Shadowing Practice: Fix Things = Fix Yourself - Learn English Speaking with Video

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I sometimes find myself in somewhat of a silly position as I don't have a whole lot of time and

when stuff breaks you know like this drill for some reason

sometimes it works sometimes it does not you end up justifying it to yourself in a way of like well

that was just planned off lessons chuck it in a bin forget about it for 10 years buy a new one.

Becoming acclimated to a world where that is somewhat possible is a very big problem, for me at least.

I don't feel that should be normal.

And when I take a closer look at this drill

and take a look at how beautifully it's designed and constructed and what it's all made out of, it very simply feels extremely precious.

It feels like a very beautifully done device and that only more so increases as I take this thing apart.

It's interesting because this is possibly one of the cheapest drills that you can buy.

I did notice that a couple of the teeth here were snapped off.

I couldn't imagine that that was causing the issue though.

It also comes about when you start building stuff yourself where you realize how much time

and effort actually goes into making something like this.

The amount of time to just design all of these parts is incredible how this was all put together.

At the same time you come to realize how simple a lot of this stuff is as well.

You imagine things being incredibly complex, but when you break them down into their individual components, they seem quite rudimentary sometimes.

After some scouring around, I figured out that because I was drilling holes in the ceiling for a prolonged period of time,

dust would come across the intake fan and actually spread a bunch of dust onto these contact points.

So it's not actually making contact as I squeeze the trigger.

I tried to clean off all of these contact points and sharpened them a little bit, so that I would actually pinch into the copper.

Putting things together is always a far bit more difficult than ruining stuff.

As with any tool that you've repaired, I often test it thoroughly just to try and get it to fail again.

It's nothing worse than grabbing a tool just to figure out that it doesn't work anymore.

When you eventually get acclimated to fixing things that are already broken,

it inevitably also ends up happening that you start to wonder how other stuff actually works

and you might actually start taking things apart

that aren't broken you know like this little mini wrench how does

that actually work

and I often over complicate things I get the distinct sensation there's this very complex system inside of it

but when you actually take a closer look and see how this thing is put together

first off you gain a lot of inspiration by taking things about right you start to think wow that's

so simple i can do

that as well in this case quite surprisingly it seemed to revolve around

this tiny little spring i initially thought it was a thread

then i started to press in on it with my finger over here

and i realized that this thing was squishing in and

that is actually enabling this little teeth mechanism to rotate in one direction

because the spring lets loose a little bit but not in the other direction.

It's quite amazing isn't it?

Fixing things doesn't have to be complicated every time either.

I recently actually managed to ruin the screen on my camera and of course we need this thing to film the videos.

I would have liked to replace that screen but you know i'm busy

so i came up with a really simple little fix

that also means i've become a little bit more careful

if this hdmi port breaks this camera has become entirely useless

so i want to make sure that

that does not happen using an external display on the camera now

and that also results in the hdmi port being a little bit more exposed

having to fix something gives you some kind of direction which is possibly also

why it calms me down so much i know where i need to go

and i'm not entirely sure which steps I'm taking but I know which direction I'm going.

I think this one goes to show you can fix things without them being fixed.

Being able to fix things has also become a really big selling point for me in the products that I buy.

I want to be able to fix things and that's why I prefer bikes over cars.

I don't doubt that I could learn how to fix a car and you know

Someday I would love to do that.

It's also entirely possible that by the time I do own a car, I might not actually own it.

It might just lock me out as soon as something's broken, drive itself to the repair shop.

At that point, I'm probably going to have to learn how to become a hacker as well.

I find I can more easily relate to a bike braking as well.

I can understand why this bottom bracket failed.

The amount of pressure and strain is on this thing.

but when you don't understand how something works that also results in a lot of ignorance and

ignorance might be bliss in some cases but it also makes you impossibly unreasonable

and this bottom bracket apparently relied on this little plastic piece between the spindle

and the actual bearing that might actually be to save the spindle from wear

and tear so this is a more sacrificial component to the bike.

I attempted to put a little plastic piece back in its spot

and get it to function again but it still did not work and the seal is somewhat important as well.

Now that that little plastic component is broken a lot of dust

and grit can get into the bottom bracket and cause even more damage which I wanted to prevent on this one.

Sometimes things just can't be fixed, they can be replaced and I can do my best to keep the other bottom bracket

and see if I can re -utilize it for something else.

I don't think anything is ever truly completely broken unless you can't actually find a new use case for it.

Saving things can then also become somewhat of a curse.

I like to save things though,

I like to have the option and anytime I do chuck something away I find I need it like a week later.

In somewhat more rare instances you might also find yourself fixing something that is not necessarily even broken.

Something can be declared perfectly functional yet still not be functional enough for the end user.

It's actually also one of the more inspiring processes to go through as you take something apart

and redesign something you might actually figure out why it was designed in

that way in the first place

it's not necessarily a clean process going about it your fresh prototypes might look like well

they might look like this it's very easy to get very discouraged by your own capacity

and it's pretty difficult to actually push through that

get yourself some new knowledge so to say try and do better next time it is also one of the more

freeing skills in my opinion you somewhat gain confidence that even

if something ever goes badly you might lose stuff

but you always have the capacity to fix it it's not necessarily about the tools

that you have access to all of the stuff

that you've been able to collect over the years but mostly

that you have that mindset and that you are able to get yourself out of a hurt situation.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Fix Things = Fix Yourself”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: fix, somewhat, broken. This video has 93 sentences and 1330 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:55. The speaker talks at a natural 168 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 84% 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
drill noun	/dɹɪl/	A tool or machine used to remove material so as to create a hole, typically by plunging a rotating cutting bit into a stationary workpiece.
bracket noun	/ˈbɹækɪt/	A fixture attached to a wall to hold up a shelf.
necessarily adverb	/ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/	Inevitably; of necessity.
dust noun	/dʌst/	Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, fiber…
component noun	/kəmˈpoʊ.nənt/	A smaller, self-contained part of a larger entity. Often refers to a manufactured object that is part of a larger device.
fixing noun	/ˈfɪksɪŋ/	The act of subverting (fixing) a vote.
repair verb	/ˈɹiːpɛɚ/	To restore to good working order, fix, or improve damaged condition; to mend; to remedy.
ruin noun	/ˈɹuː.ɪn/	The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.
functional adjective	/ˈfʌŋkt͡ʃənəl/	In good working order.
chuck verb	/t͡ʃʌk/	To playfully give a light touch, stroke, tap, etc., to someone, especially under the chin.
ignorance noun	/ˈɪɡ.nɚ.əns/	The condition of being uninformed or uneducated; lack of knowledge or information.
beautifully adverb	/ˈbju.tɪ.fə.li/	In a beautiful manner.
finger noun	/ˈfɪŋɡɚ/	A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…
complicated adjective	/ˈkɑm.plɪˌkeɪ.tɪd/	Difficult or convoluted.
lesson noun	/ˈlɛs.ən/	A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
figure out verb	To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
end up verb	To bring to a conclusion.
put together verb	To assemble, construct, build, or formulate.
clean off verb	To remove (something) by cleaning; to thoroughly clean (something) or make (something) bare.
come across verb	To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition.
come up with verb	To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it.
go through verb	To travel from one end of something to the other.
make out of verb	To construct from; to create (something) using (a material or substance).

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was just planned · were snapped · are already broken
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	you've repaired · i've become · has become

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 20 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: thread /ˈθɹɛd/, thoroughly /ˈθʌɹ.ə.li/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, sensation /sɛnˈseɪʃən/, sacrificial /ˈsæk.ɹɪ.fɪʃ.əl/, sharpen /ˈʃɑɹpən/
Long words — get the stress right: necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, beautifully /ˈbju.tɪ.fə.li/, complicated /ˈkɑm.plɪˌkeɪ.tɪd/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/

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 drill, bracket, necessarily.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Fix Things = Fix Yourself - Learn English Speaking with Video

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