Hey everyone, it's Hadar.
Today we are going to practice shadowing to improve your pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, and we're going to do that with the Devil Wears Prada.
We're going to shadow Meryl Streep as she plays Miranda Priestly.
You're listening to the Influency Podcast.
I'm Hadar, your host, a pronunciation expert, fluency coach, and a proud non-native speaker.
With over 16 years of experience teaching, I am here to share with you all my secrets on how to show up in English clearly, with confidence and freedom.
On this podcast, I'll provide step-by-step strategies lessons, stories and practical tips to keep you inspired and motivated on your English journey.
Are you ready?
Let's do it.
Let's get started with our shadowing episode.
By the way, if you want to work with the script, you can download it.
It's absolutely free.
And I wrote all the notes about the stress words and pronunciation notes all in there.
And you also have a link to this video.
So if you want to download it and have access to it all the time, feel free to do that.
The link is in the show notes and the description below.
First, let's watch the scene.
This stuff.
Oh.
Okay, I see.
You think this has nothing to do with you.
You go to your closet and you select, I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back.
But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean.
And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns and then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent, wasn't it showed Cerulean military jackets.
I think we need a jacket here.
And then Cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers.
Casual corner where you no doubt fished it out of some clearance bin.
However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs.
And it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when in fact you're wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff.
All right, let's begin with the first line.
This stuff.
This stuff.
I want you to channel all the contempt and dismissal energy and put it in this phrase.
This stuff.
Stuff.
She connects the S of this with the S of stuff.
Listen to it again.
This stuff.
Takes a little pause.
This stuff.
Oh.
Okay.
I see.
Oh, okay.
I see.
So it's a little sarcastic, a little ironic.
She doesn't really see.
She wants to make her feel bad and small.
So this is why this tone of voice sounds the way it is.
Oh, okay.
I see.
Right?
Now, again, think of the phrase, I see, and it could be said in a genuine way.
Oh, okay.
I see.
Thank you for telling me.
Oh, okay.
I see.
Hey, good.
Right?
Like you see how that changes the meaning and let's listen to how she says it.
Oh, okay.
I see.
I see.
So when the tone is a little lower, when you have that vocal fry, I see.
Oh, okay.
It means that the tone is not genuine.
It's more sarcastic.
Okay.
So let's listen to what she says.
You think this has nothing to do with you.
What is she stressing here?
Let's listen to it again.
Which word is she stressing?
Pay attention.
And a stressed word is usually longer, louder, higher in pitch.
I see, you think this has nothing to do with you.
You think this has nothing to do with you.
So, it's the you versus us.
Because right before she's saying that, Andrea was kind of like smirking or laughing at what they said.
Andrea is played by Anne Hathaway.
She's like, kind of like, I don't get it.
I don't get, like, this stuff.
So, she's saying this has nothing to do with you, what we're doing here.
This is why she stresses the word you.
You go to your closet.
You go to your closet.
Again, the two words are stressed.
Say it with me.
You go to your closet.
Go to, go to, go to, go to your.
Go to your closet.
Now I'm going to play a line and I want you to repeat right after it.
And you select, I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance.
And you select, I don't know.
So the I don't know, say it.
As a connected unit, it's like a filler word.
Okay?
I don't know.
That lumpy blue sweater, for instance.
For instance is for example.
So that needs to be said together as well.
I want you to say it again.
Okay?
I'm going to play the line again and you repeat it with the same intonation and the same connected phrases.
Let's do it.
And you select, I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance.
And then the next line is.
Because you're trying to tell the world.
Because you're trying to tell the world.
Because you're trying to tell the world.
Let's listen to this again.
Because you're trying to tell the world.
Because you're trying to tell the world.
Now, this is a tricky phrase if the R is difficult for you.
So, let's soften it a little bit.
First of all, focus on the word world.
World.
Not O, world, but world.
You're trying to... Notice what she does here.
You're trying to... Not trying to.
Trying to tell the world.
Trying to tell the world.
We also have the dark L here.
So we'll just practice that phrase a few times.
Trying to tell the world.
Trying to tell the world.
Just repeat after me.
Shadow me.
Trying to tell the world.
That you take yourself too seriously.
That you take yourself too seriously.
That you take yourself too seriously.
To care about what you put on your back.
To care.
Right?
I want you to kind of like...
Land on that care.
To care about what you put on your back.
To care about what you put on your back.
Now, that lift at the end means that something else is coming up.
Do not speak.
I'm speaking.
To care about what you put on your back.
What you put on your back, but what you don't know.
But what you don't know, right?
Like that condescending tone patronizing condescending, but you don't know, say that with me, without attitude.
What you don't know.
What you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue.
That that sweater is not just blue.
So what I really want you to practice here is being able to land and to stretch those stressed words, all the U's and the blues and the backs and the cares, right.
What you don't know is that sweater is not just blue.
Because, for a lot of you watching this video, Your language doesn't tend to stretch words that are stressed.
And it's going to feel very strange to do that in English unless you practice it, right?
Let's do that part again.
Because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back.
But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean.
Okay, it's not just blue.
It's not turquoise, turquoise, turquoise.
It's not lapis.
Lapis, different colors of blow.
It's actually cerulean.
It's actually cerulean.
Okay, next part.
You're also blithely unaware of the fact that… Let's take that phrase.
And you're also blithely unaware of the fact.
Blithely unaware.
Blithely means…
Being indifferent in a way that is improper, right?
Like blithely, so incredibly disconnected with reality.
Blithely unaware.
So unaware.
So incredibly blithely unaware of the fact.
Aware of the fact.
Aware of the fact.
Listen to these reductions.
And you're all so blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of Cerulean gowns.
In 2002, and I would try to say that with your most royal and authoritative voice In 2002, in 2002 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns, okay.
A collection of, a collection of, a collection of.
Just practice with me.
Yeah, you might not say a collection of cerulean gowns ever in your life, but you might need to use the phrase a collection of.
And that's what I love about shadowing.
You can just copy this phrase and paste it when using it in other, And to be able to use it, you need to repeat it again and again, which is what we're trying to do here.
A collection of, a collection of, a collection of.
And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent, wasn't it?
Who showed civilian military jacket.
And then it was Yves Saint Laurent.
He was using her French.
Wasn't it?
Wasn't it?
Wasn't it?
Say it with me.
So I'm going to play it and you repeat after.
And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent, wasn't it?
Who showed Cerulean military jackets.
Who showed Cerulean military jackets.
Raise your pitch at the end.
Military jackets, military jackets.
Who showed Cerulean military jackets.
Let's listen to it again.
Who showed Cerulean military jackets.
You, repeat after.
And then Cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers.
And then Cerulean quickly, quickly, quickly, say that with me quickly, quickly, quickly showed up in the collection of eight different designers.
Eight different designers.
Connect it.
I'm going to play it again and have you repeat right after her.
And then Cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers.
Good.
I'm going to filter down through the department stores.
And then, as a filler word, almost deliberate, filter down through the department stores.
Department store is a set phrase, stresses on department.
Let's hear it again.
I'm going to play it, you repeat right after.
I'm going to filter down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual corner.
And then trickled on down.
It's kind of like slowly went down, trickled down, like rain or like raindrops on the window.
To trickle on down, okay?
Slowly, slowly come down.
And then trickled on down.
So the TR at the beginning, or pronounced as a CH, trickled, trickled, trickled.
And then trickled on down into some tragic, another TR transition, tragic casual corner, okay?
I'm going to play it again.
I want you to repeat it.
And the next line.
When you no doubt fished it out of some.
When you fished it out some clearance bin.
Say it.
Good.
Fished it out.
To fish something out.
It's kind of like to find something out of a pile of other things, right?
Like to pull it out, like fishing a fish.
Fished it out.
However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs.
Okay.
However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs.
So we have millions stressed and countless stressed.
So now paying attention to that, repeat.
However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs.
Next.
And it's sort of comical.
And it's sort of comical.
Ca, ca, comical.
Say it with me.
And it's sort of comical.
How you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry.
How you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry.
Exempts you, meaning you're not included.
It removes you from it, right?
You're not a part of it.
You think you're not a part of it.
Okay, this is what she's saying to her.
So let's play it.
And it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry.
Moving on.
When in fact.
When in fact.
When in fact.
This is another phrase you can start using more regularly.
When in fact.
You're wearing a sweater that was selected for you.
You're wearing the sweater that was selected for you.
Again, it's about her, right?
Like she's making it about her.
Hear it again.
You're wearing a sweater that was selected for you.
Say it.
By the people in this room, from a pile of stuff.
By the people in this room, from a pile of stuff.
Let's hear that part again.
You're wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff.
All right.
Very, very good.
Well done.
So today we practiced our authoritative voice.
We practiced stoner voice and we worked on connected speech and stressed.
Words.
Now listen.
Sometimes when it comes to shadowing, it might feel like you're not doing something actively, but the beautiful thing about shadowing is that you kind of like absorb a lot of the sounds and the nuances and the intonation patterns subconsciously when you repeat someone else's words.
And this is why I love doing these exercises, even if it's just repeating someone else, without analyzing it too much like we did today.
So it's always good to pay attention to one thing, like the stressed words or the connected speech or the intonation or the tone of voice.
It's always good to be mindful of it because then it registers better.
But sometimes even just repeating after the character and doing it again and again and again, thinking about common phrases that you might not use regularly and you might want to use more and repeat those more often.
This is what's going to make this practice very, very effective and help you use these phrases and these intonation patterns and connected speech spontaneously and automatically.
All right, if you want more content and shadowing exercises, go to my website at hadarshamish.com.
Or you can check out all the playlists listed in the description below.
And, like I said, if you want the script with intonation and pronunciation notes, it's absolutely free.
I will link it in the description below this video.
Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the day, and I'll see you next week in the next video.
Bye.
