Shadowing Practice: How to think like a lawyer | Zero-L from Harvard Law School - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Imagine I asked you, what do you learn in law school?
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Imagine I asked you, what do you learn in law school?
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Well, you've decided to take this course,
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so maybe you're more informed than the average person.
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So instead, imagine I asked your college roommate or your parents,
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assuming they're not lawyers.
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The image that may come to mind of law school is sun-deprived,
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bespeckled law students, surrounded by large numbers of dusty books,
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reading intently so they can memorize a bunch of law cases.
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But don't get me wrong,
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we do make students read a lot from books,
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and there's some memorization involved.
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But that image of someone learning the law by just memorizing things
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that are already out there is not at all what law school is really about.
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If it were, law school would be much less fun and also much less useful.
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The law is always changing,
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so if you just learned a number of dry rules,
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much of what you learned might be outdated by your fifth year in practice.
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The chief value of legal education is not to know stuff,
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but to know what stuff to look for,
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where to find it, how to interpret what you find,
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what to think when some stuff says one thing and other stuff says another,
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and how to use what you find to give legal advice.
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Let me put this very tangibly for you.
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If you call up a lawyer on anything other than a very simple question,
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and without pausing she quickly gives you a straightforward answer,
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you should fire her.
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She's not doing a very good job for you.
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She's just not thinking like a lawyer.
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That's a phrase that you'll hear a lot in law school,
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and while we might overuse it a bit,
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it does capture something important.
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Law is mostly about questions,
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choices, and analysis, about thinking,
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and not so much about simple answers.
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That is the main thing we try to teach you in law school.
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Yes, we want to teach you a good amount of content about the law.
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To use an example from a course I teach,
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Civil Procedure,
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we want you to know what claims without subject matter jurisdiction
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can get jurisdiction by way of being joined to other claims through 28 U.S.C.
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1367. If that sounds a bit intimidating at first, that's very normal.
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It is.
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But by the end of 1L fall,
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that knowledge will be at the tip of your brain,
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or at least somewhere in there.
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But while this kind of content is important and useful,
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the main thing we're trying to teach you is a set of approaches,
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techniques, a disposition to dealing with real problems
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that will enable you to go out in the world and deal with any legal problem.
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Some of these may be problems related to courses you never took.
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Indeed, some may relate to legal issues that never existed when you went to law school.
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A lot of my work is on cutting-edge technologies,
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so I encountered these all the time.
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Topics like in vitro fertilization and posthumous conception.
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So a key goal of law school is to make you into a legal Swiss Army knife,
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to have the tool for any problem you encounter,
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or at the very least to know where to find that tool.
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To be clear, that doesn't mean you're to become a hired gun.
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Instead, you're called upon and valued for your ability to exercise independent judgment on questions of law and on policy.
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Some of you will want to become trial lawyers.
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Others will want to go into public service.
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Others will want to become deal lawyers or go into business through law.
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Others still want to work for advocacy organizations.
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Many of you will disagree about many legal questions,
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but law school will help you learn to disagree
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and to argue in ways that are more likely to convince others that you are right.
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Regardless, we want to enable you to give sound legal advice to your client,
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or perhaps if you're engaging in cause lawyering,
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to figure out a legal strategy and find a client who might bring that case.
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As we will develop in a later segment,
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while there are many legal skills to learn,
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from From oral advocacy to negotiation,
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from contract drafting to organizational design,
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there are five primary skills that every lawyer will need to bring to the table.
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First, digest the facts.
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Second, spot the relevant issue or issues.
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Third, determine the governing law.
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Fourth, apply the governing law to the facts to generate arguments and probabilistic assessments.
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And finally, work with the client to understand how the legal analysis fits in with the client's overall interests and goals.
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And this whole course is aimed at getting you started on mastering these skills.

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Why practice speaking with this video?

Engaging with the video titled "How to think like a lawyer," not only enriches your understanding of legal education but also provides a unique context for practicing English speaking skills. By focusing on the analytical language used by the speaker, you can improve your English speaking practice efforts. The speaker discusses complex ideas clearly, making it an excellent resource for learners seeking to enhance their articulation and comprehension. Moreover, the legal concepts introduced serve as a motivator to delve deeper into critical thinking—an essential skill for conversational fluency.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

As you listen and practice speaking along with the video, pay attention to these key structures:

  • Conditional Structures: The speaker uses phrases like "If it were, law school would be much less fun," which illustrates the use of hypothetical reasoning. Practicing these structures can help you express supposition or conditions in various conversations.
  • Present Perfect Tense: Statements such as "what you learned might be outdated" showcase the usage of present perfect to discuss past experiences that are still relevant. Mastering this tense aids in making your speech more nuanced and accurate.
  • Imperfective Aspect: The speaker mentions “law is mostly about questions, choices, and analysis.” This emphasizes activities that are ongoing rather than completed. Familiarizing yourself with imperfective constructions enriches your descriptive capabilities in discussions.

Common Pronunciation Traps

As you engage with the video content, watch out for these tricky pronunciations:

  • Intonation Patterns: The speaker emphasizes the phrase "think like a lawyer," where the intonation rises and falls, highlighting key concepts. Mimicking this will help you convey thoughts more compellingly.
  • Terminology: Words like "jurisdiction" and "analysis" may pose pronunciation challenges. Practicing these terms with a shadowing app can significantly enhance your clarity.
  • Connected Speech: Phrases such as “a very simple question” might blend together during fast speech. Pay attention to the rhythm and try to shadow this natural flow, which is crucial for sounding more fluent.

Incorporating these strategies into your IELTS speaking practice sessions will not only improve your vocabulary and grammar but also increase your overall confidence when speaking English. By utilizing resources like this video, your journey towards effective communication can become an engaging and dynamic process.

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.

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