Shadowing Practice: I Self-Hosted for a Year... Here's What I'd Do Differently. - Learn English Speaking with Video

Almost a year ago, I was tired of constantly paying big tech companies money every single month

and embarked on the journey of self-hosting, opening the doors to a rabbit hole that's completely changed our life.

Now, thanks to super thorough guides online, self-hosting is more accessible than ever.

You don't have to have a degree in home networking and coding and Linux and whatever else to do it.

This is my home server that's completely replaced a ton of cloud services like Apple iCloud, movie and tv streaming services

and this is our work server that's on its way to replacing google drive

when we upgrade our internet

and this other little pc has our network wide ad blocker

on it anyways we have self-hosted a lot of different services

on a bunch of different machines is it all perfect absolutely not in fact there are

so many things that i wish i had known before doing any of this

so this video is for the me pre-self hosting

but also for any of you who are interested in getting started

but are overwhelmed or nervous about where it will all lead you

but it's worth it this video is sponsored by granola

which can come in real handy when writing down notes

while setting up your server it's an ai assisted notepad

that helps you put your notes to better use by actually giving you time to take action

but more on them later in the video the first lesson is one

that i wish i could apply to every part of my life since it could save

so much time and so much money and that's the self-host things

that you actually plan on using on the daily basis it's like how steam sales go live every year

and suddenly you're buying two thousand dollars worth of games for a measly 150 bucks

and fast forward another year

and well you played one of those games all the way

through that's what self-hosting can be like there are endless things

that you can run on your server in fact the list of free self-hosted projects alone has over 1500

listings and that's just the free stuff.

Just looking at it you're probably like let's replace everything in my life.

Why not right?

Sort of feels like if you don't self-host it then you're missing out

but the truth is hosting more things just makes your system way more complicated

and your unused apps just waste precious space and hardware you could have been using for something better.

And I learned this the hard way.

I tried replacing Google Drive, Google Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Reminders, Tasks, Spotify, Netflix

but the more stuff you host the more maintenance you have

to do just pick out three to five things you use

on a regular basis all the time that's costing you money

i made a list of all my recommended self-hosting software i would install

if i started over in another video but i'll link it down below

but that leads us into the second lesson

that i wish i knew before starting self-hosting

and that's to do decently thorough research and try out different softwares

and services before committing if you take movie

and tv hosting alone there's already three obvious options

that come to mind plex jellyfin and emby They all technically do the same thing, which is host your media and present them to you in a way that looks like a streaming service.

And it's probably easy to just pick one and commit, but behind the hood, there's differences between them that might make one better than the other.

Like how everything on Jellyfin is completely free and completely off the cloud.

You control all your data, including watching habits, logging info, but you have to tinker and finagle it a bit more.

Where MB and Plex have you create an account on their servers

and charge you a bit extra to watch your content remotely while offering you a more polished experience.

So do a bit of research before spinning something up.

And even after the research, just spin up some different things to test it out.

And speaking of research, if you're someone who absolutely loves playing around with servers, or you just love switch and click videos, we are hiring for writers on our channel.

Check out the details in the description below.

It's fun.

Which leads us to the third lesson.

And that is, there are multiple ways to do the same thing beyond just using different apps.

Take accessing your services when you're outside of your local network, for example.

If you want to listen to music on your server while you're driving on the go, there are super simple ways like installing tailscale on all your devices and VPNing into your device that way.

Or you can get a bit more complicated and set up a reverse proxy with a pretty domain name.

It's not that one way is actually better than the other, but more what are you willing to do and what features you really want.

When self-hosting, you'll need to do a lot of upfront research, like watching this video.

Sometimes though, looking through haphazardly taken notes after the fact can be just as confusing as going back to the sources

and starting all over again.

Wouldn't it just be great if you could ask your notes to find what information you're looking for?

Our sponsor, Granola, does just that.

It's like a note-taking app and an LOM had a baby.

A really smart baby that gleans insights from your notes that you hadn't even noticed before.

As an AI notepad, you can search through your notes using plain language prompts like

how did I set up my Jellyfin server using Docker instead of keyword searches.

And it's not just able to search your notes, but also analyze them.

I collected a bunch of comments from you guys in one of our videos and saved them to a granola note.

Then I made a custom recipe by tweaking a pre-configured one that comes with granola.

It checked for blind spots I may have regarding the topic in the comments.

Now I can consider those for food for thought for future videos.

It's not just useful for singular notes.

Imagine you want to find all your notes pertaining to a particular topic, like a summary of my pending video ideas.

In granola, it's searching for meaning and context.

It can find all my notes on that topic and create a quick list of all my unused video ideas.

New members get 100% off their first month.

Another huge example is using Docker to spin up all your apps.

One is in the command line with flags.

Another is to use Docker Compose with a YAML file.

You can even use different apps like Portainer or Dockage

that manages all your Docker apps but in an easier and sort of fancier way.

And if this sounds like analysis paralysis, fear not, because you can always switch from one way to another.

If anything, you're learning a lot by trying out all the different ways.

And if some of this sounds super scary to you, there are lots of guides out there.

But if you're struggling a bit more than you'd like to, one of the ways I really enjoyed learning about Docker is through boot.dev.

Now, we do have an affiliate relationship with them, but they're basically gamifying the learning process of Linux, Docker, and a bunch of back-end coding programs like Python and JavaScript.

Also linked below.

But no matter which apps or services you end up committing, This next lesson is one I wish someone just yelled at me at the top of their lungs.

It will literally save your life and your server from so much headache.

And that's to write things down.

Whatever random Docker change you made to the original YAML file example you found online, write it down.

If you changed a folder or labeled something different, write it down.

There's a chance that you'll have to remake your apps and containers in the future.

100

Just save yourself some time and write yourself a personal server manual.

101

But that day will be in the very distant future so distant

102

that you have long since forgotten what weird tinkering thing you did to get your thing to work in the first place.

103

Which brings me to passwords.

104

Write down your passwords, especially if you are changing them, which you should because you shouldn't use a default one.

105

A password manager could come in handy.

106

No, I'm not jumping into a sponsorship, but that would have been smart, huh?

107

Some services come with passwords by default that you can change, but sometimes we get a bit lazy.

108

Others have certain requirements that might be different than than the one you typically use, it would just greatly help a lot to keep a log at everything for reference.

109

Speaking of things you wish you have, especially when things take a bad turn, this next lesson is one of the most important things that a lot of people understand,

110

but actually don't do themselves.

111

And that's to have a real backup.

112

You'll probably see this all the time, but RAID is not a backup.

113

RAID are just disks arranged so that you can have some redundancy in them.

114

You can have mirrors, where half your disks are just a copy of the other half.

115

You can have RAID 5 where you lose a single drive and you can still restore your data.

116

Now, I haven't had a drive fail personally, but I've heard the biggest problem with RAID is that when you make a server, you buy all the same drives from the same batch from the same factory,

117

and this makes them the same age.

118

So if you lose one drive, there's a large likelihood that another drive will go down while you're restoring it, which leads us to our backup.

119

This is where the 3-2-1 rule comes in, which stands for three copies of your data, two different media platforms, and one copy is off-site.

120

Now, looking at this, you're probably thinking, I can't afford that.

121

And in these trying times, you might be right.

122

Storage costs a lot.

123

It's really precious.

124

And if you only host the services you actually use, you can save a bunch of space.

125

Say you have two servers, each with two 4TB drives that are mirrored.

126

If it's about 150 per 4TB, you're looking at $600 worth of drives, along with whatever old laptop or computer you plan on using as the brain of your server.

127

That would come out to be $1,000 for your main server, your backup server, and potentially an online long-term solution using something like Amazon Glacier,

128

which lets you backup a lot of data for pretty cheap.

129

But the catch is you can't access it often since it's long-term cold storage.

130

But nevertheless, even with only four terabytes of usable data, that's a lot of movies, images, music, and shows.

131

And when you're done with something, just get rid of it.

132

Storage is precious.

133

Don't hoard media for the sake of it.

134

Keep what matters.

135

If you don't want to store much media, then even a one terabyte old laptop can make a great server.

136

Now the cost is relatively low.

137

So the question would be, what are you wanting to do with your server?

138

And is the data important enough you would need a backup for it because

139

if it is then you'll have to consider the cost of

140

the backup too speaking of expensive things there's more you have

141

to spend than just your hard-earned cash money this is something i've learned throughout the past year and it's

142

that a server takes a lot of time time to set

143

up tinker update maintain at times it might be the only thing on your mind especially

144

if you're working on an all-consuming problem like why is my

145

new album not showing on my jellyfin The initial setup takes time to format your hard drive, spin up your apps.

146

Then you have to take time out of your day to troubleshoot if something goes wrong.

147

And chances are, something will go wrong.

148

Even with the most in-depth guides and tutorials, there's going to be very specific things that happen to you because of your laptop or internet or network or whatever.

149

Then you have to read a ton of forum posts and try all the potential solutions.

150

It's not something I recommend if you're a super busy person, especially if you just want to go home from work, turn on a movie right away.

151

I've had situations where I do just that and suddenly the NAS isn't connecting properly or the reverse proxy is broken.

152

Now I just have to go into the pipeline and see where the things broke.

153

One time, I swear, everything was fine.

154

But the ISP just changed our public IP address, which broke the proxy.

155

And I had no idea.

156

There's no tech support.

157

It's just you.

158

This is even more painful when you have family members relying on you for your media.

159

Yes, I'm talking to myself.

160

You know it's tough when you can't get Bluey to work and your kid's screaming at you.

161

Anyways, it's not as bad as it seems.

162

Self-hosting is super fun, and the best part is you can literally get started on any hardware.

163

If it's a tiny Raspberry Pi from ages ago, they're a little expensive now, so it's not worth it.

164

Or a super old Dell Optiplex you found on eBay.

165

You can find old laptops, use PCs, whatever, for super cheap online, and they can be your initial home lab.

166

You can use these more affordable devices as stepping stones to learn and gain experience.

167

And when you feel like you really need an upgrade, then you can do that.

168

And you definitely don't need a ton of storage right away.

169

Just one terabyte can get you started self-hosting plenty of services and store quite a bit of media too.

170

So if you've been interested in self-hosting and you still want to do it after knowing all these lessons, try it out.

171

We've made a ton of videos self-hosting different things on different computers.

172

And it's super fun and it is a worthwhile rabbit hole to go down.

173

So get out there.

174

Enjoy self-hosting.

175

Peace out.

176

I hope you've been taking notes on self-hosting because it's a big topic.

177

And remember, if you want an AI notepad which works with you like a partner, check out Granola.

178

179

New members get 100% off their first month.

✨ Recomendar Video

76 oraciones

Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Esta lección de conversación de nivel B2 se basa en el vídeo “I Self-Hosted for a Year... Here's What I'd Do Differently”. Las palabras que más se repiten: server, self, hosting, note, drive. Este vídeo tiene 179 frases y 2506 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 11:37. El hablante habla rápido, unas 216 palabras por minuto, así que espera sonidos enlazados y reducidos. El 84 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés; conviene repasar el resto antes de empezar.

Vocabulario clave de este vídeo

Las 15 palabras más avanzadas del vídeo, con su pronunciación y significado:

Palabra	Pronunciación	Significado
granola sustantivo	/ɡɹəˈnoʊlə/	granola
password sustantivo	/ˈpæs.wɜɹd/	contraseña, santo y seña
notepad sustantivo		bloc/block/pad de notas, libreta
proxy sustantivo	/ˈpɹɑk.si/	apoderado, podatario
unused adjetivo	/ʌnˈjuzd/	inusitado, inusado
thorough adjetivo	/ˈθʌɹoʊ/	detallista, esmerado
disk sustantivo	/dɪsk/	disco
sponsor sustantivo	/ˈspɒn.səː/	patrocinador, patrocinadora
rabbit sustantivo	/ˈɹæbɪt/	conejo, conejil
install verbo	/ɪnˈstɔl/	instalar
restore verbo	/ɹɪˈstoɹ/	restablecer
blocker sustantivo	/ˈblɑkɚ/	bloqueador, bloqueadora
configure verbo	/kənˈfɪɡə(ɹ)/	configurar
embark verbo	/ɪmˈbɑɹk/	embarcarse
finagle verbo	/fɪˈneɪ.ɡəl/	hacer trampas, trufar

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

Palabra	Significado
check out verbo	investigar, chequear
get off verbo	bajarse
sign up verbo	inscribir, alistar
try out verbo	probar, ensayar
write down verbo	apuntar, anotar
end up verbo	terminar, ir a parar
get out verbo	salir
miss out verbo	perdérsela

Gramática en este vídeo

Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:

Estructura	En el vídeo
Oraciones condicionales if + oración, will/would + verbo — una condición y su resultado	if it is then you'll have
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — una acción que empezó antes y continúa	have been using · you've been taking
Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora	I've heard · i've learned · you've been interested
Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace	are overwhelmed · is sponsored · are mirrored

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

El hablante usa 45 contracciones y formas reducidas, como you're, don't, you'll. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.

Los sonidos de “th”: thorough /ˈθʌɹoʊ/, worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/
Palabras largas — cuida el acento: haphazardly /hæpˈhæzɚdli/, paralysis /pəˈɹæləsəs/, redundancy /ɹɪˈdʌndən(t)si/, affiliate /əˈfɪl.i.eɪt/, technically /ˈtɛk.nɪˌkəl.i/

Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:

s + consonante al inicio — sin añadir una “e” delante: sponsor /ˈspɒn.səː/, scream /skɹiːm/
/z/ — sonora, no /s/: unused /ʌnˈjuzd/, anyways /ˈɛn.iˌweɪz/, haphazardly /hæpˈhæzɚdli/, measly /ˈmizli/, usable /ˈjuː.zə.bəl/
/h/ — una aspiración suave, no la “j”: haphazardly /hæpˈhæzɚdli/, likelihood /ˈlaɪklihʊd/, headache /ˈhɛdeɪk/

Cómo practicar con este vídeo

Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
Empieza a velocidad 0,75×, haz shadowing frase por frase y vuelve a la velocidad normal cuando te resulte fácil.
Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como granola, password, notepad.

¿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 →

Shadowing Practice: I Self-Hosted for a Year... Here's What I'd Do Differently. - Learn English Speaking with Video

10 very promising Open Source Projects you haven’t heard of

What is VPS ? (2026) EXPLAINED in 5 minutes!

How to start over - resetting your life and routine from scratch

I built my dream podcast studio in Austin.

7-day free trial of semi retirement

Piracy is COMPLETELY justified: Louis tries NetFlix & remembers why

My Entire Job Search Process: Software Engineer Resume & Interviews

I Rebuilt My Entire Website in Astro… Was It Worth It?

my low-consumption habits & tips

Self-Help: What Went Wrong?

This Turns Your Expertise Into a YEAR of Binge-able YouTube Videos

I MADE $15B WITH CHAT GPT