Shadowing Practice: Your Phone Is Training Your Brain to Lose Focus | Dr. Andrew Huberman & Joe Rogan - Learn English Speaking with Video

Les maken...
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When the phone is in the room, on the table, or under the chair, it doesn't make a difference, the amount of cognitive resources that you need in order to maintain focus is much higher,
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and it robs it from your creative and problem -solving ability.
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And then, you know, you have the addiction aspect of it, which is very significant, where there's a lot of people that are wasting most of their day just scrolling, doom -scrolling online.
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Pure consumption.
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You can opt out of that.
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And I do, for the most part.
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A lot of people do.
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A lot of people have gone to flip phones.
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There's a bunch of apps that you can get.
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And some people have one of those apps that gives you like an hour a day on Instagram that locks you out.
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I have social media.
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I have X and Instagram on a separate phone.
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And it just segregates things nicely.
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If people send me stuff, I send it to that phone and then I look at it.
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I have a lockbox, like a Supermax prison lockbox for my phone.
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That's how I wrote that book.
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It was gnarly.
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I'm good at putting ass to chair, as they say, and just working.
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But when that phone is calling you subconsciously, there's data that are pretty crazy.
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They did a study where they have people have their phone upside down on the table
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or under their chair in a backpack or in a separate room.
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In all three cases, people can focus to the same degree.
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But when the phone is in the room on the table or under the chair, it doesn't make a difference.
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The amount of cognitive resources that you need in order to maintain focus is much higher
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and it robs it from your creative and problem solving ability.
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So you can still focus, but you're depleting some other brain resource.
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Makes good sense.
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Totally makes sense.
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Yeah, totally makes sense.
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The other one is people, what we call entrain in biology, E -N -T -R -A -I -N, entrain themselves to a particular frequency of distraction.
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When you look at your phone on average every 90 seconds or every three minutes or so, and then your phone is not there, let's say you're just working,
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every three minutes or 90 seconds or so, people get distracted.
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So they're looking for the phone even though it's not there.
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So your brain, your focus mechanisms learn to lock on to a particular time scale.
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And we had a world -class track coach on the podcast and a few others who was interested in what they do.
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And I was saying, do you get different attention spans in different athletes?
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And they're like, yeah, like the sprinters can basically focus for as long as a sprint and the walk back.
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And then they reset.
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And they're like, the marathoners are like these incredible, like they have this like intense focus that can just go and go and go.
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I thought it was really interesting.
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We entrain ourselves to these rhythms, not just circadian rhythms, but distraction.
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I thought, that's pretty cool.
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And so then I looked at it differently and I thought, okay, every time I feel the pain of trying to write this paragraph and I'm like, and it's like, it's not happening.
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Like, great.
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That's the friction.
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That's the plasticity.
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I think people are sort of geared toward over -optimization.
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People need to like chill.
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Like you don't have to do everything all the time.
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But the point is that your brain learns these skills.
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And so I suppose if I have any real fear with AI, it's that people will just become increasingly lazy about using their mind to think.
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I just believe in friction, just as you point out.
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Do hard things, that's also mentally hard things.
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I think it's good.
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I think hard, you know, learning to grind through a bit more of that friction point, I think, is a big part of being a healthy human.
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And the data tell us it's also what leads to brain longevity.
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You get people like Jared Diamond, who was on the podcast the other day, Who's 90?
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He's sharp as a tack.
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Because he's constantly engaging his mind and he's learning new languages.
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He's learning Italian right now as we speak at 90.
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That's awesome.
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I have such respect for people like that.
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I have such admiration for people that maintain their mental and or physical vigor into their 60s, 70s, 80s.
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Also he maintains his curiosity and you can tell in the conversation.
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Like he's a deeply curious person still.
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He still has questions.
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He still has a desire for information.
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And the optimism seems to be there.
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Yeah.

Who Should Watch This Video?

This video is perfect for intermediate to advanced English learners aiming to boost their listening comprehension and conversational skills. The natural, conversational tone between Dr. Andrew Huberman and Joe Rogan makes it ideal for practicing the shadowing technique—repeating phrases aloud to mimic rhythm and intonation. Whether you want to improve focus while learning or master casual yet informative speech, this dialogue offers real-world language use that’s both engaging and practical.

Words & Idioms Worth Stealing

  • Doom-scrolling: Mindlessly scrolling through negative online content. Example: "She spent hours doom-scrolling instead of studying."
  • Opt out: Choose not to participate. Example: "I opt out of social media on weekends to focus on reading."
  • Segregates: Separates. Example: "He segregates work emails from personal ones to stay organized."
  • Entrain: Adapt to a rhythm. Example: "Our bodies entrain to the daily cycle of light and dark."
  • Plasticity: The brain’s ability to change. Example: "Learning a new language improves brain plasticity."

How to Get the Accent Right

To practice shadowspeak with this video, focus on the speakers’ relaxed, American English intonation. Notice how they stress key words like "cognitive resources" and "creative ability" to emphasize points. Mimic the casual pauses and contractions ("it's," "don't") to sound natural. For tricky terms like "entrain," break it into syllables: "en-train." Use the shadowing technique by pausing after short phrases and repeating them immediately—this helps you match their pace and rhythm. Pay attention to how "doom-scrolling" is pronounced with a slight emphasis on "doom" to convey its negative connotation. With regular practice, you’ll master the flow of conversational English while learning valuable insights about focus.

Learning English with videos like this not only builds vocabulary but also trains your brain to understand real-world speech. Use the shadow speech method to turn passive listening into active practice, and you’ll see progress in no time.

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.