Shadowing Practice: “How I Reached Fluency in English | My Personal Journey” - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hello everyone, welcome to another video.
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My name is Alva, I'm a teacher and a learner at the same time and today I wanted to talk about something that every English learner dreams of.
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We could say it's the ultimate goal for anyone learning English, fluency.
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Everyone wants it but how do you actually reach it?
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Many people have shared their experiences here on YouTube and I always find their stories super inspiring so I decided to do something similar.
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I want to talk about my experience, what helped me reach fluency in English, hoping it can inspire you as well.
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You have asked a lot of questions about where I come from and guys it's a little complicated.
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I was born in Russia but my background is circadian.
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You've probably never heard of this ethnicity so I'm not going to go into details here.
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I'll just say that I grew up speaking Russian and Circassian.
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Then I moved to Turkey and learned Turkish as well.
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As for English, even though I studied it at school and university and I have lived abroad,
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I have never lived in an English-speaking country so I had to work really hard to create opportunities for myself to practice English and reach my current level.
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And here is exactly what I did.
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One of the biggest things that helped me was making English part of my everyday life.
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Instead of only focusing on grammar and learning vocabulary words, I try to incorporate English into everything I do.
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For example, whenever I cook something, let's say I'm trying a new recipe, I look it up in English.
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I search for it on YouTube, watch a video paying attention to words for ingredients, cooking tools, actions, or if I'm exercising.
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I love working out.
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I do it almost every day.
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I don't search for workouts in my native language.
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I only follow English speaking trainers online.
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I have my favorite girls here on YouTube and you're sort of killing two birds with one stone here.
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You are exercising and you're practicing your listening as well.
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I can't tell you guys how much vocabulary I've learned from these workout videos.
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Words for body parts like hamstrings, pelvis, calves, or verbs like kneel, bend, lean forward, and so on.
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Next, even small tasks like making a grocery list, writing notes, scheduling appointments.
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I do it all in English.
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I also switched all my devices and app settings to English.
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I'm pretty sure you've done it already because that's the first thing you do when you start learning a language, right?
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And whenever I have a question, I Google it in English.
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Because we all do it anyway.
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with unlimited access to the internet nowadays, we look up a lot of information online.
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So why not do it in English?
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For instance, I recently bought this cute little plant.
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It's a ficus and I needed to repot it.
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Since I don't have much experience with house plants, I decided to find a video on YouTube how to repot a plant.
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I could have done it in my native language,
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but instead I chose to do it in english little habits like this add up over time and give you
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constant exposure which trains your brain to think in english automatically another habit that helped me
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was surprise surprise watching tv shows and movies in english of course nothing groundbreaking here but here's the
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thing i hardly ever watch anything in my native language anymore whether it's a tv show a movie a book i'm reading, it has to be in English.
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And it's funny, sometimes my family makes fun of me or even gets a bit annoyed because they want to watch something in Russian, but I don't have the luxury to do that.
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Since I don't live in an English-speaking country and there's no natural exposure to the language, I need to create this English-speaking environment myself.
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Regarding the genre, I would normally opt for comfortable shows like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, The Office, How I Met Your Mother, the classics, right?
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They're fun, easy to understand, and they don't make you feel overwhelmed.
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However, at some point, I felt like it wasn't enough.
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I wanted to expand my vocabulary even more.
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So I started watching a legal drama.
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I think it was called Suits.
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It's very famous.
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And wow, there were so many words I didn't even know in my native language, let alone English.
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Later on, I watched Dr.
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House, which was packed with medical terms.
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And yes, it was a little hard at first, but I learned so much about diseases, the human body, medical procedures.
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Sometimes I even think I know more medical vocabulary in English than in my native language.
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A few tips I learned along the way.
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Be careful with the level of difficulty.
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If you're not advanced, don't pick shows that are too hard to understand.
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It'll be frustrating.
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Instead, choose content slightly out of your comfort zone.
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Just enough new vocabulary to challenge you, but not so much that it overwhelms you.
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And third, try mixing genres.
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Comedy, drama, legal, medical, business.
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This kind of variety helps you pick up vocabulary in all sorts of contexts.
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Watching shows in English isn't just about passive learning.
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You pick up slang, idioms, and expressions that you rarely see in textbooks and your brain gets used to natural speech patterns.
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Another major factor in my fluency was actively using English in daily activities.
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I made it a habit to speak to myself, narrating what I'm doing, imagining I'm telling a story, and commenting on every little detail.
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Of course, I normally do it when there's no one around because it might look a little creepy and weird that I'm talking to myself.
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For example, while I'm making an omelette, I describe my actions in English.
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I crack two eggs into a ball, sprinkle a little bit of salt, pour in some milk, and then mix it all together with a whisk.
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After that, I turn on the stove, put the pan on it, add a little bit of oil, and so on.
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Or I love telling stories to myself while, let's say, I'm doing my makeup.
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So I'm in front of the mirror, applying my mascara and narrating what happened this morning.
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I was sleeping and all of a sudden I got a phone call from a delivery guy.
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He couldn't find my address so I had to get out of bed, go outside and look for him while still in my pajamas, yada yada yada.
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I absolutely love this method.
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It really activates your brain and if you stumble or forget something, you can just start over.
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It's an amazing way to practice speaking.
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Over time, these small but consistent practices train your brain to think in English automatically, so you don't have to translate in your head anymore.
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Next, this might actually surprise you a little bit.
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Teaching English was another turning point for me.
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After I graduated, I moved abroad and started looking for a job.
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There was a company in China, a language school, that was hiring non-native English teachers, which was exactly what I was looking for.
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Later I also worked for another school somewhere in Asia.
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And at first, I was only teaching kids and beginner students, which was very comfortable.
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But then I started working with group classes and intermediate and advanced students who were asking a lot of tricky grammar and vocabulary questions.
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So I had to research some grammar topics I had forgotten, which forced me to better understand the material myself.
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Advice for you, find somebody you can teach English to.
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A sibling, a friend, a relative, doesn't matter.
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When you explain something to others, it helps you understand it better and I believe it's one of the fastest ways to improve your fluency.
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Next, I want to talk about how I learn new words.
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Well, I've always been an auditory learner.
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I listen to tons of podcasts, YouTube videos, and I pick up new expressions and words this way.
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For memorizing vocabulary, I tried flashcards and I know that a lot of learners find them super useful.
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Honestly, I didn't.
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But that's just my experience.
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What I do, I simply keep a running list of words and expressions.
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And I go back to this list every now and then to see if I remember the words.
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And if I don't, I look them up again, make example sentences.
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Multiple encounters are important to move words into long-term memory.
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And there is something that I want to confess.
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I am not particularly fond of writing, to put it mildly.
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I do not enjoy writing or typing neither in my native language nor in English.
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For example, if I'm replying to a friend on WhatsApp, it is so much easier for me to press that record button and record my voice instead of typing a long message.
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I guess I'm just not very patient.
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but I know writing is important so I'm trying to work on it.
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I journal in English not as often as I should but I'm gradually building this habit and I do believe small consistent steps make a huge difference over time so I'm not giving up on writing.
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All right that's my journey to English fluency.
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I hope my story inspires you.
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If you like this video hit the like button, subscribe and comment below what is one habit you can start today to improve your English.
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Remember, fluency isn't magic.
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It's daily effort, consistency, and curiosity.
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Thank you so much for watching.
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I'll see you in the next video.
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Bye.
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Why practice speaking with this video?

In the journey to learn English with YouTube, engaging with personal stories, like Alva's, can be incredibly motivational. Alva shares her unique path to fluency, emphasizing that fluency is not solely about grammar rules or vocabulary lists, but rather integrating English into everyday life. By joining her on this journey, you can practice speaking in context, repeating her phrases, and mimicking her intonation. This helps your brain adapt to thinking in English, which is crucial for actual conversations. Practicing alongside real-life experiences enhances retention and encourages you to use English actively.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Throughout the video, Alva uses several grammatical structures and expressions that are essential for learners. Here are a few key examples:

  • Present Simple for Daily Habits: "I do it almost every day." This structure is perfect for discussing routines. Try to create your own sentences about your day-to-day activities.
  • Using the Infinitive Form: "I decided to find a video." This highlights the use of the infinitive to express intentions. Practice forming your own intentions using 'decide to' + verb.
  • Compound Sentences: "I found a video and learned new vocabulary." Using conjunctions like 'and' to combine ideas will make your speech more fluent. Start practicing by linking your sentences to form complex thoughts.

Incorporating phrases from this video into your speech will not only enhance your vocabulary but also improve your grasp of English syntax.

Common Pronunciation Traps

While listening to Alva, pay attention to certain tricky words and pronunciation nuances that can challenge English learners:

  • Vocabulary from Context: Terms like "ficus" or "repot" might be new; practice repeating them to improve your familiarity. Focusing on the stress and intonation in these words can also enhance your clarity.
  • Exposure to Varied Accents: Alva's accent may differ from standard American or British English. Listening to her will help you adapt your own improve English pronunciation skills by exposing you to diverse ways of speaking.
  • Commonly Overlooked Sounds: Words like "ingredients" or "exercises" contain clusters of sounds that can be tough to articulate clearly. Practice these by using the shadowing technique, where you mimic her phrases immediately after hearing them.

By focusing on these pronunciation challenges, you'll enhance your overall speaking skills and prepare for situations like the IELTS speaking practice.

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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