Shadowing Practice: 2025 Was A Weird Year - Learn English Speaking with Video

Good morning, good morning.

It is currently the 30th of December, 2025. And...

I woke up with this thought that I think I don't know, I think a lot of people can agree with me on this.

which is that 2025 was a really weird year.

I don't think I've ever been a part of a year where there were so many twists and turns, plot twists left and right.

I mean we all go through different lives but I feel the main theme of this year has been kind of completion, I guess, for a lot of people.

It reflects with numerology, it reflects with the zodiacs and all of those other things, but that aside, when I talk to people throughout this year,

it feels like we're all kind of going through the same recurring themes.

At least for me this year, I have learned how to I don't know if I can say let go yet, but ease off of the control.

of my own life because listen, I don't think I can plan anything anymore.

I'm just going to take it as it comes, but still keep my direction, you know what I mean?

I had been in situations this year where I had been

planning next steps with a person and immediately that person is taken out of my life.

Poof.

Gone.

All this being said, I actually had a really good year

I guess because I went with the punches or however else you say it,

I ended up finding myself in a lot of unexpected situations as well that were so worth it. So...

You know.

balance.

And for me this year, I got lucky.

my balance scale definitely tips into the lucky side.

I think it's so important to practice discernment in your life.

And when I say discernment, I don't mean in a way of trying to block everybody off.

You know what I mean?

When I say discernment, Discernment only happens after you yourself know what you want and nobody can actually tell you what you want.

Because here's the thing about humans, we're actually kind of a mess.

And so even when someone tells us to do something, even if we do it, there's this gnawing feeling that sits inside of us.

that kind of knows it's not aligned.

And I know that over years and years and years of not listening to that little voice, it gets quieter, I guess but it doesn't really go away.

So I've kind of been approaching life more of identifying what that little voice even means, and then going off of that

more so than outside noise events can happen events can shift

and honestly depending on context depending on person like everything is

its own singular situation there's no overarching rules to anything but that little voice that's a subconscious version of you

that learn through all the things that you've been through, all the things that you've thought, and somehow turns it into a little gut feeling, you know?

I just think people need to trust themselves more.

And This year?

This year I feel like the universe forced it on all of us.

Everybody had to trust themselves more, okay?

It was the wild west out here.

So a couple years ago, back in 2024, I started having a motto for myself for each year.

And at the beginning of 2024, it was, "Tahong Kyeol."

Okay, now that's Vietnamese but the loose translation or at least my translation of it is I'll fucking play.

But, Guess what happened?

I got played all year.

No, seriously, people were trying me left and right.

It was ridiculous.

And so for 2025, last year, my motto was Fuck it, we ball.

And we kind of did, honestly.

yeah yeah yeah it wasn't a bad year at all.

And so for 2026 I've already decided my motto My motto for 2026 will be "Send it to space." Now,

I don't really exactly know what that means.

And I think that that's kind of the fun in it this year.

I don't know, something about...

Speaking it into existence.

Space might be a little weird, you know, but we'll see how it plays out this year.

I am grateful for this year, I am thankful for this year, while also happy that it is over.

which is what I think a lot of us feel about the year 2025.

The year of the brain were online for real.

Anyway, if you're still here, sitting and listening to me yap.

I hope you have a good day and I hope you have a

good 2026 and that you're ringing in the new year with your loved ones and yeah Bye!

I'll see you next time.

Thank you.

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Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Deze spreekles op niveau B1 is gebaseerd op de video “2025 Was A Weird Year”. Deze woorden komen het vaakst terug: discernment, motto, guess, voice, situation. Deze video bevat 64 zinnen en 793 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 4:51. De spreker praat in een natuurlijk tempo van ongeveer 164 woorden per minuut, dicht bij een alledaags gesprek. 85% van de woorden hoort bij de 3.000 meest gebruikte Engelse woorden; de rest kun je beter vooraf bekijken.

Belangrijke woorden in deze video

De 9 moeilijkste woorden uit de video, met uitspraak en betekenis:

Woord	Uitspraak	Betekenis
discernment zelfstandig naamwoord		onderscheidingsvermogen
motto zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈmɑ.toʊ/	motto, wapenspreuk
depend werkwoord	/dɪˈpɛnd/	afhangen
zodiac zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈzoʊ.diˌæk/	dierenriem, Zodiak
singular bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ˈsɪŋ.ɡjə.lɚ/	enig, enige
thankful bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ˈθæŋkfəl/	dankbaar
completion zelfstandig naamwoord	/kəmˈpliː.ʃən/	vervollediging, afronding
unexpected bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ʌnɪkˈspɛktɪd/	onverwacht
punch zelfstandig naamwoord	/pʌnt͡ʃ/	stomp

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

Woord	Betekenis
end up werkwoord	belanden, terechtkomen
go away werkwoord	weggaan

Zinnen om te herhalen

Korte, volledige zinnen uit de video die je in alledaagse gesprekken kunt gebruiken:

You know what I mean?
I don't really exactly know what that means.
I don't know, something about...
I'll see you next time.

Grammatica in deze video

De structuren die de spreker het meest gebruikt, met de exacte woorden uit de video:

Structuur	In de video
Present perfect have/has + voltooid deelwoord — iets uit het verleden dat nu nog telt	I've ever been · has been · have learned
Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doet	is taken · being said
Toekomst met “will” will + werkwoord — een besluit, belofte of voorspelling	will be · we'll see · I'll see
Verplichting: must / have to / need to zeggen dat iets nodig is	need to trust · had to trust

Uitspraak om op te letten

De spreker gebruikt 22 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals don't, I've, I'll. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.

De klanken “sh” en “zh”: subconscious /sʌbˈkɑn.ʃəs/, completion /kəmˈpliː.ʃən/
Lange woorden — let op de klemtoon: numerology /ˌn(j)u.məˈrɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, overarching /ˌoʊvəɹˈɑɹt͡ʃɪŋ/, unexpected /ʌnɪkˈspɛktɪd/

Klanken die Nederlandstaligen lastig vinden:

Stemhebbende eindmedeklinker — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ niet verscherpen: depend /dɪˈpɛnd/, unexpected /ʌnɪkˈspɛktɪd/
/æ/ — opener dan de Nederlandse “e”: zodiac /ˈzoʊ.diˌæk/, thankful /ˈθæŋkfəl/

Zo oefen je met deze video

Luister de hele video één keer zonder te spreken en noteer de woorden die je niet kent.
Begin op 0,75× snelheid, spreek zin voor zin na en ga terug naar normale snelheid zodra het makkelijk gaat.
Neem jezelf op en vergelijk met het origineel; let daarbij op woorden als discernment, motto, depend.

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?

Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.

Shadowing-techniek: lees de volledige stap-voor-stap-gids →

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