Shadowing Practice: I Dropped Out of SCHOOL for YOUTUBE - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

190 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

Have you ever been curious about how much your favorite YouTubers actually make?

Or how someone can even sustain themselves with this type of job?

I didn't even know being a YouTuber could be someone's actual job.

You know what?

I've never even thought about them being real people.

Kinda like how you go home after school realizing your teacher isn't an NPC and actually has a life of their own?

Am I even real?

Being from a Filipino background with parents who have very high expectations, you only have a few choices in life.

Being a nurse, a doctor, a lawyer, or if you didn't want to be any of those, a homeless.

Gee, I don't want to be homeless, so I guess I got to choose, huh?

What is the easiest, quickest medical field job that makes lots of money?

Growing up, I felt pressured to follow what my parents wanted for my future,

and I know other second -generation immigrant kids or just kids with super strict parents in general can relate.

Especially when your immigrant parents are constantly telling you about how hard they had to hustle to escape their country

To give us our privileged life of being able to afford to go to college

And how we should be grateful

because we didn't have to row ourselves in a bucket at

five years old to get to school two hours away from home

Being so young, you just trust everything that your parents say

So if they say that being an artist will get me ending up on the streets

Then of course I would believe that

Surely they knew better than me because they lived through a lot more than I have

Because I didn't want to be homeless, I made sure to do everything I thought I had to.

I became a stinky, overachieving nerd in high school who took all AP classes and even studied at a second high school,

which was my medical academy.

Yes, I attended two high schools as if going to one wasn't traumatic enough.

During high school, I worked in hospitals as a medical assistant doing pretty crazy things like observing surgeries, assisting at clinics, and basically just overworking myself.

Working at that hospital was so traumatic I experienced things I don't think any sensitive mentally ill high schooler should have

But that could be a whole video on its own

Basically, I sacrificed a normal high school life like going to school dances

Or simply having lunch with my friends

All so I could secure my future

But looking back, I never sacrificed time for art and drawing

No matter how tired I was

or how much I needed to study for my exams I always somehow made time to draw

Drawing is and always has been one of my greatest joys in life from the moment I became sentient up to now

It's one of the only times I feel true fulfillment and happiness

When I was younger, I would draw a lot of funny comics, daydream about my original characters and their lore

And create those YouTube speedpaints and art tutorials with nightcore background music

But I never thought to pursue art as a career

That was never an option in my mind

because my dad always threatened to financially cut me off and not support me if I were to ever try.

I also never sacrifice time for playing games.

Games like...

The sponsor of today's video, Azure Lane.

Brought to you by YoStar, Azure Lane is a free -to -play naval warfare game where the warships you battle with are actually cute anime girls!

Cute anime girls with big, big rigging!

Azurlane combines a mix of 2D -sized girl and tactical warfare

and badass hot warship waifus to bring you a unique and captivating gameplay experience.

With over 300 collectible shipgirls, you can assemble your warship dream team

and fight alongside them as their commander to break through intensive enemy gunfire to defeat them.

Azurlane is also currently celebrating their 6th anniversary event, Windborn Skill Wings, where these beautiful new shipgirls are available for players to obtain.

10 new skins that belong to the Wild West and Swimsuit Series are also waiting for players to grab during the event, along with a new

Frontier Saloon -themed furniture set available in the shop, a 6th anniversary

Lucky Barrel, and a bunch of other rewards waiting for you to grab.

So don't wait any further.

Azurlane is available for download on both iOS and Android.

Click the link in the description to jump straight into battle and start leading your fleet into victory.

Thank you, Azurlane, for sponsoring today's video.

I remember telling my friends that once I graduate high school, I won't be able to draw anymore,

and it'll be time for me to grow up and start focusing on my career.

But whenever I said things like that, deep down, I knew a part of me wasn't gonna let this happen.

Be a nurse?

Are you kidding?

Can you really see yourself living like that for the rest of your life?

But if we have financial stability, we'll be happy.

Maybe we'll even have time to draw sometimes.

Money doesn't always mean happiness.

Being a nurse or a doctor or whatever, you'll be tired all the time.

But you don't know what the future will be like or if we'll have enough time or money.

Or you only have one life.

Can you really say you won't have regrets when we're old?

So I ended up going to college for a field called speech and language pathology.

Or simply speech therapy.

For those who don't know, speech therapy treats people with speech or language delays or disorders

or swallowing disorders and helps them speak as clearly as possible

or learn other ways to communicate to the best of - their abilities.

I got a little bit of experience while I was in my medical academy and I really tried to believe that,

you know, maybe playing Mr. Potato Head with kids while teaching them how to speak isn't so bad.

It was rewarding at times and relaxing for the most part, so maybe I would even have energy to do art on the side.

I graduated college and went on to pursue my master's degree in graduate school, but before I started school again,

I spent my summer like everyone else, binge watching whatever was entertaining on YouTube at the time.

And this is when I happened to stumble on the YouTube animation community.

I started spending more and more time enjoying lots of this type of content from

so many different creators that eventually I felt inspired to try making my own storytime video.

I never thought to pursue content creation as a consistent creator or even grow my channel at all.

I really just wanted to make a hee hee haha story for myself

that I can always laugh at later and send to the homies

But as time went on and I started making more stories for fun I realized more

and more people started watching my videos and my channel started growing and growing and growing

I started getting hundreds of comments

and deep heartfelt messages about how my stories were making people laugh in ways they've never laughed before

Or how they cheered them up in their lowest times or how much I've inspired so many people

My channel eventually got monetized and I started getting sponsorship offers

And for the first time I started to truly feel proud and motivated to work hard for something

And then I was faced with reality again summer flew by

and grad school was in a couple of days I wouldn't have time to do youtube or draw.

It was time for me to grow up I knew

it would be very difficult to balance life as a content creator while also being in a graduate program

100

Where I had to study and work even harder than before I kept thinking, you know, maybe it is possible I mean the amazeng did it

101

but even he expressed to me that although it is possible to balance both

102

It's really difficult and he was right.

103

It really didn't take long for me to crash

104

and burn I became exhausted working on youtube videos and exhausted from working as a student speech therapist

105

And at some point I just couldn't keep up with my job properly and became more and more overwhelmed

106

Also before anyone says that playing mr

107

Potato head with kids is easy.

108

Why are you complaining?

109

Okay, my job was a lot more complex than mr

110

Potato head I just didn't want to bore you guys with a medical lecture

111

or terminology speech therapy is a lot more complex and I just don't want to get into it.

112

But if you've worked around kids or been around kids, you also know that that shit is tiring.

113

I would get reprimanded a lot by my supervisor for not performing up to standard or being quick enough or quick thinking.

114

And normally someone in my position would be like, okay, got it.

115

I'll work on the things I need to improve on so I can be better.

116

But that wasn't the case.

117

Despite being told all those discouraging things about not being good enough, I really didn't care about what she was saying.

118

The crazy thing was I didn't even want to improve.

119

This was never my dream.

120

This was never my passion.

121

I kept trying to tell myself it was for years,

122

but it was all just to cope with the fact that my parents didn't give me a choice to do anything else.

123

All I felt was guilt that I wasn't giving 100 % to these children who really needed help.

124

This was no longer school where I could just half -ass my schoolwork

125

and just study enough to pass because now other lives were being affected by my choices.

126

So now what?

127

Do I choose the path that gives me a secure future

128

but leaves me with no time to do what makes me happy?

129

Or do I choose my passion that's starting to succeed right now with opportunities flowing in

130

but has an unknown future with no promise of stability?

131

Do I have to choose between the two?

132

I got home, dramatically cried in my shower for hours,

133

and then I sat down in front of my laptop to take one last look at my YouTube channel,

134

just staring at it, hoping for some kind of sign to tell me what to do.

135

And then without thinking any deeper, I ended it.

136

I dropped out of school.

137

I sent this email, then sat on the floor of my room in just pure shock.

138

Like I couldn't believe what I just did.

139

In my head, I didn't feel a weight lifted off of my shoulders.

140

I felt like I just wasted years sacrificing my normal high school life, four years of college

141

and my whole life all the way up until now i had also just done the unthinkable

142

and made the very decision my parents threatened to cut me off for all

143

i could really think to do was call my parents in

144

a panic to get whatever horrors were waiting for me over with my parents answered

145

and i immediately start melting down and saying i did something really bad i'm

146

so sorry i didn't know what else to do i didn't think anymore

147

it was really hard are you pregnant are you pregnant

148

Are you pregnant?

149

Are you pregnant?

150

What?

151

No!

152

I dropped out of school.

153

I'm sorry.

154

I tried my best.

155

I really tried my best.

156

But for the past few years I've become really unhappy

157

and stressed out and I just I don't want to do this anymore

158

This isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life

159

Is that it?

160

What do you mean is that it?

161

Oh my god, you scared us without your pregnancy

162

Of course, we push you to be in the medical field

163

because we're your parents and we don't want you to struggle for money

164

But in the end, it's your life.

165

If they're not happy, then don't do it.

166

Was it really this easy all along?

167

I mean, they did give me a whole lecture about needing a plan for what I should do next, but surprisingly, they were accepting.

168

And I don't know what suddenly changed them to be understanding of my decision.

169

Maybe it's because they initially thought that my scary bad news was that I somehow became pregnant,

170

which made the shock of me dropping out way less impactful.

171

Or maybe it's because they felt really bad thinking about how much emotional turmoil I was going through In the end,

172

I'm just grateful that they were understanding I know

173

that my parents really just wanted the best for me so that I wouldn't suffer and struggle as much as they did

174

So more than regretful or resentful I'm grateful that I found the courage to follow my own dreams and my own path

175

And who knows?

176

Maybe I wouldn't have found the courage to do so if I didn't experience all that I did

177

As cliche as it is to say, you only live once.

178

You really do only have one life.

179

And I wanted to start living it for myself.

180

Of course, I have to work harder than ever before to navigate this new path in life

181

while also thinking about other career options I can pursue because having a plan B is always important, guys.

182

Don't go telling your parents I told you to quit school.

183

I still get random existential crises and have intrusive thoughts that I'm failing in life compared to my peers.

184

But I'm trying not to be so hard on myself and just take life one day at a time

185

And just be proud that I'm doing my best in all the ways that I can and living for my own happiness

186

Have you ever experienced dropping out of school or struggled to figure out what you wanted to do?

187

I'd love to read other people's experiences or even advice in the comments

188

It feels really nice to not feel alone

189

And I hope others out there can also feel just a little bit better to know that you're not alone

190

And for all just living life for the first time Thank you.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Same Channel

WE WENT TO A SPICY BUTLER CAFE (Ft. MOO)

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

Growing Up POOR in AMERICA

TeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

228 sentences

Câu chuyện thay đổi cuộc đời mình - Q&A (english)

TeensDaily Conversation

37 sentences

My Dad Made Me Poor `Cuz I Was “Too Spoiled” | Animated Series | Between Lockers Episode 6

TeensDaily Conversation

276 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 190 sentences and 2435 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:31. The speaker talks fast, about 194 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 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
sacrifice noun	/ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/	Originally, the killing (and often burning) of a human being or an animal as an offering to a deity; later, also the offering of an object to a deity.
pursue verb	/pɚˈsu/	To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase.
happiness noun	/ˈhæpinɪs/	The emotion of being happy; joy; elation.
nurse noun	/nɝs/	Anyone performing this role, regardless of training or profession.
grateful adjective	/ˈɡɹeɪtf(ə)l/	Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful.
creator noun	/kɹiːˈeɪ̯təː/	Something or someone which creates or makes something.
shock noun	/ʃɔk/	A sudden, heavy impact.
passion noun	/ˈpæʃən/	A true desire sustained or prolonged.
reward noun	/ɹɪˈwɔɹd/	Something of value given in return for an act.
courage noun	/ˈkʌ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/	The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate.
disorder noun	/dɪsˈɔɹdɚ/	Absence of order; state of not being arranged in an orderly manner.
stability noun	/stəˈbɪlɪti/	The condition of being stable or in equilibrium, and thus resistant to change.
anime noun	/ˈæn.ɪ.meɪ/	An animated work that originated in Japan, regardless of the artistic style.
lecture noun	/ˈlɛk.t͡ʃə/	A spoken lesson or exposition, usually delivered to a group.
warfare noun	/ˈwɔɹfɛɹ/	The waging of war or armed conflict against an enemy.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
grow up verb	To mature and become an adult.
break through verb	To gain popularity.
drop out verb	To leave (school, a race, etc.) prematurely and voluntarily.
end up verb	To bring to a conclusion.
figure out verb	To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
keep up with verb	To manage to remain beside or just behind someone or something that is moving away from one.
live through verb	To survive a difficult period or event
look back verb	To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight).

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

I've never even thought about them being real people.
Am I even real?
Can you really say you won't have regrets when we're old?
Do I have to choose between the two?
What do you mean is that it?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	if we have financial stability, we'll be
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	Have you ever been · I've never even thought · has been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was faced · being told · being affected
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	those who don · children who really

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 64 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/, therapist /ˈθɛɹəpɪst/, pathology /pəˈθɒləd͡ʒi/, unthinkable /ʌnˈθɪŋkəbəl/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shock /ʃɔk/, passion /ˈpæʃən/, animation /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, warship /ˈwɔɹˌʃɪp/
Long words — get the stress right: stability /stəˈbɪlɪti/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/, animation /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/, surprisingly /səˈpɹaɪzɪŋli/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/

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 sacrifice, pursue, happiness.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: I Dropped Out of SCHOOL for YOUTUBE - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

Same Channel

WE WENT TO A SPICY BUTLER CAFE (Ft. MOO)

My Brazilian Wax Horror Story

Growing Up POOR in AMERICA

Recommend Video

Câu chuyện thay đổi cuộc đời mình - Q&A (english)

My Dad Made Me Poor `Cuz I Was “Too Spoiled” | Animated Series | Between Lockers Episode 6

I'm quitting YouTube for my new job...

my experience with growing up "ugly"

I love being unemployed

Hobbies

My first video... woah

CLASS 8-UNIT 3 TEENAGERS (practice shadowing)

A Supermodel Faked Being My Girlfriend

Having a "Weird" Phase...

Career

Life of a Kpop Idol: explained by a kpop idol… || Prince Vatani React