Shadowing Practice: I Stopped Eating For 2 Weeks To Get Thinner - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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My name is Christine, and I stopped eating for two weeks to get thinner.
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My name is Christine, and I stopped eating for two weeks to get thinner.
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Whilst online, I came across a dieting blog by a girl called Sophie,
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who had been on a diet where you eat under 400 calories a day.
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She posted some pictures, and she looked amazing.
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I decided then that becoming thinner would fix my problems,
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everyone would compliment me on my new body,
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and I'd get my confidence back.
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I wasn't the sort of person who did things by halves.
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It was all or nothing.
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I'd read online that if you feel hungry,
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drinking a glass of water will make them go away.
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Even better, a can of Diet Coke and chewing gum would fill you up even more.
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I could do this.
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It was much easier than I expected.
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I purposely overslept, so I had to run to school without having breakfast.
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At lunch, I ate my ration of two carrots and Diet Coke.
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And I told my parents that I was studying for a test,
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so wanted dinner in my room.
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As soon as they'd left,
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I'd flush it down the toilet.
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Although for the first few days,
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I did go hungry, I loved the feeling of control this gave me.
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And the hunger pangs got less and less.
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I didn't want to tell my friends what I was doing in case they copied me,
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but I did tell Sophie,
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the girl who had written the blog,
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that I was inspired by her.
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She told me I had so much willpower to not eat anything at all,
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and that she wished she could be as strong.
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We decided to encourage each other in our quest for perfection.
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Although I loved being in control of my diet and my life,
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after a few days, my friends had finally noticed that I wasn't eating,
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and whenever they asked, I would snap and say that I wasn't feeling well.
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I hated them for trying to sabotage my diet.
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At the weekend, I walked across my city to avoid any temptation of food,
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but I had to sit down a lot because I kept feeling dizzy.
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Then, I started fainting.
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The first time it was when I got up too fast from my bed.
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I woke up, shaken on the floor,
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and vowed to get up more slowly next time.
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Then it happened at school,
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in front of my whole class.
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I was finding it easy to eat nothing now,
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as I had very little appetite anyway.
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I was feeling very, like,
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sick and lethargic most of the time,
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but Sophie told me she was feeling it too,
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and it would probably get better.
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We would message each other into the night with inspiration, quotes, and pictures.
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I stopped really talking to anyone else.
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I passed out in school again,
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but this time they couldn't get me to wake up.
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I finally woke up in hospital on an IV drip,
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extremely confused and feeling worse than I'd ever done in my life.
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My parents were there, and they told me
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that my brain had shut my body down because it just didn't have enough fuel,
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but that I was going to be all right.
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I felt too weak to cry.
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It took me a few weeks to fully recover,
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and luckily, because I hadn't been starving myself for very long,
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I hadn't done any lasting damage.
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I somehow found Sophie's parents,
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and it turns out that she has a very serious eating disorder that has been going on for years.
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I am now seeing a counselor,
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but I consider myself lucky that it didn't get too far.
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I have learned that despite what magazines or blogs might tell you,
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being thinner will not make you happy or sort out your problems.
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It will make you feel isolated and alone.
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Talking about how you are feeling with those who love you will help solve your problems.
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If you have any crazy dieting stories,
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please share in the comments below.
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And if you like the story,
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hit the button and subscribe so you can see our future stories.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice your English speaking skills by shadowing the transcript of a thought-provoking YouTube video titled "I Stopped Eating For 2 Weeks To Get Thinner." Throughout the session, you will focus on various tones and emotions conveyed in the narration, helping you enhance your listening and speaking abilities. This exercise provides an excellent opportunity to learn English with YouTube by engaging with real-life conversational language and expressions, which will aid in building your fluency. By shadow speaking this content, you will also familiarize yourself with vocabulary relating to dieting and personal struggles, broadening your language skills in those areas.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Calories - A unit of energy commonly used in food and dieting contexts.
  • Willpower - The ability to control yourself and make decisions despite temptations.
  • Hunger pangs - Physical sensations of hunger, often causing discomfort.
  • Temptation - A desire to do something, especially something that may be unwise or unhealthy.
  • Control - The ability to manage one's actions or emotions effectively.
  • Lethargic - A state of sluggishness or lack of energy.
  • Inspiration - The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
  • Flush it down - A colloquial expression for disposing of something by flushing it in the toilet.

Practice Tips

To make the most of your shadow speech practice, listen to the video carefully, observing Christine’s tone, pacing, and emotions. As you shadow speak, try to match her rhythm and intonation closely. Begin by repeating short sections aloud, then gradually increase the length as you gain confidence. Pay attention to the emotional weight in phrases like “I loved the feeling of control” or “I was feeling very sick,” which can enhance your expressiveness. Remember, the goal is not only to mimic her words but also to embody the sentiments behind them.

Since the video contains a mix of vulnerable reflections and personal struggles, a slower and more deliberate pace is beneficial at first. Practice shadowing in segments and ensure that you pause at the end of each bite-sized phrase to capture the nuances of pronunciation. This approach will help you solidify your speaking abilities and better engage in deeper conversations about complex themes. Regularly revisiting this content will allow you to build confidence and fluency as you learn English with YouTube.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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