Shadowing Practice: how to be the PERFECT student 📖 organization, discipline & romanticizing school for academic success - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

with a new semester

⏸ Paused

Speed:

340 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

with a new semester

and a new year having recently begun I feel like a lot of us have set the resolution

or set some goals to become a better student have better grades maybe be more organized and

so on through my academic journey I feel like I've learned

a lot I've gone from being like a super overachieving student who is like involved in

so many extracurriculars like Rory Gilmore type of vibe to some

days honestly struggling to find the motivation to get to class So from those two extremes,

I've learned quite a bit

and I wanted to share some advice in this video on what being a perfect student even means

and how you can achieve that.

So without further ado, I hope you enjoy.

Make sure to subscribe for more videos like this and let's get right into it.

My first piece of advice is to have a consistent morning and night routine.

Trust me, if you're feeling lost or don't know where to start, start here.

I know this is like a very perhaps cliche thing

that a lot of people talk about on youtube

But I swear by my routine

and without it I would be a completely different person I would be

so lost now that i'm in university I have a very like free schedule meaning

that some days I only start classes late in the afternoon

Or I honestly sometimes don't even have any class at all during the day

And it can be very tempting to just throw my routine out of the window

and just like sleep in On those days kind of like do nothing

but that is

when it's especially important to be consistent with my routine as

you've probably heard many many times before having a good routine sets you up for success

and gets you in the right mindset

that you need to be in in order to be more focused during the day

and overall a more productive person

and i really want to stress the importance of finding a routine

that works for you and that includes both your morning

and night routine so if you're like a night owl don't go against

that follow that have your time in the evening

that you can just like do your work or unwind

and wake up a little bit later as long as you still have a routine

when you wake up and right before you go to bed.

And the part where this comes in in terms of becoming a better student is

that just having

that routine is going to set you up for success no matter what your day is going to look like.

If you're staying home you're going to be more prepared

and less distracted to just go ahead and get started with your work

and if you're going to class it's going to have given you the time to do those habits

that help you stay productive,

stay grounded, and just like feel better throughout the day.

I know there's a lot of like toxic study motivation out there that's like telling you to stay up late

and like study all night to beat your enemies or whatever

that is not who we're trying to be we're trying to take care of ourselves

and be like well rested so

that we can be better focused in class during the day

and overall just like be more attentive to what we're doing

if you're struggling in terms of establishing a routine the first thing

that i would recommend is to try to identify a target wake up

and bedtime now obviously this kind of fluctuates from time to time,

but really trying to stick to it as much as possible is going to help regulate your circadian rhythm.

And then in terms of actually developing that routine,

I really recommend trying to highlight five very small and realistic habits that you can do every day when you wake up.

So for me, for instance,

in the morning, that includes making my bed,

doing my skincare, taking my vitamins,

drinking some water, and doing some sort of gratitude or journaling practice.

And those are some really like straightforward pretty small tasks

that i can accomplish and take off every day no matter what my schedule looks like

and then in the evening i also have been really trying

to make it a priority to actually have time to unwind after i close my laptop

and stop working because i've noticed

that it really makes a difference compared to the nights

when i just close my laptop

and go straight to bed without any sort of like winding down time

and i would also really recommend during your night routine to prepare everything you can for the following morning so

laying out your outfit, preparing your bag,

packing your lunch, all those things are seriously going to help you the next morning and creating less friction in your routine.

So do it for your future self.

Second piece of advice is to find an organization system that works for you.

I've already made a video all about how to be organized

so I'll have that linked down below if you want to check it out

but just to reiterate a few of the key points from that video,

I would personally recommend finding a good organizational system

that you're going to be able to check in with daily and one one that you can check in weekly.

For me, I have like my daily to-do list that I write at the beginning of every day,

but usually I've laid out at the start of the week any appointments

or any major deadlines that I have coming up so that those are already written in my daily to-do list.

I also think it's important to make your organizational system cute

and aesthetic so that you're going to want to use it more.

And you can include like little motivational quotes or pretty little graphics that are going to get you motivated.

Overall, just like make it fun for yourself to use.

Also, in your daily to-do list,

try to include something that you're going to do for yourself,

whether that be like going on a walk or reading your book.

Including those like personal me-time tasks are going to make you actually remember that like you need to look after yourself.

And I feel like if you put it on your to-do list,

you're gonna be like more aware of it.

And so when you look at your list,

you're gonna be like, all right,

I should probably take some time for myself today because maybe I haven't done that yet.

To me, finding a good organizational system also implies finding a good school bag or backpack situation.

I personally use a backpack just

because my shoulders are not able to physically carry the weight of all of my belongings onto one shoulder.

However, find whatever works for you and make sure

that you're keeping all of your essentials in there so

100

that you know that you have everything that's necessary for you to study and be productive at all times.

101

My next piece of advice is to show up to class as your ideal self.

102

To me, this just means showing up to class mentally prepared.

103

I'm feeling awake.

104

I'm feeling ready to take notes and be attentive.

105

overall i'm just like engaging in the class

106

and being like present focused studies have actually shown

107

that the people who sit in the front row are more likely to be successful

108

so ever since i learned

109

that i've just like made it a conscious effort to at the beginning of the semester

110

and at the start of every class actually sit in the front of the class

111

because even just by doing that it forces me to like pay attention

112

because i'm right in front of the teacher so they can obviously see

113

if i'm being distracted

114

and it just holds you more accountable usually by now i've showed up to class a little bit early.

115

I'm sitting in my seat,

116

ideally in one of the few front rows,

117

and then I like to go through this kind of like mental checklist of things to do before class actually starts.

118

So I'll take out my water bottle so

119

that I have it in my field of vision and I'm reminded to stay hydrated.

120

I take out my notebooks and all my stationery that I need so that I'm ready to pay attention,

121

and I also turn off my notifications or sometimes fully turn my phone off.

122

in my recent video all about organization i asked you guys

123

if you were interested in learning about how i take my notes

124

and a few of you said yes so i'm gonna be diving into

125

that right now i'm actually gonna take these off

126

because the reflection is really bothering me usually i tend to prioritize

127

and favor handwritten notes so this is the notebook that i use for all of my like theory courses However,

128

this semester i've switched to taking notes on my computer

129

because I kind of figured out last semester

130

That I wasn't able to keep up with everything the teacher was saying

131

And i'm someone who really likes to write down as much as possible

132

and dive into as much detail as possible in my notes

133

So it was kind of frustrating me

134

that I was having to like rush taking notes and getting cramps

135

and everything It was just not the most practical So now I just use this for reading notes,

136

which is essentially where whenever i'm doing like a reading assigned for class

137

I'll copy down any important quotes

138

or like write down in bullet points sort of summary of the reading that I can refer to To me,

139

this just ensures that i'm like being focused and engaging with the reading

140

because i'm someone who Really likes to write things down by hand

141

and then in terms of how I take my actual notes in class I do it on google docs

142

and I don't really have that much of a method or structure Again,

143

I really like to write down basically everything the teacher is saying Like

144

if you are sitting next to me in a class all you'll hear the whole time is just like

145

that's literally me the entire lecture so yeah that's essentially how i take my notes

146

but again make sure that you find a system that works for you for me that's a hybrid model of using

147

handwritten notes and typewritten ones typewritten that sounds like ancient

148

and archaic like i'm bringing a typewriter to class which honestly that's probably what i sound like because i'm typing so loud.

149

And it's completely fine to switch back and forth between methods as long as your notes make sense to you.

150

I think that's what's most important.

151

And yeah, let's get back to the video.

152

My next piece of advice is to romanticize school.

153

And I feel like this is a word and a concept that gets thrown around a lot.

154

I could honestly do a whole separate video just about this,

155

but just to talk a little bit about my personal experience.

156

Last semester was my first ever semester of university

157

and I kind of hit a wall

158

because for the first time ever I was struggling to get to class

159

and I wasn't feeling fulfilled just from school anymore

160

which was like a crazy realization but it really isn't that deep when you think about it.

161

I experienced a lot of imposter syndrome

162

and just like struggled a lot with motivation so I found

163

that I couldn't rely on just like my natural interest in school to feel motivated

164

and I sort of had the realization that

165

life is not just about school and I think

166

if you're going to take something from this video

167

that would be it which might sound a little bit contradictory

168

but the minute you start realizing that there's more to school than just grades

169

and there's more to life than just school you're going to feel

170

so much more fulfilled

171

because you're going to start seeking out fulfillment in other areas of your life

172

and it's just going to take the pressure off of school

173

and make it more fun for you to just like enjoy

174

the process of learning a few little things i like to

175

do to romanticize school are to bring a book with me

176

and just carry it around all the time to listen to fun music

177

and also create new playlists so

178

that i have a new soundtrack to live my life to every couple of weeks to consume inspiring content whether

179

that be study vlogs gilmore girls or just scrolling on pinterest

180

getting myself out of the house

181

and making it a goal to discover new spaces on campus i actually recently discovered

182

that there was a greenhouse literally on my campus in the

183

most random place ever like on a super high floor so

184

if it hadn't been for this goal of mine to find

185

new study spots i probably would have never known about it

186

and now it's like one of my favorite places to go

187

to i also love putting in a little bit more time

188

when it comes to getting ready for school and like preparing my outfit.

189

Not only is it fun to experiment,

190

but it also honestly helps me fight my imposter syndrome a little bit

191

because it gives me like confidence and it just ensures

192

that I'm going to school and that I'm feeling comfortable in my own skin.

193

I also do love getting myself a sweet treat,

194

whether that be a matcha or a nice little baked good.

195

They just like make my day a little bit better

196

and I love to reward myself with them after a long study session.

197

At the end of the day,

198

I think romanticizing school is just really about doing whatever it takes to feel confident

199

and just have fun because sometimes it's really hard to remember to have fun just because we get so overwhelmed and stressed.

200

But remember that as a student,

201

you're also part of a community of other people in your program

202

or in your university or college that are going through similar experiences

203

and with whom you can connect and spend time romanticizing school together.

204

Tip number five is to work on becoming a more disciplined person and overall just developing a good work ethic.

205

And this is really the key to becoming more productive because as many people have said before,

206

no matter how motivated you are,

207

at the end of the day,

208

it's discipline and hard work that's going to take you where you want to be.

209

I'm also very much a believer in the concept work smarter, not harder.

210

So although some people may see discipline as like working 10 hours per day and having a really strict study schedule,

211

I feel like it's actually much more important to be balanced

212

and to make the most out of the time when you are working.

213

The brain can actually only stay in this state of deep focus like a few hours per day.

214

So first of all, if you're imposing like a 10 hour study schedule every day on yourself,

215

that's just not like working smart because your brain isn't even able to retain information for that much.

216

And half of that time,

217

you're not actually gonna be in deep focus

218

and you're not gonna be retaining information as efficiently

219

and that's also why the time

220

that you are working needs to be entirely distraction free so

221

that you can achieve that state of deep focus

222

and be productive once you're actually sitting down

223

and ready to do some work there are different like time management techniques

224

or study methods to help you be more disciplined

225

and overall just like stay focused one of the things i

226

love to do is just turn on the study mode on my phone in the different like focus settings

227

and this means that i'm only getting notifications from like productivity apps

228

or basically stuff related to school if that doesn't work

229

and you're still like getting distracted

230

and going on your phone i love to use the app flora

231

which i talk about and like show in my vlogs all of the time

232

but you basically just set a timer for however long you want to study

233

and then that just helps me i guess kind of do the pomodoro method

234

but more loosely

235

because it also allows you to keep the focus going longer than you set the timer for

236

so for instance if i set a timer for like 45 minutes

237

but i end up working for like an hour 20 it's just going to stay in like focus mode whereas

238

if I get a notification by like the 45 minutes

239

that the timer is done I might be more inclined to like take a break and check my phone.

240

So yeah I love to use this whenever I feel myself getting distracted

241

and I just need to like set a timer and sit down to get work done.

242

It's also helpful because it allows you to kind of evaluate how much time you'll need for a task.

243

So for instance if you're a perfectionist like me

244

and you tend to spend way too much time on like small assignments

245

that are honestly not that much work you can set yourself like a 25 minute timer

246

and force yourself to basically be done with the assignment by the time the timer runs out.

247

If you still get distracted even when using this method,

248

I would honestly recommend fully turning your phone off and just like eliminating distractions cold turkey.

249

So I highly recommend doing that.

250

There are also a lot of like resources online.

251

I love to watch study with me's to just like have a virtual study buddy

252

and I find that that often helps me be more productive

253

when I'm just like working from home and I'm feeling like kind of unfocused or distracted.

254

One thing I try to avoid as much as possible is to go on my phone during my breaks

255

because obviously the way social media is designed

256

is just to keep you on there for as long as possible and to keep you scrolling.

257

So I've noticed that when I do reach for my phone during my break,

258

it's easier for me to get distracted and to get kind of like sucked in.

259

Now I do however want to mention

260

that I love to use my breaks to just like watch productive study vlogs

261

or scroll on Pinterest and look at like inspiring study content

262

because that just gets me feeling like inspired and motivated to get back to work.

263

So that's something that really works for me

264

and it just keeps me inspired

265

but again like I try to avoid going on platforms where

266

I know it's easier for me to like get sucked in such as Instagram or TikTok.

267

For me being disciplined honestly sometimes looks like going to the library directly after class to get my work done

268

because I know that if I go home I'm not going to be like inspired or motivated to do it.

269

A lot of the time a different environment will immensely benefit my productivity

270

because I only allow myself to leave

271

that environment once I'm done with my task

272

and it just like becomes this kind of game of like okay how fast can I get this done

273

and how fast can I go home sometimes studying

274

or working with other people is going to like hold you accountable

275

and make you more productive whereas other times you honestly just need to work alone

276

and that's also completely fine I feel like I need to become better at admitting

277

that I am not always the most productive when I study with friends

278

and although I can be sometimes there are days

279

when I honestly should just get my work done alone because if I study with a friend

280

it's going to take me twice as long.

281

Now because this video is all about becoming the perfect student,

282

I do want to talk about how being disciplined doesn't only relate to school.

283

Because again, the perfect student is someone who's balanced and who's taking care of themselves and like who is a well-rounded person.

284

So for instance, being disciplined about the time

285

that you're going to turn your laptop off and get ready for bed is super important because again,

286

as we talked about earlier in the video,

287

it's going to allow you to like regulate your circadian rhythm and just overall reap the benefits of a good night's sleep.

288

So be disciplined also about when it's time to stop working

289

and it's going to force you to make the most out of the time

290

when you are working because you also have to make time for all of those other areas and aspects of your life.

291

This is honestly something that I am still like adapting to

292

and still trying to get used to and it requires a lot of trial and error so be gentle with yourself,

293

be accepting that you may have setbacks.

294

We are almost at the end of this video.

295

My last piece of advice is to acknowledge when you feel burnt out and to allow yourself the chance to bounce back.

296

There is a difference between procrastinating and resting because you feel burnt out and it's really important to acknowledge that.

297

And to me this includes asking for extensions when you know it's going to be necessary.

298

For a really long time my ego like got the best of me

299

and I wouldn't let myself ask for extensions

300

so I would just end up rushing and submitting something that I knew wasn't my best work.

301

Then over time, I actually allowed myself to ask for extensions

302

and notice that it's not the end of the world and everything's going to be fine.

303

Obviously, that isn't an ideal scenario.

304

I know that some teachers are like really strict about deadlines and that is unfortunate,

305

but even then like make sure that you're taking the time

306

that you need to rest because when your body

307

and your brain is like shutting down and unable to focus because you've just been pushing yourself too hard,

308

it's no use to keep going

309

because your body's already shut down like it's not going to

310

be able to work at the end of the day we are humans above anything else

311

and it can be really easy to lose perspective

312

when you're in school and just feel like everything is a life

313

or death situation but usually

314

if it's not going to matter in five years it's not any use to worry about it now

315

and although it's healthy and okay to let yourself feel

316

that stress or emotion it's also super important to find a way to deal with it

317

and to like get it out of your system.

318

I feel like it's also important to understand

319

that not every day is going to be super productive

320

and coming to terms with that has just helped me honestly take a lot of pressure off of my shoulders.

321

Last but not least, I wanted to end this video by mentioning the importance of taking baby steps

322

and just setting small achievable goals for yourself.

323

These types of videos can be a little bit overwhelming

324

because it can feel like there's a lot of things

325

that you have to do to get to where you want to be,

326

but just take it one day at a time.

327

There's also a lot of pressure put on us from a

328

very young age to figure out exactly what it is we want to do for the rest of our lives,

329

which is just not really realistic for most of us.

330

So remind yourself that it's okay to take a little bit more time to figure it out

331

or to take longer to complete your studies.

332

I feel like there is absolutely nothing wrong with that

333

if it's what's going to improve your well-being and your overall happiness in the long run.

334

So everyone is on their own journey.

335

Feel free to subscribe.

336

I try to post a new video around every week and yeah,

337

I hope you Have a lovely rest of your day or night, wherever you are.

338

Thank you so much for hanging out with me,

339

and I'll talk to you guys in my next video.

340

Bye!

TRENDING

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.

☕ Buy us a coffee

ShadowingEnglish remains 100% free thanks to your support. Server and AI costs are high — your coffee keeps us going! 🙏

Donate via PayPal

ShadowingEnglish.com – English Shadowing Practice

Speak English fluently using the Shadowing technique. Listen to native YouTube videos, repeat sentence by sentence, and build real pronunciation and fluency — used by IELTS learners worldwide.

Shadowing Practice: how to be the PERFECT student 📖 organization, discipline & romanticizing school for academic success - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

Popular

Context & Background

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing Practice: how to be the PERFECT student 📖 organization, discipline & romanticizing school for academic success - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

Download App

Context & Background

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

What is the Shadowing Technique?