Shadowing Practice: Home Diaries | Making a plant bench, weekend vlog & life updates - Learn English Speaking with Video

This video is brought to you by Squarespace.

Hello.

So, I'm starting this vlog off because I am heading over to my woodworking class.

As you can tell, I got my own safety classes.

We're making a bench.

So it's my first ever real woodworking class.

I did the safety class before, but This is a two week long course.

One class today, it's three hours and then next weekend it's another three hours

and then by the time that that's over I will hopefully have a functional bench

that we can have in the house or maybe in the backyard.

I'm excited, I'm nervous.

I haven't really done classes like this in a while so it'll be fun.

I'm bringing my water bottle.

Okay, I'm I'm running slightly behind.

I love it.

We need to take it.

You guys, I finished my first woodworking project.

Look at my bench.

Um, oh, wait.

I'm gonna put it down over here.

Look at it.

Imagine if I just sat on it and it immediately collapsed.

I can't believe I made this.

Well, I mean, I kind of can.

It's not like a super complicated thing or anything, but this is my first time making something with wood.

And it looks better than I expected it to.

The class was so much fun.

And now I have something that we can actually use and we can put it in the house.

And it makes me really excited to make other things.

So let me bring it closer.

It's kind of a weird angle.

I'm gonna sign up for another class later I'm either gonna do the end table class

or the cutting board class probably the end table though

Because I feel like I'll learn more from

that class than doing the cutting board one This is the

first time I really tried out a new hobby in a

while I tried to do a ceramics class a while ago

Like wheel throwing and I just didn't really love it something about the process of

of ceramics was not super appealing to me.

Let me show you a closer look at the bench so you can see my carpentry skills.

Also, of course, here's Theo.

And then here is Miss Winnie on her cat tree.

Check out this bench.

So we sanded it.

And so it kind of has smooth corners here.

I'm planning to paint it.

I'm gonna prime it and then paint it and I'll show you the colors I was thinking of doing.

So it's nothing, you know, it's not like a super special bench.

It's not perfect or anything, but I made it.

And this is the first thing I've ever made.

And I'm going to be able to use it for my plants and get that.

It's also not like super, super basic looking.

Like it kind of has some design going on.

I've been looking at my Ferron Ball color card sheet.

I'm thinking of either doing this color, Yeebridge Green, or I think this is the right color.

It's called Acuria Blue.

I've always really liked those two colors, so I'd like to paint this bench either one of those.

We use green a lot, though.

Like, we have green on the bench.

Or not the bench.

We have green on the chair.

But I feel like the blue could kind of tie in with this blue pot that we'll eventually have a plantain.

All right, Dio.

Look at you.

Look at you little guy, look at you.

I'm thinking of putting it here for now, so that way I can put plants here so they can get some of the south facing light.

And a reason why I decided to paint it and not stain it, well there's two reasons.

It's because the wood itself isn't really that nice, and also there are visible screw heads on the top.

We did domino joints throughout most of the bench, but there are eight screw heads that you can see on top.

So I want to do wood filler on top of those

and then paint over it so that way you can't see those.

And also I feel like eventually we are going to have a lot of wood throughout the space

so I think it would just be better to paint it

and also it allows me to use some of the fair and ball colors that I've wanted to use for a while.

Ideally I would have this centered with the window but Winnie's cat tracer and she loves this spot so it's in there.

I've had just like a couple of random plants here by this window

so I'm happy to be able to move them now.

Okay this one's here.

Also don't mind that black mat out there that's Winnie's litter mat it just got a bit dirty

so we cleaned it and it's drying out there.

This beautiful coleus.

I'm gonna trim this coleus though because it it's grown so much.

I'm gonna insert a before picture because yeah it's really grown a lot.

I love this plant.

I think it's a great indoor plant and it just brings so much color into your plants.

So if you have like a lot of green plants you can add some interest with a bunch of different coleus varieties.

There's like purple ones, there's more red ones, there's like orange, multi-color, and they also grow in this kind of fun funky way.

Like the branch is It's kind of gnarled now.

And yeah it's really formed an interesting shape.

If I wanted to make more of this I could just put it in water

and then it like roots super fast

but I don't really need more of these so I'm just going to cut it off and then throw it out.

Let me cut it here.

Look at that.

This plant gets a little bit dirty though

because it it sends out a lot of shoots and

if it's slightly under watered the older leaves start to brown off and die.

So it can be slightly messy so I'm just cleaning it up.

I've been really limited lately with where I can place plants

100

so I haven't really been able to do that much stuff with plants

101

and because of the burst pipe and like thinking

102

that we're gonna have to move out temporarily I just don't feel this need

103

or wants to like go out and buy more plants

104

and like set up plants and set up terrariums and aquariums

105

because then I'm just gonna have to move them all anyway and plants and

106

aquariums and terrariums are not easy things to move like they're very delicate

107

so yeah I'm sorry I haven't really really been doing very

108

much plant content lately I really miss it like I really miss having a lot more plants

109

but I'm hoping

110

that once we have a skylight too then we'll just really

111

open up the possibilities of where I can place plants

112

because right now we're just like limited in plant placement

113

which is why I'm happy to have this bench

114

because now we can like have plants here

115

because otherwise they were just sitting on the kitchen counter

116

and then also check out my geranium it flowers pretty often indoors

117

and it also has this cool funky shape to it I feel like coleus

118

and geranium are pretty similar plants and that they usually are grown outside

119

but I think they also make great indoor plants

120

and they take on these fun shapes as they grow out you You know some people would think

121

that this looks kinda ugly and it's not bushy and it's leggy but

122

you know I like those leggy kinda weird sorta ugly plants.

123

I don't know why it's making me like kind of emotional talking about plants right now.

124

I just feel like I haven't been doing that for a while.

125

And it's just reminding me of so many things and like bringing back a lot of memories.

126

Um, just like the way I'm talking about my plants and describing them.

127

It's making me think of a bunch of old videos that I've done and also a lot of my old plants. And, yeah.

128

I don't know.

129

I think, I'm going to be honest, I think after the fire, I haven't really, like, discussed it too much.

130

But in regards to, like, plants and plant keeping, the fire was really tough for me.

131

because I feel like all like the garden and the plants

132

and the house plants that I curated and I've nurtured

133

and I've taken care of like having them just be gone was really tough

134

and it kind of felt like replacing them wasn't enough it's kind of okay it's not exactly like this obviously

135

but the closest thing I can think of is like

136

if you have a pet

137

that dies like you can't just replace the pet like it's just not the same you know

138

and that's kind of just like how I felt with my

139

plants it's like kind of complicated in my head too it's complex I don't even think I'm really describing it

140

that well yeah I love plants obviously like I love plants and I love taking care of them but

141

I feel like after the fire something kind of shifted yeah I'm hoping

142

that once we're able to have the skylight

143

and then once the insurance thing is figured out then I'll be able to like find a lot of

144

that joy again that I had with my plants um

145

because like just talking about them them like I said talking

146

to you about them really just kind of like made me happy.

147

I'm really happy that I finally ended up going to the woodworking class.

148

It's been something that I've said I wanted to do for months now

149

and I finally just did it and I have a bench.

150

How cool is that?

151

And it's something that I've kind of been struggling with as I've gotten older.

152

I wonder if any of you can relate too but like

153

when I was younger I kind of felt like I could do anything.

154

I could learn anything as long as I applied myself I can become good at something

155

and for some reason as I've gotten older I don't know

156

if it's just from experience or what

157

but like I have kind of told myself like what is the point of learning something new like there are

158

so many other people

159

that can just do it better than me like what's the point of even trying

160

and that's just like not a good way to go about

161

life like how are you going to learn anything new how are you going to become

162

whatever it is that you want to become if you're not even letting yourself try.

163

I think a part of it is that like as I've gotten older,

164

failing or like being bad at something doesn't seem as like forgivable because I'm older.

165

Like when you're younger, you can make a lot of mistakes.

166

You can be bad at stuff and it's fine because you're young and you're inexperienced.

167

But for some reason, I like equate age with proficiency at pretty much anything

168

and that's just not the case um what else

169

oh huge well potentially huge update about the insurance we got an email saying

170

that they will complete their determination by the end of this month this month being august

171

so by august 31st we should hopefully have an answer according to the insurance who knows

172

if they're actually going follow through with it.

173

But that is the most concrete update we've ever gotten from them.

174

So I'm really hopeful that something comes of it, but we'll see.

175

I just, I think

176

that this like burst pipe thing has kind of been difficult for me more

177

so than I thought because like the house is linked to me in so many different ways.

178

First of all, it's our place where we live.

179

It's our housing, it's our security, but then it's also a space for my own personal creativity.

180

Like I get a lot of fulfillment from changing stuff around the house

181

and decorating and putting plants in places and kind of like forming a cozy environment that's reflective of us.

182

And we just haven't really been able to do it.

183

And then also the house feels kind of tied to my content creation

184

and my career and because of the burst pipe it feels like everything's sort of been halted and

185

so i just cannot wait for this era of the burst

186

pipe to be behind us my parents are coming over

187

and we're gonna hang out eat good food cook like always

188

and do some stuff around the house

189

but we're also gonna go to the Descanso Gardens

190

and right now the Descanso Gardens have these giant sunflowers out

191

that just started blooming so we're gonna go see that and it's really hot like it's really really really hot.

192

We're going through a heat wave right now.

193

What other place?

194

These are huge.

195

Oh you can see this one.

196

It's still down.

197

Wow.

198

These ones are really pretty.

199

And now we're at the railroad station with dinosaurs for some reason.

200

Oh, look at that!

201

Platypus!

202

What are you doing?

203

I'm showing you stuff.

204

I thought he was a rock.

205

Oh, he's so cute.

206

This is the ancient forest.

207

Yeah, sure.

208

Because the trees are crossing crossing.

209

Hey, McGee!

210

Tree ferns.

211

Love tree ferns.

212

Oh, bird's nest fern.

213

It's a pretty big bird's nest fern.

214

Ooh, another tree fern.

215

I love these skinny ones.

216

There's a fly that's getting me.

217

Do you like the table?

218

When I work on our animal, we're going to prepare that.

219

...sizes for 45 seconds on with a 15-second rest, and then we repeat that three times, and the reason we repeat...

220

Oh, it's your first.

221

Yeah.

222

Okay, that's pretty good.

223

Yeah.

224

Yeah.

225

You're able to pass it.

226

Oh, I thought it was that way.

227

You will love it, Danny.

228

You could be Jennifer's friend.

229

That's her name.

230

Love.

231

Okay, I guess my parents are gone.

232

And I also have the hiccups, but Chris and I were at a retro arcade right now.

233

And so we're just, you know, having fun, playing some games.

234

We're playing Street Fighter.

235

Cool.

236

We're playing Street Fighter right now.

237

Who do you guys think is gonna win?

238

Okay, cast our votes.

239

Now let's see.

240

I'm not doing anything.

241

I'm not doing anything.

242

I can't tell what's going on.

243

Wait, that's so close!

244

It was pretty fun.

245

That was Neon Retro Arcade.

246

Now we're gonna go get ice cream.

247

My neighbor, they just got a new kitten.

248

And I wish that she wasn't an outside cat, but they leave her outside.

249

And she likes to come into our yard.

250

And she's so cute.

251

Her name's Mitsubi. And she's really playful.

252

And she's a tiny little orange cat.

253

I wish that they kept her inside, because it's not really safe out here.

254

With all the coyotes and, you know, everything

255

but can't really do too much about that you know

256

but she's so cute i just wanted to say

257

that i did see some comments in the last vlog pretty much saying

258

that like i ignore winnie or that she's not loved

259

but she is so incredibly loved i just don't get

260

that many shots of her because usually she's sleeping during the day

261

and i only ever really interact with her

262

when she wants to be interacted with otherwise she just gets kind of like upset at me

263

and just walks away from me.

264

I really had to learn how to interact with her

265

because I've had dogs all my life

266

and I just kind of like love on them all the time

267

but with her everything is on her terms

268

so I've really had to learn to hang back a little bit

269

and not do too much with her

270

but yeah she comes to me you know

271

when she wants to be played with and

272

if she doesn't come to me then I just leave her alone yeah Winnie is

273

so loved um Chris also plays with her every single night

274

and yeah don't worry you guys she is being treated very well well okay

275

so lately I've been trying to improve my posture.

276

So I've been doing this pretty much every day, hoping that it will get rid of my gamer neck.

277

I've had pretty bad posture for most of my life, honestly, so this will take a while to correct.

278

Actually, one of the reasons why I started exercising and lifting weights

279

was because I read that a way to fix your posture is to get more back muscles, so that way you can like you know support yourself

280

if my back was stronger then I would just naturally get better posture

281

but that hasn't necessarily been the case

282

and now my back is a lot stronger than it was before

283

and I still tend to hunch over I hope

284

that this ends up helping

285

and I think it is I also just need to be more aware of my posture and try

286

and sit up straight even though it's kind of uncomfortable okay

287

speaking of posture I have a kind of embarrassing story about this posture brace that I got.

288

And I was kind of debating on whether I should even tell you because I am somewhat embarrassed by it.

289

But I told you some other stories in a previous vlog.

290

And a lot of people enjoyed that and it was fun for me.

291

I don't really talk about a lot of things like this.

292

I think it'd be sort of fun.

293

So I'm aware that posture braces aren't really the best thing for your posture

294

because it's more of a crutch and it weakens your back muscles and it doesn't really help you long term.

295

But, I was watching a Caroline Winkler video and in the comments, there was a comment that had like 60 something likes and it was saying something along the lines of,

296

Caroline, I can tell your posture has gotten so much better in just a couple of videos.

297

It must be the posture brace that you've bought and used, the Vortalex Neo something.

298

and I was like, oh, like if it worked for Carolyn, she looks like she has great posture.

299

Let me look this up.

300

So I look up the posture brace

301

and I just like vaguely skimmed the website really quick

302

and it says that it works differently than other posture braces

303

and it actually helps to fix it and it's not like a crutch that weakens her back muscles.

304

So I'm like, perfect.

305

This is exactly what I've been looking for.

306

And also if it's good enough for Carolyn and it worked for her, then it's good enough for me.

307

Like if it's good enough that someone commented that it worked for her, it must be great.

308

So usually I don't do this.

309

Usually I really research what I'm buying.

310

So I buy it and a few days go by and I'm like, hmm, you know, I wonder what kind of technology this contains that makes it better and different from other back braces.

311

Cause it looks pretty similar to all the other ones.

312

I decided to go on YouTube to look at reviews.

313

You guys.

314

So this was the first video I saw.

315

I have a lot of questions about whether the Vortalex Nao2 posture corrector works

316

and if you should spend 20 bucks to get it.

317

Now obviously this is- Okay, that's an AI doctor, fake degrees in the back.

318

So I'm like, okay, maybe this is just an affiliate code video thing where someone's trying to get like affiliate commissions

319

on this product.

320

I'm in denial at this stage.

321

So then I go to the next video.

322

I have been struggling with my potchester lately because of working long hours and Also another AI video.

323

So I'm like, okay, maybe it's because I'm on YouTube shorts.

324

So let me look for a long form video.

325

I recently bought this posture corrector that I kept seeing everywhere mentioned online.

326

So I thought I'd give it a try.

327

Okay, this isn't even the worst part.

328

Look at this about your posture.

329

Wear it for a few days and let me know how it feels, okay?

330

Yes, let's do it.

331

One week later. So, how was it?

332

What do you think about it?

333

Honestly, the first two days it was uncomfortable, but I guess it's...

334

And then, okay, I go to the website, and then I notice that the website also is full of AI images.

335

So then I realized I just bought like a scam, I guess it's not a scam because the product is here and it looks like the product,

336

but like I kind of got duped by the AI comment spam bots

337

And I would have never bought it if I knew that you know That comment was fake.

338

Um, yeah, usually I like I've never gotten duped like this before I'm usually very literate on the internet

339

and also to top it all off

340

There are other youtubers that I watch

341

and they also have the same comments in their comment section

342

with like around 60 likes all advertising the Vortalex Neo Pole 2, I think is the name.

343

But you know what I realized is that they haven't commented on my videos yet.

344

So I'm like, is my channel not good enough to scam people?

345

So this rug used to be in the bedroom and it was in the bedroom of our old apartment too.

346

Now we have a different rug in the bedroom that fits

347

that space better and I just brought this rug out

348

because Whitney and Theo really like to play on rugs

349

so we've been like playing with them on here and like throwing toys and stuff.

350

This rug I think would actually look kind of good in the living room because of the color.

351

But an issue with this one, I don't know if you can tell on camera, I'll bring you closer.

352

It just holds and traps a lot of like hair and lint.

353

And even if you go over it with a vacuum, it doesn't suck it up.

354

I got this.

355

It's a little rug rake, I believe is the name.

356

I need to get a bigger one because this is so small, but it works really well.

357

Did you see how it just traps all of this hair?

358

And when we go over it with the vacuum, it doesn't suck it up.

359

But look at this.

360

It's also very satisfying.

361

And you can kind of see the color change.

362

So this is like a mix of pet hair and fiber from the rug.

363

So yeah, we need a larger one

364

because I don't want to just be doing this all the time with this tiny little rake.

365

But I am going to keep the small one because it's good for smaller areas like the couch

366

Because that also holds some hair from Winnie too.

367

We haven't heard anything from insurance yet But today is only Monday right now.

368

It is August 24th so Hopefully by the end of this week at least we will hear something back from insurance.

369

That would just be so amazing Just to get this behind us before we head out.

370

I'd like to talk about Squarespace who is the sponsor of this video So as you all know, I've been using Squarespace since I started doing content creation.

371

So it's been five years now or a little bit more than five years.

372

And I first started my Squarespace website as a way to drive traffic to my other social media channels

373

because I didn't want to use a third-party linking service.

374

So I made my website landing page like my Instagram, my YouTube, and my TikTok.

375

And as I got further into my content creation, I wanted to start selling products.

376

So I sold things like art and digital products and plants and merch.

377

Squarespace remains makes it easy to claim your name and your own custom URL name.

378

I was very happy that I was able to claim BenjiPlane.com

379

which is very simple and it's just my name and then .com right after it.

380

Squarespace has a ton of beautifully professionally designed templates

381

that are very easy to use so even if you know you're worried

382

that your website's not going to be very good looking you can count on Squarespace's templates

383

and you will have your own studying website.

384

Head to squarespace.com slash benjiplant for a free trial and

385

when you are ready to launch use offer code benjiplant for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

386

Okay thank you so much for watching I hope you all are having a great day, a great week, a great month,

387

a great year and I will see you in the next video.

388

Goodbye.

📺 Same Channel

Home Updates | Trying your ideas, decorating the living room & bamboo blinds

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

✨ Recommend Video

127 sentences

Boost Your English Speaking with a Weekend Vlog: Learn from a Woodworking Adventure

What You'll Learn: Practical Speaking Skills

This video is a goldmine for english speaking practice, focusing on two key skills. First, describing a process—you’ll hear the speaker walk through building a bench, using phrases like "we sanded it" and "I'm planning to paint it" to explain steps clearly. Second, sharing personal achievements with enthusiasm, such as "I can't believe I made this" and "this is the first thing I've ever made." These phrases help you sound natural when talking about your own projects. Finally, mixing casual updates with details (like mentioning her cats) teaches you to connect ideas smoothly in everyday conversation.

Listen For These Sounds: Connected Speech & Reductions

To improve English pronunciation, tune into the connected speech in the video. Notice how "kind of" becomes kinda and "gonna" replaces "going to"—common reductions that make speech flow. The speaker also links words, like "I'm excited" blending into Imex cited (no pause between "I'm" and "excited"). These small changes are key to sounding more native. Practice listening for these patterns, then try repeating them to master fluidity.

Say It Like a Native: Rhythm & Stress Tips for Shadowing

Shadow speak (repeating speech aloud in real time) is a powerful tool, and this video is perfect for it. The speaker’s rhythm is conversational—relaxed but purposeful. Stress important words like "first," "fun," and "made" to emphasize emotions. For example, in "It's not perfect or anything, but I made it," the stress on "but" and "made" highlights pride. Use this dialogue for shadowing practice: pause, repeat, and mirror the tone. Over time, you’ll notice your own speech becoming more natural. For extra practice, focus on short phrases like "I'm planning to paint it"—copy the rising intonation at the end to sound engaged.

Whether you’re using a shadowing site or practicing alone, this video offers real-world language to build confidence. By focusing on these skills, you’ll turn casual vlog content into a tool for fluent, natural English speaking.

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	I've been looking · haven't really really been doing · haven't been doing
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	haven't really done · I've ever made · I've always really liked
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is brought · are grown · is figured

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: Home Diaries | Making a plant bench, weekend vlog & life updates - Learn English Speaking with Video

Home Updates | Trying your ideas, decorating the living room & bamboo blinds

PRODUCTIVE DAY IN MY LIFE | gym, healthy meals, resetting

The Story of a Garden

making architecture art

I Made Some BIG Changes to Our Bases | 7 Days to Die 3.0 pt 19

A Quiet Artist Vlog

Peric Gets Roasted By 14 Year Old Angler

Home Tour | My Finished London Flat

I Tried 7 Hobbies for 7 Days (to stop doom scrolling)

Studio Vlog #2: Make Jewelry with Me | Wax Carving | ASMR Handmade Jewelry

startup diaries ep. 9 - taking on quizlet and duolingo

HOUSEPLANT CARE TIPS FOR BEGINNERS » + printable guide

The Act of Pottery in Nelson, New Zealand

Boost Your English Speaking with a Weekend Vlog: Learn from a Woodworking Adventure

What You'll Learn: Practical Speaking Skills

Listen For These Sounds: Connected Speech & Reductions

Say It Like a Native: Rhythm & Stress Tips for Shadowing

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?