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Shadowing practice: English Conversation and Speaking Practice with Movie Quotes - All Ears English Podcast 1814

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  1. Hey, Aubrey, how's it going today?0:00
  2. I'm great.0:01
  3. How are you?0:02
  4. I'm awesome.0:03
  5. I'm awesome.0:04
  6. I mean, do you like to quote movies a lot?0:05
  7. Are you, first of all, are you a movie watcher?0:06
  8. Oh, yes.0:09
  9. I'm a huge movie buff.0:09
  10. If you guys listen to the IELTS Energy podcast, you know that because Jessica and I end up talking about movies a lot.0:11
  11. You talk about movies a lot.0:16
  12. I watch movies a lot.0:17
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  1. In fact, I just went to Top Gun at the theater last night.0:18
  2. Oh, you saw Top Gun?0:21
  3. Oh, my gosh.0:22
  4. I've heard it's getting really good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.0:22
  5. Really did a good job, especially if you've seen the first Top Gun movie.0:26
  6. This was so nostalgic where there are a lot of throwbacks, a lot of really fun stuff.0:30
  7. It had all the feels, great action.0:34
  8. I highly recommend it.0:36
  9. That's classic because that kind of setup where you're taking an actor who was huge in that movie 30 years ago, it could be a disaster and it could be0:38
  10. great, depending on how you do it.0:46
  11. And it sounds like they really did it well.0:47
  12. I want to go this weekend and see that movie.0:49
  13. They did it well.0:50
  14. Tom Cruise is an excellent actor.0:51
  15. And it was a really fun movie because there are so many quotes from that movie that you don't realize people say all the time.0:53
  16. Sometimes we say these movie quotes and we don't think about the movie it's from.1:00
  17. It just becomes part of the culture.1:04
  18. Like in Top Gun, when they say, I feel the need, the need for speed.1:06
  19. You say that all the time just to be funny.1:10
  20. Like when we're about to zoom in the Tesla, we'll say that.1:13
  21. And you don't think about it.1:16
  22. And then you watch an old movie and you're like, that's where that quote comes from.1:18
  23. It's so true.1:21
  24. And I'm sure for you guys, for our listeners, you have your own movies where you probably take the quotes and put them into your native language and everyone knows1:22
  25. what you're talking about.1:30
  26. So now your next step here with us is to get to the point where you can do that in English.1:31
  27. Hear them, listen for them and also use them.1:36
  28. Right, Aubrey?1:38
  29. Totally.1:39
  30. It's such a good skill because when you quote a movie, you have like an inside, not an inside joke, but this inside connection with people where you're gonna make1:39
  31. it like, oh, we both have seen that movie.1:48
  32. We both have heard this line.1:50
  33. You're sharing culture together and it's such a good way to bond and build connections.1:52
  34. It really does build connection.1:58
  35. And I've been thinking about why that is.1:59
  36. It's because you both understand kind of the narrative in that movie and what was going on, right?2:01
  37. Exactly, right?2:07
  38. And just even whenever you find that you both enjoy a certain movie or a certain genre, you have one more thing in common, one more thing to chat about.2:08
  39. So that's always great.2:16
  40. And we wanna talk about this today.2:18
  41. It came up recently in an episode number 1789 where we were talking about dealing with nerves during presentations.2:19
  42. If you missed it, definitely go check that one out.2:27
  43. But this came up, this mantra that was said in the help that people repeat a lot.2:29
  44. And we said, we need to do a follow -up episode about some of the movie quotes that come up in conversation a lot.2:35
  45. Yeah, and the help does have a famous quote which we mentioned in the last episodes.2:41
  46. We won't go into that one too much, but we're gonna go into some other ones today, right, Aubrey?2:45
  47. Yes, exactly.2:50
  48. This came up also, because this comes up all the time, you guys.2:52
  49. It came up in episode 1790 when Michelle was talking about this movie, Ferris Bueller.2:55
  50. And she says, Bueller, Bueller, to talk about a monotone.3:00
  51. So we're using this kind of famous movie quote to talk about monotone.3:03
  52. But we say that all the time too, if someone's not paying attention, I'll be like, Bueller, Bueller, to get them to pay attention.3:08
  53. This comes up all the time in American culture.3:15
  54. Yeah, and I think the other reason this leads to connection is it's kind of generational, right?3:18
  55. I think our generation just knows Ferris Bueller's day off, right?3:24
  56. Whereas I think before, you know, the quote, hello McFly, which we've shared on another episode, maybe that's kind of an earlier generation a little bit.3:29
  57. What do you think about that?3:37
  58. It's true, yeah, right?3:38
  59. My kids wouldn't understand a lot of the movies that I quote to people my age.3:39
  60. So this is definitely, you know, you kind of have to keep in mind who will have seen that movie.3:45
  61. But a lot of these quotes just become part of the culture.3:50
  62. And my kids might even quote it without realizing what movie it's from.3:53
  63. Yeah, and I mean, you guys can use these at work too, right?3:57
  64. This is not just limited to a party or your social life.4:00
  65. This is fine if you're on a good level of rapport with your colleagues, you can throw it in here.4:03
  66. Obviously not like in a presentation, but you know, when you're chatting and you're having fun, you're going back and forth.4:08
  67. Aubrey, before we go deeper into the episode, I want to make sure I mention our listeners who reviewed the podcast.4:14
  68. Oh, yes, for sure.4:20
  69. Yeah, so I want to say thank you to Mohamed Panahi, Merriam, Wang, AE, Silk Road, 1123, and Fatem Fatemeh Aramash.4:22
  70. Thank you so much, guys, for reviewing our show.4:32
  71. If you haven't reviewed it yet, guys, go over and leave a review for All Airs English and you might hear your name on the show, right, Aubrey?4:35
  72. Yes, awesome.4:42
  73. Thanks for the reviews, guys, and the ratings.4:43
  74. Yes, it really gives us all the good feels.4:46
  75. Yeah, it's so cool.4:48
  76. It's so cool to see that you guys are loving this show and that you're sharing it with your friends.4:49
  77. Definitely.4:54
  78. All right, let's dive into some of these.4:54
  79. Some you might be familiar with.4:56
  80. You guys watch TV, you watch movies, and you may have just heard people quote these and either known where the movie was from or not, but now you're going4:58
  81. to start recognizing them when you're out and about, when you're having English conversations even more because they come up really often.5:07
  82. Yeah, that's true.5:14
  83. So the first one, Aubrey goes way back to the Wizard of Oz, so famous.5:15
  84. Yes, right?5:21
  85. Do you like that movie, The Wizard of Oz?5:22
  86. I love it.5:24
  87. Yeah, I mean, it's a classic, right?5:25
  88. I wouldn't say I don't like it.5:27
  89. I have nothing against it.5:28
  90. And is it Judy Garland who was in it?5:30
  91. Right.5:32
  92. So there was a famous documentary that came out about her.5:33
  93. So interesting life, challenges.5:35
  94. So there's a lot to talk about there for sure.5:38
  95. But you guys have probably heard this quote where Dorothy, the main character says, there's no place like home to get back home.5:42
  96. And we say this all the time, word for word, just like this.5:49
  97. When we come back home after a trip, maybe, and you've been staying in hotels or you've been camping, you might just get home and say, oh, there's no place5:53
  98. like home.6:01
  99. But do you know what's interesting about this one is it's almost literally become more of an idiom that's embedded fully in the language.6:02
  100. And I forgot that it was actually from the Wizard of Oz.6:10
  101. Exactly, right?6:13
  102. Yeah.6:14
  103. That's what I was saying.6:14
  104. They just become part of the culture.6:15
  105. My kids might say this, even if they've never seen the Wizard of Oz, because it's just become part of, like you said, an idiom and expression that we say6:17
  106. all the time.6:26
  107. And not all of them are to that level yet, right?6:26
  108. I mean, the Bueller Bueller one is not, obviously.6:29
  109. And there's another one from the Wizard of Oz, it's the, or not in Kansas anymore, Toto, right?6:31
  110. Totally, yes, right?6:37
  111. She says this when they get to Oz and everything is so different and strange.6:38
  112. So if something's happening that's really out of the usual, abnormal, or you're in a country, something so different, then we would say that, oh, we're not in Kansas anymore.6:43
  113. Right, like when you're feeling so disoriented, you have nothing to rely on that you're familiar with.6:53
  114. We're not in Kansas anymore, right?7:00
  115. Or add the Toto part, which was her dog, right, her little dog that followed her around.7:01
  116. That's right, I forgot she says it to the dog, but yeah, you can add that to, oh, not in Kansas anymore, Toto.7:06
  117. Yeah, I love it.7:12
  118. All right, what else?7:13
  119. This is so fun.7:14
  120. What do we have next?7:15
  121. Okay, so the next one is from the movie Apollo 13, which came out in the mid -90s, and it's Houston, we have a problem.7:16
  122. I say this all the time, if there's just something, there's a problem, can't figure something out, something's going wrong.7:24
  123. Yeah, what would just say, oh, there's a problem.7:29
  124. You say Houston, we have a problem.7:32
  125. And of course, I mean, Houston, Texas, which I guess is where the control center was.7:34
  126. Exactly for NASA.7:39
  127. So they like are talking to all of the engineers at NASA to let them know there's a problem.7:40
  128. So yeah, that's really a fun thing to say if something's going a little bit wrong.7:45
  129. Yeah, what would be an example recently that if you could think of something, Aubrey, where you used that and there was some kind of problem?7:50
  130. So my daughter, this happens a lot with my kids, right?7:58
  131. My daughter had left her phone at home and we didn't know where she was.8:04
  132. She hasn't let us know where she's going.8:08
  133. Surely she just left with friends, she's 15 years old, 16.8:10
  134. She has some independence, you know?8:13
  135. But when I found her phone on the desk, I was trying to text her and I heard it buzz on my desk.8:15
  136. I picked it up and was like, Houston, we have a problem.8:20
  137. I love that, that's a good example.8:22
  138. Or if your kids are really young and they accidentally put dish soap in the dishwasher and you come home and the typical problem, right?8:24
  139. The kitchen is what it is.8:32
  140. Houston, we have a problem.8:33
  141. So those are just some household examples, guys, but great one, not quite to the level of literally just a phrase we say without connection to the movie, but a8:35
  142. very common one, right, Aubrey?8:43
  143. Totally, exactly.8:45
  144. We're all thinking of that Apollo 13 movie when we say it.8:46
  145. But we say it for any problem.8:49
  146. Definitely doesn't have to have anything to do with NASA.8:51
  147. We just say it for anything going wrong.8:54
  148. Isn't it interesting how certain phrase, I mean, Apollo 13, it was a great movie, but it wasn't like Titanic that had record breaking, movie sales as far as I8:56
  149. know.9:05
  150. So it's interesting that that quote just was grabbed and translated into the culture.9:05
  151. Totally, it's fascinating.9:11
  152. I would bet the average person on the street hasn't actually seen that movie, especially anyone younger than us a little bit, but they still will not be surprised to9:12
  153. hear that phrase.9:21
  154. That is weird.9:22
  155. I love that.9:23
  156. Interesting.9:23
  157. That's everyone, every producer's dream, right?9:24
  158. Movie producer's dream.9:26
  159. Exactly, right.9:28
  160. To have your film live in history, become a part of the culture.9:29
  161. For sure.9:33
  162. For sure.9:33
  163. So then we have another one, which is what, Aubrey?9:34
  164. Yes.9:37
  165. So this comes from the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, where Sherlock Holmes says to his partner Watson, elementary, my dear Watson.9:38
  166. And this is an old movie too, right?9:47
  167. This came out the same year as The Wizard of Oz, 1939.9:49
  168. And we see it when you figure out a problem or someone asks you a question and you know the answer, you might say elementary, my dear Watson, meaning, oh,9:52
  169. I know the answer to that.10:00
  170. Right.10:01
  171. And elementary means basically basic, right?10:02
  172. It's basic, my dear Watson, right?10:05
  173. And we have the word elementary for elementary school for kids, right?10:07
  174. Between what ages, Aubrey?10:11
  175. Yeah, from about age five to 12 is elementary school.10:13
  176. Yes.10:20
  177. So we're thinking any of the subjects, they would cover the easier math.10:21
  178. All of that would be elementary education.10:24
  179. Right.10:27
  180. We would be able to solve those math problems maybe.10:27
  181. So yeah, he's saying this is a very elementary question.10:30
  182. It's a good adjective to describe something as simple or easy.10:32
  183. I kind of feel like this can only be said with a British accent.10:36
  184. What?10:39
  185. I don't know.10:40
  186. Or those of us who are trying and butchering the British accent.10:41
  187. Right, right, right.10:45
  188. I don't personally use this, but I want you guys to, you know, you can use it or you can just recognize it, right?10:46
  189. If someone says you want to hear what they're saying, right?10:51
  190. Mm -hmm.10:54
  191. Yes, exactly.10:54
  192. OK, this next one I don't I don't really know actually.10:55
  193. Really?10:58
  194. OK, so this the film is on the waterfront, which a lot of people haven't seen.10:59
  195. It's from 1954.11:03
  196. But I say this a lot.11:04
  197. I hear this a lot, especially when you're playing sports.11:06
  198. Something goes wrong and you like lose.11:09
  199. You're not going to win.11:12
  200. You'll say, I could have been a contender, meaning like I had a chance at one point.11:13
  201. I mean, I could have won, but then I did something wrong.11:17
  202. I made a mistake.11:19
  203. Interesting.11:20
  204. You know, a longer phrase that's pretty famous, right?11:21
  205. Where he's saying, you know, you don't understand.11:25
  206. I could have had class.11:27
  207. I could have been someone.11:28
  208. I could have been a contender.11:29
  209. Usually when we quote it or you will hear it quoted, you'll just say I could have been a contender.11:31
  210. That's interesting.11:36
  211. I love this.11:37
  212. Yeah.11:38
  213. And I like that on this episode, Aubrey, we have quotes from all throughout the 1900s.11:38
  214. We're not just talking about quotes from the 90s, the 2000s.11:43
  215. We're going way back in history because these quotes have been embedded in the language.11:46
  216. So good.11:51
  217. Exactly.11:52
  218. Yeah.11:52
  219. Like the older the film, the more it's multi -generational.11:52
  220. More people are aware of it.11:56
  221. We've heard it for years and years and years, so it becomes embedded in the culture.11:57
  222. Newer movies, there's definitely quotes that come from newer movies that you've heard, you know, maybe from Forrest Gump.12:01
  223. Life is like a box of chocolates or something like that.12:07
  224. But it'll take a few years for those to really get embedded in the culture so much.12:10
  225. Or not.12:13
  226. I mean, some of them might go away.12:13
  227. I don't know about the box of chocolates.12:15
  228. Maybe it'll last.12:16
  229. Maybe not.12:18
  230. We don't know.12:18
  231. But these ones are here forever because they've lasted more than 50 years.12:18
  232. So good.12:22
  233. Right.12:23
  234. We still hear them.12:23
  235. OK, the next one's really fun.12:24
  236. It's from a movie called Midnight Cowboy from 1969.12:25
  237. I say this all the time.12:29
  238. I hear this all the time.12:30
  239. If you are walking and someone cuts you off or maybe nearly hits you or isn't paying attention to you, you can say, I'm walking here.12:32
  240. And often they'll say it twice because in the movie it's twice.12:39
  241. I'm walking here.12:41
  242. I'm walking here.12:42
  243. OK.12:43
  244. All I can think about is our listeners know you lived in New York for a while.12:43
  245. So all I can think about is you in like the East Village and everyone's bumping you and you're like, I'm walking here.12:47
  246. I'm walking here.12:52
  247. Yes, right.12:54
  248. And you see it.12:55
  249. It's been in newer movies, too.12:55
  250. You'll see them quote that movie in another movie.12:58
  251. They're crossing a road and a car like almost hits them and they'll hit this, you know, the hood and say, I'm walking here.13:00
  252. So this it's embedded in culture.13:07
  253. And one of those quotes that you hear in other movies.13:09
  254. Oh, I feel like I always learn so much on these episodes with you, Aubrey.13:12
  255. This is what I call a movie buff.13:15
  256. This is great.13:18
  257. This is great.13:19
  258. So good.13:20
  259. OK, Aubrey, so should we show our listeners how it's done in a role play?13:21
  260. What do you think?13:25
  261. Yes, definitely.13:26
  262. Right.13:27
  263. You want to sneak these into conversations.13:27
  264. You're going to hear other people use them.13:30
  265. So we're going to give you a little role play about how you can do that very easily and naturally.13:32
  266. Yeah.13:36
  267. And here in this role play, we are returning home after a short vacation.13:37
  268. Such a good feeling to come back home after a vacation.13:40
  269. Yeah.13:43
  270. All right.13:44
  271. Here we go.13:44
  272. OK, I'll start us off.13:44
  273. OK.13:45
  274. There's no place like home.13:45
  275. Seriously, I can't wait to sleep in my own bed.13:47
  276. Uh oh, Houston, we have a problem.13:51
  277. What is it?13:53
  278. Look, everything in the freezer has melted.13:55
  279. It must have lost power while we were gone.13:57
  280. Oh, look, the breaker was tripped.13:59
  281. At least we know what the problem was.14:01
  282. Elementary, my dear Watson.14:03
  283. I did not imagine saying that about a home improvement project.14:05
  284. Oh, that's funny.14:09
  285. It's just the breaker, right?14:10
  286. Just turn the breaker back on.14:11
  287. No, no, no, no, no.14:13
  288. No matter what you're calling an electrician.14:14
  289. Yeah.14:16
  290. Oh, for sure.14:16
  291. No question.14:17
  292. I do not do any kind of fixing around the house.14:18
  293. I don't either.14:21
  294. I'm not going to lie.14:23
  295. I wouldn't be the one figuring out that it was the breaker.14:23
  296. No, no way.14:27
  297. All right.14:28
  298. So what did we use here?14:28
  299. We use some of these ones here.14:29
  300. Yes, I started very first with the one from Wizard of Oz.14:31
  301. We walk in the door and I just say, oh, there's no place like home.14:34
  302. Yes.14:37
  303. And then you said, oh, Houston, we have a problem.14:38
  304. Oh, I've come in.14:42
  305. I've noticed something's wrong.14:43
  306. Maybe I can smell the stuff in the freezer or there's stuff leaking out of the freezer.14:44
  307. I see there's a problem and I would I would say this right away.14:49
  308. Like, oh, Houston, we have a problem.14:52
  309. Interesting.14:54
  310. I love it.14:55
  311. And it's fun to say it's fun.14:55
  312. Like you are kind of you're playing around.14:57
  313. You're being playful when you're doing this, right?14:59
  314. And I don't think if it was something really, really dangerous an emergency, you wouldn't use it, right?15:00
  315. I'll break.15:05
  316. No, that's a good point.15:05
  317. Right.15:06
  318. If you just saw someone get hit by a car or something much more serious, you're not going to say this.15:07
  319. It's a little playful of like, oh, shoot, something's gone wrong.15:11
  320. But it's clearly not that serious.15:15
  321. Yeah.15:17
  322. So that's important to remember, because I think if it were an emergency, you wouldn't have time to think about that quote, right?15:17
  323. You wouldn't really.15:22
  324. Yeah.15:23
  325. And then at the end, I said, oh, look, the breaker was tripped.15:23
  326. At least we know what the problem was elementary, my dear Watson.15:27
  327. So I'm saying that's easy.15:30
  328. I can fix that.15:31
  329. No problem.15:32
  330. Right.15:33
  331. That's funny how immediately you're like, oh, I wouldn't say that because it's true.15:33
  332. This is only applicable if it's a very simple fix, something that's very easy.15:37
  333. You understand what it is.15:42
  334. Yeah.15:44
  335. If this is something difficult or challenging for you, you wouldn't say it.15:45
  336. But if it were, you'd be like elementary, my dear Watson.15:48
  337. For sure.15:51
  338. I love it.15:52
  339. So what's the takeaway for our listeners today?15:52
  340. This has been a really fun episode.15:54
  341. Yes.15:56
  342. So fun natives throw famous movie quotes into conversations all the time.15:56
  343. You guys are going to start hearing these that we shared today in movies, in conversations with coworkers and friends.16:00
  344. And it's a really fun way to build connection through this shared cultural experience.16:07
  345. Yeah, guys, so good.16:11
  346. Remember here, we are all about connection, right?16:13
  347. How can we connect?16:15
  348. And this is one of the ways to do it.16:17
  349. You can choose a few of them, try them out.16:19
  350. But most importantly, expect to hear them so that you can respond the right way to really connect.16:21
  351. I love it.16:27
  352. So good.16:27
  353. For sure.16:28
  354. Go see these films if you haven't listened for the line and then listen for them elsewhere, right?16:28
  355. Practice using a couple so that, like you said, you can use them when chatting with a friend or a co -worker.16:33
  356. I love it.16:39
  357. So good.16:39
  358. Well, Aubrey, thanks for bringing these on the show.16:40
  359. Thanks for bringing us back into the 1900s, too.16:41
  360. How cool to have that historical angle on English.16:45
  361. I love it.16:48
  362. All right.16:49
  363. Well, you have a good day.16:50
  364. I'll talk to you in the next one.16:50
  365. You too.16:52
  366. See you later, Lindsay.16:52
  367. Bye.16:53
  368. Bye.16:54

Daily English Conversation Practice from an American Movie Chat

This clip is daily English conversation practice in its plainest form: two co hosts of the All Ears English podcast, catching up before the day's topic starts. Aubrey and her co host trade quick greetings, then slide into a relaxed chat about movies, kicked off by a recent trip to see Top Gun. It is B1 level, natural American speech at 232 words per minute, faster than 87 percent of the recordings on this site, so the sentences run together the way real conversation does, which also makes it useful practice for your American accent, not just your vocabulary.

What makes it useful for practice is the shape of the exchange. Short back and forth lines open the clip, a greeting, "I'm great," "I'm awesome," then the pace shifts into longer, connected sentences as one host explains why Top Gun quotes have become part of everyday language. That mix, quick exchanges followed by a run of unbroken speech, is the pattern you meet in real everyday conversation, and it gives you two rhythms to work on inside one recording of 385 lines.

What to Shadow in This English Shadowing Practice Clip

Start with "I'm a huge movie buff." Four words, stress falls on huge and buff, and buff is worth knowing as a colloquial noun before you meet it again elsewhere. Then take "I just went to Top Gun at the theater last night." It runs as one breath group with no pause before "theater last night," which is the connected delivery you have to match, not just the individual words. The line "I feel the need, the need for speed." is a quoted movie line dropped into the conversation itself, spoken with a more theatrical rhythm than the chat around it, so treat it as its own line. Later, one host says "you're gonna make," one of only two gonna reductions in this recording, worth isolating before you try it inside the full sentence.

  • "I'm a huge movie buff." stressed on the two content words, good for fixing word stress before longer lines
  • "I just went to Top Gun at the theater last night." no break before "theater last night," practise it as one breath group, not word by word
  • "I feel the need, the need for speed." the quoted line shifts rhythm mid conversation, work on the shift, not only the words
  • "you're gonna make" one of the two gonna reductions in this clip, isolate it before adding the rest of the sentence

How to Practise English Speaking Through This Podcast Chat

Work the clip in the order it plays, since the difficulty builds line by line rather than staying flat.

  • Start with the greeting, "Hey, Aubrey, how's it going today?" and the short replies that follow it, "I'm great," "I'm awesome." These train intonation on short answers before anything gets harder.
  • Move to "I'm a huge movie buff." and repeat it five times before you move on, it is short enough to actually fix.
  • Take "I just went to Top Gun at the theater last night." on its own, slow it down first, then bring it back to full speed once the words stop tripping you up.
  • Shadow "I feel the need, the need for speed." on its own, since the movie quote inside the chat has its own delivery.
  • Finish with "you're gonna make," said slowly, then inside its full sentence, to hear the reduction disappear at full speed.
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