Shadowing Practice: How to Create a Company | Elon Musk's 5 Rules - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
45 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
I think the first is, depending on how well you want to do, and particularly if you're starting a company, you need to work super hard.
2
So what does super hard mean?
3
Well, when my brother and I were starting our first company, instead of getting an apartment, we just rented a small office and we slept on the couch,
4
and we showered at the YMCA, and we had just one computer so the the website was up during the day
5
and I was coding at night the seven days a week all the time
6
work hard like every waking hour that's that's the thing I would I would say if particularly if you're starting a company.
7
And, I mean, if you do simple math, say, like, okay, if somebody else is working 50 hours and you're working 100, you'll get twice as much done in the course of a year as the other company.
8
I think, too, is you've got to make sure that whatever you're doing is a great product or service.
9
It has to be really great
10
and i go back to what i was saying earlier where
11
if you're a new company i mean unless it's like some new industry
12
or new market that
13
if it's an untapped market then you have more ability to the standard is lower for your product service
14
but if you're entering anything where there's an existing marketplace against large entrenched competitors then your product
15
or service needs to be much better than theirs it can't be a little bit better
16
because then you put yourself in the shoes of the consumer
17
and they say why would you buy it as a consumer
18
you're always going to buy the trusted brand unless there's a big difference
19
so a lot of times entrepreneur will come up with something which is only slightly better
20
and it's it's not you can't just be slightly better it's got to be a lot
21
better the other thing i'd say is that if you're creating a company or if you're joining a company
22
the most important thing is to is to attract great people
23
so either join a group that's amazing that you really respect
24
or if you if you're building a company you've got to gather great people.
25
I mean, all a company is is a group of people that have gathered together to create a product or service.
26
And so depending upon how talented and hardworking that group is
27
and the degree to which they are focused cohesively in a good direction, that will determine the success of the company.
28
So do everything you can to gather great people if you're creating a company.
29
Then, I'd say focus on signal over noise.
30
A lot of companies get confused.
31
They spend money on things that don't actually make the product better.
32
So, for example, at Tesla, we've never spent any money on advertising.
33
We've put all of the money into R &D and manufacturing
34
and design to try to make the car as good as possible.
35
And I think that's the way to go.
36
So for any given company, just keep thinking about, are these efforts that people are expending, are they resulting in a better product or service?
37
And if they're not, stop those efforts.
38
And then I think the final thing I would encourage you to do is, now is the time to take risk.
39
You don't have kids, but as you get older, your obligations increase.
40
And once you have a family, you start taking risks not just for yourself, but for your family as well.
41
It gets much harder to do things that might not work out.
42
So now is the time to do that before you have those obligations.
43
So I would encourage you to take risks now, do something bold.
44
You won't regret it.
45
Thank you.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B23
43 sentences
"YOU CAN ALSO BE GREAT" - Elon Musk Motivation - Motivational Video
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
146 sentences
How and WHEN to HIRE People to Build your Business with Upwork? Outsourcing 101
Business EnglishWorking Adults
B21
190 sentences
This 25-Year-Old Built a 2-Year Moat Nobody Can Bet Against | Corgi, Nico Laqua & Emily Yuan
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
259 sentences
$100M Investor Explains: How to Invest in 2026
Business EnglishWorking Adults
B21
29 sentences
Get to Know Faith Driven Entrepreneur
Business EnglishWorking Adults
B23
74 sentences
The 1% Rule
Business EnglishWorking Adults
B22
351 sentences
Directness with Respect: How to Make the Hard Conversations Easy
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
43 sentences
Sam Altman explains how to come up with a great startup idea
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
25 sentences
Elon was my only customer of our Al Supercomputer #jensenhuang #elonmusk #openai
Business EnglishDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
253 sentences
If I Had 90 Days To Start A Business, This Is My Plan.
Business EnglishWorking Adults
B23
260 sentences
It’s Actually Pretty Easy to Get Ahead of 99% of People with AI
Business EnglishWorking Adults
B21
122 sentences
How to Run Profitable Facebook Ads in 2026
Business EnglishWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 45 sentences and 644 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:33. The speaker talks at a steady 142 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 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
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| gather verb | /ˈɡæðɚ/ | To collect normally separate things. |
| encourage verb | /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ | To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit. |
| depend verb | /dɪˈpɛnd/ | To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition |
| obligation noun | /ˌɑ.blɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/ | The act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone. |
| confused adjective | /kənˈfjuːzd/ | unable to think clearly or understand |
| regret verb | /ɹɪˈɡɹɛt/ | To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead. |
| talented adjective | /ˈtæləntɪd/ | Endowed with one or more talents. |
| bold adjective | /ˈbəʊld/ | Courageous, daring. |
| shoe noun | /ˈʃu/ | A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of… |
| attract verb | /əˈtɹækt/ | To pull toward without touching. |
| couch noun | /ˈkaʊ̯t͡ʃ/ | An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa. |
| mathematics noun | /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/ | An abstract representational system studying numbers, shapes, structures, quantitative change and relationships between them. |
| entrepreneur noun | /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/ | A person who sets up a business; generally, a person who owns and manages a business and assumes its financial risks. |
| theirs | /ðɛɚz/ | That or those belonging to them; the possessive case of they, used without a following noun. |
| marketplace noun | An open area in a town housing a public market. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. | |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| work out verb | /ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/ | To calculate. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 24 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, can't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, theirs /ðɛɚz/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: obligation /ˌɑ.blɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/, shoe /ˈʃu/
- Long words — get the stress right: mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, entrepreneur /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/, competitor /kəmˈpɛt.ɪ.tɚ/, cohesively /koʊˈhisɪv.li/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like gather, encourage, depend.
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.