Shadowing Practice: Life in a Day | practice English with Spotlight - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Welcome to Spotlight.
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I’m Robin Basselin.
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And I’m Bruce Gulland.
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Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.
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It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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“We are all under the same moon.” These are the words of film director, Kevin Macdonald.
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What do you think he meant when he said them?
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Macdonald said these words to the Telegraph news organization.
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And he was talking about a film he recently directed.
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A film called “Life in a Day.” Macdonald worked on this film with the famous film producer Ridley Scott.
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Together, they created this film about life around the world.
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However, they did not record it themselves.
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Instead, they used short films or videos recorded by people all over the world.
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Life in a Day is a film recorded by people like you.
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It shows the many differences between people and cultures.
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However, it also shows that there are things that connect all people – like the fact that we all live under the same moon.
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Today’s Spotlight is on the film Life in a Day.
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On July 1st, 2010, Kevin Macdonald released a video on the Internet.
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He used the popular video sharing website YouTube.
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Macdonald asked YouTube users to create a video of their life.
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And he asked everyone to do this on one particular day – July 24th, 2010.
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In his message, Macdonald asked YouTube users to film all parts of life.
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He wanted to see both normal and not normal life.
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He asked users to answer questions like “What do you love?” “What do you fear?” “What makes you laugh?” and “What do you carry with you?” Macdonald asked users to put their finished videos on YouTube.
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From these shared videos, Macdonald wanted to make one long film about global life.
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However, this is an unusual way to make a film.
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It uses a method called “crowd-sourcing.” Crowd-sourcing is when a large group of people help complete a project usually done by a few paid workers.
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In crowd-sourcing, the group completes the project for less money or even for free.
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Usually, there is a public announcement for a crowd-sourced project.
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And often people use the Internet to send in their work.
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Crowd-sourcing can be helpful in completing many kinds of projects.
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For example, companies have used crowd-sourcing to find just the right picture for a particular project.
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Other people have used crowd-sourcing to find the answer to difficult science problems.
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In recent years, crowd-sourcing has become more and more popular.
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Now, Kevin Macdonald has made the first ever crowd-sourced film produced in Hollywood.
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At first, Macdonald did not believe the project would be very popular.
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However, people sent over 80,000 videos!
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And they sent them from over 190 countries.
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This made Macdonald and producer Ridley Scott believe that their idea could work.
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Macdonald and Scott paid 25 people to sort all the videos.
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These people spent months watching all 4,500 hours of film.
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Then Macdonald and Scott chose the best pieces of video.
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From these, they created the 95 minute film Life in a Day.
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Life in a Day began playing in theatres during the summer of 2011.
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The film includes great stories of birth and love.
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It also includes terrible stories of fear and death.
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One of the main stories from the film is about Okhwan Yoon.
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Yoon is a Korean man.
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He travels around the world on a bicycle.
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He rides this two-wheeled vehicle from country to country.
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His purpose is to teach peace, patience and discovery.
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He does this by meeting the local people.
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He talks with them about kindness.
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Yoon believes that understanding people is the first step of showing kindness.
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He has travelled to 191 countries to understand people everywhere.
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Another emotional part of the film shows a Japanese father and his young son, Taiji.
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They are in their apartment.
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This living space is dirty and not organized.
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There are many clothes on the floor.
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The boy quietly watches television.
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His father performs the morning work.
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Then they walk over to a large picture of a woman.
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The father lights a candle.
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The father and son honour the woman in picture.
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It is the man’s wife and the boy’s mother.
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And they are showing respect to her because she has died.
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The film’s producers wanted the film to show life from all parts of the world.
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So, they sent 400 cameras to people living in places with little or no Internet connection.
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And these cameras produced some of the most beautiful parts of the film.
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One example is the story of a boy named Cain Able.
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Cain lives in Peru.
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And he is about 10 years old.
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Cain is friendly.
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And he works shining shoes.
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He does this because, like Taiji, his mother is dead.
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However, Cain is joyful.
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His smile makes everyone’s day better.
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It brings joy to the people he meets in the film.
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It also brings joy to the people watching the film.
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Life in a Day is interesting because of its method and its message.
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When people watch it, they will see their own lives.
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They will also see what life is like for people who are not like them.
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But most importantly, they will see what is common to all people.
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As Macdonald told the Telegraph news organization, “This is what people chose to film.
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Those of us in the news and film industries think we know what films should be about.
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But most people are interested in a few, simple things – family, children, love, not being alone, not wanting to live through a war, feeling frightened of illness and death.
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That is it – that is what life is.” What do you think about the idea of crowd-sourcing?
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Do you think it can make a great film?
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What would you put in a video about your life in a day?
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Tell us what you think.
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You can email us at [email protected].
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Or, you can leave a comment on our website.
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You can also learn more about the Life in a Day film at www.youtube.com/lifeinaday.
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The writer of this program was Graham Bates.
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The producer was Robin Basselin.
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The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom.
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All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight.
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You can find our programs on the Internet at www.radioenglish.net.
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This program is called, “Life in a Day.” We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program.
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Goodbye!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Life in a Day”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: film, Macdonald, crowd, sourcing, project. This video has 100 sentences and 1085 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:55. The speaker talks slowly, about 78 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| kindness noun | /ˈkaɪnd.nəs/ | The state of being kind. |
| frighten verb | /ˈfɹaɪ.tən/ | To cause to feel fear; to scare; to cause to feel alarm or fright. |
| joyful adjective | /ˈd͡ʒɔɪfl̩/ | Feeling or causing joy. |
| candle noun | /ˈkæn.dəl/ | A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin. |
| organize verb | /ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/ | To arrange in working order. |
| bicycle noun | /ˈbaɪsɪk(ə)l/ | A vehicle that has two primary wheels, one behind the other, a steering handle, and a saddle seat or seats and is usually propelled by the action of a rider’s… |
| adapt verb | /əˈdæpt/ | To make suitable; to make to correspond; to fit or suit. |
| cloth noun | /klɒθ/ | A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes… |
| importantly adverb | /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/ | Used to mark a statement as having importance. |
| quietly adverb | /ˈkwaɪ.ɪt.li/ | Producing little or no noise. |
| shine verb | /ʃaɪn/ | To emit or reflect light so as to glow. |
| patience noun | /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/ | The quality of being patient. |
| shoe noun | /ˈʃu/ | A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of… |
| goodbye | /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/ | Farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker, writer, or person addressed is departing. |
| announcement noun | /əˈnaʊns.mənt/ | An act of announcing, or giving notice. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| live through verb | To survive a difficult period or event |
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 | has become · has made · has travelled |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were adapted · is called |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the best · the most beautiful |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | will see · will also see |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shine /ʃaɪn/, patience /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/, shoe /ˈʃu/
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 kindness, frighten, joyful.
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.