Shadowing Practice: English Listening Practice for Beginners | Social Media vs Real Life | English Podcast #learnenglish - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Mr. English Channel,
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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Mr. English Channel,
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where learning English is easy and fun.
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I'm Emily.
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Hello, Emily, and hello to all our wonderful listeners.
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It is so good to be here today.
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I am so happy you are here, Paul.
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You look very happy today.
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I am happy, Emily, but I am also a little, hmm, confused.
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Confused?
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Why are you confused?
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Did you have a difficult morning?
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Well, no, it was a good morning.
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I was looking at my phone.
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Ah, the phone.
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Were you looking at social media?
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Yes, I was looking at photos of my friends.
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Everyone looked so perfect.
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Oh, Paul, I know what you mean.
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Everyone has a perfect life on the Internet.
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Exactly.
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My friend Tom, you remember Tom from The Office?
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Yes, of course.
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The funny guy who works with Sarah.
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Well, Tom posted a photo of his breakfast today.
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It was beautiful.
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Was it a big breakfast?
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It was amazing.
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He had eggs, fruit, a green juice,
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and a very pretty coffee.
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Wow, that sounds like a lot of work for a Tuesday morning.
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That is why I am confused.
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I saw Tom at the office an hour later.
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And?
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How did he look?
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He looked tired.
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He told me he didn't have time to eat his breakfast because he spent 20 minutes taking the photo.
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Oh, no!
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So the food was cold?
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Yes.
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He said the eggs were cold and the coffee was not good anymore.
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That is so funny.
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But it is also a little sad, right?
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It is.
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He wanted the photo to look perfect,
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but his real breakfast was not very good.
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That is our topic for today, Paul.
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Social media and real life.
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I love it.
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It is a very important topic for everyone.
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It really is.
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We spend so much time looking at screens.
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We do.
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And sometimes we forget what is real.
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You know, Paul, I have a small secret about this.
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A secret?
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Tell me.
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Not yet.
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Later, at the end of the episode,
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I want to share a very useful tip.
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Oh?
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Is it about social media?
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Yes.
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It is a small trick that helped me feel much better about my life.
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Now I am very curious.
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I will wait for the end.
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Good.
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So, Paul, do you post many photos on the Internet?
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Not many.
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I am a little shy.
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I usually just look at other people's photos.
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I understand.
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I like to post photos of my dog and my garden.
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Your garden is beautiful, Emily.
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Those photos are real.
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Thank you.
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But, you know, sometimes I move the trash can before I take the photo.
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Really?
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You hide the trash?
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Yes.
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I want the garden to look clean.
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But in real life, there are leaves on the floor and a big plastic trash can.
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That is interesting.
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So even your real photos have a little bit of, um, editing?
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Yes, exactly.
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I think we all do that.
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We want to show the best parts of our day.
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I saw a photo of a woman on a beach yesterday.
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She looked so relaxed.
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That sounds nice.
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I love the beach.
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But then I saw a video of the same beach.
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It was so crowded.
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There were people everywhere.
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Ah, so the photo was just one small corner of the beach?
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Yes.
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In the photo, she looked alone and peaceful.
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In real life, it was loud and busy.
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It's like a magic trick.
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We only see what the person wants us to see.
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That is true.
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It's called a highlight reel.
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Do you know that expression, Emily?
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Hmm.
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Highlight reel?
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Can you explain that?
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Sure.
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A highlight is the best part of something,
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like the best goal in a soccer game.
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Oh, I see.
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So social media is just the best moments of life.
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Exactly.
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We don't post photos of our messy kitchens or our boring meetings.
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Imagine a photo of your big boring report from last week.
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Oh, no. Here is a photo of me crying over numbers.
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No one wants to see that.
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Look at my 30 pages of math.
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So exciting.
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No way.
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People would stop following me immediately.
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But that is real life.
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We all have boring moments and messy rooms.
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I think it makes people feel bad sometimes.
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They think, why is my life so messy?
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Yes, I agree.
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When I see my friend Maria on vacation,
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I feel a little… jealous.
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Maria?
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The one who's getting married next month?
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Yes, she's in Italy right now.
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She's posting photos of pasta and old buildings.
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Italy.
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Wow, that sounds wonderful.
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It looks wonderful, but I talked to her on the phone yesterday.
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And what did she say?
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Was she having a great time?
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Well, she said her feet hurt from walking,
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and she lost her sunglasses.
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Oh no!
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She didn't post a photo of her hurting feet?
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No. She only posted the beautiful pasta.
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So in her photos, she is a queen in Italy.
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In real life, she is a tired tourist with no sunglasses.
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Exactly.
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It's important to remember that when we scroll through our phones.
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Scrolling.
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That is another big word.
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We scroll and scroll for hours.
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I do that before I go to sleep.
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It is a bad habit.
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Me too.
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My eyes get tired, but I cannot stop.
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Why do we do that, Paul?
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I think we are looking for something exciting.
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We want to see what is happening.
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But usually nothing exciting is happening.
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Just more photos of cats and coffee.
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True.
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But I like the cat photos.
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I like them too.
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But sometimes I look at the clock and, wow, one hour passed?
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I know.
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You think it is five minutes,
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but it is 60 minutes.
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That is time we can use for other things,
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like reading a book or talking to a friend.
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Or sleeping.
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I need more sleep.
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We all do.
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You know, Paul, if you are enjoying this conversation about social media,
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don't forget to like the video.
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Yes, and subscribe to Mr. English Channel.
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We love having you here.
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And please share this episode with a friend.
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Maybe a friend who spends too much time on their phone.
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That is a good idea.
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And we have a small task for you today.
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Oh?
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What is it?
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If you are still listening,
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comment the word, real life, in the comments below.
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One word?
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Real life?
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Yes, all together.
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It shows us you are listening and you care about being present.
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I love that.
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Real life.
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It is a good reminder.
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So, Emily, let's talk about FOMO.
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Have you heard that?
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Ah, yes.
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F-O-M-O.
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Fear of missing out.
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Exactly.
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It's that feeling when you see your friends at a party and you are at home in your pajamas.
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Oh, I hate that feeling.
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You think everyone is having fun without me.
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Yes, I had that last Saturday.
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I saw a photo of Tom and Sarah at a new restaurant.
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The Italian restaurant?
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Luigi's?
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No, a new sushi place.
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They looked so happy.
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And how did you feel?
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I felt lonely.
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I was sitting on my sofa eating a sandwich.
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But, Paul, you like your sofa.
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You told me you love quiet Saturday nights.
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I do.
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I love my sofa and my sandwich.
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But the photo made me feel like I was doing something wrong.
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That is the power of social media.
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It can make a good night feel like a bad night.
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It is very strange.
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Before phones, I would be happy with my sandwich.
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Exactly.
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You wouldn't know about the sushi.
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You would just enjoy your dinner.
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I think we need to be more careful with our feelings.
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I agree.
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We need to remember that photos are not the whole story.
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You know, I tried something new yesterday.
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Oh?
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What did you do?
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I went for a walk in the park,
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and I left my phone at home.
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No phone at all?
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No phone.
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It was a little scary at first.
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Why was it scary?
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I thought, what if I see a beautiful bird?
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I cannot take a photo.
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Or what if I see a famous person?
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Exactly.
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I felt like I couldn't save the moment.
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But what happened?
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Did you see a beautiful bird?
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I did.
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I saw a big blue bird.
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It was sitting on a tree near the water.
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And?
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Was it okay that you didn't have a photo?
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It was more than okay.
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Because I didn't have my phone,
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I really looked at the bird.
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Wow!
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You watched it with your eyes, not through a screen.
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Yes.
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I saw the colours.
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I heard the sound it made.
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I stayed there for five minutes.
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That is wonderful, Paul.
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If you had your phone, what would you do?
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I would spend four minutes trying to get a good photo.
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Then I would spend one minute thinking of a caption.
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Look at this blue bird, hashtag nature, hashtag blessed.
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Exactly.
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And I wouldn't really see the bird.
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I would only see the screen.
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That is a very powerful lesson.
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We miss the real moment because we want to post the moment.
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I felt so much more relaxed after that walk.
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My head felt… quiet.
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I need to try that.
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A digital detox.
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Digital detox.
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I like that name.
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It sounds like a healthy diet for the brain.
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It is.
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Our brains are tired of all the colors and the clicking and the likes.
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Speaking of likes, do you feel happy when people like your photos, Emily?
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Hmm.
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Yes, I do.
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It feels like a small high-five from a friend.
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Me too.
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But if I don't get many likes,
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I feel a little sad.
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Isn't that strange?
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We let numbers on a screen change our mood.
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It is very strange.
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If ten people say hello to me in the street, I am happy.
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Of course.
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That is a lot of people.
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But if only ten people like my photo,
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I think, oh no, only ten?
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Nobody likes me.
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We are so silly sometimes, Paul.
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Ten people is a lot of people.
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I know.
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I need to imagine ten people standing in my living room.
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That is a crowd.
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It really is.
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We need to change how we think about those numbers.
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I agree.
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A like is nice, but a real conversation is better.
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Like our conversation right now.
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Exactly.
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I don't need a button for this.
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I can see you are smiling.
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And I can hear you are laughing.
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That is real connection.
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You know, Emily, I saw a very funny video about social media reality.
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Oh?
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What was in the video?
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It showed a man in a very messy room.
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There were clothes on the floor and old pizza boxes everywhere.
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Oh, dear.
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That sounds like a disaster.
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But then he cleaned one tiny corner of the room,
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just one small table.
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Only one table?
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Yes.
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He put a flower and a book on that table.
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Then he took a photo.
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And I bet the photo looked beautiful.
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It looked like a luxury hotel.
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He posted it with the caption, Sunday morning vibes.
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Vibes.
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I love that word.
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It's so… internet.
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But the reality was the messy pizza box is just 10 centimeters away.
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That is the perfect example of social media.
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It's a crop.
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A crop?
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What does that mean?
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When you crop a photo, you cut the edges.
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You remove what you don't want.
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Ah, so we crop our lives.
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We cut out the mess.
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Yes, and we only show the flower and the book.
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I think I am going to stop cropping so much.
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Really?
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Are you going to post a photo of your messy desk?
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Maybe not today, but I will tell my friends when I'm having a hard day.
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That is a good idea.
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Being vulnerable is important.
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Vulnerable.
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That is a big word.
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It means being honest about our feelings, right?
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Yes, exactly.
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It's okay to say, I am tired or I am sad.
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My friend Sarah did that last week.
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She posted that she was feeling stressed about work.
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And what happened?
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Did people be mean to her?
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No. Everyone was so kind.
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They said, me too, and you can do it.
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Wow.
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So being real actually helped her connect with people?
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Yes.
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It was better than a perfect photo.
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It was a real moment.
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I love that.
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Maybe social media isn't all bad.
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No, it's not bad.
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It's just a tool.
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We just need to use it in a healthy way.
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Like a hammer.
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You can build a house,
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or you can hit your thumb.
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I don't want to hit my thumb.
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Me neither.
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I want to build a house of friends.
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That is a very poetic idea, Emily.
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Thank you, Paul.
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I'm feeling very inspired today.
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Me too.
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I feel like I want to put my phone in a drawer for the rest of the day.
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That is a great plan.
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But wait, I still have to share my secret tip.
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Oh, yes.
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I almost forgot.
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You promised a secret tip at the end of the episode.
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I did, and it is a very simple one.
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I am ready.
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I have my notebook.
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What is the tip for social media in real life?
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OK, here it is.
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Turn off your notifications.
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All of them?
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Yes, especially for social media.
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No pings, no dings, no vibrations.
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But how will I know if someone likes my photo?
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is the point, Paul.
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You will check the phone when you want to,
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not when the phone tells you to.
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Hmm.
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So I'm the boss, not the phone.
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Exactly.
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When the phone pings, it's like a little bell.
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We're like dogs.
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We run to the phone.
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You're right.
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I hear the sound and I stop everything.
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I stop talking.
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I stop eating.
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But if there is no sound,
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you stay in real life.
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You finish your coffee.
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You finish your walk.
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Wow!
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That is so simple, but it's very powerful.
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It changed my life.
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Now I only look at social media twice a day.
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Once in the morning and once in the evening.
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Only twice?
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That is very brave, Emily.
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It was hard for three days,
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but now I feel so much more peaceful.
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I don't feel like I'm missing anything i'm gonna try
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that right now i'm gonna turn them off good job paul your brain will thank you
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and i will have more time to talk to you
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that is the best part well emily this was a fantastic
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chat i feel like i learned a lot me too paul
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real life is pretty great isn't it it is even with the the messy rooms and the cold eggs.
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Especially the cold eggs.
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Well, everyone, we hope you enjoyed this episode about social media and real life.
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Yes, we hope it helps you feel a little more present today.
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Before you go, please don't forget to subscribe to our channel, Mr. English Channel.
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And give this video a like if you think real life is better than social media.
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And remember the comment.
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Write real life below so we know you're part of our community.
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We love reading your stories and your comments.
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They make our day.
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They really do.
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It's our favorite social media part of the week.
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Thank you for listening, everyone.
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You are all amazing.
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Yes, thank you.
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Go out and enjoy the real world today.
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Look at a bird.
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Yes, look at a bird with your eyes.
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Until next time, everyone.
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Goodbye.
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Bye for now.
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See you in the next episode.
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Context & Background
In this engaging episode of the Mr. English Channel podcast, hosts Emily and Paul delve into a relatable topic: the contrast between social media and real life. As they navigate a friendly dialogue, they highlight the pressures of portraying a perfect life online through curated images and stories. Paul expresses his confusion after noticing a friend, Tom, posting an enviable breakfast photo while struggling with the reality of his busy morning. This conversation touches on the themes of authenticity and the significance of living in the moment. By examining this dynamic, English learners can enhance their listening skills while reflecting on a contemporary issue that resonates with many.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- “I was looking at social media.” - A phrase for discussing online activities.
- “Everyone looked so perfect.” - Used to express admiration or envy of others’ online lives.
- “It was a lot of work.” - Referring to the effort involved in creating content.
- “He looked tired.” - A simple way to describe someone’s appearance or mood.
- “It is a little sad.” - A phrase expressing empathy or disappointment about a situation.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To effectively improve your English speaking skills using the shadowing technique, follow this structured guide tailored to the dialogue in this podcast episode:
- Listen Carefully: Start by listening to the podcast episode attentively. Focus on the intonation and emotions expressed by Emily and Paul. Note their conversational styles to capture the nuances of spoken English.
- Repeat Sentences: After listening to a segment, pause the audio and try to repeat what was said. Use the shadowspeaks method by matching your voice to the speaker’s pace and pronunciation, which enhances your fluency.
- Record Yourself: Use a shadowing app to record your voice while repeating the phrases. This helps in assessing your speaking clarity and fluency. Listening to your recordings will allow you to identify areas for improvement.
- Practice with Context: Engage in role play with a partner or practice alone by recreating the dialogue's context. Discuss your own experiences with social media and how they compare to real life, using the phrases you learned.
- Expand Vocabulary: Incorporate new vocabulary related to the topic into your daily English speaking practice. Aim to use them in conversations about social media challenges, authenticity, and daily experiences.
By consistently applying these steps, you can effectively enhance your English speaking practice. With time, you will notice an improvement in your confidence and fluency as you build upon these fundamental communication skills. Remember, learning English with YouTube resources like this podcast makes the process both enjoyable and educational!
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.
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