know what that alarm was.

If anybody was sleeping, they're not sleeping now.

I'm so excited for this breakfast.

I got the crispy bacon and sweet onion omelet, and Cole got the breakfast chiquillas.

I hope I'm saying that right.

Chilaquiles.

I was even more excited to see it came with a croissant.

Bread first.

Mmm.

How is it?

Amazing.

It also got me thinking about this super important question.

Do you slice your roll in half or put butter in the middle, or do you put butter on top?

There's always a butter on top kind of dough.

You like to slice it.

I do, yeah.

These are the serious discussions Cole and I are having right now.

As we were eating, everything outside went black because we were going through a tunnel.

I think it's called the Baltimore Tunnel.

It's not very long and it went by really fast because this is a time lapse.

But you know, we still haven't seen how fast this thing can go.

I gotta say breakfast was really good, but I wonder how it's going to compare to the fluff another sandwich we get once we get to Boston.

The next thing we knew we were already at our second stop in Baltimore, but before we could blink we were moving again I think the crew is trying to make up for lost time

Don't worry, I'm just wearing the new meta glasses with my friend

Now I gotta say these glasses make me feel like a futuristic rock star.

All right enough silly business How about a tour so far?

I'm really loving this space.

I mean look at how much seat and foot room we have here.

I'm only 5'2", so of course space is a concern, but in this seat I can stretch all the way out and I still have room to spare.

Honestly, I feel like a kid playing in the grown-up section.

But, if you need some extra seating, just press this button over here and look at this.

Whoa!

The seats here don't recline, but they do extend.

I'm not so sure if I could sleep this way.

The tray table is like an airplane's, but it actually comes to you, which means I don't have to lean halfway across the seat just to reach my coffee.

Plus, there's power plugs and even a personal reading light.

Basically, it's a little office on rails.

You can work as much or as little as you want to.

And for the luggage, you have space under the seat or above your head all throughout the train.

And speaking of luggage...

When you splurge on a first-class ticket, you want the whole trip to feel first-class.

And that happens before you ever get on the train.

That's why Nomad Lane is the real hero of this trip.

100

The bento bag is designed so you never have to worry about overhead storage again.

101

It's compact enough to where it can easily slide under a seat on an airplane, or in this case under the seat or overhead in a train,

102

but it also has enough space for you to pack everything you need all in one spot.

103

I am seriously loving this bag and all the compartments that come with it.

104

And when you're not carrying everything, their sling bag is the perfect travel sidekick.

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It's great for quick, easy, hands-free access and perfect for carrying your phone and passport.

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Thanks so much to Nomad Lane for making this trip possible.

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They make us feel like first-class travelers before we ever board and because they're supporting this adventure, they're supporting you too.

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You can check them out with our link in the description below.

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All right, bags packed, let's get back to the train

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and this is where things get interesting because Cole just asked the conductor about that sandwich.

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I grew up on them.

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And what is your favorite way of making them?

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I like the fluff, Peanut butter and bananas.

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Okay.

115

That's my favorite.

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All right.

117

My favorite.

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I mean, could we have flown on a plane to get to Boston for the Fluffer Nutter Sandwich?

119

Sure.

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Would it have been as fun?

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Absolutely not.

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I just love train travel.

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This ride is so beautiful.

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Ladies and gentlemen, now arriving in some mornings in Delaware.

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Growing up in Tennessee, train travel was never really something I thought about.

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I can't imagine what it must have been like traveling by train in the golden age of train travel.

127

I don't know if it makes sense, but this train ride feels nostalgic in a way I've never experienced.

128

Can you believe early trains only went about 30 miles an hour?

129

Today is much different on America's fastest train.

130

I bet we're doing $1.50 right now.

131

Right now it seems like we're floating because there ain't no f*ing moving on the speed of light right now.

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151. Alright.

133

152. 156.

134

157. Come on.

135

Come on.

136

We were flying toward Philadelphia.

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Now I don't know if it's the endless supply of coffee or the fact that we're moving at the speed of life, but I'm in desperate need of the bathroom.

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So let's take a tour.

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This is me walking to the bathroom completely unaware that I didn't turn my mic on.

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So here I am closing the door, a robot voice comes on to tell me to lock it.

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Please lock the door.

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The door is locked.

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This is the biggest train bathroom I've ever seen.

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I could probably do a cartwheel in here, but let's be honest, I'd tear a hammy.

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Over here is the sink, pretty basic, but there's two soaps.

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That's strange.

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I guess they're expecting people to be dirty.

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This red thing, well, you don't want to push that.

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That's where if you run out of TP, you can hit that and they'll bring it to you.

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Although, when that door opens, everyone's gonna see what's going on in there.

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And it doesn't close fast.

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Would you guys like some hot towel?

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Towel service on a train?

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What is this?

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These guys have been spoiling us and making us feel super special.

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Help show them some love by commenting, great service, down below.

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This train ride is so beautiful.

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The Northeast Corridor runs through all these big cities and it's such a cool experience to watch them pass by so quickly.

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And finally we have made it to New York City.

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We got off to stretch our legs but we had to hurry back so we didn't get left behind.

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Look at the paint job on this thing.

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It's pretty sweet.

163

Very cool.

164

There's just so much excitement around this new train Everyone's just buzzing about it, which is making the trip so much more fun All right back on

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that was quick So we are in train car number one today, which would usually be the front

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But today it's the back you have one seat right here singles all on this side

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And then on the right side is all doubles and there are facing different directions

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We're gonna take a little walk and show you the rest of the train.

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We have to go through the first class kitchen.

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Now technically we're not supposed to be walking through here.

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But we made some friends.

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We made some friends.

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We'll be good Marlon.

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There are nine cars in this train set and the car next is business class.

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Only first and business class are offered on the Acela.

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We took a seat in business class and we're honestly surprised at how similar it was to first class.

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Definitely a lot tighter.

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but still nice.

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Still a good amount of room.

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Yeah, it's still nice.

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There's less room, but it was still very comfortable.

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Cars two through five are business class.

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Then we made it to the cafe car.

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So we have lots of sandwiches to choose from.

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It is a different menu than what we have in first class today.

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And then Coke products, water, sparkling water for my fancy husband, who loves to always get sparkling water.

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And then you can order hot sandwiches here.

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We're not gonna order anything here because we're gonna get lunch in first class, But I do have a question for the attendant here.

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Have you ever heard of a fluffernutter sandwich?

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A what?

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So many people haven't heard of this sandwich.

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Now I'm not feeling so bad.

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It's totally a New England thing.

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Yeah.

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So if we walk a little further in the food cart, this is the bar hangout area where you can just lean up and have a drink and enjoy it.

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This is the ADA accessible table.

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So someone in a wheelchair could be sitting on this side.

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And in the first class car, there's a table on this side too.

199

And these face each other.

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So it's pretty nice because these fold out.

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And it gives you plenty of space to eat.

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Put a little drink right here.

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Still have all your charging parts here.

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Cars seven through nine are also business class.

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But car nine is the quiet car.

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We don't know how to be quiet, so we're going to turn around and head back to our seat

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because it's almost time for the highlight of the trip, lunch.

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We got an afternoon pick-me-up and this may be the best coffee we've ever had.

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Oh, that is so good.

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We were making friends and thinking nothing could go wrong.

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So apparently there's some mechanical issues and now we're going to be over an hour late getting to Boston.

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I really hope we make it in time before the sandwich shop closes or Cole is going to be really upset.

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While we were waiting for the train to start moving again, lunch was delivered, I got another roll which I'm super excited about, Cole ordered the short ribs and I had the bobo chicken.

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I cannot even believe this kind of food is being served on a train.

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I can't wait to see what's for dessert.

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Also, as I'm editing this, I'm reminded how awkward it is filming in public.

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These ribs were...

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Someone's watching me.

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These ribs were phenomenal, but it's still not the fluffernummer sandwich that I'm coming to Boston to get.

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I'm really looking forward to this.

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So I'm talking to Jamie here who joined us in New York and is heading back home to New England and said, Jamie, have you had a fluffernummer sandwich before?

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I have.

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My mother would make them when I would go to like summer camp.

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Now that I'm stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey, how about some dessert?

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Now I'm not a big fan of lemon, but I've got to say this lemon cheesecake really hit the And just when I thought the food was over, they come serving warm nuts.

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Really?

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This crew is overdoing it.

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I really wasn't excited about these nuts, but they're warm.

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And there's just something about warm nuts that you just can't go wrong.

230

I have to admit, the last hour went by so fast, I forgot we were even delayed.

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I just stared out this window the entire time.

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New England really is so beautiful.

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We are just about to stop in Providence, Rhode Island, which means we are getting ever closer to a mystery sandwich.

234

We made it to Boston!

235

Woo!

236

Thank you guys so much.

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After stepping off the train in Boston, we headed straight for an Uber to a restaurant called Moogie's.

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On the way there, I remember looking over to Cole and saw him giggling like a little kid.

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He was so excited for this sandwich

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And it reminded me how important it is to let out your inner kid from time to time

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and go on adventures like this.

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As we crossed the street to this little diner spot, we finally reached our destination.

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Hello, how are you?

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I want to get a fluffernutter.

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The fluffernutter sandwich.

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I've been waiting a long time to get this sandwich.

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There's two pieces of white bread with a little bit of butter toasted, giving the peanut butter and marshmallow fluff a melted, gooey texture.

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That saltiness mixed with the sweet of the marshmallow fluff.

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This thing is amazing.

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Now, I'm not even going to try and guess how many calories this thing is, but I will tell you as a childhood sandwich, kind of a treat if you will,

251

this thing hits the spot.

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So the big question, was it worth riding 400 miles on America's fastest train just to get a sandwich?

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Absolutely.

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After all, it wasn't about first class or the sandwich.

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It was the journey and the people who made it unforgettable.

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Thanks so much for watching.

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I hope you'll watch this video next so we can spend a little bit more time together.

258

We'll see you on the next adventure.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “We Rode FIRST CLASS On America's NEWEST, FASTEST Train”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: train, sandwich, Boston. This video has 257 sentences and 2715 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:56. The speaker talks fast, about 195 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 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

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
sandwich noun	/ˈsæn(d).wɪd͡ʒ/	A dish or foodstuff where at least one piece, but typically two or more pieces, of bread serves as the wrapper or container of some other food.
fluffernutter noun		A sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, most common in New England.
fluff noun	/flʌf/	Anything light, soft or fuzzy, especially fur, hair, feathers.
rib noun	/ɹɪb/	Any of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and other animals and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum.
menu noun	/ˈmɛn.juː/	The details of the food to be served at a banquet; a bill of fare.
marshmallow noun	/ˈmɑɹʃˌmɛl.oʊ/	Marsh mallow, a species of mallow, Althaea officinalis, that grows in marshy terrain.
sparkling adjective	/ˈspɑɹkl̩ɪŋ/	Of an object, reflecting light as if giving off tiny sparks or flashes of light.
luggage noun	/ˈlʌɡ.ɪdʒ/	The bags and other containers that hold a traveller's belongings.
dessert noun	/dɪˈzɝt/	The last course of a meal, consisting of fruit, sweet confections etc.
peanut noun	/ˈpiˌnʌt/	A legume resembling a nut, the fruit of the plant Arachis hypogaea, native to South America.
overhead noun	/ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/	The expense of a business not directly assigned to goods or services provided.
towel noun	/ˈtaʊ̯əl/	A cloth used for wiping, especially one used for drying anything wet, such as a person after a bath.
slice noun	/slaɪs/	That which is thin and broad.
buzz noun	/bʌz/	A continuous humming noise, as of bees; a confused murmur, as of general conversation in low tones.
lemon noun	/ˈlɛmən/	A yellowish citrus fruit.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
go through verb	To travel from one end of something to the other.
grow up verb	To mature and become an adult.
come on to verb	To start to.
get back to verb	Return to (an activity)
leave behind verb	To abandon.
let out verb	To release.
look forward to verb	To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.
run through verb	To summarise briefly.

Sentences worth repeating

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

Hey, remember that sandwich you heard about?
I've heard that lunch is the real highlight.
Have you ever had a fluffernutter sandwich?
Would you guys like some hot towel?
Have you ever heard of a fluffernutter sandwich?

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	I've been dreaming · have been spoiling · I've been waiting
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've ever seen · I've heard · haven't had
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is designed · is locked · are offered
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	Island, which means · people who made

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 86 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, we're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: marshmallow /ˈmɑɹʃˌmɛl.oʊ/, destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: chilaquiles /ˌt͡ʃi.ləˈki.leɪs/, futuristic /ˌfjut͡ʃəˈɹɪstɪk/, unforgettable /ˌʌnfə(ɹ)ˈɡɛtəbəl/, phenomenal /fɪˈnɒmɪnəl/, technically /ˈtɛk.nɪˌkəl.i/

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 sandwich, fluffernutter, fluff.

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 →

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