Shadowing Practice: English Listening Practice | Build a Relationship with English | B1-B2 - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Hello.
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Let's practice intermediate listening.
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Listen first, then shadow along.
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Welcome back to my Slow English Podcast.
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If you want more of a challenge, then speed this video up to 1.25 or 1.5.
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Today, I want to talk about a book that I've been reading about nature,
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gratitude, and the way that we see the world.
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And I think the relationship that we have with languages is pretty similar.
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Sometimes we see English as another course,
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another subscription, another thing we need to buy to become fluent in English.
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But language isn't a product.
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It's a relationship.
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And I think the moment we start treating English as a relationship,
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a relationship with people, with stories like mine,
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with culture, with yourself, The moment we start treating language like a relationship, everything changes.
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So today, while you practice your listening with me or shadowing,
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whichever one you prefer, I also want you to think about the relationship you have with the world around you.
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So this book really changed my perspective.
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It changed the way I see the world.
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It changed how I treat the world.
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And I want to share it with you.
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So, when something is given to us,
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we, to a certain degree, feel responsible for it.
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We feel a relationship with it.
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We take better care of it.
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if it's given to us.
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Different from when we buy something.
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I don't think we cherish things as much when we buy them ourselves.
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Once something becomes a commodity,
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something we can buy, we stop feeling any responsibility,
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gratitude, or relationship toward it.
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Like when you buy a pair of socks, you will definitely wear them.
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You will definitely appreciate them for what they are,
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socks that keep your feet warm.
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But now, let's say your grandma knits a pair of socks for you.
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She gives them to you for your birthday.
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You'll probably take much better care of those socks, right?
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Maybe even wear them when you go to see your grandma to show your appreciation.
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You show responsibility, gratitude, and you have a relationship with them.
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If you lose the pair of socks that you bought for yourself,
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I don't think I would lose any sleep over it.
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But if I lost my grandma's handmade socks that she made thinking of me for my birthday,
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of course I'm going to feel sad.
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But like I said, I wouldn't lose any sleep over the ones that I bought.
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I think this is a really interesting way to look at the world,
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to look at the food we eat, for example, the beaches we lay on,
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the forests we walk through.
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They are all gifts.
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Can you imagine feeling like you received a gift every day?
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Every time you eat?
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Every time you see the beautiful trees outside?
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Every time you lay on the grass or on the sand at the beach,
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can you imagine how happy you would be all the time in the book?
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she mentions the gift economy where you can't just pay for something.
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You can't pay your grape tree to grow grapes.
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you can plant its seed water it
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and take care of your grape tree
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and how will it repay you by giving you sweet
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juicy grapes in the spring you can't pay to enjoy laying on the beach You can enjoy the beauty of it.
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You can pick up after yourself.
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You can leave the beach looking cleaner than it did when you arrived.
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And the same thing goes for our forests,
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our parks, our lakes, our oceans, our trees, our animals.
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We are all nature.
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That's the point of this book.
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to help you understand that by not taking care of nature,
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it's like not taking care of yourself.
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When we look at the world as a gift,
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it changes the way we treat the world,
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how we respect it and feel gratitude towards it every day.
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And I believe that when you do,
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you'll see more gifts pouring into your life day by day.
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Try it out and see.
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I also think that learning English is similar.
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When you force yourself to study,
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you lose the joy in it when you build a relationship with language through conversations,
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music, podcasts, books, friends, stories like these,
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and moments from real life.
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Then you'll see real change, real progress.
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Just think about how amazing it feels to receive a gift,
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to be thought of, to be loved by someone.
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I have a list of my favorite gifts that I remember to this day.
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flowers from my grandma, letters from my sister,
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drawings from my brother, a stuffed animal from my cousin,
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and a video from my best friend.
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What's the most thoughtful gift you've ever received.
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Now, think of the feeling you had when you received it.
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It's pretty special, right?
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Now, imagine feeling that every day when you're walking outside
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and looking at all the gifts that you've been given today just try
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and think of one
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that you have right now with you for me it's my orange juice it's in the effort
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that it took me and the person making my juice it's in the bowl of oats
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that I can't show you anymore because I already finished it.
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But it's in the time and patience it took me to get just the right consistency that I like.
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It's in the delicate slices of banana I cut.
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It's in the honey that I had to patiently wait to drizzle all over my oats.
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The patience that was actually eternal at that moment because I was so hungry,
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But I took the time anyway, and it's in the way that I'm sharing this with you right now.
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Nothing is a waste when it's appreciated.
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I would also like to mention that it's not completely our fault that we don't see life as a gift.
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How could we when all we see is the food stacked up on shelves in the grocery store?
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That's probably costing us more than it should,
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therefore stressing us out more than it is helping us or making us feel grateful.
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we only see the private beaches
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that charge us stupid amounts just to lay on the sand
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and swim in the ocean something that was already there they didn't build that create that
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it was already there.
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Why should we have to pay for it?
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Because when we have to pay for something,
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I feel like we think our debt is paid.
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We owe nothing else and we can just do as we please,
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whatever we want, leaving our trash and therefore hurting the animals
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that rely on us just as much as we rely on them,
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contaminating our oceans and forgetting the relationship that we have with nature.
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All respect is lost, but there is hope.
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I believe in hope, and I believe that nature is very forgiving.
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Nature doesn't hold a grudge.
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If we start now, We could bring so much love into the world
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if we give without the expectation of receiving anything in return
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and create a relationship with the world.
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The same with language.
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Real progress happens when we start asking ourselves,
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how can I create a relationship with this language?
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because relationships grow through consistency,
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care, attention, and presence, just like nature.
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Guys, I could say so much more, but I think I'm going to leave it there for now.
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I hope you learned something new today while you were studying English with me.
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If you want to read this book with me, you're still on time.
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It's called Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
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I'm only on the first chapter, so if you start reading now,
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you'll probably catch up with me because it takes me an eternity to finish a book.
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If you liked this video, be sure to like it because if we get to 10,000 likes,
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I'll do a part two.
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Also subscribe for more English practice with me.
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Never stop growing, guys.
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It's truly never too late to start giving,
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to start spreading your love to the people and world around you.
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Let's take care of the world as we would take care of our grandma's handmade socks.
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See you next week.
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Bye.
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you

About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will enhance your English listening skills while uncovering a fresh perspective on language learning. The focus will be on the importance of viewing English as a relationship rather than just a skill to acquire. This approach will aid you in forming a deeper connection with the language and culture, enriching your learning experience. You’ll practice active listening and shadowing to improve your pronunciation and fluency at an intermediate level (B1-B2). Whether you choose to follow along closely or simply listen with intent, you're on a path to stronger English speaking practice.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Gratitude - The quality of being thankful, readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
  • Relationship - The way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.
  • Perspective - A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.
  • See the world - To perceive or understand life and environments in a certain way.
  • Responsibility - The state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or having control over someone.
  • Commodity - A raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold.
  • Shadow speech - A practice technique involving repeating after a speaker to improve language skills.

Practice Tips

Utilize the shadowing technique during this lesson to maximize your engagement with the material. Listening first and then repeating what you hear will help you mimic natural speech patterns, making it an effective method for improving pronunciation and intonation. If you're looking for a challenge, consider adjusting the playback speed to 1.25 or 1.5 times the normal rate. This can enhance your listening comprehension as it forces your brain to process the information more quickly. Remember, the goal is to connect with the language at a deeper level, just as you would in any meaningful relationship.

As you shadow speech from the video, pay attention to the emotional undertones and cultural contexts within the dialogues. Reflecting on the ideas of gratitude and responsibility can help deepen your understanding of the language while allowing you to express thoughts more eloquently during your IELTS speaking practice. Achieving fluency goes beyond mere vocabulary; it involves a real connection with what the language represents.

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.