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Shadowing practice: The Bird and the Whale — US English accent (TheFableCottage.com)

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

Full transcript

  1. The Bird and the Whale An original tale by thefablecottage .com Once there was a bird who fell in love with a whale and a whale who fell in love0:00
  2. with a bird.0:15
  3. The bird loved the whale's beautiful smile.0:18
  4. He loved the way she swam through the water so gracefully.0:22
  5. The whale loved the bird's handsome white feathers.0:26
  6. She loved to watch him soar through the sky.0:31
  7. And they both loved to eat lots of tiny fish.0:35
  8. All summer the bird and the whale met in the bay.0:43
  9. They talked and talked.0:47
  10. They talked about the moon and the stars and the ships on the ocean.0:50
  11. The bird told jokes and made the whale laugh.0:56
  12. The whale sang beautiful songs that made the bird cry, even though he didn't know why.1:00
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  1. One day you could meet my family in the ocean, said the whale.1:07
  2. And you could meet my friends on the land, said the bird.1:13
  3. Everything was perfect.1:18
  4. But the world does not stop turning just because a bird and a whale fall in love.1:21
  5. Summer turned into autumn and autumn turned into winter.1:27
  6. The ocean turned cold and all the other whales left for warmer waters.1:32
  7. Come with me to warmer waters, said the whale.1:39
  8. It's a wonderful place.1:43
  9. It's always warm and there are so many fish to eat.1:45
  10. I love to eat fish, said the bird.1:49
  11. And I love you.1:53
  12. I will follow you anywhere.1:55
  13. But first teach me to be a whale.1:58
  14. Like this, said the whale.2:01
  15. Follow me.2:04
  16. And she dived deep into the water.2:06
  17. Okay, said the bird.2:10
  18. And he also dived deep into the water.2:12
  19. Deeper and deeper he went.2:16
  20. I'm swimming.2:19
  21. He laughed.2:21
  22. I'm a whale.2:23
  23. But soon he couldn't breathe.2:25
  24. He returned to the surface gasping.2:27
  25. He tried and tried and tried again, but he ran out of breath every time.2:30
  26. I don't think a bird can become a whale, said the bird.2:38
  27. Come with me instead.2:42
  28. I live up on the cliffs.2:43
  29. It's a wonderful place.2:46
  30. It's warm and cozy.2:48
  31. And every morning you can watch the sunrise.2:50
  32. I love to watch the sunrise, said the whale.2:54
  33. And I love you.2:58
  34. I will follow you anywhere.3:00
  35. But first teach me to be a bird.3:02
  36. Like this, said the bird.3:05
  37. Follow me.3:08
  38. And he flapped his wings and soared into the sky.3:09
  39. Okay, said the whale.3:14
  40. She squeezed her eyes shut and flapped her fins just like the bird.3:17
  41. She flapped and flapped up and down.3:22
  42. Water splashed everywhere.3:25
  43. I'm flying.3:29
  44. She laughed.3:31
  45. I'm a bird.3:32
  46. But when she opened her eyes, she wasn't soaring in the sky.3:34
  47. She was still in the water.3:38
  48. She tried and tried and tried again, but she could not fly.3:41
  49. I don't think a whale can become a bird, said the whale.3:47
  50. But if you can't fly and I can't swim, where can we live together, said the bird.3:52
  51. We will stay here, in the bay, said the whale.4:00
  52. But the bird shook his head sadly.4:05
  53. You love to swim deep in the ocean, he said.4:09
  54. That is your favorite thing to do.4:13
  55. You would never be happy here.4:16
  56. The whale sighed.4:19
  57. And you love to fly and soar into the sky, she said.4:21
  58. That is your favorite thing to do.4:26
  59. You would never be happy here either.4:28
  60. And so, because the bird and whale loved each other so much, they said goodbye.4:32
  61. But they never forgot each other.4:41
  62. Every time the whale saw a bird flying high in the sky, she thought of her bird.4:45
  63. She hoped he was enjoying the skies, just like that.4:52
  64. And every time the bird saw a whale diving deep in the ocean, he thought of his whale.4:57
  65. He hoped she was enjoying the ocean, just like that.5:05

An A2 American Fable Built for English Speaking Practice

This clip is a narrated fable, one American voice telling the whole story of a bird and a whale who fall in love. At A2 the sentences stay short and the vocabulary stays plain, which makes it a solid pick for english speaking practice if you are still early in the language. The narrator moves at 157 words per minute, quick enough that you cannot drift off while repeating a line, not so quick that the words run together.

There is no dialogue bouncing between characters here, just one storyteller carrying the tale, so almost every sentence is a clean, complete unit you can lift out and repeat on its own. Words like sighed, dived and gracefully sit inside otherwise simple sentences, which is useful exposure if your goal is to improve english speaking without wading through slang. It also works well as english shadowing for beginners, since the pace and the A2 level leave room to actually keep up.

The Language in The Bird and the Whale

Listen to how the narrator turns a plain observation into a small moral: "But the world does not stop turning just because a bird and a whale fall in love." It is one long sentence with no pause built in, said evenly from start to end, so it is a good test of how to pronounce english words at a steady pace without losing the rhythm halfway through.

  • "He loved the way she swam through the water so gracefully." The adverb lands at the very end of the sentence, so the stress you want is on gracefully, held a beat longer than the rest of the line.
  • "But the world does not stop turning just because a bird and a whale fall in love." One breath, no comma, said flat and even. The challenge is keeping your pace level all the way through rather than speeding up near the end.
  • "I will follow you anywhere." A short vow that the story repeats once for each character. Small enough to drill on its own, and a good line for practising confident stress on anywhere.

Working Through the Opening of the Fable

The opening builds in layers, so work it in the order it was told rather than jumping around.

  • Start with lines 3 to 7, the short catalogue of what each of them loved. They are all the same shape, which makes them a fast warm up before you shadow this line by line.
  • Move to line 12, "The whale sang beautiful songs that made the bird cry, even though he didn't know why." It is the longest sentence so far, so break it at cry and rebuild it in two halves before saying it whole.
  • Take line 16 on its own, the world does not stop turning line. Say it three or four times until the pacing feels even, not rushed at the end.
  • Practice lines 19 to 24 as a pair of matching offers, the whale's invitation and the bird's reply, since they share the same sentence pattern and let you hear how the intonation shifts between an invitation and an answer.
  • Finish the opening on lines 28 to 37, where the bird tries to become a whale and fails. The short exclamations, I'm swimming, I'm a whale, are worth shadowing on their own before you attempt the fuller sentences around them.
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