Shadowing Practice: Como evitar emburrecer na era dos smartphones - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Very good, ladies and gentlemen, recently I read this article of opinion published in the New York Times by the journalist Mary Harrington,

a Britannica, and I think it's worth a look at a idea about the argument of this journalist in this article.

Of course, it's not a scientific article, it's a opinion, as it says, but I think it's interesting to raise it these reflections.

So I'll try to structure the argument of this journalist this article of opinion

and then I will tell you some things about what I think about it and maybe some suggestions for you, okay?

First, subscribe to the channel, if you're not subscribed to the channel, leave your subscribe, leave your like and then comment what you think

that I'm trying to do to do videos here for YouTube

and your interaction is important to reforcer my comportment of going back here, okay?

Very well, what Mary Harrington says here in this excellent article in The New York Times?

Basically, she says that thinking is becoming a luxury, a luxury, and that few people from now on this point,

or at this point, can think not only clearly, but also have time to think.

And the argument of it is structured in the following way.

First, it makes clear that a deep deep deep is capable of developing cognitive capacities.

What is a deep deep deep?

It's the deep deep deep that you are in the attention of the object that you are reading.

It's not the deep deep deep deep,

deep deep, deep deep, Instagram, or feed of TikTok but that's the way you can see it on a text,

understand what the author wanted to argument in the text and can take away from it a very refined

a very refined way of the thesis that is defined by the author.

And she is right in saying that.

In fact, you have, and here I'm talking as a neuroscientist, you have this experience of a more difficult reading makes with your brain,

tal qual a muscle, metaphorically speaking, it's much more hypertrophied, more robust,

not necessarily more, but more capable of getting to understand things more difficult.

That's why a reader accustomed to text denser

can spend less energy reading these texts denser than a reader who doesn't read anything.

It will obviously end a difficulty to interpret a text a little more difficult.

So, yes, a deep reading this part of her argument is correct.

Second, she says that the digital environment reduces our capacity to exercise this lecture.

And this is also correct.

When you have lot of time on the internet, especially in social media, which is where people spend more time in the internet,

especially Instagram and TikTok, and in Brazil, I've said this in other videos, we use a lot of social media compared to other countries,

even though, a British author, I'll give an example.

I went to London a few months ago and I was shocked how people in environments like pubs, which is like in London, there's a pub in some place,

they don't stay on the phone.

Sometimes there's two people in a table, drinking beer, drinking beer, drinking beer, and then it kind of happens to these two people and they don't push the phone to look.

The only person in the phone with the phone in hand was I who took it to take a photo to tour.

So, of course, when we are more time in the social media, we are not exercising so much our cognitive faculties.

And, by the contrary, we are, at least not exercising so much the cognitive faculties more complex,

but we are exercising the muscles of the brain that are used to a quick content.

atrofiando, então, os músculos que querem um conteúdo, que sustentam um conteúdo mais complexo,

e hipertrofiando os músculos que trabalham com conteúdo rápido.

Isso é curioso, porque o cérebro não fica podre, digamos assim, de uma maneira geral.

Você continua exercitando áreas envolvidas com resposta a estímulos de recompensa mais rápida, de dopamina mais rápida.

So, for now, without any tir or not, the journalist is correct.

So she says that, as a deep dive develops these cognitive capacities important,

as we spend a lot of time on social media and not exercise these complex facultades,

so the digital environment has this power to reduce our cognitive capacities more elevations.

And I agree with you.

And the next step of her argument is to say that the exposure to the digital environment is equal to classes.

I don't know if it's true in the United States, I don't know where she took this data, but here in Brazil I would say, and this is just a machismo my,

that by the fact that we are one of the biggest consumers of social media media, this probably was diluted here.

I believe that the man who studied in a particular school, who studied public, the guy rich, the guy poor etc, all of them use a social network.

Again, because we are a country that consumes a social network and this is statistically proven.

So I don't know if this is able to be translated to this, but the fact is that, according to her, in the United States,

as people more poor pass more time on social media,

these people will have a lower capacity to exercise these higher functions of their intellect.

And therefore, it justifies the title of the opinion of her,

that people with more money will have more capacity to think with quality, because these people with more money, and theoretically not be so much on social media.

I think, here's my achism, that in Brazil, people with money,

people without money, they are not immune to the effects of the social media, the use of the social media.

And here, just to be clear, first, why is social media a big problem when you use it too?

And you must use, yes, much more than you imagine, just to go to the settings of your smartphone and see how long you spend on social media,

Instagram, TikTok, etc. Probably is more than you imagine.

Why is it a problem?

For two reasons.

In terms of neurobiology.

First, because you are used to be a superficial content and cheap in terms of recompense.

And then it makes you make other things that demand more effort.

And things that demand effort, like doing a TCC in the school, going to a conference, etc., you have to give a recovery immediate in prol of a future recovery.

So you have to be a brain, to have a greater desire to find a very much more to find a very cheap recovery.

In second place, because when you get a feed, these feeds infinites, that you don't know what comes after,

and this imprevisibility makes your brain explode in terms dopaminérgicos, you enter in a very similar situation with a dissociation.

Why?

Because a state of dissociation is when you are not taking care of what is taking care of it.

And you simply are taking a travel trip.

And your attention is being taken care of it without knowing what is happening.

And after that, that moment, that temporal session, you are incapable of remembering what happened.

And this may happen with you in the moment of infinitive roll of feed.

I suggest you experiment after finishing the feed.

And try to remember 4 or 5 videos that you just saw.

It's probably not that you remember.

Because you were in this state dissociative, kind of lost within you.

It's very crazy because it's important to have these states dissociative.

Many people, I'm not talking about in terms of pathological, many people will travel to car to make a more parecida, many people will watch a film that they don't want to pay attention to espare,

or they will walk, they will go.

The problem is that when you have these states of travel in the mayonnaise within a business that is hyper dopaminérgico,

you start to mess up your systems and become dependent on that.

That's it.

Dito all this, it can be that yes, it can be that yes, it can be that the opinion of this journalist is correct, the hypothesis is that.

It can be that it can be transformed or it can be transformed in a situation, in a situation, in a situation, more rare.

and then I don't know if it's exclusive from elite

or from people that have a greater capacity of sacar

that social is a funnel of attention and

that you can't get out of the list if you don't have a effort at.

This, in my opinion, will also increase even more with the advent of these models of IA, like chat EPT.

I don't know about this, but I think you can have a great use of it to expand your capacity cognitive and your studies,

etc. But when a person tercerizes for a chat EPT to do something, just tercerize, write a story about it.

And if she didn't write, didn't think, didn't raciocin, didn't talk, didn't instigate with him,

you also will be atrofied a series of areas and will be incapable of thinking in the absence of that.

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So, I think the great suggestion that I do here in this video to you, that is here me watching and that,

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and so is a person who is more concerned with studies, habits, things more healthy, with your future,

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is that you don't let your car...

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You know your behavior like a car in a supermarket with a broken rod?

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You push it passively and it goes to the side.

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I suggest you don't let this car in a broken rod with a broken rod and you take it to five years, I'm going to be able to be able to read social media,

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without reading three books, and not able to be able to raciocine, because it's a whole thing for the chat EPT or for similar models.

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Think about yourself, emancipate intellectually,

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and not be afraid of the reals infinite that you can't remember what you just saw.

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Because your life will pass, will pass, will pass, and maybe you'll be ashamed a lot of losing a good thing that we can't get more, which is the time.

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All right?

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This is the reflection of this video.

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I think I can contemplate the points that I wrote here.

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I hope it has been relevant.

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And if you were, leave your like here for me to come back to produce content for you.

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And also, I'll let you know some suggestions of content in the comments, that the Matheus, who is the editor here,

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will be sent me to have ideas of video to contemplate what you want to know.

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Valeu!

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Nos vemos no próximo vídeo e até lá.

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Speaking Goals for This Clip

This video is perfect for English speaking practice, targeting the milestone of maintaining natural rhythm and clarity while discussing complex ideas. It helps learners move beyond basic phrases by modeling how to structure arguments, express opinions, and connect thoughts—skills crucial for fluent, engaging communication. Whether you’re practicing shadowing technique or simply aiming to sound more confident, the dialogue’s mix of explanation and reflection provides a realistic template for everyday and academic speaking.

Phrase Bank

"It's worth a look at a idea about the argument"
"I think it's interesting to raise these reflections"
"First, subscribe to the channel, if you're not subscribed"
"the digital environment reduces our capacity to exercise this lecture"
"we are not exercising so much our cognitive faculties"

These phrases are reusable in discussions about technology, learning, or personal opinions. They teach how to introduce topics, invite engagement, and articulate cause-and-effect relationships—key for building conversational flow.

Fix Your Weak Spots

The video shines a light on common pronunciation and rhythm issues, especially with multisyllabic words like "cognitive," "hypertrophied," and "environment." Many learners rush through long words or misplace stress, but the speaker’s deliberate pace makes it ideal for shadow speak practice. Focus on mimicking the stress on "COG-nitive" and "en-VI-ron-ment" to sound more natural. Additionally, the dialogue’s pauses between ideas (e.g., "So, yes, a deep reading this part of her argument is correct") teach how to use silence to emphasize points— a skill often overlooked in English speaking practice. Using a shadowing site to repeat these sections can help you internalize the rhythm, making your speech feel less forced and more conversational.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is structured · is defined · was diluted
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	media, which is · pubs, which is · man who studied
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've said · has been

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: Como evitar emburrecer na era dos smartphones - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Speaking Goals for This Clip

Phrase Bank

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Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?