Shadowing Practice: I was wrong about AI replacing VAs. Here's what I actually think in 2026. - Learn English Speaking with Video

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If you've watched my channel for a while, you've heard me say that AI will never replace virtual assistants and I need to update that because AI is replacing a certain kind of virtual assistant, and over the next few minutes, I'm gonna show you exactly which kind is getting replaced and how to make sure that you are not the one on the chopping block.

Let's not sugarcoat it.

If your entire service is, "I answer emails, I schedule meetings, and I copy data from one place to another," AI tools can already do most of that cheaper, faster, and at 3:00 in the morning without complaining.

A client can ask AI to draft 20 emails in the same time that it takes me to write a Slack message, okay?

That's just the reality now.

So the question isn't, will AI take VA tasks?

It already has.

The real question is, what can't it take?

Now, most people's instinct is to say, "Okay, I need to learn more skills, more tools, get more certification," because that feels more productive.

But that is actually backwards because you are competing with AI on AI's home turf.

You will literally never out-task a machine.

Let me tell you what happened with one of my own clients as I became more AI forward.

She didn't pay me to schedule her calendar.

I mean, okay, I mean, technically, she paid me to schedule her calendar, but what she was actually paying me for was every morning I would look at her week and say, "Hey, you've booked yourself into three back-to-back pitch meetings the day after a red-eye flight.

I'm moving two of them." No AI tool did that, and it's not because AI can't move meetings, but it's because AI didn't know her.

Like, it literally did not know that she was useless after red-eyes, and it did not care whether her pitches on that Thursday went well or not.

And I want you to zoom in here, please, 'cause this is important.

AI replaces task doers.

It promotes problem solvers.

So the VA who says to their client, "Just tell me what to do," is competing with a $20 a month subscription service.

But the VA who says, "Here's what I've noticed, and here's what I'm gonna do about it," is competing with nobody, okay?

Because judgment, context, and actually caring about the a- outcome are not things on AI's featured list.

So how do you become that second kind of VA? We have to look at just three shifts.

It's just three things, guys.

Shift number one, I want you to start marketing and selling outcomes, not just hours.

So saying something like, "I manage your inbox," is a task, but reframing it as, "You will never miss an email again, and your reply time in email will drop to under one hour a day," is an outcome.

It's the same work, but it's a completely different value because you're promising that your client will be more in the know with less work.

Shift two, become the person who runs the AI.

Now, here's the plot twist that nobody talks about.

Business owners are drowning in AI tools that they do not have time to learn.

So the VA who can actually say, "I'm gonna set up your AI workflows, I'm gonna check the work," you just turned the possibility of being replaced into your biggest selling point, okay?

Because AI needs somebody who will tinker around with the inputs and make sure that the outputs are actually good.

So congratulations, because you just became that manager And shift number three, build the relationships that AI just can't copy.

Okay? So every month when you work with a client, you accumulate stories and context.

You get to know things like their work and their life preferences, their pet peeves, or you learn about the vendor they work with who is always late.

A new AI tool starts from zero every single time it gets booted up.

But that's not you.

You're starting with a lifetime of history and context.

And right now, if you were just starting as a VA, I'd imagine that you might be thinking, "Great, the bar to entry just got so much higher." But it actually didn't get higher, it got clearer.

You do not need to learn 50 tools and become a tech genius.

You just need to bring the one thing that you already have, which is human judgment, and pair it with a handful of tools that you know how to do really well.

I genuinely feel that starting a b- a VA business right now in the AI era is a huge advantage, 'cause you get to build your business in a new way from day one, while established VAs like myself have had to unlearn a lot of the old ways of doing things.

So yes, AI will replace some assistants, and it will replace a version of this job that was already underpaid, undervalued, and honestly, the copy and paste kinda nonsense that was pretty miserable.

So to that I say good riddance, because the version that is left behind, where you are a trusted partner in someone's business, where you're charging rates that reflect your good judgment, not just the speed in which you get tasks done, this is the virtual assistant business that we've all been fighting for.

So congratulations, friend.

You're here at the right time of history.

Now, if you're looking for a clear starting point, like baseline planning, no 50 tool tutorials, check out my free VA bootcamp.

It's a three-day bootcamp which is free.

It's gonna walk you through just the baseline, step by step, what you can expect as a virtual assistant.

And if you are past the free stuff and you're ready for a real plan, my VA Ready program is a course that's built exactly for this moment.

It's the confidence and the clarity program that you need before you launch your business.

And if you are already confident, you are ready to launch and scale, then my VA Business Blueprint helps you build your business in the new AI world step by step.

Now, this program is relaunching in August 1st, 2026, so be on the lookout for some more announcements.

Or if you'd like to get on my waiting list for early access, I'm gonna link to that below as well.

Next, I recommend that you watch my video on how VAs are actually landing their first clients nowadays, and spoiler, it is not cold outreach.

So that's popping up somewhere here above me, and I will see you in that video

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Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Deze spreekles op niveau B2 is gebaseerd op de video “I was wrong about AI replacing VAs. Here's what I actually think in 2026”. Deze woorden komen het vaakst terug: tool, client, task, assistant, virtual. Deze video bevat 56 zinnen en 1122 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 6:14. De spreker praat snel, ongeveer 180 woorden per minuut, dus reken op verbonden en ingeslikte klanken. 83% 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
accumulate werkwoord	/əˈkjuːmjʊˌleɪt/	opstapelen, vermeerderen
underpaid bijvoeglijk naamwoord		onderbetaald
unlearn werkwoord	/ʌnˈlɝn/	afleren, verleren
inbox zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈɪnbɑks/	postvak
spoiler zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈspɔɪ.lɚ/	spoiler
drown werkwoord	/dɹaʊn/	verdrinken, verzuipen
backward bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ˈbækwɚd/	achteruit, naar achteren
turf zelfstandig naamwoord	/tɝf/	grasveld, gazon
chop werkwoord	/t͡ʃɑp/	hakken
vendor zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈvɛn.dɚ/	leverancier
tutorial zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˌtjuːˈtɔːɹɪəl/	snelcursus, tutorial
zoom werkwoord	/zuːm/	zoeven
instinct zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈɪn.stɪŋkt/	instinct
clarity zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈklæɹ.ɪ.ti/	helderheid, klaarheid
pasta zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈpɑ.stə/	deegwaren, pasta

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

Woord	Uitspraak	Betekenis
check out werkwoord		onderzoeken
leave behind werkwoord		achterlaten
pop up werkwoord		opduiken, te voorschijn komen
set up werkwoord	/ˌsɛt ˈʌp/	bereiden, voorbereiden

Zinnen om te herhalen

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

The real question is, what can't it take?
She didn't pay me to schedule her calendar.
You're starting with a lifetime of history and context.
You're here at the right time of history.

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 watched · you've booked · I've noticed
Betrekkelijke bijzinnen who / which + zin — extra informatie over een persoon of ding	person who runs · somebody who will · have, which is
Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doet	being replaced · is left

Uitspraak om op te letten

De spreker gebruikt 33 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals gonna, I'm, you're. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.

De klanken “sh” en “zh”: sugarcoat /ˈʃʊɡɚˌkoʊt/, certification /ˌsɜː.tɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, subscription /səbˈskɹɪpʃən/
Lange woorden — let op de klemtoon: accumulate /əˈkjuːmjʊˌleɪt/, undervalue /ˌʌndə(ɹ)ˈvælju/, certification /ˌsɜː.tɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, miserable /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/, technically /ˈtɛk.nɪˌkəl.i/

Klanken die Nederlandstaligen lastig vinden:

Stemhebbende eindmedeklinker — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ niet verscherpen: backward /ˈbækwɚd/, nowadays /ˈnaʊ.ə.deɪz/
/æ/ — opener dan de Nederlandse “e”: undervalue /ˌʌndə(ɹ)ˈvælju/, backward /ˈbækwɚd/, clarity /ˈklæɹ.ɪ.ti/, handful /ˈhæn(d)fʊl/
/w/ — met ronde lippen: workflow /ˈwɝkfloʊ/, backward /ˈbækwɚd/

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 accumulate, underpaid, unlearn.

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: I was wrong about AI replacing VAs. Here's what I actually think in 2026. - Learn English Speaking with Video

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