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Shadowing practice: Learn English with SUITS - Rachel Discovers Mike's Secret

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  1. Harvard application?0:00
  2. Rachel, that's great.0:03
  3. It's great if I get in and I'm not gonna get in if I don't get this done in a - Okay, so this is going well then.0:04
  4. Less than one out of every 12 people who applies gets in.0:10
  5. What if I'm not one of those people?0:13
  6. I don't know.0:14
  7. Maybe you'll get in somewhere else.0:15
  8. You're kidding me.0:18
  9. I don't want to have a fallback.0:19
  10. You mean a backup?0:21
  11. A logical plan B?0:22
  12. I want to go to Harvard.0:24
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  1. Man, I love this show.0:27
  2. I'm so excited to share with you today one of my favorite moments from the series, when Rachel discovers Mike's secret.0:29
  3. This scene is packed with useful advanced expressions related to attending university and so many other everyday terms that you can use to sound more confident and natural when you0:37
  4. speak English.0:47
  5. So let's jump into the first scene.0:48
  6. But quickly, if you're new here, every single week we make new lessons like this to help you understand fast speaking natives without getting lost, without missing the jokes, and0:51
  7. without subtitles.1:02
  8. So join over 10 million English learners who are doing exactly that.1:04
  9. Hit that subscribe button and the bell down below and you won't miss a single new lesson.1:08
  10. So we've already seen that Rachel is desperate to get into Harvard.1:14
  11. This is because it's her dream to work as a lawyer at this law firm, Pearson -Hardman, just like Mike.1:19
  12. But they only hire Harvard graduates.1:25
  13. So let's see what happens with Rachel's application.1:27
  14. I don't know how it felt from someone who got in because I'll never hear that from myself.1:57
  15. Oh no, poor Rachel.2:07
  16. So before we learn all of those advanced expressions that you saw highlighted in blue, let me give you a pro tip.2:09
  17. Don't just learn with this lesson, experience it on the RealLife English app.2:15
  18. Let me give you four big reasons.2:20
  19. So first, you give vocabulary flashcards and writing exercises that use intelligent technology so that you remember expressions like fallback and to have a history forever.2:22
  20. No more forgetting after just hours or even minutes.2:35
  21. You get an interactive transcript.2:38
  22. You can simply tap any other word that you don't know and boom, instant definition.2:40
  23. No more needing to pause to look stuff up.2:45
  24. Third, unlike YouTube, it's an ad -free, distraction -free experience which really is the kind of environment you want for learning English, right?2:47
  25. Finally, you can practice your speaking and discover other cultures in a global speed.2:56
  26. And don't take my word for it.3:00
  27. See for yourself why the app already has over 2 million downloads and tens of thousands of 5 -star reviews.3:02
  28. So get instant access to the premium lesson for suits by tapping the link down in the description below from your phone now.3:09
  29. Alright, first up, let's look at Get In.3:16
  30. Harvard application.3:19
  31. Rachel, that's great.3:22
  32. It's great if I get in and I'm not going to get in if I don't get this done in a moment.3:23
  33. Okay, so this is going well then.3:26
  34. Alright, so this means to be accepted or admitted to a school, university or program.3:28
  35. When Rachel says, it's great if I get in, she's talking about being accepted to Harvard.3:33
  36. It's super common to use this with schools.3:38
  37. Later, Rachel says, get into instead of just get in.3:40
  38. I didn't get into Harvard.3:44
  39. If you have an object you should use into, otherwise just use in.3:45
  40. For example, you might say, I really hope I get in to stand for this year.3:49
  41. I've been dreaming about getting in since high school.3:53
  42. And I might suggest Rachel might get in somewhere else if Harvard doesn't work out.3:55
  43. This brings us to our next expression.3:59
  44. I don't want to have a fallback.4:01
  45. You mean a backup?4:03
  46. A logical plan B?4:04
  47. These words mean the same thing.4:06
  48. It's your second choice or alternative plan when your first choice doesn't work out.4:09
  49. We also heard him call this a plan B.4:13
  50. In the USA, most people will have a top choice when applying to universities.4:16
  51. But they probably will also apply to a couple backup schools just in case.4:20
  52. Check out these examples.4:24
  53. And hey, I'm guessing that you would like to be able to speak English more naturally and fluently, right?4:38
  54. Right.4:44
  55. Well, a key to this is connected speech.4:45
  56. That's how we natives cut, reduce, and connect our words together in fluent speech.4:48
  57. Now let's practice it together so that you can understand and speak more confidently.4:53
  58. Harvard application.4:57
  59. Rachel, that's great.5:00
  60. It's great if I get in.5:02
  61. Do you notice how Rachel said this almost as if it were a single word?5:03
  62. We have a couple instances of the American T here.5:07
  63. When a T is between two vowel sounds, it usually morphs into a D sound.5:09
  64. For example, butter instead of butter, or cat and dog instead of cat and dog.5:15
  65. The T from great and get are both surrounded by vowels, so they morph and all these words link together.5:21
  66. Rachel didn't say, it's great if I get in.5:27
  67. She said, it's great if I get in.5:31
  68. It's great if I get in.5:34
  69. The same thing happened later when she said, what if I'm not one of those people?5:36
  70. What if I'm not one of those people?5:41
  71. She doesn't say, what if I'm, she said, what if I'm.5:42
  72. And you're speaking will only get better through a lot of practice.5:46
  73. So now you try.5:50
  74. Rachel, that's great.5:52
  75. It's great if I get in.5:53
  76. It's great if I get in.5:54
  77. What if I'm not one of those people?6:00
  78. What if I'm not one of those people?6:02
  79. Moving on, a few episodes later we get some bad news.6:09
  80. Rachel didn't get accepted and she's trying to understand why.6:12
  81. So let's take a look at the advanced expressions we saw in that clip.6:15
  82. I didn't get into Harvard.6:19
  83. Listen to me, there are other schools.6:21
  84. Don't.6:23
  85. Yeah, I won't.6:25
  86. It wasn't that I wasn't good enough.6:27
  87. So Rachel's expressing the problem was not that she didn't meet the high standards or requirements of Harvard Law School.6:29
  88. The phrase, to not be good enough, is commonly used when someone feels they don't qualify for something they wanted.6:35
  89. For example, you might feel like your English isn't good enough, but maybe that's just because you haven't found a method that works effectively for you yet.6:41
  90. Well here at Real Life English, we try to provide that method for you.6:49
  91. Like with our vocabulary flashcards on an app that I mentioned earlier.6:52
  92. These help you to remember new expressions forever, so that you never feel again like your English isn't good enough.6:55
  93. Let me show you how those work.7:01
  94. I'm going to pop open our lesson with Legally Blonde.7:02
  95. Check out how amazing these are for adding new expressions to your long -term memory.7:06
  96. So I found the lesson for Legally Blonde.7:10
  97. Let's open that.7:12
  98. And normally you would watch the lesson here on the app and you have the interactive transcript and everything, but for now we're going to skip that.7:13
  99. I'm just going to load the vocabulary flashcards anyway.7:20
  100. So I'm clicking practice.7:23
  101. And you can choose how many words you want to learn depending on how much time you have.7:25
  102. And you have both the flashcards and the writing exercises.7:28
  103. You can do both or focus on just one or the other.7:32
  104. Just for demonstration, let's just look at the flashcards for now.7:34
  105. So right away here we have a definition.7:39
  106. Communication between two or more people.7:42
  107. Hmm, which expression was used there that matches this definition?7:44
  108. You could show examples.7:50
  109. That might be helpful.7:51
  110. So their first was awkward, but they quickly became friends.7:52
  111. Her friendly with customers made her a favorite at the store.7:55
  112. Hmm, thinking about that one, I believe it's interaction.8:01
  113. Let's see if that's right.8:04
  114. Show answer.8:05
  115. Interaction.8:07
  116. So we even have the pronunciation there to help us and we can now see both these examples filled out.8:08
  117. So I remembered it.8:14
  118. So it says here at the bottom, did you remember it?8:15
  119. So you have yes.8:18
  120. I remembered that right away.8:19
  121. So I stuck yes.8:21
  122. That means that now it's probably not going to be shown to me again for a long time because it's already pretty fresh in my memory.8:22
  123. All right.8:30
  124. So the next one is a casual way to say goodbye, wishing the other person to relax and not stress.8:31
  125. Let's look at the example again.8:36
  126. Hmm, let's see.8:38
  127. Maybe I sort of remember that, but I'm not quite sure what it is.8:41
  128. So I'm going to say show answer.8:44
  129. Take it easy.8:45
  130. Oh, that's right.8:46
  131. It was take it easy.8:47
  132. So maybe I sort of remembered that, but you know, I didn't fully remember every word.8:48
  133. Maybe I just remembered it was something with easy.8:53
  134. So I'll do sort of, which means that it will be shown to me again more or less soon, but it will wait a bit longer.8:55
  135. All right.9:04
  136. And then let's look at one more used to tell someone to hurry, encourage them or express disbelief.9:04
  137. I know you're tired, but we're so close to the top of the trail.9:11
  138. Hmm.9:16
  139. I have no idea what that is.9:17
  140. So I'm going to click show answer.9:19
  141. Come on.9:20
  142. Come on.9:21
  143. Okay.9:22
  144. Come on.9:22
  145. I do know that one, but let's pretend that I didn't remember it at all.9:23
  146. So I'm going to press no here.9:26
  147. I didn't remember it.9:28
  148. And that means it's going to be shown again really soon so that I can continue adding hooks to this and add it to my long term memory.9:28
  149. All right.9:35
  150. And we're repeating this expression again and casual way to say goodbye, wishing the person to relax and not stress.9:35
  151. Do you remember what it was?9:40
  152. I remember it was take it easy.9:42
  153. Take it easy.9:44
  154. Take it easy.9:44
  155. Okay.9:45
  156. So now seeing it again, I remembered it.9:46
  157. So we'll wait a bit longer to study that one again.9:48
  158. And then this one that we didn't remember it all before, but let's say that now I think really hard about it.9:52
  159. I remember it was something that ended with on.9:57
  160. Come on.10:00
  161. Oh, that's right.10:00
  162. Come on.10:01
  163. So let's say like it's sort of now.10:02
  164. So it's going to wait a bit longer.10:04
  165. So you can really see how this can be really effective over time.10:05
  166. And we just spent just a couple of minutes there to add new vocabulary, new expressions to your long term memory.10:08
  167. So get access to the premium version of the suits lesson for free right now and never forget all the new expressions you're working hard to learn today by tapping10:15
  168. the link in the description below on your phone.10:23
  169. Moving on, Rachel mentions that the interviewer and Lewis had a history.10:26
  170. It was Lewis.10:30
  171. What?10:32
  172. The interviewer.10:32
  173. Apparently she and Lewis had a history and which she didn't let you in because of him.10:34
  174. This is a polite way to say to people had a romantic relationship or some kind of personal connection in the past.10:39
  175. It's often used when you don't want to give all the details about what exactly happened between two people.10:45
  176. For example, if two of your friends have a history, you might not feel comfortable hanging out with them at the same time.10:50
  177. Right.10:56
  178. But she didn't let you in because of him.10:56
  179. To be let in means to be allowed to enter or join something.10:58
  180. For example, you might not be led into a place you work by the security guard if you forgot your idea at home.11:02
  181. In this context, it means the admissions interviewer didn't allow Rachel to be admitted to Harvard.11:07
  182. Finally, Rachel asked Mike to tell her about when he found out he got into Harvard.11:16
  183. In other words, she wants to hear the story of the day Mike received his acceptance letter.11:21
  184. What did it feel like?11:26
  185. Of course, if you're a fan of the show, you know this never happened because Mike lied about attending Harvard.11:27
  186. Find out is a phrase of her meaning to discover or learn information.11:33
  187. Often something you didn't know before.11:36
  188. So you might also find out that you have a medical condition that needs to be treated.11:38
  189. Or you might find out that there's a new restaurant in your neighborhood that has great reviews.11:42
  190. Rachel, come on.11:46
  191. This is a super common expression we use to offer encouragement or show frustration.11:48
  192. Like if a friend of yours is too scared to try ordering their meal at a restaurant in English while you're traveling, you might encourage them by saying, come on,11:52
  193. you can do it.11:58
  194. Check out this other example.11:59
  195. She taught me how to climb.12:03
  196. Come on, Boris, you can do it.12:04
  197. Excuse me, ma 'am, I think your things are in my seat.12:08
  198. Oh, sorry.12:10
  199. Oh, come on.12:13
  200. You've got to be kidding me.12:14
  201. However, Mike is using it here because he doesn't believe it will be helpful for her to compare herself to him.12:16
  202. Alright, that was tense.12:24
  203. But Rachel's not giving up.12:26
  204. So in the next scene we will watch, she drafted a letter to try to get Harvard to change their mind, and she wants Mike to send it as an12:27
  205. alumnus.12:34
  206. That is, someone who graduated from there.12:35
  207. Or, so she believes.12:37
  208. This is to Harvard.12:39
  209. I'm going over Sheila's asses head and telling them everything that happened.12:40
  210. Well, you are.12:43
  211. Rachel, you can't.12:45
  212. Yeah, come on, you said it yourself.12:45
  213. It is not right that I'm being denied admission because someone's punishing Louis.12:47
  214. It's not, but I can't sign this.12:51
  215. Why not?12:52
  216. It's hearsay.12:53
  217. Are you going to help me or not?12:54
  218. I'll help you.12:56
  219. I'm going over Sheila's asses head and telling them everything that happened.13:01
  220. Amazing expression here.13:05
  221. To go over someone's head means to not accept an answer from someone, and contact their boss or another person with more authority.13:07
  222. It's like jumping over them in the chain of command.13:14
  223. For example, imagine that your manager won't accept your vacation request.13:16
  224. You could go over her head by talking to her boss.13:20
  225. Rachel, you can't.13:23
  226. Yeah, come on, you said it yourself.13:24
  227. It is not right that I'm being denied admission because I'm being denied admission because I'm being denied admission.13:25
  228. What do you think she means when she says she's being denied admission to Harvard?13:28
  229. She's being refused acceptance by the admissions officer?13:33
  230. She's being threatened by the admissions officer.13:36
  231. She's angry at Louis.13:38
  232. Right, it's the same as the expression we saw earlier.13:47
  233. To be let in.13:50
  234. But more formal.13:51
  235. You refuse entry or acceptance to a school, program or place.13:52
  236. It's not, but I can't sign this.13:56
  237. Why not?13:58
  238. Finally, Mike mentions that sending this letter would be hearsay, a legal term we can hear often in suits.13:59
  239. Hearsay is information you heard from someone else, not something you witnessed yourself.14:05
  240. It's often not considered reliable evidence because it's secondhand information.14:10
  241. Of course, we know that Mike is just making excuses because if you were to write Harvard, his secret would be discovered.14:14
  242. Check out this other example.14:19
  243. So you better have a good reason why you're in here asking me to reopen this case.14:21
  244. We do, Your Honor.14:24
  245. We found under Bailey's alibi.14:25
  246. What they found is nothing but hearsay.14:27
  247. So Rachel thinks that she didn't get in because of Louis' affair with the Harvard admissions officer, Sheila.14:32
  248. However, she wasn't accepted simply because she didn't meet Harvard's strict criteria.14:38
  249. She didn't get in because they didn't think she was good enough.14:43
  250. You have to tell her the real truth.14:45
  251. Louis was too afraid of hurting Rachel's feelings to tell her the truth.14:47
  252. And obviously, Mike can't send the letter because he'd be found out.14:51
  253. In the final clip from today, we'll see what happens when Rachel finds out that Mike didn't send the letter and confronts him.14:54
  254. You've been cagey with me since the second I came to you about the letter and you're being cagey with me right now.15:00
  255. You are, you're lying to me.15:04
  256. It's always something.15:05
  257. It is always some secret or some story or some lie.15:06
  258. I don't understand why.15:10
  259. You don't understand what I have been through.15:11
  260. I am not ready to lose you.15:13
  261. Then tell me.15:16
  262. I never went to Harvard.15:18
  263. I'm a fraud.15:22
  264. Alright, so it seems like everything has come together.15:29
  265. Stick around until the test of the end to see what happens next.15:32
  266. For now, let's break down the powerful expressions that we heard there.15:35
  267. You've been cagey with me since the second I came to you about the letter and you're being cagey with me right now.15:38
  268. Wow, what a great advanced word here.15:42
  269. When someone's cagey, they're being secretive, evasive, or unwilling to give direct answers.15:44
  270. They're hiding something or being mysteriously unclear about their responses.15:49
  271. Why are you hiding this?15:53
  272. I don't want to talk about it.15:55
  273. Oh, cute.15:57
  274. Where'd that come from?15:59
  275. It's my mom's.16:00
  276. She's being very cagey.16:01
  277. We think something's stashed in the head.16:02
  278. Let's get some more speaking practice in.16:04
  279. We saw a really nice example here of connected speech.16:06
  280. You've been cagey with me since the second I came to you about the letter.16:08
  281. So it just feels like this phrase got smashed together, doesn't it?16:11
  282. First, the most common sound in English is the schwa, uh, sound.16:14
  283. If this doesn't exist in your native language, then it's essential you master it.16:18
  284. As usually happens, the article D here had its vowel reduced to a schwa.16:23
  285. So the, not the.16:27
  286. The D from second links to the pronoun I.16:29
  287. Second I.16:32
  288. Second I.16:33
  289. We have both a reduction to a schwa and the American T we saw earlier with two.16:34
  290. So instead of came to, she says came done.16:39
  291. Let's put it all together.16:43
  292. She didn't say the second I came to you.16:44
  293. She said the second that came to you.16:47
  294. The second I came to you.16:50
  295. Again, if you want to become a natural English speaker, you need lots of practice.16:52
  296. So listen to Rachel again and try to say it just like she did.16:56
  297. You've been cagey with me since the second I came to you about the letter.16:59
  298. Since the second I came to you about the letter.17:02
  299. Next, we heard Mike say that he's been through and lost a lot.17:09
  300. I don't understand what I have been through.17:13
  301. I am not ready to lose you.17:16
  302. The expression to go through something or to be through something means to experience something difficult, challenging or painful.17:19
  303. It often refers to tough times or hardships.17:26
  304. Check out these examples.17:28
  305. I know you're upset and frustrated that your friend is going through something and he ran off instead of turning to you for help.17:30
  306. They just all act so immature.17:38
  307. Well, they are immature.17:40
  308. They're teenagers.17:41
  309. They haven't been through what you've been through.17:43
  310. Then tell me.17:44
  311. I never went to Harvard.17:46
  312. This is a hugely iconic moment in the series.17:49
  313. The instant where Mike decides to stop lying to Rachel and he used an advanced definition of go.17:51
  314. Go to a school means to attend or study at that institution.17:57
  315. When Mike finally admits, I never went to Harvard, he's saying he never attended or studied.18:00
  316. There's a student.18:05
  317. For example, I went to the University of Colorado for my undergraduate and to Pompeo Favre for my master's.18:06
  318. And finally, the big reveal.18:12
  319. I'm a fraud.18:14
  320. I'm a fraud.18:16
  321. A fraud is someone who pretends to be something they're not in order to deceive people.18:17
  322. What's wrong?18:23
  323. Roz, I'm not a teacher.18:24
  324. Oh, Ned.18:30
  325. A substitute is a teacher?18:31
  326. No, no, I'm not a teacher.18:34
  327. I'm a fraud.18:36
  328. No, you're not.18:37
  329. All right, awesome work, but you're not done yet.18:43
  330. This is actually the most important part.18:45
  331. You need to put to the test everything that you've learned today by watching the scene a final time without subtitles so that you can really see how much better18:48
  332. you're able to comprehend after all of that studying.18:56
  333. And if you feel like you missed some things, then the vocabulary flashcards are going to help you a lot.19:00
  334. So again, remember, there's that link in the description below so you can get free access to the premium lesson now.19:03
  335. Also, we've added a little bit more of the scene at the end so you can see what happens next.19:08
  336. Let's do this.19:13
  337. Harvard application.19:15
  338. Rachel, that's great.19:17
  339. It's great if I get in and I'm not going to get in if I don't get this done in a program.19:18
  340. Okay, so this is going well then.19:21
  341. Less than one out of every 12 people who applies gets in.19:24
  342. What if I'm not one of those people?19:28
  343. I don't know.19:29
  344. Maybe we'll get in somewhere else.19:29
  345. What's the difference between go to Harvard and get into Harvard?19:32
  346. Get into Harvard means to be accepted, admitted.19:45
  347. Go to Harvard means to actually attend as a student.19:48
  348. You're kidding me.19:51
  349. I don't want to have a fallback.19:52
  350. You mean a backup?19:54
  351. A logical plan B?19:55
  352. I want to go to Harvard.19:57
  353. I didn't get into Harvard.19:58
  354. Listen to me, there are other schools.20:01
  355. Don't.20:03
  356. Yeah, I won't.20:05
  357. It wasn't that I wasn't good enough.20:06
  358. I know that.20:09
  359. It was Louis.20:11
  360. What?20:12
  361. The interviewer.20:13
  362. Apparently she and Louis had a...20:15
  363. Complete this sentence.20:17
  364. If two people have a complicated relationship because of past romance, they have a...20:19
  365. history.20:28
  366. Apparently she and Louis had a history and...20:29
  367. Wait, she didn't let you in because of him?20:32
  368. Tell me about the day you found out.20:35
  369. Rachel, come on.20:37
  370. No, I need to hear how it felt from someone who got in because I'll...20:39
  371. I'll never hear that from myself.20:45
  372. This is to Harvard.20:47
  373. I'm f**king Shilas asses head.20:48
  374. Complete this sentence.20:50
  375. The customer service agent wasn't being helpful.20:51
  376. So I decided to her head by asking to speak to the manager.20:53
  377. The customer service agent wasn't being helpful.21:03
  378. So I decided to go over her head by asking to speak to the manager.21:05
  379. I'm going over Shilas asses head and telling them everything that happened.21:09
  380. Well, you are.21:12
  381. Rachel, you can't...21:14
  382. Yeah, come on.21:14
  383. You said it yourself.21:15
  384. It is not right that I'm being denied admission because someone's punishing Louis.21:16
  385. It's not, but I can't sign this.21:20
  386. Why not?21:21
  387. Information you heard from someone else, but did not witness yourself, is called...21:23
  388. Listen, say.21:27
  389. Hear, talk.21:28
  390. Hear, say.21:29
  391. It's hearsay.21:37
  392. Are you going to help me or not?21:38
  393. I'll help you.21:39
  394. You've been cagey with me since the second I came to you about the letter and you're being cagey with me right now.21:41
  395. If someone is being cagey, they are.21:45
  396. Acting like they're in a cage.21:47
  397. Being secretive and evasive.21:49
  398. Feeling very energetic.21:51
  399. You are, you're lying to me.21:59
  400. It's always something.22:01
  401. It is always some secret or some story or some lie.22:02
  402. You don't understand what I have been through.22:05
  403. I am not ready to lose you.22:09
  404. Then tell me.22:12
  405. I never went to Harvard.22:13
  406. I'm a fraud.22:17
  407. So if you haven't seen that before and hear anything like the first time that I saw it, you certainly weren't expecting that kiss.22:30
  408. This is an awesome series.22:38
  409. I highly recommend that you check it out if you haven't yet.22:39
  410. And if you are a fan of it or if you simply want to get to know it a little bit better, you might want to check out this lesson22:42
  411. next.22:47
  412. I'm not going to be a fraud.23:06
  413. I'm going to be a fraud.23:07
  414. I'm going to be a fraud.23:08
  415. I'm going to be a fraud.23:08
  416. I'm going to be a fraud.23:08
  417. I'm going to be a fraud.23:09
  418. I'm going to be a fraud.23:10
  419. I'm going to be a fraud.23:10
  420. I'm going to be a fraud.23:11

English Speaking Practice with Suits: Rachel's Harvard Application Scene

This clip opens on a fast exchange between Rachel and Mike about her Harvard application, then moves into the host's narrated introduction to the Suits scene. It is rated B1 and runs at 233 words per minute, faster than 88 percent of the clips in the catalogue, so the challenge here is keeping pace, not decoding rare vocabulary. The accent shifts between speakers across the recording, so treat it as general listening practice rather than a single accent drill.

Content type here is narration: about half the visible lines are the host talking straight to camera about the show, and the other half is the actual character dialogue between Rachel and Mike. That mix gives you two speech styles back to back, tense clipped dialogue then a calmer teaching voice, both worth shadowing separately. If you want to learn english with series rather than textbook audio, a scene like this is the practical version of that idea.

English Shadowing Practice: Rachel and Mike's Exchange

Three lines carry the real language here. Rachel's line, "I don't want to have a fallback.", is short and flat, no rise at the end, just a statement. Mike answers with "You mean a backup?", a rising question that restates her word in plainer English, a small but common conversational move. The host's own line, "Less than one out of every 12 people who applies gets in.", runs long without a natural break, good practice for holding a fast sentence in one breath. Rachel and Mike's exchange also doubles as english conversation practice for daily use, since the pattern, state a worry, get a rephrase back, shows up in ordinary talk far outside a law firm.

  • "I don't want to have a fallback." Say it flat, stress falls on "fallback", not on "have".
  • "You mean a backup?" Rising pitch on "backup", this is how natives paraphrase each other in daily conversation.
  • "Less than one out of every 12 people who applies gets in." One breath, numbers keep the pace at 233 words per minute.
  • "not gonna get in" the only reduced form in this recording, "going to" collapses into one sound.

How to Work Through Rachel's Harvard Scene

Work the dialogue before the narration, the two run at a different register and mixing them slows you down.

  • Start at line 1, "Harvard application?", a two word opener that is easy to match cold.
  • Loop lines 3 through 12, the actual back and forth between Rachel and Mike, five times before moving on.
  • Isolate "not gonna get in" and repeat it alone until it comes out as one sound, not two words.
  • Time yourself against line 4, "Less than one out of every 12 people who applies gets in.", to feel the clip's 233 words per minute pace.
  • Only then work through the host's narrated intro, lines 13 onward, where the goal shifts from matching a native speaker's rhythm to speaking English fluently at a calmer, steadier pace.
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