Shadowing Practice: SCARED BUT STARTING // EP 01 - 1:1 with TRACEY - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hello, hello.

Welcome back to my channel and this is the one on one podcast.

I don't know.

It's a lot of emotions in this room right now and in my heart.

And I've been doing this intro for the past 30 minutes and I just don't know what to, how to cope and what to say, to be honest.

But anyways, let's start with hello.

let's do a quick background check i would say um

so i created this youtube channel

when i was in 10th grade freshman in high school for

those who don't know the vietnamese you know education system um i created this

because i wanted to become a beauty blogger

and i think for us you know people were born in like 90 95

or 1996 till like 2005 who are like completely in

that era where YouTube was such like super popular it's prime time

and I guess we wanted to become a beauty blocker

or kind of a YouTuber one way or another at some point in our lives And for me, I was really passionate about it.

I wanted to actually to become like a makeup artist, but then I also wanted to start somewhere.

And, you know, I saw people unboxing PR packages and I was like, if I get, if I got really popular on YouTube and people start sending me stuff,

I can curate it and, you know, slowly become a makeup artist.

So that was, well, more than like 10 years ago.

I guess coming back here at this stage of my life, I guess it's very interesting and it's funny how live works, you know.

I would assume that nobody knows, but maybe some already knew that I used to be a brand manager at Unilever.

So I am a marketer and I just recently quit my job

and pursuing something very different or I guess same same

but a lot more than I used to do just as

a corporate girly going to work from nine to five and everything

and recently I also like now completely like moved out I

have my own space I I don't know such a chaotic time in my life

but of course I choose this anyways welcome to the first episode of my podcast

and I'm going to named it one -on -one I think.

We'll figure this out

and the reason why we're still figuring this out is I have to tell you

that this is not the first time I sit down and film this episode.

I had done this probably four times.

I watched it back and I was like, what are you doing?

Like, what are you talking about?

Like, what's your point?

You know?

And I was like, oh, the lighting is not great.

Or why you stumble on your words?

Why your pronunciation is weird?

And then I realized actually, and that's what I wanted to talk about at this first episode is,

you know, the, the art of starting something new, or I guess the messiness of it all.

So I, when I was a tiny little baby, I used to model and I also,

So this is very fun.

I used to play a role in a very big movie, actually.

So like my career wise in terms of acting and modeling was like skyrocketed until my dad would be like, no, you need to focus on studying.

And that is the first change.

And then I was struggling finding what and who I am at school after like being,

you know, on the road for the most part of my first and second grade.

And then, yeah, and then going to secondary school, I was completely invisible because I was struggling a lot.

Like, I don't know what I'm good at.

I wasn't the kid who was like super smart and have very high score and everything, not really.

And then from secondary school to high school, I said before, I became visible to people rather than invisible

and that is another change that I that I have lived through I guess

and then being known for my English

and being a lot like like an extroverted kind of a

person I start doing a lot more activities my third change was

when I moved my entire life from Hanoi to Saigon to attend RMIT University.

And that is.. definitely something that builds not only a lot of my characters but also a lot of traumatic experience.

Nobody hurts me.

No, no. It's just a lot of like self -discovery in a sense and that's the third and a very big one.

And then internship like when I start working is another big change as well

and then moving from my first company to Unilever is another

hefty duty change I guess this is the second biggest change in my life I would have to say

and now I quit and then I start doing content I wanted to do a podcast

and I wanted to do freelance marketing I guess I want to do everything all at once

when I was kind of like new to most of everything I wanted to do.

I have to tell you the story when, well, I hosted numbers of event in my career,

I would say, and all those events, I'm always the one who building the concept,

bringing it to life, inviting people to come like a very professional brand event.

And when people come, they'll be like, oh, you're the brand team.

And they would say hi very nicely.

And of course, I'm so used to be the host, right?

And recently, actually, like about a month ago, I joined an event as a KOL, I would say.

When I walked in, I felt so small.

Because now when I started as a content creator, I wouldn't say that I started as zero,

but definitely is not where I would have been if I'm still a brand manager.

And it's giving, starting all over, it's giving, you're nobody, it's giving,

you know, feeling a lot smaller than I would love to feel or use how I used to feel.

I feel very overwhelmed.

And at the same time, when you work at a corporation and then you're

so familiar with being perfectionist and having the whole team to now being completely alone is definitely a big challenge for me.

I think that I will be far away from creating anything close to perfect

because I need to accept the fact that I'm starting.

I'm a newbie.

So when I started this podcast, it got me thinking about the first year of me working at Unilever.

Dude, I cried for the whole entire year.

When I moved to Unilever, I used to work at an advertising agency.

So it's like more communication and advertising.

So moving into a marketing role is for me, especially, I have to learn everything else.

So communication and advertising is like one part of marketing.

It's the promotion P technically.

And you have to learn the other piece, the product, the pricing, the business side of everything.

And then, you know, bringing all those pieces together.

So I have to learn everything else.

And the first year at Unilever, I would have to tell you, I cried.

I cried every day.

I feel like I cried because I don't know what I don't know.

100

I cried because I came into a meeting not knowing what to say.

101

I cried because I felt like an outsider for most of the, you know, most of the time.

102

I cried because I was just, I guess I was blaming myself not knowing all of this, but I wasn't taught because at Unilever,

103

I mean, sorry, not Unilever, at RMIT, I majored in advertising.

104

So it's not something that I've chosen beforehand.

105

So I wasn't trained to do all of this, but I was blaming myself for not learning it fast enough.

106

But at the same time, I lose this one focal point about the fact

107

that I need to accept that I don't know

108

and then start accepting that you have to take time to learn and adapt.

109

And obviously I knew wholeheartedly choosing to go to Unilever at that time is me.

110

learning everything from scratch, especially I have to learn and perform at the same time.

111

So I didn't give myself the patience that I needed.

112

And if I realized it a lot earlier,

113

I think I would have just had a better start.

114

Thinking about that and all the pain that I've went through at the time, torturing myself, not nobody torturing me.

115

My moon is Virgo.

116

So I expect a lot from myself.

117

Reflecting on that into this new journey that I chose for myself.

118

Yes, I don't like the lighting.

119

Yes, probably I can have three camera angles so I can cut it a little bit more smoothly.

120

I can have somebody come in and help me

121

or I can probably write a script or whatever the fuck I think I can do to make this more perfect.

122

It's not going to be perfect and I need to accept that.

123

I need to accept

124

that probably 10 episodes from now I look back I'm like oh my god I should move my shoulder more.

125

I should like I don't talk like that in real life I'm a lot more chill and a lot more like energized.

126

These moments, like you're supposed to be good in English and now you cannot find a word.

127

Why you even start the podcast in the first place?

128

Things like that.

129

But I would be happy, I think, that at least I started it.

130

And because I started it and I have the first episode,

131

I'll have the second episode Then I have a third episode And then the fourth,

132

the fifth And then of course I trust myself

133

that I have the work ethic And then I have the ability Like adaptability

134

and flexibility And resilience to learn and be better That's why I decided again Okay, you know what?

135

Let's do the This is my fifth take, I think

136

and I'm going to post it even

137

if it's not going to be the best episode or

138

if you watch this

139

and you'll be like what is the point of her talking

140

the whole point of this video is for me to tell

141

me like having this is like also my one -on -one as well that just breathe

142

and we'll get there and i guess for the people who starting a journey

143

or starting over let's do this together let's give ourselves the patience

144

and also the grace and the kindness that oh okay you're starting

145

so it will take time for you to get used to it

146

and just trust that you have the work ethic

147

and you have the adaptability to make anything better if you're 20

148

or 21 you're a first jobber watching this video I want you to also understand

149

that like where you start whatever this situation can be,

150

know that and trust that you will milk it.

151

It's either a lesson or a blessing in disguise.

152

Like that's dead simple.

153

So just kind of do it for the plot, actually.

154

Just go apply for that job.

155

Like not everybody who applied or get into Unilever at a very young age will success or guaranteed success.

156

Because I didn't start at Unilever, actually.

157

I started as an intern at a very local advertising agency.

158

Now, if I said the name, you'd be like, who? Where?

159

Yeah, but I did work for that company for like a year and a half.

160

And it built the confidence in me so much that actually when I was accepted to Unilever,

161

I had like my ego was higher than Btexco.

162

I really needed that.

163

It gave me experience.

164

It gave me a point of view

165

and it gave me such I would say more than putting a company name

166

that is very well known on my CV because I actually did the work.

167

My start wasn't polished.

168

Thinking that I can just switch to marketing just like

169

that without any knowledge in my head I didn't even know how to use Excel like deadass nope I was nobody,

170

but I tried my best and I've learned and best believed I milked every second,

171

every opportunity that I can to learn something from it.

172

I guess it like I'm starting over as well

173

and we all going to start over at some point in our life

174

and I need to say this for myself

175

and I will say it also for you if this resonates to you

176

that let us make the beginning stage more fun and enjoyable knowing

177

that we will end up where we're supposed to

178

and stop stressing out about it just fucking do it you know Nike is a big brand

179

because their freaking tagline hits every time.

180

Resonate with all cultures, all walks of life.

181

So we just need to just do it and give ourselves the patience,

182

the time, the grace, and the kindness that we need to also then accept that we're new,

183

not stupid, just new.

184

Talking about the idea of starting and how it freaks me out and me being a perfectionist

185

just makes me feel a lot less stressed.

186

Dude, I was so confused.

187

I dyed my hair red.

188

The moment I sat down on that chair and then re -dyed my hair back to black,

189

I know I'm back with who I am and I know

190

that I'm gonna do this as who I am

191

and no matter how fucking scared I am or not happy

192

or whatever the feeling that I'm feeling

193

that I cannot really name I'm doing this shit I know

194

that I'm going to do it and I will do it I never thought now thinking about it, hair, the changes in hair,

195

like the decision in changing hairstyles definitely reflect a lot about your mental stage.

196

I'm a lot more stable now and I'm a lot more relaxed.

197

And I guess it's the right content for me to talk about,

198

especially starting something and talk about beginning is definitely hits for me right now at this moment.

199

But anyways, I just wanted to keep it natural.

200

And I wanted to be, and I wanted to show you who I actually am off camera.

201

Like literally, because I don't know.

202

I'm at a stage where I love where I am

203

and who I am and who I have become

204

or found as a person that I love her so much

205

so I just I guess the biggest stress about it is just like

206

when you put on it you know a camera

207

and then you have everything like everything is very well equipped

208

and you said action it's really hard to keep everything

209

so natural acting is easy being natural is hard yeah you know when they do like shortcuts on TikTok,

210

yeah, I'm not a one -liner kind of person.

211

I'm not catchy like that.

212

Or maybe when I start sitting down and like talking to the camera, I just feel like I rambled because of the last four times.

213

Dude, I don't even know what I was talking about.

214

And I was like, maybe I shouldn't do this.

215

And do you know what I was?

216

I was doubting myself so hard.

217

I was like, who even care about what I have to say?

218

Like, I am nobody.

219

I was like, but that's kind of true.

220

Anyways, what else?

221

What else can I say?

222

I wanted to really truly from the bottom of my heart, add some value into the space.

223

The vision here is not about being well known.

224

The vision here is to be worth knowing to for sure 100%.

225

This podcast is going to be a place and a space where I talk about the things that are worth talking about.

226

It's going to be fun.

227

It's going to be deep.

228

It's going to be, I don't know, sad.

229

It's going to be emotional.

230

It's going to be a lot of things.

231

I'm very much excited for more one -on -ones with you guys.

232

So thank you so much for having this conversation with me and endures my confusion,

233

a lot of self -doubt and very pointless episode.

234

But we all start somewhere.

235

So have fun starting something.

236

Okay.

237

Bye everyone.

238

It has been nice.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing Practice: SCARED BUT STARTING // EP 01 - 1:1 with TRACEY - Learn English Speaking with Video

Who Will Love This Video for English Practice?

Words & Idioms to Add to Your Toolkit

Nailing the Accent & Flow with Shadowing

What is the Shadowing Technique?