Shadowing Practice: Checking out The Human Library - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

B2
Check this out.
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Check this out.
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We're off to the library and a story from our Dr. John LePouc.
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While most libraries prefer that readers use their quiet voices,
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we just visited a library in Copenhagen where talking is actually encouraged.
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It's a library where we give out human beings on loan
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and they'll be an open book for you and answer any question you have about the topic that they're offering.
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PAUL SOLMAN, RONNIE ABRAGEL, The Human Library,
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founded the Human Library 26 years ago.
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To be clear, there are no physical books.
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The people are called books.
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RONNIE ABRAGEL, Human Library, Human Library,
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All of our books are volunteers.
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PAUL SOLMAN, RONNIE ABRAGEL, Human Library,
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All of our books are volunteers.
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And can you leave the premises with the person?
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RONNIE ABRAGEL, No. PAUL SOLMAN,
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RONNIE ABRAGEL, The rules are really simple.
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Bring the book back on time and bring it back in the same condition.
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PAUL SOLMAN, RONNIE ABRAGEL, Human Library,
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There are now Human Libraries in more than 80 countries,
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including six in the United States, with plans for more.
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Most readings take place at public libraries,
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schools and universities, and on the Human Library website.
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The 30-minute sessions are free.
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The most popular books are typically books on mental health.
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Schizophrenia, bipolar, autism, anxiety, depression,
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all of these topics are almost global bestsellers.
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My goal was to take out three books.
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A lot of people assume that people with schizophrenia are either dangerous or helpless.
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That is definitely not the case.
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33-year-old Christian Sana studied quantum physics in college and was diagnosed with anxiety and schizophrenia 13 years ago.
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That's when he came to believe he was always being watched and wondered if the world he inhabited was fake.
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A thought popped into my head.
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Maybe I'm fake.
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I might be a robot,
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and everything I've experienced up until now is just false memories implanted into my head.
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So in my psychotic mental state I reach the conclusion if I am a robot or a hologram or something,
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obviously I don't have blood in my veins.
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I have oil, wires, something.
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So I go to the kitchen and pull out a knife
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and it's worth mentioning at this point this This wasn't a large, dramatic, suicidal thing.
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It was two very measured, neat cuts.
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I even disinfected the knife beforehand.
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I realized, okay, there's a bit of blood there.
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Cool.
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Obviously I am human and the world around me is fake.
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Back to that theory.
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Sana took medication and started therapy,
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and today is cherishing his family life.
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Right now, how are you feeling?
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I'm feeling good.
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We train every person to be an open book because the methodology is a little unique.
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This is not about me telling a long story to you.
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It's about your curiosity guiding the conversation.
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What do you want to know the most about my topic?
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The Human Library is supported by private foundations and public donations.
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And all the volumes, those sharing their life stories, are volunteers.
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You think that person is so different than you,
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but within half an hour you think,
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oh my God, I have a lot of common with that person.
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37-year-old Noora Bitar is a political scientist from Syria who came to Denmark with her Danish husband at the age of 20.
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How well did you speak Danish?
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Nothing.
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Nothing.
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I didn't speak a word of Danish.
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That was in March of 2011,
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when pro-democracy protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad led to a violent government crackdown and civil war.
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Over all these years, how have you been treated?
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Depends.
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For some people I am the refugee.
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And I think I accepted that.
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Most of the people, especially in Copenhagen, were open about me.
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But I also heard a lot about,
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like, you don't look like the typical refugee.
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What do they mean by that?
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So I am very obviously confident.
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I'm proud.
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And I speak English.
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I speak fluent Danish.
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I think there's that stigma.
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Like, a refugee should always be sad.
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I shouldn't be dressed nicely.
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So there's a stigma about dressing well and speaking well and being high educated.
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In Denmark, immigration policies have become more restrictive,
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and Bitar is still awaiting Danish citizenship.
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Now, after getting divorced, she looks forward to her second marriage,
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but still struggles with her traumatic past.
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Do you ever dream of Syria?
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I do.
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When I first came, I always dreamed that I was a bride walking,
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and there are gunshots in my wedding dress.
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It kind of like haunted me that I survived because I lost friends,
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I lost family members, and I always felt like I have that survival guilt, even until today.
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So my PTSD was always pictured me as somebody who also got shot,
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even in my wedding dress.
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So I don't know, I'm still struggling off.
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Every time I dream about Syria now,
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am I gonna be sad?
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Is there any question that a book won't answer?
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Sure, every book has their boundaries.
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If you go beyond the boundaries of what they're comfortable talking about,
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they'll know to say to you,
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I'm sorry, but those pages have not been published yet.
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I have never met anybody from Greenland before.
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55-year-old Viva Olsen, an indigenous Greenlander,
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remembers a childhood in nature.
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It's been a very wonderful upbringing because the first thing you get to do
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when you're just an infant is to go out sailing and hunting.
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What did you hunt?
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We hunt reindeer, we hunt polar bears,
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birds, and fish, and seals, lots of seals.
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JEFFREY BROWN, Can you sing any,
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like, lullaby in Greenlandic or anything?
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BIDAK UMA, BIDAK UMA, MAGYYY,
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MAGYYY, SIE ANOX PALUPO, SIE ANOX PALUPO, ALFINAR, ALFINAR.
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That's Brother Jack.
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JEFFREY BROWN, Frere Jacques.
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She had no trouble moving to Denmark in 2009,
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as Greenland is a self-governing territory that's part of Denmark.
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Today, Olsen is an aide to patients in psychiatric units.
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Before President Trump expressed his desire to own Greenland,
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did people there pay any attention or much attention to President Trump?
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No. We'd always seen America as the land of milk and honey and friendly,
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whose interest and presents in Greenland was benign.
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Olsen has happy memories of American soldiers stationed in her native country.
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They were well loved.
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Santa Claus would come by chopper,
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and he would bring us presents.
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And it was basically the American soldiers who'd chipped in and bought a lot of presents for the kids.
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That was really sweet.
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How old were you when that happened?
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I was six years old.
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Because what happens when I'm not afraid of you,
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and you have nothing to fear from me,
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our quality of life goes up.
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All of our life quality could go up if we were more understanding and accepting.
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Ronnie Abregel says they have already reached millions and just maybe are changing lives,
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reflecting the human library's goal to unjudge someone.
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We don't have to be best friends,
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all of us here, but we need to try and understand each other.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will engage with a unique English learning experience inspired by "The Human Library," a concept that promotes open dialogue and understanding through storytelling. As you listen to narratives shared by individuals with diverse life experiences, you will practice your English speaking and comprehension skills. This practice will enhance your ability to ask questions and formulate responses in conversational English, focusing on real-life topics such as mental health and personal growth. You will also learn to apply the shadowing technique to improve your pronunciation and fluency while engaging in meaningful discussions.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Encouraged - actively promoted or supported
  • Loan - to borrow something temporarily, in this case, a person who shares their story
  • Volunteer - someone who offers to participate without payment
  • Session - a meeting or period devoted to a particular activity
  • Mental health - the state of someone's emotional and psychological well-being
  • Diagnosis - the identification of a disease or condition through evaluation
  • Therapy - treatment aimed at relieving or healing a disorder, often involving talking
  • Psychotic - relating to or denoting a mental condition that causes a person to lose touch with reality

Practice Tips

To maximize your learning experience, follow these practice tips while watching the video and employing the shadowing app. First, listen carefully to the speed and tone of the speakers. The inviting and conversational nature of their dialogue makes it an excellent resource for IELTS speaking practice. Repeat phrases and sentences aloud right after you hear them to refine your pronunciation and rhythm. This mimicking technique, known as shadowspeak, will help you internalize correct speech patterns.

Start with shorter segments of the video, focusing on emotional content and storytelling. Emphasize any particular keywords or phrases, especially those listed above, as they are crucial for understanding context. After shadowing, try to summarize what you learned in your own words, either orally or in writing. Discussing your thoughts with a language partner will further enhance your conversational skills and confidence in real-life situations.

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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