Shadowing Practice: How to become a Better Reader & remember what you read - Learn English Speaking with Video

Good morning, good evening or good night, whichever one it is for you, whichever one it is.

I'm very glad you're here to join me for this week's video, which is a special one because I haven't ever done anything like this before.

But I get asked quite frequently how I read so much, how I read so actively, how I manage to remember so much of what I read,

how I find books that I love.

And even though I'm not a professional by any means, there are some things I implement, some habits that are implemented in my reading that I just instinctively do

that I think might help someone and that I think might answer those questions.

So this video is basically a guide, a how -to guide on how to become a better reader.

A little toolbox of tips and tricks if you will.

Now before we get into it I do want to put a disclaimer here.

I'm aware that life circumstances, is degrees of responsibility, degrees of busyness, maybe health issues.

There are so many factors that go into your reading habits.

I'm not by any means trying to put pressure on you

or telling you that these are things you need to do to become a better reader.

In fact, I don't think such a qualification should ever exist.

In fact, if you're someone who thinks they might feel pressured by a video of this kind, I urge you to click off now because I want this to be a positive thing.

I want this to be a little toolbox for people who are looking to improve their reading, who are looking to maybe grow as readers or who are trying to change their habits a little bit.

But if you know that that's not possible, if that is not something you're interested in, then please don't even feel the need to watch this video.

Like, then this is not the video for you.

I'm completely and utterly against making reading into some sort of competition.

Reading is above all supposed and meant to be a hobby.

You don't by any means need to take any of this advice.

Maybe there is a certain point that piques your interest.

Maybe you don't want to implement any of these tips.

Maybe you think they're completely stupid and nonsensical.

That's completely fine.

Always remember that at the end of the day, reading is a hobby.

And it is one of the most healthy brain health conducive hobbies that exist on this planet.

So whether you read one page a month or one book a year, No matter what you're reading, how much you're reading, as long as you're even reading at all,

you are participating in one of the most healthy hobbies that exist on planet Earth.

So good on you.

Be happy about that.

Be proud of that.

So now to get into it, I have separated this list into five overarching categories that I think might be helpful.

So without further ado, let's get right into it with the first category, which is curate your taste because how do you even know

which books you want to read especially if you're starting out reading

or you're maybe new to reading how in the world are

you supposed to know what books to pick up how are

you to know how to evolve your reading taste maybe you've been a reader for a long time

but you're maybe tired of the books you've been reading you're looking to expand your genres

or the topics you read about now my first tip for

that would be to trust your instincts I get this temptation

of looking up reviews before you commit to buying a book

or picking up a book but I think that is very very treacherous

because no two people are alike and likewise no two readers are alike.

You can share 10 of the same absolute favorite books with someone and completely disagree on the 11th.

So why in the world would you base your book buying and book reading on somebody else's taste?

I think freeing yourself from that just going into a bookstore looking at the books there,

reading the blurbs in the back and letting yourself be inspired and led by that is the best way to go.

Trust yourself and pick up that book that no one else enjoys

and you might just find your new favorite book of all time.

To expand on that and this might seem contradictory

but I would recommend that you try to read a sample of a book before committing to buying it.

If you have the luxury of going into a bookstore

and finding books there then maybe open the book and read one

or two pages sometimes something that i do and

that might not be for everyone is i open the book in the middle of the book

and i read a page in there

because sometimes the first page is the best page but then after

that it just goes downhill and

because you don't yet know the characters you don't yet know

the story it's you're not going to get spoiled you're not your brain is not going to retain

that information it's just about reading the dialogue reading the writing

style the descriptions the grammar the way the paragraphs are ordered

that's much more helpful to me than reading just the blurb of a book

or the reviews of a book because those can be very misleading

if you're like me

and you live in a country where you can't really find

the books you want to read in bookstores then you can

also always you don't need to support amazon by buying from amazon

but what you can always do is you can go on amazon

and download a sample for your kindle you can get the

kindle app for free you don't have to pay any money you can just go on any book

that is available on Amazon.

Go to the Kindle version of the book and then download a sample to your Kindle.

Usually it's a few percent of the book that you can then actually read for free before committing to buying the book.

And then you can go ahead and buy the book from anywhere and everywhere.

But then you've had an idea of how the book was written.

Another thing that I do and have always done

that I don't see enough people doing and I think it's incredibly important to do is if you like a book,

read more books by that same author if that author has written more than one book.

Because usually I find that my favorite book by an author is not their most popular book, which is the one you're most likely to read going into the author.

And maybe that's a good book, but maybe that author has written so many better books.

So I like to read at least two or three books by the same author in a short span of time.

Because when the books are fresh in your mind, like if you wait a year, you don't really have any point of comparison between the two.

But I think it's really, really conducive to your understanding of the author of the author's books

and of your own taste and your own standing towards the author

if you read more than one book at a time by them, like back to back, I mean.

Because then you can actively compare,

you can pick up on maybe overarching motifs or things that usually every author is concerned with certain specific subjects.

And they will treat those subjects differently if it's a good author in each book, but you will pick up on overarching themes and that is so fun.

It is so engaging for your brain.

It'll also teach you to look for nuances in a story

that you might not be able to look at in the same way

if you read different authors and completely different stories by different people.

So that is something I highly highly recommend.

Another one that I think is probably quite popular but

when you go online to buy books there will always be a category of people also buy

or you might also be interested in.

Check out that category because sometimes you'll find books there

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that at least for me

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that has been the experience you've never heard of anywhere you've never heard anyone talk about it

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but maybe the title sounded interesting maybe the cover looked nice

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and so you clicked on it and you find a gem a completely hidden gem

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that you would have never stumbled upon if you hadn't checked out

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that people also buy category so that's something to look out for as well that's it for the first category.

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So now let's move into the second category, which I think is so fundamentally important and underrated nowadays.

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It is don't underestimate your abilities and your intelligence.

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There is a few things that you can implement to actively combat that, because I think for some reason people nowadays are so,

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so likely to underestimate themselves and to just believe that they're not capable of things that they very much are capable of.

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You can do hard things, I promise you you can.

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Now one very simple thing you can do in order to gain confidence is to challenge your comfort zone.

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For instance you could pick up a book that you think will be too difficult for you.

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In fact I think everyone should do that.

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You should always always pick up books that you think you will not be able to understand.

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Because the only way to grow is to do something you thought was impossible.

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Start slowly.

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Don't overwhelm yourself.

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But at the same time don't get lazy about it.

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It takes a long time to get used to something new, especially if your brain is not used to challenging itself in that way.

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It'll take patience and it'll take perseverance, but it'll be worth it.

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So for instance, if you have never read a classic or if you've read classics, but very, very modern classics, and maybe you want to veer more into the Jane Austen,

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more older English sort of classic literature, then you could pick up a Jane Austen book.

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I I think most people would be likely to pick up one of her books

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because those are very popular and quite easy to read for the writing style.

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But something that Jane Austen does

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that not all the modern classics do is her books are

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written in a different form of English than we are used to speaking nowadays.

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So it'll be a bit of a challenge for your brain to adjust.

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And what you can do in order not to overwhelm yourself is you can make a goal.

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You can pick up the book, make a goal of maybe reading five to ten pages every single day.

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You can read a chapter a day and for Jane Austen books that's actually cool because her chapters are usually quite short.

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And I think reading one chapter is even better.

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But if one chapter is too overwhelming, start with 5 to 10 pages and try your absolute hardest to persevere in

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that for at least a week or two weeks.

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Because if you give up after three days because the book is still hard to read, then you're missing out on an opportunity because,

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yes, it'll take a while for your brain to adjust to that new writing style, those new concepts, those new ways of behaving and those new ways of telling stories.

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But once you've gotten used to it, you now have this treasure trove of classic literature that you had never thought possible to discover.

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And your brain has just learned that you can, in fact, do hard things.

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You can get used to things like that as well, even though it maybe takes a few weeks to get used to it.

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You are capable of that.

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It might take time, but I promise you, it's time well spent.

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Now the third point sort of expands on the second one.

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The third point is challenge your comfort zone.

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I think the best way to do

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that is to make a goal of reading a few books a year that you think you will not like.

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Maybe they deal with motifs or concepts or subject matters that you don't agree with, that you do not like or do not feel drawn to.

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It can also be a book you think will just be playing too hard for you

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or that deals with a different sort of experience or opinion on life.

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If you're religious, then maybe read a book dealing with a different religion or someone of a different religion.

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If you're atheist, maybe read a book about someone who follows a religion.

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It can also be something simple like someone from a different country or a book that deals with a different time period.

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It can be about someone with a different sexual orientation than you.

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The goal is to practice empathy and understanding for someone whose life experience is completely different to your own.

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Even better if it's an approach you find off -putting.

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If you only pick up books that deal with exactly your opinion of life, with exactly what you find comfortable and exactly what you agree with,

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then you will never be able to expand your horizons.

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You need contradictory information.

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You need things you dislike in order to better evolve as a human being.

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You need counterintuitive impulses in order to build your own opinion.

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Challenging your horizons is the best way of becoming a better reader, but most of all of becoming a better human being.

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Another thing that I think most people don't do but should do is make a goal in your life, a lifetime goal of reading at least one book per country in the world.

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It doesn't need to be a classic.

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I personally think classics are more informative, but you can just read any, any book.

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That'll teach you so much about different cultures and ways of thinking, ways of living, ways of practicing being a human being in this world.

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Then something that I of course need to mention is read at least five classics a year.

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If you're intimidated by classics, start with that small number.

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Five classics, I think, is a very digestible number.

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They don't have to be long.

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They can be short stories even.

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They can be very short novellas.

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You don't need to pick up all of the chunkers right away.

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But I think there's nothing that improves your understanding of the present like experiencing the mindset of the past.

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It'll give you a point of reference that you would never otherwise have.

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Reading books about any given time period and I'm not talking about historical books that were written after the facts.

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I'm talking about novels that were written at the time by people who lived in the time.

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If you read a classic from the Victorian era you will pick up on societal norms, on the way people behaved, the way people conducted themselves,

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the rules that were implicit in societal conduct.

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The topics most commonly discussed, the things that were maybe problematic about the time that you can now pick up on reading it after the fact,

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it'll give you an entirely different point of reference and ability of understanding that no contemporary book ever could.

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I think that is one of the reasons that reading classics is so important.

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They give you something that no contemporary book can give you.

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And classics get this reputation of being difficult

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but they really really aren't they're just books that were written a little

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while ago there's difficult books in any genre at any given time

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but above all you'll be surprised if you haven't picked up classics

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or if you're intimidated by them or

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if you maybe stop reading classics after reading three books

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that you did not like or vibe with you will be surprised at how fun

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and entertaining and engaging they are and something that I always find

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so striking and so sad that some people are missing out on is how relevant they still are to this day.

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Leading into that, I think you should also start, if you haven't already, to read the ancient classics.

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Not just ancient Greek and Roman.

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Don't just stop with the Odyssey and the Iliad and maybe the Metamorphoses.

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Do not stop there.

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Try to read the ancient Chinese classics.

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Look into different cultures

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because there is the whole world literature has been around for

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a long time in a lot of places the classics is

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where it all started philosophy science religion medicine politics societal norms even literature

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and fiction itself you will find the origin of everything currently

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in existence in those classic texts they will widen your horizons

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and at the same time you will be so surprised at how little has really changed over these millennia.

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People still deal with much of the same issues, have the same desires and dreams and hopes and concerns.

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It's merely the circumstances that have changed.

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Nothing in the world makes me feel less alone and more understood than reading the ancient classics.

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Just a small little recommendation because why not?

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Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

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I think that's one of the best examples of the point I'm trying to make here.

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Now, the fourth point is more about how to interact with a specific book.

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The fourth point is read actively.

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One thing that I do that really helps me, that I have done for years now,

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is as I'm reading a book, I'm.. actively creating a review for the book in my head

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if that sounds too difficult you can also just take notes

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or you can do what i do and just do it in your head

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but constantly review the book in your head i'm not talking

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i like this book i like the characters i like the

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writing style i'm talking go into depth go into the minutiae

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of the story of course this is necessary for every single

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book i don't do it for every single book there's books like for example if i'm reading a Stephen King.

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I don't really do that as much.

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But starting out you could maybe for instance choose one book a month where you want to practice that.

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It's just about getting your brain used to doing that.

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Because this is above all else how you better interact with the story and how you end up remembering the story better.

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If you are interacting with the story actively as you are reading it.

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Things that I for instance always look for when I'm doing this is looking for overarching motifs or concepts.

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So for instance one thing that's fresh in my mind

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because I've been reading a lot of Ray Bradbury recently is

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there's a theme he always implements of equating the seasons to the stages in life a person is at.

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So when Ray Bradbury talks about spring he's talking about very young children.

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If he talks about winter that is very old people and

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so that is an overarching motif you can look for in his work

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because he won't always explain it but it'll be there

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and once you've picked up on it you can understand certain sentences much better

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because Ray Bradbury is one of those people who implement a lot of symbolism

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and a lot of hidden depths into their stories.

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Another thing that's really easy to look for is the kind of writing style that's implemented.

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Is it flowery?

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Is it very matter of fact?

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There's books like for instance Mary Ann by Daphne du Maurier that are written almost like court documents.

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They read like bullet points because the story is a largely court -based story.

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It is a court -based narrative.

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It is a critique of the justice system and of discrimination.

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At least that's a huge part of the book.

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So the writing style here is an extension of the theme the book actually speaks about.

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And you will find that that is the case most times, at least in books that are good.

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And if you look for the writing style, you can actually even have one more point of reference of

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if the book is actually good because the writing style is a huge part of that.

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Then you can also look at the characters.

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Are they created complexly?

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Are they fleshed out?

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Or are there more stereotypical sort of characters in a book?

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And then you can go a step further and look at if that is purposeful in the story.

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So for instance, there are books where stereotypical characters are the point of the story.

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It is a narrative device.

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And then there are stories where it's just a lack of skill from the part of the author.

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And all of this is obviously also aided

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if you read more than one book by an author

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because every single one of these points will be more expansively analyzable if you read more than one book.

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Because then you can see is this book an outlier or is this book part of a larger theme maybe.

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And then you should always look at historical context.

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When was the book written?

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What time does it take place in?

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How does the narrative figure into all of that?

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Historical context is incredibly important.

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Something that's actually very fun is to look into the author after you've read the book.

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I find if you do that before you pick up the book it can color your opinion, your first impression of the story if maybe the author is someone you dislike.

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You end up disliking then you start to dislike the book as you're reading it.

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I have that experience with Tolstoy a lot.

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But if you find out more about the author, about their political opinions maybe or just their standing in society

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or their life experience if that is something you can even get your hands on

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that information then that'll improve the story

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because it'll put the story more into a personal context you can then maybe see what

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that author specifically was influenced by in their own life

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and how that translated into the stories they write again this is not necessary

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but I find it a very very fun exercise I recently learned a lot about Daphne du Maurier's personal life

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that I had no clue about

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and it's kind of made me think differently about her books

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and it's made me really excited about picking up more of her books

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because I now see them differently

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and then point number five is train your memory now this

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is not for everybody this is more for their nerds I think

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but in my opinion this is the most important thing

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if you want your brain to be capable of more things you need to put effort into

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that and one thing you need to do in order to do that is to train your memory.

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This is a sort of extension to the previous point to reading actively, but it's an expansion of it.

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In order to train your memory, the most obvious thing you can do is practice memorizing things.

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You can start with quotes.

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Maybe you have quotes that you love or you've recently picked up a book

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that you really like that had some sentence that you really liked.

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Learn that sentence by heart.

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If you're one of those people who have a lot of difficulty memorizing things, I know everybody is capable of different things

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and it's not about intelligence it's sometimes just about what your

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brain is used to doing most people aren't really used to learning things by heart

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But if you start really small with a quote that you like, with a sentence that you found cool, maybe with a part of a song that you haven't heard of, maybe find a new song,

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maybe even by an artist you like

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and maybe learn the chorus by heart as you're listening to it for the first time.

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Make that your goal and do that every single day.

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Make it a goal to learn something new by heart every single day.

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Again, start with a small sentence and then maybe move on to a song text, maybe move on to a poem

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And then maybe you can move on to a whole paragraph of a book if you feel like it.

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It is one of those things that'll take a lot of effort and that will feel very strange to you at first.

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But if you implement that, your memory will become so much better.

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The brain is a muscle that you get to train.

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IQ is not something you are entirely born with.

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Not fully, at least.

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I genuinely believe that we have all of the power over our brain's capacity.

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Of course, not everybody again there are a lot of circumstances

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that factor into it but you have power over your brain

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and you get to train your brain

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and your brain is the greatest weapon you have in life it is how you experience everything

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so putting that effort into it is going to be so so rewarding

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and it is going to factor into every one of the

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points previous everything the way you approach life the way you

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approach books will be colored by the health of your brain

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and this is how you train your brain this is how your brain becomes healthy

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and I think it is the most rewarding the most fundamentally

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nice thing you can do for yourself this is self -care training your memory is self -care and

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that is all those are all of the tips I have

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I'm probably now in the position where I've made some of you a little bit angry huh

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and some of you probably thought how ridiculous is that reading is just supposed to be fun.

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Why are you making a chore of it?

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Why are you giving us homework?

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This is not meant to be that.

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Again, this is meant to be fun tips and tricks that you can maybe implement if you're feeling like it.

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Maybe you're a little bit bored today

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and maybe you're looking for something to do and maybe study a quote

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or maybe write a little bit of a review

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or maybe revisit some notes you've taken of a book

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or maybe revisit some annotations you've done

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and maybe try to write a few sentences about the book maybe look into a new genre

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or don't do any of that and just go

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and watch tv that's completely valid

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and fine too i am very grateful you were here

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and listen to me and

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if you have any tips please please put them down below

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let's make this comment section a discussion let's make it a conversation let's help one another

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because reading is such a fun hobby

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and it's one of those hobbies where you're never gonna be lacking in friends

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because there are so many of us out there

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and yeah I just thank you thank you for being here

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and I hope you're having a nice day

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if you are not having a nice day

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that is fine too I'm thinking about you either way

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and I'm already looking forward to seeing you again in the next one and until then bye

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “How to become a Better Reader & remember what you read”. This video has 344 sentences and 4657 words to shadow. The speech runs for 23:18. The speaker talks fast, about 200 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
implement verb	/ˈɪmpləmənt/	To bring about; to put into practice; to carry out.
hobby noun	/ˈhɑ.bi/	An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.
overarching adjective	/ˌoʊvəɹˈɑɹt͡ʃɪŋ/	Arching over; that forms an arch overhead.
motif noun	/moʊˈtiːf/	A recurring or dominant element; an artistic theme.
kindle verb	/ˈkɪn.dəl/	To start (a fire) or light (a torch, a match, coals, etc.).
dislike verb	/dɪsˈlaɪk/	To have a feeling of aversion or antipathy towards; not to like.
bookstore noun	/ˈbʊkstɔː/	A store where books are bought and sold.
overwhelm verb	/ˌoʊ.vɚˈwɛlm/	To engulf, surge over and submerge.
societal adjective	[səˈsaɪ.ɪ.tɫ̩]	Of or pertaining to society or social groups, or to their activities, customs, etc.
interact verb	/ɪn.təˈɹækt/	To engage in communication and other shared activities (with someone).
horizon noun	/həˈɹaɪ.zən/	The visible horizontal line (in all directions) where the sky appears to meet the earth in the distance.
nowadays adverb	/ˈnaʊ.ə.deɪz/	At the present time; in the current era.
genre noun	/ˈ(d)ʒɑnɹə/	A kind; a stylistic category or sort, especially of literature or other artworks.
blurb noun	/blɝ(ː)b/	A short description of a book, film, or other work, written and used for promotional purposes.
conducive adjective	/kənˈdjuːsɪv/	Tending to contribute to, encourage, or bring about some result.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
pick up verb		To lift; to grasp and raise.
pick up on verb		To notice, observe, learn, or understand, especially something otherwise overlooked.
check out verb		To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
end up verb		To bring to a conclusion.
start out verb		To emerge suddenly; to jump out.
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
give up verb		To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
go ahead verb	/ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/	To proceed with; to begin.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Maybe you think they're completely stupid and nonsensical.
It is don't underestimate your abilities and your intelligence.
I don't really do that as much.
Why are you making a chore of it?
Why are you giving us homework?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true	used to challenging · used to it · used to doing
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	you've been reading · I've been reading
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	haven't ever done · have separated · you've been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are implemented · be inspired · are ordered

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 108 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: atheist /ˈeɪ.θi.ɪst/, empathy /ˈɛmpəθi/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: genre /ˈ(d)ʒɑnɹə/, annotation /ˌæn.əˈteɪ.ʃən/, minutia /maɪ̯ˈn(j)uːʃ(iː)ə/, temptation /ˌtɛmpˈteɪʃən/, qualification /ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: overarching /ˌoʊvəɹˈɑɹt͡ʃɪŋ/, contradictory /ˌkɑntɹəˈdɪktəɹi/, intimidate /ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/, stereotypical /ˌstɛɹ.iː.əˈtɪp.ɪ.kəl/, underestimate /ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt/

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 implement, hobby, overarching.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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