Shadowing Practice: Life Changing Tip From A Psychologist - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
I'm a psychologist and I want you to imagine that this is your life.
2
The sand at the top, that's your future.
3
All the things that haven't happened yet.
4
And the sand at the bottom, that's your past.
5
So everything that already has.
6
Now here's a question that changes everything.
7
Where do you spend most of your time?
8
Some of us are up here, always focusing on the future, predicting all the problems that aren't even here yet.
9
And if you spend a lot of your time up here, you're more likely to have high levels of stress and anxiety.
10
Now some of us live down here, stuck in the past, replaying everything that you can't change.
11
And if you spend a lot of your life down here churning over memories, that is rumination and it feeds depression.
12
Now focusing on the past and the future can be really useful, but if either one becomes where you live, it's gonna pull your mental health down fast.
13
So here is the most powerful tool that we use in therapy.
14
It's not fixing the past, and it's not controlling the future.
15
It's this, this tiny moment that most people miss, the present.
16
And every time you choose to bring your attention back to the present, something incredible happens.
17
Your mind gets the break that it's needed all this time.
18
A small moment of freedom that only the here and now can give you.
19
And remember, the time will pass anyway, whether you're present for it or not.
📺 Same Channel
B22
How To Deal With Someone Who is Emotionally Immature
British AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
Are You Shy? Or Is It Social Anxiety?
British AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B22
Life Changing Tip From a Psychologist | The Boiling Frog
British AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B17
Painful Emotions | You Have To See This!!
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
Dealing With Painful Feelings
British AccentUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B24
A Psychologist's Secret About Your Brain (You'll Wish You Knew Sooner)
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
If You're Struggling At Work Watch This! | Dr Julie ad
British AccentBusiness EnglishWorking Adults
B22
Signs Of A Highly Sensitive Person - Dr. Julie Smith
British AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
✨ Recommend Video
B22
79 sentences
How to Stay Present and Mindful in Everyday Moments
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B211
178 sentences
How to Choose a Life Path You Won’t Regret
British AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
215 sentences
The MOST Powerful Brain Rewire Trick to Break Free from Feeling STUCK
British AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2495
12 sentences
Organize Your life - Motivational speech
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
14 sentences
When You Notice This, Your Life Changes
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
191 sentences
Your Imagination Won't Fix Your Life
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B27
316 sentences
How to Journal Like the Top 1% in 2026
British AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B213
103 sentences
6 Tiny Habits That Train Your Brain to Feel Happier Every Day
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
12 sentences
Change Your Environment
American AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
84 sentences
I Use This Neville Goddard Technique Every Day (It Changed My Life)
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
87 sentences
6 Minutes To Get Ahead Of 99% Of The World
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Life Changing Tip From A Psychologist”. This video has 19 sentences and 255 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:25. The speaker talks at a natural 179 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 91% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sand noun | /sænd/ | Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in… |
| anxiety noun | /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/ | An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event. |
| fixing noun | /ˈfɪksɪŋ/ | The act of subverting (fixing) a vote. |
| predict verb | /pɹɪˈdɪkt/ | To make a prediction: to forecast, foretell, or estimate a future event on the basis of knowledge and reasoning; to prophesy a future event on the basis of… |
| distress noun | /dɪˈstɹɛs/ | Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature. |
| replay noun | /ˈɹiːpleɪ/ | An act or instance of replaying (of playing something, such as a game, again); a replaying of (something). |
| psychologist noun | /ˌsaɪˈkɑl.ə.d͡ʒɪst/ | An expert in the field of psychology. |
| churn verb | /t͡ʃɝn/ | To agitate rapidly and repetitively, or to stir with a rowing or rocking motion; generally applies to liquids, notably cream. |
| rumination noun | /ˌɹuːmɪˈneɪʃən/ | The act of ruminating; i.e. chewing cud. |
| feed verb | /fiːd/ | To give (someone or something) food to eat. |
| incredible adjective | /ɪŋˈkɹɛdəbəl/ | Too implausible to be credible; beyond belief. |
| tiny adjective | /ˈtaɪni/ | Very small. |
| depression noun | /dɪˈpɹɛʃən/ | A state of mind producing serious, long-term lowering of enjoyment of life or inability to visualize a happy future; any of several mental disorders with this… |
| tool noun | /tul/ | Any physical device meant to ease or do a task. |
| therapy noun | /ˈθɛɹ.ə.pi/ | Attempted remediation of a health problem following a diagnosis, usually synonymous with treatment. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| live down verb | To live so as to subdue or refute. |
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 | haven't happened |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 7 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, aren't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: rumination /ˌɹuːmɪˈneɪʃən/, depression /dɪˈpɹɛʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, psychologist /ˌsaɪˈkɑl.ə.d͡ʒɪst/, rumination /ˌɹuːmɪˈneɪʃən/, incredible /ɪŋˈkɹɛdəbəl/
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 sand, anxiety, fixing.
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.