Shadowing Practice: give me 7 min and i'll make you a completely different person... - Learn English Speaking with Video

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What if I told you that your life could look completely different in just three months?
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I'm serious.
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And it all takes just this one thing that I'm about to tell you in this video.
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If you are unhappy with where your life is at now, I want to share with you my story and who I used to be.
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And my life was completely different three months ago.
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I used to hate the version of myself.
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I felt that I wasn't important.
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And that I was a shell of a man, an insecure man
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and in three months everything changed so if this sounds like something you are experiencing
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please watch this video you will not regret it my name
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is nate i'm 22 i graduated college about three months ago and around
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that same time i started content creation i had no idea
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where i wanted it to go i was like what am
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i doing with this thing i want to be an influencer i want to post content
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but the underlying truth was i was scared i was scared
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of what people were going to think about me i was
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scared of what my friends were going to say the people
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that i went to high school with went to college with and
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when i graduated college something hit me i had an epiphany
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i had this reframe in my mind something completely changed it changed the chemistry in my my brain.
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I hated the idea of graduating college.
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I was like, I don't want to leave my house.
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I'm leaving my friends, the people that I've known, the life that I've built the last four years and it's ripped away.
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Time is ripping away this thing and you can't hold on to it.
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And I hate it.
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I was so unhappy with the fact that I was losing this life
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that I could not keep and I had to leave this town,
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my college town, and go to this new one that was five hours away for my internship, which I was very glad about,
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but I was also the fact that I couldn't just stay in college because I loved college.
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I loved this life.
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What hit me was on the drive up to that new town for my internship.
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I realized that you cannot control the things that happen to you,
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but the only thing you can control is how you respond.
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I was forced to experience
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something I couldn't control and I figured complaining and worrying about it
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and living in this depression of bro I hate that this thing happened to me will not bring that life back.
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It makes no difference and it only makes you suffer more.
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So I looked at the two options.
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I lost this life that is a fact if I complain
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and try to hold on to it or if I accept it
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and move on the same outcome happens I lost it
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and I will not get it back and
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that changed everything for me it completely changed my life I
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started from then on I am going to live every single day to stop worrying about what happened in the past,
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my old life, the things that I regret and the things I did
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and I messed up and things I wish I could hold onto, I can't do anything about that anymore.
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I have no control over it.
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And the future, that hasn't happened yet.
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So why worry about it when the only thing that affects the future is what you do now.
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Past is already done and the future hasn't happened yet.
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The present is the only place you can make a difference to both.
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Sit with that for a second.
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The present is ever changing.
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There is no moment in time where you can stay.
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What I just said, it's gone.
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It just passed.
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I can't take that back what I just said.
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So think about that.
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Every single decision you have made in the past is done.
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It doesn't matter.
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So wallowing in it and regretting what happened only leads you to suffer more.
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And this realization, it led me to discover a new philosophy called stoicism.
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If you're not familiar with stoicism, I highly recommend looking into it.
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This is the foundation of the philosophy that changed my life.
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Stoicism is based on taking action in your days.
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Every single day, this is my mission.
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Live with intention.
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Every single day, you can't control what happens to you.
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Don't focus on the past.
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Don't focus on the future.
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Focus on the now, the present.
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That is the only thing you can make a difference to.
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You can't control the weather, what happens in nature.
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You can't control the things people say and think
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and do to you only thing you can control is what you do now
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if you want to look more into stoicism i highly recommend
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reading meditations by marcus aurelius you can get it on amazon amazing book i'm not sponsored i started reading it
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and it's crazy because the way that i've been living the past three months, once I found stoicism, I was like,
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bro, this is exactly the way
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that I've been living of course it feels freaking amazing of course I feel the best I ever have because someone
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Marcus Aurelius 2,000 years ago discovered the same thing
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that is fascinating to me and so
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if there's anything you can take away from this video today just realize the power of action
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taking action and the decisions you make now
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and how it will trickle throughout your life and compound
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and your days will just get better and better and better
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and eventually you will look back at your past
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and go wow I have done a lot and
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when you make a mistake how instead of regretting it can I learn from it
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and get one percent better
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and that's the whole thing living with intention every day don't
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focus on on the past don't focus on the future focus on the now three months it will be
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so ingrained into your life
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that i guarantee you you will not even look back you
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will go who even was i i was just drifting through life
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and now i take action and i'm becoming the man
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that i've always wanted to be
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if no one has ever told you this before i love you i believe in you
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if you want to do hard things you can do hard things
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if this video resonates with you subscribe i'm going to be releasing
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so many more videos like this check out my shorts they're funny they relate to some of the thoughts
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that i share in these videos these are more formatted for
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going more into depth check out my instagram that's where the whole thing started Again, I love you.
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I believe in you.
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Go and kill another day.
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See you tomorrow.

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Recommend Video

Real-Life Storytelling: A Window into Authentic English Communication

The video follows a 22-year-old graduate, Nate, as he shares a transformative three-month journey from insecurity to empowerment. His raw, conversational tone—filled with personal reflections, emotional shifts, and relatable struggles—makes it an ideal resource for english speaking practice. Whether you’re preparing for IELTS speaking practice or simply want to sound more natural, Nate’s dialogue mirrors the kind of real-world storytelling that examiners and native speakers value: genuine, structured, and emotionally resonant.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • "I had an epiphany" – Perfect for describing a sudden, life-changing realization (e.g., "After failing the test, I had an epiphany about my study habits").
  • "the underlying truth was" – Use to reveal a hidden motivation (e.g., "She said she was busy, but the underlying truth was she didn’t want to go").
  • "it ripped away" – Conveys the pain of losing something suddenly (e.g., "The storm ripped away their home in minutes").
  • "live every single day to" – Emphasizes purposeful living (e.g., "I now live every single day to appreciate small moments").
  • "the only thing you can control is how you respond" – A powerful phrase for discussing resilience (e.g., "When things go wrong, remember: the only thing you can control is how you respond").

Step-by-Step Shadowing Guide for This Video

The shadowing technique (or shadowspeaks) works wonders here, as Nate’s pace is conversational but clear. Follow these steps:

  1. Listen once: Focus on the overall story to grasp emotion and flow.
  2. Shadow in short chunks: Pause after 5-10 seconds, repeat Nate’s words immediately, mimicking his tone (e.g., the frustration in "I hated the idea of graduating" or the relief in "that changed everything").
  3. Emphasize key phrases: Highlight the 5 phrases above, practicing their rhythm until they feel natural.
  4. Record yourself: Compare your version to Nate’s—note gaps in intonation or pacing. This is critical for learn english with videos effectively.

By engaging with Nate’s story, you’ll not only improve your speaking but also internalize the kind of authentic expression that makes English come alive.

Grammar in this video

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

StructureIn the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going oni've been living
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer trueused to be · used to hate
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters nowI've known · hasn't happened · have made
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itwas forced · is based

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 →