Shadowing-Übung: how to study less and get higher grades - Englisch Sprechen Lernen mit Video

There are two kinds of students in the world.

Here we have student A who has been studying for six hours, is on their third coffee cup, and has been highlighting their notes, re-reading the textbook, and doing flashcards all night long.

And here we have student B.

Student B has a very calm two-hour study session.

They know exactly what to review, how to review it, and barely waste any time highlighting their notes or re-reading the textbook.

Come exam day, I think you know who gets the better grade.

If you couldn't tell, it's me, by the way.

Wait, how?

I studied four times longer than you.

In this video, I'm going to teach you how to study less and get higher grades.

So I graduated as the valedictorian of my high school, and I went on to double major at MIT.

And I'm not saying that to flex.

Instead, I want to provide some context.

So back in high school, I took 11 AP classes, peaking at 5 my junior year.

And then at MIT, I decided to double major pretty late, which required me to stack up on a bunch of classes all at once.

So as you can imagine, I had to be very efficient with my studying, and the entire time I had to keep my grades up.

So my first tip is to disconnect yourself from the number of hours that you study.

As a student, it's very easy to get fixated on the amount of time you spend studying instead of how you actually study.

And I get it, right?

Because it's very hard to measure the effectiveness of a study session.

But something like the amount of time you spend is a very concrete measure, though it usually masks the true nature of the study session.

For example, let's say I study for five hours.

Now, did I spend those five hours rereading my notes and highlighting everything I possibly could?

Or did I quiz myself, pretend to teach others, and tackle my weakest concepts first?

Those two behaviors would yield drastically different results.

All right, so now that you're in the right mindset, let's move on to tip number two, read backwards.

This sounds really weird, I know, but bear with me.

This is a very valuable tip, especially if you're cramming for an exam at the last minute.

So the night before an exam, you're probably tempted to pull out your textbook and read the chapter the test is on.

But there's a problem.

The chapter is probably very long and you don't have enough time.

So what you're instead going to do is start at the end of the chapter.

You're going to start by looking at the chapter summaries and the key points and then work your way to the beginning.

And now that you're back at the start, you're still not going to read the chapter normally.

You're going to do what I like to call a first pass.

You're gonna look at all the headings, all the charts, all the bolded terms, all the colorful boxes to get a high-level understanding of what the chapter is about.

But of course, you're still missing some of the key details.

So now you're gonna do a second pass.

And no, you're still not gonna read the chapter normally.

Instead, you're gonna go section by section and read the first paragraph, skim the body paragraphs, and read the last paragraph.

So now after the second pass, you should have a decent understanding of what the chapter is about.

But if you still have time to study, now you can go back and read every single word individually.

All right, and with that, let's move on to tip number three.

Batch your tasks.

So a huge problem that a lot of students deal with and maybe even you is something called context switching.

So for example the mindset that you have

while reading something is different from the mindset you have

while writing something which is different from the mindset you have while solving math problems.

Switching from one form of thinking to another takes time.

Something I like to call the transition cost.

For example let's say you spend an hour answering some brutal calculus problems

and then you have to write an essay for your English class.

Both of those tasks require very different forms of thinking.

It's probably going to take you a good 10 to 15

minutes just to get into the groove of the essay writing process.

So to save time while studying, you have to minimize the number of transitions through a technique called batching.

And the premise of batching is very simple.

You're going to group together similar tasks and tackle them together.

So for example, instead of doing some math problems, then an English essay, then some science problems and then a history essay,

you're instead first going to do the math and science problems first together and then you're going to do the two essays.

This way you only have one mental transition instead of three.

Now I use batching all the time.

In fact, I'm using it right now.

Once I finish filming this video, I'm going to go ahead and film another one because I already have the light set up, I have the camera set up, I have the background set up.

If I were to film these videos at separate times, I would just waste time taking everything down and then putting it back up.

Oh, and I have another quick tip for batching tasks.

Once you batch your tasks, you might notice that within a batch, different tasks have different degrees of difficulty.

I always recommend that you tackle the easiest task first within any given batch.

This way, it's much easier for you to transition into that new mental state that you might need to be in.

So for example, if you batch together a bunch of writing tasks, like write an essay, work on a presentation, and write a discussion post,

you should probably do the discussion post first because that'll take the least amount of effort.

And then you can follow this up with the outline and then the essay.

Tip number four is to give yourself constraints.

Now one of the easiest ways to spend less time studying is to give yourself less time to study.

And no, I'm not being facetious.

I'm 100% serious.

So there's an old adage called Parkinson's Law that goes as follows.

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

Now this idea sounds fancy, but it's simple.

However much time you give yourself to do a task is however much time you're going to take.

For example, if you give yourself three days to work on an essay, you're going to take up the full three days.

But if you give yourself only three hours, you might be surprised to see how fast you can actually finish that essay.

So now while it's nice to space out your deadlines, you don't want to give yourself too much time to work on an assignment.

Because then you're just going to have the mental comfort of telling yourself, oh, I have hours or days or even weeks to complete this task.

And then you'll just work at a slower pace.

Now the easiest way to take advantage of Parkinson's Law is to set a timer before you start an assignment.

First ask yourself how long is this assignment going to take, then reduce that number by 10 to 20% and set your timer accordingly.

Again, you might be surprised by how fast you can actually finish that work.

So this technique is something that my AP psych teacher actually used.

At the start of the school year, he only gave us 30 minutes for each exam.

Towards the middle of the school year, he only gave us 25 minutes.

And then towards the end of the school year, he only gave us 20 minutes.

Now believe it or not, by the end of the school year, Most students were able to finish the exams even when only given 20 minutes.

I remember at the start of the school year, he told us he was going to do this and we all thought that it was nuts.

But turns out he was onto something.

DeMarco, if you're watching this, shout out to you.

You helped me learn how to take tests effectively.

All right, and my next tip is to leverage AI.

Now, one of my favorite ways to cut down on study time is to use AI tools like Grammarly, who's the sponsor of this video.

100

So many of you know Grammarly as a spelling and grammar tool, but do you know that it does way more than that?

101

Let's say you have to write an essay.

102

You're staring at the prompt but have no idea what to write about.

103

This is where Grammarly can help.

104

Just open up Grammarly and ask it to help you to brainstorm topics.

105

Then tell Grammarly what your essay is about and almost instantly it'll give you a handful of topic ideas.

106

Oh and this doesn't stop there.

107

Once you have your topic, Grammarly can also help you draft a research plan and even give you an outline.

108

Now once you have the outline you start writing your essay

109

and along the way Grammarly ensures that your writing is clear and concise.

110

It'll check for common grammar mistakes like passive voice, subject-verb disagreement, and misplaced modifiers.

111

But it'll also analyze your piece as a whole and provide suggestions for cohesion, flow, and tone.

112

In fact, with Grammarly Pro, you can indicate the exact tone you'd like to go for, whether it's personable, confident, empathetic, engaging, witty, or direct.

113

Oh, and once you're done writing, you can also use Grammarly's plagiarism detector to ensure that you can submit your essays with confidence.

114

Grammarly is a must-have for all students.

115

116

And now back to the video.

117

So tip number six is don't idle and this again comes from my AP psych teacher.

118

So while you're working through an exam

119

or doing some homework problems you are inevitably going to come across some problems that stump you.

120

And I'm not talking about problems that are just a little bit challenging.

121

I'm talking about problems that you legitimately do not know how to answer no matter how hard you try.

122

Now the best thing that you can do in this scenario is to swallow your ego and move on.

123

And this was a huge issue for me back in school.

124

If I had spent 20 or 30 minutes trying to solve a problem, I would feel terrible if I moved on without figuring out the answer.

125

But this ties into a psychological phenomenon known as the sunk cost fallacy.

126

Now if you're not familiar with the sunk cost fallacy, it is the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy

127

or course of action because they have heavily invested in it, even when it's clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.

128

In other words, just because you put a lot of time

129

and effort into solving a problem that's going nowhere does not that you need to waste even more time.

130

In most cases, you're better off tackling other problems first and then coming back to the ones that stumped you.

131

And this requires being comfortable answering things out of order.

132

So if you're doing a homework assignment, maybe you answer the last problems first and the middle ones and then make your way to the start.

133

And if you're working through an exam, the same principle holds.

134

Don't ever feel compelled to answer all of an exam's questions in order unless they build upon each other.

135

Just try to find a foothold somewhere, work off that, and then tackle everything else.

136

So tip number seven is to do mindless work first.

137

So there are two kinds of tasks.

138

You have fixed tasks and then you have variable tasks.

139

Fixed tasks are usually mindless work, like working on flashcards or trying to find images for a presentation.

140

Variable tasks usually require more mental energy.

141

For example, writing an essay or brainstorming ideas for a group project.

142

Now you should do your fixed tasks first, and here's why.

143

So this bar represents the amount of time that you have for studying.

144

If you drop in your variable tasks first, they're going to follow Parkinson's law.

145

In other words, they're going to inflate

146

and take up all of your available time and now you won't have time to fit in your fixed tasks.

147

Now fixed tasks on the other hand don't inflate like variable tasks.

148

Something like create 20 flashcards is always going to take the same concrete defined amount of time.

149

So by doing your fixed tasks first, you create a constraint for your variable tasks.

150

So when you drop them in, yes they're going to inflate again but this way you manage to fit everything.

151

So this is a concept that's much easier to understand visually

152

and shout out to my editors who I know have done an amazing job showing you how it works.

153

Oh and by the way this is a concept that I came up with and have been following for years.

154

Let me know in the comments how you feel about it

155

and if it makes sense because I'm down to craft more productivity rules

156

but I just want to make sure I don't sound like I'm crazy up here.

157

Okay and the eighth and final tip is to tag your notes.

158

So students waste a ton of time rereading notes.

159

I have wasted a ton of time rereading my notes.

160

And this is usually because in the days leading up to an exam, we don't really know what to focus on.

161

We just tell ourselves, oh my god, there's an exam coming up for unit three.

162

Time to read everything I have about unit three.

163

But the reality is within any given unit, there are topics that we know like the back of our hand and others that we're not super familiar with.

164

So if you want to spend less time studying, you have to spend less time on the topics you're already comfortable with.

165

And that's why you should tag your notes during lecture.

166

While your teacher is speaking, if they say something you're not too familiar with, just put a star or some other symbol next to the bullet point.

167

This way when it comes time to review your notes, your eyes are automatically drawn to the areas that you need to focus on.

168

Now if you forget to tag your notes during lecture, don't worry, you can also do it after class.

169

Just pull out your notes, skim them as quickly as you can, and tag any points that you're not super familiar with.

170

So that wraps up today's video.

171

Hopefully you enjoyed it.

172

And by the way, comment below to let me know how the school year is going for you so far.

173

Are you enjoying it?

174

Is it tough?

175

I would actually love to hear more from you guys.

176

And of course, if you haven't already, be sure to join the Discord, join my newsletter, and subscribe for more study tips.

📺 Gleicher Kanal

how to take notes like the top 1% of students

Business EnglishHigh School StudentsUniversity Students

✨ Empfohlenes Video

147 Sätze

Be a Topper in Everything 🔥 || Learn English Through Motivation 🔥 || Level 3 English ✅

Business EnglishHigh School StudentsUniversity Students

107 Sätze

Do This For 1 Minute When You Feel Sleepy (Buddhist Study Hack)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

102 Sätze

How to Study More Effectively | Learning English Podcast | B1/B2 English Listening Practice

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

Wortschatz und Sprechhinweise zu dieser Lektion

Diese Sprechübung auf Niveau B2 basiert auf dem Video „how to study less and get higher grades“. Diese Wörter kommen am häufigsten vor: task, essay, tip, study, Grammarly. Dieses Video enthält 176 Sätze und 2586 Wörter zum Nachsprechen. Der gesprochene Teil dauert 11:16. Der Sprecher spricht schnell, etwa 230 Wörter pro Minute – rechne mit verbundenen und verkürzten Lauten. 85 % der Wörter gehören zu den 3.000 häufigsten im Englischen; den Rest solltest du dir vor dem Üben ansehen.

Wichtiger Wortschatz in diesem Video

Die 15 anspruchsvollsten Wörter aus dem Video, mit Aussprache und Bedeutung:

Wort	Aussprache	Bedeutung
batch Substantiv	/bæt͡ʃ/	Liefermenge, Stapel
variable Adjektiv	[ˈvæɹ.i.ə.bl̩]	variabel
tackle Verb	/ˈtækəl/	in Angriff nehmen, angehen
mindset Substantiv	/ˈmaɪn(d)ˌsɛt/	Mindset, Denkweise
assignment Substantiv	/əˈsaɪn.mənt/	Zuweisung, Übertragung
flashcard Substantiv	/ˈflæʃˌkɑɹd/	Lernkarte, Lernkartei
inflate Verb	/ɪnˈfleɪt/	aufblasen
reread Verb	/ɹiːˈɹiːd/	wieder lesen, nochmals lesen
textbook Substantiv	/ˈtɛkst.bʊk/	Lehrbuch, Schulbuch
outline Substantiv	/ˈaʊtlaɪn/	Umriss, Kontur
paragraph Substantiv	/ˈpæɹəɡɹæf/	Absatz, Paragraph
mathematics Substantiv	/mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/	Mathematik
constraint Substantiv	/kənˈstɹeɪnt/	Einschränkung, Beschränkung
fallacy Substantiv	/ˈfæl.ə.si/	Täuschung
mindless Adjektiv	/maɪnd.ləs/	hirnlos

Phrasal Verbs, die du hören wirst

Wort	Aussprache	Bedeutung
set up Verb	/ˌsɛt ˈʌp/	aufbauen, für den Einsatz vorbereiten
come across Verb		wirken, vorkommen
come up with Verb		ausdenken
figure out Verb		herausfinden
go ahead Verb	/ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/	vorausgehen
go back Verb		zurückgehen, zurückfahren
open up Verb		öffnen
sign up Verb		einschreiben, anmelden

Sätze zum Wiederholen

Kurze, vollständige Sätze aus dem Video, die du im Alltag wiederverwenden kannst:

If you couldn't tell, it's me, by the way.
For example, let's say I study for five hours.
In fact, I'm using it right now.
DeMarco, if you're watching this, shout out to you.
Let's say you have to write an essay.

Grammatik in diesem Video

Die Strukturen, die der Sprecher am häufigsten verwendet, mit den genauen Worten aus dem Video:

Struktur	Im Video
Present Perfect Continuous have/has been + -ing – eine Handlung, die früher begann und noch andauert	has been studying · have been following
Present Perfect have/has + Partizip Perfekt – eine vergangene Handlung, die jetzt noch wichtig ist	have fixed · have done · have wasted

Aussprache, auf die du achten solltest

Der Sprecher verwendet 66 Kurzformen und abgeschwächte Formen, zum Beispiel you're, I'm, don't. Sprich sie in der kurzen Form, so wie du sie hörst.

Die „th“-Laute: mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, empathetic /ˌɛmpəˈθɛtɪk/, eighth /eɪtθ/
Die Laute „sh“ und „zh“: flashcard /ˈflæʃˌkɑɹd/, shout /ʃaʊt/, cohesion /kəʊˈhiː.ʒən/, facetious /fəˈsiːʃəs/, beneficial /ˌbɛn.ɪˈfɪʃ.əl/
Lange Wörter – auf die Betonung achten: mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, phenomenon /fəˈnɒm.ɪ.nən/, abandonment /əˈbæn.d(ə)n.m(ə)nt/, empathetic /ˌɛmpəˈθɛtɪk/, personable /ˈpɜɹs(ə)nəb(ə)l/

So übst du mit diesem Video

Höre dir das ganze Video einmal an, ohne zu sprechen, und notiere die Wörter, die du nicht kennst.
Beginne mit 0,75-facher Geschwindigkeit, sprich Satz für Satz nach und wechsle zur normalen Geschwindigkeit, sobald es leichtfällt.
Nimm dich auf und vergleiche mit dem Original; achte dabei auf Wörter wie batch, variable, tackle.

Was ist die Shadowing-Technik?

Shadowing ist eine wissenschaftlich fundierte Sprachlerntechnik, die ursprünglich für die professionelle Dolmetscherausbildung entwickelt und durch den Polyglotten Dr. Alexander Arguelles populär gemacht wurde. Die Methode ist einfach aber wirkungsvoll: Du hörst englisches Audio von Muttersprachlern und wiederholst es sofort laut — wie ein Schatten, der dem Sprecher mit nur 1–2 Sekunden Verzögerung folgt. Anders als passives Hören oder Grammatikübungen zwingt Shadowing dein Gehirn und deine Mundmuskulatur, gleichzeitig echte Sprachmuster zu verarbeiten und zu reproduzieren. Studien zeigen, dass es Aussprachegenauigkeit, Intonation, Rhythmus, verbundene Sprache, Hörverständnis und Sprechflüssigkeit signifikant verbessert — was es zu einer der effektivsten Methoden für die IELTS Speaking-Vorbereitung und reale englische Kommunikation macht.

Shadowing-Technik: die vollständige Schritt-für-Schritt-Anleitung lesen →

Shadowing-Übung: how to study less and get higher grades - Englisch Sprechen Lernen mit Video

how to take notes like the top 1% of students

You MUST learn time management as a student.

How to study for exams - Evidence-based revision tips

I failed all my exams, then I figured it out || Failed to Summa Cum Laude

How Chinese Students Get Into INSANE Focus That Feels ILLEGAL 🇨🇳

The FASTEST Way to Study Anything

"It's Hard Getting Good Grades" - Study Motivation

BECOME THE PERFECT STUDENT📔🎀 study tips, habits & romanticizing school

Discover Your Learning Style