Shadowing Practice: From B1 to B2 English Listening Practice: Deeper Conversations - Learn English Speaking with Video
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you Hey everybody, welcome back to High Level Listening.
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Today's lesson is especially good for you guys if you are feeling a little bit stuck in your B1 level,
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but you do have a very comfortable B1 intermediate level small talk and you want to move into that confident world.
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B2 English listening.
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So for our students that are feeling a little bit stuck, this should be a very helpful lesson for you today.
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Yes, exactly.
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Have you ever been chatting with someone about your daily life or your hobbies comfortably in English?
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But then the conversation turns to a deeper topic and you suddenly feel stuck.
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Maybe you can understand everything, but when it's your turn to speak, you struggle to name ideas or you can't quite express what you really mean.
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If this sounds like you, then this video is for you.
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What makes this a true B2 English listening lesson is the way that we speak.
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It's the conversation will flow naturally, but with more specific vocabulary,
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more nuanced opinions, and slightly more complex grammar, all without feeling too formal or too academic,
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like you would sound if you read something directly from a textbook.
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So it's a little bit more advanced.
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Don't worry if you don't catch all the vocabulary.
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We do have a vocabulary sheet for you to download to help you truly understand every single word
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and phrase from today's lesson.
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Okay, so here's today's big question that will kind of push you more into the B2 level.
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Would you say you're in control of your screen time?
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Okay, so here's that question again.
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You'll probably see it in a textbook kind of phrase this way.
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Would you say you're in control of your screen time?
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Okay, so in real life, people probably won't ask you that question directly like that.
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It sounds a bit intense and a bit strange.
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But instead, you'll probably hear people talking about themselves and their phones.
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And they might say something like, I swear, I open my phone for five minutes, and somehow it turns into half an hour.
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Or is something more casual like, I've been trying to cut down on my screen time recently.
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It's much harder than I thought.
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Or even I spend most evenings doomscrolling in bed.
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So this is how real B2 conversations begin, or this is a way to get into those deeper,
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more complicated topics that are often at a B2 level.
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They start with small talk, a few simple statements, and then you go from there and you share your thoughts on these tricky subjects.
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And today we'll talk about three different types of conversations in three different ways.
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The first one, you agree with someone you're talking to and you'll tell them a personal story.
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The second conversation is to share some ways we agree and disagree with the person.
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And then the third conversation will be talking about articles
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that you've read or things that you've researched or seen online to share some insight backed up by facts.
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So by the end, you should be able to understand this topic
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and feel ready to talk about it confidently in real life
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and kind of at the upper end of the B2 level English.
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So back to our question.
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We'll skip the small talk and just get into the good stuff.
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The question was, Would you say you're in control of your screen time?
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So we were kind of at a get together the other night
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and here's kind of what a friend of ours said about this topic.
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He said something along the lines of I'm trying but it's harder than I thought.
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So he basically said, I wouldn't say I'm addicted, but I definitely lose track of time.
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I'll open my phone to reply to one message and suddenly I've fallen down a rabbit hole.
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It's so habit forming.
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I've tried to cut back and set boundaries, but the algorithm always seems to know what will keep me scrolling.
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It's much, much harder than I expected, honestly.
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Now, this was kind of something that a friend of ours just started talking about.
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And honestly, Mark and I can absolutely relate to something like that.
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That sounds like something everybody's a little bit addicted to their phones, right?
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So we're going to share our own feelings
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and kind of a conversational way and sort of naturally float in between B1 and B2.
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So Mark, do you want to share your story?
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Yeah, I think it's funny because no one would describe themselves as addicted.
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And I wouldn't say it either.
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But when I think about my own patterns of behavior with my phone, like how much I use it and how often I use it, it doesn't sound great.
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I often start replying to someone and go down a rabbit hole.
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I just get distracted by other videos, memes, pictures, messages.
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But.. pointless frivolous stuff like memes videos is directly alongside actually important things.
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Like if I get a ping or a message on my phone, I really have to check it because it could be my mum who needs help or an urgent message from my family.
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But at the same time, it could also be a fake bot sending me a friend request, but I have to check it and see just in case.
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And then usually as soon as I check, it's just, it's automatic.
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My thumb just starts going to the apps and the icons by themselves.
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I've even done that thing where I closed an app, and then I just opened it again, two seconds later.
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It's like looking at the screen, wipes my brain clean and I have no idea where I am or what I'm supposed to be doing.
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It's almost kind of unnerving how helpless and automatic it feels.
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Thank you i mean i completely agree you know especially about
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going down the rabbit hole that's me basically every evening i think i'm just going to quickly check my phone
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and then right i'm on my phone for about half an
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hour um now i mean it is kind of interesting because i just
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guess when they started talking about this i just didn't realize how used to i was this constant stimulation
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and it's just
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when i tried to switch off in the evenings i just felt a little bit restless
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and honestly kind of bored and i really didn't know what to do with myself
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and with the silence
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and it really showed me just how habit forming these apps
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can really be i mean i'm still working on it
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but i've started kind of replacing screen time with small habits like maybe reading a few pages of my book.
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I plugged in my Kindle again because it hadn't been charged for probably months, right?
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Or, you know, just getting out of the house, trying to get away from the TV, going for a short walk.
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It's not easy, but I can already feel that my attention span and my mental bandwidth are already improving.
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Right?
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You hear a lot of people say "robs your attention" or "steals your attention".
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Yeah, we use these same words for like crimes.
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Like it's taking it without your permission, or it's taking it when you don't want to give it away.
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It just robs your time, robs your attention, your mental bandwidth, like you said.
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I agree.
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So then the conversation about phones and screen time went on from there.
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And there was another friend there at the get together.
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And she likes to act that she's kind of stronger mentally and better than everyone else who falls for these apps.
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I know who you're talking about.
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Right.
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And then she said, oh, it's just self -discipline.
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The amount of screen time you have is self -discipline, how much you control yourself.
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And she said something along the lines of, I actually think it comes down to self -discipline.
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Yeah, the apps are designed to give you that dopamine hit and instant gratification, but at some point you have to take responsibility.
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And if I notice that I'm feeling overstimulated or getting a digital fatigue, I just switch off.
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I put my phone down.
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It's not always easy, than we admit.
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almost wanted to just roll my eyes.
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I was like, eye roll.
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Okay.
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I had to really stop myself from just, oh, it's just so simple.
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Oh, it's so simple.
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Right.
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Maybe that was a bit of a hot take on her end because that was oversimplifying it.
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Right.
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Yeah.
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Just turn it off.
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Just throw your phone in the ocean.
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What's the big deal?
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That's all.
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All right.
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Yeah.
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So as you can kind of see, Mark and I don't totally agree, but I think what Mark's going to probably do is tell us his side.
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agree with that but i'm going to be playing devil's advocate
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and i'm going to actually agree with her so you get both sides of this Right, yes.
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I think, in my opinion, The idea that it's just self -discipline is a bit naive.
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Like it's very easy to say, "Oh, just put your phone down.
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If it gets too much, just turn it off and walk away, go outside." But like I said before, all of my work, my personal contacts,
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my social essentials are all still on one device and it's on my phone and it's all in the same vicinity.
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And the irony is, if I want to go out and touch grass, like go out and see some nature and get away from screens.
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If I go out, I'll need my phone for the GPS to see where I'm going.
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If I should, get away from my screen and go and socialize.
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I'll need to get on my phone and reach out to a friend on WhatsApp.
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And then probably while I'm checking that message, I'll see like a meme that I didn't reply to earlier.
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So I look at that and suddenly I've been lured back onto Instagram.
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So I'm sort of trapped in a cycle of four or five different apps.
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How else am I supposed to contact my friends without a screen?
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I even have some friends who live abroad, and the only way that we can contact each other is through messaging apps,
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which invariably means sending each other videos and memes.
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It feels like taking a break from my phone is cutting myself off from a lot of useful
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and important things in my life.
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That's how invasive and intertwined social media and my life have become.
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And one more thing.
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I think...
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Coming back to my phone, If I go out and I take a walk and I don't look at my screen,
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if I come back home and I check and I've got dozens of missed calls or messages, that's not really acceptable either.
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No one really accepts the excuse, oh, I'm trying to get off my phone a little bit more.
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So sorry, you were stuck in the rain and I couldn't give you a ride home because they're like, where were you?
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I needed you.
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you always have a phone on you.
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So I don't think it's like a personal failing.
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If I check my phone a lot, our lives are built around our phone, and you have a personal responsibility to be online and contactable all the time.
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It's almost irresponsible to not be available at a moment's notice.
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I know.
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I'm kind of thinking of when we were kids and we didn't have phones, and just all of a sudden we would show up back home And like nobody knew where we were.
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We didn't call anybody.
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We didn't tell anybody where we were.
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And that seems crazy now.
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That seems absolutely crazy now.
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But it is this kind of fear of missing that phone call
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or there's going to be an emergency and you're not there.
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Right.
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That's the fear.
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That's kind of what we've been driven to to feel that if I don't have my phone, I'm I'm naked or I'm missing something.
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Right.
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Yeah.
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You're in danger.
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So, yeah, exactly.
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So now I'm not going to lie.
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I do love a hot take.
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So I'm going to play what's called devil's advocate here.
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And I usually say this in conversations.
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I kind of think it's a little boring to always agree with somebody or to always say something so relatable.
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And I want to hear people's opinions.
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I want to hear kind of the differing opinion.
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Right.
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Obviously, that's a big deal.
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But I can see why our friend would say that she thinks it's mostly discipline.
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Because honestly, at the end of the day, no one is physically forcing you to pick up your phone.
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We might blame algorithms and or say that apps are designed to give us that quick dopamine hit, which I mean, I do actually think is true,
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but we're still the ones making the decision here.
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Okay.
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We are alive.
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We can say no, right?
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We are the ones that pick up the phone, unlock the screen and check our notifications.
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Right.
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But I have noticed that when I am really focused on something important, like maybe a something with work or a personal goal,
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I all of a sudden have no problem staying off my phone, right?
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That tells me that it's not impossible.
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I just need to redirect my attention.
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I need to be focusing on something else, not just on relaxing with my phone or being constantly on my phone.
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So, for example, there was this time I decided to cut back on social media during the week.
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I noticed that it was really interfering with work and why don't I just put my phone down, like you said, right?
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You know, so I just, I had to set a boundary, right?
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First few days were a little bit tough, but when I made a clear rule for myself, no scrolling before 7pm, it actually worked.
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It was hard at first, but the difference wasn't just like, an app or getting onto Instagram accidentally.
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It was the boundary I set for myself.
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So I made that rule and I stepped to it.
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That's why I actually succeeded.
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So while there are definitely some psychological tricks involved, I'd still argue that in most cases, it comes down to self -control.
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Do you pick up your phone or not, right?
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And are we willing to build better habits when we notice there's a problem?
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Yeah.
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Right.
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And that whole, I know you're playing the devil's advocate, that whole idea still...
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I see your face frenched up.
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It still gives me the ick in a way.
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It's the whole thing that the responsibility is always pushed back on us, on the user.
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And I read something recently that was like, imagine someone's pouring itching powder all over you all day, and they're pouring it on you.
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And they say, you know what, you should really learn how to meditate.
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So you don't get bothered by all the itching.
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And it's like, wait a minute.
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It's the same thing where like oil companies or flight companies are saying you should really...
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"Yeah, you should really watch your carbon footprint.
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You're making a big impact taking all these flights." And it's like, You run a company that literally makes money off of me doing this.
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Exactly, right.
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So they designed the apps to be as distracting as possible.
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And then they're like, you shouldn't watch it so much.
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It's not my fault.
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It's a social epidemic.
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All right, well, let's go on to our last piece of this conversation about screen time.
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There was a third friend who gave their opinion as well, and I think...
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I'm quite aligned with this person as well, and we'll say what we think about their opinion.
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They said, it's bigger than just willpower.
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or rather willpower sometimes isn't enough.
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And our friend started talking about how he doesn't think it's just willpower.
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We're exposed to notifications and constant stimulation.
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And that kind of thing affects our attention span and our mental bandwidth without us even realizing.
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I mean, I'm not glued to my phone 24 -7, mix in.
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And, Yeah, I think I agree with what they had to say.
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And actually, I read some things the other day about phones and attention spans.
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And there was an article and it said, your attention didn't collapse.
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It was stolen.
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So rather, people are not lazier or stupider than in the past, but the things around this have completely changed.
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And this article was not just about information overload, but it talked about how being constantly online and being constantly distracted,
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slowly erodes your ability to think and to concentrate.
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So they did a study.
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where some students took a test and some of them had no phones, while another half were allowed their phones,
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and they kept receiving text messages every five or ten minutes and they checked them.
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And the ones that checked their phones they scored on average 20 % worse in the test.
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So it shows that every time you refocus your mental energy, takes some performance or bandwidth away from you.
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Your mental bandwidth suffers, and your brain doesn't get the chance to recover properly when your phone is constantly going off,
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you're getting pings, messages, alerts.
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They even quoted this French expert on attention spans, and she basically said, There is no way...
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We can have a normal brain today.
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Oh no, we're doomed.
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I know, it's pretty bad news.
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Yeah, we're just constantly surrounded by stimulus.
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and constantly moving your attention from one thing to the other, just exhaust your brain.
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They said that your brain can really only handle one or two thoughts at the same time.
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But on your phone, you've got social media companies
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actively designing their feeds to bury you with as much content as possible
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and your brain literally can't keep up with it so Yeah, like I said, you could cut yourself off,
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but social media companies know this and choose to create platforms that hack your attention instead of healing it.
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So it's no wonder everyone's burned out and lost
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and confused about what to do or why they think they're losing their ability to focus.
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That kind of brings me back to what you said.
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It's all muddled, right?
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Because you go on an app to look up the news, but then you get stuck looking at cat memes.
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Or you check a notification from your mom because you need to text her back.
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And then all of a sudden you're opening up TikTok or Instagram.
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And it's all muddled together.
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It all is enticing.
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The notification that was important feels as important as scrolling.
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like oh yeah i'm i'm doing this thing
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and it's making me smarter it's um oh i just learned this cool life hack this cool tip
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and it is mixed in with a baby monkey um getting cut off from its parents
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and then the whole world is wondering is this baby monkey gonna be okay with this little stuffed animal
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and i'm i'm heartbroken you know i'm heartbroken for this little animal I was actually reading an article the other day.
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Hold on.
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I think I even saved the quote because it really stuck with me.
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dopamine scrolling seemingly operates through reward mechanisms and variable reinforcement schedules,
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making it a unique and potentially habit forming behavior.
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Now, obviously, I'm not going to remember all of these words.
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So I wrote it down.
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But it's the science behind it.
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Okay, so dopamine scrolling that that really stuck with me.
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I've never heard that phrase before, telling you that your brain gets a little hit,
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a little hit of dopamine and you get rewarded.
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You were a little bit sad in the last video, so this really happy, cute video made up for it.
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Or you learned this life hack, so it's okay if you laugh at a stupid joke in the next half a second, 20 seconds later.
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And so you don't know what's going to happen next.
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And that's the reward.
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That's the, that's the, I want to scroll endlessly.
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I want to, I want to just, I got to keep going.
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What if the next video, this video was sad.
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What if the next video is happy or that video is crap.
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I need a new video.
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And it really, really creates this habit forming behavior.
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And it's It's wild, okay?
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This is where we're starting to, honestly, pardon my French, get a little bit messed up.
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No, I'm not going to say the bad word.
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Um...
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But it's messed up.
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It's messed up.
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And when you think about it like that, it's not just about the next story.
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It is honestly the same techniques that they're using for gambling.
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They want you to sit there lifeless, thoughtless, mindless for hours because they want you there constantly.
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And you don't know if you're going to get something interesting, funny or exciting.
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So you just keep scrolling.
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And that unpredictability is what keeps you hooked.
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Right.
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Just one more.
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Just one more.
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There's no way it's just willpower.
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I really like what you said about the itching powder that like that really.
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That really was a good metaphor for it.
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um thinking about it's like oh well it's your fault this is your problem yeah it's just all power Right.
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And I mean, yeah, personal responsibility still matters.
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Like, I want to feel like I'm in control of my life, but I just don't think it's that simple.
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All right.
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We're dealing with something that's so much more complex that science is trying to gather information, trying to figure out a way to help us because we are just drowning.
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We are just drowning.
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are the ones that are basically essentially burying us in Constant.
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Crap.
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Yes.
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Oh, yeah.
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It's a kind of, you could see the thing as a big manipulative trap
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because you get drawn to it with positive emotions and negative ones too.
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And it's 50 -50.
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One phone is about some like outrage, injustice, corruption, it's politics.
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And there's this like pessimism, this pessimistic view of the world.
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So you get annoyed and frustrated by it.
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So you swipe, And then the next video is like a cute kitten or like a cat jumping over a barrier, a wall.
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And you're like, oh, that's nice.
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So to take a break and get away from all the bad news, you need to watch another video to see some good news.
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But then you swipe again and it's back to the bad news again.
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So you get frustrated by it.
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that the only way to escape it is to
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go back to it and hope you just get something nice on your feed instead.
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So we're all stuck.
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It's all a big manipulative cycle, I think.
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Okay, there you go.
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We're trying a much deeper conversation with some more complex and nuanced opinions,
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again, to really help you push your English level to B2 and higher.
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We shared some different opinions back and forth.
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And yeah, hopefully you have a slightly deeper understanding of this topic
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and you've gained the ability to express some things that you think in English as well.
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Absolutely.
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And remember, this is great listening practice,
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but you don't have to say every sentence perfectly or even keep the entire conversation in every sentence at the B2 level.
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That's just kind of not a natural way of speaking.
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We're going to be bouncing back and forth from simple ideas to more complex ideas.
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And that's a much more natural way to use this in conversation.
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Yes, right.
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So the point of these videos is really to start you on the hard level.
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And then the next time you have a conversation about this kind of thing, about screen time, phones, social media,
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maybe you can sprinkle in some of the vocabulary and phrases or things that you heard in this episode.
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And hopefully you'll be able to express yourself more clearly, more accurately, and more closely to how you really feel about these subjects.
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And remember, we've got a free PDF for you to download down below with the dictionary
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and all of those difficult words and phrases.
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It should be interesting for you to look through these after you've done some listening.
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And then maybe you can listen again, and that will kind of help really solidify some of those vocabulary phrases.
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Yeah, and lastly, What do you think?
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Would you say that you're in control of your screen time?
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We'd love to hear your thoughts, opinions, and also help you out if you have any English questions as well.
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Don't forget to like and subscribe and chat with us in the comments below.
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We'll see you again soon for another B2 English listening video here on High Level Listening.
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Bye bye.
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you
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will transition from a B1 to a B2 level of English through engaging listening practice focused on deeper conversations. If you’re comfortable with small talk but find it challenging to express yourself on more complex topics, this lesson will help you gain confidence. You’ll learn how to naturally navigate discussions about your screen time habits, explore different opinions, and share personal experiences. By the end of this session, you'll be equipped to approach real-life conversations with greater ease and fluency, enhancing your English speaking practice.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Screen time: The amount of time spent using devices with screens, such as smartphones and computers.
- Doomscrolling: Continuously scrolling through news or social media, often leading to negative feelings.
- Cut down: To reduce the amount or frequency of something.
- Lose track of time: To lose awareness of the passage of time, often due to being preoccupied.
- Rabbit hole: A situation that leads to more complex or confusing topics, often when exploring information online.
- Habit forming: Becoming accustomed to a behavior that becomes routine or addictive.
- Agree and disagree: Expressing alignment or differing opinions in a discussion.
- Insight: An understanding of a specific topic gained through experience or research.
Practice Tips
To maximize your learning experience, consider using the shadowspeak technique during this lesson. First, listen closely to the natural flow of conversation in the video. The speech speed is moderate, making it ideal for practicing your shadowing skills. As you listen, try to repeat what you hear in real-time. Focus on the tone, intonation, and pronunciation of the speaker as they discuss deeper subjects.
Use a shadowing site to pair this lesson with the specific vocabulary from the transcript. Listening and repeating will help cement your understanding and improve your fluency. Don’t worry if you don't catch every word right away; instead, aim for comprehension and expression.
To further enhance your english speaking practice, engage with friends or language partners by discussing the topics covered in this lesson. You can share your thoughts on how to balance screen time, the impact of social media, or your own experiences related to digital habits. Remember, the goal is to find comfort in expressing your opinions and exploring deeper conversations, so embrace the process and enjoy your shadow speaks journey!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | Have you ever been chatting · I've been trying |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've read · I've fallen · I've tried |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | been charged · are designed · I've been lured |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | friends who live · friend who gave |
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.