Shadowing Practice: I Self-Hosted for a Year... Here's What I'd Do Differently. - Learn English Speaking with Video

Almost a year ago, I was tired of constantly paying big tech companies money every single month

and embarked on the journey of self-hosting, opening the doors to a rabbit hole that's completely changed our life.

Now, thanks to super thorough guides online, self-hosting is more accessible than ever.

You don't have to have a degree in home networking and coding and Linux and whatever else to do it.

This is my home server that's completely replaced a ton of cloud services like Apple iCloud, movie and tv streaming services

and this is our work server that's on its way to replacing google drive

when we upgrade our internet

and this other little pc has our network wide ad blocker

on it anyways we have self-hosted a lot of different services

on a bunch of different machines is it all perfect absolutely not in fact there are

so many things that i wish i had known before doing any of this

so this video is for the me pre-self hosting

but also for any of you who are interested in getting started

but are overwhelmed or nervous about where it will all lead you

but it's worth it this video is sponsored by granola

which can come in real handy when writing down notes

while setting up your server it's an ai assisted notepad

that helps you put your notes to better use by actually giving you time to take action

but more on them later in the video the first lesson is one

that i wish i could apply to every part of my life since it could save

so much time and so much money and that's the self-host things

that you actually plan on using on the daily basis it's like how steam sales go live every year

and suddenly you're buying two thousand dollars worth of games for a measly 150 bucks

and fast forward another year

and well you played one of those games all the way

through that's what self-hosting can be like there are endless things

that you can run on your server in fact the list of free self-hosted projects alone has over 1500

listings and that's just the free stuff.

Just looking at it you're probably like let's replace everything in my life.

Why not right?

Sort of feels like if you don't self-host it then you're missing out

but the truth is hosting more things just makes your system way more complicated

and your unused apps just waste precious space and hardware you could have been using for something better.

And I learned this the hard way.

I tried replacing Google Drive, Google Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Reminders, Tasks, Spotify, Netflix

but the more stuff you host the more maintenance you have

to do just pick out three to five things you use

on a regular basis all the time that's costing you money

i made a list of all my recommended self-hosting software i would install

if i started over in another video but i'll link it down below

but that leads us into the second lesson

that i wish i knew before starting self-hosting

and that's to do decently thorough research and try out different softwares

and services before committing if you take movie

and tv hosting alone there's already three obvious options

that come to mind plex jellyfin and emby They all technically do the same thing, which is host your media and present them to you in a way that looks like a streaming service.

And it's probably easy to just pick one and commit, but behind the hood, there's differences between them that might make one better than the other.

Like how everything on Jellyfin is completely free and completely off the cloud.

You control all your data, including watching habits, logging info, but you have to tinker and finagle it a bit more.

Where MB and Plex have you create an account on their servers

and charge you a bit extra to watch your content remotely while offering you a more polished experience.

So do a bit of research before spinning something up.

And even after the research, just spin up some different things to test it out.

And speaking of research, if you're someone who absolutely loves playing around with servers, or you just love switch and click videos, we are hiring for writers on our channel.

Check out the details in the description below.

It's fun.

Which leads us to the third lesson.

And that is, there are multiple ways to do the same thing beyond just using different apps.

Take accessing your services when you're outside of your local network, for example.

If you want to listen to music on your server while you're driving on the go, there are super simple ways like installing tailscale on all your devices and VPNing into your device that way.

Or you can get a bit more complicated and set up a reverse proxy with a pretty domain name.

It's not that one way is actually better than the other, but more what are you willing to do and what features you really want.

When self-hosting, you'll need to do a lot of upfront research, like watching this video.

Sometimes though, looking through haphazardly taken notes after the fact can be just as confusing as going back to the sources

and starting all over again.

Wouldn't it just be great if you could ask your notes to find what information you're looking for?

Our sponsor, Granola, does just that.

It's like a note-taking app and an LOM had a baby.

A really smart baby that gleans insights from your notes that you hadn't even noticed before.

As an AI notepad, you can search through your notes using plain language prompts like

how did I set up my Jellyfin server using Docker instead of keyword searches.

And it's not just able to search your notes, but also analyze them.

I collected a bunch of comments from you guys in one of our videos and saved them to a granola note.

Then I made a custom recipe by tweaking a pre-configured one that comes with granola.

It checked for blind spots I may have regarding the topic in the comments.

Now I can consider those for food for thought for future videos.

It's not just useful for singular notes.

Imagine you want to find all your notes pertaining to a particular topic, like a summary of my pending video ideas.

In granola, it's searching for meaning and context.

It can find all my notes on that topic and create a quick list of all my unused video ideas.

New members get 100% off their first month.

Another huge example is using Docker to spin up all your apps.

One is in the command line with flags.

Another is to use Docker Compose with a YAML file.

You can even use different apps like Portainer or Dockage

that manages all your Docker apps but in an easier and sort of fancier way.

And if this sounds like analysis paralysis, fear not, because you can always switch from one way to another.

If anything, you're learning a lot by trying out all the different ways.

And if some of this sounds super scary to you, there are lots of guides out there.

But if you're struggling a bit more than you'd like to, one of the ways I really enjoyed learning about Docker is through boot.dev.

Now, we do have an affiliate relationship with them, but they're basically gamifying the learning process of Linux, Docker, and a bunch of back-end coding programs like Python and JavaScript.

Also linked below.

But no matter which apps or services you end up committing, This next lesson is one I wish someone just yelled at me at the top of their lungs.

It will literally save your life and your server from so much headache.

And that's to write things down.

Whatever random Docker change you made to the original YAML file example you found online, write it down.

If you changed a folder or labeled something different, write it down.

There's a chance that you'll have to remake your apps and containers in the future.

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Just save yourself some time and write yourself a personal server manual.

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But that day will be in the very distant future so distant

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that you have long since forgotten what weird tinkering thing you did to get your thing to work in the first place.

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Which brings me to passwords.

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Write down your passwords, especially if you are changing them, which you should because you shouldn't use a default one.

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A password manager could come in handy.

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No, I'm not jumping into a sponsorship, but that would have been smart, huh?

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Some services come with passwords by default that you can change, but sometimes we get a bit lazy.

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Others have certain requirements that might be different than than the one you typically use, it would just greatly help a lot to keep a log at everything for reference.

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Speaking of things you wish you have, especially when things take a bad turn, this next lesson is one of the most important things that a lot of people understand,

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but actually don't do themselves.

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And that's to have a real backup.

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You'll probably see this all the time, but RAID is not a backup.

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RAID are just disks arranged so that you can have some redundancy in them.

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You can have mirrors, where half your disks are just a copy of the other half.

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You can have RAID 5 where you lose a single drive and you can still restore your data.

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Now, I haven't had a drive fail personally, but I've heard the biggest problem with RAID is that when you make a server, you buy all the same drives from the same batch from the same factory,

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and this makes them the same age.

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So if you lose one drive, there's a large likelihood that another drive will go down while you're restoring it, which leads us to our backup.

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This is where the 3-2-1 rule comes in, which stands for three copies of your data, two different media platforms, and one copy is off-site.

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Now, looking at this, you're probably thinking, I can't afford that.

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And in these trying times, you might be right.

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Storage costs a lot.

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It's really precious.

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And if you only host the services you actually use, you can save a bunch of space.

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Say you have two servers, each with two 4TB drives that are mirrored.

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If it's about 150 per 4TB, you're looking at $600 worth of drives, along with whatever old laptop or computer you plan on using as the brain of your server.

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That would come out to be $1,000 for your main server, your backup server, and potentially an online long-term solution using something like Amazon Glacier,

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which lets you backup a lot of data for pretty cheap.

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But the catch is you can't access it often since it's long-term cold storage.

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But nevertheless, even with only four terabytes of usable data, that's a lot of movies, images, music, and shows.

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And when you're done with something, just get rid of it.

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Storage is precious.

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Don't hoard media for the sake of it.

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Keep what matters.

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If you don't want to store much media, then even a one terabyte old laptop can make a great server.

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Now the cost is relatively low.

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So the question would be, what are you wanting to do with your server?

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And is the data important enough you would need a backup for it because

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if it is then you'll have to consider the cost of

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the backup too speaking of expensive things there's more you have

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to spend than just your hard-earned cash money this is something i've learned throughout the past year and it's

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that a server takes a lot of time time to set

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up tinker update maintain at times it might be the only thing on your mind especially

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if you're working on an all-consuming problem like why is my

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new album not showing on my jellyfin The initial setup takes time to format your hard drive, spin up your apps.

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Then you have to take time out of your day to troubleshoot if something goes wrong.

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And chances are, something will go wrong.

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Even with the most in-depth guides and tutorials, there's going to be very specific things that happen to you because of your laptop or internet or network or whatever.

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Then you have to read a ton of forum posts and try all the potential solutions.

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It's not something I recommend if you're a super busy person, especially if you just want to go home from work, turn on a movie right away.

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I've had situations where I do just that and suddenly the NAS isn't connecting properly or the reverse proxy is broken.

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Now I just have to go into the pipeline and see where the things broke.

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One time, I swear, everything was fine.

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But the ISP just changed our public IP address, which broke the proxy.

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And I had no idea.

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There's no tech support.

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It's just you.

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This is even more painful when you have family members relying on you for your media.

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Yes, I'm talking to myself.

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You know it's tough when you can't get Bluey to work and your kid's screaming at you.

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Anyways, it's not as bad as it seems.

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Self-hosting is super fun, and the best part is you can literally get started on any hardware.

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If it's a tiny Raspberry Pi from ages ago, they're a little expensive now, so it's not worth it.

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Or a super old Dell Optiplex you found on eBay.

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You can find old laptops, use PCs, whatever, for super cheap online, and they can be your initial home lab.

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You can use these more affordable devices as stepping stones to learn and gain experience.

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And when you feel like you really need an upgrade, then you can do that.

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And you definitely don't need a ton of storage right away.

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Just one terabyte can get you started self-hosting plenty of services and store quite a bit of media too.

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So if you've been interested in self-hosting and you still want to do it after knowing all these lessons, try it out.

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We've made a ton of videos self-hosting different things on different computers.

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And it's super fun and it is a worthwhile rabbit hole to go down.

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So get out there.

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Enjoy self-hosting.

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Peace out.

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I hope you've been taking notes on self-hosting because it's a big topic.

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And remember, if you want an AI notepad which works with you like a partner, check out Granola.

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New members get 100% off their first month.

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191 sentences

Why Practice Speaking with This Video?

This video is a goldmine for shadow speech practice. The speaker uses conversational, real-world language—perfect for mimicking natural rhythm and tone. Topics like self-hosting are relatable for tech enthusiasts, making it easier to stay engaged while practicing the shadowing technique. You’ll learn to articulate complex ideas (like server maintenance) clearly, a skill vital for everyday and professional communication. Plus, the casual tone helps you master informal expressions, bridging the gap between classroom English and real-life speech.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

"I wish I had known": This past perfect structure expresses regret about past actions. Practice saying it to sound natural—stress "had known" to emphasize the wish. Example: "I wish I had researched more before starting."
"It's like how...": A common way to explain concepts using analogies. Use this to simplify complex ideas. Try: "Learning self-hosting is like building a house—start with the basics."
"the more... the more...": This comparative structure shows cause and effect. Mimic the speaker’s flow: "The more apps you host, the more maintenance you need."

Common Pronunciation Traps

Watch out for these tricky words: self-hosting (stress "self," not "host"), maintenance (pronounce "ten" clearly, not "tin"), and Jellyfin (soft "J," short "e" like "bell"). The speaker uses a relaxed pace, but don’t rush—focus on matching their intonation, especially in phrases like "absolutely not" (rising tone for emphasis). Use the shadow speak method: pause, repeat, and record yourself to compare. This video is ideal for learn English with YouTube practice—its mix of technical and casual language hones both clarity and fluency.

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 it is then you'll have
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	have been using · you've been taking
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've heard · i've learned · you've been interested
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are overwhelmed · is sponsored · are mirrored

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 →

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Why Practice Speaking with This Video?

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Common Pronunciation Traps

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?