Shadowing Practice: English Podcast For Learning English Conversation Practice | A Good Future Needs Some Bad Memories - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
509 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
English Leap Podcast.
2
From Speak English with Class.
3
Hey, hey, English learners.
4
Welcome back to the English Leap Podcast, your English podcast for daily life English, real conversations, and easy English listening practice.
5
I'm Anna.
6
And I'm Jake.
7
And Anna, I found something in a drawer yesterday that I probably should have thrown away years ago.
8
That could be anything.
9
An old charger, a receipt from 2018, one lonely sock?
10
Worse.
11
Worse than the lonely sock?
12
An old notebook.
13
Oh, that doesn't sound terrible.
14
You haven't seen what's inside it.
15
Now I'm interested.
16
It was from a period when I was applying for jobs.
17
I'd written down company names, interview dates, questions I wanted to prepare, and little comments afterwards.
18
What kind of comments?
19
Talked too fast.
20
Forgot the example.
21
That answer made no sense.
22
Oh.
23
Yeah.
24
That's painful to read years later.
25
Very.
26
I opened one page and immediately thought, why did I keep this?
27
I know that feeling.
28
You find something from an older version of yourself and you want to close the drawer very, very slowly and pretend you saw nothing.
29
That was the plan.
30
But you kept reading.
31
I did.
32
And after a few pages, something changed.
33
What did you notice?
34
Some of the things I do naturally now I learned because those interviews went badly.
35
Ah.
36
I prepare examples now because I once had none.
37
I slow myself down because I remember rushing.
38
I give myself a second to think because I used to panic and say the first thing that came into my head.
39
Hmm.
40
So the memory is still uncomfortable, but it also explains part of who you are now.
41
That's it.
42
I like that.
43
Although I'm not sure I'd enjoy spending an evening reading all my old mistakes.
44
No, no. I'm not recommending a Friday night with your personal archive of embarrassment.
45
Good.
46
But it made me wonder about something.
47
We talk a lot about leaving bad experiences behind us.
48
Hmm.
49
Which makes sense. Of course.
50
But are there some bad memories we actually need?
51
Need?
52
Not because we want to suffer again.
53
More because they remind us what something taught us.
54
Ah, okay.
55
That's different.
56
And that's really what we're talking about today.
57
Can bad memories help us build a better future?
58
Mmm, I like that question.
59
Because I don't think the answer is simply yes.
60
Neither do I.
61
Some memories help us.
62
Some keep us stuck stuck.
63
And sometimes the same memory can do both at different times in our lives.
64
Right.
65
So today, we're talking about what bad memories can teach us, why the past sometimes looks better than it really was,
66
and how to take something useful forward without getting stuck there.
67
And we'll connect that to English, too, especially those awkward mistakes you still remember years later.
68
English learners have a very good collection of those.
69
Native speakers, too.
70
True.
71
Today's episode is for B1 to B2 learners.
72
We'll explain a few higher -level words naturally as we go, and later we'll bring six of them back in our word tour.
73
And we've got six natural expressions for say it better, too.
74
And one little note before we start.
75
You may hear a word or phrase that has appeared in an earlier episode.
76
That's intentional.
77
We believe in spaced repetition, meeting useful English again after some time time, in a different conversation so it has a better chance of sticking.
78
Hmm, meeting a word once is rarely enough.
79
Right.
80
So if something sounds familiar today, that's a good thing.
81
Your brain has probably met it before.
82
Before we get into the main discussion, here's our question for you.
83
What kind of memory stays with you more easily?
84
A good one or an embarrassing one?
85
Embarrassing.
86
No competition.
87
Same.
88
A lovely compliment can disappear in two days.
89
But saying, you too, when the waiter says, enjoy your meal?
90
Ten years?
91
Minimum.
92
Tell us in the comments.
93
Good memories, embarrassing memories, or both?
94
And while you're thinking about that, let's start with something we all do.
95
What's that?
96
We say we want to forget the past.
97
But sometimes the past isn't finished being useful.
98
I think there's a big difference between remembering something and living inside it.
99
Yes, that matters.
100
Because when people say, leave it in the past, I understand what they mean.
101
Don't let one bad experience control everything that happens next.
102
Right.
103
But completely forgetting it isn't always helpful either.
104
That's what the notebook made me think about.
105
Some of those memories still linger.
106
Linger?
107
If something lingers, it stays around longer than expected.
108
The smell can linger in a room, but a feeling or memory can linger too.
109
Hmm, so the interview ended years ago, but some of that embarrassment stayed with you.
110
Exactly.
111
And for a long time, I thought that was only a bad thing.
112
Makes sense.
113
But now I see the memory more like an old warning sign.
114
Hmm, I like that.
115
Not a sign saying, never go this way again.
116
More like, there was a hole in the road here last time.
117
Yes, so maybe slow down this time.
118
That feels healthier to me.
119
Because if every bad memory becomes a reason to avoid something, your world gets smaller.
120
Very quickly.
121
One bad interview?
122
I'm terrible at interviews.
123
One awkward English conversation?
124
I shouldn't speak.
125
One difficult friendship?
126
I can't trust anyone one.
127
And suddenly one moment is writing rules for the next ten years.
128
Mmm, that's the danger.
129
The memory stops being information and starts becoming a rule.
130
That's a good distinction.
131
Sometimes a bad memory can give us caution.
132
Caution meaning being careful because you know there may be a problem.
133
Right.
134
Not fear of everything, just a little more awareness.
135
Fear says never go near the road.
136
Caution says look both ways.
137
I like that.
138
Me too.
139
So maybe the memory doesn't need to become a prison.
140
It can just become a signpost.
141
Hmm.
142
Keep the information.
143
You don't have to keep reliving the pain.
144
And that sounds sensible until enough time passes and the past starts looking suspiciously beautiful.
145
Ah, yes.
146
Memory has an editing department.
147
It really does.
148
Something ends, enough time passes, and suddenly your mind starts removing the uncomfortable scenes.
149
Very selective editing.
150
You remember the jokes, the nice evenings, the people you liked.
151
And somehow forget that you were unhappy every Tuesday.
152
Why Tuesday?
153
No idea.
154
It felt specific.
155
Fair.
156
But yes, time can soften the edges.
157
And that can be a good thing.
158
I don't want every difficult experience to stay sharp forever.
159
Neither do I.
160
But sometimes we look back on something so warmly that we start questioning why we ever left it look back on, think about something that happened in the past.
161
A job, a relationship, a city, even an old habit.
162
Was it really that bad?
163
Oh, yes, that question.
164
And sometimes the answer is no. Maybe we were too harsh at the time.
165
True.
166
But sometimes the answer is, actually, there was a reason I changed.
167
That's where bad memories can give us perspective.
168
Perspective, a way of seeing or understanding a situation.
169
Right.
170
If I remember only the comfortable parts, I'm seeing half the picture.
171
Has that happened to you?
172
Yes.
173
With an old job, actually.
174
Years later, I remembered the people, the coffee breaks, the funny things that happened.
175
Sounds nice.
176
Some of it was, but I almost forgot how tired I was all the time.
177
Ah.
178
I started thinking, maybe I made too big of a deal of it. Did you?
179
Then I found an old message I'd sent to a friend.
180
It said, I cannot do another month like this.
181
There's the missing scene.
182
Exactly.
183
And seeing that helped me make peace with the decision to leave.
184
Make peace with something means accept something difficult so you're no longer fighting with it inside yourself.
185
Right.
186
I didn't suddenly hate the old job.
187
I could remember the good parts and still understand why leaving was right.
188
That feels more honest.
189
Much more.
190
Maybe mature memories are mixed.
191
Hmm, not it was wonderful or it was terrible.
192
More like there were good things there and I still needed to go.
193
That's a much calmer sentence.
194
Took me years to learn it.
195
Most calm sentences do.
196
There's something I want to be careful about here, though.
197
People sometimes say everything happens for a reason.
198
Ah.
199
And I know they're trying to comfort someone. But?
200
I don't think every painful experience needs to become a beautiful lesson immediately.
201
I agree.
202
Sometimes something bad happens, and it was simply bad.
203
And telling someone you'll be grateful for this one day can feel awful when they're still hurting.
204
Exactly.
205
Meaning often comes later.
206
Or sometimes not at all.
207
Yes.
208
I think we sometimes rush to make pain useful because we want it to mean something.
209
Like we need to prove the experience was worth it.
210
Right, but maybe the first step is simply getting through it.
211
Then later you notice you respond differently.
212
That change can be gradual.
213
Gradual meaning happening slowly through small changes.
214
You become a little more careful with your time, a little clearer about what you want, maybe quicker to notice something that doesn't feel right.
215
And one day you look back and realize, oh, I'm not reacting the way I used to.
216
The memory hasn't disappeared.
217
Your relationship with it has changed.
218
I like that.
219
Sometimes people even look back and say, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
220
Hmm, sometimes.
221
But I'd be careful with that phrase.
222
Me too.
223
Sometimes something genuinely difficult does lead somewhere better.
224
That's when a blessing in disguise can fit.
225
Right.
226
But not every painful experience needs that label.
227
And we don't need to force it.
228
No, we don't.
229
I think that's where resilience matters, too.
230
Hmm.
231
Being resilient doesn't mean something didn't affect you.
232
No, it means it affected you, but you found your way forward.
233
The experience mattered.
234
It just wasn't the end of you.
235
And sometimes resilience looks very ordinary.
236
Like trying again.
237
Speaking again.
238
Applying again.
239
Showing up again.
240
Which brings us very naturally to English learners.
241
Gently.
242
I think almost every language learner has one moment they wish they could erase.
243
At least one.
244
Maybe you used the wrong word.
245
Misunderstood a question.
246
Said something and immediately knew it sounded strange.
247
Or someone asked you something simple and your English just disappeared.
248
Completely gone.
249
You know the words.
250
You've used the words.
251
The words have left the building.
252
That's the feeling.
253
And those moments can linger because embarrassment has an excellent memory.
254
Unfortunately.
255
But this is where the memory can either help you or trap you.
256
If I think that conversation was awkward, so I'm bad at English, I've turned one event into an identity.
257
Right.
258
But if I think that conversation was awkward because I panicked when I didn't understand the question, now I have something useful.
259
Maybe next time you say, sorry, could you say that again?
260
Or give yourself a second before answering.
261
That's learning the hard way.
262
Meaning learning through a difficult or unpleasant experience, rather than through simple advice.
263
I learned the hard way that pretending to understand makes the conversation more difficult.
264
Painfully true.
265
And I think learners sometimes want to erase those memories completely.
266
Of course, nobody enjoys feeling embarrassed.
267
But sometimes your confidence is built partly from surviving those moments.
268
You froze once and still spoke again later.
269
You made a mistake and the world continued.
270
Somebody didn't understand you, you tried different words, and eventually they did.
271
That's evidence.
272
Evidence that you can recover.
273
That's the part.
274
Although we don't need to replay every embarrassing English moment forever.
275
No, please don't build a museum.
276
A museum?
277
Welcome to the gallery of things Jake said wrong in 2019.
278
Nobody needs tickets to that.
279
Absolutely not.
280
Keep the lesson.
281
Close the museum.
282
I'm writing that down.
283
We've talked a lot about what difficult memories teach us to avoid.
284
But they can also show us what matters to us.
285
How?
286
Sometimes you don't realize how much you value something until you experience the opposite.
287
Ah.
288
If you've worked somewhere where nobody listened to you, you notice a manager who genuinely asks for your opinion.
289
If you've had a friendship where you are always the one making the effort, you notice when somebody meets you halfway.
290
That's true.
291
A difficult experience can reshape what you pay attention to.
292
Reshape.
293
Change the form or direction of something.
294
Right.
295
The experience changes what good looks like, Tio.
296
I think people sometimes say, my standards got higher.
297
But maybe their standards just got clearer.
298
Oh, I like that.
299
You know what you're looking for now because you know what it feels like when it's missing.
300
And I suppose that happens in smaller ways, too, even with how we learn.
301
Definitely.
302
If you've spent months studying grammar but still freeze in conversation, that experience can reshape your practice.
303
Maybe you realize, I need more listening.
304
I need more speaking.
305
I need to practice responding in real time.
306
Not because grammar was useless.
307
No, because now you know more about what you need.
308
That feels like one of the healthier ways to use a difficult memory.
309
I think so.
310
Not, this bad thing made me wise.
311
A little dramatic.
312
More like, that was difficult.
313
I learned something about myself.
314
And maybe I can make a slightly better choice next time.
315
Slightly better is enough.
316
So should we keep all our bad memories close?
317
No. Quick answer.
318
I mean, we don't really choose what the brain stores, but I don't think every painful memory deserves a front -row seat in your life.
319
Hmm.
320
That's important.
321
Some memories are useful because they help you recognize a pattern or make a better choice.
322
And some just pull you back into the same pain.
323
Right.
324
So how do you tell the difference?
325
Maybe ask, does remembering this help me understand something, or does it only pull me backwards.
326
Hmm.
327
If it helps you understand yourself, recognize a warning sign, or make a better decision, there may still be value there.
328
And if it doesn't?
329
Maybe you don't need to keep visiting it.
330
That sounds like making peace with the past rather than erasing it.
331
Yes.
332
It happened, it mattered, and it doesn't get to control everything that happens next.
333
That might be the whole episode in one sentence.
334
We could have saved everyone 20 minutes.
335
No, no, I liked the 20 minutes.
336
Me too.
337
And I think that brings us back to the line that started all this.
338
A good future needs some bad memories.
339
Do you agree with it?
340
Hmm.
341
I change one word. Which one?
342
A good future doesn't necessarily need bad memories.
343
Hmm.
344
But if we already have them, they can still become useful.
345
I like that more.
346
Me too.
347
We don't have to be grateful that everything painful happened.
348
No. But sometimes we can choose what we carry forward from it.
349
Hmm.
350
You can carry the lesson with you without carrying all the weight.
351
I like that.
352
Keep the information.
353
Leave some of the weight.
354
There's your metaphor.
355
I know.
356
I'm done now.
357
Good, because we also picked up six useful words while we were talking.
358
Hmm.
359
Let's bring them back.
360
Okay, so we've used some really useful words today.
361
Let's slow them down.
362
Hmm, this is our word tour.
363
Listen first, then repeat with us.
364
Early on, you talked about memories that stay with us long after the experience itself is over.
365
The word there was linger.
366
If something lingers, it stays around longer than expected.
367
The embarrassment from that interview lingered for days.
368
Or the smell of coffee lingered in the kitchen.
369
So feelings can linger, but smells and sounds can too.
370
Hmm.
371
Linger.
372
Then we talked about remembering difficult experiences without becoming afraid of everything.
373
That gave us caution.
374
Caution means care or attention because there may be a problem or danger.
375
After making the same mistake twice, she approached the task with more caution.
376
Or his past experience made him more cautious about agreeing too quickly.
377
It's carefulness, not fear.
378
Later, we talked about how old memories can change the way we see the past.
379
And the word there was perspective.
380
Perspective means a particular way of seeing something or understanding it.
381
Time gave me a different perspective on the experience.
382
Or talking to her helped me see the situation from another perspective.
383
Sometimes the event stays the same, but the way you understand it changes.
384
Perspective.
385
Then, we talked about change that happens slowly rather than all at once.
386
Gradual.
387
Gradual means happening slowly through small changes.
388
Her confidence improved gradually over several months.
389
Or, there was a gradual change in the way he handled stressful situations.
390
You may not notice it day by day.
391
But looking back, the difference can be huge.
392
Gradual.
393
We also talked about recovering after difficult experiences and continuing forward.
394
That gave us resilient.
395
Resilient means able to recover after difficulty and keep going.
396
She became more resilient after dealing with several setbacks.
397
Or children can be surprisingly resilient when things change.
398
It doesn't mean nothing affects you.
399
It means the difficult moment isn't the end of you.
400
Resilient.
401
And finally, we talked about how difficult experiences can change what we notice or value later.
402
The word there was reshape.
403
To reshape something means to change its form or the way it develops.
404
That experience reshaped the way she thought about success.
405
Or learning to speak in public reshaped his confidence.
406
Sometimes one experience doesn't completely change you.
407
It just moves a few things around.
408
Hmm.
409
Reshape.
410
So today we had linger, caution, perspective, gradual, resilient, and reshape.
411
Pick one that connects to your own life.
412
Maybe a memory that still lingers, or an experience that reshaped the way you think.
413
Make one sentence with it.
414
Your own example is usually the one you remember.
415
And we picked up some useful expressions along the way, too.
416
Which means it's time for, say it better.
417
First, think about something from the past.
418
You can say, look back on.
419
When I look back on that job now, I understand why I needed a change.
420
You use it when you think about something that happened earlier in your life.
421
Usually with a little distance.
422
Look back on.
423
Next, learn something because the experience was difficult.
424
You can say, learn the hard way.
425
I learned the hard way that pretending to understand can make things more awkward.
426
It means the lesson came through difficulty or a mistake, rather than through simple advice.
427
Not the nicest teacher.
428
No. Learn the hard way.
429
Next, accept something difficult from the past.
430
You can say, make peace with it.
431
It took me a while to make peace with my decision to leave.
432
It means accepting something emotionally instead of continuing to fight it within yourself.
433
It doesn't mean you have to like what happened.
434
Make peace with it.
435
Next, stop allowing an old experience to control the present.
436
You can say, leave it in the past.
437
I learned what I needed from the experience, and now I'm trying to leave it in the past.
438
It means deciding not to keep bringing an old problem into your present life.
439
Keep the lesson, maybe not the whole suitcase.
440
Fair.
441
Leave it in the past.
442
Next, continue to remember or be affected by something.
443
You can say, carry it with you.
444
I don't think about that conversation every day, but I still carry the lesson with me.
445
It can mean carrying a memory, feeling, lesson, or experience into your future.
446
Hopefully the useful part.
447
Carry it with you.
448
And finally, something difficult later turns out to have a useful or positive result.
449
You can call it a blessing in disguise.
450
Losing that job felt terrible at the time, but later it became a blessing in disguise.
451
It means something that first seemed bad, but later led to something good.
452
Though, as we said earlier, not every painful experience needs that label.
453
Right.
454
Use it when that positive outcome genuinely happened.
455
A blessing in disguise.
456
So, today we had, look back on, learn the hard way, make peace with it, leave it in the past,
457
carry it with you, and a blessing in disguise.
458
Pick one that feels useful.
459
And listen for it in real conversations, too.
460
Once you start noticing these phrases, they seem to appear everywhere.
461
And if you'd like a little more practice with today's conversation, you can revisit it inside the English Leap Club.
462
You'll find the transcript, vocabulary activities, quizzes, games, and shadowing practice there.
463
For this episode, try listening once without stopping, especially during the more reflective parts.
464
Don't chase every word.
465
Follow the idea first.
466
Then go back with the transcript and choose one short exchange that feels useful to you.
467
Shadow it aloud.
468
Follow the rhythm, pauses, and little reactions.
469
Then close the transcript and talk for 30 seconds about a memory that taught you something.
470
Nothing dramatic.
471
Nothing perfect.
472
Just your turn.
473
You know what I'm going to do with that old interview notebook now?
474
Please don't say frame it.
475
No. Good.
476
I think I'm going to keep it.
477
Really?
478
Yeah.
479
Not because I want to sit there reading every awkward answer again, but I looked at it yesterday day and thought, wow, I've actually changed quite a lot.
480
Mmm, I like that.
481
The notebook hasn't changed, but the person reading it has.
482
That's it.
483
And maybe that's what I'm taking from today, too.
484
We don't need to make every bad memory beautiful.
485
No. Some were painful, some were embarrassing, some were simply disappointing.
486
But if one of them helps you understand yourself a little better now, that's worth noticing.
487
So here's our little challenge for you.
488
Think of one uncomfortable memory that taught you something useful.
489
Nothing deeply personal that you don't want to share.
490
It could be a mistake at work, an awkward English conversation, a bad decision, even something small.
491
Then finish this sentence.
492
I learned the hard way that… That's a good one.
493
And if you'd like, leave your sentence in the comments.
494
You might help another listener feel a little less alone in their own awkward memory.
495
And tell us what you were doing while you listened today.
496
Walking, driving, cooking.
497
Looking through an old drawer and finding evidence from 2017.
498
Very specific.
499
You started it.
500
Fair.
501
Thank you for spending part of your day with us.
502
Your future doesn't have to be controlled by your past.
503
But you're allowed to take something useful with you.
504
Take care, everyone.
505
Keep listening, keep speaking, and give yourself time to find the words.
506
We'll see you in the next episode.
507
Bye for now!
508
Your progress doesn't end here.
509
To continue advancing your English skills, click on the next video or explore the additional videos we've thoughtfully selected for you.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
B21
English Podcast for Learning English | Real English Conversation Practice | Take Back Your Focus
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
English Podcast For Learning English | Stop Wasting Time | English Leap Podcast
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B19
English Podcast For Learning English Conversation | How To Talk About Your Daily Routine
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
Learn English With Podcast Conversation | Talking About Daily Life in English B1-B2
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B229
English Podcast For Learning English Conversation | How to Talk About Yourself in English
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
English Podcast For Learning English | How To Cancel Plans Politely in English | Daily Life English
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
English Podcast For Learning English | Easy English Conversation Practice | I Need Less To Have More
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
Hobbies: Your Best Defense Against Brain Rot | English Podcast for Easy English Conversation
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B27
English Podcast For Easy English Conversation | Are You Living Your Dreams | Learn English Fast
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B13
Talking About Exercise in English | Easy English Podcast For Learning English | Daily Life
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B110
English Podcast For Learning English Conversation | 8 Ways to Build English Sentences Quickly
Interview EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B21
English Podcast for Daily Life English Conversation | Talk About Fast English Movie | Part 2
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B26
Job Interview Questions And Answers | English Podcast For Learning English | Daily Life Conversation
Business EnglishInterview EnglishUniversity Students
B21
English Podcast For Learning English Conversation | WHAT’S YOUR DREAM JOB? Real Easy English B1–B2
Business EnglishInterview EnglishDaily Conversation
B13
English Podcast For Learning English Conversation | How To Talk About Yesterday in English
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B24
English Podcast For Learning English | Real English Conversation Practice Talk About Fitness Routine
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B15
English Podcast for Easy English Conversation | Talk About Your Day At Work in English | Daily Life
Business EnglishDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B212
English Podcast For Learning English | How To Find Your Purpose | Daily Life English Conversation
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B22
English Podcast For Learning English Conversation Practice | Attract Good Things into Your Life
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B12
English Podcast for Conversation Practice B1 | Talk About Daily Routine | Learn English Fast
TeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B11
424 sentences
Learn English with Podcast | Why You Shouldn't Quit English (Our Honest Story)
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B242
17 sentences
Why You Remember Embarrassing Moments
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B11
530 sentences
Talking About the Past in English | English Conversation Practice
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B12
423 sentences
Practice Shadowing in English for 30 Days | Day 5 Podcast Conversation Challenge
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
374 sentences
It's Time to Change Your Life | Easy English Conversation Podcast
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
101 sentences
Learn English with Podcast: How to Use The English You Know
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
147 sentences
The Power of Reflection — Learn English Through Story | English Listening Practice (Level 2)
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B1109 sentences
How to talk about Feelings in 2026 in English | English conversation practice | Easy English podcast
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B1283 sentences
English Podcast for Motivation | Learn English for Conversation Practice Shadowing | Easy Listening
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
![[B1] What Mistake Taught You an Important Lesson? | English Listening & Speaking Practice](https://img.youtube.com/vi/iIXH6A9y3wM/mqdefault.jpg)
B126
56 sentences
[B1] What Mistake Taught You an Important Lesson? | English Listening & Speaking Practice
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B1585 sentences
Why You Should Stop Comparing Your English | English Speaking Practice
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “English Podcast For Learning English Conversation Practice”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: experience, memory, English, word, memories. This video has 509 sentences and 3842 words to shadow. The speech runs for 25:09. The speaker talks at a natural 153 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| awkward adjective | /ˈɔk.wɚd/ | Lacking dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| painful adjective | /ˈpeɪn.fl̩/ | Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental. |
| caution noun | /ˈkɔːʃ(ə)n/ | Prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm. |
| gradual adjective | /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuəl/ | Proceeding or advancing by small, slow, regular steps or degrees |
| blessing noun | /ˈblɛs.ɪŋ/ | Some kind of divine or supernatural aid, or reward. |
| disguise verb | /dɪsˈɡaɪz/ | To change the appearance of (a person or thing) so as to hide, or to assume an identity. |
| embarrassment noun | /ɪmˈbæɹ.əs.mənt/ | A state of discomfort arising from bashfulness or consciousness of having violated a social rule; humiliation. |
| notebook noun | /ˈnoʊtˌbʊk/ | A book (physical or digital) in which notes or memoranda are written. |
| naturally adverb | /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/ | In a natural manner. |
| pretend verb | /pɹəˈtɛnd/ | To speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| recover verb | /ɹɪˈkʌvɚ/ | To get back, to regain (a physical thing; in astronomy and navigation, sight of a thing or a signal). |
| uncomfortable adjective | /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/ | Not comfortable; causing discomfort. |
| podcast noun | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on… |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| look back verb | To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight). | |
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. | |
| come through verb | To come into a room or other space through a door or passageway. | |
| get through verb | /ɡɛt ˈθɹu/ | To overcome; to endure. |
| look through verb | To take a view of the contents of; search in, either with the eyes or by hand. | |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. | |
| slow down verb | To decelerate. | |
| throw away verb | To discard (trash, garbage, or the like), to toss out, to put in the trash. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- You haven't seen what's inside it.
- Can bad memories help us build a better future?
- What kind of memory stays with you more easily?
- Has that happened to you?
- Do you agree with it?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't seen · has appeared · has probably met |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is built · be affected · be controlled |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | kept reading · enjoy spending · starts becoming |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | may hear · may be · may still be |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 89 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: rhythm /ˈɹɪð.əm/, thoughtfully /ˈθɔtfəli/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: caution /ˈkɔːʃ(ə)n/, rush /ɹʌʃ/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/, friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, sharp /ʃɑɹp/
- Long words — get the stress right: embarrassment /ɪmˈbæɹ.əs.mənt/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/, difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like awkward, lesson, painful.
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.