Shadowing Practice: Jack Ma's Life Advice Will Change Your Life (MUST WATCH) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Jack Ma's Life Advice Will Change Your Life”. This video has 51 sentences and 5524 words to shadow. The speech runs for 37:18. The speaker talks at a steady 148 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 89% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow. 55 of its 51 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| empower verb | /ɪmˈpaʊ.ə/ | To give permission, power, or the legal right to do something. |
| farmer noun | /ˈfɑɹ.mɚ/ | A person who works the land and/or who keeps livestock; anyone engaged in agriculture on a farm. |
| import noun | /ˈɪm.pɔɹt/ | Something brought in from an exterior source, especially for sale or trade. |
| optimistic adjective | /ˌɒptɪˈmɪstɪk/ | Expecting the best in all possible ways. |
| creativity noun | /kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/ | The ability to use imagination to produce a novel idea or product. |
| irrespective adjective | /ɪɹɪˈspɛktɪv/ | Heedless, regardless. |
| entrepreneurship noun | /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ.ʃɪp/ | The art or science of innovation and risk-taking for profit in business. |
| solidarity noun | /ˌsɑ.ləˈdæɹ.ə.ti/ | A bond of unity or agreement between individuals, united around a common goal or against a common enemy, such as the unifying principle that defines the labor… |
| expectation noun | /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/ | The act or state of expecting or looking forward to an event as about to happen. |
| diabetes noun | /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz/ | Diabetes mellitus; any of a group of metabolic diseases whereby a person (or other animal) has high blood sugar due to an inability to produce, or inability to… |
| accessible adjective | /əkˈsɛs.ɪ.bəl/ | Easy of access or approach. |
| businessperson noun | A person in business, or one who works at a commercial institution. | |
| calamitous adjective | /kəˈlæmɪtəs/ | Causing or involving calamity; disastrous. |
| centralize verb | /ˈsɛntɹəlaɪz/ | To move things physically towards the centre; to consolidate or concentrate |
| contaminant noun | /kənˈtamɪnənt/ | That which contaminates; an impurity; foreign matter. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| stand up verb | To rise from a lying or sitting position. | |
| come apart verb | To break, separate. | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| clean up verb | To make an area or a thing clean; to pick up a mess; to tidy. | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
| build up verb | To erect; to construct. | |
| give away verb | To make a gift of (something). | |
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- The show in do it I?
- What are you going to do?
- What you're doing and other things in terms of whether it advances?
- What do you think the next big opportunities are?
- Who is up who can listen you?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have never heard · I've ever heard · we've been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be interpreted · been served · is not driven |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | college which was · symptoms which means · diabetes which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 92 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: entrepreneurship /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ.ʃɪp/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, factional /ˈfæk.ʃən.əl/, globalization /ˌɡloʊ.bə.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/, reservation /ˌɹɛz.ɚˈveɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: optimistic /ˌɒptɪˈmɪstɪk/, creativity /kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/, irrespective /ɪɹɪˈspɛktɪv/, entrepreneurship /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ.ʃɪp/, solidarity /ˌsɑ.ləˈdæɹ.ə.ti/
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 empower, farmer, import.
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.


















