Shadowing Practice: How To Organize Your Life Like A Stoic Philosopher - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
There's nothing less Stoic than disorganization, than chaos, than winging it.
2
And that's why the Stoics develop routines, why they set standards, developed habits, practices.
3
They took the structure of things seriously.
4
Life without design, Seneca says, is erratic.
5
And so their ability to make order from this chaos, why we organize the trivial parts of our lives,
6
is to free up resources to do important and meaningful stuff.
7
We get freedom from the order and the structure.
8
So that's what we're going to talk about in today's video.
9
I'm going to share some daily habits,
10
some lifestyle practices, standards, and structures set forth by the Stoics that you can use today to get your life in order.
11
When practiced consistently, these are habits that will help you achieve your goals
12
and make you someone that people can count on and respect.
13
We're going to split this video up into two parts.
14
First part is going to take you through a day in the life of a Stoic, outlining some of the non -negotiables they're committed to for a well -designed day.
15
And then the second part is going to be some Stoic lifestyle principles, high -level standards and practices to keep in mind that will give you a more organized and peaceful life.
16
You have to win the morning.
17
In of Marcus Aurelius' meditations is book five, where Marcus Aurelius has an argument with himself.
18
He says, at dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself, I have to go to work as a human being.
19
It says, or is this what you were created for, to huddle under the blankets and stay warm?
20
Right, a stoic attacks the morning, a stoic wins the morning, a stoic gets up early.
21
And it's impressive when we realize that he didn't have to do this.
22
He didn't really have to do anything.
23
One of his predecessors basically abandons the throne for an exotic island the emperor had
24
so much power so much responsibility
25
and yet marcus is practicing a foundational daily habit is getting up early
26
and he is getting after it
27
because winning the morning is key to winning the day
28
and winning at life i want to get up get my
29
most important things done i want to get the hard things out of the way
30
while i still have the most energy while i'm still the freshest
31
while i haven't been dragged down into the muck of distraction or frustration, or any of those things.
32
So a foundational daily stoic practice is get up early, get after it, don't huddle under the covers and stay warm,
33
don't hit the snooze button a million times.
34
Life is short, we got to get up and get after it, and we got to get after it early.
35
So how do we know that Marcus Rios got up early?
36
We know he got up early because of another foundational daily practice.
37
He journaled.
38
That's what meditations is, the journal of the most powerful man in the world.
39
And the list of people, ancient and modern, who practice the art of journaling is almost comically long, and it's fascinatingly diverse.
40
We have Oscar Wilde and Susan Sontag, Queen Victoria, John Quincy Adams, Emerson, Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion, Sean Green, the baseball player,
41
Mary Chestnut, Brian Koppelman, Anise Nin, Franz Kafka, Ben Franklin, and countless others, right?
42
Some people journal in the morning, some did it sporadically, some like da Vinci kept their notebooks on them at all times.
43
The idea is you've got to make time and space for reflection, not sometimes, but every day.
44
Seneca, the Stoic philosopher, talks about how he did his writing and reflecting time in the evening.
45
He said, when darkness had fallen and his wife had gone to sleep, he examined his entire day.
46
He says, I go back over what I've done and said, i hide nothing from myself and i pass nothing by
47
and then he would go to bed and he said he found
48
that the sleep
49
which follows self -examination was particularly sweet you got a nice
50
evening journaling routine it leads right into a good night of sleep
51
and then an early wake up foucault who was a big
52
fan of the stoics would talk about this ancient genre of
53
writing notes to themselves he actually called the journal a weapon for spiritual combat a way to practice philosophy
54
and purge the mind of agitation and foolishness to overcome difficulty, to silence those barking dogs in your head, reflect on the day that's passed,
55
take note of things that struck you throughout the course of the day, to feel wisdom flow through your fingertips and onto the page.
56
Anne Frank writes in her beautiful diary about how paper is more patient than people.
57
That's why journaling is such an important daily practice.
58
Life is frustrating, life is confusing, life is overwhelming.
59
And on the page, we can slow the mind down we can find a way
60
to peace we can ask ourselves tough questions you know where
61
am i standing in my own way what's a step i can take towards getting better why am i
62
so worked up on this what blessings can i count why do i care
63
so much about these people what am i avoiding here why My fears deciding what I do
64
or don't do journaling is as Julia.
65
Cameron said, a kind of spiritual windshield wipers, a break from the world, a framework for the day ahead, a way to break down and analyze the day that you just had.
66
And it may well be the most important thing you do.
67
And that is why the Stoics did it every day.
68
We all have to be readers.
69
The foundation of Stoicism comes from a prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi.
70
A young Zeno is visiting the oracle, and the oracle tells him, you will become wise when you begin to have conversations with the dead.
71
And it's not until many years later that he ends up in a bookstore in Athens, and he hears the bookseller reading some of the dialogues of Socrates,
72
a man who had died some years previous.
73
And that's when it hits Zeno.
74
Books are a way to have conversations with the dead.
75
We are talking to people who are no longer with us, benefiting from their wisdom.
76
So the Stoics are readers.
77
You just have to be.
78
Seneca talks about how we have to linger on the works of the master thinkers, not just read, but read and reread and reread.
79
That's what a book like Meditations is about.
80
It's a book you don't just read once, but a book you are reading on an ongoing basis.
81
So part of your Stoic practice, your daily Stoic practice, has to be making time for reading and for wisdom.
82
And this ties in well to the journaling practice you read, you journal about what you're reading, you go out and experience things that's informed by what you're reading,
83
or it directs you to things that you should read.
84
So a stoic makes time for reading, but not just any book.
85
There's a joke.
86
Epictetus, here's one of his students bragging about reading some obscure philosopher who is particularly dense.
87
And he says, you know, if they had been a better writer, you have less to brag about.
88
And so the reading that we do, it shouldn't be to impress people.
89
It's not to check a box.
90
We're reading for information we can use in our lives.
91
General James Mattis, a modern day Stoic, talks about how if you haven't read hundreds of books, particularly about what you do for a living,
92
about your space, he says you are functionally illiterate.
93
We don't want to learn by trial and error that which we can learn from the trials and errors of others.
94
We have to read every single day.
95
It's a basic Stoic practice.
96
we have to treat the body rigorously.
97
When we think of an ancient philosopher, when we think of a philosopher generally, we don't tend to think of an athlete.
98
We don't think of someone who's strong and tough.
99
We tend to think of a nerd.
100
We think of a turtleneck university professor, an old guy in a toga, but the philosophers were active.
101
Socrates wasn't just a soldier who was brave in battle.
102
Socrates was also known by his friends as someone who could wear a thin cloak in wintertime.
103
He was tough.
104
He liked to harden himself against the elements.
105
Seneca was not only active, a big walker.
106
He took these cold plunges every day.
107
When Nero went to kill Seneca, he found that he had trouble finding an opportunity to poison him
108
because Seneca was subsisting on food he could forage for himself out in the woods.
109
The point is, the Stoics were active.
110
They were outdoorsy.
111
They were not simply your bookish philosopher.
112
Actually, when I was introduced to the Stoics, the same day I bought Marx Releases Meditations, I bought this book called The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.
113
It's an amazing book.
114
I tell this story in The Obstacle is the Way and Discipline is Destiny.
115
Theodore Roosevelt was born a sickly young boy.
116
He had asthma, and his interests were academic.
117
He liked to be inside.
118
He was nearsighted.
119
And one day his father sat him down and said, look, Theodore, you've got the mind, but I don't think you have the body.
120
He was actually expressing a timeless bit of wisdom, this idea of mensano incorpora sano, or a strong mind and a strong body.
121
And young Theodore looks at his father and he says, okay, I will make my body.
122
And this is where we get the active, outdoorsy, adventurous Theodore Roosevelt, the man who embraced the strenuous life.
123
And you know, after he was president, he took this journey down the Amazon on an unexplored river.
124
And you know what he brought with him?
125
He brought a copy of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, as well as Epictetus's handbook.
126
So the Stoic philosopher is active.
127
Marcus Aurelius hunted and wrestled.
128
There was a Stoic boxer.
129
There were Stoic runners.
130
Roosevelt tried to get a couple of hours of exercise in a day as president
131
so what do you think teddy would have thought of our sedentary digital lives our excuse
132
that we're too busy or too tired or that we we weren't born
133
that way like we're meant for
134
so much more musonius rufus the teacher of epictetus said obviously
135
the philosopher's body should be well prepared for physical activity
136
because often he said the virtues make use of this as a necessary instrument.
137
for the affairs of life.
138
He says we must train ourselves, discipline ourselves to cold and heat and thirst and hunger, meager rations, hard beds, and avoidance of pleasures and patience under sufferings.
139
He says from this, the body becomes strengthened and becomes capable of enduring hardship.
140
It's ready for any task.
141
A daily practice for the Stoics had nothing to do with reading or writing, but getting out there, getting active, getting after it.
142
Retreat the body rigorously, Seneca says, so that it is not disobedient to the mind.
143
Men sana, incorpore sano, strong mind in a strong body.
144
So in addition to their daily practices,
145
there were some sort of philosophical conceptions or beliefs that helped the Stoics live well -ordered, productive lives.
146
And the first is that they try to avoid procrastination.
147
The one thing all fools have in common, Seneca says, is they're always getting ready to live.
148
They say, oh, I got to wait for things to go back to normal.
149
I got to wait for the right conditions.
150
I got to do this first.
151
I got to do that.
152
I'll do it tomorrow.
153
I'll do it in the morning.
154
And where does this get them?
155
It gets them nowhere.
156
It gets them nothing.
157
They never do it.
158
I'll do it tomorrow is the biggest lie in the world.
159
You could be good today, Mark Ceruleus says in meditations, but instead you choose tomorrow.
160
What the Stoics try to do is if something is worth doing, they want to do it now.
161
They want to get started now.
162
They're disciplined enough and also humble enough to know that there's something entitled about procrastination.
163
It assumes that you'll have the discipline and the time and the opportunity to do it later.
164
And we don't know that for sure.
165
The graveyard of lost potential, we might say, of wasted time and wasted years is people who needed to do something else first.
166
Putting things off is the biggest waste of life, Seneca wrote.
167
He says it snatches away each day as it comes and it denies us the present by promising us the future.
168
He said the whole future lies in uncertainty.
169
Live immediately.
170
I think he's saying do it now.
171
Get rid of, I'll get to it later from your lexicon.
172
Do it now.
173
If you've watched even like a handful of my stuff, you probably notice I wear kind of a uniform, kind of wear the same things most days.
174
It's usually because I'm sort of doing the same things each day.
175
I get up, I take my kids outside, go for a walk, take them to school.
176
I sit down, I write for a while.
177
Then I go for another walk.
178
I try to work out in the afternoons.
179
I'm in the pool with my kids.
180
I live a pretty active life, which is why you've seen me in a lot of these
181
videos wearing stuff from viori today's sponsor they make some of
182
the most comfortable clothes imaginable they make super versatile stuff
183
and you know it looks good enough to wear in a podcast
184
and at the same time i can put on my running shoes
185
and go for a run shortly thereafter everything is designed to work out in
186
but also to wear during the course of a normal life
187
i assure you it is probably more comfortable than whatever you are wearing right now the website's really easy to navigate.
188
The stuff gets delivered right away.
189
I usually go straight to the Dream Knit page.
190
I like that stuff the most.
191
And now that everything's getting colder, I'm back in their joggers.
192
I like their sweatshirts, their running shirts.
193
Viore is an investment in your happiness.
194
And for our listeners, they're offering 20 % off your first purchase.
195
Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at viore .com slash Daily Stoic.
196
That's V -U -O -R -I .com slash Daily Stoic.
197
And not only will you get 20 % off your first purchase, but you'll get free shipping on any order over 75 bucks and you get free returns.
198
Go to viore .com slash Daily Stoic and discover the versatility of Viore clothing.
199
Exclusions apply.
200
Go to the website for full terms and conditions.
201
Marcus Aurelius had a pretty simple recipe for a better life.
202
He said, if you seek tranquility, do less.
203
He said, the question we have to ask ourselves with everything is, is this essential?
204
And he says, because when you eliminate the inessential, you get the double satisfaction of doing less better.
205
So much of what we do, what we spend our days on, what we spend our lives on, we don't need to do.
206
We do it out of habit.
207
We do it out of guilt.
208
We do it out of laziness.
209
We do it out of not wanting to seem rude.
210
We do it because we think we have forever
211
or we have unlimited time
212
and then we wonder why our heart isn't in it we
213
wonder why we don't have time to do the actual important things
214
if we could do less in essential stuff we'd be able to do what is essential better
215
and we get that tranquility
216
that marcus aurelius is talking about we have to cultivate the
217
power the ability to say no the ability to prioritize the ability to eliminate
218
if we want tranquility if we want productivity it's about more wood behind fewer arrows it's about really sticking with the things.
219
that are important and eliminating the inessential and the unnecessary
220
there was a greek word that we get from the stoics cosmiotis
221
and this is about order this is about keeping things clean
222
when i'm feeling overwhelmed when i'm feeling behind i often look down at my desk
223
and go of course i feel this way of course my life is this way look at it this is a metaphor.
224
Gretchen Rubin, who I've interviewed on the Daily Stoic podcast, has this great line.
225
She says, outer order, inner calm.
226
So one of the things we have to do is get our stuff organized, keep things clean and simple and elegant.
227
What does your desktop look like?
228
Your digital desktop and your actual desktop?
229
Are you drowning in papers?
230
Is your office a mess?
231
Do you have a million unread emails is your phone filled with alerts creating order
232
and systems eliminating noise and interruptions creating order from the chaos of life is key to protecting
233
that sort of stoic sense of purpose and direction and clarity seneca talks about how look sometimes life is messy and chaotic,
234
but to needlessly be plunged into that is irresponsible.
235
So how do we create order and structure in our lives?
236
How do we set up systems?
237
How do we automate things?
238
If everything in your life is dependent on willpower, is dependent on constant excavations, you're going to be exhausted.
239
So you got to create order and systems.
240
You got to keep things clean.
241
You got to stick with systems and structure or you're going to get overwhelmed
242
in a world of social media and instant gratification shamelessness and awfulness we
243
need boundaries more than ever you know like minding your own
244
business keeping your private life private not over sharing not letting
245
people drag you down not getting entangled in other people's dysfunctions
246
or entangling them in yours being strong enough to communicate what you like
247
and dislike respecting other people's space and preferences it's like basic stuff
248
but it's pretty rare these days we're you know we're surrounded by over shares
249
and hot messes doormats drama queens busybodies pushovers gossip mongers boundaries are about drawing some lines around yourself healthy borders
250
that help determine what you share
251
and what you want what you let in what you don't what you focus on
252
and what you don't actually one of the the opening passages
253
in meditations is about this very idea marcus aurelius starts book two he says
254
when you wake up in the morning tell yourself the people
255
i will deal with today will be meddling ungrateful arrogant dishonest
256
and jealous and surly right
257
but he's not just saying hey the world is going to be awful he's saying this is what boundaries are about.
258
He says, but I won't let them implicate me in ugliness.
259
He says, none of them can hurt me.
260
And I think what boundaries are about creating space, creating buffers, so not everyone and everything has access to your mind.
261
This is the stoic concept of an inner citadel.
262
Things that are outside us can't be allowed to touch us.
263
The news of the world, the annoying coworker, the noises coming in.
264
One of Seneca's letters I open stillness is the key with this, is Seneca trying to concentrate in work in the midst of a very busy
265
and noisy Rome where people were always trying to get at him, where he had to tune out a lot of distraction.
266
And so the ability to have these boundaries to be self -contained,
267
self -sufficient is just a key Stoic practice to having a well -ordered and well -functioning life.
268
so you might think if the stoics were all about routine
269
and structure and order that they were really rigid
270
and it might seem contradictory for me to tell you
271
that they're not right this is a video about organizing your life
272
and here i am telling you this idea of formlessness
273
but formlessness comes to us from the great robert green he says it's the most stoic law of power
274
and again that might not be what you think of the stoics
275
because the stoics were all about rules and structure and discipline.
276
But life is unpredictable.
277
There is so much outside of our control.
278
If you need things to be a certain way, if you can't adapt and adjust, you're going to have a hard time.
279
In meditations, Marx really says that adaptability is the ability to look at what life deals to you and say, yes, that's just what I was looking for.
280
So yes, we have our preferred way of doing things, but we can handle them however they are.
281
Cato was one of the most vaunted and towering of the stoic.
282
But he never gave an inch on anything, even in the face of the most unrelenting pressure.
283
And this, in the end, made him not so effective politician.
284
He refused compromise in every form.
285
He insisted on tradition down to the letter.
286
And that rigidity became a kind of fragility.
287
We need the ability to adjust and embrace change.
288
One of the Queen's mottos, which I loved was if things are going to stay the same, then things are going to have to change.
289
My routine has changed so much since I had kids, since I moved to Texas, since I became a writer, different phases and seasons of my life.
290
My routine is always changing.
291
But these overarching principles, these deeper ideas,
292
these commitments that allows me to shuffle those things around but still hold true to the same basic concept.
293
Epictetus was once asked by one of his students like what he was supposed to do
294
and Epictetus didn't have an answer for him
295
and the student finally said no you got to tell me what to do
296
and Epictetus said it would be better
297
if you asked me to help make you adaptable to circumstances
298
that's what we have to ultimately be as stoics adaptable to any
299
and all circumstances no matter what's going on in the outside world we find ways to be productive
300
and efficient and and focus on what's essential inside of them.
301
And the last final, and I think most brief thing the Stoics use to shape their days
302
and lives is a reminder of how short life is.
303
You could leave life right now, Mark Schroeder says in meditations, let that determine what you do and say and think.
304
Seneca's view was even more of a paradigm shift.
305
He says, don't think of death as this thing in the future that you're moving slowly towards.
306
He says, death is happening right now.
307
He says, the time that passes belongs to death.
308
So as we decide how to structure our days, whether to procrastinate or not, what order to put them in or not, to do things or not,
309
we have to remember, we are purchasing these things in front of us with our most precious resource, our time, something we can never get back.
310
And so we have to be present.
311
We have to prioritize.
312
We have to be humble.
313
We have to be flexible because life is short.
314
Memento more.
315
You could go at any moment let that determine what you do and say and think and how you live.
316
Every day I send out one stoic inspired email to hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.
317
If you want more stoic wisdom in your inbox, you can sign up at dailystoic .com slash email.
318
It's totally free and unsubscribe at any time.
319
We'd love to have you dailystoic .com slash email.
📺 Same Channel
C13
The Stoic Lesson of Marcus Aurelius' Crumbling Statue
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
What It Means To Be A Good Man Today With Tom Junod
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C14
Powerful Stoic Quotes That Will Change Your Life
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
The Most Life Changing Marcus Aurelius Quotes
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2Remember, You Are Mortal
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
✨ Recommend Video
B22
48 sentences
Wake Up at 5AM | Robin Sharma and Lewis Howes
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
87 sentences
Designing a simple life (minimalist habits) 😌
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
558 sentences
148. How to Enter Your ~Discipline Era~ and Start Respecting Your Time to Change Your Life
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B225 sentences
The 4 Rules For A Great Life | Andrew Huberman
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
200 sentences
How to write every single day (even if you have no ideas)
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B171
12 sentences
Your Routine Isn’t the Problem. Your Identity Is.
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
128 sentences
How to Master Your Morning in Just 10 Minutes (Data PROVEN)
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B2496
12 sentences
Organize Your life - Motivational speech
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2631 sentences
Revealing the DAILY ROUTINES of SUCCESSFUL people | Hey Tablo Ep. 21
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B22
216 sentences
How To Stay Motivated & Consistent Everyday | Mini Series Ep.4 | Life Of Sacha
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
58 sentences
𝟑 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 319 sentences and 4000 words to shadow. The speech runs for 22:31. The speaker talks at a natural 178 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| philosopher noun | /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/ | A lover of wisdom. |
| wisdom noun | /ˈwɪzdəm/ | An element of personal character that enables one to distinguish the wise from the unwise. |
| habit noun | /ˈhæb.ɪt/ | An action performed on a regular basis. |
| boundary noun | /ˈbaʊndɹi/ | The dividing line or location between two areas. |
| routine noun | /ɹuˈtin/ | A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure. |
| discipline noun | /ˈdɪsəplɪn/ | A controlled behaviour; self-control. |
| eliminate verb | /ɪˈlɪm.ɪ.neɪt/ | To completely remove, get rid of, put an end to. |
| chaos noun | /ˈkeɪˌɑs/ | The unordered state of matter in classical accounts of cosmogony. |
| desktop noun | /ˈdɛsktɒp/ | The top surface of a desk. |
| oracle noun | /ˈɔɹəkəl/ | A shrine dedicated to some prophetic deity. |
| clothing noun | /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/ | Any of a wide variety of articles, usually made of fabrics, animal hair, animal skin, or some combination thereof, used to cover the human body for warmth, to… |
| spiritual adjective | /ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃuəl/ | Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul. |
| reflect verb | /ɹɪˈflɛkt/ | To bend back (light, etc.) from a surface. |
| principle noun | /ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/ | A fundamental assumption, fundamental law or guiding belief. |
| reader noun | /ˈɹi.dɚ/ | A person who reads. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| get up verb | To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb. |
| break down verb | To stop functioning. |
| get back verb | Return to where one came from. |
| get off verb | To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it. |
| get out verb | To leave or escape. |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. |
| go out verb | To leave, especially a building. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 65 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: clothing /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/, thin /ˈθɪn/, athlete /ˈæθ.liːt/, throne /θɹəʊ̯n/, strengthen /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: distraction /dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən/, shortly /ˈʃɔɹtli/, efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, sufficient /səˈfɪʃənt/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: philosopher /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/, eliminate /ɪˈlɪm.ɪ.neɪt/, difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, consistently /kənˈsɪstəntli/
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 philosopher, wisdom, habit.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were created · been dragged · was also known |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't been dragged · I've done · haven't read |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | man who had · people who are · someone who could |
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.