Shadowing Practice: It's Hard To Be Human - Learn English Speaking with Video
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48 sentences
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1
It's hard to be human.
2
Cats don't have to work very hard to be cats.
3
They're really just naturally good at it.
4
But we actually have to do a lot of work to be good humans.
5
You have to do a lot of work to be good at relationships.
6
You have to do a lot of work to be good at friendship.
7
You have to do a lot of work to be a good leader.
8
You have to do a lot of work to be a good colleague and co -worker.
9
It actually takes a lot of work.
10
And the people who show up at a company, and the company makes them a promise, which is, and by the way,
11
this is the exact promise.
12
When people start at my company, they get a phone call from me, and I tell them two things.
13
Number one, you're a part of something bigger than yourself.
14
And our little team is having an unbalanced impact in the world, and you were a part of it, right?
15
So I start with why, and I tell them about the movement that they are now a part of.
16
And then I always say the same thing.
17
I have one expectation of you, that you take yourself on.
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And whether you stay with us for a short term
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or a long term and whether you love it here
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or whether you hate it here I expect you to leave here a better version of yourself because you worked here.
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We will give you some of those resources and
22
Some of those resources are I expect you to do the work by yourself, but that is my expectation of you and
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I think that's really important because what that does for a human being is to know that you know
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So work is sometimes good days and bad days
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and we have personality conflicts and we make good decisions and we make bad decisions.
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But the belief that I'm coming to work and simply because I'm showing up to work, I'm going to be a better parent,
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I'm going to be a better friend, I'm going to be a better spouse.
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Like just because of work.
29
One of my favorite companies is a company called Barry Waymiller.
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Led by my dear friend and mentor just passed away a couple months ago, Bob Chapman.
31
And Bob, they implemented a listening course at the company.
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And it was all voluntary, and it was meant to help with communication inside the organization.
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Because we're bad listeners, right?
34
Most people are bad listeners.
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And it was done for business reasons.
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And a few early adopters took the course and almost to a tee the response they got from the,
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from those who took the course were my relationship with my kids is better, my marriage is better, I'm learning to,
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I'm learning how to resolve conflict better myself.
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They talked about the fact that they were growing and
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that their personal relationships were growing even though it was meant for work.
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And that's because what people forget is that we're the same human beings at work or outside of work.
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You know, the only difference is the clothes I wear, the table I sit at.
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It's me.
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The reason my family and my friends love me is me.
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The reason my colleagues and my co -workers love me is it's me.
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And so if you're acting differently in one of those two places, in one of those two places you're lying.
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And we want to help people to bring their full selves to work.
48
Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “It's Hard To Be Human”. This video has 48 sentences and 605 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:04. The speaker talks fast, about 197 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| worker noun | /ˈwɝ.kɚ/ | One who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor. |
| resource noun | /ɹɪˈzɔːs/ | Something that one uses to achieve an objective, e.g. raw materials or personnel. |
| expectation noun | /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/ | The act or state of expecting or looking forward to an event as about to happen. |
| colleague noun | /ˈkɒliːɡ/ | A fellow member of a profession, staff, academic faculty or other organization; an associate, a workmate. |
| listener noun | /ˈlɪs(ə)nɚ/ | Someone who listens, especially to a speech or a broadcast. |
| naturally adverb | /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/ | In a natural manner. |
| belief noun | /bɪˈliːf/ | Mental acceptance of a claim as true. |
| friendship noun | /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/ | The condition of being friends. |
| differently adverb | /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt.li/ | In a different way. |
| implement verb | /ˈɪmpləmənt/ | To bring about; to put into practice; to carry out. |
| resolve verb | /ɹɪˈzɑlv/ | To find a solution to (a problem). |
| cloth noun | /klɒθ/ | A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes… |
| voluntary adjective | /ˈvɑ.lənˌt(ɛ)ɹi/ | Done, given, or acting of one's own free will. |
| spouse noun | /spaʊ̯s/ | A person in a marriage or marital relationship. |
| mentor noun | /ˈmɛn.tɔː/ | A wise and trusted counselor or teacher. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pass away verb | To die. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was meant |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who show · those who took |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 14 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/
- Long words — get the stress right: expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, differently /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt.li/, voluntary /ˈvɑ.lənˌt(ɛ)ɹi/
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 worker, resource, expectation.
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.