Shadowing Practice: I Can't Keep Doing This - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
Guys, I can't do this anymore.
2
Something needs to change.
3
I need to make better quality episodes.
4
Hello, my lovely learners, and welcome to Easy Stories in English,
5
the podcast that will take your English from okay to good and from good to great.
6
I am Ariel Goodbody, your host for this show.
7
In today's episode, I will tell you about some quite dramatic changes that are coming to the podcast.
8
As always, the transcript and PDF are available at easystoriesinenglish.com, and you can find the link in the description.
9
So yes, it's true.
10
I can't keep going on making episodes like this, but before I reveal the shocking truth,
11
I need to tell you the meaning of some words.
12
So if you simply can't wait, just skip to the next chapter.
13
Binge, B-I-N-G-E, means to consume a lot of one thing at one time, in one sitting.
14
Traditionally, it refers to binge drinking, which is when you drink lots of alcohol in one go.
15
It's quite common in the UK, especially at universities.
16
But these days, binging often refers to watching TV shows or eating lots of food.
17
For example, your favourite TV show might drop its new season all in one go
18
and you might binge all the episodes at once.
19
This was a very popular form of releasing TV episodes years ago before Covid.
20
For example, when Orange is the New Black came out, people would binge the whole season.
21
Personally, I'm not much of a binger myself, but I can play video games for hours if I'm not careful.
22
A leap of faith is when you make a really big decision that could go really well or really badly.
23
You're essentially leaping, jumping into the unknown.
24
Moving to China was a big leap of faith for me, but fortunately it is going very well.
25
Watching paint dry isn't really an activity people do, that's the point.
26
It's a phrase we use to talk about something hypothetical that is so so boring.
27
For example, you might say that studying English from a textbook is like watching paint dry
28
and I would agree with you because I think textbooks are a very boring way to learn.
29
When you have a project on the back burner it means you are not actively working on it.
30
If you think about a hob in a kitchen you have four burners
31
and you might put a saucepan on the back burner simmering a sauce for like 40 minutes while you cook some onions,
32
you fry some onions on the front burner.
33
So the idea is often that we leave something on the back burner and come back to it later.
34
I have a lot of things on the back burner in my creative
35
life right now but i'll get to that later when we say
36
that something sucks we mean that it's really bad
37
and this is very colloquial language it's specifically quite american for example i think
38
that public transport in the uk sucks at least outside of london
39
but the quality of dairy products so milk
40
and yogurt in china also sucks
41
so sucking is universal fortnight means two weeks it literally comes from 14 nights we use this in british english
42
but they don't use it in american English.
43
So when they would say bi-weekly or once every two weeks, we would say fortnightly or once a fortnight.
44
When something kicks in, usually a medicine, it starts being effective.
45
For example, many painkillers, many medicines that reduce the level of pain,
46
take about 30 minutes to kick in.
47
We can also talk about an emotion kicking in.
48
For example, in today's episode I'm talking about fear kicking in, when suddenly fear rushes through your body,
49
a bit like a medicine taking effect.
50
Anodyne, A-N-O-D-Y-N-E, which by the way is one of my favorite words,
51
words, means boring, specifically in a way where something has been designed to be as inoffensive and bland as possible.
52
These days it feels like most media is made to either be really inflammatory,
53
to offend as many people as possible, or to be completely anodyne,
54
to be uninteresting and friendly to everyone.
55
A lot of bad pop music is bad precisely because it's anodyne
56
and now with AI anyone can pump out endless anodyne songs,
57
stories, images because AI literally just takes the soup of everything
58
that exists and mixes it all together and creates very average anodyne work.
59
An anecdote, A-N-E-C-D-O-T-E, is a story from real life.
60
Anecdotes are usually quite short, it's usually observing a situation.
61
We also talk about anecdotal evidence, which is when you don't have scientific studies about something,
62
but lots of people talk about experiencing the same thing.
63
And usually anecdotal evidence is what inspires scientists to study something in the first place.
64
Finally, a preview is when you get to see a bit of something before it's released.
65
Later on, I'll be giving you a preview of an upcoming episode, so look forward to that.
66
All right, let's get into the episode.
67
So I've been doing the podcasting thing for a while now, almost eight years.
68
When I started, I was just a newbie teacher taking my first steps of independence out in the world.
69
I loved podcasts, I binged them for hours every day, and I was looking for a creative outlet, a way to share my writing,
70
and so Easy Stories in English came together.
71
I'm no longer that same shy 25 year old.
72
I've been through COVID, as we all have, had a rather complicated health and gender journey,
73
and last year I moved halfway across the world to China.
74
I'm not the only one who's changed.
75
The podcast market, or content landscape as people like to call it,
76
is completely different now in 2026 than it was in 2019.
77
I talked about binging your favourite shows before, but this is becoming less and less common worldwide.
78
Increasingly, rather than diving deep into one creator's content,
79
people are watching what the algorithm serves them, and the algorithm offers a buffet of endless variety.
80
Never before have more people been competing for your ears.
81
Production standards have changed too.
82
I originally started a podcast because it required less effort than video,
83
but these days podcasts are expected to have video too, And not just any video,
84
but tightly edited, well-shot feasts for the eyes.
85
Well, I don't know.
86
You decide whether I fit that bill.
87
Finally, tastes have changed.
88
I remember the days when a 10-minute YouTube video was considered long.
89
Now I'll happily sit down to watch a five-hour documentary about the history of North Korean pop culture.
90
Not in one sitting.
91
Although if you do want to watch that video, I'll link it in the description.
92
It's fascinating.
93
But I digress.
94
These days I come home from work, sit down on the sofa, and hungrily wait for videos from my favourite YouTubers.
95
And when those videos arrive, I eat them up.
96
ContraPoints is one such example.
97
A brilliant YouTuber who releases videos about once a year now.
98
But they're not just any videos.
99
They're well-researched, they're beautifully shot, and most importantly, in my opinion, masterfully written.
100
So where does this put me and my little show?
101
Well, first of all, I've never really been like the other English learning podcasts.
102
Hello everyone and welcome to the BBC Boring British Club,
103
where you can learn English by listening to the most tedious, dull conversations possible.
104
Did you know that tedious and dull are synonyms of boring?
105
If you haven't shot yourself from boredom yet, congratulations!
106
You just raised your IELTS level by 0.1.
107
Today we're talking about boring things in the past tense.
108
Sandra, what did you do on the weekend?
109
Well, Ariel, on the weekend, I watched paint dry.
110
I counted the number of fridges in my house.
111
I have just one fridge.
112
And I thought about rabbits.
113
Thinking about rabbits?
114
Do you have any pets, Sandra?
115
Oh, sorry.
116
We're using the past tense.
117
Did you go to the pet shop on the weekend, Sandra?
118
No, I didn't.
119
But I thought about rabbits anyway.
120
Careful, Sandra.
121
That sounds a bit too into...
122
Oh, crap.
123
Past tense.
124
Sandra, I once thought about rabbits and it was very interesting,
125
but I was part of a show called Boring British Club,
126
which had only the dullest and most tedious conversations.
127
And it was a bit too interesting so i got into trouble
128
did your boss tell you off in this story it's not a story sandra it's real
129
and yes my boss told me off and I almost lost my job.
130
Well then, I suppose I should tell you about the other thing I did on the weekend.
131
On the weekend, I looked for a new job.
132
I wish they were like that.
133
Unfortunately, they're more like five words for walking down the stairs.
134
You know, not my thing.
135
My thing is a bit more...
136
We're learning English with a real good buddy.
137
Woo!
138
Woo!
139
Woo!
140
Learning English with a real good buddy.
141
But as I've said, times are changing and I'm kind of getting bored of my own style.
142
For a long time now, I've been wanting to work on deeper projects,
143
longer stories with music and sound effects and just a general higher quality of production value.
144
I've done some of these episodes in the past few years.
145
The Juniper Tree, Hamburg, The City of Water, and Doing Evil are the three episodes that come to mind,
146
but these took me a long time to make.
147
The first two I did while I was working full-time on the podcast,
148
and I started writing The Juniper Tree in October 2022,
149
which means it took me almost three years to go from start to finish.
150
And I work full-time now, so if I started that episode now, I don't even know how long it would take.
151
I've fallen into this pattern where I have these big, juicy projects on the back burner,
152
but because I'm always rushing to get the next episode out on schedule, I can never finish them.
153
Or for example, when I'm going on a holiday, I don't want to be working,
154
so I'm in this mad rush to batch a bunch of episodes before I go away
155
and I can just never take those things off the back burner.
156
The juniper tree is not an exception.
157
I have many projects, both episodes and other things related to the podcast, that I've been trying to do for years.
158
It's not an exaggeration.
159
The last straw for me, the thing that made me say, okay, enough is enough, was the Cambodia episode.
160
Because the Cambodia episode sucked.
161
Like, I'm sorry, it just sucked.
162
It was bad.
163
I only talked about Cambodia for half of the episode, and I didn't even go into the actually interesting stuff because I didn't want to cry.
164
Honestly, it was emotionally, intellectually, and artistically lazy.
165
So here's the deal.
166
I need more time to work on episodes.
167
That's it.
168
That's the big leap of faith I've been building up to this whole time.
169
Because here's the thing, in 2019 it made sense to do one episode a week
170
because it was the era of quantity over quality.
171
When I came back from my hiatus in 2022, it made sense to switch to Once a Fortnight for my own mental health.
172
But now I really need to do something that I feel creatively proud of and that actually fits the content landscape.
173
And that is bigger, juicier episodes, but fewer episodes.
174
Really, the only reason I didn't do this before is I was scared.
175
The longer you do one project online, the more fear kicks in.
176
Because you have an audience now, and audiences have expectations.
177
You've got to always come up with new and better content.
178
Every year there's more competition.
179
And finally, the geniuses at YouTube and Spotify could just roll out of bed one day,
180
change the algorithm and make you disappear like that.
181
I would also be lying if I said money wasn't a factor in this decision.
182
When I was self-employed working on the podcast, I was terrified of making any changes that might affect my income.
183
But now I have a full-time teaching job that leaves me very comfortable, so I have no reason not to experiment.
184
Because I have big plans.
185
At the start, I thought I was just a teacher and just a writer.
186
But over time i began to realize you know what i'm not half bad at this voice acting thing
187
and now i'm like screw it let's go for it music sound effects epic stories
188
so much content online is lazy anodyne simplistic i want to make art i want to make deep real art
189
that shakes the mind and stirs the soul And I want you to learn English at the same time.
190
So yes, easy stories in English is changing.
191
There won't be a regular schedule anymore.
192
Just saying that terrifies me.
193
But don't worry, I'm not going to leave you waiting eight months between episodes.
194
I'll find little ways to fill in the gaps.
195
Actually, that's where I think the unscripted content, the little anecdotes, the shorter stories will be perfect.
196
And I'll also be giving you previews of those big juicy stories that are to come.
197
Speaking of which, here's a preview of what I'm working on at the moment.
198
When the ten suns rose, it was like a fireworks display going off in Houyi's face.
199
It took all his strength not to turn away.
200
You nine suns who have joined the sky, Houyi cried.
201
I come to ask you, why?
202
Our people suffer, our rivers dry.
203
Won't you leave and let us be?
204
Three of the sons circled around towards Houyi, as if curious about his message.
205
But they remained silent.
206
He could not tell if they understood. So Houyi spoke again.
207
you nine sons who have joined the sky hoi cried i
208
come to ask you why our people suffer our rivers dry won't you leave
209
and let us be another three of the sons came forward but these three did not stay quiet.
210
The moment Houyi's words came out, their laughter boomed.
211
It thundered in Houyi's ears and made the back of his eyes itch.
212
But still, the young man did not give up.
213
You nine suns who have joined the sky, Huyi cried.
214
I come to ask you why our people suffer, our rivers dry.
215
Won't you leave and let us be?
216
The next three suns came and these three did not find Huyi's words amusing.
217
In fact, they began to boil, deepening in colour until they were as red as a lobster's tail
218
and before Hou Yi knew what was happening one of the sons was shooting towards him.
219
Hou Yi leapt for his bow and arrow.
220
He readied the arrow and fired, striking the sun mere meters from his face.
221
The sun let out an animal scream,
222
breaking into strips of red silk which caught fire, burning Hoi's face.
223
But no sooner had the first sun gone than the second one threw itself at Hoi
224
and again he let off an arrow, tearing the creature apart and showering the mountain top in fire.
225
The battle continued in this way.
226
One by one, the suns rained down on him and Hou Yi shot so fast he thought his fingers might break.
227
Three, four, five, six, seven.
228
He soon lost count.
229
The ground around him was transformed to magma, covered with the remains of the once powerful suns.
230
Finally, one sun remained on the horizon, shining like a fresh bruise.
231
Huyi raised his bow, ready to fire, when...
232
Wait!
233
He almost fell over.
234
Behind him stood a Taoist monk, his blue robes flapping in the wind.
235
Young man, that is our original sun.
236
If you shoot it down, you will throw the world into darkness.
237
As an artist, you always have to change.
238
Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but the world is changing quite a lot right now.
239
We need powerful stories more than ever.
240
I kind of hate saying that like, oh, stories are going to change the world.
241
But it's kind of true.
242
It's like when you learn a language and you say, oh, I'm learning English for travel or for work.
243
But really, the biggest change
244
that comes from learning a language is the deep connections you form because you were able to speak it.
245
And that is something we simply cannot predict.
246
So, before we finish, let's just recap all the new words I've taught you this episode.
247
If you're new to the show, maybe this has inspired you to go back and binge all the previous episodes.
248
And if you're a long-time listener, please support me in this leap of faith.
249
You will have to wait more than a fortnight for the next episode.
250
Hopefully it won't feel like watching paint dry.
251
But if the loneliness starts to kick in, you can always follow me on social media where I'll be posting previews of upcoming episodes.
252
Finally, if this idea sucks, if these bigger, juicier episodes end up being uninspired and anodyne,
253
I guess I can always go back to telling little anecdotes from my everyday life.
254
The only word I haven't used is on the back burner, which is fitting because things left on the back burner often gets ignored.
255
So, comment and let me know what is one leap of faith you've been considering but have been too scared to make.
256
Who knows, maybe I can help give you a little push.
257
Thanks for listening and may you learn English happily ever after.
258
Bye!
✨ Recommend Video
B1221 sentences
English Tips | The Tommy Podcast | Episode 12
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B2114 sentences
Everything changes when you stop playing it safe
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B11
446 sentences
Learn English With Story 🔥 The Easy Life | Level 3 English Listening & Speaking Practice
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B12
306 sentences
Learn English Fast with the English Learning Podcast Episode 1
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B11
354 sentences
English Podcast for Easy Daily Life Conversation | Talking About Ikigai 🌸 | Learn English Naturally
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B12
9 sentences
Home alone for the weekend | English listening practice | Bonus 161
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B1277 sentences
The Hidden Stage Between Beginner and Fluent
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B13
197 sentences
give me 14 minutes and I will change how you learn English forever
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B1361 sentences
沒時間學英文？⏰ 每天早上 10 分鐘就能進步｜改變英文的晨間習慣 ☀️｜英語Podcast 第24集
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B15
277 sentences
Why Your English Isn’t Improving (10 Real Reasons & Fixes) | English On The Way
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B14
373 sentences
English Podcast For Easy English Conversation | If You're Ambitious But Lazy, Please Watch This...
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B1329 sentences
English Listening and Speaking Practice | Learning English Conversation 🗣️ | English Podcast
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
Why Practice Speaking with This Video?
Want to boost your English speaking skills while learning real, everyday language? This video is perfect for shadowspeak practice—its conversational tone and natural flow make it easy to mimic pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation. Whether you’re prepping for IELTS speaking practice or just want to sound more fluent, the casual yet clear dialogue helps you master phrases people use daily. Plus, learning through a story (or in this case, a podcast update) keeps practice fun—no more boring drills! Use it as a shadow speak tool: pause, repeat, and match the speaker’s pace. It’s like having a friendly tutor guiding you through real-life communication.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
The video is packed with practical phrases to add to your toolkit. Let’s break down a few:
- "On the back burner": This idiom describes putting a project aside temporarily. Example: "I have a novel on the back burner while I focus on work." It’s great for talking about priorities.
- "Kicks in": Used when something (like a medicine or emotion) starts working. Try: "The excitement kicked in when I saw the concert tickets." It adds vividness to your speech.
- "Watching paint dry": A funny way to say something is extremely boring. "Studying alone feels like watching paint dry—let’s practice together!" Perfect for casual conversations.
These expressions are gold for learn English with YouTube sessions—they’re not just textbook terms, but real language you’ll hear in movies, podcasts, and chats.
Common Pronunciation Traps
Don’t let tricky words trip you up! Here are a few to watch: - "Anodyne" (A-N-O-D-Y-N-E): Stress the second syllable: "uh-NOH-dyne." It’s easy to misplace the emphasis. - "Fortnight": British English for two weeks. Pronounce it "FOR-tnight," not "for-NIGHT." - "Binge": Short "i" sound, like "binj"—avoid saying "binge" with a long "e" (bee-nj). Practice these with shadowing site techniques: listen, pause, and repeat until they feel natural. You’ve got this!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've been doing · I've been wanting · I've been trying |
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If you shoot it down, you will throw |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been designed · I've been · have changed |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | has been designed · is made · are expected |
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.