Shadowing Practice: Finding Love and Belonging in Unexpected Places - Learn English Speaking with Video

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God, I’ve got no idea why we’re here.
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It’s a joy not knowing why we’re here, and it’s also terrifying.
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This little blue and green spaceship moving through this vast endless expanse.
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I mean how is that not terrifying, and also amazing?
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But also completely and utterly terrifying.
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What is this?
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Where am I?
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Why am I here?
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So I’ll never know the answers.
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And again, that’s what’s terrifying about it all.
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I’ll never know the answers.
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I’ll have glimpses of truth - that’s all that I can hope for.
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Even just to receive one glimpse of truth in my lifetime is more than I could ever ask for.
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It’s like having an experience of looking into God’s mind - just one small part of it.
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As you can see, I’m a deep thinker and I think a lot.
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And the more I think about it, the more I think I should stop thinking about it.
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You know, I’ve got two kids - I’m a dad.
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And I wonder what message I could be giving them to help them see the world in a different way so that they don’t have to go through some of the toils that I went through growing up.
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And it’s hard because so much of what I believed growing up is hardwired in there.
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But that’s the human journey.
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We’ve got to struggle to find what’s authentic for ourselves, and what feels good.
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And to support our family and others in finding a way to be more authentic in the world.
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But the words are one thing.
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It’s almost like I need to be living it as well.
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I’m not just wanting to say the right things to them.
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That’s the easy part.
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But how can I be living these virtues that I hold so dearly?
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We’re not here to save our children from being impacted from life and failing.
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But what we can do is to create a container for them that can hold all of these experiences in a way that allows them to go through them fully but doesn’t let any one of them define them.
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And that what they’re going through has its place and is a part, fully a part of this human journey.
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I was always looking for the perfect one out there to complete me, that would make me feel like I belong, I guess.
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It became quite obsessive...
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looking for love, looking for this idea of being in love.
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And really expecting these women, who most of them I’ve never met before, to fulfil this desire in some way.
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And it was tiring, absolutely tiring living life in this way.
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And I believe that a lot of men live life in this way.
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When I look around and I see how men look at women, there is such a compulsion there.
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And it took up so much of my thinking.
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And what happened is I had this dream where I met this woman.
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And I realised that we’ve been together forever.
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And I realised that the one I’ve been looking for out there the whole time, has been with me the whole time.
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All of that obsession dissipated just like that, in an instant.
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The idea of ‘you need to love yourself’, we keep getting told...
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I really love myself because I love this one who is in me.
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I’m in love with myself, deeply.
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And yet it is me, she’s a part of me.
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And yet she’s also not a part of me.
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But she’s definitely not out there.
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I’ve been so numb throughout my life.
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Feelings haven’t had a place.
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And as I’m opening myself up more and more, I’m feeling more and more.
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For someone who struggled a lot of his life with not feeling, it’s such a gift and a blessing to feel.
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Without those feelings it’s like living a half lived life.
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I think it’s really important to let my kids know, and let my family know, and let myself know, that it’s cool to be vulnerable, and real, and broken.
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And that all of these feelings have a place here, just like everything else.
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I’ve got such a deep love for this place.
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It’s astounding.
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We do our best to describe all of this in words but it’s just... pheww.
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I mean how is any of this even possible and happening?
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How are any of us even here right now?
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Many animals come here with the knowing that they belong.
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And they fit in here really beautifully.
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And humans, we’re an unusual animal.
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And we’ve come here where...
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like I was my young seven year old...
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and I felt belonging, and I felt place, and I felt connection, and I had relationships with more than I could see.
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And then I went through a forgetting.
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We’re living in a time where people have lost appreciation and connection with this wild place that we’re in, to the degree that we avoid it, we’re scared of it.
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It’s like we’re brought up to completely take it for granted, completely take it for granted.
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Telling my kids how they belong to this incredible place that we live in.
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And that this place is alive and sees us.
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And we’re not alone here as people, amongst other species, other animals, other beings.
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I see so much heartbreak in this world.
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There are so many people who have so little, who are struggling so much, who have inherited hard lives.
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And I don’t know what I’ve done in this life to inherit what I’ve got.
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I don’t know how this is my constellation, this is my portion.
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And it’s hard to accept that.
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And it means I’ve got a responsibility to live my life in a way that changes things in some way for the better.
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In this world there is beauty, and there’s heartbreak, and there’s trauma, and there’s devastation.
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And there is a whole myriad and complexity of ways of seeing and being in this place.
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And amidst all of that there’s me.
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And I choose to believe I have something to offer.
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I want to know that I did everything I could in this life to live a worthwhile life.
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And when I find myself at a crossroad I want to know that I did everything that I could, so I choose that path.
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And if it works out, great.
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And if it doesn’t work out, I know that I chose the path where I tried.
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I want to live a full life. I want to live a meaningful life.
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And the more I can keep returning, and returning, and returning, and returning, until the day I die will give me, I imagine, quite a rich and meaningful life.

Why practice speaking with this video?

Engaging with the **"Finding Love and Belonging in Unexpected Places"** video offers an excellent opportunity for **English speaking practice**. The speaker delves into profound themes of existence, relationships, and self-discovery, providing rich content to reflect on during your practice sessions. By practicing speaking, you will not only improve your pronunciation but also develop a deeper understanding of how to convey complex ideas effectively. The emotional undertones and philosophical reflections presented in this video can help you enhance your ability to express personal views and sentiments, making it a recommended choice for those aiming for success in **IELTS speaking practice**.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

The speaker utilizes several key grammatical structures that you can incorporate into your own speaking practices:

  • Questions for Reflection: The speaker often poses questions such as "What is this? Where am I?" These rhetorical questions can be impactful when trying to engage listeners or provoke thought.
  • Present Continuous Tense: The use of phrases like “I’m a dad” and “I’m in love with myself” helps express ongoing actions or states. Practicing this tense will enhance your ability to talk about current experiences.
  • Complex Sentences: The speaker says, “It’s almost like I need to be living it as well.” This structure showcases the importance of connecting ideas. Aim to practice creating similar sentences to articulate multifaceted thoughts.
  • Comparative Phrases: Phrases like “the one I’ve been looking for out there” illustrate how to make comparisons effectively in speech.

Common Pronunciation Traps

When practicing with this video, pay attention to certain tricky words and potential pronunciation challenges:

  • Compulsion: This word can be difficult due to its 'c' and 'sh' sounds. Practice saying it slowly, emphasizing the syllables.
  • Terrifying: The speaker uses this word to convey strong emotions. Breaking it down into syllables can help: ter-ri-fy-ing.
  • Authentic: This word is key to the video’s theme. Focus on the 'th' sound, which can be challenging for non-native speakers. Try practicing with variations like "authenticity" for further enhancement.

Utilizing a **shadowing app** while listening to this video will allow you to practice intonation and rhythm, making your **english speaking practice** more effective. Embrace this opportunity to reflect and articulate your thoughts, fostering growth in your language journey!

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.