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Shadowing practice: How to Make a Perfect Cup of Tea | Easy English 55

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  1. Oh, hello.0:02
  2. What am I doing, you ask?0:04
  3. Well, I'm just enjoying a lovely cup of tea, because I'm British, and there's nothing us Brits like to do more than to sit down and enjoy a delicious cup.0:06
  4. What's that you say?0:15
  5. You want in?0:17
  6. Okay.0:18
  7. But you're going to need to know your Earl Grey from New Yorkshire's.0:19
  8. How about I show you everything you'll need to know about making a great brew?0:22
  9. Later on, we'll take a taste test with our teen novice Izzy to see what Bruce Shee thinks is best.0:26
  10. Cheers.0:33
  11. So then, let's first tackle one of the most important qualities you'll need to have when hanging out with Brits.0:35
  12. You'll need to be able to prepare a perfect cup of tea.0:42
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  1. It's dead simple, but people are very particular about the way tea has to be made.0:45
  2. I'm sure even I'm going to get some stick for the way I make it.0:50
  3. However, do it in this order and you can't go wrong.0:54
  4. We're going to make a traditional cup of tea, informally called a brew or a copper.0:58
  5. Now, if you look through YouTube, you'll find plenty of pretentious videos telling you to use loose tea leaves, infuses and purified water, but at its best, tea is simple.1:02
  6. So we're going back to basics to make your typical cup of tea.1:13
  7. You'll need a following.1:16
  8. A mug, a bag of tea, a kettle and milk.1:18
  9. Firstly, fill your kettle and get it boiled.1:25
  10. Stick your tea bag in the mug.1:30
  11. Once your kettle's boiled, pour the water in the mug.1:33
  12. Leave a gap for milk and room for when you inevitably spill your tea as you trip over the carpet or dog on your way to the living room.1:36
  13. Here you go.1:43
  14. Controversy alert.1:45
  15. I actually add milk straight away.1:46
  16. You can do this now or wait 3 -4 minutes until the flavour is mixed with the water.1:49
  17. The strength of a tea is determined by how much milk you put in.1:53
  18. I like my tea to have a dark caramel look, which is probably considered a strong tea as opposed to a weak, milky tea.1:57
  19. Never, I repeat, never put the milk in first.2:04
  20. Insane!2:07
  21. It's a cardinal sin and people will unfriend you for doing it.2:08
  22. Give it a squeeze.2:12
  23. Get the last remaining bit of flavour out of it and then stick the bag in the bin.2:14
  24. Customise your brew.2:20
  25. Depending on the tea, you can now add sugars, honey, lemon and milk if you haven't already.2:21
  26. Now enjoy the fruits of your labour.2:28
  27. You've just made a tasty cup of tea.2:30
  28. If you need help keeping up with this episode, you can consider checking out our Patreon page.2:33
  29. We offer reading, audio, video and chat -based extras to help you follow along with all our episodes and to suit your specific level of English understanding.2:39
  30. You can choose from three levels of perks.2:49
  31. The first level gives you reading materials such as transcripts and vocabulary lists, all related to the relevant episode that you're watching.2:51
  32. The second level gives you audio and video perks for our episodes.2:58
  33. You can get video downloads with and without subtitles, audio only downloads of the episode and other behind the scenes extras featuring outtakes and extra interviews that didn't quite make3:03
  34. it into the final video.3:13
  35. Now back to the episodes.3:15
  36. So, now you can make a cuppa.3:17
  37. How do you go about ordering one when it's offered?3:20
  38. Well, you could be asked informally.3:23
  39. Do you want a brew?3:26
  40. Answer a cuppa.3:27
  41. If you say yes, then you'll be asked.3:28
  42. How do you take it?3:30
  43. How do you have it?3:32
  44. You can tell them about the strength and customisations you added earlier.3:34
  45. For example, Oh, just milk please.3:39
  46. Or, Strong with two sugars mate.3:42
  47. Oh, it's worth remembering that the sugars are measured in teaspoons.3:45
  48. Now that's sorted, let's see which tea easy thinks is best.3:49
  49. Here we have a general selection of the most popular teas you can buy in most supermarkets in Britain.3:54
  50. Yorpshire tea, associated with the north of England.4:01
  51. It's my personal favourite and I think it's the one that easy will pick.4:05
  52. PG Tips, 1970s tea of the builders and monkeys.4:09
  53. Look for yourself online if you don't believe me.4:14
  54. Tetley tea, working class tea led by Gaffer and his animated T -Funk.4:16
  55. Earl Grey, Queen Liz's personal favourite, according to a Royal Insider.4:22
  56. English Breakfast Tea, International Hotel and B &B Brew to go with your fried eggs and sausages in the morning.4:28
  57. Okay, tea number one.4:35
  58. Thoughts?4:41
  59. Yeah, good.4:41
  60. There's a hair in it.4:42
  61. Delicious.4:44
  62. It is very mild.4:46
  63. Yeah, not much taste but mild.4:49
  64. Tea number two.4:54
  65. Nice.4:58
  66. A bit sweeter in its taste, I would say, than number one.4:59
  67. Tea number three.5:04
  68. More intense.5:07
  69. Bit heavier.5:10
  70. Tea number four.5:13
  71. Yeah, a bit, not so bitter, but sweeter, a bit rounder.5:16
  72. Rounder?5:20
  73. Do you say round?5:21
  74. Rounder.5:23
  75. And tea number five.5:25
  76. The difference is not that big between them.5:27
  77. That's three of them the same.5:33
  78. Also quite a sweet taste.5:37
  79. But earthy.5:41
  80. Mmm, heavy, round and earthy.5:43
  81. Okay, so easy to try all five teas.5:47
  82. Now, easy.5:50
  83. Which is your winner?5:51
  84. My winner is number five.5:54
  85. We have a winner.5:56
  86. Maybe it makes sense that you picked the one because it's the one that's probably offered more content.5:59
  87. Tartarus and on the continent.6:04
  88. And King Tom and Witch was your least favorite.6:07
  89. Number one.6:09
  90. That wasn't the Yorkshire.6:10
  91. It was the Yorkshire tea.6:12
  92. So, I hope that gives you a head start for your newly found brew making lifestyle.6:15
  93. I need a pee after all that tea drinking, but let me know your favorite tea in the comments below.6:21
  94. And don't forget to try Dibby Biscuit too.6:27
  95. It's a game changer.6:30
  96. Cheerio!6:31
  97. Depending on the tea you now.6:33
  98. Strong with two sugars, mate.6:38
  99. Here you go.6:42
  100. Here we go.6:43
  101. Here we go.6:43
  102. Here you go.6:45
  103. Cheerio.6:47

A B1 British tea chat built for english speaking practice

This clip is a British host talking straight to camera about how he makes tea, before bringing in a friend for a taste test. It sits at B1 and moves at 197 words per minute, faster than most of the catalogue, which is exactly why it works for english speaking practice: the lines are short and conversational, paced close to how a Brit actually talks rather than slowed down for learners.

The accent throughout is British, and the host keeps a natural, chatty rhythm the whole way, which makes this a solid pick for british english pronunciation practice. You get real stress and rhythm on ordinary sentences like "Firstly, fill your kettle and get it boiled" rather than a textbook read.

The colloquial turns in this tea tutorial

This is everyday english: a host walking a friend through a habit, not reading a script, and that shows up in how the lines are built.

  • "Oh, hello." opens the clip like a real conversation caught mid stream, and the short, casual greeting is worth copying for its intonation alone.
  • "It's dead simple, but people are very particular about the way tea has to be made." pairs a relaxed claim against a stiffer one in the same breath, so the stress has to shift between "dead simple" and "very particular" to keep the contrast clear.
  • "Never, I repeat, never put the milk in first." repeats the same word for emphasis, which is a useful pattern to hear stressed differently each time it lands.
  • "Give it a squeeze." is a short imperative, the kind of instruction line that gets thrown away quickly in real speech.

How to shadow this British tea tutorial, line by line

Work through the opening in order rather than jumping around, since each line sets up the next one.

  • Start with "Oh, hello." and "What am I doing, you ask?" together, just to get the casual, slightly self mocking opening rhythm before anything else.
  • Shadow this line next: "It's dead simple, but people are very particular about the way tea has to be made." Repeat it until the shift between the two halves feels automatic, not read.
  • Drill "Never, I repeat, never put the milk in first." on its own. Say it three times and try to land the second "never" harder than the first, the way the host does.
  • Close the set with "Give it a squeeze." It is short enough to say in one breath, which makes it a good line to check your own pace against the host's 197 words per minute.
  • Once those four hold up, go back through "Firstly, fill your kettle and get it boiled" and "Stick your tea bag in the mug" as a short instructional run, since that is the register you will hear most in daily english conversation practice.
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