In this video, you will do some English speaking practice using the shadowing technique.
I've prepared a C1 level monologue about the decline of the movie industry.
Your job is to listen and then mimic my pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation to improve your speaking fluency and listening comprehension. and we'll be going through three phases of speaking practice.
So, if you are ready for a challenge, let's get started.
First of all, we have here phase one, the passive listen.
The first step of the lesson today is I'm going to read the full text to you first at a normal pace.
And your only job right now is to listen carefully. and absorb the meaning.
That's it. The full transcript will also be here up on screen, so just listen and follow along as I read it.
Let's get started. It is a widely held belief, perhaps even a truism, that the golden age of cinema is a relic of the past. while some might dismiss this as mere nostalgia a compelling argument can be made that the industry has in many respects lost its creative footing The proliferation of endless franchise sequels and cinematic universes has, to a significant degree, stifled originality, prioritizing risk-averse commercial viability, over artistic innovation.
Furthermore, the ubiquitous reliance on computer-generated imagery often comes at the expense of a tangible, emotionally resonant narrative.
We are bombarded with spectacle, yet often starved of genuine character development.
The business model seems to be predicated on a formulaic approach, designed to maximize box office returns rather than to genuinely captivate and challenge an audience.
It is a cyclical phenomenon. As long as audiences remain captive to the familiar, studios will be disinclined to deviate from the established path.
The onus, it seems, is on us, the viewers, to demand more.
Very well, that was phase one of our lesson today, the passive listen.
The purpose here is for you to get my tone of voice, where I place the stress, how I pronounce the words, and become a little bit more familiar with the text you will be practicing now.
Now we're gonna enter into phase two of our shadowing practice today, which is called the guided breakdown.
Now, we're going to break it down piece by piece.
I will read a sentence or phrase at a time, and then I'll pause.
Then it's your turn to repeat it, mimicking my voice as closely as you can.
I'll also highlight and define some key phrases for you to add to your vocabulary.
So let's get started. The first phrase, listen.
It is a widely held belief, perhaps even a truism, Very well.
The word truism means a statement that is obviously true and says nothing new or interesting.
Now on to phrase two. A compelling argument can be made that the industry has, in many respects, lost its creative footing.
Now it's our turn. Repeat. A compelling argument is an argument that is forceful and convincing.
It's compelling. You can't ignore it. Phrase 3 Listen The proliferation of endless franchise sequels has, to a significant degree, stifled originality.
Your turn. very well. The word proliferation means a rapid increase in the number or amount of something.
Think about a virus or disease that proliferates.
Now the word to stifle, that's a verb. And if you stifle something, you prevent or stop it from happening or developing.
So when I say that the way movies are made nowadays stifle originality, we can understand suppress originality or prevents people from being truly original nowadays.
Phrase 4. Listen. Prioritizing risk-averse commercial viability over artistic innovation.
Your turn. Good job. Risk-averse means unwilling to take risks or to take on new and challenging tasks.
So if a person is risk averse, that person does not like to take any risks. risks.
But here's the thing, when it comes to creativity, creating something original like a good movie, you need to take risks if you are to be original, innovative, or even creative.
Let's move on now to phrase four. Listen closely.
Furthermore, the ubiquitous reliance on computer-generated imagery often comes at the expense of... your turn.
The word ubiquitous is a great word. It's a highly advanced word.
And if something is ubiquitous, It's everywhere.
It can be seen, it can be found everywhere, to the point that it has become trivial.
Now, what's interesting also in this phrase is the connected speech here, because I say reliance on computer generated imagery.
Listen, computer-generated imagery, computer-generated imagery.
Between generated and imagery, there is a da-da sound going on there.
When I connect the sounds, look, computer-generated imagery. generated, generated, generated imagery, generated imagery, like that.
Computer generated imagery. Let's move on now to phrase six.
Listen closely. We are bombarded with spectacle yet often starved of genuine character development.
Your turn. So if you are bombarded with something, there's a lot of that coming your way, coming at your direction. so it's like we're receiving a constant stream of something when i say we are bombarded with spectacle it feels like movies nowadays They are a spectacle of visual special effects.
We are bombarded with visual effects, but the story, the character development, They're really poor.
They're not really well-developed. Another great C1 advanced word here is starved of.
Starved of, you see, starved of genuine character development.
If you starve of something, it means that you lack something. even though you need it.
Think about starving for food. When you are starving, you are very hungry, so you need to eat.
But here, we are starved of genuine character development in movies.
We need to see great, well-written characters on screen, but those are becoming more and more rare.
Moving on to phrase seven now, the business model seems to be predicated on a formulaic approach.
Your turn. Great job. If I say that something is predicated on something else, it means that it's based on that something else.
It's based on a particular idea or belief.
And something formulaic is something that follows a built formula, a previously created patterned formula.
Alright? So, if you think about it, movies nowadays, that's what they are.
They follow a predictable, often boring and unoriginal formula.
So... The storylines are formulaic. Nothing is original anymore.
Phrase 8. Listen. It is a cyclical phenomenon.
As long as audiences remain captive to the familiar, studios will be disinclined to deviate from the established path.
Your turn. Repeat. Good job. So if something is cyclical, it moves in cycles.
It is... happening or occurring repeatedly in a fixed pattern or cycle, like I just said.
And if you are disinclined to do something, you are reluctant to do it, you are unwilling to do it.
I mean... As formulaic as these movies nowadays are, they are cash grabs.
They are quick cash grabs. They bring tons of money to the studio, so...
Apparently that's what people want nowadays.
So why would the studios worry about originality?
So they are disinclined. to allow space for original storylines, original movies.
Just let's keep doing the same thing because, you know, it's bringing us money.
The word deviate is also a great advanced word.
If you deviate from a plan, you move away from it.
You depart from an established course or normal way of doing things.
And now, finally, phrase 9. Listen. The onus, it seems, is on us, the viewers, to demand more.
Your turn. Repeat. Very nice. Onus means responsibility.
The responsibility or duty, even, to do something.
So, the onus is on us. The responsibility is on us, the viewers, to demand more better quality movies, movies that are actually interesting to watch with interesting storylines and great character development and performances.
All right. very well so we have just finished phase two of our shadowing practice remember phase one you just listen to me reading the entire paragraph to get an idea of the words in the message phase two we did a little shadowing here but you were listening to me phrase by phrase and repeating right after, and I also defined some vocabulary here for you.
Now let's go to phase three. which is the full shadowing experience or the full shadowing practice.
Now it's time to put it all together. I'm going to read the full script again, and I want you to speak along with me now simultaneously.
Alright? Try to match my tone, speed, and rhythm.
Don't worry about being perfect. Just feel the flow of the language and, well, let's have some fun and begin.
It is a widely held belief, perhaps even a truism, that the golden age of cinema is a relic of the past.
While some might dismiss this as mere nostalgia, a compelling argument can be made that the industry has, in many respects, lost its creative footing.
The proliferation of endless franchise sequels and cinematic universes has, to a significant degree, stifled originality, prioritizing risk-averse commercial viability. over artistic innovation.
Furthermore, the ubiquitous reliance on computer generated imagery often comes at the expense of a tangible, emotionally resonant narrative. we are bombarded with spectacle, yet often starved of genuine character development. the business model seems to be predicated on a formulaic approach designed to maximize box office returns rather than to genuinely captivate and challenge an audience It is a cyclical phenomenon.
As long as audiences remain captive to the familiar, studios will be disinclined to deviate from the established path.
The onus, it seems, is on us, the viewers, to demand more.
And there you have it. How did you do? Hope you did well and hope you found it useful.
Now, let's just quickly briefly recap here the vocabulary and some phrases we covered today.
All these words that we learned today are more advanced, are more targeted at C1 and even C2 levels.
So remember... It is a wildly held belief.
Truism. That's a great word. A compelling argument.
Proliferation. stifle risk averse ubiquitous bombarded with starved of predicated on formulaic, cyclical, or cyclical phenomenon, disinclined, deviate, onus.
All right, so make sure you add those words to your vocabulary.
I really encourage you to rewatch this video multiple times and practice these lines again, focusing on the sections you found most challenging.
And I also suggest try practicing without looking at the words and the phrases sometimes.
Focus on the listening as well. Just listening to what I'm saying and trying to shadow by listening.
So try both approaches. But now I have a question for you.
Do you agree that movies are getting worse?
What is the last film you saw that genuinely captivated you?
Let me know in the comment section below.
I am curious to know. I hope you found this lesson useful.
And if you want to keep... practicing your English speaking through shadowing, you might want to check out this next video.
