Shadowing Practice: why is tim jellyifying gareth's prized possessions | The Office - Learn English Speaking with Video
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115 sentences
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1
right the number bods do not be fooled by their job descriptions they are absolutely mad all of them especially
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that one he's mental not literally obviously that wouldn't work last place you'd want something like that is in
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accounts this is the recycling bin obviously we get through a lot of paper
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We make a lot.
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Sell it.
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Yeah.
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Doesn't grow on trees.
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You know, it's pulp.
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Mr Davis, can I just call you Max?
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Something just come up.
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Two minutes.
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Thanks very much.
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Bye.
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What are you doing?
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Gareth, what are you doing?
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I'm just pushing the stuff off my desk.
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I can't concentrate.
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It wasn't my desk.
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It was.
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It's all overlapping.
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It's all coming over the edge here.
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All right?
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One word, two syllables.
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Demarcation, all right?
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David Brent, I presume.
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Let's just do that to cheer these lot up, all right?
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Send them out to get the plants.
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The girls can make them a little bit happier.
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Because they can sometimes get a little bit.
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All right, let's run out of batteries.
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Do you want to get some batteries for Billy Bigmouth?
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Take out our petty cash.
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Can't put a price on comedy.
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Er...
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You're a twat, Gareth.
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You're a twat and a knob end.
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I'm still not listening, so it's not offending me, sir.
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Right, OK, so you won't hear this.
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You're the cock, you're the cock, you're the cock.
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You're the cock.
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Yeah, look, this is the sort of work we're doing.
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Cartoons.
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Does my bum look big in these?
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It's not sexist, that's the bloke saying it. At last. So...
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All for that.
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All for that in the workplace.
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Well, it's a scraper first, isn't it?
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You've met Tim, haven't you?
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Oh, careful.
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Watch this one.
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Gareth Keenan in the area.
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You're looking new to him.
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Good to see you.
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Gareth Keenan, assistant regional manager.
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Assistant to the regional manager.
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Gareth's my right -hand man.
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Immediately beneath me.
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Oh, that's an actor said to official.
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No, he's not.
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I'm not.
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Do you know about your car and your kung -fu and everything?
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Yeah, I got a TR3.
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Bought it for 1 ,200.
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Done it up.
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Now it's worth three grand.
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Profit on that.
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Just started.
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New engine.
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Just a wreck.
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I've got some for himself.
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Oh, what is that car?
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Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
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Right, that is it.
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Slow down.
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You move too fast.
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Solomon's here.
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All part of the job.
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What's going on?
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Put my staper inside a jelly again.
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That's the third time he's done it.
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It wasn't even funny the first time.
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Why has he done that?
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Told him once that I don't like jelly.
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I don't trust the way it moves.
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Yeah, you showed him a weakness.
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He pounced.
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You should know about that.
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Oh, what is it?
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It's my stapler.
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Well, don't do that.
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Well, eat it out.
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There's people starving the world, which I hate.
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So.. and it's a waste.
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So.. how do you know it's yours?
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Cos it's got my name on it in Tippex.
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Yeah, don't eat it now. In chemicals.
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Right, you can be my witness.
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Give him an official warning.
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How do you know it was me?
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It's always you.
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Can't you discipline him?
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Oh, kinky!
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No, the thing about practical jokes is you've got to know when to stop as well as start,
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and now's the time to stop putting Gareth's personal possessions in jelly, all right?
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Gareth, it's only a trifling matter.
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Here we go.
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We're always like this.
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I think you should put him in custody.
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He's gonna fit in here.
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We're like Vic and Bob, aren't we?
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And one extra one.
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Oh, God!
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Yeah, I'm more worried, really, about damage to company property, that's all.
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Try it.
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I was just trying to think about the desserts to do.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “why is tim jellyifying gareth's prized possessions”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Gareth, cock, jelly. This video has 115 sentences and 639 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:58. The speaker talks at a natural 161 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. 20 of its 115 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| whoa | /woʊ/ | Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down. |
| cock noun | /kɑk/ | A rooster: a male gallinaceous bird, especially a male domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus). |
| jelly noun | /ˈd͡ʒɛli/ | A dessert made by boiling gelatine (or a plant-based alternative such as agar or carrageenan), sugar and some flavouring (often derived from fruit) and… |
| desk noun | /dɛsk/ | A table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a… |
| practical adjective | /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/ | Relating to, or based on, practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis. |
| possession noun | /pəˈzɛʃn̩/ | A control or occupancy of something for which one does not necessarily have private property rights. |
| beneath | /bɪˈniːθ/ | Below. |
| discipline noun | /ˈdɪsəplɪn/ | A controlled behaviour; self-control. |
| custody noun | /ˈkʌstədiː/ | The legal right to take care of something or somebody, especially children. |
| weakness noun | /ˈwik.nɪs/ | The condition of being weak. |
| cartoon noun | /kɑɹˈtun/ | A humorous drawing, often with a caption, or a strip of such drawings. |
| concentrate verb | /ˈkɑn.sən.tɹeɪt/ | To bring to, or direct toward, a common center; to unite more closely; to gather into one body, mass, or force. |
| workplace noun | /ˈwɝkˌpleɪs/ | The place where someone works. |
| wreck noun | /ˈɹɛk/ | Something or someone that has been ruined. |
| dessert noun | /dɪˈzɝt/ | The last course of a meal, consisting of fruit, sweet confections etc. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come over verb | To affect in a sudden, unprecedented or surprising manner; to overwhelm a person's ordinarily contrary impulse. | |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. | |
| get through verb | /ɡɛt ˈθɹu/ | To overcome; to endure. |
| slow down verb | To decelerate. | |
| take out verb | To remove. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Gareth, what are you doing?
- Let's just do that to cheer these lot up, all right?
- Does my bum look big in these?
- How do you know it was me?
- Can't you discipline him?
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 | You've met · has he done |
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should know · should put |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | are you doing · I'm just pushing · I'm still not listening |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 34 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: possession /pəˈzɛʃn̩/, demarcation /ˌdɛm.ɑːˈkeɪ.ʃən/
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 whoa, cock, jelly.
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.