Shadowing Practice: Learn a second language. It will change your brain. - Learn English Speaking with Video

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okay so if you grew up in north america like me

and took a few years of language classes in school there's a good chance you still only speak one language

and honestly i get it learning another language is extremely hard

and if your experience was anything like mine learning a language probably meant memorizing grammar rules

and drilling flashcards until you never wanted to see the language you were learning ever again

but i am here to convince you to give it another shot

because learning a second language isn't just an incredible way to discover a new culture connect with people,

and experience a part of the world that was previously inaccessible to you, it also literally changes your brain.

And today, I want to break down five of the biggest ways becoming bilingual can change your brain,

plus five things I've learned from my own experience of learning a second language that can help you learn one too.

So first things first, I've been interested in learning languages for a long ass time.

When I was still in middle school, I remember downloading Duolingo and attempting to learn French and Spanish, which was unfortunately not very successful.

Well, that is until about eight months ago when I decided to start relearning French.

But this time around, it started to actually work out for me.

Fast forward to now, and I'm currently sitting somewhere around the B1, B2 level, which is about upper intermediate to lower advanced.

And so far, the process of learning another language has enriched my life in

so many ways like learning

so much about the french culture being able to consume french media

and actually being able to speak to french people all of these benefits have been insanely cool

but personally what i find most interesting is how learning a second language actually changes your brain

and it's all because of a process called neuroplasticity

so the fascinating thing about your brain is

that it isn't just this fixed unchanging organ that you get

when you're born

and then carry around for the rest of your life your brain is actually incredibly plastic changing

and adapting throughout your life in response to what you learn and experience

and the thing about learning a second language it is a major driver of neuroplasticity whenever you learn new vocab

or grammar or sentence structure and actually practice retrieving

that information your brain is physically changing itself to adapt to that learning

and researchers can actually see some these changes happening in the

brain for example in one study brain imaging research found changes in the white matter during second language acquisition

which is the tissue

that helps different areas of your brain communicate with each other there's also been research

that has found differences in the brain's gray matter

which is the tissue involved in things like thinking memory movement

and sensory processing in people who speak multiple languages

and what's especially interesting is

that you don't even have to be completely fluent for this to happen studies have found changes in gray matter

and areas involved in processing a new language even during the early stages of learning.

So basically as soon as you start learning a new language your brain starts adapting to the demands

you're putting on it which is so insanely cool to me.

But anyway at this point you might be thinking okay cool

so the brain changes but what does that actually do for you?

And that's where the science gets even more interesting,

which brings me into five ways learning a second language can actually specifically benefit your brain.

So the first benefit of learning a second language is it can boost your attention.

These days, so many people struggle with their ability to focus.

If you've spent an hour scrolling TikTok only to realize

that you can't make it through a 10 -minute YouTube video without checking your phone, you probably know what I mean.

But interestingly, learning another language may actually help with this

which makes sense because

when you're learning another language you have to constantly pay attention

you have to listen carefully to distinguish between unfamiliar sounds

you have to remember what words mean you have to figure out where one word ends

and another begins and you have to keep track of grammar

and sentence structure basically your brain is just doing a shitload of work all at once

and one area that's particularly involved in this work is the prefrontal cortex

which plays an important role in things like attention decision making

and executive control in one study researchers looked at people learning gaelic

and compared them with people who weren't learning a language

and people who were taking another intensive course

and what they found is the language learning group showed significant improvements in their attentional abilities

which is interesting but the part that really caught my interest is

that the improvements showed up after just one single week of language learning

and it didn't seem to matter how old the participants were either.

They followed people from different age groups, and the benefits weren't just limited to the younger participants.

Even people that were 60 or 70 benefited from language learning.

Which is all to say, whether you're 25, like I am, or 75, learning a language can potentially boost your ability to focus.

Anyway, I don't know about you, but one thing I really want is to become a little bit smarter.

And learning another language, so says the science, might actually help with that, which is the second benefit of learning a second language.

Not because learning another language is going to magically increase your IQ by 20 points, but because learning another language requires you to constantly identify,

learn, and manipulate new patterns.

You have to learn a completely new system of rules, figure out how those rules work, notice exceptions, and compare structures between languages.

Basically, you're constantly trying to figure out how to express an idea using a system that you're still learning.

And there's some evidence that this kind of mental exercise can have benefits beyond language itself.

One meta analysis looked at 20 studies examining the relationship between language learning and academic performance.

18 of those 20 studies found better academic performance among language learners across a variety of subjects, including literacy, English, math, and science.

Now, in my case, I'm not in school anymore, so I don't get to use my French skills to boost my math grade,

but I do spend a ridiculous amount of time simply teaching myself new things.

And if learning another language helps me become better at processing information, recognizing patterns, thinking flexibly, or solving problems,

that's a pretty useful side effect of a hobby I already enjoy doing also speaking of teaching myself new things

if you also enjoy teaching yourself new things

and consider yourself like me a highly curious person who loves to learn

then you would most definitely enjoy my newsletter the curious mind where i write in -depth articles on self education

and learning and all the stuff i'm curious about so if

that piques your curiosity there will be a link to subscribe for free in the description anyway the third way

that learning a second language can benefit your brain is probably not that surprising it can improve your memory

This one probably makes intuitive sense because learning a language requires you to remember an absolutely ridiculous amount of information like words,

phrases, grammar rules, pronunciation, and even cultural nuances.

In fact, when it comes to learning a language, several memory systems are involved,

like your short -term memory that helps you hold on to new words or phrases while you're actively working with them,

and your long -term memory that helps you retain vocabulary, grammar rules, and other information in the long term.

Learning a second language works out both of these systems, which can help you train and improve both your short -term and your long -term memory.

And in one study, researchers actually found that bilinguals performed better on certain memory tasks than monolinguals, which was true across different age groups.

There's also been some interesting research around the hippocampus, which is the area of the brain that's heavily involved in learning,

memory, and spatial navigation, which can help with things like remembering locations and navigating your environment.

So all to say, if you're looking for a way to exercise your memory

while learning something genuinely useful learning another language is again a

pretty good option anyway a fourth benefit of learning another language is

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that it can help you out socially this one actually surprised me a little bit

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when i learned about it i mean obviously learning another language

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can have a social benefit where you get to talk to more people

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but research has also found that bilingual people have greater social flexibility

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which basically means they're better able to adapt to new environments deal with change and consider other people's perspectives

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And that actually makes a lot of sense when you think about what learning another language requires.

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When you're speaking a language that you're not completely comfortable with, you have to really listen to another person.

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You can't just half -listen while you're thinking about what you're going to say next.

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You have to actually pay attention to their words, their tone, their facial expressions, the context of the conversation,

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basically every little clue you can get to figure out what the hell is going on

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and what is being said and

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that can be pretty good practice for communication in general which can seep into your daily interactions.

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There's also research suggesting that learning another language can exercise our ability to understand other people's perspectives

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which can have implications for things like empathy and communication.

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So yeah as a massive introvert I'm personally very happy to discover

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that my hobby of language learning can also help my social skills too.

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And finally Finally, learning another language may also give your creativity skills a little glow -up.

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One meta -analysis found a positive relationship between foreign language learning and measures of creative flexibility, fluency, and originality.

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Researchers aren't completely sure why this relationship exists.

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It could have something to do with changes in brain connectivity, or it could be related to the cognitive demands of switching between languages,

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or it could be the mental challenge of learning something so complex, or it could just be some combination of all of these things.

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The exact mechanism underlying it is unclear, but personally, I can see pretty clearly why language learning might help with creativity.

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I mean, a huge - part of creativity is being able to take different pieces of information

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and just connect them in new ways and that's basically what you're doing constantly

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when learning another language you're taking on familiar words sounds grammar rules

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and concepts and figuring out how they fit together you're constantly piecing together information

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that didn't previously mean anything to you

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and at the same time you're building an entirely new pool of knowledge

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that you can draw from so if creativity is partly about combining things

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that haven't been combined before

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and slapping them together then learning another language gives your brain a lot more material to work with

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and as a creative person myself

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this is a hugely positive benefit for me anyway hopefully by this point i've convinced you

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that learning another language is pretty damn good for your brain

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and that you should probably start learning a second language

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but there's still one teeny tiny problem learning another language is still incredibly freaking difficult

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and i would know as i spent over a decade trying

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and failing to become fluent in a second language

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which is why i don't want to just give you generic tips for learning another language like practice every day

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and then send you on your merry way instead i want to share five tips

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that genuinely really help me make progress in learning another language

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so that hopefully you can do the same

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so the first tip is to make your language learning a habit

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this is easily the best thing i did to help me progress consistently in french

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when i first started learning the language i practiced for roughly 10 minutes a day

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and that is it and then once that habit was established i gradually worked my way up.

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So five minutes became ten, ten became thirty, and eventually I worked my way up to around two hours a day.

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Now, two hours of language learning per day is still not exactly a walk in the park, but the behavior itself has become automatic.

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Like, I don't have to constantly negotiate with myself about whether I'm going to practice, I just do it.

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And that's the beauty of habits eventually you stop having to convince yourself to do the thing

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and you just do the thing because it's a habit

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so this is all to say if you're starting from zero don't tell yourself

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that you need to study for an hour

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or two every day right off the bat make the first step ridiculously easy

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and use what james clear the author of atomic habits calls the two minute rule

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which involves spending just two minutes on any new habit

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that you want to establish

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so in the context of language learning this could be watching a two minute video practicing flashcards for two minutes

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or anything like

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that basically the goal isn't to accomplish a ton at the beginning the goal is to make starting ridiculously easy

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so prioritize building the habit first and then worry about increasing the workload later okay

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so for the second tip i actually am going to give you the advice to practice every day

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but hear me out

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so once you've built a language learning habit you have to protect it at all costs

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because it is so easy to lose a habit you've spent months establishing with just a few missed days,

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which means you need to show up and practice every single day.

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And no, I'm not saying you need to be perfect.

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Like life happens.

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You're going to miss a day.

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You'll probably miss two.

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That's totally okay.

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The problem is when one missed day turns into two and then two turns into three and then three turns into four.

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And then suddenly it's been three weeks since you practiced your espanol,

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which my past self is definitely guilty of doing and is why I would constantly give up learning another language.

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But now I operate in a different way.

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On days when I'm busy or exhausted or really just don't feel like doing anything, I lower the bar considerably.

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Basically, I just do the minimum amount of work possible.

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Seriously, there have been days, plenty of days, where I've done just five minutes of French and that is it.

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But the thing is that these days make up probably less than 1 % of my entire language learning journey.

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The important thing is that I just show up, keep momentum going, and most importantly, keep my habit alive.

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So yes, showing up consistently is important, but you don't have to show up at 100 % every single day.

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And knowing that makes all the difference.

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So the third tip has probably been the biggest game changer for me

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when it actually comes down to how much progress I was able to make with the language itself.

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And that is by focusing not on practicing grammar,

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but on simply getting a little shit ton of input or emerging in my target language,

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which for me has simply been watching a lot of French videos.

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I'm using a platform called Dreaming French, which creates videos specifically for language learners videos are spoken in slow French

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and the guides use things like gestures and images context and simpler language to make the content understandable

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for different levels and over time by watching videos like this

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which specifically uses a method called comprehensible input your brain basically starts to subconsciously pick up on the vocabulary

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and grammar patterns you're repeatedly exposed to without having to actively study them so

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i'm currently just shy of 400 hours of french input and i can personally testify

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one thousand percent to this method's efficacy i love this approach

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because it's low friction and I don't have to sit down and force myself through a grammar workbook for an hour.

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Instead, I can watch videos about psychology, history, culture, random internet drama, literally whatever I happen to be interested in,

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but in French, which makes it so much more enjoyable.

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Now, in saying that, I'm not saying it's necessarily easy.

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I still feel very mentally fatigued while watching the videos, and it still is a big -time investment. But still,

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it's one of the biggest reasons why I've actually been able to stick with French for the past eight months

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and make progress with the language anyway the fourth tip is

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to not learn another language alone language learning can become very lonely

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if you never actually interact with another human being so

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if you can find people to practice with in my case my sister speaks french

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which is incredibly convenient being able to actually speak french with someone

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and hear myself get better over time has been one of the coolest parts of this whole process

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it also gives me something to work toward because I want to eventually be able to have completely fluent conversations with her.

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But obviously, you don't need a French -speaking sibling.

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You can find tutors, language partners, online communities, local groups, or individual people who are learning the same language as you.

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The important thing is to just find your people.

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Language is inherently social, so don't make the entire process a solitary one.

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And finally, the last thing I did was change my mindset.

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This is probably the most important tip and thing that I changed at the end of the day.

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So the biggest mindset shift I made was to simply stop rushing.

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Honestly, I think the number one mistake I made

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when trying to learn a second language in the past was simply being impatient as hell.

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Like I decide I wanted to learn French or Spanish in a year or whatever arbitrary amount of time I'd given myself.

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And when I felt like I wasn't progressing quickly enough, I would get discouraged and eventually I would just quit.

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This time though, I have started to view language learning as a lifelong project because honestly, what's the rush?

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There's no deadline.

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You don't have to become fluent in six months.

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You don't have to become fluent in a year.

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You can take five years, 10 years, 30 years.

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You simply just have to show up, do the work, and slowly get better.

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And even Even if you don't move very quickly, you're still moving.

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Inch by inch, you're getting closer to where you want to be, and five, ten, thirty years from now, you will probably get pretty freaking far.

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But that's not even really the point, because you don't ever really finish learning a language.

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There will always be another word to learn, another conversation to have, another nuance to understand, or just another thing you don't know.

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So don't rush it.

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Take it slow enjoy the process.

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If you're learning another language, you are going to be here a while.

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And that's what I've learned about learning another language, and what it actually does to your brain,

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plus my five best tips for successfully learning a second language.

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If you're feeling aspired to start learning a second language yourself now, I have linked my free curriculum builder notion template down below,

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which can help you turn whatever you want to learn into an actual learning plan with your topics,

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resources, projects, and next steps all in one place.

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And yeah, that's it for me.

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I will see you in the next video.

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Bye -bye.

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270 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Learn a second language. It will change your brain”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: language, learning, brain, french. This video has 238 sentences and 3361 words to shadow. The speech runs for 18:50. The speaker talks at a natural 178 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
habit noun	/ˈhæb.ɪt/	An action performed on a regular basis.
grammar noun	/ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/	A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general.
fluent adjective	/ˈfluənt/	That flows; flowing, liquid.
creativity noun	/kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/	The ability to use imagination to produce a novel idea or product.
adapt verb	/əˈdæpt/	To make suitable; to make to correspond; to fit or suit.
researcher noun	/ˈɹiˌsɝ.t͡ʃɚ/	One who researches.
rush verb	/ɹʌʃ/	To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully.
curious adjective	/ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs/	Tending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying.
boost verb	/buːst/	To lift or push from behind (one who is endeavoring to climb); to push up.
incredibly adverb	/ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/	In an incredible manner; not to be believed.
input noun	/ˈɪnpʊt/	The act or process of putting in; infusion.
convince verb	/kənˈvɪns/	To make someone believe, or feel sure about something, especially by using logic, argument or evidence.
bilingual adjective	/baɪˈlɪŋ.ɡwəl/	Having the ability to speak two languages fluently.
establish verb	/ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/	To make stable or firm; to confirm.
ridiculous adjective	/ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/	Deserving of ridicule; foolish, absurd.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
show up verb		To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically.
break down verb		To stop functioning.
come down to verb		To reach by moving down or reducing.
fit together verb		To put the appropriate parts of (something) into a whole; to combine pieces that go together to create a finished object.
give up verb		To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
make up verb	/ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/	To constitute, to compose.
pick up on verb		To notice, observe, learn, or understand, especially something otherwise overlooked.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

You're going to miss a day.
You don't have to become fluent in six months.
You don't have to become fluent in a year.

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	I've learned · I've been · has enriched
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	Spanish, which was · level, which is · people who speak
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are involved · being said · been combined

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 74 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: thirty /ˈθɝti/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, empathy /ˈɛmpəθi/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: rush /ɹʌʃ/, establish /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/, tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, exception /əkˈsɛpʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: creativity /kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, ridiculous /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/, consistently /kənˈsɪstəntli/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/

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 habit, grammar, fluent.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Learn a second language. It will change your brain. - Learn English Speaking with Video

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