Shadowing Practice: Why These Nuns Cut off Their Noses and Lips - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Our stories are based on detailed historical sources, and some of what really happened is simply too graphic for a general audience.
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The full 18 plus version, with all the scenes without limitations, is available on YouTube for channel members and on Patreon.
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And now, enjoy!
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Dark clouds descend upon your abbey, as thunder makes the ground quake.
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A fellow nun cries out, The Vikings are coming!
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Their torches burn like dragonfire, ready to scorch the place to the ground.
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Those who try to run will get their throats cut or be taken away in chains.
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Your father, King Alfred of Wessex, thought you'd be safe here.
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But now, all you can do is pray.
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Dear God, please send the mightiest Viking under our way.
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Surround it.
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It's the late 9th century, a terrible time to live on the British coast, especially in a convent.
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For decades, the Vikings have come here to loot, and chapels full of golden crosses are a welcome bounty.
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Some nuns try to fight back by going full barbarian.
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In one nunnery, sisters cut off their noses and upper lips to scare the Vikings off.
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But they keep coming back.
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King Alfred has spent years fighting the Vikings.
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Since taking the throne in 871, he's watched them conquer kingdom after kingdom until nearly half of England lies under their control.
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He won't be able to keep his young nun daughter Æthelgifu safe from the Vikings for long.
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His older daughter Æthelflet marries the lord of the neighboring kingdom of Mercia
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and joins the battle the princess may not have been raised to fight vikings
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but she's about to become their worst nightmare bet these vikings
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have never seen a princess in a tank just look at her go
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it's a little known fact but athelflaed loved playing war thunder the game who sponsored this episode.
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War Thunder is the most comprehensive vehicle combat game ever, now available for free on PC, consoles, and mobile.
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You can choose between over 2 ,500 tanks, planes, helicopters, and ships of 10 major nations, from armored cars of the 1920 to battle tanks of today.
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All the vehicles are incredibly detailed with realistic graphics and sound effects, and you can customize all of it with countless camouflage options, historical markings, and decorations.
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You'll join a worldwide community of over 95 million players in epic PvP battles
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and feel like you're right there in the fight.
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Our favorite feature are the different playing modes.
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Realistic mode gives you an authentic impression, arcade mode for more fast -paced matches with simplified physics, or simulator mode without any guardrails if you love a challenge.
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Guess what our friend Ethelfled would pick?
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Use the links in our pinned comment or video description to sign up
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and play war thunder for free on pc playstation xbox
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or mobile devices new players
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and those who haven't played in six months will receive a massive bonus pack on pc
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or consoles but for a limited time only
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so hurry up i'll also be right with you just need
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to first take care of some viking hunting at first ethel fled's husband leads the fight but when he falls around 902,
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Mercia suddenly finds itself ruled by a woman.
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A lady leading a kingdom is unusual, but with her land and younger sister still living in the shadow of Viking raids,
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she's determined to strike back by bringing out the heavy artillery.
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When the Vikings gather around the city of Chester in 907,
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Aethelflaed soldiers greet them by pouring boiling water over them to burn their flesh and bones.
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As the invaders scream and stumble back, legend has it that Mercia's soldiers hurl beehives at them to secure the kill.
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While Ethelfledd crushes the raiders in the north, her brother Edward, now King of Wessex, is clearing the south.
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They're the ultimate Viking hunting team, so when their enemies start creeping close to their sister's abbey, they know exactly what to do.
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None shall pass.
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Years of poor health have left Ethelgifu in no condition to run.
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So her siblings decide to send their forces to meet the Vikings.
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Their armies catch up with them near Tessenhall.
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The Viking hunter siblings split their formation to enclose the Norsemen, cutting off any hope of escape.
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All the raiders can do is form a shield wall, but Ethelflaed's troops are relentless.
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They keep on pounding their exposed heads until their skulls crack.
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Even the Nordic kings riding with the formation aren't spared.
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When the dust settles, one of the strongest Viking armies in England is gone.
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Not long after the battle, Æthelflaed's husband, the Lord of Mercia, dies.
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But that's okay.
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By now, everyone knows who's really leading the fight.
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Ring of Fire To stop the invaders from pushing farther south and reaching her sister's abbey, Æthelflaed builds fortified towns at strategic locations,
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drawing a ring around Mercia that no raider can break.
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For the next seven years, Æthelflaed rules with an iron fist.
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When she's not commanding soldiers or fortresses, she's securing alliances with the Irish and Welsh to finish off her enemies.
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By 918, the Vikings know it's time to jump ship.
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Some raiders who have occupied York for nearly half a century swear allegiance to her, even willing to fight against her last enemies and form part of her government.
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But before she can finish the conquest, her heart of steel finally gives out.
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While her daughter is chosen as the next Lady of Mercia, Æthelflaed's brother is done sharing his power with a woman and takes away his niece's crown.
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Some say she then spent the rest of her days as a nun.
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The king may be trying to erase Æthelflaed's legacy,
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but monasteries see her as a martyr and immortalize her story in the Mercian Register.
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The mighty Viking Hunter, who devoted her life to keeping bloodthirsty raiders away from their chapels.
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Want to fight your own heroic battle?
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Play War Thunder for free using the links in our pinned comment or video description.
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New players and those who haven't played in six months will receive a massive bonus pack on PC
75
or consoles for a limited time only.
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So, hurry up! So It's
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true, it's true, it's true,
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it's true, it's true, it's true,
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it's true, it's true, it's true, it's true, it's true, it's true, it's true, it's true, it's true, it's true, it's true, it's true.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 79 sentences and 1065 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:49. The speaker talks at a steady 136 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 78% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| thunder noun | /ˈθʌndɚ/ | The loud rumbling, cracking, or crashing sound caused by expansion of rapidly heated air around a lightning bolt. |
| soldier noun | /ˈsoʊld͡ʒɚ/ | A member of a ground-based army, of any rank, but especially an enlisted member. |
| console noun | /ˈkɑn.soʊl/ | A stand-alone cabinet designed to stand on the floor; especially, one integrated with home entertainment equipment, such as a TV or stereo system. |
| abbey noun | /ˈæbi/ | The office or dominion of an abbot or abbess. |
| bonus noun | /ˈbəʊ.nəs/ | Something extra that is good; an added benefit. |
| hunter noun | /ˈhʌntɚ/ | One who hunts game for sport or for food; a huntsman or huntswoman. |
| pin noun | /pɪn/ | A needle without an eye (usually) made of drawn-out steel wire with one end sharpened and the other flattened or rounded into a head, used for fastening. |
| realistic adjective | /ˌɹɪəˈlɪs.tɪk/ | Expressed or represented as being accurate, practicable, or not idealistic. |
| hurry verb | /ˈhʌ.ɹi/ | To do things quickly. |
| mighty adjective | /ˈmaɪti/ | Very strong; possessing might. |
| chapel noun | /ˈt͡ʃæp.əl/ | A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate to a church. |
| sibling noun | /ˈsɪb.lɪŋ/ | A person who shares a parent; one's brother or sister who one shares a parent with. |
| bone noun | /boʊn/ | A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates. |
| cloud noun | /ˈklaʊ̯d/ | A visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air. |
| unusual adjective | /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/ | Not usual, out of the ordinary. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| cut off verb | /ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf] | To remove by cutting. |
| bring out verb | To elicit, evoke, or emphasize (a particular quality). | |
| come back verb | To return to a place. | |
| fall around verb | To fall over continually, especially through drunkenness, clumsiness, or incompetence. | |
| fight back verb | /faɪt bæk/ | To defend oneself by fighting. |
| finish off verb | To finish completely. | |
| give out verb | To utter, publish; to announce, proclaim, report. | |
| ring around verb | To call a number of people by phone, usually a circle of friends, to organise something. |
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 | have come · has spent · have never seen |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are based · be taken · have been raised |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | Those who try · those who haven |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 9 contractions and reduced forms, such as haven't, aren't, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thunder /ˈθʌndɚ/, throat /ˈθɹoʊt/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, throne /θɹəʊ̯n/, authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/, impression /ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/, shield /ˈʃild/, flesh /flɛʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, comprehensive /ˌkɑm.pɹəˈhɛn.sɪv/, helicopter /ˈheliːˌkɔptə(ɹ)/, artillery /ɑɹˈtɪləɹi/
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 thunder, soldier, console.
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.