Shadowing Practice: English Conversation Practice | Never Give Up - Even On Hard Days | English Podcast - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Mr. English Channel, where learning English is easy and fun.
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I'm Emily.
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Hi Emily.
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Hello friends.
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I am Paul, and we are so incredibly happy to have you here with us today.
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Today we are talking about a very deep and very real topic.
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We are talking about the truly hard days in life.
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Yes, we are not talking about small problems today.
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We are not talking about burning your toast or missing the bus.
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Exactly.
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We are talking about the moments that make you want to cry, or the moments that make you want to give up completely.
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Sometimes life brings some very heavy storms.
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Sometimes people lose their jobs, or they get a terrible medical diagnosis.
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Sometimes relationships end suddenly.
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How do we talk about this kind of deep pain in English?
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When something terrible happens, we often use the phrase, falling apart.
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You can say, my world is falling apart.
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My world is falling apart.
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That is a very strong and visual phrase.
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It feels like everything is breaking into pieces.
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Yes, it does.
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It means nothing is going right, and you feel completely lost.
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When my world feels like it is falling apart, my anxiety goes crazy.
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I start to panic immediately.
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That is a very normal human reaction, Emily.
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When we face big trauma, our brains try to protect us by panicking.
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I always imagine the absolute worst scenario.
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If I lose a client, I think I will lose my house next.
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You have a very creative imagination, Emily.
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But it is true.
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Fear makes us overthink.
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What is a good phrase to describe that feeling, when your brain will not stop worrying?
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You can say, my mind is racing.
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It means your thoughts are moving way too fast, like a race car.
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My mind is racing.
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I use that feeling a lot.
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Another good word for A2 or B1 students is overwhelmed.
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Oh, overwhelmed is a perfect word.
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It means the problem is too heavy for you to carry alone.
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Can you give our students an example of how to use overwhelmed in a normal sentence?
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Sure.
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You can say, I am feeling very overwhelmed at work right now.
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Or this bad news is completely overwhelming.
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Sometimes being overwhelmed makes people feel depressed.
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They do not want to get out of bed.
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Depression and deep sadness are real struggles.
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Sometimes people feel like they have hit rock bottom.
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Hit rock bottom?
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What does rock bottom mean in English?
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That sounds very serious.
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The bottom is the lowest part of something.
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So, hitting rock bottom means you are at the lowest point in your life.
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It means things cannot get any worse.
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You are at the very bottom of the hole.
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Exactly.
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But there is a positive way to look at that phrase, too.
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How can hitting rock bottom be positive?
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It sounds terrifying to me.
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Well, when you hit the solid rock at the bottom, you can use it to push yourself back up.
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Wow, I never thought about it like that.
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When you're at the bottom, the only way to go is up.
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Exactly.
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But it takes time.
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When people are at the bottom, we should not force them to be happy.
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That is so important.
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I hate it when I'm very sad and someone says, just smile, be positive.
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We call that toxic positivity in English.
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It's when people force you to be happy when you're actually suffering.
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Yes.
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If someone loses a family member, you cannot just say, look on the bright side.
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That is cruel.
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It is very cruel.
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People need time to feel their pain.
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In English, we call this process grieving.
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Grieving.
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Can you explain what the word grief means for our beginner students?
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Grief is the deep, heavy sadness you feel when you lose someone or something very important to you.
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You can feel grief when a person dies, but you can also feel grief when a long marriage ends.
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Yes, exactly.
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You are grieving the life you thought you were going to have.
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It is a very painful process.
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So, if we cannot say, be positive, what should we say to a friend who is grieving?
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The best thing you can say is, I am here for you.
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It is simple, but it is incredibly powerful.
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I am here for you.
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It means you are not trying to fix the problem.
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You are just standing with them.
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Yes.
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You can also say, take all the time you need.
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This gives them permission to be sad.
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Sometimes when I am grieving or panicking, I act on impulse.
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I try to change everything in my life to feel better.
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Acting on impulse is very common when we hurt.
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We want the pain to stop immediately.
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What does it mean to act on impulse?
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Can we explain that a bit more?
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It means making a fast decision without thinking about the future.
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It is usually driven by strong emotion.
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For example, if I get fired from my job, I might act on impulse and sell my car the same day.
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Yes, and that is usually a terrible idea.
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You need your car.
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So, what is the alternative?
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How do we stop ourselves from acting on impulse during hard days?
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We need to use a great English phrase, take a step back.
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Take a step back.
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Does that mean literally walking backwards away from the problem?
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No, not literally.
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It means to pause, breathe, and look at the situation from a distance before doing anything.
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I love that.
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When you take a step back, the problem doesn't feel like it is crushing your face.
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Exactly.
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You create space between you and the panic, and in that space you can finally breathe.
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Breathing is so important.
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When I am anxious, I forget to breathe deeply.
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My chest gets very tight.
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That is your body reacting to stress.
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Taking a deep breath actually tells your brain that you are safe.
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Sometimes I try to breathe, but my problems are still there.
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How do you stay so calm, Paul?
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Well, honestly, my faith is my anchor.
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When the storm is huge, I know I'm not driving the boat.
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My faith is my anchor.
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An anchor is the heavy metal thing that stops a ship from moving in the wind.
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Yes.
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Life is difficult sometimes, but we can trust God, drink a good cup of coffee, and keep going.
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But what if you don't know how to keep going?
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What if the future looks completely dark and scary?
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You don't need to see the whole staircase, Emily.
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You just need to see the very first step.
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I really like that metaphor.
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You just need to focus on today.
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In English, we say, take it one day at a time.
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Take it one day at a time.
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It is probably the best advice for anyone going through a hard season.
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If today is too hard, you can even take it one hour at a time.
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Just survive the next hour.
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Exactly.
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And before we share more advice about surviving hard days, let's take a quick pause.
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If you are enjoying this conversation, don't forget to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and share it with a friend who is learning English.
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Yes, please do.
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And if you are still listening, comment, never give up, below.
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We read all your comments.
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We really do.
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We love seeing our community grow.
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Okay, let's get back to our serious topic.
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We were talking about taking life one day at a time.
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Another thing that helps is having a support system.
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A support system.
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That sounds like a computer term.
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What does it mean for people?
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A support system is the group of people you trust.
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It can be family, close friends, or even a good doctor.
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When my world falls apart, I need my support system.
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I need someone to tell me I am not crazy.
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Well, you are a little bit crazy, Emily, but it's a good kind of crazy.
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Thank you, Paul.
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You always know how to make me smile, even when we talk about sad things.
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Humor is actually a great tool for hard days.
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We call it comic relief.
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Comic relief?
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What is that?
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Is it like medicine for sadness?
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In a way, yes.
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It means finding something funny to break the tension, even in a dark situation.
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It is true.
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Sometimes crying so much makes you exhausted.
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A small laugh feels like a glass of cold water.
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Exactly.
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Life is heavy, but not every single minute has to be serious.
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We can still laugh at silly things.
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But what if someone has a disease or a really big financial problem?
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How can they laugh?
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They laugh because they are still human.
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Joy and pain can exist in the same heart at the exact same time.
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Joy and pain can exist at the same time.
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That is beautiful, and it is very true.
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When things go wrong, we also need to talk about resilience.
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This is an excellent B1 vocabulary word.
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Yes.
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Let's teach resilience.
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How do you explain resilience to someone learning English?
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Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from difficulties.
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It is how fast you can stand up after you fall down.
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Ah, I see.
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It is like a rubber band.
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When you stretch a rubber band, it snaps back to its original shape.
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Perfect example.
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In English, we use the phrasal verb bounce back.
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Resilient people bounce back from failure.
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I do not bounce back very fast.
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Sometimes I stay on the floor for a long time, just worrying.
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And that is okay.
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Resilience is not a race.
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You are allowed to rest on the floor for a while.
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That makes me feel much better.
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Resting is important.
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If you push yourself too hard, you will get burnout.
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Can you explain burnout to our friends listening, Emily?
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It is a very modern word.
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Burnout is when your mind and body are completely empty.
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You have zero energy because of too much stress.
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Yes.
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When you have burnout, you cannot work, you cannot think clearly, and you usually get physically sick.
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I had burnout a few years ago.
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I thought my career was completely over.
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I wanted to give up forever.
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But you didn't give up.
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What What did you do to rebuild your life after that experience?
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I had to use another good English phrase, start from scratch.
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I had to learn how to rest again.
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Start from scratch means starting over from zero.
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It means building something entirely new.
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It is very scary to start from scratch.
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You feel like you wasted a lot of time in the past.
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But nothing is ever wasted.
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Every mistake and every failure teaches you a valuable lesson for your new start.
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That is true.
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The skills I learned before my burnout helped me build a better, healthier life later.
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We call that finding the silver lining.
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It's a famous English idiom.
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Let's break that down.
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Silver lining.
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What does the word lining mean?
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A lining is the material on the inside of a jacket.
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So a silver lining is a bright, shiny edge on a dark cloud.
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So finding the silver lining means finding the one good thing inside a very bad situation.
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Exactly.
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If your car breaks down, the silver lining might be that you meet a very kind mechanic.
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It can be hard to see the silver lining when the storm is happening.
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You only see the dark clouds.
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That is why time is so important.
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Sometimes you only see the silver lining five years after the storm.
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That is very deep.
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You only see the silver lining five years later?
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We have to be patient with our pain.
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Yes.
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Another great phrase to encourage someone is hang in there.
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It's very Tommen in everyday English.
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Hang in there.
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It sounds like you are holding on to a tree branch over a big cliff.
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Yes, that is the exact image.
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It means don't let go.
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Keep holding on, even when it's hard.
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So if my friend is having a terrible week at work, I can say, I'm sorry, man.
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Hang in there.
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Yes, perfect.
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It is casual, but it shows that you care.
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It tells them to stay strong.
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Sometimes people tell me to stay strong, but I just feel weak.
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I feel like I have no strength left.
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True strength is not about never feeling weak.
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True strength is admitting you are weak and asking for help.
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Asking for help is one of the hardest things for adults to do.
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We want to fix everything ourselves.
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We have too much pride.
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But asking for help is a sign of maturity, not a sign of failure.
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How can someone ask for help in a simple, natural way in English?
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You can just say, I am really struggling right now.
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Can we talk?
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That is honest and direct.
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I am really struggling right now.
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The word struggling means you are fighting a difficult battle.
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Yes.
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Or you can say, I need a hand.
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That is a friendly way to ask for physical or emotional help.
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I need a hand.
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That is great for A1 students.
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It is simple, polite, and easy to remember.
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And remember, when you ask for help, you give your friends a chance to love you.
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Oh, I love that perspective.
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You're not being a burden.
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You're letting people show their love.
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Exactly.
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Another phrase we often use when things go wrong is, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
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I know that's a famous song, but I actually don't like that phrase very much.
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Really?
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Why don't you like it, Emily?
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Because sometimes trauma doesn't make you stronger.
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Sometimes it just makes you tired and sad.
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That is a very fair point.
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You don't have to become a superhero just because you suffered a tragedy.
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Exactly.
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Sometimes the only victory is that you survived.
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And surviving is enough.
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Surviving is absolutely enough.
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If you are breathing, you are winning.
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Let's give our listeners a few more encouraging phrases.
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What else can we say to a friend in pain?
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You can say, I'm so sorry you have to go through this.
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It shows deep empathy.
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Empathy is a great word.
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It means you can understand and share the feelings of another person.
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Yes.
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It is different from sympathy.
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Sympathy is feeling pity for someone empathy is sitting in the dark with them.
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Sitting in the dark with someone is beautiful.
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You don't bring a flashlight.
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You just bring your presence.
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That is very poetic, Emily.
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And it is completely true.
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Another phrase is, you are not alone in this.
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You are not alone in this.
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That instantly makes the problem feel lighter.
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It really does.
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Because loneliness is often the worst part of a tragedy.
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You feel like nobody understands.
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Yes.
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When I get really anxious, my brain lies to me.
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It tells me that nobody cares about my problems.
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That is definitely a lie from anxiety.
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The truth is, people usually care a lot, but they don't know what to say.
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That is a good point.
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People freeze because they're afraid of saying the wrong thing.
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Exactly.
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So if you are the one suffering, sometimes you have to tell people what you need.
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You can say, I don't need advice right now.
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I just need you to listen.
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That is a perfect boundary to set.
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It takes the pressure off your friend and gives you what you need.
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We have talked a lot about words, but what are some actions we can do when life is incredibly hard.
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Well, drinking water and sleeping are the foundation.
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If you don't sleep, everything feels ten times worse.
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It is amazing how much a glass of water and a nap can change your perspective on life.
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It really is.
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Also, doing something with your hands helps, like baking bread or painting or gardening.
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Doing something with your hands stops your mind from racing.
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It brings you back to the present moment.
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We call that grounding yourself.
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It means bringing your attention back to the physical world around you.
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I need to practice grounding myself more often.
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My mind always wants to live in the scary future.
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The future is a mystery, Emily.
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We only have control over this exact second.
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So let's make it a good one.
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I think this podcast episode is going to help a lot of people.
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It is okay to have hard days.
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It is more than okay.
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It is guaranteed.
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Hard days are part of the contract of being alive.
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But remember, a bad day does not define your whole life.
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The storm will eventually run out of rain.
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That is a wonderful thought, Emily.
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The storm will eventually run out of rain.
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We have learned so many powerful phrases today.
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Hit rock bottom, silver lining, overwhelmed, and bounce back.
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And the most important phrase of all, never give up, because your story is not finished yet.
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Never give up.
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Trust in Jesus Christ.
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Keep taking small steps, keep asking for help, and keep trusting the process.
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Thank you all so much for spending this time with us.
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You are amazing, and we believe in you.
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Yes.
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Please remember to subscribe, like the video, and leave a comment below.
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We love you guys.
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Keep practicing your English, stay strong, and we will see you in the next episode.
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Bye.
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See you next time.
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Bye-bye.
Why practice speaking with this video?
Engaging with the "Never Give Up - Even On Hard Days" video is an excellent way to enhance your English speaking skills. This video immerses learners in a genuine conversation that addresses profound emotional challenges, providing a real-world context for language use. By practicing speaking with this content, you can grasp how to express complex feelings such as anxiety, overwhelm, and despair. These situations are not just common in conversations but also essential for tests like the IELTS speaking practice.
Utilizing the shadowing technique, where you listen and repeat after the speakers, allows you to mimic their phrasing, intonation, and rhythm. The emotional weight of the dialogue helps reinforce vocabulary and expressions, making them more memorable. This method can significantly improve your fluency and confidence when discussing difficult topics in English, allowing you to articulate your thoughts more effectively.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
- “My world is falling apart.” - This expression vividly illustrates the feeling of being overwhelmed. It’s a metaphor that helps convey intense emotions, making it a powerful phrase in conversations about distress.
- “My mind is racing.” - This phrase describes a state of anxiety where thoughts spiral uncontrollably. It's useful in both casual discussions and formal settings when expressing overload or stress.
- “I am feeling very overwhelmed at work right now.” - The structure of this sentence highlights the use of the verb "to feel" followed by an adjective to convey emotions, an essential format for expressing personal experiences.
- “Hit rock bottom.” - This idiom indicates reaching a point of despair and can only be used in specific contexts. Understanding and using idioms like this can elevate your conversational skills and help you connect with native speakers.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While watching and practicing with this video, pay close attention to the pronunciation of overwhelmed and anxiety. These words could be tricky as they contain silent letters and varying stress patterns. Make sure to practice the sounds slowly first, then gradually increase your speed. Furthermore, notice how the speakers emphasize certain words to convey emotion. This is an important aspect of shadowspeak; adequately mimicking their intonation will enhance your own expressive capabilities.
Additionally, the phrasing “falling apart” and “hit rock bottom” should be pronounced clearly, focusing on the emotional connotation of these phrases. Such nuances are vital for improving your speaking skills and making your conversations more impactful.
Incorporating these expressions into your daily English conversations will not only assist in your learning journey but also enhance your communication prowess in times of personal struggles, which is often reflected in both casual and academic discussions.
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.