Shadowing Practice: 3 Lessons from Steve Jobs (Key Points from Stanford '05 Speech) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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44 sentences
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Thank you. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life.
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That's it. No big deal.
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Just three stories.
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The first story is about connecting the dots.
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I dropped out of reed college after the first six months but then stayed around as a drop in for another 18 months or so before I really quit.
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It was pretty scary at the time but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
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The minute I dropped out, I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me and begin dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting.
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Reed college at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.
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Throughout the campus, every poster, every label on every drawer was beautifully hand calligraphed and I found it fascinating.
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None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life, but 10 years later when we were designing the first macintosh computer, it all came back to me.
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If I had never dropped out, personal computers might not have had the wonderful typography that they do.
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Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college, but it was very very clear looking backwards.
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So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
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Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path.
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My second story is about love and loss.
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I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life.
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Woz and started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20 and in ten years Apple had grown from just the 2 of us in a garage into a 2 billion dollar company with over 4000 employees.
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And then I got fired.
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What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone.
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I really didn't know what to do for a few months.
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I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down.
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I'd been rejected but I still loved what I did.
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I didn't see it then, but turned out that getting fired from apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.
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The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again.
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It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
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During the next five years, I started a company named NeXt, another company named Pixar and it's now the most successful animation studio in the world.
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I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.
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You've got to find what you love.
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Your work is gonna fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.
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And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
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If you haven't found it yet, keep looking.
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As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.
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My third story is about death.
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If you live each day as if it was your last, some day you'll most certainly be right.
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For the past 33 years, I've looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: If today were the last day of my life, would I wanna do what I am about to do today?
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Because almost everything, all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarassment or failure, these things just fall away in the face of death.
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Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
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There is no reason not to follow your hearts.
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Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.
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Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice.
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Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition: They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
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Everything else is secondary.
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Stay hungry, stay foolish.
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Thank you all very much.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 44 sentences and 697 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:05. The speaker talks at a natural 171 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| connect verb | /kəˈnɛkt/ | To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object. |
| dot noun | /dɑt/ | A small, round spot. |
| garage noun | /ɡəˈɹɑʒ/ | A building (or section of a building) used to store a car or cars, tools and other miscellaneous items. |
| reed noun | /ɹiːd/ | Any of various types of tall stiff perennial grass-like plants growing together in groups near water. |
| practical adjective | /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/ | Relating to, or based on, practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis. |
| mirror noun | /ˈmiɹɚ/ | A smooth surface, usually made of glass with reflective material painted on the underside, that reflects light so as to give an image of what is in front of it. |
| hungry adjective | /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/ | Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food. |
| label noun | /ˈleɪ.bəl/ | A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached. |
| scary adjective | /ˈskɛə.ɹi/ | Causing fear or anxiety |
| trap noun | /tɹæp/ | A machine or other device designed to catch (and sometimes kill) animals, either by holding them in a container, or by catching hold of part of the body. |
| courage noun | /ˈkʌ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/ | The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate. |
| convince verb | /kənˈvɪns/ | To make someone believe, or feel sure about something, especially by using logic, argument or evidence. |
| poster noun | /ˈpoʊstɚ/ | A picture of a celebrity, an event etc., intended to be attached to a wall. |
| animation noun | /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/ | The act of animating, or giving life or spirit. |
| instruction noun | /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/ | The act of instructing, teaching, or providing with information or knowledge. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| drop out verb | To leave (school, a race, etc.) prematurely and voluntarily. |
| look back verb | To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight). |
| turn out verb | To end up; to result. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't found · I've looked |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | been rejected · was replaced |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 14 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, don't, you'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: garage /ɡəˈɹɑʒ/, animation /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/, instruction /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, foolish /ˈfuː.lɪʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: animation /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/, entrepreneur /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, beautifully /ˈbju.tɪ.fə.li/, embarrassment /ɪmˈbæɹ.əs.mənt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like connect, dot, garage.
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.