Shadowing Practice: How To Get Addicted To Reading - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Most of us would like to read more books, and there are a lot of videos that promise to help you do that by building a reading habit.
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But what I would argue is that you don't need a reading habit, but a sort of reading addiction, where you don't necessarily have a set time and place to read,
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but you just can't wait to open a book at every chance you get.
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So in this video I'm going to lay out a series of steps for getting addicted to reading.
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And we're going to start by finding the kind of books you actually like, which is a lot easier with the Page -Turner Triangle.
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Okay, so the page -turner -triangle is how I think about the kind of books that I like to read.
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And there are three elements that go into it.
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There's the subject matter, there's the plot or the narrative structure if you're reading a non -fiction book, and then there's the quality of the writing itself.
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And what I generally find is that if a book hits one of those three things, then I might be able to get through it.
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If it hits two, then I'll probably read it and enjoy it.
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And if it hits all three, then I'm probably going to tear through it and I won't be able to read it fast enough.
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So for instance a book that I think does subject matter
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and plot really well is The Three Body Problem which like I'm fascinated with the ideas it comes up with
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the plot is really interesting and there's always something going on
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that makes you want to read the next section the writing
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is honestly kind of basic compared to some of the books I read
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but you know two out of three is pretty good by
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comparison like the subject matter of open is absolutely fascinating I love reading the stories of elite athletes
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and the things they have to do to get to the top of their sports.
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This is also ghost written and it's fantastically well written.
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And the narrative is really well put together by the ghost writer.
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And this really drags you through.
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I just picked this up and could barely put it down.
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Then you've got a book like Middlemarch.
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I would say that the subject matter of this I wasn't that interested in.
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I'm not that interested in this period of English history.
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But the plot is fascinating the sort of antics of the different characters are really good, and the writing is absolutely amazing.
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George Eliot is a genius.
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Everybody loves this book for a reason.
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I read it very, very quickly.
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And I think what's beneficial about the Page -Turner Triangle is
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that it allows you to be honest about the kind of experience you're looking to get from reading
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and the kind of books you actually like.
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So if you're getting recommendations from either other people or places like Reddit or Substack, then it's really helpful to be able to go, oh, you know what, I really love the language in Blood Meridian,
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and then everybody will probably say, oh, you know what, you should read Moby Dick.
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It's very similar.
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But this also helps out with the next thing I would recommend, which is to stay in the Goldilocks zone.
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So if you're at all interested in the science of performance, then you've probably heard about the idea of flow, which is where stuff feels kind of effortless and fun, and time just flies by.
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And I think that certainly happens in reading.
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And one of the really key elements of flow is
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that the challenge of whatever you're doing just about matches your experience level.
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And how this comes in in reading is that if things are too complicated or difficult for you to follow, you're not going to enjoy it.
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But also, if they're too easy or simple, you're probably not going to enjoy them either.
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So we'll talk about complicated first because I think that's one that a lot of people struggle with.
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And in my experience, you can kind of push through a book up to a point without really understanding what's happening.
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But it really feels like a slog.
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So, for instance, in Middlemarch, there was a point where, I think I was a couple hundred pages in
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and I was like I have actually forgotten who some of these characters are
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because I had gaps between reading bits of it
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and I did have to go back to a couple of online plot summaries
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and just like check out what was going on and
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so it sounds kind of counterintuitive
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but I think the way to make sure you stick with
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a book for the long haul is maybe to be honest
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when you're not getting something and go back to reread the sections
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that you don't understand or failing
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that look up like an online chapter summary of any bits
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that you didn't quite get or any elements of the plot where you're not really sure what's going on.
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There's nothing that kills a book faster than kind of losing track of the overall plot
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or if you're reading nonfiction then losing the thread of the arguments so you don't really understand what's happening.
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So either be prepared to go back and look over stuff again or look up an online summary of the book.
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And I certainly look words up while I'm reading
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so recently I reread Blood Meridian and a lot of the language in that book, you aren't really expected to know, it's just there I think for background,
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but looking up some of the more esoteric words in there, I actually did sort of build my understanding of and enjoyment of the book.
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I'm not saying you have to sit there reading with a dictionary the whole time, but if something's really beyond your understanding,
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I think you should look on it as a way of building your understanding of
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that time or era or whatever you're doing.
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But then what you also find is that books can sometimes be too easy
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or you just hit a section of them that's not as engaging as the rest.
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When your attention is drifting that's often because the book isn't challenging enough
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and when that happens I think a really good idea is to actually consciously speed up your reading
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so you're taking in more information and it becomes more challenging again.
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And another way to do that with easy books is to use what I'm going to call the strategic skim.
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And so what I mean by this is, don't skip pages entirely, but don't feel like you have to give every word
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and every page of every book an equal amount of attention.
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So, a bit of advice that Mark Manson gives for instance, is that if you're reading a pop science book and a study comes up that you've read about before,
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like there's a famous one about the hippo campi of taxi drivers getting bigger as they learn the knowledge, unless the book has something interesting to say about that story
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and it probably doesn't you can probably just flip through those two pages quite quickly
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or like I've been reading Robert Caro's biography of Robert Moses who's the New York urban planner
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and that is a fascinating book but it's like 1300 pages long
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and there are pages where it just gets into like who voted for a specific bill
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and stuff you really don't need to know about
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and I think it's fine to go through those bits quite
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quickly to get back to the really good stuff about like power
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and how it's exercised and how it kind of manifests itself which is the really good stuff in the book.
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I'd also suggest having at least two books on the go at once, there are a couple of reasons for this.
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You can keep one that's kind of easier and one that's kind of harder, so like for instance when it gets to about 9 .30,
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10 o 'clock at night I would really struggle with something very dense like you know 19th century literature
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but I can still read like a nice page turner like a Cormac McCarthy or some help self help or pop science.
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But another reason to have two books on the go at once is
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that you can literally sit down on the couch with both of them
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and as you feel your attention start to wane from one
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of them just switch to the other one instead of turning the TV or the Playstation on.
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And once you've had a few minutes of reading
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that one you might feel ready for a little break and then go back to the other one again.
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And I've honestly spent about 90 minutes, two hours at a time just flipping between two books,
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just reading one or the other as my attention to whatever I'm doing drifts.
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Another thing I would say at this stage is you absolutely cannot be afraid of the DNF.
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Like some people have systems for when they'll throw a book away.
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You know, like some people say, give it 50 pages, give it 100 minus your age, give it like a chapter or two.
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Personally, it's a bit more fluid than that for me like
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if I'm reading a book based on a friend's recommendation
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and they said it's fantastic you should absolutely read it you would love it I'll give it more pages than
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if I just picked it up a shot because I like the cover
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if I'm reading a classic
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because everybody in the world says it's amazing I might give it a hundred pages before I ditch it
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but I will ditch almost any book
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if I'm not getting on with it also something I would
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say about this is you don't have to think of a DNF as like admitting defeat on a book forever
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so I got it about 300 pages into Moby Dick maybe 10 years ago
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and then I had to give up on it
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and then I tried it again last year
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and I just absolutely smashed through it
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and I don't really know why I think maybe I was
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in a different place mentally I was better prepared to appreciate it
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or maybe I was just more interested in whaling at
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that point but a DNF doesn't mean you're never going to read a book it just means
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that you're not going to keep struggling through it
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when like you're not in the right headspace for it
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and I think that's really important when you're trying to build a reading habit.
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And then the next thing I would suggest is to really make reading more frictionless for yourself
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so what I mean by that is make sure you always have a book in your bag, make sure there's always books on either your Kindle or your phone
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and like have your book beside you at night
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when everybody else goes to bed
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or beside your bed in the morning instead of your phone so it's right there when you wake up.
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And this is the point where building a habit really does come in
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and I would say that the habit of like trying to read five
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or ten or twenty pages in the morning
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or at night does work for some people but I would say
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that the more important habit is when you feel like you have a bit of spare time to do something,
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the habit you have should be to open a book rather than mindlessly flicking through your phone.
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And the best way to do that is to make it harder to access things
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that are like attention sapping for you and much easier to get hold of a book.
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And if you want some more advice on that, I've got that right here.
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Thanks for watchin'.
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How to Build a Reading Addiction: Tips for English Learners
The Scenario: Turning Reading into a Habit That Sticks
Many English learners want to read more but struggle to stay motivated. The video explains that instead of forcing a "habit," aim for a "reading addiction"—where you can’t wait to pick up a book. This starts with understanding what makes a book engaging, using tools like the "Page-Turner Triangle" and staying in the "Goldilocks zone" of difficulty. These strategies not only boost reading enjoyment but also improve language skills, making them perfect for IELTS speaking practice and everyday fluency.
Useful Chunks & Collocations to Master
- Tear through a book: To read quickly and eagerly (e.g., "I tore through the novel in two days").
- Feels like a slog: To be slow and tiring (e.g., "The dense plot made the book feel like a slog").
- Goldilocks zone: The ideal balance (e.g., "This book is in my reading Goldilocks zone—not too hard, not too easy").
- Push through: To continue despite difficulty (e.g., "I had to push through the first chapter, but it got better").
- Time flies by: To pass quickly (e.g., "When I’m reading a great book, time flies by").
Your Shadowing Challenge: Practice Like a Pro
Shadowing (or shadowspeak) is a proven technique to improve pronunciation and fluency. Here’s your task: Watch a 2-minute clip of the video, then repeat each sentence out loud immediately after the speaker, mimicking their tone and rhythm. Focus on chunks like "tear through a book" and "Goldilocks zone." For extra practice, describe the Page-Turner Triangle to a friend using these phrases. This not only builds speaking skills but also reinforces the reading strategies—perfect for shadow speech and real-world communication. Keep it fun, and remember: the goal is to make reading (and learning) feel effortless!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've probably heard · have actually forgotten · you've read |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | like, which is · recommend, which is · flow, which is |
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.