Shadowing Practice: Embracing the Pain | Teachings by Thich Nhat Hanh - Learn English Speaking with Video
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31 sentences
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We know how to create joy and happiness,
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but we know also how to take care of our pain.
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Breathing in, I know there is a painful feeling in me.
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Anger, fear, despair, irritation, jealousy.
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So the first exercise is to be aware of the pain.
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When the painful feeling begins to come up, you do not try to run away from it.
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You do not try to cover it up with consumption, with music, with books, magazines, conversations, with food.
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Instead, we have to go home and take care of it.
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And the first thing is to recognize it.
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Good afternoon.
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my pain, I know you are there.
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I will take good care of you.
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And you are not afraid of being overwhelmed by the pain inside because you are equipped with the energy of mindfulness.
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A good practitioner knows how to mop the floor mindfully, cook the breakfast mindfully.
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And that is why he has enough of that energy to help him go back to himself without fear.
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And the first thing is to recognize the pain.
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The second thing is to calm it down.
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Embrace it and calm it down.
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Whether that is a painful feeling or a painful emotion,
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the practitioner always goes home to himself, recognize it, and with the energy of mindfulness,
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Embrace it tenderly, like a mother holding a baby.
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There is no intention to fight or to suppress.
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Because you are your mindfulness, but you are also your pain.
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We should not transform ourselves into a battlefield.
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The good fighting the evil, that's not the practice.
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Mindfulness is holding the pain,
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tenderly, and you get a relief.
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It's like giving your fear and anger a mindfulness bath, with non-violence.
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And you know that next time, when you fear your anger comes up, You do the same.
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You offer it a bath of mindfulness.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 31 sentences and 314 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:51. The speaker talks slowly, about 65 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 83% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| painful adjective | /ˈpeɪn.fl̩/ | Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental. |
| anger noun | /ˈæŋɡə/ | A strong and unpleasant feeling of displeasure, hostility, or antagonism, usually combined with an urge to yell, curse, damage or destroy things, or harm… |
| bath noun | /bɑːθ/ | A tub or pool which is used for bathing: bathtub. |
| embrace verb | /ɛmˈbɹes/ | To clasp (someone or each other) in the arms with affection; to take in the arms; to hug. |
| practitioner noun | /pɹækˈtɪʃənəɹ/ | A person who practices a profession or art, especially law or medicine. |
| happiness noun | /ˈhæpinɪs/ | The emotion of being happy; joy; elation. |
| consumption noun | /kənˈsʌmp.ʃən/ | The act of eating, drinking or using. |
| intention noun | /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/ | A course of action that a person intends to follow. |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| emotion noun | /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/ | A person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data. |
| transform verb | /tɹænsˈfɔɹm/ | To change greatly the appearance or form of. |
| battlefield noun | /ˈbætəlˌfiːld/ | The area where a land battle is fought, which may not necessarily be a field. |
| despair noun | /dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/ | Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency. |
| jealousy noun | /ˈd͡ʒɛl.ə.si/ | A state of being jealous; a jealous attitude. |
| suppress verb | /səˈpɹɛs/ | To put an end to, especially with force, to crush, do away with; to prohibit, subdue. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. |
| run away from verb | To avoid or shirk a problem or consequences; to rush to back away from or disclaim responsibility for something. |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “th” sounds: bath /bɑːθ/, breathe /bɹiːð/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: practitioner /pɹækˈtɪʃənəɹ/, consumption /kənˈsʌmp.ʃən/, intention /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/, emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, irritation /ˌɪɹ.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: practitioner /pɹækˈtɪʃənəɹ/, irritation /ˌɪɹ.ɪˈteɪ.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 painful, anger, bath.
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.