Shadowing Practice: How to become dangerously self-educated. - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Monkey badly wants to change his life.
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He is tired of where he is, tired of his physique, and tired of how his mind is not his friend.
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He goes through cycles of being extremely motivated and locking in, then falling off, then locking in again, and falling off.
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Years have gone by like this, and for some monkeys their entire life goes by without them breaking the habit of being their worst selves.
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It is terrible.
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So what can monkey do?
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Monkey can self -educate.
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Through self -education, monkey can understand why he's stuck in this cycle and break out.
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He can learn the skills of charisma, of discipline, and of detaching from his emotions,
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as well as countless other skills that will completely change his wealth, relationships, and quality of life.
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So here's how monkey self -educates.
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The algorithm that controls behavior.
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Reward prediction error theory is the leading theory of how the monkey brain handles learning.
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If monkey understands this theory he'll understand how his brain works
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and he'll understand what he needs to do in order to self -educate and start changing his life.
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Here it is explained using a simple story.
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Monkey has just found a tree.
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Monkey has never seen this tree before but it bears low -hanging yellow fruit
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and seeing that yellow fruit has just caused his dopamine levels to spike because he anticipates a reward.
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This is because monkey's brain has learned from experience that yellow fruit means yummy sweetness.
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An increase in dopamine does something to monkey.
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He becomes more motivated to pursue the goal of getting the fruit.
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Dopamine is in fact the molecule of pursuit.
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Any increase, even small, above
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Monkey's baseline level makes him more motivated to pursue things.
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So two minutes later, like a well -trained dog, Monkey has climbed the tree and snatched the fruit.
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He eagerly bites into it and finds out it's a fucking lemon.
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What a disaster.
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Monkey's day is ruined.
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But lemons aren't that bad.
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Eating a lemon when expecting a lemon is fine.
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So why is this such a disaster.
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This is where dopamine comes in again.
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Dopamine is not a reward detector, it is a surprise detector.
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The brain does not care about the reward, it cares about whether it was a surprise or not.
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Once Monkey fully understands this, he'll realize why he always goes through this cycle of locking in and falling off,
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and he'll understand how to fix it.
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So let Monkey explain.
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By the way, Monkey built a habit game for the monkey brain.
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It helps you fight distraction.
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You can block all brain or apps until a habit is completed for the day.
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Now you have to earn your scrolling in the morning.
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It makes building habits fun.
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You earn bananas every time you show up, which can be used to buy in -game items and build a monkey paradise.
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And it gives you small short -term wins, which are key to not giving up, according to science.
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Try it for free by tapping the link in the pinned comment.
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Now back to the video.
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Dopamine helps monkey form an accurate model of reality.
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It does this through predictions.
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In this situation monkey's brain predicted a sweet banana flavor and got a horrible sour lemon.
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The prediction was badly wrong and so monkey's dopamine creates a negative prediction error signal.
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His dopamine levels drop below baseline and this change in dopamine is how monkey's brain learns.
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It's not just negative predictions either.
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If the lemon had tasted exactly as monkey had predicted it to taste there would be no change in his dopamine levels.
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No prediction error signal because monkey's brain correctly understands the world so there's no updates needed.
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And if the lemon tasted like one of grandma monkey's delicious cakes then he'd be equally surprised
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but in a good way and here his brain would encode a big positive error signal by spiking his dopamine above baseline.
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Now imagine that monkey didn't find a lemon tree and imagine that he discovered online porn, cigarettes or TikTok.
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The prehistoric monkey brain would not be able to comprehend such levels of dopamine.
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In fact like an 18th century peasant shown pornography he might fall over and die of shock.
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This is because addictive stimuli like porn, scrolling and nicotine produce reward prediction error signals far larger than anything natural.
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And this is a problem.
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A massive reward prediction error is a massive learning signal.
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It tells the brain that this is the most rewarding thing in the environment
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and that if possible do more of this thing.
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It's why experiments show that rats if given enough food, water and cocaine will skip the food and water and consume pure
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Colombian white until they die.
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Modern addictions are nearly all caused by hijacking the dopamine system and constant exposure to these addictive stimuli raises monkey's dopamine baseline.
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As the baseline goes up he needs more in order to satisfy him.
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He needs to call up his friend
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Pablo to get the purest
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Colombian marching powder he can find because this UK stuff won't cut it anymore.
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His algorithms start noticing that cat videos aren't holding his attention and start feeding him more graphic, shocking and sexual content.
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He types the craziest search terms into Pornhub because regular in and out action does nothing.
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Monkey needs more and more stimulation just to feel normal
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and it's at this point that natural rewards like learning a programming language
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or an instrument or mastering a sport are no longer enjoyable.
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They have become negative prediction error signals.
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So Monkey has found out his answer.
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He can't self -educate
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because his indulgence in high stimulus behavior has caused his dopamine system to create a model of the world in
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which self -education is always disappointing.
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Well this is awful news and a big wake -up call for Monkey.
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It explains why he can never change his life despite wanting to so badly.
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It explains the cycle of locking in, falling off, locking in again and falling off.
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It explains why years have gone by without
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Monkey being able to break the habit of being his worst self.
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So how does
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Monkey fix this?
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The uncomfortable truth is that
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Monkey already knows the answer to this question.
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He's watched enough self -improvement content to know what to do.
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Sleep, exercise, diet, quitting social media, understanding habit loops so that friction can be introduced.
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These are all the tactics and Monkey knows these but the thing is, like with a lot of addicts,
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they only quit when the pain becomes too much to bear.
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Too much failure, sadness, and depression makes them decide that enough is enough.
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So Monkey has got to sit down and be honest with himself.
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He's got to imagine in as much detail as possible what his future looks like if he continues.
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He's got to picture how much regret, sadness, and disappointment will fill his heart if he continues like he is.
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Because it's this realization that might finally cause him to change.
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So Monkey will do it right now.
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For the next hour if possible he will turn off all technology.
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He will grab a pen and paper and he will think about his future.
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What loved ones does he lose if he continues like this?
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What does his day -to -day look like?
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Is he stuck in a boring job that he hates.
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What does his physique look like?
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Is he in good shape, loving life, running around, playing sport and feeling healthy or is he aching, fat, depressed and overweight?
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Monkey will sit and think about his future
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and try to conjure up enough pain that he decides right there to change his life.
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Fixing his dopamine will be Monkey's toughest battle but it will be so worthwhile.
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Stay monkey.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “How to become dangerously self-educated”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: monkey, dopamine, brain, prediction, lemon. This video has 112 sentences and 1317 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:17. The speaker talks at a natural 159 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| monkey noun | /ˈmʌŋki/ | A member of the clade Simiiformes other than those in the clade Hominoidea containing apes, generally (but not universally) distinguished by small size, tails… |
| prediction noun | /pɹɪˈdɪkʃən/ | A statement of what will happen in the future. |
| reward noun | /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/ | Something of value given in return for an act. |
| lemon noun | /ˈlɛmən/ | A yellowish citrus fruit. |
| habit noun | /ˈhæb.ɪt/ | An action performed on a regular basis. |
| baseline noun | /ˈbeɪslaɪn/ | A line that is a base for measurement or for construction. |
| educate verb | /ˈɛd͡ʒ.əˌkeɪt/ | To instruct or train. |
| badly adverb | /ˈbæd.li/ | In a bad manner. |
| stimulus noun | /ˈstɪm.jə.ləs/ | An external phenomenon that has an influence on a system, by triggering or modifying an internal phenomenon; for example, a spur or incentive that drives a… |
| motivate verb | /ˈmoʊ.tɪ.veɪt/ | To provide someone with an incentive to do something; to encourage; to actuate. |
| earn verb | /ɝn/ | To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work. |
| shock noun | /ʃɔk/ | A sudden, heavy impact. |
| 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. |
| disaster noun | /dɪˈzɑːs.təː/ | An unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life or sometimes permanent… |
| pursue verb | /pɚˈsu/ | To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| fall off verb | To become detached or to drop from. |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
| break out verb | To escape, especially forcefully or defiantly. |
| call up verb | To retrieve from personal or computer memory. |
| fall over verb | To fall from an upright or standing position to a horizontal or prone position. |
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). |
| go up verb | To move upwards. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If monkey understands this theory he'll understand · if possible he will turn |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have gone · has just found · has never seen |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is explained · is ruined · is completed |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 10 contractions and reduced forms, such as he'll, aren't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: algorithm /ˈælɡəɹɪðm̩/, worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: prediction /pɹɪˈdɪkʃən/, shock /ʃɔk/, exposure /ɪkˈspəʊ.ʒə(ɹ)/, delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, disappointment /ˌdɪsəˈpɔɪntmənt/, anticipate /ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/, realization /ˌɹɪə.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/
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 monkey, prediction, reward.
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.