Pratique du Shadowing: You're a Good Listener, But Not a Good Responder | Easy English Podcast Conversation in Daily Life - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo

Hello everyone, and welcome back to 30 Minute English Podcast.

I am so happy you are here with us today.

My name is Rose, and I am joined, as always, by my wonderful co-host, Caleb.

Before we start today's episode, I want to ask you something very honest, something that I think many of you will recognize immediately.

Have you ever been in a conversation in English where you understood every single word the other person said.

You understood the question.

You understood the meaning.

You even knew the answer in your heart.

But when it was your turn to speak, something happened.

Your mind went completely quiet.

Your mouth would not open.

And you just smiled and nodded and hoped the moment would pass.

Oh, Rose, just hearing you describe that feeling made my heart feel something.

Because that feeling, that horrible, frozen, silent moment, is one of the most common and most painful experiences for English learners everywhere.

You are not stupid.

You are not bad at English.

You are not hopeless.

You are simply someone whose listening has grown faster than you're responding.

And today, we are going to talk about exactly that.

Today's episode is called, You Are a Good Listener, But Not a Good Responder.

And I want to say something important right at the very beginning.

If this title made you stop, if this title made you think, oh, that is me, then please know that you are in exactly the right place today.

This episode was made for you, with care, with understanding, and with real practical help that you can use today.

I also want to say something from my heart before we begin.

Learning a language is one of the most vulnerable and courageous things a human being can do.

When you speak a language that is not your own, you are showing people a version of yourself that is still growing, still learning, still finding its voice.

That takes real bravery.

And the fact that you keep trying, even when you freeze, even when the words do not come, even when the silence feels too long,

that bravery is something to be deeply proud of.

So, today, Caleb and I are going to explore why this happens, what it feels like, what you can do about it,

and how you can start training your brain to respond more naturally and more confidently in English conversations.

We will share real stories, real strategies, real practice moments, and real phrases you can use immediately.

Are you ready?

Let's do this together.

Let's start by understanding why this happens.

Because understanding the reason behind a problem is always the first step to solving it.

Caleb, when you think about why English learners can listen well but struggle to respond, what do you think is the main reason?

I think there are actually several reasons, Rose, and they all work together to create that frozen feeling.

The first and biggest reason is something called processing time.

When you listen to English, your brain is working very hard.

It is hearing the sounds, recognizing the words, understanding the grammar, connecting the meaning, all at the same time.

For native speakers, this happens automatically and almost instantly.

But for language learners, this process takes a little longer.

And by the time your brain has finished processing what was said, the moment to respond has already arrived.

and your brain is still catching up.

That is such an important point,

Caleb, and I think many listeners will recognize that feeling of still processing the question while already being expected to answer.

It's like trying to read a book and write an essay at the same time.

Your brain can only do so much at once, and when the pressure of responding is added on top of the pressure of understanding, it can feel completely overwhelming.

The second reason is what I call response panic.

This is when you understand the question perfectly.

You actually know what you want to say.

But the moment you realize it's your turn to speak, something in your body reacts with fear.

Your heart beats faster, your breathing changes, your mind suddenly feels empty, and the words that were right there just a moment ago seem to completely disappear.

Response panic is so real and so painful.

And I think the emotional part of this is something we do not talk about enough.

Because it's not just about language.

It's about fear.

Fear of being judged.

Fear of making a mistake in front of someone.

Fear of sounding stupid or childish or less intelligent than you actually are.

And that fear, that very human

and very understandable fear can shut down your ability to speak faster than any grammar problem ever could.

Exactly, Rose.

And here's something I want every listener to hear very clearly.

The fear you feel when you try to respond in English is not a sign of weakness.

It's a sign of how much you care.

You care about communicating well.

You care about being understood.

You care about making a good impression.

That caring is actually beautiful, but we need to find a way to let it help you instead of stop you.

The third reason is that listening and responding use very different parts of your brain.

Listening is a receptive skill.

It means receiving information.

You are taking something in.

Responding is a productive skill.

It means creating something.

You are making something new.

A sentence, an idea, an answer, and sending it out into the world.

These two skills develop at different speeds for different people.

And for many English learners, listening develops much faster because you get much more listening practice every day than speaking practice.

Think about it this way, listeners.

How many hours a day do you spend listening to English?

Maybe you listen to music, podcasts, movies, television.

Maybe you listen to your colleagues or classmates.

That's a lot of listening practice every single day.

But how many hours a day do you actually spend responding in English.

For many people, not very many.

And that imbalance is exactly why your listening is strong and your responding feels weak.

And here's the emotional truth of this.

It's not your fault.

You did not do anything wrong.

You learned English in a way that gave you more listening than speaking, more receiving than creating.

And now your brain is like a beautiful library full of English books that you have read and understood.

But you haven't yet had enough practice writing your own book.

Today, we start writing that book, one response at a time.

One response at a time.

I love that, Rose.

Now, let's talk about what this actually feels like in real life, because I think putting words to this experience will help our listeners feel less alone.

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Let's talk about real freeze moments, those specific situations where the listening goes perfectly, but the responding completely falls apart.

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Caleb, tell us about a real freeze moment you have experienced.

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Oh, Rose, I have so many.

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But let me share one that still makes me cringe a little when I think about it.

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One time I was at work and a colleague came up to me and said very casually, Hey Caleb, do you have a minute?

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I want to run something by you.

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Now that sentence is so simple.

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I understood every word.

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Do you have a minute means are you free right now?

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Run something by you means share an idea with you.

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Simple, clear.

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I understood it completely.

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But for some reason, my brain chose that exact moment to go completely offline.

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I stood there for what felt like a very long time and then said, Yes, the minute, yes.

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Yes, the minute, yes?

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Caleb, what does that even mean?

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It means absolutely nothing, Rose.

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It means my brain grabbed three random words and threw them at my colleague, hoping something would stick.

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My colleague looked at me with the kindest and most confused expression and said, Okay, great.

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And I spent the rest of that day feeling embarrassed and wishing I could go back in time.

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Oh, Caleb, that story is so painfully relatable, and I want our listeners to hear something important in that story.

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Caleb understood the question perfectly.

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He is intelligent, he is capable, he knew exactly what his colleague meant.

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But in that moment of pressure, the words came out broken and confused, not because of his English level, but because of the freeze,

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the panic, the pressure of the moment.

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Exactly.

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And now let me hear your freeze moment, Rose.

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I know you have one.

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I have many, Caleb, but the one I remember most clearly happened at a coffee shop.

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The barista, the person who makes the coffee, handed me my drink and said very warmly, enjoy your coffee, have a great day.

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Now, that is such a simple, friendly thing to say.

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The normal response is simply, thank you, you too.

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Four words, that is all.

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Four words.

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But in that moment, my brain decided to be creative, and what came out of my mouth was, Thank you.

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You enjoy it, too.

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You told the barista to enjoy your coffee, Rose.

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I told the barista to enjoy my coffee, Caleb.

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The coffee that I was holding in my hands, that I had just paid for, I told him to enjoy it.

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And then I walked away very quickly without looking back, and I sat at my table and held my coffee and thought, Why?

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Why did I say that?

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Why does my brain do this to me?

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Rose, that is the most beautifully human English mistake I have ever heard.

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And you know what?

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I think that story will make every single listener feel so much better about their own freeze moments, because if Rose, who speaks English so beautifully and so naturally,

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can tell a barista to enjoy her coffee, then every frozen response, every backwards sentence,

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every nodding and smiling moment is just part of being a language learner.

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It is normal.

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It is human.

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It is okay.

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It is so okay.

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And I want to say something emotional here, because I think it needs to be said.

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There are people listening to this episode right now who have spent years feeling ashamed of their freeze moments.

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Years of going home after a conversation and replaying every wrong word, every awkward silence, every moment where the English did not come out right,

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and feeling like something was wrong with them, like they were not good enough, like they would never be able to speak properly.

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And to those people, I want to say please hear this.

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Nothing is wrong with you.

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You are not broken.

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You are not behind.

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You are a person who is doing something incredibly difficult, communicating across languages, across cultures, across everything that separates us.

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And you are doing it with courage every single day.

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Every freeze moment, every mistake, every awkward silence is proof that you are trying.

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And trying is everything.

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Trying is everything.

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Now let's talk about what to do, because understanding the problem and feeling seen is important.

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But you also deserve real tools, real strategies, real phrases that will help you respond better starting today.

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The first and most immediately useful strategy for better responding is learning how to buy time.

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Buying time means using specific phrases

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that give your brain a few extra seconds to think and find the right words while keeping the conversation flowing naturally.

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Native English speakers do this all the time.

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It is completely normal and completely natural.

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This is such an important strategy, Rose, because one of the biggest problems with freeze moments is

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that the silence feels so long and so uncomfortable that we panic even more.

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But if you have a phrase ready, a simple, automatic response that comes out while your brain catches up, the silence disappears.

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The conversation keeps moving, and you have the time you need to find your real answer.

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Let me teach you the most useful time-buying phrases in English.

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Phrase 1, that's a great question.

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Let me think about that for a moment.

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This phrase is wonderful because it's positive, it's polite, and it gives you a natural pause.

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Phrase 2, hmm, let me see.

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This is very casual and very natural.

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Native speakers say this all the time.

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Phrase 3, that's interesting.

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I haven't thought about it that way before.

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This phrase buys you time and makes you sound thoughtful and engaged.

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Phrase 4, could you give me just a moment?

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I want to make sure I answer properly.

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This is honest and respectful and any reasonable person will appreciate it.

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Phrase 5, so if I understand you correctly, you're asking about, this phrase is brilliant because it does two things at once.

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It buys you time and it confirms you understood the question correctly.

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Phrase 6, well, to be honest, this little phrase at the beginning of a sentence gives your brain a natural moment to find the next words.

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Phrase 7, I'm not completely sure, but I think… This is honest and real.

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It removes the pressure of having to be perfectly right.

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And phrase 8, what a good point.

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I would say, this acknowledges what the other person said, and then smoothly leads into your response.

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These phrases are like little bridges, Caleb.

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When your brain needs to cross from listening to responding, these phrases are the bridge that carries you safely across.

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Instead of falling into the silence, you step onto the bridge and walk calmly to the other side.

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I love that image, Rose.

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Phrases as bridges.

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Let's practice these together, listeners.

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I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to respond using one of our time-buying phrases.

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Don't worry about answering the question perfectly.

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Just practice using the phrase first.

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Ready?

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Ready, Caleb.

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And listeners, please say these out loud.

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Not in your head.

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Out loud.

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Your voice needs to practice these phrases so they become automatic.

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Question 1.

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What do you think is the most important quality in a good friend?

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Say out loud now.

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That is a great question.

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Let me think about that for a moment.

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Say it.

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Go ahead.

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Feel how natural it sounds.

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That is a great question.

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Let me think about that for a moment.

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Now add your real answer, even just one sentence.

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Maybe I think kindness is the most important quality, or I believe loyalty is very important in friendship.

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Just one sentence after the time-buying phrase.

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Question 2.

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What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

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Say out loud, hmm, let me see, and then add one sentence.

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Maybe I really enjoy listening to music, or I love taking walks in the evening.

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Let me see, and then your sentence.

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Go ahead, say it out loud.

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How did that feel, listeners?

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Did you notice how the time-buying phrase made the response feel more comfortable and more natural?

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That little phrase at the beginning gives your brain just enough time to find the words, and it makes you sound thoughtful and confident, not frozen and panicked.

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Practice these phrases every day until they come out automatically, until they are the first thing that comes out of your mouth when you need a moment to think.

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Now, let's talk about something very important.

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Response training.

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This is the practice of training your brain to respond quickly and naturally to common everyday English questions and situations.

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The reason many people freeze when responding is simply that they have not practiced responding enough.

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Their brain has not built the automatic pathways for producing English responses under pressure.

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Think of it like this.

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When you first learned to ride a bicycle, you had to think about every single movement.

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Balance, pedaling, steering, braking.

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Every action required conscious thought and effort.

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But after enough practice, riding a bicycle became automatic.

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You do not think about it anymore.

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Your body just does it.

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Responding in English works exactly the same way.

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With enough practice, your responses become automatic, natural, effortless.

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And the beautiful thing about response training is that you can do it completely alone.

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You do not need a conversation partner, you do not need a class or a teacher, you just need yourself, your voice, and a little time every day.

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Here's how it works.

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Every day, practice responding out loud to common everyday English questions and situations.

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Speak your response immediately without pausing to translate in your head.

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Even if the response is simple, even if it is imperfect, the goal is speed and naturalness, not perfection.

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Let me give you some of the most common everyday English situations that you should practice responding to every day.

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Situation 1.

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Someone says, Good morning, how are you?

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You respond immediately, I am doing well, thank you, how about you?

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Or Pretty good, thanks, it's a beautiful morning, isn't it?

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Practice this until it comes out without thinking.

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Situation 2.

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Someone says, I love your bag.

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Where did you get it?

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You respond, Oh, thank you so much.

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I got it at a little shop near my home.

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Or, That is so kind of you.

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I've had it for a while.

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I love it too.

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Practice this kind of casual, social response until it feels completely natural.

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Situation 3.

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Someone asks, What did you do this weekend?

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You respond, It was really nice, actually.

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I spent time at home and relaxed.

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Or, I went for a long walk and it was lovely.

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Or, Nothing too exciting, but it was peaceful and I enjoyed it.

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These kinds of personal sharing responses are ones you'll need again and again in daily English conversations.

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Situation 4.

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Someone says, I'm not sure I agree with that.

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What What do you think?

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This is a more challenging response situation, because it requires you to share an opinion.

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You can say, That is interesting.

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I can see your point, though personally, I feel that.

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Or I understand what you mean.

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I think differently, but I can see why you feel that way.

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These phrases let you disagree respectfully and naturally.

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And situation five.

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shares bad news and says, I've had such a difficult week.

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You respond with empathy.

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Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.

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That sounds really hard.

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Is there anything I can do?

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Or, that sounds exhausting.

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I hope things get easier for you soon.

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These emotional response phrases are so important, because real conversations are not just about information, they're about human connection.

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And that brings me to something I want to say from the heart.

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Sometimes the most important English response is not a clever sentence or a perfect grammar structure.

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Sometimes the most important response is simply, I understand, or that sounds hard, or I'm here.

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These simple human responses, full of warmth and empathy, are some of the most powerful responses in any language.

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And they're easy to say.

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They are always the right thing to say, and they will always make the person in front of you feel heard and valued.

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Rose, that is so beautifully said.

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Language is ultimately about connection, about reaching out to another human being and saying, I see you, I hear you, I'm here with you.

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And even imperfect English, English full of mistakes and pauses and time-buying phrases can do that, can create that connection.

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Because connection comes from the heart, not from perfect grammar.

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Now, let's do a full practice conversation.

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Caleb will speak to me, and I will respond naturally using everything we have learned today.

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Then we'll invite our listeners to try.

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Hey, Rose.

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I feel like I haven't seen you in ages.

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How have you been?

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Oh, Caleb.

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I know it has been a while.

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Hmm, let me see.

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I've been pretty good, actually.

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A little busy, but good.

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How about you?

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How have you been?

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I've been okay.

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Honestly, a bit tired lately.

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Work has been quite intense.

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Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

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That sounds really exhausting.

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Is everything okay?

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Yes, I think so.

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Just a busy season.

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Hey, did you do anything fun recently?

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That's a great question, actually.

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I went for a long walk last Sunday, and it was so lovely.

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I really needed it.

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Do you ever do that?

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Just walk somewhere with no destination?

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I love that.

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Yes, sometimes.

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It's so good for the mind.

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Did you notice, listeners, how I used the time-buying phrases naturally?

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Hmm, let me see.

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That's a great question, actually.

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And how I responded with empathy when Caleb mentioned feeling tired.

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Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

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That sounds really exhausting.

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These responses kept the conversation warm and natural and flowing.

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Now you try.

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I'll say something to you and I want you to respond out loud.

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Ready?

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Hey, how has your day been so far?

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Go ahead, listeners.

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Respond right now, out loud.

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Use a time-buying phrase if you need it, say, hmm, let me see, it has been pretty good actually, or, that's a good question,

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it has been quite busy but nice.

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Whatever feels natural to you, just open your mouth and respond.

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Right now.

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You can do it.

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Before we get to your homework, I want to talk about something that I believe is the most important shift of all.

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And it is not a grammar shift or a vocabulary shift.

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It It is an emotional shift.

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It is a change in how you see yourself as an English speaker.

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Tell us, Rose, because I think this is something that every listener needs to hear.

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So many English learners, and I mean so many, see themselves as bad English speakers.

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They have an image of themselves in their mind as someone who freezes, someone who makes mistakes, someone who cannot respond properly.

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And every time they have a difficult moment in English, every freeze, every wrong word, every awkward silence, that image gets stronger.

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And they think, see, I knew it.

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I am bad at this.

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I will never be good at this.

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And that story, that painful story they tell themselves becomes self-fulfilling prophecy.

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Because when you believe you cannot respond well, your body and your brain believe it too, and they prove you right every single time.

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But here is the shift.

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Here is the change that makes everything different.

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What if instead of seeing yourself as a bad responder, you started seeing yourself as a developing responder?

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What if instead of saying, I freeze when I speak English, you started saying, I am learning to respond faster every day.

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What if instead of, I am bad at this, you started saying, I am getting better at this every single day,

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one response at a time?

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That shift sounds small.

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It sounds like just changing a few words.

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But it's not small at all.

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It's everything.

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Because the story you tell yourself about your English is the story your English will follow.

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Tell yourself you cannot do it, and you will find it very hard to do it.

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Tell yourself you're growing, you're improving, you're getting better, and slowly, gently, beautifully, you will be.

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And I want to say one more thing, one more honest and emotional thing.

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The people who become confident English speakers are not the people who were naturally talented.

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They are not the people who never made mistakes, or never froze, or never felt embarrassed.

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They are the people who kept going.

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Who froze and tried again.

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Who said the wrong thing and tried again.

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Who felt embarrassed and tried again.

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That persistence, that quiet, stubborn, beautiful persistence, is what builds a confident English speaker.

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Not talent.

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Not intelligence.

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Persistence.

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Keep going.

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That's all.

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Just keep going.

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And now, listeners, it is time for your homework, your special end task for today.

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Are you ready, Caleb?

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So ready, Rose.

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Tell us.

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Your homework has three parts.

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Part 1.

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Tonight, write down three situations where you froze or struggled to respond in English.

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Maybe it was at work, at a shop, with a friend, or on the phone.

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Write what the person said, write what you wanted to say, and write what you actually said.

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This exercise helps you understand your personal freeze patterns, and prepares your brain for next time.

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Part 2.

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Choose three of the time-buying phrases from today's episode, write them in your notebook, then practice saying them out loud 10 times each,

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not 5 times, 10 times, until they feel completely automatic, until they live in your mouth and come out without thinking.

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These phrases are your bridge.

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Build that bridge until it is strong.

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Part 3.

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Tomorrow, have one real English conversation with someone.

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Anyone.

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A family member, a neighbor, a shopkeeper, a colleague.

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And when it's your turn to respond, do not freeze in silence.

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Use one of your time-buying phrases.

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Buy yourself that moment.

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And then respond.

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Even imperfectly.

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Even nervously.

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Even with shaking hands and a beating heart.

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Respond.

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Because every response, no matter how imperfect, is a step forward.

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And every step forward is something to be genuinely proud of.

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beautiful homework, Rose.

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Listeners, please try all three parts.

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And please remember, you do not need to be perfect.

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You do not need to respond like a native speaker.

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You just need to respond.

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Open your mouth, use your phrases, say your sentence, and keep going.

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Thank you so much to every single person who listened to today's episode.

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If you recognized yourself in today's conversation, if you thought, yes, that's me, then please Please know that you are seen,

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you are understood, you are not alone, and you are more capable than you know.

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You are a good listener, and you are becoming a better responder every single day.

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We are so proud of you.

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Please like this episode, subscribe to 30 Minute English Podcast, and share it with someone who needs to hear this today.

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Someone who freezes.

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Someone who smiles and nods.

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Someone who understands everything but responds with silence.

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Share it with them.

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It might change something for them today.

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Goodbye, everyone.

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Stay brave.

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Stay kind.

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Keep responding.

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And remember, your English is enough to start, your heart is enough to connect, and your courage is enough to keep going.

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See you in the next episode!

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Bye-bye, everyone.

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And remember, next time someone asks you a question in English, take a breath and say, that's a great question.

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Let me think about that for a moment.

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You've got this.

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Good night!

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.

Pratique du Shadowing: You're a Good Listener, But Not a Good Responder | Easy English Podcast Conversation in Daily Life - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo

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Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?