Shadowing Luke: Parson’s Pleasure (Episode 817)

0:00 Welcome to Alex's Adventures in English. I'm Alex and today we're shadowing Luke reading a short story written by Roald Dahl. We're going to shadow the first minutes of Luke's reading of Parson's Pleasure which was featured in episode 817 of Luke's English Podcast. In case you don't know, shadowing means listening to a speaker and repeating what they say straight after them, trying to match their pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation as closely as possible. This is this is something Luke usually recommends in his on his podcasts. Okay.

1:01 It's actually one of the most powerful ways to improve your pronunciation, intonation and rhythm, connected speech, and overall confidence in spoken English. And this is something I've been doing ever since I came across Luke's English Podcast a few years ago and it's really helped me a lot with my pronunciation. It absolutely it was a game changer, you know. And so over the years shadowing looks storytelling has really helped me notice the little details in natural British English in southern standard British English Luke Thompson's accents. And so in this session I'll be shadowing Luke's storytelling in real time you know and as I go along I'll point out a I point out a few key features that are worth paying attention to.

2:29 For example, the schwa and other sounds and linking phenomena linking sounds like for example the linking R. Okay, this is something I did in previous episodes. Actually, this is the third episode I've recorded. The third live recording of u me shadowing Luke, you know. So, okay, now let's move on to shadowing Luke. We've got to repeat immediately mimicking mimicking him.

3:29 Mimicking his intonation, pace, and delivery. Okay, so let's crack on, guys. All right, so let's get started. Mr. Bogus stopped the car. Let's get started.

3:59 Okay. One, two, three. Go. Mr. Bogis stopped the car just short of the summit. Mr.

4:10 Bogis stopped the car just short of the summit. Again, here we go. Mr. Bogis stopped the car just short of the summit. Mr. Bogis stopped the car just short of the summit.

4:33 Got out and looked around. Got out and looked around. Okay, let's start again. To happen next. Let's get started. Okay, here we go.

4:46 Okay, here we go. Mr. Bogis stopped the car just short of the summit. Mr. Bogis stopped the car just short of the summit, got out and looked around. Okay, he says got out.

5:02 Got out. He doesn't say got out. Listen to that again. It was per car just short of the summit. Got out and looked around. Got out there.

5:22 We've got a glottal stop. So, got out. Actually, got out. Got out or got out? Got out. He says, "Right." Yeah.

5:40 Stopped the car just short of the summit, got out and looked around. Got out and looked around. And looked. Look at that. Looked. That's the way we pronounce the simple past of the verb look.

6:02 Looked. Looked. And speaking of simple past verbs, we've got stopped. Stopped. [snorts] Stopped. We've got to be careful there.

6:21 Especially if your native language is Spanish, you don't have to add a vowel sound you know before the s sound. It's not spped but stopped. Stopped and stopped the car just short of the summit. Stopped the car. Stopped the car. He doesn't say stopped the car.

6:59 Right. He says stopped the car. Again, as I mentioned in previous episodes in southern standard British English, Luke's accents, the arm is not usually pronounced at the end of a word like car except in some except for some exceptions. Okay. Got out and looked around. It was around.

7:47 Okay. Around was perfect. Short of the summit, got out and looked around. It was perfect. He could It was perfect. It was perfect.

8:06 Of the summit, got out and looked around. It was perfect. He could see for miles. It was perfect. Look at that. As in perfect.

8:21 That imperfect is absolutely perfect. More say it was perfect. As in words like word or bird and church. It was perfect. He could see for miles. He could see for m he could see for miles.

8:56 Okay. He could see for miles. Yeah. So, he could see, it's not he could, but he could see for miles. Out and looked around. It was perfect.

9:17 He could see for miles. He could see for miles. He doesn't say for miles as you would expect here in American English for example. He could see for miles again because he speaks with this accent. Okay. He could see for miles.

9:51 Over on the right, he spotted a medium farmhouse. Over on the right, he spotted a medium farmhouse. Over on the right here, we've got an interesting phenomenon over on the right. Over on previously I said that in standard southern British English the R is not usually pronounced at the end of a word but that there are a few exceptions to this tendency. The thing is that in this case the over is followed by another word beginning with a vowel sound specifically on. Okay.

10:52 So in this case in this accent they would pronounce the r sound. Dates that they say over on over. Over on Okay, it's a very gentle sound. Very small. Over on it's not over on over, but over on the right. And as I explained in previous episodes over on in this case the this linking sound is called linking R.

11:36 Okay. Because it is in the spelling over on the right. All right. Let's go on. Beyond it was a larger. Let's rewind a bit and looked around.

12:00 It was perfect. He could see for miles. Over on the right, he spotted a medium farmhouse. He spotted. Spotted. Okay.

12:13 He spotted. So, spotted. Yeah. So, sported is the simple past. It's a regular verb and in the simple past it becomes spotted. Okay?

12:32 Because in the infinitive is spot. Spot that is to say it ends with a sound t. Spot. So being a regular verb, we need to add to it ed d at the end. And as it ends with a sound with a consonant sound t. The ed d ending is pronounced id.

13:10 Eid. Spotted. Spotted. He spotted a medium farmhouse. Okay. A medium.

13:22 This medium, the first syllable, the vowel in the first syllable of medium rhymes with see in for example the sentence he could see for miles.

13:47 So this is medium farmhouse. As I mentioned in previous episodes, bomb house farm the vowel sound there in that syllable bomb rhymes with car. Okay. As well actually in at the very beginning of the story the word car is mentioned does appear doesn't so it rhymes with that word so we say farmhouse car and by the way the word around the syllable Round this vowel sound there rhymes with house.

14:55 Okay. Round around house. And and the word out in got out. Got out. Okay. And All right.

15:15 Let's move on. Beyond it was a larger one. Beyond it was a larger one. Beyond was a larger one. Beyond was a look at that. Was a larger one again.

15:47 It was perfect. He could see for miles, Mr. Bogus. Okay, let's begin. From the top. Okay.

16:03 Next. Let's get started. Okay, here we go. Mr. Bogis stopped the car just short of the summit, got out, and looked around. Mr.

16:11 Bogus stopped the car just short of the summit, got out and looked around. It was perfect. He could see for miles. It was perfect. He could see for miles. Over on the right, he spotted a medium farmhouse.

16:37 Over on the right, he spotted a medium farmhouse. Beyond it was a larger one. Beyond it was a larger one. So in the word larger, the first syllable in this word larger rhymes with car with the vowel sound in car and in farm. Okay? So you can practice these words together.

17:10 Car. Bomb house larger one. There was a house that might be a queen an There was a house. There was a house. All right, let's repeat that again. There was a house.

17:31 There was a house. There might be a queen. An We've got to be careful with house. Because if your native language is Spanish, you might say house and we need to avoid that. It's house. Okay.

18:02 So house. There was a house. There might be a queen an again beyond it was a larger one. There was a house that might be a queen an there was a house that might be a queen an beyond it was a larger one. There was a house that might be a queen an that might be a that might be. There was a house that might be a queen on might be let me break it down.

18:56 Let me break. Yeah. So in this case this is an interesting phenomenon. So that might be so you can do the following. He doesn't pronounce the t. He doesn't say might be.

19:30 Okay. So, you can do that. Not pronounce the final T sound and say him. My B. Okay. My B.

19:59 So he might be he might be this is called assimulation you know. So when one sound becomes similar to the following or actually so you might say he might be you could produce here a glottal stop and say might be actually assimilates the sound t to the following sound and in that case you'll get might be.

20:47 Might be. All right. Might be. So you've got two possibilities there at least. And All right. That might be a queen.

21:02 Queen. Queen. The vowel sound in that word. E queen. Rhymes with C and medium. Okay, you can practice those words together.

21:42 All right, let's continue. So, and there were two likely farms over on the left. And there were two likely farms over on the left. And there were two likely farms over on the left. The word to likely forms again this word with a sound r in it farms over on again the linking o over on the left over on the left over on the left.

22:31 Five places in all. Five places in all. Five places in all. Then he drove to the other side of the hill. Then he drove to the other side of the hill. Then he drove to the other side of the hill.

22:56 Then he drove to the other side of the hill. In this case, you can notice that something interesting we can notice here. Let me show it to you before Luke says yeah, he says, "Let me find it." Okay. For example, Mr. Bogis stopped the car. Mr.

23:35 Bogus stopped the car. The Okay, the car. So you get the this schwa sound when he pronounces the he says the car, but then he says the other side.

24:15 All right. So the other side the car but he says the other side. So what happens in the second case in the other side. Okay. So you get in the car. Yeah.

24:45 So we can explain it like this. Let me show it to you. Okay. So this is the car. In the car you've got the phonemic transcription. The car.

25:10 The car. Okay, this is a schwa sound. That's a that's a schwa sound. And the word the is pronounced with a schwa because the following word starts with a consonant namely c the car. Okay. And All right.

25:46 And we can also say that car is pronounced with this long a sound. That's something we need to mention here too. Car is pronounced with a long open back vowel. O and no R is pronounced at the end in British English except in you know certain cases. All right. And something else we need to mention the other side.

26:35 Okay. The other side. What happens here? This is in this case we get the yeah this is the other side you get the phenemi transcription is the other side the other side. It's not the but the other side. The other side.

27:11 And why do you think so? Why do you think that he pronounces I rather than in this case? I think that you might imagine the reason. But let me explain it to you. The in this case is pronounced as the just like at the end of the word happy. Because it's followed by a word that starts with a vowel sound.

27:52 Other. Okay. So the other. The other. All right. So, and and other again this is standard southern British English.

28:14 You won't expect native speakers to say other. All right? But they will usually pronounce their sh sound other. All right, let's move on, guys. Where he saw six more then two likely farms over on the left, five places in all. Then he drove to the other side of the hill where he saw six more possibles.

28:52 Where he saw where he saw six more possibles. Five farms and one big Georgian house. Five farms and one big Georgian house. Ge Georgian. One big Georgian house. He ruled out the latter.

29:19 It. Yeah, [snorts] he ruled out the latter. He l Sorry. He ruled out the latter. He ruled out the latter. Let's listen to that again.

29:40 And one big Georgian house. He ruled out the latter. It looked again. And one big Georgian house. He ruled out the latter. Out the latter.

29:54 He ruled out the latter. He doesn't say ruled out, but he ruled out the latter. The latter. Okay. The not the because the word latter begins with a consonant sound and we don't say you won't expect him to say latter not ladder right but latter because of his accent it looked prosperous and there was it looked prosperous it looked prosperous.

30:39 Okay. It looked prosperous. Again, looked is pronounced looked prosperous. There was no point. He ruled out the latter. It looked prosperous.

30:58 Prosperous. Prosperous. All right, you've got O at the beginning of this word. Proerus. Two schwa sounds. Prosperous.

31:22 Okay. And there was no point in calling on the prosperous. And there was no point in calling on the prosperous. And there was no point in calling on the prosperous. On the prosperous. Okay.

31:47 You begin the word the actually you the word on rather than say on you say on the it's like you anticipate [snorts] the next sound on the prosperous for us.

32:18 All right, let me do the following. So, what is going to happen next? Let's get started. Okay. Okay. So, from minute 10 to 11.

32:39 Okay. In calling on the prosperous apart from the Okay, let's continue with that. That I love that part, that bit. And there was no point in calling on the prosperous apart from the fact that he was at this moment disguised as a clergyman apart from the facts. [snorts] Apart from the fact, let's listen to that again. Apart from the fact and there was no point in calling on the prosperous.

33:16 Apart from the fact apart from the fact apart from the fact apart. So these final syllable words, I mean the vowel sound, their rhymes with words such as yeah, car farm, but in this case he says apart and there was no point in calling on the prosperous.

34:05 Let me see if I can find another word that rhymes with a pot. [clears throat] Larger Okay. And yeah, apart from the fact that he was apart from the facts, facts rhymes with the word cat. Facts. As I mentioned in my previous episode, facts apart from the facts at this in calling on the prosperous apart from the fact apart from the facts. So he doesn't say apart, does he?

35:02 Apart. That's a glottal stop there at the end of a part. Apart from schwa from the another schwa. Apart from the facts that he was at this that he was moment disguised as a clergyman. Disguised as a clergyman. As a clergyman.

35:38 There was that he was at this moment disguised as a clergyman. Clergy cler. That vowel sound is one you'll find in words such as bird church word clergy clergyman. There was nothing very sinister about Sirill bogus. There was nothing very sinister about Sirill Bogis. Let's listen to that again.

36:21 As a clergyman, there was nothing very sinister about Sirill Bogis. There was nothing very sinister about as a clergyman. There was nothing very sinister about Sirill Bogis. Sinister about. Look at that. That's an interesting phenomenon.

36:41 He doesn't say sinister about there was nothing very sinister about sir [snorts] sinister about if you pay attention to what I said before and in previous episodes you might expect a fine there between these words sinister and about a link in Oh, okay.

37:13 Because sinister ends with I mean in the spelling you'll find at the end of it an R and about begins with a sure sound. So if you say those words in rapid speech, if you connect the words, then you'll f you'll you'll expect to find you would expect to find the native speakers will say sinister about.

37:56 But it this is not compulsory you know it's just a tendency you'll find in native speakers. So this is not wrong you know not pronouncing the link in R but actually quite natural especially when there's a pause you know if there's no such a pause then you'd probably hear a link in R but in this case there is a pause so he…

38:33 Says there was nothing very sinister about Sirill bogus. Sirill bogus. By trade a dealer in antique furniture. By trade a dealer in antique furniture. Out. Sirill bogus by trade.

39:01 A dealer in antique furniture. Again a dealer in if you connect those words in rapid speech in British English in southern standard British English you'd hear a dealerin again you know because of linking the link sound that usually sneaks in.

39:30 So sinister about dealer in but what about Luke? What does he do with a shot bogus by trade? A dealer in antique. A dealer in a dealer in He doesn't pronounce the Lincoln R sound there because he does make a pause, doesn't he? Okay. So by trade a dealer inseek furniture antique antseek in the word antique you get at the beginning the vowel sound a antique and then you get the e the long E sound as in medium.

40:40 Okay. In antique furniture. Burn. At the beginning of this word, you get the same sound as in a bird. Furniture. Bird.

41:00 Okay. This h sound. All right. Furniture with a shop in the Kings Road, Chelsea. Bogis had achieved a considerable reputation by producing unusual items with astonishing regularity. Okay.

41:23 By trade, a dealer reant. Oh yeah, I tend to pronounce the Lincoln R there. By trade a dealer in antique furniture with a shop in the king's road, Chelsea Bogis had achieved a considerable reputation by producing unusual items with astonishing regularity. Let me go that o let me go over that again. When asking unusual items with astonishing regularable reputation by producing un bogus had achieved a considerable reputation by the clergymen. There was nothing very sinister about Sirill Bogis.

42:15 By trade, a dealer in antique furniture with inse Chelsea. Bogis had achieved a considerable reputation. Bogis had achieved Let's listen to that again. Road Chelsea. Bogis had achieved a cons Bogis had achieved in the second syllable. In the last syllable, you'll find the same vowel sound as in C or even medium.

43:05 So had achieved. Yep. Had achieved furniture with a shop in the Kings Road, Chelsea. Bogis had achieved a considerable reputation by producing unusual items with astonishing regularity. By producing unusual items with astonishing regularity, astonishing, you know, something that that is amazing. So, all right.

43:51 So that's [sighs and gasps] a minute or a bit, you know, a bit more. And all right, guys. I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. And now it's time to for some closing remarks. So guys, if you're looking to sound more natural when speaking English, shadowing is honestly one of the best things you can do. You know just a couple of minutes a day.

44:43 Remember that guys, repeating after a skilled native speaker like Luke Thompson helps you build muscle memory, improve your listening, and boosts your confidence. And that's exactly what I've been doing with Luke's podcasts and it's made a huge difference in my own speaking, you know. So let me know in the comments if you'd like more shadowing practice you know more shadowing practice videos like this. I'd love to turn this into a full-on series. I think I'm I've already done so. I'm I'm on it actually.

45:36 And but anyway, I'd like to know your opinion. And if you found this helpful, feel free to like, subscribe, and join me on more English adventures. And thanks so much for watching. And as Luke would say, boy.