Shadowing Practice: Gabor Maté – Authenticity vs. Attachment - Learn English Speaking with Video

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When a child is born, a child has two needs.
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The first need is for attachment.
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And attachment is contact, connection, love.
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Without that, the human child does not survive.
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Any mammalian child or even an avian child doesn't survive.
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So that as soon as you get past the level of reptiles, the reptile is hatched, the mother is long gone by then,
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and the reptile infant either lives or dies dies but there's no attachment to a parenting figure.
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As soon as you get to the level of birds now, the baby bird has to have an attachment with the parents, the parents have to be attached to the baby.
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Otherwise the infant simply does not survive.
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Mammalians even more so and most so the human because we're the least developed, the least mature, with the least developed brains
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and the most dependent for the longest period of time of any creature in the universe.
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So our attachment needs are enormous, and they remain important throughout lifetime because we have to have attachments to foreign societies, social groups without which we don't survive.
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So attachment is a huge need.
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We have to connect, belong, be loved by and love.
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That's just a basic human need.
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But we have another need as well, which is for authenticity.
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Authenticity is the capacity, as I said earlier, to know what we feel, to be in touch with our bodies,
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and to be able to express who we are and manifest who we are in our activities and in our relationships.
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Now why is that?
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Well, think of a human being in evolutionary period who's not in touch with their body and their gut feelings.
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How long do they survive out there in the wild?
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So authenticity is another huge survival need.
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Great.
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So far so good.
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but what happens to a child where the attachment need is not compatible with the need for authenticity?
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In other words, if I'm authentic, my parents will reject me.
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If I feel what I feel and express what I feel and insist on my own truth,
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my parents can't handle it and parents convey those messages unconsciously all the time not
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because they mean to not because they don't leave love the child not
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because they're not trying to do their best but
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because they themselves are suppressed or traumatized or hurt or stressed
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so I convey that message many times to my children believe me without without any conscious desire to do so.
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In fact, it was the very opposite of what I wished to convey.
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But that they're not acceptable the way they are, with their emotions the way they are, that's the message my kids got when they were small.
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And most children get that in our society.
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Now what does a child do with that?
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Well, if I give up my attachment for the sake of authenticity, I lose my relationships on which my life depends.
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Therefore, there's no question.
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What becomes suppressed is our authenticity, our emotions.
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And then we become 25 and 30 or 35, 40, and we don't know who we are.
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And somebody asks us, what do you feel?
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You say, I have no idea.
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And how many times we've all had the experience of having an inkling of a strong gut feeling, but we're ignoring it, we're ignoring it and we get into trouble.
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Well, that tells us what happened.
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What happened was
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that at some point we found out it was too costly
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for our attachment relationships to be in touch with our gut feelings.
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So then it becomes not our first nature, but our second nature to suppress our feelings, to lose touch with ourselves and to suppress our gut feelings.
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And then we pay the cost later on in the form of addictions, mental illness, or any range of physical illnesses.
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But it all began with this tragic conflict that children should never be confronted with, but are all the time,
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between authenticity on the one hand and attachment on the other.
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And even as adults, so many people are suffering because They want to be themselves, but they're afraid to be because they know or at least they fear
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that if they're themselves they're going to lose important attachment relationships in their life.

Why We Hide Our True Selves: A Common Human Struggle

Imagine a child trying to balance two big needs: feeling loved and being true to themselves. This is the heart of the video, which explores how early life shapes our ability to connect with others and ourselves. It’s a scenario many of us can relate to—growing up and losing touch with our feelings because we feared losing love. This conversation isn’t just interesting; it’s a goldmine for learning English with YouTube, as it uses everyday language to discuss deep ideas.

Useful Chunks & Collocations to Remember

  • "attachment needs" – Our need to connect with others (e.g., "Human beings have strong attachment needs from birth.")
  • "gut feelings" – Instinctive emotions (e.g., "I ignored my gut feelings and made a bad choice.")
  • "suppress our emotions" – Hide how we feel (e.g., "Many people suppress their emotions to fit in.")
  • "convey a message" – Communicate an idea (e.g., "Parents often convey messages without realizing it.")
  • "pay the cost" – Suffer negative results (e.g., "If you ignore your feelings, you’ll pay the cost later.")

Your Shadowing Challenge: Speak Like a Native

Ready to practice? The shadowing technique is perfect here. Play a 30-second clip of the video, pause, and repeat it immediately—matching the tone, speed, and stress. Focus on phrases like "the very opposite of what I wished to convey" or "it was too costly for our attachment relationships." This helps you master natural rhythm and pronunciation. For extra practice, use a shadowing site to record yourself and compare. Remember, shadow speech isn’t just about copying—it’s about feeling the language. Try it now, and notice how your English sounds more fluent. You’re not just learning words; you’re learning to speak like a real person.

¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?

Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.

Técnica de shadowing: lee la guía completa paso a paso →