Shadowing Practice: "Where are we not telling the truth?" | Jon Lovett | Google Zeitgeist - Learn English Speaking with Video
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I, first of all, I cannot tell you how surprised I am to be standing here,
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not only because I'm joining so many illustrious speakers at this conference, but also because I'm such a proud Bing user.
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Yeah, I'm a Bing guy.
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If I'm looking for directions or a restaurant, I just Bing it.
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That was hard to say, and I honestly didn't know what would happen.
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Seeing Larry Summers reminded me of a story.
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Early in 2009, I was a speechwriter for the President,
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but I was enlisted to help the National Economic Council with a speech for its then -director, Summers.
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I read the first draft that he and his staff had written, and the conversation basically went as follows.
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I said, Larry, maybe we can try translating this thing into plain English.
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And Larry replied, ah, plain English, no. It's a lesson, especially with recent news.
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If you refuse to treat
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Congress like children, they're going to act like it anyway.
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In that spirit, I'm going to do my best not to mince words, and let me say that I am truly honored to be here.
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I want to emphasize that because of what I'm about to say next.
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This is a gathering that has drawn an incredible disparate array of elites, from government, the media, academia, and the corporate world.
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But you all have something in common.
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Everyone hates you.
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That was hard to say, too.
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It's also, I'll admit, a gross generalization.
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However, survey after survey shows the same result.
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Trust in America's major institutions and those who lead those institutions is at an all -time low.
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Banks and big businesses are viewed favorably by only a quarter of those who are asked.
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More people actually say that business executives contribute little or nothing to society than say that those executives contribute a lot.
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According to Pew, only 9 % of adults have a great deal of confidence in the press.
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Whenever Gallup asks people about Congress, the phones technically melt.
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They go through a ton of phones.
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Only 10 % of people say they trust Congress.
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Now, as an aside on that one, yes, it is shocking that Congress' approval rating is so low.
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But is it even more shocking that it's so high?
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The equivalent would be if a waiter took 100 orders, served everyone bowls of dog hair and paint, and then only like 90 people were angry.
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It's the worst restaurant in the world, but what is going on with those other 10 people?
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All right, I have you now.
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Whatever.
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None of us has ever seen
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Americans so fundamentally unhappy with those who wield any form of power in this country.
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And there are many who have resorted as a result to pessimism and hand -wringing about the decline of our society.
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But that is wrong.
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These surveys capture not only disappointment and fury, but also what I believe is really, really good news.
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And here's the reason.
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When it comes to the epic volume of bullshit that is shoveled in the direction of ordinary
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Americans on a daily basis, the partisan rhetoric just true enough not to be a lie,
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the industry sponsored research, the sleazy PR firms placing op -eds on behalf of Vladimir Putin, the greenwashing and Twitter brand strategies,
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the legalese and corporate doublespeak, and the end user license agreements.
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And by the way, let me know when you guys change those bad boys,
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because I've agreed in advance to any changes you make at any time, which is incredibly exciting.
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But when it comes to all this noise and nonsense that sows distrust, that sows division, people are registering and acting upon their frustration.
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And increasingly, those companies, candidates, and creators who strive to be honest and open, they will be rewarded.
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Yes, I believe we have reached the tipping point I'm sorry, listen to me.
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I believe we have reached Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point.
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We have hit peak bullshit.
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Now, you might think it's difficult to identify the exact moment when we pass this milestone, that it is an amorphous and subjective term.
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This is incorrect.
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We hit peak bullshit on February 28, 2012.
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Two things happened on that day.
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One, Mitt Romney won the Michigan and Arizona primaries,
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thereby stopping the candidacy of Rick Santorum and securing his place as the most disingenuous major presidential candidate in modern political history.
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And I don't say that as a Democrat, I say that as a human being with eyes, but there's more.
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For on this day, Universal Studios was in the midst of launching a film, The Lorax, based on the fable by Dr. Seuss about corporate greed,
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consumerism, and environmental degradation.
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Unfortunately, the irony of securing 70 corporate sponsors for this film was either lost on
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or more likely ignored by Universal and its corporate partner, Mazda.
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This is from the Washington Post with some commentary from me
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on the historic events of February the 28th in the year 2012.
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At Polk Elementary on Tuesday,
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more than 100 kindergartners and fourth and fifth graders crowded into the multipurpose room for a rendition of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax.
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Afterward, a Mazda representative stood up.
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He unveiled an oversized $1 ,000 check.
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Yes, a giant check for a grand, like a rent check, meant to help beef up the school's library collection.
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The Mazda representative then told the kids
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that they could help raise up to a million dollars for other schools and qualify for a chance to visit Universal Studios.
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Wait for it.
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All they had to do was persuade their parents to go to the nearest Mazda dealership for a test drive.
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The Mazda representative then told his rapt audience of tiny children that at 35 miles to the gallon,
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Mazda CX -5 is the most efficient SUV on America's highways.
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That's the kind of car we think the Lorax would like to drive.
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Not done.
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It gets worse.
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Then, a very lovable looking Lorax emerges from stage rights and the kids,
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many of them, and this is the part that makes it like a tragedy, the kids wearing homemade striped cat in the hat hats.
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That is adorable.
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The kids erupt in squeals.
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The Lorax waves and doles out hugs, and then, are you ready for what they did?
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Everyone was ushered outside to see two cars up close, a Mazda 3 sedan and a CX -5 sport utility vehicle,
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both specially painted with Lorax scenes.
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Yes, this was the moment when the righteous, beloved, sad, desperate Lorax attempted to sell an SUV to an audience of captivated children.
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This was peak bullshit it." Look, is a word you hear before a caveat.
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But a fair critique here would be to say that what I'm talking about are champagne problems,
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that people dealing with real issues of war and economic dislocation and stubborn poverty and disease, many of you in this room,
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but it's only wishful thinking to believe that a culture saturated by soul -crushing, vulgar nonsense does not shape our every response to major challenges.
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When suspicion and mistrust become so pervasive that it tears at the fabric of society.
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When more people, not fewer, believe climate change is a hoax today than a year ago.
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When the American people despise and then re -elect
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Congress year after year, term after term.
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When children are dying of nearly eradicated diseases because there is
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so much mud in the water that smart people can't see that it's wrong not to vaccinate their kids.
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When our entire financial system can be pushed to the brink of total collapse by mechanized,
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weaponized bullshit from the quants who convinced the banks of a
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recipe for free money to the realtors who convinced homebuyers of a recipe for free houses.
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This is not some hipster annoyance.
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This is not some petty frustration with modern life.
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It's a threat to the health and well -being of society. But here's my argument.
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Across politics, entertainment, commerce, we are seeing the response to that threat.
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We see it in the success of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart mocking the artifice of cable news and exposing intellectual dishonesty.
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We see it in the rise of fact -checking news outlets.
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We see it in the hunger for the raw sincerity of Louis C .K., Lena Dunham.
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Even our superhero movies are getting grittier.
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We see it in politics.
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I believe Barack Obama represents this movement, that the rise of his candidacy was,
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in part, a consequence of the desire for greater authenticity in our public life.
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But you don't have to be a Democrat to believe me.
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You see it across the political spectrum, from Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts to Chris Christie in New Jersey to Rand Paul in Kentucky.
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I'd point to Governor Huntsman, but he lost, and he may be a counterexample.
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And by the way, we also see, though, that this authenticity is a form of political strength.
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Whatever your politics, it's hard to deny that
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President Obama has succeeded in weathering various storms in part thanks to a reservoir of trust.
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Even big companies, in their own adorable way, can't help but respond to this trend by paying consultants big money to help them seem authentic,
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which is both a categorical failure and the first step on the road to recovery.
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And it's no surprise that tech companies have been better than most at actually absorbing this trend, in part because you had to.
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Your savvy, connected, vigilant customers got there ahead of you
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and are quite happy to eat you alive if you aren't honest with them or even yourselves.
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If you don't believe me, you can look it up on your Windows phone.
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There is more to this story, but the bottom line is this.
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In a nation that is frustrated by spin and deceit, in a time of rapid technological change that only exposes corporations and government to greater scrutiny,
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and as a rising generation of young people who are practically bred and trained not to trust you,
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take greater control of the market and the culture, increasingly deception is not cynical.
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It is naive.
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Now, I want to say the kind of BS phrase
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that you tend to hear at conferences like TED and this and Aspen Ideas.
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I'm hesitant, but whatever, when in Rome.
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I say this hopefully and purely anecdotally, but what we need and what is possible is a renaissance of integrity.
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And what I hope you'll do, not out of charity or corporate responsibility, but out of brute self -interest, is go to that Monday morning meeting,
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the one where everyone is on their phones and that always starts 10 minutes late, and ask, where are we not telling the truth?
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Where are we not being straight with our customers, not out of necessity, but of fear, laziness, or lack of imagination?
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And I say that as someone who comes from the world of politics and who understands intimately those pressures.
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Ask, where are we competing not on quality, but on confusion?
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Where do we lack confidence? not only in our customers, but in ourselves.
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When it comes, you know, and if no one answers that, you know, find some people under 30 and they'll point you in the right direction.
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When it comes to the truth, we are in a seller's market, and you can profit by taking part in it.
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This is a moment when sincerity and openness is not only right, but smart.
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Tell the truth.
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All right, thank you.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “"Where are we not telling the truth?"”. This video has 106 sentences and 1942 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:27. The speaker talks fast, about 186 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 77% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| shock noun | /ʃɔk/ | A sudden, heavy impact. |
| plain noun | /pleɪn/ | An expanse of land with relatively low relief and few trees, especially a grassy expanse. |
| increasingly adverb | Increasing in amount or intensity. | |
| contribute verb | /kənˈtɹɪb.jut/ | To give something that is or becomes part of a larger whole. |
| convince verb | /kənˈvɪns/ | To make someone believe, or feel sure about something, especially by using logic, argument or evidence. |
| recipe noun | /ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi/ | Any set of instructions for preparing a mixture of ingredients. |
| nonsense noun | /ˈnɒn.səns/ | Letters or words, in writing or speech, that have no meaning or pattern or seem to have no meaning. |
| adorable adjective | /əˈdoɹ.əˌbəl/ | Befitting of being adored; cute or loveable. |
| sponsor noun | /ˈspɒn.səː/ | A person or organization with some sort of responsibility for another person or organization, especially where the responsibility has a religious, legal, or… |
| expose verb | /ɪkˈspoʊz/ | To reveal; to uncover; to make visible; to bring to light. |
| frustration noun | /fɹʌsˈtɹeɪ.ʃən/ | The feeling of annoyance at impossibility from resistance or inability to achieve something. |
| authenticity noun | /ɑθɛnˈtɪsɪti/ | The quality of being genuine or not corrupted from the original, of having the same origin (or attribution, commitment, intention, etc.) as claimed. |
| ignore verb | /ɪɡˈnɔː/ | To deliberately not listen or pay attention to. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| poverty noun | /ˈpɑːvɚti/ | The quality or state of being poor; lack of money |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
| stand up verb | To rise from a lying or sitting position. |
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 | has drawn · has ever seen · have resorted |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was enlisted · are viewed · is shoveled |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | those who lead · those who are · those who wield |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 23 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: authenticity /ɑθɛnˈtɪsɪti/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/, thereby /ðɛɹˈbaɪ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shock /ʃɔk/, frustration /fɹʌsˈtɹeɪ.ʃən/, capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, imagination /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: adorable /əˈdoɹ.əˌbəl/, authenticity /ɑθɛnˈtɪsɪti/, ordinary /ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, intellectual /ˌɪntəˈlɛkt͡ʃʊəl/
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 shock, plain, increasingly.
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.