Shadowing Practice: Don't Try - The Philosophy of Charles Bukowski - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Charles Bukowski was a 20th century American writer and poet known for his unfiltered, potent, and often crude takes on life.
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Bukowski was born in Germany in 1920 and then emigrated with his family to America in 1923.
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Bukowski had a horrible childhood, beaten regularly by his father, starting at age six.
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As an immigrant from Germany, Bukowski was ridiculed by other kids for his accent and clothing, ostracized as an outcast throughout his schooling.
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Into his teenage years, Bukowski developed a condition that covered his face with extreme acne and acne-related blemishes, further intensifying his self-consciousness in isolation.
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The circumstances of abuse and loneliness imposed on Bukowski as a young child
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and adolescent laid the groundwork for his perspective on life and his desire to express himself as a writer.
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In an interview much later in his life, Bukowski said that his father was a great literary teacher because he taught him the meaning of pain, more specifically, pain without reason.
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When you get the shit kicked out of you long enough, you will have a tendency to say what you really mean," said Bukowski.
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In his 20s, after two years at college, Bukowski would quit school and make his first real attempt at becoming a professional writer, bouncing around the United States,
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doing short-term blue-collar jobs while writing hundreds of short stories.
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However, out of the hundreds of stories, only a couple during this time would go on to get published, and the ones that did found essentially no success.
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After a couple years, Bukowski basically stopped writing altogether, disappointed by the publishing process and his apparent inability to write well enough to be successful.
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Bukowski would go on to work various blue-collar jobs for several years thereafter.
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Then in 1955, at 35 years old, after about 10 years of not writing, Bukowski nearly died from a serious bleeding ulcer.
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He survived, however, and then soon after, as fate would have it, Bukowski quit his job, which was at the post office at the time, and began writing again.
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A couple more years went by and Bukowski would publish several pieces during this time, but But still, nothing was providing much success, and he was forced to return to the post office of which he had originally quit.
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Counter to the original time though, this time, Bukowski continued writing while at the post office.
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Before his shift, he would use whatever time he had to write.
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Bukowski would continue in this for many years, getting a collection of pieces published here and there in underground magazines, all with very little success.
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With no real sight of success or money or fame or even just creating a living from writing, Bukowski continued writing nearly every day before work for years.
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Of course, we know how Bukowski's story ended.
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He is being spoken about right now as a writer.
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A renowned, successful, and important enough one to be spoken about with significance decades after his passing, to be considered one of the greats of all time.
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Bukowski, however, didn't end up becoming traditionally or publicly successful until he was into his 50s, many more years into the second stint of working at the post office.
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Only after a long, continued attempt at writing did Bukowski's work finally become noticed and appreciated by an audience, and only after a deal with a publisher who agreed to find Bukowski's work,
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did Bukowski begin to make any sort of living from it.
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At 50 years old, on the tail end of the traditional career timeline, Bukowski got his first real shot and took it.
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After it would seem like to many that it was over, it began, and he would soon become increasingly successful and famous in the literary world and culture at large not long after.
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It took Bukowski years and years of writing and toiling
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and trying to finally have circumstances work out in his favor so he could gain traction and find success as a writer.
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To get what he wanted since he was a teenager and fulfill what he believed his life was for.
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In this, it is at least initially perplexing that his gravestone reads, right now, don't try.
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A message that seems rather grim, especially for a gravestone, as well as counterintuitive to his story.
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How could a man who became successful in fulfilling his idea of himself, a man who, although it took a while, found immense respect and recognition for his craft, all because of his relentless trying,
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how could this man leave the words, don't try, as his final offering?
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Arguably, Perhaps this is where the most important idea can be found, not only in Bukowski's work, but in Bukowski's life.
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In a letter to William Packard, a publisher, friend and fellow writer, Bukowski wrote, Too many writers write for the wrong reasons.
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They want to get famous, or they want to get rich, or they want to get laid by the girls with the blue bells in their hair.
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When everything works best, it's not because you chose writing, but because writing chose you.
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It's when you're mad with it, when it's stuffed in your ears, nostrils, under your fingernails.
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when there's no hope but that.
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In this letter, Bukowski is referring to aspiring writers, but he's arguably referring to something much larger, the notion of purpose and success and creative endeavors in general.
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When you were very young and someone asked you for the first time what your favorite color was, and you decided that it was blue or red or whatever else,
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perhaps it felt like a choice, but it wasn't really.
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No one chooses how colors make them feel and why some seem to paint onto the brain with better feelings than others.
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We can describe the reasons why we like the colors we like, but we can't choose why we do.
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The color, sort of, chooses us.
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In a relatively low-stakes situation like our favorite color, it's easy to just realize which one feels best and declare it without trying.
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How one defines their purpose and carries out the bulk of their life, however, is not so easy nor so low-stakes, making it inevitably more complicated, convoluted, and challenging.
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Although, perhaps it is, at its core, somewhat the same as knowing your favorite color.
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In the same letter to Packard, Bukowski went on to say, We work too hard.
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We try too hard.
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Don't try.
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Don't work.
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It's there, looking right at us, aching to kick out of the closed room.
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In this, Bukowski alludes to the idea that if you have to try to try, if you have to try to care about something or have to try to want something, perhaps you don't care about it,
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and perhaps you don't want it, perhaps it isn't your favorite color.
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Throughout his life, Bukowski constantly returned to writing, never reducing or modifying his voice for the sake of something else,
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never letting the rejection or the suffering throughout the process ultimately take writing away from him.
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It's not that Bukowski didn't try, it's that he didn't try to be something that he wasn't.
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He tried to be a writer, but he didn't try to want to be a writer.
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Nor did he try to write how he wanted to write, he just did it and kept on doing it.
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At least creatively, we seem to often perform at our best when we are ourselves, natural and honest, attending to who we really are and what we really want to say or do,
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without the addition of ulterior motives, without forcing it or overthinking too much.
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And perhaps this is, in part, what Bukowski meant.
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Truthfully, no one other than Bukowski can say or know exactly what Bukowski ever really thought or meant in anything.
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And none of this is to suggest that something as hard
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and complicated as purpose and passion and desire and success is easy or prescribable.
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Because it isn't.
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It's all as unclear and complicated as the very brain that contrives the whole system.
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And it's not as if writing or filmmaking or painting or making music or business or whatever else else, must come easy to the writer or filmmaker or painter
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or musician etc. in order for it to be the right thing or for them to be great at it.
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But it is likely, however, that if the pain and endurance of working through the process does not feel worth it,
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and you are not compelled to do it even in the face of rejection or hardship or sacrifice, then perhaps it is here where Bukowski might say, don't try.
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But if it does, if the thought of not doing the thing hurts more than the thought of potentially suffering through the process, if the thought of a life without it or never having tried it at all terrifies you.
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If it comes to you, through you, out of you, almost as if you're not trying, perhaps Bukowski might say, here, try.
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And if you're going to try, go all the way.
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Charles Bukowski.
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You can find the Patreon page by clicking on the link in the description or the icon on the screen.
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Thanks again for watching and see you next video.
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Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les
Deze spreekles op niveau C1 is gebaseerd op de video “Don't Try - The Philosophy of Charles Bukowski”. Deze woorden komen het vaakst terug: Bukowski, writing, writer, perhaps, color. Deze video bevat 81 zinnen en 1551 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 7:38. De spreker praat snel, ongeveer 203 woorden per minuut, dus reken op verbonden en ingeslikte klanken. 86% 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 15 moeilijkste woorden uit de video, met uitspraak en betekenis:
| Woord | Uitspraak | Betekenis |
|---|---|---|
| litter zelfstandig naamwoord | /ˈlɪt.ɚ/ | strooisel |
| circumstance zelfstandig naamwoord | /ˈsɝ.kəmˌstæns/ | omstandigheid |
| acne zelfstandig naamwoord | /ˈækni/ | acne |
| fulfill werkwoord | /fʊlˈfɪl/ | vervullen |
| rejection zelfstandig naamwoord | /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkʃən/ | afwijzing |
| arguably bijwoord | /ˈɑɹɡjuəbli/ | onderbouwbaar, verdedigbaar |
| collar zelfstandig naamwoord | /ˈkɑlɚ/ | kraag, boord |
| allude werkwoord | /əˈljuːd/ | toespelen, zinspelen |
| aspire werkwoord | /əˈspaɪɚ/ | ambiëren, nastreven |
| compel werkwoord | /kəmˈpɛl/ | bedwingen |
| contrive werkwoord | /kənˈtɹaɪv/ | beramen |
| convoluted bijvoeglijk naamwoord | /ˌkɑnvəˈlutəd/ | overlappend |
| counterintuitive bijvoeglijk naamwoord | /ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtuɪtɪv/ | contra-intuïtief |
| emigrate werkwoord | /ˈɛmɪɡɹeɪt/ | emigreren |
| fingernail zelfstandig naamwoord | /ˈfɪŋɡɚˌneɪl/ | vingernagel, nagel |
Phrasal verbs die je zult horen
| Woord | Uitspraak | Betekenis |
|---|---|---|
| carry out werkwoord | /ˈkæ.ɹi aʊt/ | uitvoeren |
| end up werkwoord | belanden, terechtkomen |
Grammatica in deze video
De structuren die de spreker het meest gebruikt, met de exacte woorden uit de video:
| Structuur | In de video |
|---|---|
| Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doet | was born · was ridiculed · was forced |
| Betrekkelijke bijzinnen who / which + zin — extra informatie over een persoon of ding | job, which was · man who became |
Uitspraak om op te letten
De spreker gebruikt 19 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals don't, didn't, you're. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.
- De “th”-klanken: truthfully /ˈtɹuːθ.fəl.i/, thereafter /ˌðɛɹˈæf.tɚ/, altogether /ɔl.tuˈɡɛð.ɚ/
- De klanken “sh” en “zh”: rejection /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkʃən/, blemish /ˈblɛmɪʃ/, hardship /ˈhɑɹdˌʃɪp/, traction /ˈtɹæk.ʃən/, musician /mjuˈzɪʃən/
- Lange woorden — let op de klemtoon: convoluted /ˌkɑnvəˈlutəd/, counterintuitive /ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtuɪtɪv/, creatively /kɹiˈeɪtɪvli/, intensify /ɪnˈtɛnsɪfaɪ/, ulterior /ʌlˈtɪɚ.i.ɚ/
Klanken die Nederlandstaligen lastig vinden:
- Stemhebbende eindmedeklinker — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ niet verscherpen: allude /əˈljuːd/, contrive /kənˈtɹaɪv/, convoluted /ˌkɑnvəˈlutəd/, counterintuitive /ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtuɪtɪv/, ostracize /ˈɒstɹəsaɪz/
- /æ/ — opener dan de Nederlandse “e”: circumstance /ˈsɝ.kəmˌstæns/, acne /ˈækni/, outcast /ˈaʊtkæst/, adolescent /ˌæd.əˈlɛs.ənt/, traction /ˈtɹæk.ʃən/
- /g/ — een harde plofklank, geen Nederlandse “g”: gravestone /ˈɡɹeɪvstoʊn/, arguably /ˈɑɹɡjuəbli/, emigrate /ˈɛmɪɡɹeɪt/, fingernail /ˈfɪŋɡɚˌneɪl/, groundwork /ˈɡɹaʊndˌwɜːɹk/
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 litter, circumstance, acne.
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.