Shadowing Practice: Học từ vựng IELTS Speaking từ bài phát biểu của Rihanna | Tự học IELTS Speaking | ELSA Speak - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

B2
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So I made it to Harvard.
45 sentences
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So I made it to Harvard.
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Never thought I'd be able to say that in my life. But it feels good.
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Thank you, Dr. Counter.
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Thank you to the Harvard Foundation.
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And thank you, Harvard University, for this great honor.
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Thank you.
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I'm incredibly humbled by this, to be acknowledged at this magnitude for something that, in truth, I've never wanted credit for.
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When I was five or six years old, I remember watching TV and I would see these commercials
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and I was watching other children suffer in other parts of the world.
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and the commercials where you could get 25 cents and save a child's life, and I would think to myself,
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like I wonder how many 25 cents I could save up to save all the kids in Africa.
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And I would say to myself, when I grow up and I can get rich, and I'm gonna save kids all over the world,
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I just didn't know I would be in the position to do that by the time I was a teenager.
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At 17 I started my career here in America and by the age of 18 I started my first charity organization.
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I went on to team up with other organizations in the following years and met, helped, and even lost some of the most beautiful souls.
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From six-year-old Yasmina Amina, who passed away in 2010 from leukemia.
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Her story inspired thousands to volunteer as donors through GKMS.
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Fast forward to 2012 when my grandmother,
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the late Clara Brathwit, she lost her battle with cancer,
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which is the very reason and the driving force behind the Clara Lyonel Foundation.
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We're all human, and we all just want a chance.
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A chance at life, a chance at an education, a chance at a future really.
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And at CLF our mission is to impact as many lives as possible.
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But it starts with just one.
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just one.
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As I stare out into this beautiful room,
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I see optimism, I see hope, I see the future.
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I know that each and every one of you has the opportunity to help someone else.
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All you need to do is help one person, expecting nothing in return.
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To me, that is a humanitarian.
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People make it seem way too hard man.
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The truth is, and what the little girl watching those commercials didn't know is
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that you don't have to be rich to be a a humanitarian, you don't have to be rich to help somebody.
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You don't go be famous, you don't even have to be college educated.
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I mean, I wish I was, I'm not saying, you know.
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Especially today.
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It's true, I might come back, but all right.
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But it starts with your neighbor, the person right next to you, the person sitting next to you in class, the kid down the block in your neighborhood.
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You just do whatever you can to help in any way that you can.
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And today I want to challenge each of you to make a commitment to help one person,
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one organization, one situation that touches your heart.
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My grandmother always used to say, if you got a dollar, there's plenty to share.
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Thank you ladies and gentlemen.
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It was my honor.
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Thank you.

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About This Lesson

You're practicing English with "Học từ vựng IELTS Speaking từ bài phát biểu của Rihanna | Tự học IELTS Speaking | ELSA Speak" using the Shadowing technique — a method originally developed for professional interpreter training.

Focus on sounding like the speaker — not just repeating words. With 15–30 minutes of daily practice, you'll build real-world speaking confidence.

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.