Shadowing Practice: How to Remember Everything You Read - Learn English Speaking with Video

Here's the scenario.

You have a book in front of you.

It doesn't matter whether it's interesting or not.

It's full of important facts and arguments.

And you want to remember those.

You close the book.

And in 15 minutes you completely forgot everything you just read.

Annoying, isn't it?

If you want to solve this problem once and for all, there's just one thing you have to do.

Alison Preston says, nothing happens in isolation.

When you are learning something new, you bring to mind all of the things you know that are related to that information.

In doing so, you embed the new information into your existing knowledge.

So, have you ever heard about the 6 Thinking Hats method?

This approach was created by someone called Edward de Bono, who invented this method to have a tool for critical thinking.

So each colored hat represents a way of thinking, a mindset that you can use to analyze a question, a problem, or a specific part of the text.

With the blue hat, you focus on controlling your thinking and managing the decision-making process.

So you do things like asking for summaries, asking for an agenda and trying to reach a conclusion.

The green hat represents creative thinking.

When you're wearing this hat, you try to explore a wide range of ideas and different solutions to the same problem.

The red hat represents emotions, so when you're engaging this type of thinking,

you try to express your feelings regarding the problem without having to justify those feelings and those problems logically.

With a yellow hat, you look at issues with the most positive light possible.

You try to underline the benefits and the good things about the specific question

and any kind of added value that could come from your ideas.

When you're wearing the black hat, you try to be cautious and you try to assess your risks by using critical judgment

and explaining exactly why you have concerns.

With the white hat, you want to do some information gathering.

So you're thinking about the knowledge and the insights that you've already collected, but the information you're missing as well and how you can get to it.

The six thinking hats technique is a great manifestation of that one thing, that one principle I was talking about,

and that is getting more involved with your reading materials.

However, being involved in your reading process is more of a shift in mindset than the employment of a specific reading technique.

Your brain is wired to connect your emotions to your memories.

Basically, it connects your personal interpretation to the facts you're actually reading.

So when you establish an emotional or intellectual connection, you have a better chance of retrieving those memories in the first place.

That's why things like class discussion, writing papers, mind mapping the structure of a book

or teaching a chapter to a friend are things

that maximize your chances of remembering the content of the things you're reading for a long time.

It's not simply because you're reading those passages from the book for a longer period of time.

You're getting involved, you're creating your own critical thinking as you're reading the book, you're creating your notes, you are marking some of the pages,

you're creating this kind of brain to emotions connection with the book.

Let's look at a basic example.

This is my version of Atomic Habits.

This is a book I've read twice already

and the second time I read it everything stuck to me

and that's because I spent enough time making sure I was asking the right questions as I was reading the book.

So I was taking care to only highlight the sentences that stuck out to me, marking pages from the best passages of the book,

rewriting some of the sentences on the margin, posing questions, writing down my own conclusions and thoughts on the margin as well.

And if you think that this whole process takes a long time, think twice.

You know, quality is way more important than quantity, so reading a book like this one time may be better than skimming through the book three or four times.

And another great way to get involved with the content of a book is using the so-called mental models, and there are so many of them,

but I want to underline the importance of three different mental models.

You have confirmation bias, availability bias, and utilities as the most common and useful ones.

However, getting involved with a book is important of course, but repetition is also important.

But what we're looking for is active repetition and not passive repetition.

As your brain revisits the same subject, it's easier to form connections, and that's because when you're introduced to a new topic everything is new

so your brain has to work a lot to grasp the full amount of information you're being presented to

and then make the required connections between all new concepts and topics

so try to read your material twice

and use the same kind of critical thinking and active reading techniques

that we've discussed earlier the second time you're reading the book

you've already read it for the first time you've already highlighted some passages

and written your thoughts in the margin

so you can anticipate a little bit of what's coming next

and that means you can look at information next with a brand new perspective

so as you're doing your second reading you're trying to look

through the clues trying to understand new meanings about the same

passage of the book instead of just skimming through the information again and accepting whatever you're reading.

And you know who actually did this and tried to get involved with dozens and dozens of books?

The guys at Shortform who are kindly sponsoring today's video.

With Shortform you can learn the ideas from all the non-fiction books you've ever wanted to read.

You get super detailed summaries on so many books.

And if you're thinking, well, I can find a lot of free summaries on the internet, this is where it gets interesting.

Instead of just summarizing the books, Shortform actually goes beyond that, adding interactive exercises to help you apply the ideas you've just learned, as well as smart insights,

connecting ideas from different books and different items, allowing you to connect the dots and understanding everything at a deeper level.

Sometimes I find it really hard to find time to read all the books I want to read, and while I love to cozy up with a good novel,

I find it's hard to split my reading time between novels while also reading every self-help book available.

And with a full-time job and a YouTube channel to balance, Shortform really helps me stay updated on new productivity books, which also helps me deliver new ideas and new content for you guys.

When I read a guide in short form for a book I think I'll really enjoy, I then purchase a physical copy for a deeper analysis.

This was how I got introduced to Getting Things Done by David Allen very recently.

That way, I already know it's going to be good and I look forward to the full experience.

However, I can always go back to short form to at least remember the key points,

especially when I'm trying to revisit productivity concepts from a bunch of different titles and want to know how these concepts interact.

Shortform also drops new book guides and articles every week and subscribers get to vote on what books to cover.

To get a 5 days of unlimited access and additional 20% discount on the annual subscription,

join Shortform through my special link at shortform.com slash Mariana or click the link in the description box below.

I really hope you've enjoyed today's video and I'll see you next week.

Bye guys!

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Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Deze spreekles op niveau B2 is gebaseerd op de video “How to Remember Everything You Read”. Deze woorden komen het vaakst terug: reading, thinking, hat, shortform, ideas. Deze video bevat 87 zinnen en 1328 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 7:26. De spreker praat in een natuurlijk tempo van ongeveer 179 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 15 moeilijkste woorden uit de video, met uitspraak en betekenis:

Woord	Uitspraak	Betekenis
repetition zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/	herhaling
emotion zelfstandig naamwoord	/ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/	emotie
skim werkwoord	/skɪm/	afromen
underline werkwoord	/ˈʌndɚˌlaɪn/	onderlijnen, onderstrepen
mindset zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈmaɪn(d)ˌsɛt/	mentaliteit, ingelsteldheid
productivity zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˌpɹɒdʌkˈtɪvəti/	vruchtbaar
bias zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈbaɪ.əs/	neiging, vooroordeel
insight zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈɪnsaɪ̯t/	inzicht
manifestation zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˌmænɪfɛˈsteɪʃən/	manifestatie
rewrite werkwoord	/ɹiˈɹaɪt/	herschrijven
summarize werkwoord	/ˈsʌməˌɹaɪz/	samenvatten, opsommen
invent werkwoord	/ɪnˈvɛnt/	uitvinden, uitdenken
maximize werkwoord	/ˈmæksəmaɪz/	maximaliseren
retrieve werkwoord	/ɹɪˈtɹiːv/	terugbrengen, terugkrijgen
cautious bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ˈkɔːʃəs/	voorzichtig

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

Woord	Betekenis
look forward to werkwoord	uitkijken naar, zich verheugen op
write down werkwoord	opschrijven, neerschrijven

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	you've already collected · I've read · we've discussed
Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doet	are related · was created · being involved

Uitspraak om op te letten

De spreker gebruikt 34 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals you're, you've, I'll. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.

De klanken “sh” en “zh”: repetition /ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/, emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, manifestation /ˌmænɪfɛˈsteɪʃən/, cautious /ˈkɔːʃəs/, isolation /ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃən/
Lange woorden — let op de klemtoon: repetition /ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/, productivity /ˌpɹɒdʌkˈtɪvəti/, manifestation /ˌmænɪfɛˈsteɪʃən/, anticipate /ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/, isolation /ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃən/

Klanken die Nederlandstaligen lastig vinden:

Stemhebbende eindmedeklinker — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ niet verscherpen: summarize /ˈsʌməˌɹaɪz/, maximize /ˈmæksəmaɪz/, retrieve /ɹɪˈtɹiːv/, analyze /ˈæn.əˌlaɪz/, passive /ˈpæs.ɪv/
/æ/ — opener dan de Nederlandse “e”: manifestation /ˌmænɪfɛˈsteɪʃən/, maximize /ˈmæksəmaɪz/, anticipate /ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/, analyze /ˈæn.əˌlaɪz/, grasp /ɡɹæsp/

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 repetition, emotion, skim.

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 →

Shadowing Practice: How to Remember Everything You Read - Learn English Speaking with Video

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