Shadowing Practice: 7 Ways to Make Studying Fun - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hey guys, welcome to Lingua Marina and welcome to another class.
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This class is going to be motivational because I know how it feels
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when you're learning something like English and you're learning and learning and sometimes you catch yourself thinking, why am I even doing this?
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How is it gonna make my life better?
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Because it's been years since I started and I don't know where I'm going.
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So, this video is about being burned out during your studying process and I'm gonna teach you,
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I'm gonna give you some advice on how to make it fun, so if you're interested, continue watching this video.
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First of all, the thing that I keep repeating over and over again, English is your instrument.
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Thanks to English, I moved to the United States, to Silicon Valley.
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I started a company helping people learn languages while studying abroad.
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I traveled the world.
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I think I've been to over 20 or maybe 30 countries.
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I've met a lot of amazing people.
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I've started this YouTube channel.
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I've started my Silicon Valley Girl channel.
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This is all thanks to English and I'm able to live in the US as
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if I was born here because US is very international and this is all thanks to English.
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Back in Russia when I was sitting in our room in a shared apartment, I was like I was watching Disney movies.
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I was watching cartoons from the US
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and I thought this is the dream life and my granddad back then told me that
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Marina your only way to get your dream life is to learn English no matter what it takes
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you have to learn English
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when I started learning I never thought of it as of you know grammar
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and tenses and articles I always thought of it this is the thing
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that is going to get me my dream life
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this is my instrument you don't necessarily have to want to move to the US
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or an English speaking country though I know it's a dream for a lot of people,
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even like to have some work experience here and come back home.
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But what I want you to know is that English is your instrument no matter what you do.
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Like if you're a photographer, you can take courses from Peter McKinnon, who's like one of the best photographers here in the world.
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He's from Canada.
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If you're into marketing, you can take a marketing course at Stanford
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and become number one in your country or top in your country.
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I have a friend whose whole strategy is she, you know, comes here to the US, she attends conferences on marketing,
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and then she launches courses back in her own country.
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And she makes a lot of money doing that.
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So I want you to think of English as of an instrument that's going to get you to your dream life.
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Perspective changes everything.
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Once you have this perspective, it's going to be a lot easier for you to learn things.
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Now let's move on to some practical advice
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but mindset is super important it just changes everything once
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you go from like i'm learning grammar to you know
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i'm learning how to use this amazing instrument
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that's going to get me my dream life that's a completely different story another great way to make studying fun
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and this is something i did
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when i was back in russia i used to call hotels different places
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that i dreamed of and i just talked to customer support
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and this is something you can do as well Yola app is sponsoring this video
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and they are letting you make affordable international calls.
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You can make phone calls to landline and mobile phones.
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And what I want you to do, I want you to install this app.
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Use my promo code LINGUA MARINA to get a special bonus.
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And I want you to call a place that you dream of visiting.
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Like maybe it's
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Universal Studios in Los Angeles.
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Maybe it's a bank on Wall Street in New York.
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Maybe it's Buckingham Palace in England and I want you to call them and practice your English.
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This is something fun and challenging because you know when we're writing something, when we're recording ourselves, we have time to stop and google something.
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When you're talking to a real person, that's a completely different experience.
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So I want you to call them
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and tell them like how much does it cost to come and visit you with my family of three?
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How much is the ticket?
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Or I really want to work where you are right now, how did you get the job?
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Like talk to people, their customer support.
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They have to be nice.
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They have to talk to you even if they don't want to because there is a manager listening to their calls.
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And this is one of the most amazing ways for you to practice English.
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Install Yola app and a promo code Lingomarina and call your favorite place in the world and talk to their customer support.
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And by the way, there is another thing I like about Yola app.
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In the US, we get a lot of spam calls
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and spam calls would always come from a phone number
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that would say no caller ID and I normally don't pick up those calls
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but when you're calling through Yola app the person
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that you're calling would actually see your phone number which would make him or her more likely to pick up your call.
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Yola app.
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The link is down below.
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Now let me give you some practical advice.
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Whenever I'm filming a video like you see I have this new t -shirt
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you know I make at least three videos a week sometimes more because I have my courses.
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And yes, I also get fatigue of making videos, and this is my dream job.
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So what I do is I buy myself a new t -shirt.
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I buy myself something nice to wear.
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Maybe I think of a new hairstyle.
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You know, I have these lights back here, and I can change lights.
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It feels like something new, and I want you to have something new or something that you really like in your studying process.
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When I was at the university, I really liked beautiful stationery so i had all different colors of pens
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and markers and highlighters
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and i invested some money though i didn't have a lot into buying some nice stationery
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because this makes your process more enjoyable and these days i don't know
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if you guys like writing i actually switched to ipad
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and i have an ipad with a pencil
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and they've been around for quite a while
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and i think you can buy a used one
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and just just try this amazing feeling when you're writing with a pencil on an ipad this
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This would bring your studying to the next level, and I know a lot of you cannot afford it,
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but start with at least a beautiful marker.
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Or take a look at your desk, maybe add a plant.
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Add something that would make your process more enjoyable.
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Now, I'm getting super philosophical here, but there is another very important thought that I wanted to share with you.
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When we travel, we do so many things.
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Like when I remember myself coming to London for the first time, I would do
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Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, Oxford Street, Buckingham Palace, everything in a day because I had so much energy.
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Why do we have so much energy when we travel?
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First of all, we know that it's going to end soon, two weeks and then we're back home.
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Second, everything is new and when everything is new, our brain gets excited.
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So I want you to have something new when you study.
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We talked about getting beautiful stationery, we talked about maybe getting an iPad if you have resources for it,
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but try something else try studying in a new place there are a lot of free libraries
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when i studied at the university of dresden i would go to the library almost every other day just
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because i was so tired of my dorm
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and i would go to the library and work there
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and the library was huge we had so many rooms
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and i would change floors i would go to different locations
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when it's warm outside i studied outside which is sometimes challenging
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but still it just brings something new and brings you something to look forward to.
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So I want you to have this sense of travel when you study.
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Because you know, someday you're going to stop learning a language.
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And I miss the time when I actually learned a language because I enjoyed the process.
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But when you're in the moment when you're learning, you're like, Oh my god, this is getting so boring.
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So I want you to get out of your room.
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I want you to get out of your desk and study somewhere else and tag me on Instagram, Linguamarina.
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Let me know that you are learning English in a new place.
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Now let's talk about diffused and focus mode.
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When you're studying, your brain is like, okay, I'm focused.
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I am learning this rule.
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I'm applying that.
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I'm doing this exercise.
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But we need diffuse mode.
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Diffuse mode is when you're in a shower.
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This is why a lot of people tell me
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that their best ideas came to them when they were in the shower or you're walking or you're falling asleep.
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Like this is when diffuse mode comes into work.
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And when we're in the diffuse mode, our brain connects different things that we'll learn throughout the day.
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So this is why when you're studying for the exam and you try to learn everything in two days,
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you don't give your brain a chance to switch on diffuse mode, which means you're going to forget everything in a week.
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Let's be honest with ourselves.
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But if you're taking it slow, if you're giving yourself some rest, which is the best way to study,
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your brain is switching this diffuse mode on and it helps you remember new vocabulary.
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It helps you apply new words in your speech.
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It helps you speak better English.
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So don't forget to rest.
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Another advice, again, super philosophical.
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Challenge yourself by looking at other people.
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I don't know about you guys.
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I'm going to share something super personal.
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When I look at other people, sometimes I get super angry with myself.
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Oh, they're doing this.
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They, you know, raised that much money for their startup.
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They started this company or they're doing this, this and that.
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It makes me angry at some point, but I try to talk to myself and tell myself like, Hey, Marina, this is actually a good thing.
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That means that you're taking their lifestyle.
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You're trying to kind of see whether it would suit you.
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And the answer is yes, because you get angry because you don't have that lifestyle.
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So I want you to do something similar.
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Find someone who inspires you to learn English.
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Find someone who's already reached their goal by using English and follow them every single day.
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Don't make yourself feel too bad, but if you start every day by watching their stories, by watching a video from them,
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and you'll be like, she is living my dream life because she learned English.
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Oh my God, I need to learn even more today.
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I do that to myself almost every single day, which might not be.. too healthy
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but i just realized whenever i see a person having the lifestyle
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that i have oh my god i get so angry
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and i want to work so much that in some time i'm reaching kind of the same
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heights
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so advice for you follow people who make you angry another cool advice
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there is a website called written kitten .com super funny like
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if you're like cats and you need to write something in english
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when you write like a hundred words they're gonna reward you with a picture of a kitten
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and you can change the number of words depending on what you have to do
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but just something visual that would be like oh
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and you know don't forget to reward yourself i always do this
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when okay i'm gonna do this for 20 minutes
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and then i'm gonna have my coffee or if i do this this
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and that i'm gonna celebrate by buying new jeans
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or i'm gonna get myself some nice makeup
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or i'm gonna get myself a new t -shirt like celebrate small wins with small purchases it is fine like super small
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Even a coffee is a great reward in the middle of the day.
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And the last but not the least, record yourself.
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I've recently interviewed Shuriram Krishnan from India on my Silicon Valley Girl channel, and he's in Silicon Valley.
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He's super successful.
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And what he told me is something I want you to remember, is that he told me, find a way to share your passion online.
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Like everyone is passionate about something.
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I'm sure you're passionate about one thing, and you talk about it all the time.
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This is something you love.
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And if you find a way to share this passion, maybe through a YouTube video,
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through a TikTok, through a podcast or written essay or Instagram post, do it in English.
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That was it for me for today, guys.
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I'm looking forward to seeing you tagging me when you're learning English in different funny locations.
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Maybe you're, you know, in France, learning English in front of Eiffel Tower, or maybe you are in Argentina and,
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you know, you're enjoying beautiful weather.
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Tag me.
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Looking forward to seeing you in my next videos.
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Bye bye.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “7 Ways to Make Studying Fun”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: english, learning, dream. This video has 193 sentences and 2330 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:55. The speaker talks fast, about 196 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 85% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| instrument noun | /ˈɪnstɹəmənt/ | A device used to produce music. |
| reward noun | /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/ | Something of value given in return for an act. |
| lifestyle noun | /ˈlaɪfˌstaɪl/ | A style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group. |
| stationary adjective | /ˈsteɪʃəˌnɛɹi/ | Not moving. |
| practical adjective | /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/ | Relating to, or based on, practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis. |
| passion noun | /ˈpæʃən/ | A true desire sustained or prolonged. |
| desk noun | /dɛsk/ | A table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a… |
| photographer noun | /fəˈtɑ.ɡɹə.fɚ/ | One who takes photographs, typically as an occupation. |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
| install verb | /ɪnˈstɔl/ | To connect, set up or prepare something for use |
| passionate adjective | /ˈpæʃənɪt/ | Fired with intense feeling. |
| spam noun | /spæm/ | Any undesired electronic content automatically generated for commercial purposes. |
| pencil noun | /ˈpɛnsəl/ | A writing utensil with a graphite (commonly referred to as lead) shaft, usually blended with clay, clad in wood, and sharpened to a taper. |
| philosophical adjective | /ˌfɪl.əˈsɑ.fɪ.kl̩/ | Of, or pertaining to, philosophy. |
| enjoyable adjective | /ɛnˈd͡ʒɔɪ.ə.bl̩/ | Pleasant, capable of giving pleasure. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| look forward to verb | To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to. |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. |
| burn out verb | To destroy by fire. |
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- How is it gonna make my life better?
- I've met a lot of amazing people.
- Why do we have so much energy when we travel?
- Diffuse mode is when you're in a shower.
- Let's be honest with ourselves.
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 | it's been · I've been · I've met |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | outside which is · mode, which means · rest, which is |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being burned · was born |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the best · the most amazing · their best |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 84 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: stationary /ˈsteɪʃəˌnɛɹi/, passion /ˈpæʃən/, passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: stationary /ˈsteɪʃəˌnɛɹi/, photographer /fəˈtɑ.ɡɹə.fɚ/, philosophical /ˌfɪl.əˈsɑ.fɪ.kl̩/, universal /ˌjunəˈvɜɹs(ə)l/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/
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 instrument, reward, lifestyle.
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.