Shadowing Practice: Grit: Why Effort Counts Twice - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Good morning! Can I ask you a question?
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Who succeeds in life? Is it the most talented people?
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Angela Duckworth wanted to find out.
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Her answer became a famous book called Grit.
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Before she was a scientist, Duckworth was a maths teacher.
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And she noticed something strange.
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Some of her smartest students didn't do very well.
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And some students who struggled at first did brilliantly!
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Later, she studied new cadets at West Point, a famous army academy.
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Their first summer there is incredibly tough.
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Some cadets quit after just a few weeks.
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So who stayed? Not the strongest, and not the smartest.
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The ones who stayed had grit.
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Grit means passion and perseverance for long-term goals.
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In simple words, you love something, and you don't give up.
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Duckworth also says effort counts twice.
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First, effort turns your talent into skill.
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Then, effort turns that skill into real success.
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Her family even has a fun rule. They call it the Hard Thing Rule.
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Everyone must do one hard thing, like the violin or ballet.
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And you can't quit in the middle. You finish the season first.
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So, if you're not the most talented person, don't worry.
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Find something you love, and keep going.
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Especially on the hard days!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Grit: Why Effort Counts Twice”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Duckworth, grit, effort. This video has 24 sentences and 208 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:29. The speaker talks at a steady 141 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 4 of its 24 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 13 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| talented adjective | /ˈtæləntɪd/ | Endowed with one or more talents. |
| passion noun | /ˈpæʃən/ | A true desire sustained or prolonged. |
| incredibly adverb | /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/ | In an incredible manner; not to be believed. |
| succeed verb | /səkˈsiːd/ | To follow something in sequence or time. |
| scientist noun | /ˈsaɪəntəst/ | One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research… |
| mathematics noun | /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/ | An abstract representational system studying numbers, shapes, structures, quantitative change and relationships between them. |
| ballet noun | /bælˈeɪ/ | A classical form of dance. |
| violin noun | /ˌvaɪ.əˈlɪn/ | A small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin and played with a bow. |
| grit noun | /ɡɹɪt/ | A collection of hard small materials, such as dirt, ground stone, debris from sandblasting or other such grinding, or swarf from metalworking. |
| cadet noun | /kəˈdɛt/ | A student at a military school who is training to be an officer. |
| brilliantly adverb | In a brilliant manner; with brilliance. | |
| perseverance noun | /ˌpɝsəˈvɪɹəns/ | Continuing in a course of action without regard to discouragement, opposition or previous failure. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | students who struggled · ones who stayed |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most talented · the strongest |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 5 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, can't, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, perseverance /ˌpɝsəˈvɪɹəns/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like skill, talented, passion.
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.