Shadowing Practice: Does Anyone Use JavaScript Anymore? - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hey, what's going on guys?
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So I built most of my career teaching JavaScript, whether it was Vanilla, Node.js, React, the Mernstack, all the way back to,
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you know, jQuery and frameworks like Knockout and AngularJS.
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But if you open up any of my current projects, you're probably not going to see many JS or JSX files.
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TypeScript has definitely become the default for most of the web projects I work on now.
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And it definitely isn't just me.
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In the, I guess, the framework heavy part of the web world, TypeScript is absolutely everywhere.
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So I've been asked the question, does anyone even use JavaScript anymore?
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And that's what I kind of want to unpack in this video is how much has the ecosystem actually shifted toward TypeScript?
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Why has it become the default for so many projects?
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Should beginners still learn JavaScript first?
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And where does plain JavaScript still make more sense?
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All right, so before we jump in, I just want to mention today's sponsor, CodeRabbit.
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So you know how when you open up a pull request, you get a list of files in alphabetical order, and that's it.
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That's your context.
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So you're basically reconstructing what the PR does file by file.
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And CodeRabbit builds something called ChangeStack, and it fixes that.
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So you start on an overview page, you get a summary, a walkthrough, all the reviews and comments in one place.
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And if it's a merge conflict or CI's failing, there's a blocker section where you can fix it in one click.
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So your changes get grouped into layers and cohorts, so related stuff sits together instead of being alphabetized.
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And there's also a timeline view which shows you why things changed and not just what,
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and a semantic diff so when you move a big block of code it doesn't show up as 200 deletions and additions.
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You see the actual change.
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So links in description, check out CodeRabbit if you're interested.
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Okay, so I'll save you the suspense.
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Obviously, no, JavaScript is not dead.
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It runs pretty much the entire interactive web, so this isn't one of those overly dramatic JavaScript is finished videos.
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At the end of the day, TypeScript's type information is removed, and the code that actually runs is JavaScript,
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and TypeScript has become kind of the popular way to author JavaScript, but there has been a real shift,
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and it's how much of the JavaScript ecosystem now assumes that you're going to be using TypeScript.
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So before anything, I just want to look at the data.
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I don't want to just go on my own experience.
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So according to GitHub's 2025 Octoverse report,
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TypeScript became the number one language on GitHub based on monthly contributors passing both Python and JavaScript.
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And in the 2025 State of JavaScript survey,
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it found that respondents spent 77% of their JavaScript and TypeScript coding time writing TypeScript.
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And I expect that to be even bigger in this year's survey.
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Now that doesn't mean that TypeScript has replaced JavaScript.
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GitHub actually still saw more new JavaScript repositories altogether, but the trend is pretty clear.
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TypeScript has become a very common choice for modern application development.
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Now, I want to look at where we're seeing TypeScript more and more.
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So we'll start with the front end.
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So obviously, you know, React has full TypeScript support.
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Vue is written in TypeScript, has first class support for it.
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Angular components are TypeScript classes, even though that's been the case since Angular 2 was released.
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And you can still use regular JavaScript or write regular JavaScript with React or Vue,
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but when you spin up a new app using Vite or another CLI, you're most likely going to be getting TS and TSX files.
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Then you move to the backend.
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So Node can now run TypeScript files directly.
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It strips out the types and runs JavaScript underneath.
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This gets even more useful when the front end
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and backend live in the same monorepo because you might have a web app, an API, a background worker, maybe a shared package.
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And instead of defining a user or product or API response in three different places, you define it once, you import it wherever you need it.
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And that ability to share types without duplicating them is a huge part of the appeal of full stack TypeScript.
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You also have Zod, which is a very popular TypeScript validation library
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that takes that idea even further because you can define a schema once, infer the TypeScript from it,
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and use that same schema to validate real data at runtime.
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And TypeScript has also moved well beyond traditional web apps.
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You have new React Native projects using TypeScript as default for mobile apps.
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You have Electron has TypeScript templates for desktop apps.
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And now in the age of AI, TypeScript has only gotten bigger.
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And I'm not saying that all AI development is TypeScript.
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Obviously, you have Python is massive in AI and machine learning, but the application layer around AI has a ton of TypeScript.
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You have Vercel's AI SDK, which describes itself as a TypeScript toolkit.
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Even if you go and prompt Clot or Codex right now to create a React app, it's most likely going to be using TypeScript.
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So when you take a step back and you look at all those things together, it's much bigger than developers just wanting red squiggly lines in their editor.
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You know, TypeScript has become a common language across a huge part of the application stack.
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So bottom line, it's everywhere.
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Now, I do want to talk a little bit about why.
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I think that the benefits matter because this level of adoption, it didn't just happen for no reason.
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So one reason TypeScript caught on is that it brought ideas that had been common in other languages into the JavaScript world.
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And I became a developer over 15 years ago, closer to 20 at this point, which makes me feel very old.
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But I remember people saying that JavaScript was like a toy language.
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And this was before Node.js, before modern front-end frameworks and all the tooling we have now.
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And back then, JavaScript was mostly seen as like a little scripting language for things like form validation and drop downs.
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And if you came from Java, C Sharp, C++, JavaScript, it felt really just loose and a bit chaotic.
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And those languages already had static types and interfaces, generics, compile time checks.
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And TypeScript brought some of that familiar structure into the JavaScript ecosystem.
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And I also think it gave JavaScript a bit more street cred, or I guess nerd cred.
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And I would say that the practical benefits of TypeScript are what make it stick.
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And, you know, things like if you rename a variable to, let's say, from name to full name on a shared user type, TypeScript can immediately show you every component,
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every API route or function that's still looking for that name variable.
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And autocomplete is more accurate.
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You can see, you know, what a function expects, jump to its definition
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and rename something across an entire project with much more confidence than you could before.
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And types become contracts that help explain how different pieces are supposed to fit together.
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So your code is just much more verbose and just defined better.
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And I was pretty much against TypeScript for a long time and people would give me shit for it online.
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And one of my biggest gripes back then was that it felt like a lot of extra setup, but now frameworks, libraries, build tools, they all support it extremely well.
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And it's even the default for most of them now.
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TypeScript's inference has also gotten much better over the years.
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So you can often get strong type checking without manually annotating everything.
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So even if you don't want to write a ton of TypeScript syntax, you can still get better type checking,
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autocomplete, safer refactoring, and really not do anything.
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So there's really not a reason not to use it anymore.
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And a lot of our code is now written with AI, and the types give us just one more feedback loop.
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Using it with AI definitely doesn't make the generated code correct, and agent can still write perfectly typed garbage.
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It should never replace tests or code review.
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It's just one more useful layer of feedback.
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So now the question, should beginners learn JavaScript?
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Absolutely.
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If you're learning web development, I would not skip JavaScript and jump directly into memorizing TypeScript syntax.
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I would learn all you can or all you should about JavaScript first.
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Obviously, functions, objects, arrays, scope, asynchronous JavaScript, the DOM, of course,
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and just how the language behaves at runtime before you throw anything else on top of it.
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And when something weird happens in a TypeScript application, it's usually your JavaScript knowledge that helps you understand why.
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But once you learn those fundamentals, TypeScript should be one of the next steps.
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If you want to build, you know, modern applications or work on a development team, and you don't need to become a type system wizard,
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just learn the types you'll see in real projects and learn how to read the errors.
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Now
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that jump from I know JavaScript to I can work comfortably
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in a TypeScript code base is exactly why my team and I built TypeScript fundamentals on start.dev, which is our new interactive learning platform.
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And it's built around learning by doing instead of sitting in front of another long lecture or video.
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So basically you write code directly in the browser and your work is checked as you go.
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Not only that, but you have AI Brad.
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He has full context of each lesson.
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He can see your code and you can ask him questions when you get stuck.
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So basically you get AI version of me helping you along the way and students have been loving it.
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So if TypeScript is next on your list, then check out TypeScript fundamentals through the link in the description.
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And it's free to start completely free.
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And there's also a 20% discount for the premium membership in the description.
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And if you already know TypeScript and you want to take, take, you know, take to the next step, we also have a validation with Zod course as well.
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Now, none of this means every project suddenly needs TypeScript, I still use plain JavaScript when it fits the job.
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So for, you know, a small script, a quick prototype or a simple project with very little code, TypeScript may add more friction than value.
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So sometimes you just want to create a file, write a few lines of JavaScript and run it.
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Plain JavaScript also makes sense when you're teaching the fundamentals, obviously.
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You know, if the point is to understand functions, the DOM, HTTP, Node.js, or how the language behaves at runtime,
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adding a type system can just become another thing to kind of cloud that other stuff.
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Sometimes the simplest tool is the right tool.
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And choosing JavaScript doesn't mean somebody is an amateur.
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It means they made a trade-off.
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You know, TypeScript adds value, but it also adds concepts, configuration, and another category of errors that developers have to understand.
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So to answer, does anyone even use JavaScript anymore?
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Of course, JavaScript still powers the web and TypeScript depends on it.
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But look at the front end, back end, monorepos, mobile apps, desktop apps, developer tooling, and the application layer around AI.
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TypeScript is now a normal part of all of that.
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And that doesn't mean TypeScript replace JavaScript, it just means a huge part of the ecosystem has standardized on a typed way to write it.
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And it doesn't mean every project needs TypeScript or that beginner should skip JavaScript, learn JavaScript, understand the foundation,
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and then add TypeScript when the project earns it.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Does Anyone Use JavaScript Anymore?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Typescript, Javascript, type, code, project. This video has 139 sentences and 1992 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:53. The speaker talks at a natural 168 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ecosystem noun | /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/ | A system formed by an ecological community and its environment that functions as a unit. |
| beginner noun | /bəˈɡɪnɚ/ | Someone who is just starting at something, or has only recently started. |
| validation noun | /ˌvæl.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/ | The act of validating something. |
| autocomplete noun | A software feature that predicts the rest of a word a user is typing. | |
| cred noun | /kɹɛd/ | Credibility. |
| monorepo noun | A monolithic repository, where core code and its dependencies are included in the same repository. | |
| rename verb | /ɹiːˈneɪm/ | To give a new name to. |
| schema noun | /ˈskiːmə/ | An outline or image universally applicable to a general conception, under which it is likely to be presented to the mind (for example, a body schema). |
| syntax noun | /ˈsɪn.tæks/ | A set of rules that govern how words are combined to form phrases and sentences. |
| desktop noun | /ˈdɛsktɒp/ | The top surface of a desk. |
| behave verb | /bɪˈheɪv/ | To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way; to conform. |
| stack noun | /stæk/ | A large pile of hay, grain, straw, or the like, larger at the bottom than the top, sometimes covered with thatch. |
| interactive adjective | /ˌɪn.tɚˈæk.tɪv/ | Interacting with or communicating with and reacting to each other; influencing or having an effect on each other; acting or capable of acting on each other or… |
| alphabetical adjective | /ˌæl.fəˈbɛt.ɪ.kəl/ | Pertaining to, furnished with, or expressed by letters of the alphabet. |
| alphabetize verb | To arrange words or items in order of the first (and then subsequent) letters as they occur in the alphabet. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| open up verb | To open. | |
| fit together verb | To put the appropriate parts of (something) into a whole; to combine pieces that go together to create a finished object. | |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. | |
| step back verb | /stɛp ˈbæk/ | To stop what one is doing and evaluate the current situation. |
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 | has definitely become · I've been asked · has become |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | I've been asked · being alphabetized · is finished |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | Zod, which is · point, which makes · dev, which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 25 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, doesn't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: walkthrough /ˈwɔːk.θɹuː/, altogether /ɔl.tuˈɡɛð.ɚ/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: validation /ˌvæl.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/, deletion /dɪˈliːʃən/, friction /ˈfɹɪkʃən/, configuration /kənˌfɪɡ.əˈɹeɪ̯.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: ecosystem /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/, validation /ˌvæl.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/, interactive /ˌɪn.tɚˈæk.tɪv/, alphabetical /ˌæl.fəˈbɛt.ɪ.kəl/, asynchronous /eɪˈsɪŋ.kɹə.nəs/
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 ecosystem, beginner, validation.
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.