Shadowing Practice: Learning to Speak ... Again - Learn English Speaking with Video

Les maken...
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It's well known that between the ages of approximately one and five, the offspring of Homo sapiens, slowly and at times lopsidedly,
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do something called learn to speak.
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They acquire some key words, lunch, cat, mummy, fart, assemble some basic grammar and are, by the time they're the size of a chair,
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well on the way to one of the key markers of human competence.
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Except for one thing, shortly after they learn to speak, children also learn, as it were, not to speak.
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At first, they aren't very good at not speaking, which is why, for a precious time, they're very funny indeed, as well as occasionally rather excruciating.
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They use their newfound linguistic skill to come out with utterances like, Granny smells under her legs, Jane looks a bit like a giraffe,
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and can you put a poo back in your bottom once it's come out?
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Then, sure enough, to the mixed relief of the adults around, children learn not to speak.
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They become careful custodians of their more charged insights.
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Out go the large questions, rude observations and naked confessions.
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By eight, they know how to say, I'm very well, thank you, how are you?
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By eleven, they might tell you, I don't mind that my parents are getting divorced, I get to go to Disneyland.
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And by seventeen, pretty much all of the wonder
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and pain of being alive has ceased to make it out of their lips.
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Something evidently goes astray, so much so that we might posit
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that becoming a true adult might rely on going in the opposite direction, on a process of remembering how to speak once again,
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in emotional rather than grammatical terms.
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We accede to genuine maturity
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when we can dare to once again take people into the phenomenal mystery and agony of being ourselves,
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with all the fear, joy, questions and doubts implied.
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It can take a while to realise just how much we've grown used to not saying.
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Silence on the key areas tends to become our second nature.
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It isn't just that we're deceiving others, we've lost the thread even within ourselves, omitting so much as to notice all the anger,
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terror or joy coursing through us at subterranean levels.
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Imagine therefore a somewhat bold experiment, in its way as challenging and rewarding as taking up a new sport or mastering a new recipe.
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Imagine if we attempted to undo three
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or five decades of experience to travel back to the raw state we knew in our original home.
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We would of course have to take some precautions
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but it's part of the incoherence of adult social life to picture ourselves unable to do so.
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We don't in reality face such a stark choice between honesty and ostracism.
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There are well-worn ways of being at once true and kind, honest and unfrightening.
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We can wrap our moments of candor in levity and good sense.
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Imagine if we said, for example, forgive me but as much as I want to be kind here there's something I might be a bit furious about, which is obviously crazy, but bear with me.
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Or, it's not that I don't like you, I'm scared that you're going to reject me, which probably explains why I've been behaving like a bit of a weirdo these past days.
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Or, I'm not just gazing out of the window, I'm actually worrying that you're going to find me bad in bed later.
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Or, I'm not really grumpy, I'm actually going out of my mind with anxiety.
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We've picked up the message that such truths are extremely dangerous to share.
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no one could get a view of our actual levels of pain, worry, desire and still be on our side.
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But that's to forget a bedrock fact that we're all beneath a layer of social subterfuge, longing for reassurance that there are echoes of our intimate,
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bewildering experiences in the minds of others.
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We're all mad, sick with worry, entirely lost and desperately anxious about our appearance, achievements and likability.
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We become more charming when we speak up because
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so much of what makes us unpleasant is related in the end to our unwitting deceitfulness.
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Not only don't we want to have lunch, we see no option but to pretend that we would like to.
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Not only do we leave relationships, we can't bear to own up to our wish to do so and therefore come across as sentimental and confusing.
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How much better if we have the confidence that we, like small children except more so because we have greater self-control and tact,
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are at our most beguiling when we can stick as close as possible to how things actually are.
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When we can say, this is lovely but I don't want to take it any further, I'm so sorry.
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Or I'm really furious, there's a part of me that wants to scream and sob on the floor.
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Or I make no assumptions at all but I really do find you attractive, I hope it's okay to tell you.
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Or I'm so worried that I failed in your eyes, I do apologise.
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We'll learn to properly live when we stop being so morbidly embarrassed of our reality.
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No one asked us to be alive, no one asks us to suffer as we do, we're not responsible for how peculiar it is to be ourselves.
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What is in our power is to be unfrightened by the contents of our minds
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and to use our artfulness and intelligence to share as much of it as possible with those we come across.
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We will, in the process, reassure them of their normality, deepen our friendships and feel less peculiar about our natures,
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we'll get a little closer to experiencing life as it actually is.

Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Deze spreekles op niveau C1 is gebaseerd op de video “Learning to Speak ... Again”. Deze woorden komen het vaakst terug: speak, learn, ourselves. Deze video bevat 58 zinnen en 967 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 5:17. De spreker praat snel, ongeveer 183 woorden per minuut, dus reken op verbonden en ingeslikte klanken. 82% 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:

WoordUitspraakBetekenis
peculiar bijvoeglijk naamwoord/pɪˈkjul.jɚ/ongewoon, ongebruikelijk
furious bijvoeglijk naamwoord/ˈfjʊəɹi.əs/woedend
accede werkwoord/əkˈsiːd/toestemmen, aanvaarden
astray bijwoord/əˈstɹeɪ/op een dwaalspoor
bedrock zelfstandig naamwoord/ˈbɛdˌɹɑk/grondgesteente, moedergesteente
beguile werkwoord/bɪˈɡaɪl/misleiden, bedriegen
candor zelfstandig naamwoord/ˈkæn.də(ɹ)/openheid, openhartigheid
custodian zelfstandig naamwoord/kəˈstoʊdiən/bewaarder, voogd
deceive werkwoord/dɪˈsiːv/misleiden, bedriegen
deepen werkwoord/ˈdiːpən/verdiepen
excruciating bijvoeglijk naamwoord/ɪkˈskɹuʃi.eɪtɪŋ/martelend, ondraaglijk
giraffe zelfstandig naamwoord/d͡ʒəˈɹæf/giraf
grammatical bijvoeglijk naamwoord/ɡɹəˈmæt.ɪ.kəl/grammaticaal
grumpy bijvoeglijk naamwoord/ˈɡɹʌmpi/korzelig, kribbig
levity zelfstandig naamwoord/ˈlɛ.vɪ.ti/lichtzinnigheid, frivoliteit

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

WoordUitspraakBetekenis
come across werkwoordoverkomen
come out werkwoord/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/uitkomen
pick up werkwoordoppakken, optillen

Grammatica in deze video

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

StructuurIn de video
Present perfect have/has + voltooid deelwoord — iets uit het verleden dat nu nog telthas ceased · we've grown · we've lost
Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doetis related · be unfrightened
Betrekkelijke bijzinnen who / which + zin — extra informatie over een persoon of dingspeaking, which is · about, which is

Uitspraak om op te letten

De spreker gebruikt 31 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals I'm, don't, we're. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.

  • De klanken “sh” en “zh”: excruciating /ɪkˈskɹuʃi.eɪtɪŋ/, precaution /pɹiːˈkɔ.ʃən/, reassure /ˌɹi.əˈʃʊɹ/, subterfuge /ˈsʌbtəɹˌfjuː(d)ʒ/, confession /kənˈfɛʃən/
  • Lange woorden — let op de klemtoon: deceitfulness /dɪˈsiːtfəlnəs/, excruciating /ɪkˈskɹuʃi.eɪtɪŋ/, grammatical /ɡɹəˈmæt.ɪ.kəl/, incoherence /ˌɪnkəʊˈhɪəɹəns/, normality /nɔɹˈmæl.ə.ti/

Klanken die Nederlandstaligen lastig vinden:

  • Stemhebbende eindmedeklinker — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ niet verscherpen: accede /əkˈsiːd/, deceive /dɪˈsiːv/, newfound /ˈnjuː.faʊnd/, subterfuge /ˈsʌbtəɹˌfjuː(d)ʒ/, confuse /kənˈfjuːz/
  • /æ/ — opener dan de Nederlandse “e”: candor /ˈkæn.də(ɹ)/, giraffe /d͡ʒəˈɹæf/, grammatical /ɡɹəˈmæt.ɪ.kəl/, normality /nɔɹˈmæl.ə.ti/, agony /ˈæɡ.ə.ni/
  • /g/ — een harde plofklank, geen Nederlandse “g”: beguile /bɪˈɡaɪl/, grammatical /ɡɹəˈmæt.ɪ.kəl/, grumpy /ˈɡɹʌmpi/, agony /ˈæɡ.ə.ni/, gaze /ɡeɪz/

Zo oefen je met deze video

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

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 →