Shadowing Practice: How do you define yourself? | Lizzie Velasquez | TEDxAustinWomen - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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I'm really, really, really excited to be here.
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I'm really, really, really excited to be here.
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I kind of want to tell you a little bit more of the, I don't want to say basics, because we don't really know anything about my syndrome.
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I was born with this very, very rare syndrome that only two other people in the world, including myself, that we know of, have.
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Basically, what this syndrome causes is that I cannot gain weight.
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Yes, it does sound as good as it is.
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I could eat absolutely whatever I want, whenever I want, and I won't really gain any weight.
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I'm going to be 25 in March, and I've never weighed over about 64 pounds my entire life.
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When I was in college, I hid, oh, I didn't hide.
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Everyone knew it was there but it was a giant tub of Twinkies, donuts, chips, Skittles, and my roommate would say,
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I could hear you at 12.30 reaching under your bed to get food.
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But I'm like, you know what?
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It's all right.
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I can do these things because there are benefits to this syndrome.
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There are benefits to not being able to gain weight.
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There are benefits to being visually impaired.
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There are benefits to being kind of really small.
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A lot of people think, Lizzie, how in the world are you saying there's benefits when you can only see out of one eye?
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Let me tell you what the benefits are, because they're great.
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I wear contacts.
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Contact.
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Half-off contacts.
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When I wear my reading glasses, half-off prescription.
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If somebody is annoying me, being rude, stand on my right side.
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It's like you're not even there.
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I don't even know you're standing there.
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Right now, if I stand like this, I have no clue that there's this whole side of the room.
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Also, being small, I am very willing to volunteer myself myself to go to Weight Watchers,
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go to some gym and say, Hi, I'm Lizzy.
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I will be your poster child.
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Put my face on whatever you need and I will say, Hi, I use this program.
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Look how well it worked.
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Even though there are really amazing things that have come from this syndrome, but also things that have been very, very difficult, as you can imagine.
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Growing up, I was raised 150% normally.
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When I was my parents' first child, and when I was born, the doctors told my mom,
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your daughter has no amniotic fluid around her at all.
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So when I was born, it was a miracle that I came out screaming.
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The doctors told my parents, we just want to warn you, expect your daughter to never be able to talk, walk, crawl, think, or do anything by herself.
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Now, as first-time parents, you could think that my parents would say, oh no, why?
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Why are we getting our first child to have all these unknown problems?
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That's not what they did.
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The first thing they told the doctor was, we want to see her and we are going to take her home
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and love her and raise her to the best of our abilities.
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And that's what they did.
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I credit pretty much everything that I've done in my life to my parents.
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My dad is here with me today, and my mom is at home watching.
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Hi, Mom!
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She's recovering from a surgery, and she has been the glue that's held our family together
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and given me the strength to see that she's going through so much, much but she has this fighting spirit that she's instilled in me
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that I have so proudly been able to stand in front of people
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and say you know what I've had a really difficult life
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but that's okay that's okay things have been scary things have been tough one of the biggest things
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that I had to deal with growing up was something
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that I'm pretty sure every single one of us in this room has dealt with before.
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Can you guess what that is?
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Starts with a B.
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Can you guys guess it?
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Boys.
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Boys?
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Bullying.
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I know what y'all are thinking.
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I should have come, why can't I sit here with them?
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I had to deal with bullying a lot, but as I said, I was raised very normally, So when I started kindergarten,
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I had absolutely no idea that I looked different.
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No clue.
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I couldn't see that I looked different from other kids.
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I think of it kind of as a big slap of reality for a five-year-old
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because I went into school first day decked out in Pocahontas gear.
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I was ready.
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I went in with my backpack that looked like a turtle shell because it was bigger than me.
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And I walked up to a little girl.
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I smiled at her.
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She looked up at me like I was a monster, like I was the scariest thing she'd ever seen in her life.
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My first reaction was, she is really rude.
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I am a fun kid, and she's the one missing out, so I'll just go over here and play with blocks or boys.
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I thought the day was going to get better, and unfortunately, it didn't.
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The day kind of got worse and worse, and a lot of people just wanted to have absolutely nothing to do with me, with me and I couldn't understand why.
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Why?
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What did I do?
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I didn't do anything to them.
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In my mind, I was still a really cool kid.
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So I had to go home and ask my parents, what's wrong with me?
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What did I do?
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Why don't they like me?
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And they sat me down and they said, Lizzie, the only thing that's different about you is that you're smaller than the other kids.
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You have this syndrome, but it's not going to define who you are.
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They said, go to school, Take your head up, smile, continue to be yourself, and people will see that you're just like them.
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And so that's what I did.
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I want you to think and ask yourself this in your head right now.
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What defines you?
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Who are you?
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Is it where you come from?
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Is it your background?
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Is it your friends?
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What is it?
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What defines who you are as a person?
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It's taken me a very long time to figure out what defines me.
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For so long, I thought what defined me was my outer appearance.
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I thought that my little tiny legs and my little arms and my little face was ugly.
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I thought it That was disgusting.
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I hated when I would wake up in the morning and I was going to middle school and looking in the mirror, getting ready and thinking, can I just scrub this syndrome off?
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It would make my life so much easier if I could just scrub it off.
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I could look like the other kids.
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I wouldn't have to buy clothes that had Dora the Explorer on it.
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I wouldn't have to buy stuff that was bedazzled when I was trying to be like the cool kids.
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I would wish and pray and hope and do whatever I could to pray
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that I would wake up in the morning and I would be different, and I wouldn't have to deal with these struggles.
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It's what I wanted every single day, and every single day I was disappointed.
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I have an amazing, amazing support system around me,
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who never pity me, who are there to pick me up if I'm sad, who are there to laugh with me during the good times,
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and they taught me that even though I have this syndrome, even though things are hard, I can't let that define me.
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My life was put into my hands, just like your lives are put into yours.
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You are the person in the front seat of your car.
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You are the one who decides whether your car goes down a bad path or a good path.
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You are the one that decides what defines you.
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And let me tell you, it could be really hard to figure out what defines you.
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Because there are times where I would just get so annoyed and frustrated, and I don't care what defines me.
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When I was in high school, I found a video, unfortunately, that somebody posted of me, labeling me the world's ugliest woman.
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There were over 4 million views to this video, eight seconds long, no sound, thousands of comments, people saying,
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Lizzie, please, please just do a world of favor, put a gun to your head and kill yourself.
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Think about that.
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If people told you that, strangers told you this.
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I cried my eyes out, of course, and I was ready to fight back, and something kind of clicked in my head, and I thought, I'm just going to leave it alone.
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I kind of started realizing that my life is in my hands.
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I could either choose to make this really good, or I can choose to make this really bad.
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I could either be grateful and open my eyes and realize the things that I do have
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and make those the things that define me.
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I can't see out of one eye, but I can see out of the other.
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I might get sick a lot, but I have really nice hair.
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Thanks.
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You guys are like the best little section right here.
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That's my train of thought.
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Okay, where was I?
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Hair!
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Hair, okay, thank you, thank you, thank you.
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Okay, so I could either choose to be happy
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or I could choose to kind of be upset with what I have and still kind of complain about it.
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But then I started realizing, am I going to let the people who called me a monster define me?
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Am I going to let the people who said, kill it with fire, define me?
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No. I'm going to let my goals and my success and my accomplishments be the things that define me,
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not my outer appearance, not the fact that I'm visually impaired, not the fact that I have this syndrome that nobody knows what it is.
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So I told myself I'm going to work my butt off and do whatever I could to make myself better,
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Because in my mind, the best way that I could get back at all those people who made fun of me, who teased me, who called me ugly,
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who called me a monster, was to make myself better and to show them, you know what?
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Tell me those negative things, I'm going to turn them around, and I'm going to use them as a ladder to climb up to my goals.
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That's what I did.
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I told myself I wanted to be a motivational speaker, I want to write a book, graduate college, have my own family, my own career.
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Eight years later, I'm standing in front of you, still doing motivational speaking.
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First thing, I accomplished it.
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I wanted to write a book.
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In a couple weeks, I will be submitting the manuscript for my third book.
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I wanted to graduate college and I just finished college.
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I'm getting a degree in communication studies from Texas State University in San Marcos, and I have a minor in English.
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I really, really tried to use real life experience while I was getting my degree, and my professors were not having it.
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I wanted to have, lastly, my own family and my own career.
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And the family part is kind of down the line.
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My career part, I feel like I'm really doing well with it, considering the fact that when I decided I wanted to be a motivational speaker, I went home, I sat in front of my laptop,
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went to Google, typed in how to be a motivational speaker.
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I'm not even joking.
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I worked my butt off.
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I used the people who were telling me that I couldn't do this to motivate me motivate me.
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I use their negativity to light my fire to keep going.
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Use that.
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Use that.
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Use that negativity that you have in your life to make yourself better because I guarantee you,
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guarantee you, you will win.
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Now, I want to end with asking you again.
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I want you to So leave here and ask yourself what defines you.
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But remember, brave starts here.
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Thank you.
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Context & Background
The TEDx talk by Lizzie Velasquez delivers a powerful message about self-identity, resilience, and the positive aspects of facing adversity. Born with a rare syndrome that prevents her from gaining weight, Lizzie recounts her experiences growing up and emphasizes the supportive role her parents played in her life. Despite the challenges she faced, Lizzie's story is filled with humor and optimism, showcasing how one can redefine hardships and appreciate unique attributes in life. This enriching dialogue not only inspires confidence but also serves as a practical resource for English learners who want to improve their communication skills and vocabulary through compelling real-life stories.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- "I want to tell you a little bit more..." - A great way to introduce a topic or share personal stories.
- "There are benefits to this syndrome." - Useful when discussing positive aspects in seemingly negative situations.
- "How in the world are you saying there's benefits?" - A conversational way to express surprise or curiosity.
- "I will say, Hi, I use this program." - Suitable for endorsements or recommendations in casual conversations.
- "I credit pretty much everything to my parents." - An effective expression of gratitude that can be used generally.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
Learning English with YouTube provides a dynamic way to practice speaking and comprehension skills. By utilizing shadowing techniques, you can improve fluency and pronunciation. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to shadow Lizzie’s TEDx talk:
- Watch the Video First: Familiarize yourself with the content of the talk. Pay attention to Lizzie's tone, pacing, and expressions.
- Listen Actively: Play segments of the video, focusing on 30-second snippets. Listen to her enunciation and rhythm.
- Pause and Repeat: After each segment, pause the video and repeat what you heard. This technique is essential in shadowspeak practice to match Lizzie’s intonation and speed.
- Record Yourself: Use a shadowing app to record your attempts. Comparing your recordings with Lizzie's original will highlight areas to improve on.
- Practice Regularly: Consistency is key. Utilize the phrases identified above in daily conversations to reinforce your learning and enhance your English speaking practice.
Integrating shadowing into your language study not only helps with pronunciation but also builds confidence in using English in everyday interactions.
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.
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