Shadowing Matt Cutts

• Level: B1
• Accent: American
• Length: 3 min · 45 lines to practise
• Speed: about 159 words a minute (an average pace)
• Words: about 480
• Timing: Sada measures how far behind the speaker you are on every line

What to focus on in this talk

Short, everyday sentences — a good first full talk. “Stuck in a rut” links into one phrase (stuck-in-a-rut), and “try something new for 30 days” is worth saying until it flows. Numbers like “30 days” come up again and again, so you get lots of practice with “thirty” (THIR-tee).

What this talk trains

Matt Cutts speaks for about 3 minutes: roughly 480 words in 45 caption lines. The pace eases off as the talk goes on, from about 185 words a minute in the first quarter to 150 in the last. Overall it is faster than 31 of the other 66 talks on Sada. Phrases that fast speech often shortens come up again and again: “have to” (2 times).

Lines from across the talk, and what each one trains

One line from each quarter of the talk. Press a line to open it in Sada, ready to record. “Linking” marks words that run together: a word ending in a consonant sound joins the vowel that starts the next one.

1. 0:49 challenges the first was instead of the months flying by forgotten

   Linking: say “was instead”, “instead of” without a break between the words.

2. 1:12 I went from desk dwelling computer nerd to the kind of guy who bikes to work

   “kind of”: fast speech often shortens it to “kinda”. Listen for whether the speaker does here. One of the quicker lines: about 203 words a minute by the caption timing, against 159 for the whole talk.

3. 1:50 it turns out all you have to do is write 1667

   “have to”: fast speech often shortens it to “hafta” when a verb follows. Listen for whether the speaker does here. Linking: say “turns out”, “out all” without a break between the words.

4. 2:33 so here's one last thing I'd like to mention I learned that when I made small

   Linking: say “thing I'd”, “mention I”, “when I” without a break between the words. One of the quicker lines: about 221 words a minute by the caption timing, against 159 for the whole talk.

Words that keep coming up

Words outside the 3,000 most common English words that Matt Cutts uses more than once. The number is how often each is said. Look up any you don’t know, then press it to practise the line where it first comes up.

• novel ×4
• habit ×2
• stick ×2

How the pace changes through the talk

The fastest minute starts at 0:16 (about 179 words a minute): practise that minute once the rest feels easy. The slowest starts at 2:06 (about 146): a good minute to warm up with.

Measured from the caption timing, so the numbers are close, not exact.

How the talk opens: press any line to practise it

1. 0:16 a few years ago I felt like I was stuck in a rut
2. 0:20 so I decided to follow in the footsteps of the Great American philosopher Morgan Spurlock and try something new for 30 days
3. 0:28 the idea is actually pretty simple think about something you've always wanted to add to your life and try it for the next 30 days
4. 0:37 it turns out 30 days is just about the right amount of time to add a new habit
5. 0:41 or subtract a habit like watching the news from your life
6. 0:46 there's a few things that I learned while doing these 30-day

How to practise this talk

1. Warm up on the slowest minute (from 2:06) or on the opening lines above.
2. Then take the chosen lines above one at a time: linked words, a shortened phrase, a quick line.
3. On each line, press Record and say it after Matt Cutts (Repeat) or along with them (Shadow), then open Compare and go again until every word is green.
4. Save the fastest minute (from 0:16, about 179 words a minute) for last.
5. At one minute a day you finish the whole talk in about 3 days, and Sada shows your first try against your latest.

More talks to practise

• Bill Gates — Teachers Need Real Feedback (B1 · 151 words a minute · same level)
• Chris Lonsdale — How to Learn Any Language in Six Months (B1 · 168 words a minute · same level)
• Arthur Benjamin — Lightning Calculation and Other “Mathemagic” (B1–B2 · 155 words a minute · same accent)
• Bill Gates — Innovating to Zero! (B1–B2 · 163 words a minute · same accent)

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