Shadowing Practice: Lessons from a Pencil (Part 1) by Gaur Gopal Das - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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When the pencil was made for the first time, the pencil maker gave the pencil some very crucial,
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pertinent and important instructions which can actually give us very inspiring lessons to be applied in our own lives.
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The first instruction that the pencil maker gave the pencil was,
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what's truly important actually lies within you.
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The pencil has two aspects to it.
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The outside, which is its beautiful, colourful wooden casing, and the inside,
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which is the lead, its very substance, its very purpose.
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Similarly in our lives as well, we have the outside.
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The outside is about our personality, our looks, our presence.
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I always say no one looks as good as their Facebook profile picture
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and no one looks as ugly as their driving license picture.
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The outside is about personality.
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The inside is about being a genuine, sincere person.
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The outside is about charisma,
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our style, our presentation, how we speak, our confidence, our mannerisms.
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The inside is about our character,
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our morals, our integrity, the principles that we hold sacred in our lives.
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The outside is about valuables.
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In the world today, we are accepted more for what we have than who we are.
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We are accepted for what we wear than for who we are.
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We are accepted more for what we drive than who we are.
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We are accepted more today for where we live than who we are.
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Valuables seem to be so crucial and overtly emphasized in the modern society.
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The outside is about valuables.
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The inside is about our values.
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Ladies and gentlemen, while we focus on the outside, we shouldn't forget the inside.
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There's a great need to find that right balance.
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We live in the real world so the outside is important
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but our focus on the outside should never be at the cost of our inner world.
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Material education teaches us how How to develop our outside, our externals, all our skills,
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our talents which can buy us all the valuables to live in the real world.
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Spiritual education teaches us how to focus on the inside world.
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And therefore there is such a great need to find that fine balance between our personality and being a genuine person.
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between our charisma and our character, between our valuables and our values.
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Yes, the first instruction that the pencil maker gave the pencil was what's of true importance lies within you and yes,
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what's of true importance lies within us.
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Our being a person, our character, our values, our very essence,
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the wonderful qualities of our soul.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 39 sentences and 430 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:50. The speaker talks at a steady 112 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 87% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| pencil noun | /ˈpɛnsəl/ | A writing utensil with a graphite (commonly referred to as lead) shaft, usually blended with clay, clad in wood, and sharpened to a taper. |
| maker noun | /ˈmeɪk.ɚ/ | Someone who makes; a person or thing that makes or produces something. |
| instruction noun | /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/ | The act of instructing, teaching, or providing with information or knowledge. |
| genuine adjective | /ˈd͡ʒɛn.juˌɪn/ | Belonging to, or proceeding from the original stock; native. |
| crucial adjective | /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/ | Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| moral adjective | /ˈmoɹəl/ | Of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behaviour, especially conforming to principles of rectitude. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| ugly adjective | /ˈʌɡli/ | Displeasing to the eye; aesthetically unpleasing. |
| aspect noun | /ˈæspɛkt/ | Any specific feature, part, or element of something. |
| spiritual adjective | /ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃuəl/ | Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul. |
| principle noun | /ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/ | A fundamental assumption, fundamental law or guiding belief. |
| wooden adjective | /ˈwʊdn̩/ | Made of wood. |
| presentation noun | /ˌpɹɛzn̩ˈteɪʃn̩/ | The act of presenting, or something presented. |
| similarly adverb | /ˈsɪm.ə.lə.li/ | In a like style or manner. |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: instruction /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/, crucial /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/, presentation /ˌpɹɛzn̩ˈteɪʃn̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: similarly /ˈsɪm.ə.lə.li/, integrity /ɪnˈtɛɡɹəti/, mannerism /ˈmænəˌɹɪzəm/
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 pencil, maker, instruction.
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 made · be applied · are accepted |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | instructions which can · outside, which is · talents which can |
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.