Shadowing Practice: How Social Media Is Rewiring Our Brains - Learn English Speaking with Video
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40 sentences
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Social media is a fascinating new human phenomenon and when we look at it deeply from a brain point of view,
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when we start with the foundation that the brain is actually the social organ of the body,
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we can understand why social media and and brain functions would go hand in hand.
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That is, the reason social media took off in this last 10 years is
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because the brain is social and people really want to connect with each other.
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And then, once social media was designed and keeps on creating itself, then the social media, in fact,
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is going to be shaping the brain so that the brain is responsive to culture.
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And in one of our research centers at UCLA, what we're able to show is that cultural experiences,
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that is messages sent out in society that are mediated through communication, either one-on-one or mass media communication,
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actually shape the actual structure of the brain.
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And so it's a two-way street.
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The brain created social media, and social media shapes the brain.
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One of the simple things I think
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that social media does is it brings us back at least to a feeling on one level
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that we're having the connections that we evolved to have.
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It's a great question, you know, is social media replacing our relationships or is it adding to it?
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From a brain point of view, the difference between let's say email and social media versus face to face interaction is very interesting.
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So studies for example that have shown what it's like
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when you actually are with someone face to face where you have eye contact, you're sharing facial expressions, there's a tone The tone of voice you can hear,
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the posture of the person, the gestures, the timing of what they do, the intensity of what they respond with.
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Those seven signals, and those are eye contact, facial expression, tone of voice, posture, gestures, timing, intensity.
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If you memorize those, it's really useful because then you'll see what texting, what email, and what most social media actually is lacking.
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Now, when you look at what area of the brain both sends out those non-verbal signals
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and receives them and makes sense of them, it's the right hemisphere of the brain.
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And the right hemisphere of the brain is much more closely connected to the lower regions, so the higher right areas are connected to the lower regions of the brain
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and those lower regions work with the body itself to create our emotions, to give us the felt texture of lived life.
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So one deep concern that I have as a developmental theorist
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and a developmental clinician is is that the more and more people spend time not using non-verbal signals,
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and instead use mostly verbal ones, that is, text with language that has this linear way of being distributed,
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you're activating primarily your left hemisphere, which in the brain is much more distant from the lower areas that help mediate emotion with the body.
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And even autobiographical memory is dominant on the right side, so you're much more into just logistics.
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Even thinking about how people are gonna care about you
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or like you is a left brain thing
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which is fascinating it's called social display rules
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so from a hemisphere point of view what i'm deeply concerned about is
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if social media email texting are not actually getting people more face-to-face time with each other
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or getting them in touch with even what's going on inside
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of them then the new generation will be much more used to a very surface level of experiencing the world.
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So there's nothing inherently wrong with social media, but if it is replacing time for face-to-face,
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then that could be a big problem.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “How Social Media Is Rewiring Our Brains”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: brain, hemisphere, lower, verbal, signals. This video has 40 sentences and 638 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:05. The speaker talks at a natural 156 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hemisphere noun | /ˈhɛmɪsfɪə/ | Half of the celestial sphere, as divided by either the ecliptic or the celestial equator . |
| verbal adjective | /ˈvɜː.bəl/ | Of or relating to words. |
| fascinate verb | /ˈfæsɪneɪt/ | To evoke an intense interest or attraction in someone. |
| mediate verb | /ˈmidieɪt/ | To resolve differences, or to bring about a settlement, between conflicting parties. |
| posture noun | /ˈpɑst͡ʃɚ/ | The way a person holds and positions their body. |
| developmental adjective | /dɪˌvɛləpˈmɛntəl/ | Related to development. |
| gesture noun | /ˈd͡ʒɛs.t͡ʃɚ/ | A motion of the limbs or body, especially one made to emphasize speech. |
| autobiographical adjective | /ˌɑtoʊˌbaɪəˈɡɹæfəkəl/ | Of or relating to a person's life or an account of a person's life, as told by the subject. |
| clinician noun | /klɪˈnɪʃən/ | Any healthcare practitioner working at the point of care, in clinical practice (e.g., physicians in clinical medicine, nurses in nursing practice, or allied… |
| memorize verb | /ˈmɛm.əˌɹaɪ̯z/ | To fully learn so as to have entirely available to the memory; to learn by heart, commit to memory. |
| theorist noun | /ˈθiːəɹəst/ | Someone who constructs theories, especially in the arts or sciences. |
| inherently adverb | /ɪnˈhɛɹəntli/ | In an inherent way; naturally, innately. |
| responsive adjective | /ɹɪˈspɑn.sɪv/ | Answering, replying or responding |
| activate verb | /ˈæktɪˌveɪt/ | To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate. |
| distribute verb | /dɪˈstɹɪbjuːt/ | To divide into portions and dispense. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| send out verb | To issue, dispatch or transmit. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 8 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, we're, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: developmental /dɪˌvɛləpˈmɛntəl/, autobiographical /ˌɑtoʊˌbaɪəˈɡɹæfəkəl/, inherently /ɪnˈhɛɹəntli/
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 hemisphere, verbal, fascinate.
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.