Shadowing Practice: Asking 70 Year Olds About Their Biggest Regrets in Life - Learn English Speaking with Video

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When you think on your life at 84, what is a big mistake that you made or a big regret you have that taught you a very valuable lesson?

Everybody thinks when they're young you get a second chance, but there is no second chances.

Don't be stupid.

Don't smoke, don't smoke, don't smoke.

I have thought a lot about that since my diagnosis.

I was going to die in three months.

I could go on forever on the mistakes I made in my life.

I haven't really thought about what my dreams are.

That's a mistake.

I should have put more thinking, more energy, more plan to realize my dreams.

You can't worry about what other people have, what other people say, what other people think, because you're in charge.

In this video, I'll be in Montreal, Canada, asking strangers in their 60s, 70s and 80s, some of the oldest and wisest people on the planet, about their biggest regrets in life,

and their best piece of life advice for their younger selves.

How old are you?

I'm 66.

I will turn 67 in September.

What does it feel like to be 66 turning 67?

The alternative was to be dead.

I was diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago.

Stage 4, which is serious.

Like, I was going to die in three months.

It was the end of the world.

I started fixing things and throwing away useless things and cleaning my house.

But about three, six, nine months passed and I didn't die.

In the meantime, many people that I know have died.

So now if I have three months, six months, I don't know.

But every day it's a wonderful experience again.

Life is beautiful.

Life is wonderful to be lived and I'm so grateful to be able to keep going a little bit more.

Everything can change, so don't wait until something arrives before enjoying your life and being grateful and love people around you.

Is there a mistake that you made or a regret that you had won?

I have thought a lot about that since my diagnosis.

I think the most, the biggest mistake is not saying to my parents more frequently that I love them.

Because they are dead now.

And I think that it could be better if I had said more times, I love you dad, I love you mom.

What do you think young people in general might be taking for granted, might not be realizing is as important as it really is?

Relationships and just thinking that you have tomorrow, you know?

It doesn't matter what you do today.

It's just, it's nothing is long term with the younger people.

Everybody thinks when they're young you get a second chance, but there is no second chances.

Just scary to be 85, to know that you don't have that many more years in front of you, so you've got to make the best of it.

You want to do more now than before, because before you had all the time in the world, and now you don't.

My husband recently passed away, so I'm on my own, although I have my kids around me.

How long were you together with your husband for?

Oh my god, we would have been married 60 odd years.

Wow.

I got married when I was 20.

20?

20. Oh my god.

20 years old.

Yeah?

Yeah, he passed away 5 years ago.

You were married for 60 years?

Yeah.

What would be your advice for finding that?

Like what does that person look like or what do they have?

I don't know, we just, we were very different.

We just clicked.

We were always on the same page.

He was a very good boy, and he was very calm.

We were just easy.

What does it feel like to be 75?

Old.

I was a singles competitive tennis player.

Now I haven't been on the court for almost two years, because the body's not permitting me.

I'm still optimistically, maybe delusional, but hoping that I'm not quite done.

Something to get used to, and a bit of a hole in my life.

And I do occasionally dream about playing tennis still.

When you look back on your life at this point, is there a mistake you made or a regret that you have

that at the time it taught you a very valuable lesson?

I could go on forever on the mistakes, specifically business mistakes, I made in my life.

And I can only give you a handful of the things I did right.

In tennis, if I played somebody and won, I may or may not remember them or the match.

If I played somebody and lost, I'll remember them and I'll remember the match very well.

Absolutely.

So we were saying the lesson is the mistakes are good.

The mistakes are good and not to dwell on them and appreciate.

Yeah.

Appreciating is difficult.

Appreciating what you have and being fairly content with it.

I think you need to make those mistakes to appreciate when the good stuff happens, right?

Absolutely.

Yes, very much so.

Honestly, that interview with the woman who was talking about having lung cancer, She said something that was, I think, so important for everybody here.

Don't wait until something terrible happens to you.

It doesn't have to be cancer, but an injury, a breakup, personal loss.

Oftentimes, we just take life for granted until something big happens.

And then all of a sudden, a lot of things that we've put off become super important to us.

And like she said, the day she found out the diagnosis, she went home.

She started talking to certain friends.

She started cleaning up her house she started doing things she

didn't usually do why don't you do those things every day why don't you go to a park

and spend more time outside every single day um yeah biggest lesson

that i think i've taken away

so far from this video is don't put things off

because you never know when something might happen what is one thing

that when you were younger you put a lot of importance on

and as you you got older you realized wasn't worth worrying about?

Mmm.

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If I always wanted to be a scientist, and I was, but you know, in the end, it doesn't really make much difference.

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How come?

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Why do you say this?

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Well, you get to be well known, but it's just for a short while, and then things move on,

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and you realize it's just part of life.

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I see you're doing a workout in the park.

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Yes.

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Here.

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Do you do this a lot?

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Right now I'm doing at least, you know, like twice or three times a week.

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It's a kind of a secret of being in a good mood.

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It's one of the pillars of the well-being.

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Yeah.

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Absolutely.

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When you look back on your life so far, what's a big mistake that you made?

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Or a big regret you have that at the time it taught you a valuable lesson?

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I would say that I haven't really thought about what my dreams are.

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That's a mistake, you know, like I should have put more thinking, more energy more plan to realize my dreams

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because sometimes we think oh it's gonna do that later that's a regret

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that I have but it's not too late

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when did you switch well recently like maybe around

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when I was 50 now you realize you know like probably half of your life

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so it's time to you know like to not just think about the serious stuff

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but having fun

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if you could give advice to a young person based on

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what you just said what would what's your advice to them

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yeah like at least uh you know like list your dream

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make one dream a year at least yeah what is one thing

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that when you were younger you put a lot of importance on maybe something you worried a lot about

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and as you got older you realized it wasn't worth worrying about beauty beauty yeah

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you think

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that it's wow wonderful you have to take care you have

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to you have to take care of your health yeah your relationships your person of course

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but beauty is um is not

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that important see young girls very very worried doing things i said oh darling you're beautiful now

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so enjoy it there's a lot of pressure to take care of beauty

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and that's it's useless what's your advice how do you appreciate

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what you look like without needing the oh my goodness it's hard to say you need to be interested in important things,

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in relationships, in your development, intellectual development, in your personal development, your qualities as a person.

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Yeah, but you don't think you're not beautiful now.

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It's just that your perception of beauty is different.

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Has changed, yeah.

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Well, I mean, I'm okay.

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It's not important.

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I feel loved.

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That's more important than feel beautiful and not being loved.

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If you could give one piece of advice to your 25-year-old self, what comes to mind?

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What would you say to her?

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I would never say, don't take life seriously.

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Take it seriously.

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Don't listen to what other people are doing and saying and what their life is like.

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And don't wish you had that or you were like that

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or you had a relationship like this or you wish you had more money

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or you wish you had a better job or you wish my life circumstances were different, because you're in charge.

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You can't worry about what other people have, what other people say, what other people think.

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Just be your best self.

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Be a good person.

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I think once you're a good person, it comes back to you tenfold.

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It really does.

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Go with what your passions are.

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Do what you want to do.

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Just go for it.

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Enjoy the ride as much as possible.

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The journey is much more fun and greater than the destination.

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Stop smoking.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, don't smoke, don't be stupid, don't smoke, don't smoke, don't smoke.

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I smoked for a short period of time, and the doctor said that this kind of tumor is not related to cigarettes.

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But still, I should say, don't start this stupid thing.

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Yeah.

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When you look at young people today, where do you think they might be going wrong in life?

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Well, I think they're doing just fine.

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I think most people are doing just fine.

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It's never easy, but you know, I think young people are doing pretty well.

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I'm impressed.

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What impresses you about them?

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Well, it's much more difficult than it used to be to make your way in the world, right?

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There's a lot more people and the opportunities aren't there.

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So, but people still thrive.

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Young people, most of the world doesn't have an option they have to go out

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and do whatever they can do to bring in enough money to survive, pay the rent, pay food,

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etc. If you're fortunate to have an option and don't need the money desperately, then my advice is find something you really enjoy.

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And what's the old adage, if you like your work, you never have to really work a day in your life.

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Absolutely.

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Thank you so much for watching this video.

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If you enjoy it, please make sure to subscribe

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and stay tuned for many more life advice videos coming every single week on this channel.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Asking 70 Year Olds About Their Biggest Regrets in Life”. This video has 185 sentences and 1929 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:07. The speaker talks at a natural 173 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
diagnosis noun	/daɪəɡˈnəʊsɪs/	The process of, or an instance of, identification of the nature and cause of a medical condition or illness.
impress verb	/ɪmˈpɹɛs/	To affect (someone) strongly and often favourably.
lung noun	/ˈlʌŋ/	A biological organ of vertebrates that controls breathing and oxygenates the blood.
diagnose verb	/ˈdaɪ.əɡˌnoʊs/	To determine which disease is causing a sick person's signs and symptoms; to find the diagnosis.
oftentimes adverb	/ˈɔf.ənˌtaɪmz/	Frequently; often.
optimistically adverb	/ˌɑptɪˈmɪstɪkli/	In an optimistic manner.
permitting verb	/pəɹˈmɪ.tɪŋ/	Used in an absolute clause to indicate that the statement modified by the clause (typically an expression of intent) will only be fulfilled if not impeded by…
tenfold adjective	/ˈtɛnfoʊld/	Ten times as much or as many.
delusional adjective	/dɪˈluːʒənəl/	Suffering from delusions; having false or faulty beliefs.
dwell verb	/dwɛl/	To live; to reside.
pillar noun	/ˈpɪlɚ/	A large post, often used as supporting architecture.
breakup noun	/ˈbɹeɪk.ʌp/	The act of breaking up; disintegration or division.
circumstance noun	/ˈsɝ.kəmˌstæns/	Something which is related to, or in some way affects, a fact or event.
thrive verb	/θɹajv/	To grow or increase stature; to grow vigorously or luxuriantly; to enjoy a state of excellent health and well-being; to flourish.
tumor noun	/tuː.məɹ/	An abnormal growth; differential diagnosis includes abscess, metaplasia, and neoplasia.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
pass away verb		To die.
clean up verb		To make an area or a thing clean; to pick up a mess; to tidy.
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
go out verb		To leave, especially a building.
put off verb		To postpone, especially through procrastination.
take away verb	/ˌteɪk əˈweɪ/	To remove something and put it in a different place.
throw away verb		To discard (trash, garbage, or the like), to toss out, to put in the trash.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

How long were you together with your husband for?
What would be your advice for finding that?
Why do you say this?
Do you do this a lot?
What would you say to her?

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	have thought · haven't really thought · haven't been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was diagnosed · be lived · being loved
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group	the oldest · their best · the biggest
Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain	might be · may not remember · might happen

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 63 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: delusional /dɪˈluːʒənəl/, perception /pɚˈsɛpʃ(ə)n/, destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: optimistically /ˌɑptɪˈmɪstɪkli/, delusional /dɪˈluːʒənəl/, desperately /ˈdɛs.p(ə.)ɹət.li/, destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/, intellectual /ˌɪntəˈlɛkt͡ʃʊəl/

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 diagnosis, impress, lung.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Asking 70 Year Olds About Their Biggest Regrets in Life - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?