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Shadowing practice: The Wind and the Sun - US English accent (TheFableCottage.com)

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

Full transcript

  1. The Wind and the Sun A version of the tale by thefablecottage .com The Wind and the Sun are having a disagreement.0:00
  2. I am the most powerful, says the Wind.0:13
  3. No, I am the most powerful, says the Sun.0:17
  4. I can blow trees to the ground, brags the Wind.0:22
  5. I can push ships across the ocean.0:26
  6. I can make hurricanes and tornadoes.0:29
  7. Is that right?0:35
  8. replies the Sun.0:37
  9. Well, I can melt all the snow on the mountains.0:39
  10. I can dry up an entire lake.0:43
  11. I can make a sidewalk so hot that it cooks an egg.0:46
  12. Just then, they see a man walking along the road in his winter jacket.0:53
Show all 47 lines Show fewer lines
  1. Let's have a contest to see who is more powerful, says the Wind.0:59
  2. Whoever can remove the man's jacket first, wins.1:04
  3. The Sun agrees.1:09
  4. The Wind goes first.1:12
  5. He blows a gust of cold wind at the man.1:14
  6. The man shivers and zips up his jacket.1:18
  7. Brrrr, what a cold and windy day.1:22
  8. It starts to rain.1:26
  9. The Wind blows even harder and turns the rain into snow.1:28
  10. Well, look at that.1:33
  11. It's snowing, says the man.1:35
  12. Snow wasn't in the weather forecast today.1:37
  13. He pulls his hood over his head.1:41
  14. The Wind blows his strongest gust towards the man.1:43
  15. But the man's jacket stays on.1:48
  16. Hmm, it's a bit fresh today, he says.1:51
  17. A winter storm must be coming.1:55
  18. He zips the jacket higher to cover his nose.1:58
  19. Gah, this is impossible, says the Wind.2:03
  20. He stops blowing.2:06
  21. My turn, says the Sun.2:09
  22. First, the Sun shines enough to stop the snow.2:12
  23. The man unzips his hood.2:16
  24. Then the Sun pulls the clouds apart and gently shines down on the man.2:20
  25. Suddenly, it is a beautiful spring day.2:26
  26. Wow, the weather sure is strange around here, says the man.2:30
  27. He unzips his jacket.2:36
  28. The Sun gently wiggles her fingers and increases the temperature.2:39
  29. What strange weather.2:45
  30. Now it feels like summer, the man says as he begins to sweat.2:47
  31. Goodness me, it's so hot.2:53
  32. He removes his winter jacket.2:57
  33. He lies down on the grass for a nap in the warm Sun.2:59
  34. I win, says the Sun, beaming.3:04
  35. Moral, sometimes warmth and gentleness can achieve more than strengthened force.3:09

English speaking practice with an A2 American narration of a classic fable

The Wind and the Sun is a narrated retelling of the classic fable, read in an American accent at 150 words per minute and rated A2, which makes it solid english speaking practice for anyone still building confidence with full sentences. The pace sits on the faster side of the beginner catalogue, so the story keeps moving, but the vocabulary stays plain: short declarative sentences, present tense narration, and a repeating pattern of "says the Wind" and "says the Sun" that gives you the same sentence shape to practise over and over.

Across 47 lines, the story follows a simple arc: two rivals arguing over who is stronger, a contest to strip a man of his jacket, and a moral about gentleness beating force. Because it is narration rather than fast dialogue between multiple speakers, every line is delivered clearly and at a steady rhythm, which makes it a good first attempt at english shadowing for beginners.

How to pronounce english words in american accent, line by line

A few lines carry vocabulary or rhythm worth isolating before you shadow the whole passage.

  • "I can blow trees to the ground, brags the Wind." The verb "brags" carries the sentence's attitude, so give it more stress than the words around it when you say the line out loud.
  • "The man shivers and zips up his jacket." "Zips up" is a two word verb, said as one beat, and it repeats later in the story when he "unzips" and "zips" the jacket again, so getting it smooth here pays off twice more.
  • "Moral, sometimes warmth and gentleness can achieve more than strengthened force." The closing line is the densest in the clip: "gentleness" and "strengthened" are both three syllables, and slowing down on just these two words before you attempt the full sentence will improve your english speaking on the harder vocabulary in the story.

A line by line order for shadowing this fable

Work the contest in the order it actually escalates, rather than starting cold at line one.

  • Start with the rivalry: line 2, "I am the most powerful, says the Wind," and line 3, "No, I am the most powerful, says the Sun." Say them back to back and put the stress on "most powerful" both times, since the two lines are built to sound almost identical.
  • Move to the challenge: line 13, "Let's have a contest to see who is more powerful, says the Wind," and line 14, "Whoever can remove the man's jacket first, wins." This is the longest sentence pair in the clip, so shadow this line slowly first, then bring it up to the narrator's speed.
  • Follow the failed attempts in sequence: line 18, "The man shivers and zips up his jacket," line 26, "The Wind blows his strongest gust towards the man," and line 30, "He zips the jacket higher to cover his nose." All three end on the same idea, the jacket staying on, so working through them in a row is good english shadowing practice for hearing how one action gets described three different ways.
  • Finish on the ending, line 45, "He lies down on the grass for a nap in the warm Sun," and line 46, "I win, says the Sun, beaming." Both lines slow down after the tug of war of the contest, so let your pace slow with them, then close your english speaking practice on the moral in line 47.
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