Shadowing Practice: Expand your perception. Change your life. | Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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- Nothing brings me more joy than helping people better understand the tool they have to live their life on purpose.
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- Nothing brings me more joy than helping people better understand the tool they have to live their life on purpose.
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We have this magnificent brain, and it has different predictable parts, and the better we get to know those different parts, then we have more power over who and how we wanna be in any moment.
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The brain does not have to be such a mystery.
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We can actually understand it, differentiate ourselves, and then behave in ways that bring us less anxiety and more peace.
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It thrills me.
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I love brains.
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I am Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor.
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I'm a neuroanatomist, and the author of "My Stroke of Insight," and "Whole Brain Living." I'm a neuroanatomist.
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I study the anatomy of the brain, so I can visualize in my brain the circuits of how all the information comes in in order for me to be able to have a perception of reality.
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When we look at the human brain, it has emotional tissue in the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere, and it has thinking tissue in both the right hemisphere and in the left hemisphere.
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So we end up with these four very specific groups of cells, modules of cells, that result in very specific skill sets, resulting in very specific personalities that we all exhibit.
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So we have left thinking that is structured and organized, and it's what we call our rational thinking brain.
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It categorizes and organizes, it has language, the ability to create sound, and then another group of cells places meaning on top of that.
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I know when I'm being analytical and I'm being structured and organized and I'm planning things for the future, or I'm counting one plus one equals two- I know that that's my left thinking portion of my brain.
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The left emotional part of our brain has miraculously stepped out of the present-moment consciousness and given us the ability to remember things from our past or to project ideas into the future.
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Now, with that, I can create an individuation as well as the linearity across time.
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And now because I have linearity across time, I can learn from my past experiences.
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The right emotional part of my brain is then, 'How does it feel to be in my body in the present moment?' What does it feel like when I dive into the water and I feel the pressure push against my body?
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What does it feel like to feel water as wet?
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I'm not on the clock. I'm lost in the flow.
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I've got this excitement, and I have a level of curiosity.
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And then my right thinking tissue is simply the consciousness of me, big as the Universe, connected to all that is.
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And this immense sense of gratitude that I exist at all.
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"Oh my gosh, I'm alive!" We are living creatures made up of these magnificent cells.
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And there's an awe and a wonder, and this deep sense of gratitude.
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Once you start realizing the four different characters inside of yourself and being able to recognize those in others, you can't not see it anymore.
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And once you understand it, it's like, "I have so much more power over what's going on inside of my brain than anybody ever taught me, wow!" It's beautiful.
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So I grew up to study the brain because I have a brother who's diagnosed with a brain disorder, schizophrenia.
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So my focus was on, how does our brain create our perception of reality?
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Because my brother's perception of reality was so different from mine.
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And so I was teaching and performing research at Harvard Medical School, and at the age of 37, I woke up one morning and I had a major hemorrhage happening in the left hemisphere of my brain.
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My brain says, 'Oh my gosh, I'm having a stroke.
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I'm having a stroke!' And then another part of my brain is saying, 'Wow, this is so cool, I'm having a stroke!
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How many brain scientists had the opportunity to study their own brain from the inside out like this?' And then when I awoke later that afternoon, the left hemisphere was completely shut down.
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I no longer had me, the individual.
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I didn't know where I began and where I ended.
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Jill Bolte Taylor died that day.
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And I was literally laying in this bed, and felt like a ton of lead in the present moment.
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And when you're in the right here, right now, and you have this expansive openness, big as the Universe experience, then you see how everything is interrelated and energetically impacted.
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So I still had those portions of my brain functioning, but me, the individual, I was gone.
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And we really had no idea even following surgery what I would get back or if I would have any ability to have any recognition or recollection of the identity that I had had for 37 years.
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So what the stroke gave me was this new introduction to the depth of these emotions.
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However, my sadness, my grief, grief is a whole body, whole envelopment, and it takes you to your knees, and it takes you to the floor, and it just flood with this incredible emotion, and 'Wow, I feel this because I loved, this is the beauty of being alive!' But it's not designed to be a lifestyle; it's designed to be information that I can then learn from and hold onto, and find meaning in my world.
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The emotions, the power of the emotions are so beautiful, so rich, so everything, that without 'em, we would be one plus one equals two, and who really cares?
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It took eight years for me to completely recover all function.
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I knew that I had completely recovered when that organizational part of me came back online and said, "Now I wanna be the boss again." And the rest of my brain went, "We are so glad you're back, because we need your skill sets to be a functional human being in our society.
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But no, we are not gonna live based on the values of the left hemisphere.
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We are now gonna live as a collective democracy inside of our own head." I have to have that left hemisphere in order to be a functional human being.
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But even though my ego center is in my left hemisphere, my left hemisphere is not who I am.
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I am a left hemisphere and a right hemisphere.
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If we are hooked into the emotional part of our left hemisphere that says, "I don't like that, it's not familiar, I don't feel safe," that clamps me down and I become constricted.
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And I can fuel that by sharing those biases with those whom I am familiar with, then we all become more constricted, we all become more rigid.
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We all become more we versus they.
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Yet, we have the capacity to say, "I am a part of a magnificent collective whole in relationship to a magnificent world." And as we engage with the world in a healthier way, the world becomes healthier.
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We have the capacity to understand and have a healthy relationship with all the different parts of who we are.
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And when we look at the anatomy of the brain, when we get that streamlined activity between the two thinking parts of our brain, the two emotional parts of our brain, and we're having a whole brain life, wow, things change.
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I think the first thing we need to do is be willing and open to explore what's going on inside of our own head.
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Get to know who you are.
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Get to know your four characters.
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Get to know how they engage in your life, who they have relationships with, how they feel inside of your body.
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How much time do you want to spend in each of these four different parts?
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Once you know that, then you can create a negotiation.
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And to me, that's personal freedom, to be able to know I have the power to choose moment by moment who and how I wanna be, regardless of my external circumstance.
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And it's a wonderful, wonderful way of being.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's insights into the human brain offer a profound context for English language learners to develop their speaking skills. As she explains the complex functions of the brain, learners can engage in shadow speaking practices that involve both emotional and analytical aspects of language. This unique approach helps students connect deeply with the content, fostering a more meaningful understanding of vocabulary and expressions. By mimicking her delivery, you not only improve your English pronunciation but also enhance your ability to convey emotions and ideas effectively, making your speech more engaging and authentic.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In this transcript, several grammatical structures and expressions stand out that can enrich your English learning experience:
- Complex Sentences: Dr. Taylor often uses complex sentences that include dependent clauses, such as "the better we get to know those different parts, then we have more power over who and how we wanna be." This structure allows for nuanced expression and encourages learners to practice forming detailed sentences.
- Comparative and Superlative Forms: The phrase "nothing brings me more joy" provides an excellent opportunity to learn about comparisons. Using more and most can help learners express feelings and preferences effectively.
- Present Continuous Tense: Her statement "I'm alive!" exemplifies the present continuous tense, which is used for actions occurring at the present moment. Practicing this form can enhance learners' ability to describe ongoing states or actions in their lives.
- Descriptive Language: Expressions such as "immense sense of gratitude" enrich vocabulary and help learners practice using adjectives to convey emotions more vividly, an essential skill in effective communication.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While engaging with this video, English learners may encounter specific words and phrases that could pose challenges in pronunciation:
- “Hemorrhage”: This medical term is often mispronounced; it’s crucial to focus on the correct syllable stress and vowel sounds to ensure clarity.
- “Perception”: This word contains silent letters and can be tricky; practice enunciating each syllable to improve your confidence and clarity.
- “Organized”: The American pronunciation differs from British; working on this can help learners adapt to various English speaking contexts.
- “Emotions”: Many learners may struggle with the ‘shun’ sound at the end; emphasizing this can improve overall pronunciation.
Utilizing shadow speech techniques to repeat these phrases can significantly enhance your improve English pronunciation skills, making your speech more natural and fluid. By practicing the right shadowspeak, you'll not only deepen your understanding of the content but also refine your spoken English proficiency.
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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