Shadowing Practice: Is it Difficult to Learn English? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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141 sentences
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Is it difficult to learn English with comprehensible input?
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Well, yes and no. The method itself is easy.
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The act of sitting down and watching a video is easy.
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It's easy to sit down in front of a computer or on your phone and watch something that you understand
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and watch something that you're interested in.
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This part is easy in theory.
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The actual act of getting input is easy when the input is interesting
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and the input is understandable
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and a lot of people talk about comprehensible input as being the lazy method
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and it's because of what I've just said
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and the act of watching videos in of itself is easy
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but I wanted to talk about the challenges of learning English with comprehensible input
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because it is also difficult it does come with a lot of challenges
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that not a lot of people talk about so
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when you say is learning English with comprehensible input difficult it is there are a lot of challenges
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that come with learning English with comprehensible input and the reason
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that I know this is because I'm learning Spanish with comprehensible input
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and I've come across a lot of challenges when improving my Spanish
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and the first one is finding enough time
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because it takes a long time to learn english
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or to learn spanish with comprehensible input
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and for me learning spanish i watch spanish for two hours every day
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and the quicker
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that you want to become fluent in any language the more input you need to get
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so it is a challenge to find enough time in the day to progress at a quick rate
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so that's a massive challenge right is because if you're a busy person
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and you're an adult and you have responsibilities and you have other things
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that you enjoy finding enough time to listen to enough english to really improve is a challenge
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and that is something that I found learning Spanish and not only that but
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when you learn with comprehensible input you need to pay attention you need to focus on what it is
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that you're watching and it's hard enough to find two hours in a day
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and I'm not saying that you need to do two hours a day
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but it's difficult enough to find any sort of time in your day
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and it's even more difficult to block out any distractions
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because you need to pay attention
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you need to not be thinking about what am I going
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to cook for dinner tonight not thinking about what we're going to do at the weekend.
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Me today, I don't want to be thinking about England in the World Cup.
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We lost to Argentina yesterday.
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When I'm watching Spanish, I just need to be focused on the Spanish and that is such a challenge.
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It's one thing to find time to watch a video it's another thing to be able to completely focus
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and have your full attention on the video now
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that is what is required
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if you want to learn quickly I'm not saying you have to be perfect
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but you should be paying as much attention as you can and that is a real difficulty that is a challenge
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Another challenge is that it can be difficult to find the right content
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because I always talk about how content needs to be interesting
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and it also needs to be understandable
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and it can be very hard to find the right balance
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and find content that is easy to understand
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but also interesting enough to keep you engaged to keep you having your attention on what you're watching
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and this is particularly this is especially a challenge
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when you're at lower levels once you reach a more advanced level
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and you can watch more native English content there is far more content for you to be able to watch
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so it does get easier but in those
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intermediate beginner stages it can be difficult to find something
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that is interesting that you can understand and
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that is part of why I started my channel is
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so it's because I want to create this type of content for intermediate level learners now for me learning Spanish
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this has been less of a problem I use a platform called dreaming Spanish
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and if you're learning Spanish I highly recommend it
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because they have lots and lots of videos at different difficulties about different topics
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but even I
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because I'm listening like I said to two hours a day even I sometimes struggle to find content
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that is at the right level for me so that is another a really big challenge about learning only with comprehensible input.
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Another challenge is staying motivated because learning English or learning any language is such a big project.
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It takes such a long time and motivation, it comes and goes.
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You're not going to wake up every day with a really high level of motivation to learn English
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so you have to overcome not having this motivation
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now a lot of people talk about the importance of discipline saying
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that motivation comes and goes but discipline is what will keep you going
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when you don't have motivation and I agree with this generally
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but I actually think the reality is you're not going to be super disciplined every day.
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Motivation comes and goes, sure, but so does discipline because we're not perfect.
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You're not going to be massively disciplined every day.
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So what I think is really important in overcoming this challenge
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and overcoming a lack of motivation and a lack of discipline is building habits
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because when something is a habit it's automatic right you don't need motivation
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and you don't need discipline so
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if you have the habit of watching English every day like for example
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when I go for a walk that is just something I do
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and I put in headphones
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and I listen to Spanish it's automatic it happens naturally it's actually harder sometimes for me to not listen to Spanish
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so building habits I think is really important
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and I'm actually planning to film a video I don't know
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if the video will be released after this one or before
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but I want to make a video on how you can make English a habit
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because I think that is really important in helping you to overcome
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the challenge of not always being or feeling the most motivated or the most disciplined.
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A challenge that I sometimes find quite difficult about learning Spanish
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and something that you might have or you might feel
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if you learn English is it can sometimes be quite intimidating how far
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you still have to go on your journey
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because it like I said before it takes
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so long to learn a language and sometimes especially
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if you don't have the habits
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and you're having to motivate yourself it can feel like what's the point right
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because it's such a big challenge it's
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so far away this idea of being able to speak
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and have conversations with people in English
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and it's how I feel about Spanish it's such a big challenge to try to forget about all of
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that and i think for me this i normally feel this way
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if i've had a break right so if i've been on holiday
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and i haven't been listening to spanish it can be hard to start up again it can be hard
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to get back into the rhythm that i had before i was away
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and for that reason it's really important for Spanish
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or English in your case to be a habit
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so you don't have too much of a focus on the end goal
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and you're just focused on what you need to do.
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today and if you keep doing that every day you will eventually reach a very high level and
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the actual act of listening to english is easy like i said you just need to
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not let yourself get too discouraged
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or too disheartened by how far you feel like you have to go
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and there's a really good quote
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that i read recently by an nfl player an american football player called max crosby
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and he says during his day 95 is spent under the microscope
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and the micro a microscope is something
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that you use to see very small things to zoom in on very small things
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and the other five percent is with the telescope
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which is what you use to look at stars
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and look at the moon and I love this quote
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because he's basically saying you shouldn't spend
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that much time thinking about your big goal right you shouldn't be thinking about
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when you're going to be able to speak English
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when you're going to be fluent you should only think about
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that every now and then
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but most of your day should be under the microscope thinking
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what can I do today what small thing can I do today
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that is going to move me closer towards my end goal
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which might be being conversational in English
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and it's something I always try to remember not just in Spanish in all of my goals
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because it can feel intimidating when you think about how far you have to go
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and it really helps to just focus on what am I
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going to do today to move me a little bit closer to my goal
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and if you keep doing that keep repeating that you will eventually arrive at your goal.
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I think I've been speaking for a while now so I'm going to close.
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I think that is about everything that I can think of that is difficult about learning English but remember getting input,
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being sat in front of the TV or YouTube, watching something, that's the easy part and
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if you can figure out a way to get yourself doing
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that more often you will reach a high level in English
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so thank you for watching and I will see you in the next one
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Is it Difficult to Learn English?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: english, spanish, challenge, input, learning. This video has 141 sentences and 1684 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:55. The speaker talks at a steady 130 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| input noun | /ˈɪnpʊt/ | The act or process of putting in; infusion. |
| discipline noun | /ˈdɪsəplɪn/ | A controlled behaviour; self-control. |
| motivation noun | /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/ | Willingness of action especially in behavior. |
| habit noun | /ˈhæb.ɪt/ | An action performed on a regular basis. |
| overcome verb | /ˌəʊ.vəˈkʌm/ | To surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of. |
| motivate verb | /ˈmoʊ.tɪ.veɪt/ | To provide someone with an incentive to do something; to encourage; to actuate. |
| microscope noun | /ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskoʊp/ | An optical instrument used for observing small objects. |
| automatic adjective | /ˌɔː.təˈmæt.ɪk/ | Capable of operating without external control or intervention. |
| difficulty noun | /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/ | The state of being difficult, or hard to do. |
| intermediate adjective | /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/ | Being between two extremes, or in the middle of a range. |
| understandable adjective | Capable of being understood; comprehensible. | |
| fluent adjective | /ˈfluənt/ | That flows; flowing, liquid. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| naturally adverb | /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/ | In a natural manner. |
| arrive verb | /əˈɹaɪv/ | To reach; to get to a certain place. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come across verb | To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition. | |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| sit down verb | To assume a sitting position from a standing position. | |
| start up verb | /stɑɹˈtʌp/ | To rise suddenly. |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
| zoom in on verb | To quickly focus on a particular subject or object. |
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 the video will be |
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | haven't been listening · I've been speaking |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've just said · I've come · has been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is required · will be released · is spent |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 38 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, distraction /dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən/, conversational /ˌkɒnvə(ɹ)ˈseɪʃənəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, automatic /ˌɔː.təˈmæt.ɪk/, difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/, intermediate /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like input, discipline, motivation.
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.