Shadowing Practice: how to make every day interesting | 15-minute routine - Learn English Speaking with Video
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15 minutes can change the whole entire day.
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I don't want you to miss out on this because anyone can do this.
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There's no excuses.
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All that's left is to take action.
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And I'll tell you how I've been able to do this.
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We'll come up with some 15-minute daily routine things to do together while you're listening to this.
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I'll show you my thought process too.
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But what is the purpose of this 15-minute routine?
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Every day you spend 15 minutes doing something you haven't done before.
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Whether that's walking at a different street, reading in a park, learning a car trick,
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calling a friend, texting someone you haven't texted in a while, sketching a building, visiting a local shop you've never entered,
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trying a handstand, see how many push-ups you can do in 15 minutes.
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basically those things that you don't have planned that you don't expect doing
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that are slightly uncomfortable but
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if you were able to do them they would be really interesting
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and they make
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that day count every single day i like to think of what three things i did
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that day which made it cool unique and the 15 minute routine basically makes this task effortless So right now,
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I'll literally jot down with you.
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I'll write down some 15-minute daily routines that we can do to make every day interesting.
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So I'm going to write down the first thing I wanted it to be was unique.
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Also for it to be uncomfortable.
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Also unexpected.
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so the three uns unique uncomfortable unexpected after you got
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that you can write this down with me so you have this permanently
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and you could do this too it's right in front of you also
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so you got unique uncomfortable unexpected now just think about things
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that are unique some challenge something you never get to do for uncomfortable.
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What are those things that you say, oh, I can't do this I can't do
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that that's too crazy I can't do I can't do this those things
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that you have an idea for and immediately say
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that you can't do it those are the things you should be looking for for example one thing
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I used to do
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which I thought was too crazy to do I can't do this was having people over at my house
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it just worlds colliding it felt so weird and awkward
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but I knew deep down that it would be pretty cool
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if I had some people that I knew and like over at my house and we could do fun things there.
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So I made it my mission to one day have that uncomfortable moment and have some people over my house.
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So what are some things that are uncomfortable to you?
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Maybe it's being around people talking to them, saying the first thing, saying hi.
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Maybe it's working out.
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Maybe it's exploring some type of part in where you live,
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some area, and it's uncomfortable because you don't know that many people and it's hard to, you feel like you can't survive there basically.
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Those are those uncomfortable moments you have to write down.
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And the third one, which is unexpected, that's my favorite one because you do it spontaneously.
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You don't have it planned.
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you don't take time to procrastinate on it.
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You do it right away.
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You do it the same day.
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How I made my first video, which I'm making videos three years later and it's ingrained in my life and I love it.
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I started this on a 15 minute routine thing.
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I had a unique experience of filming a video, uploading it on YouTube.
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I was scared and uncomfortable as you can ever imagine.
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I was scared to even put my whole face in it.
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I didn't even have it as my name.
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So, Timothy, my name.
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It was originally Tenacious Trees because I was scared
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know make it about my name and stuff
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so i basically did the bare minimum to complete this routine daily thing
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so it was 30 seconds long i mustered up all the courage i built up for the past years posted
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that video and it was extremely uncomfortable and the best part is it was unexpected.
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I didn't have this planned.
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I randomly thought about this as a challenge to do and when I thought about that challenge, I gave myself 24 hours to complete it.
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So from the thought, 24 hours I would have a video posted and that's exactly what happened.
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I know it's a lot easier said than done so start simple, start small
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if I was watching this video four years ago I would
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tell myself to the same thing start small make it simple
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but to be more specific start a challenge where I have
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to see how many push-ups I can do in 15 minutes
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and then I could even make this a weekly recurring thing where I keep trying to break the record over
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and over again let's say I got 68 the first day
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and then next week I get 70 and then I want to get to 100.
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That's like a goal I had.
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That would be a cool goal to just gradually work yourself up to 100 push-ups.
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It feels like you have this world record, this speed running thing to get for yourself.
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You can actually see yourself progressing because you used to only do 68.
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Now you can do this much.
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I would also have myself go on a 10-minute walk and wave to anyone that I see walking by.
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The reason these are 15 minutes is so
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that you don't have an excuse that you don't have the time to do it.
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If you come home from work, you can still do one of these things.
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If you have a busy day, you can still do one of these things.
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Another thing could be making your own video.
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The reason why I'm talking about this 15 minute routine because it's so much better
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than spending that 15 minutes to scroll on your phone, which goes to 30, then an hour.
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Then you forget everything you've done and you've got nothing out of that hour.
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It's using your time in a more fun, interesting way that helps you.
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The benefits from this are you get more confident.
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You grow and the layer of what's uncomfortable to you grows.
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More things become comfortable for you, meaning you're able to get more done.
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You're able to talk to more people.
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You're able to get stronger.
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get smarter, put yourself out there more, and you stop living in insecure ways.
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All this was able to happen because I spent less time on my phone, more time in reality trying to do these things.
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It's the reason why I have a whole program to help people lower their screen time
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and replace it with more meaningful things and a community with over 9,000 people talking about this problem.
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because as soon as you're able to get rid of this you can spend your time doing these routines
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that make every day interesting once you do this for a
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day a week a month it just becomes a part of your life
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which makes you keep these benefits for good
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so you don't want to go back to how you were living
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so think of literally everything that you can do to make that day count cleaning your room
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dusting vacuuming washing the dishes cooking something standing on the grass
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with your bare feet for 15 minutes trying to do a
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handstand learning how to do a cartwheel making a new friend in the free community
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that i have in the description getting plenty of ideas in
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there as well you don't need to invest crazy amounts of hours and crazy amounts of money to start doing
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things that make life interesting and fun and make you more happy.
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You just have to subtract the time from screens by having
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a somewhat optimistic mind to try something for 15 minutes that's small, that's simple, and using that as momentum for the future.
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Write some of this stuff down.
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Join the community and get ideas.
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Take action on something.
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Make this video count.
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I'll see you later.
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Have a good one.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “how to make every day interesting”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: uncomfortable, routine, unique, unexpected, interesting. This video has 117 sentences and 1373 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:59. The speaker talks at a natural 153 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| uncomfortable adjective | /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/ | Not comfortable; causing discomfort. |
| unexpected adjective | /ʌnɪkˈspɛktɪd/ | Not expected, anticipated or foreseen. |
| scare verb | /skɛɚ/ | To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way. |
| handstand noun | /ˈhændˌstænd/ | The act of standing on one's hands, most often in an inverted way. |
| cartwheel noun | /ˈkɑɹtˌwil/ | The wheel of a cart. |
| collide verb | /kəˈlaɪd/ | To impact directly, especially if violent. |
| effortless adjective | /ˈɛfə(ɹ)tlɪs/ | Without effort. |
| ingrain verb | /ɪŋˈɡɹeɪn/ | To dye with a fast or lasting colour. |
| muster noun | /ˈmʌstɚ/ | An assemblage or display; a gathering, collection of people or things. |
| procrastinate verb | /pɹoʊˈkɹæs.tə.neɪt/ | To delay taking action; to wait until later. |
| spontaneously adverb | /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs.li/ | In a spontaneous manner; naturally; voluntarily. |
| subtract verb | /səbˈtɹækt/ | To remove or reduce; especially to reduce a quantity or number. |
| insecure adjective | /ɪnsəˈkjʊɹ/ | Not secure. |
| scroll noun | /skɹoʊl/ | A roll of paper or parchment; a writing formed into a roll. |
| optimistic adjective | /ˌɒptɪˈmɪstɪk/ | Expecting the best in all possible ways. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| write down verb | To produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something. | |
| 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. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'll show you my thought process too.
- I'll literally jot down with you.
- You don't have it planned.
- I didn't even have it as my name.
- I didn't have this planned.
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 do · used to only |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've been · haven't done · haven't texted |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was having · was watching · were living |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | keep trying · stop living |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 39 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, can't, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, unexpected /ʌnɪkˈspɛktɪd/, procrastinate /pɹoʊˈkɹæs.tə.neɪt/, spontaneously /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs.li/, optimistic /ˌɒptɪˈmɪstɪk/
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 uncomfortable, unexpected, scare.
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.