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Shadowing practice: Bonnie Bails Her Brother Out of Jail | Mom

Listen to the line, then say it out loud
Line 1

Full transcript

  1. What's the plan?0:00
  2. Do we let him sleep it off and drag him straight to a meeting, or do we just lock him0:00
  3. in a cage with Marjorie?0:04
  4. Maybe have an ounce of compassion first.0:06
  5. I had compassion the last time he messed up.0:08
  6. This time I've got a sock full of nickels with his name on it.0:10
  7. Starting to see why Ray didn't want to call you.0:14
  8. This place looks so familiar.0:18
  9. Was I ever arrested here?0:20
  10. I thought that too, and then I realized it looks exactly like the jail in Carlsbad.0:22
  11. Yes.0:26
  12. What'd you do in Carlsbad?0:27
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  1. Shoplifting?0:29
  2. Ooh, that was Temecula.0:30
  3. Carlsbad was drunk, disorderly, and partially nude.0:31
  4. I still contend Sharpie on my nipples counts as a shirt.0:35
  5. I went to bail her out.0:40
  6. It was taking forever.0:42
  7. So I strike up a conversation with a bounty hunter, and bang, bang, boom, there we were.0:43
  8. You know what?0:48
  9. Story for another time.0:49
  10. bitch sorry man hard to sneak out of the house in a wheelchair are you alright I'm fine I just1:00
  11. needed a ride and $2 ,000 bail which I will pay back you will pay back anyway you heard you1:07
  12. hungry come on the cars this way Oh, hey, Bonnie.1:15
  13. You guys are two hours away from the best French onion soup you have ever had.1:21
  14. I'm glad you're here.1:25
  15. I have to apologize.1:26
  16. Put that bag down.1:28
  17. This takes a while.1:29
  18. Ray, I'm sorry I tried to force my will in this situation.1:32
  19. Oh, say no more.1:38
  20. Time to hug.1:39
  21. Oh, thank God.1:40
  22. I wish I knew there was an option.1:42
  23. I am so happy to hear you say that, because you're my sister, I'm your brother, and we're all we1:45
  24. got.1:50
  25. I mean, you got him, and he's my friend, so I guess I got him too.1:51
  26. And actually, he's gonna be my brother -in -law, so we're all family.1:54
  27. We are family.1:56
  28. I got my white sister and me.1:59
  29. I love that song.2:02
  30. Are we singing or are we souping?2:03
  31. Soup now, sing later.2:05
  32. We are making soup.2:07
  33. Oh.2:09
  34. Lean on me.2:11
  35. Mm.2:12
  36. You see what's going on here, right?2:13
  37. Honey, I work in Hollywood.2:15
  38. I know when someone's coked out of their mind.2:16
  39. So, I found this rehab in Tennessee that has a bed, but they don't take the kind of insurance Ray2:24
  40. has.2:29
  41. Wendy says she knows a place, but, you know, she also recommended that Korean barbecue that had us all in2:30
  42. the bathroom for a week.2:35
  43. On the bright side, I finally got to read Lonesome Dove.2:37
  44. The other option is keep him with us and he can be treated as an outpatient.2:43
  45. What do you think?2:48
  46. Well, what does he want?2:50
  47. Well, he wants to keep getting high and make soup so he doesn't get a vote.2:52
  48. Wait a minute.2:56
  49. Did he ask you for help?2:57
  50. No, and I know what you're going to say, but he needs help.2:58
  51. And I am the only one who can give it to him.3:01
  52. It's not going to work.3:03
  53. It's going to work because it has to.3:05
  54. All I have to do is show...3:07
  55. You're making yourself crazy, and if you don't stop, you're going to end up drinking long before you get him3:08
  56. sober.3:14
  57. So what am I supposed to do?3:15
  58. You have to let him go.3:18
  59. He's my brother.3:21
  60. I just found him.3:22
  61. I'm not going to lose him.3:23
  62. I get it.3:24
  63. All I have to do is convince him.3:26
  64. Bonnie, stop.3:28
  65. Stop.3:32
  66. I just feel so helpless.3:35
  67. I know.3:42
  68. Hey, Bonnie.3:50
  69. Hello.3:53
  70. So, um, Adam kicked me out.3:56
  71. Yeah, he told me.3:59
  72. What's the big deal?4:02
  73. I got high.4:03
  74. Once.4:05
  75. The big deal is you're an addict, and your life is not going to get better until you deal with4:05
  76. it.4:10
  77. Can I stay here?4:15
  78. Nope.4:18
  79. Seriously?4:20
  80. What am I supposed to do, sleep in my car?4:22
  81. I've done it.4:25
  82. Little tip, park at Walmart.4:26
  83. They won't kick you out.4:28
  84. Bonnie, I'm your brother.4:30
  85. I know.4:33
  86. And I love you.4:35

A fast, overlapping American accent scene for english speaking practice

This clip is from the sitcom Mom, a scene where a sister bails her brother out of jail. Two family members trade quick, overlapping lines about a jail run, a wheelchair escape and a pot of soup, the kind of daily english conversation practice you actually need, not a slowed down textbook dialogue. The scene is rated B2 and moves at 219 words per minute, faster than 76 percent of the catalogue, so there is no room to drift between lines.

The accent is American, and the humor here lands on timing as much as on words, so this clip works well for american accent training: you have to catch a joke and a contraction in the same breath. If you can hold this pace, slower scenes stop feeling like an achievement, and if you already watch shows like this, treat it as a way to learn english with series instead of just following the subtitles.

The lines worth slowing down: gonna, contend and a dropped Ray

Three lines from the opening carry most of the interesting language in this scene, quoted exactly as they were said.

  • "Starting to see why Ray didn't want to call you." The stress falls on "why" and "Ray," and "didn't" collapses into one beat, not two, so shadow this line first if you want the contraction to sound natural rather than read.
  • "he's gonna be my brother": the reduced "gonna" stands in for "going to" exactly as it was spoken, a real instance rather than a rule from a textbook, and a good target if your goal is to improve english speaking that sounds native.
  • "I still contend Sharpie on my nipples counts as a shirt.": the word "contend" is doing formal, almost legal work inside a very informal sentence, which is the kind of mismatch worth hearing before you try to say it yourself.

How to work through Bonnie's jail run, line by line

Work in this order rather than jumping around. Each step leans on the pace you built in the one before it.

  • Start on line 1, "What's the plan?": four words, rising intonation, repeat it until the question mark is audible in your voice and not just on the page.
  • Move to line 7, "Starting to see why Ray didn't want to call you.": say it slowly once, then again at the clip's own 219 words per minute.
  • Take line 16, "I still contend Sharpie on my nipples counts as a shirt.": break it after "contend" and after "nipples," then rejoin the two pieces at full speed.
  • Finish on line 38's "he's gonna be my brother": it is the only reduced form in this recording, so close your english shadowing practice session on it and repeat it five times before you stop.
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