Shadowing Practice: A old man's advice - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Good morning.
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I made a video not too long ago called An Old Man's Advice.
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Wow, looking at me, it looks like I need to trim my beard a little bit.
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But I received several requests to continue on with that.
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And so I've decided to share a little bit about myself and my life and my hardships and my successes with you.
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You know, this world today is tough.
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It's tough for young people.
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And it's tough for people that for years have had jobs
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and security and made good money and been able to take care of their families.
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And some time ago, as you know, jobs were shipped overseas to improve the bottom line of big companies.
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And I thought I'd tell you a little bit about myself.
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I quit school when I was in a 10th grade.
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My mother and father left me standing on a street corner.
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And so it was up to me to make it.
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And I had a job working at a shell filling station.
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And I went to the owner and I told him my situation.
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And I was making a dollar an hour, and I asked him if I could work more hours.
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And so I began working 90 hours a week.
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And during that time, as I've said before, my home was the back of an old car.
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And I worked my 90 hours a week.
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And I took my baths in a polling station restroom.
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and I washed my clothes, my private clothes, in the sink.
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And once in a while, when I was really hungry,
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I would go to the grocery store and snitch an apple or an orange.
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Now this was in the 50s.
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Things were a lot different than they are now and I'm convinced
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that the owner of the grocery store knew what I was doing
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because it was about a half a block away from where I worked and he knew me.
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Now I've said before that good things nor bad things last forever. And that's true.
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And I began to learn different things.
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I knew in my soul that if I had nothing to offer,
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I was as far as I was going to go.
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now unemployment at
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that time was very high on the other hand in the 50s you could go into a corporation
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and ask for a job and get it
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and after I'd worked 90 hours a week for a long time I went into the service I was 17.
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In the service, I taught myself to read and write.
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The first book I picked up was a book written by Louis Slumore and had 196 pages in it.
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I'll never forget it.
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It was a cowboy story, a western.
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and there were words in there
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that I didn't know I didn't understand I had no idea what they were so I got a dictionary from
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the service library
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and as I would read if there was a word
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that I didn't understand I would look it up and I will tell you now it took me almost three weeks to read 196 pages
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but I read and I continued to read
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and in several months I was reading two
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and three books at a time and I knew where I was in every single one of them.
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So that's what you can do.
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A person's mind is incredible.
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Your mind is incredible.
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As a young person, regardless of what's happening in the world today, you have opportunity.
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And don't you believe for one single minute what they say in the media.
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because if you aren't getting ahead and you need to get ahead, position yourself to learn.
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Go to the library and learn.
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You are the backbone of this world.
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Young people, without you, this world is nothing.
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Nothing.
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You are the backbone of this world.
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You are the future leaders of this world.
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You are the ones that see the greed of the people that are running it now.
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You are the ones that see the waste of the people that are running it now.
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We need you.
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We need your minds.
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We need your hearts.
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We need your lives.
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We need your loves.
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We need you to care.
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And I know that you do care.
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Oh, I see young people stepping on a flag and throwing rocks and rioting.
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That's frustration.
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Frustration.
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It's frustration with the establishment, and I understand it. But that's not you.
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Don't let that be you.
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Rise above it.
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You're better than that.
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Rise above it.
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Anyway, I got kind of off track there.
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But anyway, as I went on and I got out of the service,
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I had begun to write and educate myself.
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I got a little bit of college.
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And I continued on through my life with that.
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And you can do the same thing.
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You don't have to have a doctorate or a PhD or a master's degree.
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What you have to have is determination.
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You have to have an inner will to get things done.
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You have to have a desire.
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And I know the desire is there.
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Because as I said before.
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Without your brains.
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Without your ambition.
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Without your drive.
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This world will be nothing.
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Nothing.
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Because old people like me.
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Die off.
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I have been successful.
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Not tremendously successful.
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But I have a decent retirement.
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I live with my lovely wife in Arizona.
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I've had financial problems.
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Everyone has those. But you can't stop.
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You can't quit.
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You can't say, I'm a failure.
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You're not a failure.
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You're not.
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You're a wonderful, strong, intelligent youngster.
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Take advantage of that.
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Trust in God.
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Trust in yourself. and step forward.
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Put one foot in front of another.
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Let me give you an example.
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I've had a couple of businesses.
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They weren't tremendously successful, but they were successful.
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I've written books.
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I have presently probably 13 or 14 books in a publication.
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My latest is Copper Penny.
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It's in paperback on Amazon.
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Look it up.
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so you can do it I did it
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you can do it I'm 76 and to my last breath I will encourage young people because I love them
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I will encourage young people because I know they are the future you are the ones
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that must save the oceans you are the ones
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that must save the air because those that are in power the bottom line unfortunately for many,
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many of those in power all over the world is wealth and power over others.
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So I'm going to close this now, but I just wanted you to know that people like me,
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old soldiers, old people, we understand.
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And as old as I am, I would pick up my cane and defend you to my last breath because I love you.
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So I'm going to stop now.
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But just remember, never quit.
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Never quit.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
This video titled "An Old Man's Advice" offers a unique perspective on perseverance and personal growth through hardship. As you engage with this content, you have the opportunity to practice your speaking skills effectively. Listening to the speaker’s life story not only exposes you to real-life vocabulary and colloquial expressions but also allows you to emulate the natural flow of conversation.
By repeating phrases and intonations, you can enhance your speaking abilities. Using a shadowing app during your practice can help you mimic the speaker’s tone and pace, which is essential for improving your English pronunciation. The authentic narrative style encourages learners to connect emotionally, making it easier to remember new vocabulary.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In this video, several key grammatical structures and expressions can be analyzed for your learning benefit:
- Conditional Sentences: The speaker often reflects on the outcomes of past situations, using conditional structures (e.g., "If I had nothing to offer..."). Practicing these forms can help you express hypothetical situations effectively.
- Past Tense Use: The storytelling involves a rich use of the past tense, illustrating life events. Engaging with these narratives aids in understanding how to narrate your own experiences, especially during IELTS speaking practice.
- Direct Speech: The speaker shares personal anecdotes that utilize direct speech, providing real-life dialogue examples. This enhances your conversational skills and helps in practical speaking scenarios.
- Adverbial Phrases: By listening to phrases such as "at that time" and "during that period," you can learn how to give context to your stories, which is vital for coherence in speaking.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As you practice your English speaking skills with this video, be mindful of the following pronunciation traps:
- “a dollar an hour” - Pay attention to the blending of the words to maintain fluency and clarity.
- “polling station restroom” - The combination of these words can be challenging due to their syllabic structure. Breaking them down as you practice can enhance your understanding.
- “I worked my 90 hours a week” - Make sure to emphasize the rhythm of this phrase to sound more natural. Using a shadowing site can be beneficial here.
Overall, incorporating these elements into your study regimen will significantly improve your English speaking abilities. The emotional depth and real-life lessons in this video provide an engaging context for learners striving for fluency.
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 | I've decided · have had · I've said |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people that are |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was making · was doing · was reading |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | need to trim · need to get · have to have |
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.