Pratique du Shadowing: How to Stop Caring What Others Think | Jennie’s English Podcast | English & Chill with Jennie - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube
B2
Hi, my dear friends.
282 phrases
Si les phrases sont trop courtes ou trop longues, cliquez sur Edit pour les ajuster.
1
Hi, my dear friends.
2
It's Jenny here.
3
Before anything else, thank you for being here.
4
Thank you for listening, supporting the channel, and continuing this English and mindset journey with me.
5
Every comment, every message, and every person who chooses to spend a few minutes here means more than you know.
6
Today, while scrolling through my phone, I came across an old photo I hadn't seen in years.
7
It wasn't a special event.
8
No birthday, no big achievement, no life-changing moment.
9
Just an ordinary day captured without much thought.
10
And yet, looking at it now, it felt strangely precious.
11
Maybe that's one of the surprising things about time.
12
The moments we think are ordinary often become the ones we miss the most.
13
A familiar place, a conversation, a version of ourselves that didn't know how quickly life would move forward.
14
It made me think about how differently we see things once enough time has passed.
15
And that reminded me of something.
16
A few years ago, I was walking through a busy shopping mall when something slightly embarrassing happened.
17
I tripped.
18
Not dramatically.
19
Just enough to lose my balance for a second.
20
Immediately, I felt my face get warm.
21
You know that feeling.
22
That instant thought.
23
Everyone saw that.
24
For the next few minutes, I felt uncomfortable.
25
Then something interesting happened.
26
I started looking around.
27
Nobody seemed to care.
28
People were checking their phones, talking to friends, thinking about where they were going.
29
And within a few minutes, I realized something.
30
Most people were far too busy living their own lives to spend much time thinking about mine.
31
That lesson stayed with me, because I think many of us go through life carrying an invisible audience in our heads.
32
An audience that is constantly watching, judging, evaluating, criticizing.
33
At least that's what it feels like.
34
Let me ask you something.
35
How many decisions have you delayed because you were worried about what other people might think?
36
Maybe speaking English in public.
37
Maybe posting something online.
38
Maybe changing careers.
39
Maybe simply being yourself.
40
I think almost everyone has experienced this.
41
The fear of judgment is incredibly human.
42
We want acceptance.
43
We want belonging.
44
We want people to like us.
45
There's nothing wrong with that.
46
The problem begins when the desire for approval becomes stronger than the desire to live authentically,
47
because then other people's opinions start controlling your choices.
48
And often those opinions aren't even real.
49
They're imagined.
50
What's interesting is that other people are usually thinking about themselves far more than they're thinking about us.
51
They're worried about their appearance, their problems, their mistakes, their future, their relationships.
52
In other words, they're doing exactly what we're doing.
53
Thinking about their own lives.
54
I've noticed this whenever I talk to groups of people.
55
Many assume everyone is paying close attention to them.
56
Yet almost everyone in the room is secretly wondering how they themselves are being perceived.
57
It's almost funny when you think about it.
58
A room full of people worrying about being judged by people who are busy worrying about being judged themselves.
59
The older I get, the more I realize
60
that the spotlight we imagine is usually much brighter than the spotlight that actually exists.
61
Most people are not studying your mistakes.
62
Most people are not analyzing your every decision.
63
And even if they notice something, they usually move on much faster than you think.
64
Because they have their own lives to return to.
65
Maybe that's where freedom begins.
66
Not by becoming fearless, not by making everyone approve of you,
67
but by realizing that the audience you're worried about is much smaller than you imagined.
68
Because honestly, most people are spending far less time thinking about you than you think.
69
And that might be one of the most liberating truths you'll ever discover.
70
A man once told me something interesting.
71
He said that for most of his life, he had two versions of himself.
72
The first version was the person everyone knew.
73
Polite, agreeable, easy to get along with.
74
The second version was the person he actually was.
75
The one with different opinions, different dreams, different preferences.
76
And over time, he realized something painful.
77
The gap between those two versions kept getting bigger.
78
The more he tried to please everyone, the less he recognized himself.
79
I think a lot of people can relate to that.
80
Maybe not in dramatic ways, but in small, everyday moments.
81
Saying yes when you want to say no, pretending to agree when you don't, choosing what feels acceptable instead of what feels authentic.
82
At first, those decisions seem harmless.
83
They're small, temporary, easy to justify.
84
But over the years, they add up.
85
And little by little, you begin building a life around other people's expectations instead of your own values.
86
That's where the need for approval becomes dangerous.
87
Not because approval itself is bad.
88
Everyone likes being appreciated.
89
Everyone enjoys being accepted.
90
The problem begins when approval becomes a requirement, when you need it before taking action.
91
Need it before speaking honestly.
92
Need it before being yourself.
93
As then, your happiness becomes dependent on something you cannot control.
94
Other people's opinions.
95
And opinions are unpredictable.
96
One person will admire your decision.
97
Another will criticize it.
98
One person will support your dream.
99
Another will think it's unrealistic.
100
One person will understand you.
101
Another won't.
102
That's simply how life works.
103
What's strange is that many people spend years trying to win a game that cannot be won.
104
Universal approval does not exist.
105
Think about it.
106
Even the most respected people in the world have critics.
107
Even kind people get misunderstood.
108
Even successful people get judged.
109
If they cannot avoid criticism, neither can we.
110
The older I get, the more I realize something simple.
111
are not judging you from an objective place.
112
They're judging through the lens of their own experiences, their own fears, their own beliefs, their own expectations.
113
Which means their opinion often says as much about them as it does about you.
114
That's an important thing to remember, because once you understand that,
115
criticism becomes less frightening, not meaningless, just less powerful.
116
There is a huge difference.
117
You can listen to feedback without being controlled by it.
118
You can learn from others without needing their permission.
119
You can respect opinions without surrendering your identity.
120
And maybe that's what maturity looks like.
121
Not becoming immune to criticism, not pretending you don't care,
122
but learning that your life cannot be directed by the fear of disappointing people.
123
Because if you spend your entire life trying to keep everyone happy, eventually you'll discover that one person keeps getting neglected.
124
You.
125
And that's a very high price to pay for approval.
126
The goal is not to make everyone understand your choices.
127
The goal is to understand them yourself.
128
Because the moment you stop needing constant approval, something unexpected happens.
129
You breathe a little easier.
130
You speak a little more honestly.
131
You live a little more freely.
132
And that's where confidence quietly begins.
133
One of my friends spent nearly a year thinking about leaving a job she no longer enjoyed.
134
From the outside, everything looked fine.
135
Good salary.
136
Stable position.
137
Respectable career.
138
The kind of job many people would be happy to have.
139
But every time we talked, she seemed tired.
140
Not physically, emotionally.
141
She kept saying the same thing.
142
I don't know what I should do.
143
At first, that sounded reasonable.
144
Big decisions take time.
145
But after a while, I noticed something.
146
The problem wasn't that she didn't know what she wanted.
147
The problem was that she didn't trust herself enough to choose it.
148
She kept collecting opinions.
149
One person told her to stay.
150
Another told her to leave.
151
A third person told her to wait.
152
A fourth person had a completely different suggestion.
153
And the more advice she received, the more confused she became.
154
Eventually she laughed and said something I'll never forget.
155
I've listened to so many voices that I can't hear my own anymore.
156
I think many people live this way, not only with careers, with relationships,
157
dreams, life decisions, even small everyday choices.
158
We're constantly looking around to see what other people think first.
159
Is this okay?
160
Is this smart?
161
Is this normal?
162
Will people approve?
163
And while advice can be helpful, there comes a point when too much outside validation creates a new problem.
164
You stop developing trust in yourself.
165
What's interesting is that confidence is often misunderstood.
166
Many people think confident people always know exactly what to do.
167
But that hasn't been my experience.
168
Most confident people are simply willing to make a decision without having perfect certainty.
169
They trust themselves enough to figure things out along the way.
170
That's very different.
171
Because life rarely provides guarantees.
172
You won't always know whether a choice is perfect.
173
You won't always know how people will react.
174
You won't always know the outcome before you begin.
175
At some point, you have to move forward anyway.
176
The strange thing is that self-trust grows the same way muscles grow.
177
By using it.
178
Not by waiting for it.
179
Every time you make a decision and handle the consequences, you become a little stronger.
180
Every time you solve a problem, you become a little more capable.
181
Every time you survive a mistake, you realize you're more resilient than you thought.
182
And slowly, something changes.
183
You stop asking, what if I fail?
184
And start asking, if I fail, can I handle it?
185
That's a much more powerful question.
186
Because most people already have evidence that they can.
187
You've survived difficult days before.
188
You've adapted before.
189
You've learned before.
190
You've recovered before.
191
The older I get, the more I realize that confidence isn't built from being right all the time.
192
It's built from discovering that being wrong isn't the end of the world.
193
You learn, adjust, continue.
194
And maybe that's why caring less about what other people think begins with trusting yourself more.
195
Not because you'll never need advice.
196
Not because you'll never make mistakes.
197
but because you finally realize something important.
198
The person who has to live your life is you.
199
And your voice deserves a seat at the table, too.
200
A few years ago, I came across an idea that stayed with me.
201
It was surprisingly simple.
202
You can control your actions.
203
You can control your attitude.
204
You can control your decisions.
205
But you cannot control what people think about them.
206
At first, that sounds obvious.
207
But think about how much energy people spend trying to do exactly that.
208
Trying to manage impressions.
209
Trying to avoid criticism.
210
Trying to make sure everyone understands.
211
Trying to make sure everyone agrees.
212
And honestly, it's exhausting.
213
Because the truth is, people will have opinions no matter what you do.
214
If you take a risk, some people will say you're reckless.
215
If you play it safe, some people will say you're afraid.
216
If you're ambitious, some will say you're obsessed with success.
217
If you're content, others will say you're not aiming high enough.
218
It's almost funny when you see it clearly.
219
The same decision can be praised by one person and criticized by another.
220
So whose opinion should you live for?
221
That's the question.
222
I think many people assume freedom comes from finally reaching a point where nobody judges them.
223
But that day never arrives.
224
There will always be opinions.
225
Always.
226
The real freedom comes from something else.
227
Letting people have them.
228
Without allowing those opinions to control your life.
229
I remember sitting in a park one afternoon and watching people walk by.
230
Hundreds of people.
231
Different ages.
232
Different styles.
233
Different personalities.
234
Some looked confident.
235
Some looked uncertain.
236
Some were laughing.
237
Some seemed lost in thought.
238
And it struck me that every single person was living inside their own story,
239
their own fears, their own dreams, their own struggles.
240
Most of them probably weren't thinking about me at all.
241
And even if a few were, their thoughts would disappear within minutes.
242
Yet so many of us build our lives around avoiding temporary judgments from people who are busy living their own lives.
243
That's a heavy burden to carry.
244
The older I get, the more I appreciate a quieter kind of confidence.
245
Not the confidence that says, everyone must agree with me.
246
But the confidence that says, they're allowed to disagree.
247
That's different.
248
And strangely, it's much more peaceful.
249
Because once you stop trying to control other people's opinions, you get your energy back.
250
You stop performing.
251
You stop explaining every decision.
252
You stop seeking permission to be yourself.
253
And that creates space.
254
Space to grow.
255
Space to make mistakes.
256
Space to live more honestly.
257
Maybe that's the lesson I hope you take from today's episode.
258
People will think what they think.
259
Some will understand your path.
260
Some won't.
261
Some will support you.
262
Some won't.
263
And life goes on.
264
Your responsibility is not to manage every opinion.
265
Your responsibility is to live a life that feels true to you.
266
Thank you so much for spending this time with me today.
267
I ho.
268
P this episode helped you practice your English, learn a few useful expressions, and maybe feel a little lighter about the opinions you've been carrying.
269
If you enjoy these podcasts and want more episodes like this, I'd really appreciate it if you subscribed to the channel.
270
It helps this community continue growing and I'd love for you to be part of it.
271
And before you go, here's one final question.
272
What would you do differently this week if you worried just a little less about what other people think?
273
This is Jenny.
274
Take care of you.
275
Ourself.
276
Keep learning.
277
Keep growing.
278
And remember, your life becomes much more peaceful
279
when you stop trying to control other people's thoughts and start focusing on your own.
280
I'll talk to you again very soon.
281
Bye-bye.
282
Thank you.
Télécharger l'application
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice your English speaking skills by exploring the theme of self-acceptance and the fear of judgment. Guided by Jennie's reflections, you will improve your understanding of how to speak freely without being hindered by what others think. This exercise not only focuses on enhancing your vocabulary and pronunciation but also encourages you to adopt a more confident attitude in your English speaking practice. Through Jennie’s storytelling, you’ll learn to distinguish genuine thoughts from imagined perceptions that often hold us back.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Precious - something that is very valuable or important.
- Embarrassing - causing someone to feel awkward or self-conscious.
- Invisible audience - a perceived group of people that we think are watching or judging us.
- Authentically - being true to oneself; genuine.
- Acceptance - the process of being received as adequate or suitable.
- Belonging - the feeling of being accepted as a member of a group.
- Judgment - the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions.
- Worrying - feeling anxious or concerned about something.
Practice Tips
To make the most out of this lesson, use the shadowing technique. Start by listening to Jennie's podcast calmly, focusing on her tone and pace. Since the video has a thoughtful and reflective tone, aim to emulate her delivery as you repeat her sentences. Don’t worry if you find it challenging at first; this is a natural part of the shadow speak process.
Begin on a slower playback speed if necessary, then gradually increase the speed as you become more comfortable. As you practice, pay close attention to her pronunciation and intonation. This will help you develop a natural rhythm and improve your fluency, which is crucial for IELTS speaking practice. Use walls or mirrors to practice speaking aloud, helping you visualize and internalize your speech. Consistent practice will empower you to express yourself more freely, enabling you to feel confident speaking English without the weight of judgment from an imagined audience.
Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?
Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.
☕ Offrez-nous un café
ShadowingEnglish reste 100% gratuit grâce à votre soutien. Les coûts des serveurs et de l'IA sont élevés — votre café nous aide à continuer ! 🙏