15-minute shadowing practice for English pronunciation | Breaking Bad

Are you ready to practice your intonation, pronunciation, and rhythm using the show Breaking Bad?

Who are you talking to right now?

Who are you talking to right now? I definitely am. Today you are going to channel your inner actor and you're going to practice shadowing with me with the show Breaking Bad. We're going to shadow a scene scene between Walter and Skyler when Skyler asks Walter to go to the police and confess everything, and he tells her that she has no idea what she's talking about. And then he says the famous line, "I am the one who knocks." I am the one who knocks. Shadowing is one of the most effective techniques to practice your expressive flow of English pronunciation and even grammar and vocabulary. In a good shadowing practice, we repeat a speaker either by echoing them, so they speak and you speak on top of them, or by playing a line and pausing, which is what we're going to do, paying attention to one or two specific things. In our case today, we are going to focus on pitch and rhythm. Pitch and rhythm. These elements are a part of prosody, which is everything about the human speech that is not the specific sounds that you use, and it incredibly important to communicate a clear message, your attitude towards things, feelings, and just a clear message. And you will see how that plays out in this scene. If you're new to my channel, then hello, my name is Hadar Shemesh. I'm a non-native speaker of English, and I am here to help you speak English with clarity, with confidence, and with freedom. If you like this concept of pronunciation and prosody and you want to dive deeper, I invite you to sign up for my free masterclass where you can actually learn the core elements of speech that are going to help you speak like a confident, clear, and expressive speaker. It's absolutely free. It's only 1 hour, and it's really going to help you identify your key challenges and help you create a clear plan for you to improve. So if you love this video, you're going to love this masterclass, and the link is in the description below. Let's first listen to the full scene. Walt, please, let's both of us stop trying to justify this whole thing and admit you're in danger.

Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears. It ceases to exist without me. No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks.

Okay. So now I want you to summon up your inner actor and the angry, vicious part that may not be in you, but now we'll need to bring it up to be able to imitate this scene. Let's get started with the first line. Now remember, today we're focusing on pitch and rhythm. Pitch is the Frequency of your voice. It's the note that you're playing with your voice while speaking. You can speak in high pitch or low pitch. High, low. High frequency, low frequency. And usually when people speak, we actually kind of like travel across all different notes, going up the stairs and going down the stairs. And usually words that are stressed are higher in pitch. And also we want to focus on rhythm, and that is when words are stressed, they are usually a little longer, and when words are less important, they go by faster and they're going to be softer. This is what I want you to focus on in this little speech because you'll see how that plays out when he talks. So let's listen to the first line. Pay close attention to the pitch, the music of his voice.

Who are you talking to right now?

Who are you talking to right now? Who are you talking to right now? Let's play it again.

Who are you talking to right now?

Who are you talking to right now? Every word, or even every syllable, gets a different note. Da, da, da. And I want you to notice that the word that has the highest pitch is the word that is most stressed. Who are you talking to right now? Who do you think you are? Right? That's the attitude. Who are you talking to right now? Right? Something about the pitch, the intonation, and the quality of his voice means that there is something not genuine about it. He's a little condescending.

Who is it you think you see?

Who is it you think you see? So really try to kind of like surrender to playing music with your voice while speaking. Who is it you think you see? Who is it you think you see? Let's listen to him in slow motion.

Who is it you think you see?

Now say it. Now really try to go from, who is it you think you see? You might be saying it on the same note, and now we're trying to open it up. Who is it you think you see?

Do you know how much I make a year?

Do you know how much I make a year? Okay, so we have a lot of peaks here. Do you know how much I make a year? Much, make, year. And of course, we have the no at the beginning. No, much, make, year, right? Even though we might not pay attention to those small words, they're less important, they're there, we understand the message. Do you know how much I make a year? Try it. Good.

I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it.

I mean, I mean, I mean, that phrase is very common in American English, and the way it's said is usually the same, flat. I mean, pitch is up, stays up in the air because something else is coming up. I mean, even if I told you, 'Even if I told you,' right? That is also a very common pattern of intonation. 'Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it.' 'Even if I told you,' 'even if I told you.' Say it with me. 'Even if I told you,' we're reducing a lot of words here. 'Even told,' 'even told,' 'even if I told you,' 'even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it.' Wouldn't believe. 'Even told, wouldn't believe.' 'Even told wouldn't believe.' Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. So the stressed words are higher in pitch and a little longer, and everything else comes together and becomes smaller and softer. By the way, if you want to learn more about intonation, pitch, rhythm, stress, connected speech, and phrasing, and how all of that is designed to serve the meaning and make you sound more expressive, make sure you sign up for my free masterclass, and you're going to learn all the things you usually don't learn in school. Let's play it one more time.

I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it.

Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Let's continue.

Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work?

Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work. So here the pitch is not that varied, even though we do hear some variation there. Do you know what would happen, right, when people ask questions? You have that pitch lift at the beginning. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? Okay, so I'm going to play it again, you're going to say it again. Pay close attention to the stressed words Okay, so that you'll be able to use length and a little bit of pitch to emphasize them.

Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up.

A business. So notice how he articulates every single sound here. When people want to explain something to other people, Usually when they're a little angry or frustrated or they want to make a point, then all of a sudden the consonants become very strong. A business big enough that it couldn't be listed on the NASDAQ. So again, a business— do it with me— big enough that it could be listed, that it could be, that it could be, that it could be, that it could be listed on the NASDAQ. On the stock market, on the NASDAQ, goes belly up. Goes belly up. Belly up is fails or disappears. Okay, it's like a very informal idiom. Let's listen to it again. I'm going to play it, you're going to repeat it.

A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up.

And let's continue.

Disappears.

Disappears. One word, three syllables, three notes. Disappears. Disappears. This proves my point that in English, every syllable has a different note, slightly higher or slightly lower than the previous one. You either go up the stairs or go down the stairs. But the peak of the stairs, at the peak, you have the words that you want to stress. You have the words that you want to stress. See what I did here? Let's continue.

It ceases to exist without me.

It ceases to exist without me. It ceases to exist without me. So here, let's focus on length. Ceases exist without. It ceases to exist without me. I'm going to play it and then you're going to repeat it.

It ceases to exist without me.

Now you. Good. Let's continue. The pressure, the tension.

No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in.

No, no, you clearly don't know who you're talking to. So English is legato. Usually you connect words together, everything flows together, but then when something is very abrupt or you want to spell it out in a way, then you go staccato. Now, as a side note, I want to tell you that a lot of times non-native speakers of English might actually switch to speaking in a more staccato quality because they want to separate the words so they sound clearer. In fact, that makes them sound less clear. So just so you know, connecting words together is a good thing, but sometimes separating them or almost separating them or emphasizing every single word is a way to convey something, especially when you're really kind of like passionate or even angry, um, in regards to what you want to say. So let's listen to it again and then chat away.

No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in.

So, you clearly don't know who you're talking to. Do it with me. You clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. Let me share with you some inside information. Let me tell you the secret that you probably don't know, but I know. Let me clue you in. Clue you in.

I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger.

I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. You can add that raspy quality to your voice. I am not. I'm not going to do it because I don't want to ruin my voice, but if you feel comfortable doing it, you can. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am not in danger, Skyler. Again, every syllable we hear a different note. I am not in danger. I am the danger. Usually when you have a phrase that starts with I am, you would emphasize the I. I'm the danger. But he wants to put emphasis on the fact, on him being the danger. So he stresses am. I am the danger. I'm gonna play it again and then have you repeat it one more time.

I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger.

Now you. Good.

A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me?

A guy opens his door A guy opens his door. We drop the H so we can connect it. A guy opens his door. Here he goes a little faster. He connects all the words together. And gets shot. And gets shot. And, and small. And gets shot. And you think that of me? A guy opens his door and gets shot. And you think that of me? A little faster. A guy opens his door and gets shot. And you think that of me? Let's play it one more time and then you.

A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me?

Now you. Good. And one last line.

No, I am the one who knocks.

No, no, certain. Abrupt. No. I am the one who knocks. I am, again, M, M, M. I am the one who knocks. Okay, it's kind of like he raises his pitch and drops it. I am the one who knocks. Good. Now let's try it again from beginning to the end. I'm going to play it line by line. And you will repeat it now that you know everything. So get into character and let's get started.

Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears. It ceases to exist without me. No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No, I am the one who knocks.

All right. Very good. You did a great job. Now I need you to kind of like burn sage or something to remove all that negative energy out of you. And after that, you can go and shadow Barbie and the White Lotus. Write below all the links to other shadowing exercises or Wednesday, or you can find them below and kind of like do something a little lighter. So I hope you learned something about pitch and about rhythm and how they can help you communicate a message, and that you found it valuable just to play with your voice and your intention. And if you have a specific scene from a movie or a TV show that you'd like me to shadow, let me know in the comments. Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the week, and I'll see you next week in the next video. Bye!