Shadowing Practice: Life has become a short-form video and everyone keeps scrolling… - Learn English Speaking with Video
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One of the things I have the hardest time dealing with today is the fact
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that everything in our lives is so fast paced.
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Everything is rushed.
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And I want to know if this is something that y'all have been experiencing also.
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But to me, this is getting absolutely absurd.
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It's like we've all lost all sense of patience.
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And I can't help but think that these giant corporations like Amazon have really played a role in this.
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Because now you can go online, you can buy your stuff, and it's delivered at your door within a few hours.
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I mean, it used to be overnight, but now literally a few hours and somebody's knocking on your door delivering your stuff.
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And now, of course, we also have social media.
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I mean, if you want a dopamine fix or if you want to feel some type of emotion, whether it be positive or negative, all you have to do is pull your phone out and scroll.
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Everything is at our disposal. And maybe that's it.
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Maybe it's just a matter of us having access to unlimited convenience.
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But whatever the case may be, I think this is a very bad thing because it seems to be impacting us in a very negative way.
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I've even seen now where small businesses are struggling because their customers demand stuff overnight.
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And when you're a small business, you don't have teams of logisticians.
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You don't have fulfillment centers.
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And that's especially true if you're hand making your products.
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I've seen where some small businesses have right there on their Home page
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and on the checkout saying that fulfillment could take a week
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or two weeks And then people buy this stuff and they come back a couple days later.
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Where's my shipment?
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Where's my tracking number?
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Why hasn't this stuff been delivered yet?
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And in some cases these customers even request chargebacks, which really hurts the business But it all ties back to this idea
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that nobody has any patience anymore people can't wait on anything
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And I see this all the time when I go out into public
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and that's one thing that keeps me home Because I can't stand dealing with that stuff I'm telling you right now.
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I went to I went to costco not too long ago, which is very rare.
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I go there But I had a friend that has a membership So we went there to buy some, you know bulk items
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And we got there very early in the morning thinking we were going to beat the mad dash
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And there was a line Around the block to get into costco We didn't wait in the line.
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We sat in the car.
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But when we went in, it was like somebody opened the floodgates and these people were just pushing and shoving to get through the doors.
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To buy what?
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I mean, the stuff is not going to sell out.
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Costco has so much inventory.
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What are they in such a hurry for?
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And we got in there and it was like, it was almost like Black Friday shopping.
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And I thought, okay, maybe that's a fluke.
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But then I went there again and the same exact scenario unfolded.
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So what is everybody in such a rush for?
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And why is everybody so intense and erratic and chaotic?
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And it doesn't just stop with shopping because I see this even more when I'm driving.
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It's almost as if road rage is the common theme now.
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I was driving down the road one day.
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Actually, it was the interstate.
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And there was a guy on a Range Rover
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that was in such a hurry to go who knows where that he goes over in the shoulder passing people.
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I'm talking like pieces of tire and all the debris and stuff that's always in the shoulder.
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It was flying up, hitting people's cars.
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And he was passing cars at probably 100, 110 miles an hour while on his cell phone.
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And it just left me wondering, what is so doggone important that you have to get there that fast?
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And you know, you would think that maybe that's a fluke, but I see this stuff all the time.
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I can't tell you how many people I've had
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pass me on the shoulder if I'm stopped to turn or something like that, or just pass me on the shoulder in general, if I'm just driving down the road.
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And it's not like I drive slow.
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And it's not like I'm the only person they're passing.
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So what's the big hurry?
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And the irony here is that you'll see those same people
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that pass you on the shoulder
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that act like they're in such a rush at the next stop sign or the next red light.
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They maybe got home five seconds faster than you.
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It's almost as if people don't realize that if you're driving 30 minutes, unless you're going 200 miles an hour, you're not really gaining any time.
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Maybe you're gaining a few seconds, but is all that erratic driving, putting people at risk, is it worth that?
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None of this stuff makes any sense to me.
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And I think this also bleeds into the job market.
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And don't get me wrong, the job market is not set up in an ideal way, that's for sure.
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But nobody values hard work anymore.
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Nobody values getting in and starting from scratch
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and working your way up the ladder and making a name for yourself and just exercising a little bit of patience.
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Because when I was Growing up and throughout my entire career, that's what it was all about.
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You start at the bottom of the ladder, and over time when you work and you put in the effort, eventually you get the raise.
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Eventually you get the promotion.
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And the sad reality is, that's the way the job market's set up.
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You start at the lowest rung and you work your way up.
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It takes time.
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And I'm not saying that that's right.
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I'm not saying that it couldn't be better, but it's the way things are set up.
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But we now have all these people that are in the job market that expect to start off making 20, 30 bucks an hour.
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They expect to start off making $200,000 a year.
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And yes, people should definitely be making a lot more than they are
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but you can't expect to start off making what somebody that's been there for 30 years is making
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and I think another big way the job market is being impacted by this is the fact
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that people get these jobs and they expect it to be fun
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and exciting every single day they expect to show up to work
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and not have any complaints the job has to be exactly what you love doing every moment
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and every second of the day but the reality is it's never going to happen.
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That's not even going to happen throughout any other aspect of life.
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So it's definitely not going to happen at a job.
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And it would be great if that was the case.
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If everyone could show up at a job they love doing the thing they're passionate about.
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But that's not reality.
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Work is not always fast paced.
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It's not always exciting.
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There are going to be days where you're sitting there twiddling your thumbs wishing you could just go home.
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You're going to be bored.
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You're going to be watching the clock.
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But that is life.
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And I feel like people have forgotten that.
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And I can even see how this has bled into the dating world because people feel the same way about dating.
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If you're not constantly stimulated and if everything isn't fast paced and you're not always moving and doing, if there's any moment where there's a lull,
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the relationship starts to fall apart because it has to be amazing and exciting and fast paced all the time.
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Because the moment things slow down, it doesn't translate to quality time together.
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It translates to boredom.
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And when there's boredom, we can't have that, so it's time to move on.
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But because the world is so fast-paced, and no one has any patience anymore, people have forgotten that the day-to-day, the boredom and the in-between, that is normal.
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That is actually where relationships are built, that's where quality time is spent, and that is where memories are made.
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And the crazy thing is that when you really stop and look around at society, this becomes very, very obvious, because everyone's movements are very spastic,
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they're very erratic, they're very chaotic.
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And as a matter of fact, I would say that all of society is very chaotic.
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It's almost like controlled mayhem, where everybody's just going in a thousand miles an hour in a thousand different directions with no true destination.
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And it would be one thing if we were adopting all these efficiencies
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and we had all this convenience because it was saving us
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so much time and we were doing something very productive with that time.
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But when you look around, no one's doing anything productive with the extra time that they have.
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All these conveniences and all these efficiencies that we are obsessed with integrating into our lives,
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they just keep us trapped in a perpetual cycle of living this chaotic,
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erratic life where things are very fast-paced and no one can slow down to take it all in.
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Instead of doing something productive with that extra time, people just keep their faces stuck in their phone and they continue that loop.
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They scroll, they get the dopamine fixed, they buy stuff, they have it delivered at their door within a few hours.
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They continually trap themselves in this cycle where everything has to be rushed, where everything has to be right now at this very second.
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But what happens when you rush through life this way and you never take any time to stop and enjoy it?
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I would say that life just passes you by.
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All the meaningful moments and the precious memories that you would otherwise have, they get skipped right over.
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All of the in-between where all of those things are built, they're missed.
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People stop living with intention
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and instead their lives become nothing more than a series of erratic focal points with nothing
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but a void of emptiness in between each one.
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What was a full life in 100 years suddenly becomes nothing more than a segmented condensed timeline.
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People are essentially treating their lives like content.
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They're taking their one hour long form video
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and they're chopping it up into highlights and then they're condensing it into a one minute short.
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There's no intention and there's no direction.
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It's just fast paced mayhem and a life that's not even worth remembering.
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But I think the silver lining here is
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that in order for us to regain that time and stretch our timeline back out, all we have to do is just start living with intention.
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Do things worth remembering.
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Slow down both physically and mentally and realize that it was never about the convenience.
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It was never about that knock at the door when the delivery arrives.
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It was never about the milestone.
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And it was always about what it took to get there.
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It's not about efficiency and chaos and living this fast-paced life.
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It's about patience and delayed gratification.
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It's about stopping and taking a moment to just take it all in, to experience the peace and the silence and even the boredom, because those are the moments that mean the most.
About This Lesson
In this lesson, learners will practice listening and speaking skills using a transcript from a video discussing the fast-paced nature of modern life. The focus will be on understanding the challenges of impatience in society, particularly in consumer behavior and daily interactions. By shadowing the speaker, learners will enhance their English speaking practice, improve their pronunciation, and develop a deeper comprehension of conversational English.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Fast-paced - moving quickly, often leading to a feeling of urgency.
- Absurd - wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappropriate.
- Dopamine fix - a temporary feeling of pleasure or satisfaction, often sought through social media.
- Fulfillment centers - warehouses where goods are stored and shipped to customers.
- Chargebacks - a demand by a credit card provider for a retailer to return funds after a transaction.
- Road rage - aggressive behavior exhibited by drivers in response to perceived slights or provocations.
- Chaos - a state of complete disorder and confusion.
Practice Tips
To maximize your English speaking practice through this lesson, consider the following tips for effective shadowing:
- Listen actively: As you listen to the video, pay close attention to the speaker's intonation and rhythm. Notice how they convey emotions linked to the fast-paced environment.
- Start slowly: Begin shadowing at a slower speed if necessary. Once you feel comfortable, gradually increase your playback speed to match the speaker's natural pace.
- Repeat aloud: After each sentence or key phrase, repeat it out loud. Focus on mimicking not just the words but also the expression and energy of the speaker.
- Record yourself: Record your shadow speak sessions. Listen back to identify areas where you can improve your pronunciation and fluency.
- Discuss with others: Engage in discussions about the themes presented in the video. This will help you practice forming your own sentences and expressing opinions, which is crucial for improving English pronunciation.
By incorporating these techniques into your study routine, you'll make significant progress in your English speaking skills and become more comfortable engaging in conversations about contemporary issues in a fast-paced world.
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.