Shadowing Practice: How to write every single day (even if you have no ideas) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hi.
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Today I'm going to teach you how to write.
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Write like a human being.
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In today's day and age, people are getting dumber and dumber, and I think it's really important that we all know how to write, how to put our thoughts on paper, how to think clearly, and if you're someone who goes to write
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and then can't produce anything or you feel like your ideas are bad, this video is for you.
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I, myself, am a writer.
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I am the author of the self -published Dopamine Hole and the soon -to -be -released How to Run Away from Home.
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Today is really just about the basic writing process.
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I write everything by hand.
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I do this every single day, and everything that I create is downstream of a basic writing practice.
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So that's what we're going to teach today through three basic drills.
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I don't care if you're just getting started.
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If you've been writing for years and just feel a little bit stuck, I'm going to help you out here.
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So I think a lot of people have the experience of going to journal
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or going to write and then immediately having no ideas, or they think their ideas are bad, or they just start something and it just isn't coming out the way they want it to, so they stop.
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How many people say, I'm going to start journaling, and they make it a day or a week, and then they just kind of stop.
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It's very common.
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And so I think people need a process.
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When you go to start working out in the gym, you don't do so with zero plan.
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You learn some very basic drills, some exercises, a simple workout program you can follow without thinking too much.
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And that's what allows you to stay consistent because you go in and you don't have to think about what to do.
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So let's just jump right in.
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I want you to get for yourself a journal and a pen, something you can write with and on.
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Highly recommend that you do this by hand.
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You can do it on your computer.
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You can even voice note it if you can't write, but I highly recommend you do this by hand.
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This is part of the human skill that we're cultivating.
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Handwriting is like what makes you a human being, and that's what's going to help us stand out amongst the robots which are coming.
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So get yourself a journal and a pen.
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The first drill that we're going to talk about here is called observation, and observation is the basic skill involved in writing.
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Here's a situation for you.
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Let's say you're on your way to work.
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Maybe you're late.
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Maybe you're on the train, and you have a moment to write.
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You're going to use this moment for a little creative practice.
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I think that's great.
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This observation drill involves taking out your journal, getting your pen, and then making a very simple list of things that you observe in the physical world.
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The reason I love this drill is because it doesn't require you to think.
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It doesn't require you to interpret too much.
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All you do is you use your eyes and your ears
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and your nose and all of your other senses to just write down what is going on in the physical world.
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And you prove to yourself that you can observe things.
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You can write them down.
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There is a man seated next to me.
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He smells like he's wearing too much cologne.
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The train has stopped for five minutes now.
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What I'll encourage you to do with this drill is not include any emotions.
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Don't write about how you're feeling.
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Don't try to impose feelings on the experience.
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Just map the experience.
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Just write out a list of things that are occurring and that have happened.
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Requires no thought or interpretation.
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But what's interesting about this is that it is a creative exercise in that you don't include everything in that list.
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Notice what your attention immediately gravitates towards.
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You might not write down every single thing that's happening.
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That would be impossible.
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But you will include the things that stand out to you.
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And that tells you a little something.
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So that's the observation drill.
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You can just start with that.
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You can do that anytime.
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Highly recommend for when you're feeling overwhelmed and you can't sort through your thoughts.
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It can be a really daunting task to try to figure out, oh, what am I feeling right now, especially when things are going on in your personal life, when there's just all kinds of stuff going on, don't worry about it.
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Ground yourself.
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And you can do that with pen and paper by just writing down things.
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The wall is white.
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The sky outside is gray.
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Simple stuff, not complex prose.
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Now you'll notice some very famous writers like Chekhov, like Hemingway, like many others, write very simple sentences that are just these basic observations about the world.
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But readers love that because that paints a picture that we can access.
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Okay, it's not about writing the most complicated, ornate, beautiful prose.
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It's about making accurate observations and painting a little impressionistic portrait of your experience in that moment.
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If you do this once a day, you're going to improve as a writer.
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You're going to improve your own observation muscle within you, and you will build your confidence
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because you will have filled at least one page with a list of observations that occurred in the physical world.
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Great.
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That's drill number one.
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Drill number two is reaction or continuation.
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I like reaction.
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We'll call it that.
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This is just taking it a step further.
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So you're going to start again.
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Let's say you're still on the train.
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You're still late for work.
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You're going to write down one sentence.
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Okay.
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I am late to work.
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And then what you're going to do is just react to it.
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Okay.
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You're going to try to continue that stream of thought for the entire page or two pages, whatever comes out of you.
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And the trick is to just not stop writing.
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This is really good for when you're feeling overwhelmed, but you can tell there's a lot of energy in you
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that needs to come out okay you want to be very
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kind of aggressive with the page in this drill you're just
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going to keep writing things down keep writing things down connect
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one thought to the next the train is moving faster
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and i'm worried about what's going to happen when i get into work
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and what my boss is going to say to me
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and you don't have to sort through it doesn't have to
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be clean in a perfect world it's just one long run -on sentence again nothing you're going to publish
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This is for you.
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This is a private writing practice that's going to build your muscle, your creative muscle.
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And then over time, that turns into something.
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That's what turns into potentially writing a short story or multiple collections of short stories.
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Holy glaze.
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So just react to it.
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Okay.
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This is a lesson that comes from one of my favorite writers, George Saunders, who in a recent podcast with Rick Rubin referred to writing
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and creativity as just one long process of reaction you put something down
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and then you react to it and you do
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that a bunch of times and the more times
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that you do it the more complex
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or the more vivid a piece becomes right the more intentionality
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that goes into it but that's a little bit in the weeds we're not worried about
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that yet all you're worried about is you're not worried
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but all you're thinking about is one observation
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and then a reaction to it reaction reaction reaction you see
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how this is different from the first drill the first drill
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is more like a list okay just a bunch like 20
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individual uh things you notice reaction is taking it a step
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further where then you can you link them together i am
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i am you can use emotions at this part i am
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nervous i am afraid of what's going to happen blah blah blah blah blah
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and you just get the thoughts out okay notice with both
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of these drills you are not thinking you are not trying
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to make something beautiful you are not thinking about how you're going to post this
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or what people are going to think about it
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because it is purely for you okay the same way that
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if you start going to the gym you're not going to post every single workout.
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You're going to build your foundation.
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You're going to do it for you.
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And over time, you might build a movement practice or a physique that you feel inclined to share with the world, but that's not at all required.
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And that's not the kind of benefit we're talking about.
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This is writing for mental health, not writing for becoming famous on the internet.
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But they go hand in hand.
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Okay.
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And then the last drill that we'll cover for right now is narrative.
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So after you built an observation practice and then a reaction practice, now you can start playing around with narratives.
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So this is really good when you're trying to sort through a recent experience that you don't quite understand.
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It can be really helpful to create distance from an emotional experience.
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And so what you might do is write in the third person.
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John was late to work today.
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He got to the train five minutes later than he normally did because he failed to get up with his first alarm.
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He still went through his 20 push -ups that he did first thing in the morning,
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but then his water kettle was broken and his tea was not made on time.
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And you just kind of write this out and you just do it really sloppy, right?
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And you're just making these little observations with a little distance.
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Now, what separates narrative from other forms of writing like poetry, in my view, is that narrative constitutes a fundamental change.
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There's some kind of change that has to happen.
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And that can be really helpful when you're trying to write through your own experiences, because it allows you to, you automatically start noticing the change that you went through.
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Maybe by being late to work, you reached a point of serenity or a point of inner peace where you were like, yeah, I'm not really, I'm not going to worry too much about it.
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Or maybe you didn't get to a point of inner peace and the whole story is just a constant escalation towards turmoil.
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All of these are really sometimes fun practices to relate to your own experience.
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But they build on each other.
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So you start with observation.
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Can you just observe the physical things in the world around you without any interpretation or imposing feelings on it?
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Can you then continue that?
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Can you react to each observation, right?
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And create this kind of linear stream of thoughts.
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And then lastly, narrative.
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Can you synthesize a fundamental change?
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Can you notice that fundamental change within yourself?
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Okay.
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What I would do if I were you
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and I wanted to start writing is I would just start with the observation and just start doing that.
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The beautiful thing about journaling and writing is
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that you get better over time if you just do it if you do this practice 20 times,
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your body, your brain, your spirit will learn to crave the practice because it will associate it with a feeling of release,
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which is ultimately what you need when you're feeling overwhelmed or stressed or anxious or directionless.
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You need release.
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You need somewhere to pour the energy.
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Otherwise, it just accumulates within you and makes you feel really anxious.
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That's what writing can offer you.
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And that's what I'm going to recommend you start with.
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Building this skill is how you fortify your mind in the age of brain rod, in the age of addictive entertainment and algorithms that want to exploit you and sell you for advertising dollars.
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This is part of the resistance.
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It's an act of creative resistance, and this is maybe the war of our time.
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I talk about this stuff all the time, but understand how these small little practices can very, very meaningfully contribute to the development of yourself and then potentially the species.
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This is what we need to be doing right now.
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Observe the physical world around you.
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Then react to each of your thoughts, creating a stream of thought.
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And then lastly, create some narrative.
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And often you don't have to invent this.
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It presents itself.
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That was the other point on observation.
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If you just observe accurately, you notice that there is narrative all around you.
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There are interesting things all around you.
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You just have to observe it.
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Train your human skill of observation and you'll realize you're a much better writer than you initially thought.
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Train it.
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Practice it.
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You have the skill.
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Or you will have the skill.
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You have the ability to do this.
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I promise you.
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If you have any questions, let me know.
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But I think that's all for today.
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I hope this is helpful.
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Boom.
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Peace.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “How to write every single day”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: write, writing, observation, drill, practice. This video has 200 sentences and 2254 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:04. The speaker talks fast, about 224 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| observation noun | /ˌɑbzɚˈveɪʃn̩/ | The act of observing, and the fact of being observed (see observance) |
| drill noun | /dɹɪl/ | A tool or machine used to remove material so as to create a hole, typically by plunging a rotating cutting bit into a stationary workpiece. |
| narrative noun | /ˈnæɹ.ə.tɪv/ | The systematic recitation of an event or series of events. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| observe verb | /əbˈzɜːv/ | To notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail. |
| react verb | /ɹiːˈækt/ | To act in response. |
| muscle noun | /ˈmʌs.əl/ | A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement. |
| helpful adjective | /ˈhɛlp.fl̩/ | Furnishing help; giving aid; useful. |
| fundamental adjective | /ˌfʌn.dəˈmɛn.təl/ | Related to a foundation, base, or basis; serving as a foundation. |
| occur verb | /əˈkɜː/ | To happen or take place. |
| potentially adverb | /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/ | In a manner showing much potential; with the possibility of happening in a given way. |
| interpretation noun | /ɪnˌtɜːpɹəˈteɪʃən/ | An act of interpreting or explaining something unclear; a translation; a version. |
| emotion noun | /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/ | A person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data. |
| anxious adjective | /ˈæŋkʃəs/ | Nervous and worried. |
| workout noun | /ˈwɝk.aʊ̯t/ | An exercise session; a period of physical exercise. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| write down verb | To produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something. | |
| sort through verb | To look through (a collection of documents, facts, etc.) to make sense of them or put them in order. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| run away from verb | To avoid or shirk a problem or consequences; to rush to back away from or disclaim responsibility for something. | |
| stand out verb | To jut out, protrude (from a surface etc.). | |
| take out verb | To remove. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Today I'm going to teach you how to write.
- I don't care if you're just getting started.
- Can you then continue that?
- Can you synthesize a fundamental change?
- Can you notice that fundamental change within yourself?
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 | has stopped · have happened |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is called · was broken |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | someone who goes · robots which are |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 67 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: algorithm /ˈælɡəɹɪðm̩/, synthesize /ˈsɪnθəsaɪz/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: observation /ˌɑbzɚˈveɪʃn̩/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, interpretation /ɪnˌtɜːpɹəˈteɪʃən/, emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, anxious /ˈæŋkʃəs/
- Long words — get the stress right: fundamental /ˌfʌn.dəˈmɛn.təl/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, interpretation /ɪnˌtɜːpɹəˈteɪʃən/, complicated /ˈkɑm.plɪˌkeɪ.tɪd/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/
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 observation, drill, narrative.
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.