Shadowing Practice: I Survived the World's Loneliest Job - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
B1
Ryan: There's a job on this island, located in the Arctic Circle, that is considered by journalists to be the loneliest job on Earth.
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Ryan: There's a job on this island, located in the Arctic Circle, that is considered by journalists to be the loneliest job on Earth.
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Oh, no! So lonely. Somebody go visit!
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There's a rumor that the woman who bought this island 17 years ago to maintain this lighthouse, has gone mad.
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So the question is: Did the keeper of the world's loneliest job actually go insane?
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Or better yet: Will I?
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There's only one way to find out.
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I made it to Norway.
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I found Norwegian snacks and beverages.
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I've been traveling for over 40 hours straight.
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Talk about a commute to work.
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Slip down the stairs on the way off the plane earlier.
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I'm okay. It's very cold, and we haven't even gotten to the Arctic Circle yet.
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But guess what! I've got a job to do.
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I found some Norwegian music online.
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It's fun to listen to this, and see the scenery and everything.
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I'm enjoying this. I'm headed to this tiny little town that's gonna allow me to boat to the island. This is not your average Uber ride.
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And luckily, I was able to find an Airbnb to stay in, which is crazy.
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I'm sleeping here for the night.
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This is the cutest little house I've ever seen.
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As you can probably tell, it's already getting dark outside.
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I have no idea what time it is back home in Texas, but it feels like I haven't slept in days. And I have a feeling I'm gonna need to be well-rested.
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There's still some light outside, but it's like 4 a.m.
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in Texas, so I'm just gonna try to go to bed.
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And tomorrow I'm spending my day doing the world's loneliest job.
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Wakey, wakey! For whatever reason, it's just now hitting me how possibly stupid this is...the thing that I'm doing.
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There's really no reason to do this.
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There's no actual tangible motivation.
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But unfortunately, it's time to go.
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I'm going. I'm playing the fun Norwegian music again to cover up the fact that I'm nervous. I made it to the dock where I'm getting picked up for work.
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No-one's here yet. A few minutes later, a man appeared on a boat out of nowhere.
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Well, from the ocean, I guess it's not that surprising, but...
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Ryan: Hey! Ryan. Frode: Welcome to Norway! Ryan: This is Frode.
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He may be the most honest man I've ever met.
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How's the water today?
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Like I said, this isn't my first time on a speedboat to go to a lonely place.
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I was able to see the island within minutes.
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I'm on top of the world.
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Literally. The Arctic Circle.
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The world's loneliest job.
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That's crazy.
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She was waiting for me when I arrived.
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Ryan: We made it. Elena: Please, come on! Ryan: All right.
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Elena: Yeah. Nice meeting you. Ryan: This is Elena, the owner of this island, who holds the title of the World's loneliest job. My first assignment was just carrying Coke Zeros up to the house, which is what I normally do anyway, so that was easy.
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And then Elena showed me around a little bit.
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This is my room for the night.
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I did not expect this, to be honest.
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I love Norwegian bedding, I do.
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The view from my room.
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I just can't believe it, I simply can't.
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I have so many questions.
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Starting with: What's for lunch?
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Okay, I was kind of joking.
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I didn't expect there to actually be lunch.
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She made me fresh cod soup.
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The fish was caught this morning.
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Elena encouraged me to go for a walk around the island and get familiar with it, so I did. Ancient ruins. Crazy. Cave.
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When I got closer, I realized this cave is actually massive.
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This island holds some mysteries.
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This feels like going into a Minecraft cave.
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I feel like I'm gonna see diamonds and a creeper. I'm scared.
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When I got back, I couldn't find Elena or Frode anywhere, which is terrifying.
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I went to go check the lighthouse, naturally. I figured she was definitely there.
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Hello? Elena?
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Frode? Looks like my loneliness started early.
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Tomorrow we...toil.
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Seriously, where are they?
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Hello? Elena?
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Elena did leave me a "To do list" for tomorrow, so that kind of makes things a little bit less mystical.
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I'm excited to get to work.
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So good night from my Scandinavian bed!
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Ah! Wakey-wakey!
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I woke up to a beautiful morning, but on the flip side, I walked into the dining room and there was breakfast in there.
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How is there hot breakfast?
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And there's actively a fire burning in the furnace.
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This coffee is freshly pressed, bruh.
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Maybe we can get some answers from my interview with Elena yesterday.
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Check this out!
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Elena: My name is Elena.
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I'm the owner of this lighthouse, and I've been living here since 2006.
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And I came here because I was dreaming to live as close to the sea as absolutely as possible.
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Ryan: Good morning, Loners! Yeah, I'm clocked in.
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So...first thing on the "To do list" is: clean guest room.
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She tried to tell me something.
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I'm the guest. Let's get started!
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Elena: The guest room's here.
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There has been a thought behind how they are made.
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Ryan: Bruh! I slept like a baby last night.
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A Norwegian baby. Let's get cleaning!
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First thing I noticed when I got here is: how much pride Elena takes in her rooms and their design.
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Elena: We want the focus to be really outside, and that's why the interior is also very simple.
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It's to enhance the view.
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That is the main thought.
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I moved here by my own free will.
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And when I'm alone, I also have to find the answers for my own challenges.
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Ryan: Guest room equals cleaned.
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Next thing up is: cleaning the dock.
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Just before I got here, there was a pretty significant winter storm, which is why there's so much snow everywhere.
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So I'm gonna be clearing off the dock to make sure there's no hazard...
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Um, whenever they get back.
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If they get back. The boat is gone. Let's get it!
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Elena: The dock is one of the most challenging points on this lighthouse, because this lighthouse is put on a very challenging place on the island.
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And the dock is about access and leaving. Ryan: This dock is about to get absolutely shoveled.
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Shoveled. Let me get started!
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This dock is iced over.
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I'm gonna take out the music for proof.
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Okay, so there's been some ice here for a long time.
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This stuff is...hard as diamonds.
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So far, I'm not feeling too lonely or crazy, to be honest.
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If anything, I'm pretty inspired with: how much effort Elena has put into this island.
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It's kind of beautiful.
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She's just this sweet old lady, but she has so much mystery around her.
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It might not look like much, but it is much easier to walk on.
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Yeah. Alright.
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Very nice. The dock has been cleaned.
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Next on my "To do list" is: clearing the stairs.
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Elena told me that there are over 300 stairs on this island, so I'm not sure which one she's talking about.
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Guess I'll just do them all.
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I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I said that.
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There's, like, a lot of stairs on this island.
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Okay, so here's my method with the stairs.
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Absolutely whacking it with a shovel and then scraping it off.
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This is what it looks like when it's done, which is great.
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299 to go. Elena: Coming from the dock and up to the tower, you have actually to mount 300 steps.
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There is a lot of snow shuffling, when there is snow like now.
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Ryan: First set of stairs done.
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You can actually see them now, which is exciting.
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I thought it was work just coming up these stairs, much less clearing them.
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I'm proud of this though. This is nice.
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Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention this this morning, but last night, after I went to bed, I actually got back up and went to the lighthouse, because it's been my dream since I was a kid to see the Northern Lights.
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And you can see them here.
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The only problem is: it's very dark in the lighthouse, and I accidentally fell through the top hole down the staircase, and absolutely obliterated my thigh on the metal ladder. But the worst part is: it was cloudy.
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I didn't see any lights. So I just limped back to bed in utter sorrow.
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It's fine. I'm fine. Anyways, back to the "To do list".
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That's why we're here. I'm absolutely teleporting up this staircase right now.
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Who you know, got speed like this?
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Hey! All right, that is actually half the stairs complete.
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So...I'm gonna take a break and clean the hotel windows.
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Life is crazy and lonely.
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Alright. These are the windows I'm gonna be cleaning.
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But first things first, I'm gonna tend to the fire.
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Elena: This is an off grid system here.
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Meaning we have to produce our own energy.
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Elena: It's important to...to manage how to make a fire and to keep the fire going. Ryan: Complete.
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That's a big fire.
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I just imagined an explosion.
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Howdy! I'm gonna clean these windows.
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These windows have some salt on them from the last winter storm.
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So I'm gonna do some cleaning.
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Let's go! I got a squeegee, and I've got some...juice.
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I don't know what to call it. Cleaner.
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It's so clear outside right now.
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I'm like praying that I get to see some Northern Lights tonight.
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That would actually just be emotional.
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Fingers crossed.
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I'm gonna keep cleaning.
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Elena: These windows are a copy of the original old windows, and it's not so easy to clean them.
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So that's why you can open the middle one, and you can lean on the outside to wash both of them.
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Ryan: This is definitely my favorite task so far.
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Not only do I love cleaning windows, but this was an excuse to explore the house a little bit more. I found 2 cats in the dining room, 1 named Lucy and 1 named Lawrence. See, I'm not so alone here.
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Elena: I think if we all just take time to sit down and breathe and jump off from the "I have to, I have to, I have to"...
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Maybe the world has to run a little bit at its own pace.
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Ryan: The hotel windows are now clean.
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I'm gonna finish clearing the stairs now.
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The world's loneliest job is getting finished.
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Elena is gonna be so happy when she sees this all completed.
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Especially the stairs all the way to the lighthouse.
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Clearing all the stairs took me well over 3 hours, but it was so worth it.
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We only have 1 more task on the "To do list".
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Probably the most exciting one.
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Clean lighthouse tower!
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Let's get it!
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This view! Unreal.
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Got more window washing stuff.
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This is so crazy.
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I'm going to clean this window first.
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Got a few smudges. It's not too bad.
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And then I'm gonna clean the outside.
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And this one. This one's a little dirty. But look at that view!
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That's crazy.
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Elena: So to clean the windows of the tower is even a little bit more challenging, because you really need to do it quite professionally. So people can enjoy the view and not see, you know, the traces of your work.
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Ryan: Oh, yeah!
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Was I blocking that? Sorry!
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I started off by cleaning the glass floor of the lighthouse.
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Somehow this feels like an Instagram reel for a luxury cleaning company.
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Hey, yo! Show some love in the comments!
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I mean, let me know! That one's complete.
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Now I'm gonna do outside.
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Apart from the fact that it took me 30 minutes to set up this shot, I'm really trying to soak up this moment.
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Today is ironically gone by pretty slow, in a place that I'll probably never return to for the rest of my life. Imagine how 17 years has felt for Elena!
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Elena: The 17 years felt long, but of course a lot of things happened.
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It has been challenging to get the...to get where I wanted to get with this place.
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Ryan: Well, guys. With that, my job here is finished.
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Oh, gosh! I almost fell down the ladder again. With absolutely no certainty of when Elena was coming back, and after a job well done, I decided to unwind and rest in one of the best views I've ever seen in my life.
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Wow! I'm sitting here thinking about a few things. 1.
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I am getting kind of lonely.
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2. I can't stop thinking about how Elena said that she's been here for 17 years, and it's felt slow.
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What? I'm 24 years old, and I feel like time is absolutely flying by.
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Like, my years are absolutely vanishing.
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And the beautiful thing that her job, literally her job, is just maintaining her dream. This island is her dream.
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That's so cute.
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I feel like all of my life is dictated by what is the most efficient.
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I DoorDash my meals.
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I turn my thermostat up.
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Anyways, existential monologue over.
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This guy just finished the world's loneliest job...for a day.
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There's one more thing I need to do tonight.
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But first, I'm just gonna enjoy this sunset.
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Well, that's that. I didn't go crazy.
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Except for on them stairs.
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Hold up! Elena is not crazy at all.
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She's happy, and she's a genius.
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Sometimes being alone can teach you a lot. But turns out Elena just went to the mainland to get me dinner.
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Oh! Hello! Elena: Hi! You can be physically alone, and without feeling sad about it, and without feeling lonely.
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So how can I be lonely here, when I'm living my dream?
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, learners will immerse themselves in English language practice by following the adventures of Ryan, who experiences the world's loneliest job on an island in the Arctic Circle. This video offers a unique blend of storytelling and travel, allowing you to engage with authentic conversational English. The lesson not only introduces you to the vocabulary related to travel and isolation but also enables you to practice listening comprehension and speaking skills through the shadowing technique. By repeating after Ryan, you will improve your pronunciation, intonation, and overall fluency.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Loneliest Job - A term referring to a position that is solitary and often lacking in social interaction.
- Commute - The act of traveling to and from work.
- Airbnb - A platform for renting accommodations.
- Isolation - The state of being separated from others; remoteness.
- Speedboat - A fast motorboat that is used for quick travel over water.
- Assignment - A task or job that is given to someone to complete.
- View - The scenery or landscape visible from a specific place.
Practice Tips
To enhance your learning experience, consider using a shadowing app as you engage with the video. The shadowing technique involves listening to the audio and repeating what you hear in real-time, which can significantly improve your speaking skills. Aim to mimic Ryan's tone and pace; he speaks at a conversational speed that is both engaging and accessible. Start by pausing the video after short phrases to practice saying them aloud before moving on. This aligns perfectly with the learn English with YouTube methodology, allowing you to interact with dynamic content.
Additionally, you can use the shadowspeaks approach by speaking aloud in your own words about your experiences or thoughts related to the video content. This practice helps reinforce vocabulary and encourages you to become more comfortable using English in a natural context. Remember, consistent practice leads to improved fluency and confidence.
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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