Shadowing Practice: Why being bored is a good thing - Learn English Speaking with Video
Les maken...
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Boredom.
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A state of being that's gotten a pretty bad rap over the years.
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But as I'm continuously trying to navigate this super connected world we're now living in, the constant consumption of media has not only left me feeling pretty drained,
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but the more I think that being bored isn't such a bad thing.
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In fact, from a creative standpoint, it might actually be a really good thing.
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Just hear me out.
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I feel like we live in a very overstimulated world.
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And lately it feels like a little much.
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Changes to Instagram, a growing trend in the US.
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We're always being bombarded with information.
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From social media platforms, keeping up with the trends, what should we make and who should we watch.
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It's all here to keep us busy and scrolling.
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Jumping from one device to another and often not taking breaks for extended periods of time.
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to be entertained could turn into a life that's distracted.
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I sense that most people have encountered this at some point or another but lately just everything has been feeling like noise.
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Everything online is starting to look like a copy of one another
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and as someone who's caught between trying to make sense of it
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while also barely keeping up with the pace of the world, it can get a little...
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overwhelming.
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and I think it's affecting my creativity.
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you A while in my search for an antidote, there was one idea I became increasingly curious about.
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It started when I read Austin Kleon's book, "Steal Like an Artist." In the book, he says, "Take time to be bored.
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Creative people need time to just sit around
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and do nothing." I want to see what happens when I embrace this idea of boredom over the next couple of days.
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If there is any difference at all in the creativity, in my ideas.
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Did I need a detox?
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Did I not?
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Did I hate it?
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Was it useless?
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Just for an hour or two each day, how hard can that be?
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So it's day one and I went a good, I was doing good.
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I was doing good for the first two minutes, and then I just reached for my phone.
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out of habit.
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I'm literally purposely doing this experiment.
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The habit of just like picking up and checking our phones when we're literally doing nothing.
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crazy.
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So yeah, if that's a any indication how things are going.
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You see, an interesting thing happens when you're in a less stimulated state.
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Our minds are able to wander, to get creative with problem -solving, and let one storm in ideas find the space to plant roots and grow.
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Just like when we get our best ideas in the shower, or think of new characters for our book on our commute, our body goes on autopilot,
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and our minds go somewhere else.
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Being bored literally has to be laying around doing nothing.
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I think that it counts as washing the dishes and folding your laundry, going for a walk, normal mundane everyday things,
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just without reaching for your phone to help pass the time.
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It's interesting that boredom is not typically something that's pursued, but many of the world's problems are because there is just too much of everything.
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content.
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at least in the beginning.
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Okay, so I have been really enjoying this experiment so far.
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It's only been three days, but I feel like there is
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something about needing to fill the silence and also being alone with your thoughts it's almost It can be uncomfortable.
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It has just been really nice to not be living from screen to screen all the time
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and instead feeling like I'm living in the real world.
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It's also been really nice to just have the space to think, just allowing you to have that designated time.
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I know that sounds so weird because creativity is such an organic thing, but we live in such a busy world.
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Our schedules are often filled up from like hour to hour.
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This is also feeling a lot like a dopamine detox.
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Mainly because I'm doing this like every single day.
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Now that I'm doing this experiment, I'm realizing like how much it actually plays into my daily life.
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I think that the more society becomes obsessed with productivity, the more we need to search for small pockets of time to be bored.
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But it's not just about doing nothing, but I find it's more so choosing to be observant of the world around you every now and then.
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Being left to my thoughts without media and posts telling me how to feel.
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every time I need to fill the silence.
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but instead embracing it.
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Sometimes it feels like boredom can be one of the most undesirable states you can be in.
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We go so much out of our way to occupy our time with other work or projects, and maybe there are some things we can learn from it.
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Alright, so I've been doing this for about a week now.
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It got easier as the days went on.
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I started to embrace it more.
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It's been really interesting to see new ideas and also old ideas.
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Just ponderings that randomly have come up one
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or two hours every afternoon may not seem like a lot
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but I think that there's a real compound effect there to just be intentional with
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that time to embrace this boredom and this mundaneness and see what comes up from that.
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We often already have everything we need to think up new ideas or find inspiration around us.
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But I think it's a matter of really creating the time to facilitate that.
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Not too much and not too little of it, but just enough that when we do to our creative work we feel ready to.
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So this isn't really a solution or a groundbreaking discovery, but perhaps an alternate perspective on nurturing our creativity.
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As Steve Jobs once said, boredom allows one to indulge in curiosity, and out of curiosity comes everything.
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I've been on hold on baby with you.
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Who Will Benefit from This Video?
This video is ideal for intermediate to advanced English learners focusing on english speaking practice or preparing for IELTS speaking practice. Its conversational tone and relatable topic make it perfect for honing fluency, as the speaker uses natural pauses, self-corrections, and everyday vocabulary. Learners aiming to master the "shadowing technique" (repeating speech in real time) will find its pace manageable, allowing them to mimic rhythm and intonation effectively.
Key Words & Idioms to Add to Your Vocabulary
- Got a bad rap: Received unfair criticism. Example: "Boredom has gotten a bad rap, but it’s actually useful."
- Overstimulated: Overwhelmed by too much sensory input. The speaker notes, "We live in a very overstimulated world."
- Antidote: A solution to a problem. "In my search for an antidote to overwhelm, I tried boredom."
- Mundane: Ordinary, everyday. "Washing dishes or folding laundry are mundane tasks that can spark creativity."
Mastering the Speaker’s Accent & Rhythm
To nail the speaker’s natural flow, focus on shadow speak (repeating phrases immediately after hearing them). Notice how they stress words like "really" and "actually" to emphasize points—this adds emphasis, a key IELTS speaking skill. The speaker uses casual contractions ("it's," "I'm") and pauses ("Just hear me out...") to build connection; mimic these to sound more conversational. Pay attention to the rising intonation in questions like "How hard can that be?"—this softens the tone, a common feature in informal speech. Practice shadowing the section where they describe reaching for their phone "out of habit" to capture the quick, reflexive pace of everyday dialogue.
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.