Shadowing Practice: English Podcast 3: Talking about Hobbies - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hello everyone, this is podcast number three and today we're going to talk about something kind of simple

but I think still really interesting and that is hobbies.

So I think hobbies, there's a lot of different sections to this.

What is a hobby first of all and especially for adults, how do you find time to maintain a hobby

because doing something for yourself or doing something in your free time just for fun is

so important especially today

when we all have busy lives it's difficult to find a

good work -life balance it's really important to have the time for yourself.

So today we'll talk about this in a bit more detail.

First of all what is a hobby?

What is a hobby?

I think that this can be defined as anything

that you do for fun

or anything you do in your free time it doesn't necessarily have to be something

that you're good at definitely in my experience I've not been good at a lot of hobbies

that I've tried

or certainly not at the beginning I've never had a natural

talent for something I've always had to stick at something to really get into it

and to really see progress with it

so yeah anything you do in your free time anything you

do for fun I don't know maybe people are predisposed to

some hobbies maybe you're just naturally really into video games

or maybe it's something you get into later in life like I grew up with a girl

and all throughout our childhood she was really into swimming

and then when she started university she actually discovered

that she loved basketball

which is worlds apart these two sports don't have a lot to say to each other

but if she hadn't decided to try

if she hadn't decided to give it a go she never would have discovered the the passion

that she has for this the passion

which is even stronger than what she thought she was good

at before in my experience my main hobby I would say is learning languages I think that's why I'm

so passionate about it and so passionate about helping people to learn English

because I know what it's like to learn another language I

know the difficulties I know how rewarding it can be

but of course it's not always easy it can be really frustrating to not make progress

or to feel like you're not making progress

and with languages in particular this is something

that I don't think you can be naturally predisposed to I don't think people have a natural talent for languages

because as I've said before babies learn languages we all have the same hard wiring in our brain

that allows us to learn new languages

so it's not like you can't learn a language

because you don't have the right brain for it everyone has the right brain it's just

that it takes time it's not something you can see progress in in like one week well you can

but you won't be fluent in one week is what I'm trying to say

so it's something you really have to dedicate time

and energy to to see progress and that's been my experience

but aside from that I also just love to have time for myself I don't know

if you can define that as a hobby but I think now

when we have so little time for ourselves it's important to to do whatever you enjoy to do

so I don't know if it counts as a hobby

but I'm gonna say that making time for myself to go to a cafe

or go shopping or go have food I'm gonna say

that this counts as a hobby here in terms of hobbies

that I want to try there's a few I've never been a very sporty person

but I definitely would like to try surfing I would like to try horseback riding

and until recently I was very interested in something more extreme like paragliding

which is quite dangerous but I thought it would be really exciting to try

but unfortunately I actually heard about somebody having an accident recently with paragliding

so it has put me off a little bit to be honest

but maybe in the future but there's lots of things I want to try

and again it's about finding the time to actually do these things

but I would say you should never not do something you should never put something off

because you're scared

that you won't be good at it I think this is something I've heard people say before

that they don't want to try a new sport they don't want to try judo

or dancing because they think they're too old they think

that it's not something you can learn when you're an adult

which is absolutely untrue nobody is good at something the first time around

and even if you're not good at it even after like three months of trying

and you're still not good at it who cares who cares

if you enjoy it you should do it

because you're not just doing it to learn a skill you're doing it to give yourself time to relax

and time to have fun for yourself to do something enjoyable just for you without thinking about anyone else

so if there is something you have always wanted to try I say you should absolutely go for it

and actually on that point about not wanting to try something

because you think you're too old or you think you won't be good at it, I think it's especially important for adults to have hobbies.

It's really common for kids, I hear people talk about their kids all the time, and they learn piano, and they play basketball,

and they go swimming, and they do all of these things which is amazing, and it's great that they have the opportunity, but I think

when we become adults we stop to care about ourselves we

as kids we might have had time to play with our friends

or to try a new sport without feeling afraid

or we might have just learned another language just from hearing it

but as adults we don't have the same amount of time

we have jobs we have responsibilities we have families we have kids we have

so much going on

that it's difficult to use the free time you have to do a hobby sometimes

if you've had a really long week the last thing you want to do is something physically exhausting

so we end up staying at home and watching tv lying in bed

and it makes sense you you need to recover you need

to relax however it's more rewarding i think to do something for yourself do something like learn a new skill

or try something completely new to you because this will give you a physical ability but more importantly a mental one,

a way to switch off but also a way to feel proud of yourself.

We feel proud of our kids but we don't always feel proud of ourselves

and I think that hobbies can be a really good way to give yourself the love

that you maybe haven't been giving yourself.

With that being said I can also understand why people give up on hobbies.

I myself have given up on hobbies in the past

when I was I think 16 I started to do trampolining

100

and I gave up when I was around 18

101

so after about two years and I think it's just

102

because I changed it was no longer interesting for me

103

when I started it was so exciting and I did it with my friends

104

and it was a great way to burn off any energy

105

that I had at the end of the week

106

but by the time I was 18 it just didn't fill

107

me with joy anymore it was something I was starting to dread

108

and I don't know exactly why I don't know what switched in my brain maybe it's

109

that I was changing so much anyway as a person

110

that this hobby no longer aligned with my interests my interests

111

had fundamentally changed to the point where I had no desire to continue with it anymore

112

and I think that's also okay I think there's no shame in leaving something behind

113

because you've tried you gave it a go what else do you want you can't continue to do something

114

that you hate there's no point in it

115

because you're ultimately doing a hobby for yourself so

116

if it gets to the point where you feel like you're doing it for somebody else

117

or it's not enjoyable for you anymore then I think it is better to leave it in the past.

118

It's better to know when to stop than to keep going and just burn out emotionally, physically, mentally.

119

So if you have watched this podcast

120

and enjoyed it I think a good challenge for you to improve your English will be to try

121

and answer some questions about hobbies.

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Can you tell me what do you like to do as a hobby

123

or what is a hobby you would like to try?

124

For example, if you suddenly had three more hours of free time every week,

125

what hobby would you start or what hobby would you continue with and why?

126

How does this make you think?

127

How does this make you feel?

128

Why is it important for you?

129

And finally, I just want to end by saying

130

that a hobby should not be about productivity in my opinion we spend

131

so much of our lives on work

132

or on other people on our responsibilities on our relationships and

133

so much time is not dedicated to ourselves

134

that a hobby doesn't need to be about progressing in something

135

it doesn't need to be about work where you have objectives and deadlines a hobby is something where you should relax,

136

where you should have enjoyment just for yourself without thinking about anyone else

137

and I think this ultimately is what defines what our hobbies are

138

and I think that also says so much about ourselves as people

139

because what you choose to do with your free time defines who you are as a person.

140

So I hope this video has been useful and I will see you in the next one.

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Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Deze spreekles is gebaseerd op de video “English Podcast 3: Talking about Hobbies”. Deze woorden komen het vaakst terug: hobby, hobbies, learn, language. Deze video bevat 140 zinnen en 1753 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 9:59. De spreker praat in een natuurlijk tempo van ongeveer 176 woorden per minuut, dicht bij een alledaags gesprek. 88% van de woorden hoort bij de 3.000 meest gebruikte Engelse woorden, dus de woordenschat is goed te volgen.

Belangrijke woorden in deze video

15 woorden uit de video die het leren waard zijn, met uitspraak en betekenis:

Woord	Uitspraak	Betekenis
hobby zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈhɑ.bi/	hobby, vrijetijdsbesteding
define werkwoord	/dɪˈfaɪn/	bepalen, determineren
relax werkwoord	/ɹɪˈlæks/	losmaken
naturally bijwoord	/ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/	natuurlijk
passion zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈpæʃən/	passie, hartstocht
skill zelfstandig naamwoord	/skɪl/	bekwaamheid, vaardigheid
discover werkwoord	/dɪˈskʌvə/	ontdekken
reward zelfstandig naamwoord	/ɹɪˈwɔɹd/	beloning, prijs
physically bijwoord	/ˈfɪz.ɪ.kli/	lichamelijk
swim werkwoord	/swɪm/	zwemmen
podcast zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	podcast
passionate bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ˈpæʃənɪt/	hartstochtelijk, gepassioneerd
dedicate werkwoord	/ˈdɛdɪˌkeɪt/	inwijden, wijden
necessarily bijwoord	/ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/	nodig, noodzakelijk
wire zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈwaɪɚ/	draad

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

Woord	Betekenis
end up werkwoord	belanden, terechtkomen
give up werkwoord	zich overgeven
switch off werkwoord	uitzetten, uitschakelen

Zinnen om te herhalen

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

How does this make you think?
How does this make you feel?
Why is it important for you?

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 not been · I've tried · I've said
Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doet	can be defined · are predisposed · being said
Advies met “should” should + werkwoord — zeggen wat een goed idee is	should never not do · should do · should absolutely
Past continuous was/were + -ing — iets dat op een moment in het verleden bezig was	was starting · was changing

Uitspraak om op te letten

De spreker gebruikt 55 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals don't, you're, I've. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.

De klanken “sh” en “zh”: passion /ˈpæʃən/, passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/, emotionally /ɪˈməʊʃənəli/
Lange woorden — let op de klemtoon: naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/, productivity /ˌpɹɒdʌkˈtɪvəti/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/

Klanken die Nederlandstaligen lastig vinden:

Stemhebbende eindmedeklinker — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ niet verscherpen: reward /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/, objective /ɒbˈd͡ʒɛk.tɪv/, dread /dɹɛd/
/æ/ — opener dan de Nederlandse “e”: relax /ɹɪˈlæks/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, passion /ˈpæʃən/, podcast /ˈpɑdˌkæst/, passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/
/g/ — een harde plofklank, geen Nederlandse “g”: exhaust /ɪɡˈzɔst/, paragliding /ˈpæɹəɡlaɪdɪŋ/

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 hobby, define, relax.

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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