Shadowing Practice: 3 Habits to Practice Curiosity — and Escape Your Phone | Nayeema Raza | TED - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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I ask questions for a living to people like Mark Cuban, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Esther Perel, Bill Nye.
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63 sentences
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I ask questions for a living to people like Mark Cuban, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Esther Perel, Bill Nye.
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These masters of their field.
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And the most surprising answer I heard this year was from two 11-year-olds named Sophie and Dilan.
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They too are experts in being kids these days.
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So I asked them, how does time with people on screens feel different than real life?
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(Video) Sophie: It just makes you feel more with them when you're on FaceTime.
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Nayeema Raza: Even more than real life?
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Sophie: Yeah, because you're doing stuff together.
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Like maybe playing Roblox together.
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Because nowadays, when you’re with them, everyone’s on their phones.
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NR: Sophie's pointing out a profound paradox.
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When we are together physically, we are each alone on our phones.
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But when we're in our phones, that's when we can be together.
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The best way to not be distracted by your device?
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Just get inside of it.
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Now these 11-year-olds are not talking about some distant, anxious generation.
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They're talking about each of us.
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They're definitely talking about me and about a world that's increasingly driven by machines.
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So I stumbled upon an extreme metaphor for what this could look like.
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And it's this guy who's locked in a Waymo, and it's driving him in circles.
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So he calls customer service and finds out he's not the only one trapped.
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(Video) Woman: Working with the situation of the vehicle.
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If you have your app pulled up, I need you to tap My Trip on the lower left corner of your app.
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Man: Can't you just do it? You should be able to handle it.
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Take over the car. You don't need my phone.
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Woman: I don't have an option.
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NR: It is sexy to think that the tech apocalypse is Arnold Schwarzenegger and "The Terminator," but it could be so much more mundane than that.
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Just us driven in circles, held hostage by drop-down menus, with gadgets, disintermediating us from each other, from our own bodies and from our curiosities.
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Because nowadays, when we have a question, we don't wait and phone a friend.
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We friend our phones.
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And that feels so empowering to have all of this knowledge at our fingertips.
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Yet early research from MIT tells us it's making us lazier and less smart, and it is definitely making us less connected.
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This is not what our parents and grandparents were sold when they saw this relic of an ad from AT&T which says, "Reach out and touch someone." And yes, for all kinds of reasons, it would not go down well today.
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(Laughter) But it is oddly prescient because we have never been more connected and more out of touch.
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Now I’m not anti-tech. I actually cover it as a journalist.
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I have every gadget under the sun, and most days I think I'm in a relationship with my ChatGPT, or as I like to call him, Chat Daddy.
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(Laughter) I am pro-human.
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And as we progress into an AI world that you've read 471.5 articles about today alone, I want to make a case for old habits.
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Three of them.
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And tell you how I learned them the hard way.
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The first is to pause, to take just one second when you feel that urge to reach for your digital pacifier.
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This, by the way, is a second.
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Studies show waiting that long before taking action lets your brain work better.
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The second is to wonder.
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Watch a movie without googling who the actor is and what else is he in, and how old he is, and is he single?
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You can float in your own curiosity instead of drown in information.
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And the third is to ask a question out loud again.
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Have that fight at a dinner party instead of playing footsie with your phone.
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Ask something to someone you thought you couldn't learn from, or someone you think you know everything about.
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Because the dumbest thing we can be is know-it-alls.
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A few years ago, my father passed.
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In the days leading up to it, I was glued to devices.
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They had all these answers.
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The number to his hospice nurse, how often to give them morphine, the signs to look out for, his heartbeat.
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But when he passed on a Sunday, a day before the data and the vitals suggested he would, that's when it hit me.
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The old habits were what mattered.
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Those seconds of pause that added up to minutes more.
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That weird and scary wonder about our own finite lives.
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And the little questions people ask me, like, "How can I be there for you?" Sophie was on to something, but we're grown ups, and we remember when presence and curiosity and connection were possible outside of technology.
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We have to practice these old habits if we hope to pass them on to a new generation.
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If we want to teach them how to be together when we are together.
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Right, Chat Daddy?
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Thank you. (Applause)

Context & Background

In a world increasingly dominated by technology, Nayeema Raza's TED talk, "3 Habits to Practice Curiosity — and Escape Your Phone," highlights a critical paradox within our digital lives. Raza emphasizes the disconnect caused by our devices, illustrating how they can hinder genuine human connections while simultaneously offering us vast amounts of information. She shares insightful anecdotes from conversations with children and adults alike, demonstrating the importance of fostering curiosity in our everyday interactions. As learners of English, understanding these themes will guide you in developing not only your language skills but also your ability to connect with others meaningfully.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • “How does time with people on screens feel different than real life?” - A great question to initiate discussions about technology's impact on our lives.
  • “It makes you feel more with them when you're on FaceTime.” - Expressing the nuances of digital interactions versus physical presence.
  • “We are each alone on our phones.” - A reflection on our societal behaviors, perfect for articulating feelings about isolation.
  • “The urge to reach for your digital pacifier.” - A metaphor for smartphone addiction that can lead to deeper conversations about habits.
  • “Ask a question out loud again.” - Encouraging dialogue; this phrase can facilitate engagement in any conversational setting.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To maximize your English speaking practice while watching Nayeema Raza's TED talk, follow this step-by-step shadowing guide:

  1. Watch the Video: Start by watching the video without pausing. Familiarize yourself with the tone, pace, and context of the conversation. This is essential for any IELTS speaking practice.
  2. Pause and Repeat: Use the shadow speech technique. Pause the video after each sentence or key statement. Repeat the phrases out loud, mimicking Raza’s intonation and pronunciation. This technique aids in improving fluency and pronunciation.
  3. Take Notes: Write down interesting vocabulary and phrases. Incorporate them into your daily conversations or writing practices to enhance your learn English with YouTube experience.
  4. Engage with the Content: After shadowing, discuss the themes with a language partner or within a study group. Use the provided phrases to spark discussions about technology and curiosity.
  5. Reflect and Apply: Reflect on what you've learned from both the language and content. Ask yourself how curiosity plays a role in your everyday life and share your thoughts in English.

By adopting these habits and engaging deeply with the material, you’ll not only improve your speaking skills but also cultivate a more curious mindset in your communication.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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