Shadowing Practice: Day 13 - A Time I Had to Make an Important Decision | British English - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello everyone and welcome back to our English shadowing channel.
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Today I would like to share a personal experience about a time
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when I had to make an important decision in my life.
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A decision that did not only affect my work but also change the way I see myself and my future.
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In life we make decisions every day but most of them are small and do not require much thought.
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However there are certain moments when we face a decision
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that feels heavy because we know that once we choose there is no easy way back.
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The decision I am going to talk about happened a few years ago during a period
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when I felt uncertain about my direction in life.
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At that time, I was standing between two options and both of them had strong reasons to be chosen.
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One option was safe and familiar.
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It allowed me to stay in a situation that I already understood well, where I felt comfortable and protected from major risks.
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Choosing this path meant stability, predictability and less pressure.
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The other option, however, was completely different.
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It required change, courage, and the willingness to step into the unknown.
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This option pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to face new challenges, new responsibilities, and new expectations.
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What made this decision difficult was not the lack of choices, but the fear of making the wrong one.
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I was afraid that if I chose incorrectly, I would waste time, lose opportunities, or disappoint people who trusted me.
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During that period, my mind was constantly busy.
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I kept thinking about possible outcomes,
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imagining different future scenarios, and asking myself whether I was strong enough to handle failure if things did not go as planned.
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To gain clarity, I decided to slow down and reflect instead of rushing into a decision.
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I started by carefully analysing both options, not only in terms of benefits,
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but also in terms of long-term impact on my personal growth and happiness.
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I also talked openly with people I trusted, such as my family and close friends, because their perspectives helped me see things from different angles.
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Although their advice was valuable, I understood that they could not make the decision for me.
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At some point, I realized that no matter how much I analyzed the situation, there would always be uncertainty.
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There was no perfect option, only different paths with different risks and rewards.
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Eventually, I chose the option that scared me the most, but also excited me the most.
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I chose growth over comfort, even though I was not fully confident at the time.
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The beginning was not easy.
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I faced many challenges, made mistakes, and sometimes questioned my own abilities.
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There were days when I felt overwhelmed and doubted whether I had made the right choice.
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However, as time passed, I started to notice changes in myself.
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I became more independent, more confident, and more capable of handling pressure.
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I learned skills that I would never have learned if I had chosen the safer path.
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This experience taught me that confidence does not come before action, but is built through action.
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By facing difficulties directly, I slowly developed resilience and self-trust.
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looking back now I do not measure the success of
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that decision only by results
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or achievements instead I measure it by how much I have grown as a person
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and how much I have learned about myself.
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Even if the outcome had been different, I believe the experience itself was valuable.
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It helped me understand that making difficult decisions is an essential part of personal development.
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Since then, my attitude towards important decisions has changed significantly.
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I still take time to think carefully, but I no longer let fear control my choices.
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I understand that mistakes are not failures, but lessons.
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This decision shaped the way I approach challenges today.
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It reminded me that life is not about avoiding difficulties, but about learning how to face them with courage and responsibility.
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In conclusion, this was a time when I had to make an important decision that truly influenced my life.
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Although it was stressful and uncertain, it became one of the most meaningful experiences I have ever had.
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Thank you very much for practicing English shadowing with me today.
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Please listen again, repeat the sentences, and pay attention to how ideas are connected naturally.
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With regular practice, your English will become more fluent and more confident.
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I hope you enjoyed this deeper and more reflective story.
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See you in the next video.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 56 sentences and 763 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:18. The speaker talks at a steady 144 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| carefully adverb | /ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/ | With care; attentively, circumspectly. |
| shadow noun | /ˈʃædəʊ̯/ | A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object. |
| comfort noun | /ˈkʌm.fət/ | Contentment, ease. |
| outcome noun | /ˈaʊtkʌm/ | That which is produced or occurs as a result of an event or process. |
| difficulty noun | /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/ | The state of being difficult, or hard to do. |
| courage noun | /ˈkʌ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/ | The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate. |
| uncertain adjective | /ʌnˈsɜɹ.tən/ | Not certain; unsure. |
| naturally adverb | /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/ | In a natural manner. |
| rush verb | /ɹʌʃ/ | To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| happiness noun | /ˈhæpinɪs/ | The emotion of being happy; joy; elation. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| conclusion noun | /kənˈkluːʒən/ | The end, finish, close or last part of something. |
| reflect verb | /ɹɪˈflɛkt/ | To bend back (light, etc.) from a surface. |
| angle noun | /ˈæŋ.ɡəl/ | A figure formed by two rays which start from a common point (a plane angle) or by three planes that intersect (a solid angle). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| look back verb | To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight). |
| slow down verb | To decelerate. |
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 grown · have learned · has changed |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be chosen · is built · are connected |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | had to make |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/, rush /ɹʌʃ/, conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, stability /stəˈbɪlɪti/, uncertainty /ʌnˈsɜːtənti/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like carefully, shadow, comfort.
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.