Shadowing Practice: Kathy Uyen (Ms.) | Speaker Interview | TEDxĐaKao: Delayed Gratification - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hi, I'm Kathy Uyeng and I'm a film actress,
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Hi, I'm Kathy Uyeng and I'm a film actress,
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acting coach and a film director.
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I've been acting for over 18 years.
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I recently just finished my first feature film, directorial debut.
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I'm in the post-production and our film will come out in December 24th at the theaters.
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and I've been coaching acting for the last three years
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and actively keeping the classes and workshops going and I hope to open more officially an acting studio next year.
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So I grew up on TEDx.
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I love TEDx.
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I love watching TED talks as I go to sleep.
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I'm addicted to TED talks so when I found out
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that TED talks was happening in Vietnam I was really curious
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and I started watching and and really excited that they're bringing it to Vietnam.
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And it wasn't until last year when I was a guest speaker for the Forbes Women's Summit,
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and I was on a panel when we were talking about what makes you happy.
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And I got really into sharing about the balance in women's lives between living your individual happiness
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and also caring for the environment and the surroundings around you.
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And I met Ngap An and she told me,
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oh, Cathy, we're actually, I'm organizing the TEDx Dachau talks and I would love to have you on board.
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And I remember that time when she invited me,
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I was busy in production for the movie.
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So I said, okay, well I hope you can invite me again the next time and don't forget me,
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and here I am.
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She didn't forget.
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When I was in college,
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my dream was to be an actress.
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To be in as, and to star and play as many interesting women character roles as possible.
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So that was my goal.
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And when I moved to Vietnam,
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I continued to pursue that.
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And it wasn't until then I started producing and realizing I can create my own characters and write my own stories.
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And I was in the love of doing all the filmmaking
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because it was so empowering and I was learning so much and challenging myself along the way.
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And then I realized how come I'm still not completely fulfilled?
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There's something missing, I don't know.
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There's something missing because sometimes when you do things just for yourself,
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it gets old after a certain time.
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And so then I started teaching class
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and I started sharing with others what I learned
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and I realized there was so much gratification in when people learn something that you took for granted,
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you knew, you thought, oh,
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this is normal, but to someone else it might be something that really inspires them.
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My personality is to love overcoming challenges,
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so when the harder something is,
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the more I want to achieve it.
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If you have a plan,
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you have a goal, and you have a purpose,
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then you wake up every day with achieving that one goal in mind.
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So I think it helps me to give...
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I like living with purpose,
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I like living with goals.
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It helps me wake up every day and know what I gotta do.
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So I started coaching acting three years ago and as time progressed,
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I started developing my own method to acting called a conscious thought method, the ACT method.
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And I realized that it was helping actors
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and performers being able to connect their thoughts to their emotion to how to control their emotions
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when they're performing on stage and how to connect with audiences when they speak to people.
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And I realized if I'm coaching two actors on how to have have a dynamic scene in a movie,
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it's no different than two human beings having a normal conversation in real life.
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Because we all want to connect and all want to have dynamic moments in life and connections.
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So in my TED Talks,
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I hope to share my experiences as an actress,
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acting coach and film director
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and share my techniques on acting to everyday people for them to feel
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that they too can relate and utilize these skills of acting in their everyday human connections and expression of emotions.

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About This Lesson

In this practice lesson, learners will delve into the motivational insights of Kathy Uyen, a talented film actress and director, as shared in her TEDx talk. This session focuses on the themes of delayed gratification, personal fulfillment, and the importance of teaching others. By engaging with the content, learners will enhance their listening skills and speaking abilities through the effective shadowing technique. Participants will practice mimicking Kathy's speech patterns, intonation, and emotional expressions, which will help them improve their overall fluency and confidence in English.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Delayed gratification: The ability to resist immediate rewards for greater future benefits.
  • Fulfillment: A sense of satisfaction and achievement arising from pursuing goals.
  • Empowering: Providing the means or ability to do something.
  • Balance: The equilibrium between personal goals and responsibilities to others.
  • Overcoming challenges: Successfully dealing with obstacles or difficulties.
  • Purpose: A meaningful reason or intention behind actions.
  • Gratification: Pleasure or satisfaction derived from achieving something.
  • Acting coach: A professional who teaches and trains aspiring actors.

Practice Tips

To get the most out of this lesson, consider using a shadowing app that allows you to play the video at your own pace. Start by watching Kathy Uyen’s talk without trying to imitate her. Then, play short segments of the video, pausing after each sentence. Try to repeat exactly what she says, mimicking her tone, speed, and emotion. This shadow speech approach is particularly effective for improving pronunciation and understanding rhythm in spoken English.

As the transcript includes a conversational tone, aim to practice this shadowing technique at a speed that matches Kathy’s natural delivery. Initially, if you find it challenging, you can slow down the playback speed. Gradually increase the tempo as you gain confidence. Remember that the goal is not only to articulate words but also to capture the sentiment behind them, enhancing your expressiveness in English. By continuously practicing with content like this, you can effectively learn English with YouTube and make significant strides in your language journey.

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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