Shadowing Practice: Eileen Gu’s Mindset Will Change How You See Yourself | Eillen Gu - Learn English Speaking with Video
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114 sentences
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So you can control what you think, like you can control how you think, and therefore you can control who you are.
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And especially as a young person, like I'm 22, so with neuroplasticity on my side, I can literally become exactly who I want to be.
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How cool is that?
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Like how empowering is that, right?
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We glorify sacrifice too much as a culture, and that's kind of my hot take for the day.
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I think that sometimes people think, you know, I've suffered, I woke up at four in the morning to do this thing.
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Okay, how productive were you from four to seven?
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Like, how did that lack of sleep affect you.
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And so no one gets a prize for suffering.
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If you want to talk about productivity and you want to talk about optimization, talk about that.
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But don't talk about the suffering that you went through.
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If you can do something easier, do it easier.
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I kind of liken it to a marathon, but the pace of a hundred meter dash, because every day is the Olympics.
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I have to give a hundred percent every day.
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So there's no day that I can just chill a little because every day matters.
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So I guess what I mean to say with
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that is I have done something that I took a big risk in trusting myself
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and i'm glad
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that i did it's impossible to hurt my feelings with criticism i think that's a really great skill
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that i've learned is
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that mate like it's not everyone's job to be able to present something nicely to you
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so to be able to be given constructive criticism i think it's the biggest blessing
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but it also it's a two -way street you have to be able to receive it
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when i first started getting hate i used to search for it um i think
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that it's so much easier to hold on to negativity than positivity
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and so it's really easy to get into that cycle
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when i first started getting hate i definitely was looped into
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that cycle um but you know now i really think
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that i don't really pay it too much mind
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because at the end of the day it's my life like i'm in control of my life right
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if you don't like what i'm doing you don't have my life my goal is to spread positivity
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if your goal is to spread negativity do that it's your prerogative
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but i'm not gonna have any part in it as far as trusting yourself the power of sport is unparalleled
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because it is evidence over affirmation it's you don't tell yourself oh I can handle the pressure oh I'm
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so great you do it time and again
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and I'm not afraid to try I take big risks
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and for the last two Olympics it's worked out but even
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if it hadn't I think I left nothing on the table like I know
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that looking back at this Olympics and the months
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that preceded it there's quite literally nothing
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that i could have done more like i did everything i could um every single day every single thing
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that i could like
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if you can think of something like oh i should do
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this now i've done it i have done every single thing i could possibly do for this olympics
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and so it's like
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if things didn't go my way i wouldn't regret feeling unprepared
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i wouldn't regret feeling like i could have done more and
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so that i also think instills a bit of confidence in you
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because you can never control the result you can never control the outcome
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but you can control the preparation and most importantly you can fall in love with the process.
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I think what's really fun is because things have happened
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so fast I definitely still have the kind of underdog mentality in the sense
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that I now have enough confidence to enter any competition
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and have the intention to win but also not really the age
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or the time experience to really expect it so what
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that means is I feel like I'm it's created a really healthy mindset for me competitively I have won X Games,
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I've won World Championships, I've made history as the first person of Chinese descent to ever win X Games.
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I'm the first female rookie to ever win three medals at X Games.
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I'm the first female rookie to win a ski halfpipe.
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One of my biggest goals in skiing has always been to inspire young girls,
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especially young Asian American girls or young girls who don't really see representation in our sport yet,
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and so that is really exciting to me because I've always had that as a goal, but being able to see those records being broken
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and see myself taking those steps towards it is kind of a mind -bending moment for me.
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So it's happened really fast, but I'm really grateful for all the people who've been around me, my sponsors, IWC, my family, my mom, my coaches who've supported me the whole time.
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right?
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Sometimes you feel like as a young person you feel like
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oh I have to wait until I'm older before I can really make change
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or before I can really do things that are important
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and impactful to the world but really I think it's important to be a young person
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and to show that age doesn't dictate capability and
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that experience teaches more than anything else and so yeah I think
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that is my biggest goal and it's something
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that I wish I had more of growing up but also
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So I'm really grateful because I grew up in a very healthy
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and supportive environment with my mom and my grandma who are both incredibly empowered women
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and who served as the role models that I didn't really see on TV or in this sport.
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We don't need one person to do everything perfectly for the planet.
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We need everybody to do everything imperfectly, but at least try, right?
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We don't need one person to hit 100%.
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We need everybody to hit 70 % and that is how impact is made.
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So maybe, you know, it's one day I drank from one plastic bottle.
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I feel not the best.
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I should have brought my own bottle.
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But, you know, it's not that one bottle
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that is destroying the planet it's kind of everybody's combined like ignoring
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that kind of aspect if everybody cared more you know then the difference would be made in that sense
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so it comes differently for different kinds of people depending on people's lifestyles you know choosing different modes of transportation
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if possible or eating a little bit differently if possible
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or you know buying avoiding fast fashion or buying sustainably made products
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and it's it looks different for different kinds of people and
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that is what's important about it right it's different approaches
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so that's kind of my perspective especially for young people
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because it's our planet to be inherited ultimately
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and as planet change is exponentially growing then the impact is
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very urgent it's very urgent for us to make change in our generation before things get out of hand even more
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being able to click that pay button it makes me feel proud it's like something
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that i'm i'm really proud of
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and i i feel it's contributing to who i want to be the person
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that i've always wanted to become
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if me at age 10 12 11 like 13 could could come see me now i think she would be
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so proud of me and
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and that's what matters to me do you have any regrets at all about your decision why
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or why not i don't have regrets about my decision
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because i think that every day when i start looking at my social media
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and I see DMS and I see hundreds of young girls sending me messages saying
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because of you
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because of what you did at the Olympics you inspired me
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to start skiing to break my own boundaries to sit with someone new at lunch to try something
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that I never thought was possible before and
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because of you I feel like I am better as a person
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and when I read messages like that it's galvanizes me too
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and it's this positive reinforcing cycle in which it's not really an idol
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and a fan really it's it's friends moving together and
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when someone does well I want to celebrate their successes and build off of them
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 114 sentences and 1434 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:25. The speaker talks fast, about 194 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 85% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| regret verb | /ɹɪˈɡɹɛt/ | To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead. |
| suffer verb | /ˈsʌfɚ/ | To undergo hardship. |
| grateful adjective | /ˈɡɹeɪtf(ə)l/ | Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful. |
| differently adverb | /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt.li/ | In a different way. |
| urgent adjective | /ˈɜː.d͡ʒənt/ | Requiring immediate attention. |
| rookie noun | /ˈɹʊki/ | An inexperienced recruit, especially in the police or armed forces. |
| ski noun | /skiː/ | One of a pair of long flat runners designed for gliding over snow or water. |
| inspire verb | /ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ | To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by… |
| empower verb | /ɪmˈpaʊ.ə/ | To give permission, power, or the legal right to do something. |
| ignore verb | /ɪɡˈnɔː/ | To deliberately not listen or pay attention to. |
| 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. |
| aspect noun | /ˈæspɛkt/ | Any specific feature, part, or element of something. |
| medal noun | /ˈmɛdəl/ | A stamped metal disc used as a personal ornament, a charm, or a religious object. |
| incredibly adverb | /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/ | In an incredible manner; not to be believed. |
| pace noun | /peɪs/ | A step taken with the foot. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. | |
| move together verb | for two climbers to attach themselves to the same rope and ascend at the same time without setting up belays. | |
| work out verb | /ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/ | To calculate. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 40 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: representation /ˌɹɛp.ɹə.zɛnˈteɪ.ʃən/, intention /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/, preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, dash /ˈdæʃ/, optimization /ˌɑptəmaɪˈzeɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: differently /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt.li/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, representation /ˌɹɛp.ɹə.zɛnˈteɪ.ʃən/, preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, productivity /ˌpɹɒdʌkˈtɪvəti/
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 regret, suffer, grateful.
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 | I've suffered · have done · i've learned |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be given · was looped · is unparalleled |
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.