Shadowing Practice: How learning English changed my life | Easy English podcast for beginners - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hey, hey, hey, English learners.
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Welcome back to the Another English Learning Podcast.
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I'm Judith.
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And I'm Jake.
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Today, I want to tell you how English changed my life.
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Oh, this one is special.
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It's a story about fear, hope, and one small decision.
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If you ever felt too shy or too late to learn English, stay with us.
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Please like and subscribe to The Real Talk English, and let's begin.
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Hmm.
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Jake, let's go back.
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Where does your story start?
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In a small town, in a small classroom, with a very quiet boy in the last row.
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That boy was me.
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Why were you so quiet, Jake?
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Because English scared me.
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I knew the words, but my mouth stayed closed.
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I was afraid of making mistakes.
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Ah, I know that fear.
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So many learners feel it.
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What did you do back then?
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Nothing.
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I stayed silent and I told myself, English is not for people like me.
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That sentence is powerful.
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English is not for people like me.
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Many learners say something like that.
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It sounds small, but it can control your whole life.
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Even one small word can change it.
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I can't speak English yet.
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It controlled mine.
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My friends spoke up in class and I just stared at my notebook.
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I felt left out, and I felt ashamed, even though nobody was laughing at me.
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The loudest critic was inside my head.
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Left out means not included.
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I felt left out at the party.
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And ashamed means embarrassed about yourself.
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Let's keep those two phrases because your story is full of feelings.
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I felt ashamed of my accent is a very honest sentence.
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Thanks, Judith.
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Then came the day that hurt the most.
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I was 18 and I went to my first job interview.
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The manager said, tell me about yourself.
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And I froze.
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My hands were cold and my mind went blank.
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Froze is a great word.
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It means you can't move or speak because of fear.
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I froze when everyone looked at me.
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Another useful phrase is my mind went blank.
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What happened next?
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I said, my name is Jake.
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Jake.
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I Sorry.
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Then silence.
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After one minute, he said, thank you.
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We'll call you.
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And I knew they never would.
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I walked home in the rain and the rain felt fair.
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That must have been painful.
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What did you do when you got home, Jake?
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I sat on my bed and said, I'm done.
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Then my younger sister walked in and asked, why are you sad?
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I said, because I can't speak English.
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She said, then learn it.
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10 minutes a day.
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She was only 12, but she gave me a plan.
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10 minutes a day.
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That sounds so simple.
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Sometimes the biggest changes start with the smallest steps.
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One small step and little by little are two phrases to remember.
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Small steps feel boring, but they work.
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So the next morning, I made a rule.
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10 minutes of English before breakfast.
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Not an hour, not perfect, just 10 minutes.
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Just 10 minutes felt possible, and possible feels powerful.
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And what did those 10 minutes look like?
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Because many learners don't know where to begin.
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On day one, I listened to a short conversation and repeated one sentence.
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How's your day going?
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That's it.
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I said it 10 times in front of my bathroom mirror.
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My voice sounded strange, but I kept going.
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In front of a mirror.
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I love that.
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When you repeat a sentence out loud, you train your mouth, not just your brain.
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You turn repeat after me into repeat after yourself.
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Out loud is a phrase you'll use again and again.
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Exactly.
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And I kept a small notebook.
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Every day, I wrote three new phrases, not single words.
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Figure it out.
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Take your time.
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I'm looking forward to it.
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Phrases are easier to use in real life.
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I reviewed them every night before sleep.
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That's smart.
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A word alone is like one brick.
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A phrase is like a small wall.
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And with enough phrases, you can build a house.
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I love that image.
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But the first month was hard.
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I felt like I wasn't improving and I wanted to quit almost every week.
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I felt like quitting means I wanted to stop completely.
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Let me share something personal, Jake.
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When I moved to a big city, I couldn't order a simple coffee.
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I whispered, coffee, please.
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And the cashier asked me to repeat it three times.
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I could feel everyone behind me waiting.
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That sounds tough, Judith.
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How did you feel in that moment?
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Small.
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I felt very small.
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I walked out without my coffee and almost cried on the street.
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That night, I made a promise.
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I'll learn to order that coffee with a smile.
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Sometimes a hard day plants a strong promise.
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And you did.
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That's the beauty of our stories.
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Both of us started with embarrassment, and both of us kept going.
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Keep going are two of the most powerful words in English.
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So let's go back to your story, Jake.
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You told us the first month was hard, and many learners quit at exactly this point.
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So what happened in month two?
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Did anything change, even a little bit?
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I think the answer can give hope to someone who is almost ready to quit tonight.
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Something small, but it felt huge.
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I was walking to the market and I understood a full English song for the first time.
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I wasn't reading any words on a screen.
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I just understood.
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I stopped in the street and smiled like a crazy person.
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I couldn't stop smiling is a perfect phrase for a moment like that.
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That's a beautiful moment.
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We call it a small win.
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I had a small win today.
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Small wins are the fuel of learning.
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They tell your brain, hey, this is working, so keep going.
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And they prove that your effort isn't wasted.
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Right.
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So I started a list of small wins.
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Today I understood a whole video.
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Today I answered my teacher in one sentence.
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Today I ordered food in English.
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I made progress is the sentence behind every item on that list.
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When a bad day came, I read the list.
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What a smart habit.
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On bad days, your mind says you're not improving, but your list says look at how far you've come.
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How far you've come is a lovely phrase for celebrating your progress.
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Your list becomes a mirror and that mirror is honest and kind.
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Then I added speaking partners.
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I joined an online chat group and I was terrified.
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My first message was just, Hi, I'm Jake.
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I'm learning English.
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Three people replied within an hour.
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They said, Welcome, you can do this.
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I was terrified means very afraid, but afraid people still do brave things.
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And that's the power of kindness.
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Most people aren't judging your English.
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They remember how hard it was for them too.
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Everyone starts somewhere is true for every learner in the world and even native speakers once struggled with words as children.
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Kindness travels and one kind comment can keep a learner going for months.
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That chat group became my second classroom.
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I made a friend named Daniel from another country.
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We talked every Sunday and sometimes we only talked about food, but every conversation made my English a little more natural.
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Friends make English feel like life, not like homework.
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Talking about food, hobbies, and daily life is a perfect start.
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Let's pause for a quick tip.
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Choose one speaking partner or group and meet regularly.
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15 minutes with a friend each week is better than two hours alone once a month.
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Little and often beats big and rare.
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Try this week.
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Message one person, join one group, and show up for it.
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Now, here's where mistakes come in.
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In the group, I made so many mistakes.
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I said, I am agree with you, and yesterday I go to the market.
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Someone kindly corrected me, and I felt embarrassed.
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But then I realized something important.
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I felt embarrassed is normal and I felt discouraged means you lost hope for a moment.
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I'm curious because mistakes are the biggest fear for most learners.
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What did you realize?
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Many of you are thinking about the same fear right now, so please listen closely.
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That mistakes are not proof I'm bad at English.
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Mistakes are proof I'm trying.
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A baby falls many times before walking and nobody calls the baby a failure.
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I started saying, mistakes are my teachers, and I stopped feeling ashamed.
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Make mistakes is the opposite of play it safe, and learners who play it safe stay stuck.
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I love that sentence.
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Mistakes are my teachers.
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And it's a free grammar lesson too.
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I am agree becomes I agree, and yesterday I go becomes yesterday I went.
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Every correction is a gift, so say thank you and keep moving.
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So tonight, find one mistake you made this week, fix it, and say the corrected sentence five times.
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Over the next months, my life started to change in small ways.
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I could watch movies for a few minutes without subtitles.
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Without subtitles means without the words at the bottom of the screen.
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I could read short news articles.
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I answered a customer's question at my uncle's shop in English.
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And my uncle looked at me with surprise.
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I can do it slowly replaced.
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I can't do it in my mind looked at me with surprise I can almost see it.
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Those moments are special because people around you begin to notice the new you.
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And you begin to notice it too, with pride, not with pressure.
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I'm proud of myself is a sentence we should all say more often.
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One day, a tourist came into my uncle's shop.
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He was lost and he asked, Excuse me, how do I get to the train station?
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My heart was racing, but I explained the way slowly.
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He smiled and said, thank you so much.
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You speak great English.
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Turn left at the bank, then go straight.
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Was my first real set of directions, and I'll never forget it.
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What a moment.
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My heart was racing, means it was beating very fast.
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On cloud nine is a fun idiom for that kind of happiness.
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How did you feel after he left the shop?
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I felt like I was flying.
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I told my sister, someone said I speak great English.
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She laughed and said, I told you, 10 minutes a day.
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That night, I wrote in my notebook, today, English opened a door.
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That notebook is still on my desk today in the same handwriting.
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English opened a door.
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That's the heart of today's episode.
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And I had my own door moment, Jake.
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A few months after the coffee shop, my manager asked for a volunteer to present at a meeting.
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And I raised my hand, even though my hands were shaking.
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Raising your hand is a small action that carries a big message.
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I'm willing to try.
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That takes real courage, Judith.
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What happened in that meeting?
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Did it go well?
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I'm asking because many learners think speaking perfectly is the only kind of success.
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It wasn't perfect.
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I made a few mistakes and I forgot one word.
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But I smiled, said, let me say that another way and finished.
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Afterward, my manager told me, I admire your courage.
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Those words stayed with me for years.
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I did my best is the sentence that matters, not I was perfect.
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Mistakes did not stop the meeting and they will not stop you.
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Let me say that another way is such a useful phrase.
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When you forget a word, don't stop.
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Describe it.
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It's the thing you use to, you keep the conversation alive.
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And that's what real communication is.
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With this skill, you can survive in any country, even with a small vocabulary.
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Exactly.
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Now, let's talk about a hard part of the journey.
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Motivation goes up and down.
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Some days you feel unstoppable and other days you feel like giving up.
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Ups and downs is a natural phrase for this, and every journey has them.
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Motivation is like the weather, but habits are like a house.
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Jake, how did you handle the low days?
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I had a rule.
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Never miss twice.
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If I missed one day, I wouldn't miss the next.
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Even five minutes counted.
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On low days, I just listened to a podcast while washing the dishes.
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Something is better than nothing.
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Something is better than nothing.
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What a lovely life rule.
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And not only for English.
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It removes the guilt.
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You don't need a perfect day.
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You just need to show up.
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It also fits busy lives, tired nights, and crowded schedules.
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Then a big turning point came in my second year.
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My friend Daniel told me about an online job in customer support for an international company.
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It needed spoken English.
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I almost said, I'm not ready.
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A turning point is a moment that changes your direction, and this was mine.
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I'm not ready is a sentence many people say before great opportunities, and the truth is nobody feels completely ready.
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Ready is a feeling that usually arrives after you start, not before.
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So what did you do instead?
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I took a deep breath and I applied.
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The interview was by video call and the same question came again.
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Tell me about yourself.
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But this time my answer was different.
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I said, I'm Jake.
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I come from a small town and English changed my life.
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My voice shook, but my words were clear and that was enough.
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Goosebumps.
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The same question that once made you freeze became your best moment.
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We have a phrase for this full circle.
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It means something returns, but now the ending is different.
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This was your full circle moment.
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Goosebumps is a great word for that feeling on your arms when something touches your heart.
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I got the job, Judith.
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When the email arrived, I was sitting with my family.
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I read it twice, and then I showed it to my mother.
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She doesn't speak English, but she understood the word I'll be right back.
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Congratulations.
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She cried and then I cried.
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Overjoyed means extremely happy.
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And that is exactly how our whole house felt.
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I'm tearing up too.
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Tears of joy is the right phrase here.
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And notice that your journey didn't start with talent.
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It started with a decision, 10 minutes, and the courage to repeat sentences in front of a mirror.
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You didn't need a perfect accent or a perfect grammar book.
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I'm tearing up means my eyes are filling with tears.
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And now you know a new phrase.
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And it kept growing.
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A year later, I was training new employees.
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I felt proud to help people who were afraid because I remembered exactly how that fear felt.
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Now when I teach, I tell them, you're not behind.
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You're just on your way.
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You're not behind.
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You're just on your way.
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Beautiful.
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Let's turn this story into advice for our listeners.
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I'll share five lessons.
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Lesson one, start small.
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10 minutes a day is more powerful than a big plan you can't keep.
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And remember, start small doesn't mean think small.
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Lesson two, learn in phrases, not single words.
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Take your time.
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I'm looking forward to it.
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Let me think about it.
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Lesson three, speak out loud every day even if it's to a mirror a pet
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or the wall speaking out loud turns knowledge into skill
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because your mouth needs training too lesson four welcome mistakes say mistakes are my teachers
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and lesson five track your small wins write them down
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because your brain remembers pain faster than progress your list will protect
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you on difficult days check them off each night and in a month, you'll have 30 small victories.
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And one more, be kind to yourself.
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Many learners say, I'm so slow or I'm so bad at this.
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Replace it with, I'm learning, I'm improving or I'm getting there.
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The words you say to yourself shape the person you become.
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A kind voice inside your head is a skill and you can practice it daily.
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Be your own cheerleader is a phrase worth remembering.
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Wonderful.
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Let's practice a few of these out loud.
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Repeat after me.
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I'm learning and that's enough.
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I'm not behind.
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I'm on my way.
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Little by little, I'm getting better.
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English opened a door for me.
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Take a breath between lines, smile a little, and say them like you mean them.
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And if you're listening right now and you feel scared, remember this.
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That quiet boy in the last row once believed English wasn't for him.
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Today, he talks to people all over the world.
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I was once exactly where you are.
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If I can do it, you can do it too.
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Believe in yourself because belief grows with every small step.
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Tonight, take your 10 minutes.
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Say one sentence in front of a mirror.
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Write down one small win and tell yourself, I'm proud of how far I've come.
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Then repeat tomorrow.
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Your own story starts today and we believe in you.
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Even if your English feels small today, it can carry you to places you can't imagine yet.
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Bye, everyone.
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Keep going.
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Thank you for listening.
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And thank you, Judith, for sharing your story, too.
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Leave a comment and tell us your small win from today.
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We'll be right here with you one episode at a time.
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Until then, keep your 10 minutes, keep your courage and keep going.
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See you in the next episode of The Real Talk English.
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I'll see you next time.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “How learning English changed my life”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: English, felt, phrase, word, mistake. This video has 356 sentences and 2934 words to shadow. The speech runs for 19:12. The speaker talks at a natural 153 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| mirror noun | /ˈmiɹɚ/ | A smooth surface, usually made of glass with reflective material painted on the underside, that reflects light so as to give an image of what is in front of it. |
| tear verb | /tɛɹ/ | To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate. |
| courage noun | /ˈkʌ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/ | The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate. |
| freeze verb | /ˈfɹiːz/ | Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature. |
| ashamed adjective | /əˈʃeɪmd/ | Feeling shame or guilt. |
| notebook noun | /ˈnoʊtˌbʊk/ | A book (physical or digital) in which notes or memoranda are written. |
| 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. |
| embarrassed adjective | /ɪmˈbæɹ.əst/ | Having a feeling of shameful discomfort. |
| shake verb | /ˈʃeɪk/ | To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly. |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| habit noun | /ˈhæb.ɪt/ | An action performed on a regular basis. |
| motivation noun | /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/ | Willingness of action especially in behavior. |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| leave out verb | To omit, to not include, to neglect to mention. | |
| look forward to verb | To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to. | |
| speak out verb | To assert or promote one's opinion; to make one's thoughts known. | |
| tear up verb | /ˈtɛəɹ ˈʌp/ | To tear into pieces. |
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). | |
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. | |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| go up verb | To move upwards. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Where does your story start?
- What did you do back then?
- How's your day going?
- How did you feel in that moment?
- How did you feel after he left the shop?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've come · I've come |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | isn't wasted · was lost |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | someone who is · people who were |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was laughing · wasn't improving · was walking |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 68 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, can't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: ashamed /əˈʃeɪmd/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, wash /wɑʃ/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/
- Long words — get the stress right: motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, embarrassment /ɪmˈbæɹ.əs.mənt/, unstoppable /ʌnˈstɔ.pə.bəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like phrase, lesson, mirror.
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.