Shadowing Practice: Life Is Magic: How to Rediscover the Miracle in Every Day - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Yeah, of course I’m odd.

I’m very proud to be odd. It’s what I want to be.

But it’s odd only in the sense that it’s not striving to be like everybody else.

If that’s odd, then let’s all be odd.

Let’s be unique.

Oddity and uniqueness are brothers.

Yeah, I’m odd...

that’s where the poetry comes from.

Shall I read this poem?

Let me find it.

Unique. Clouds spill in from the West ahead of that promised cold front, driven by a rough, temperamental breeze.

Their shapes have never existed before, will never exist again.

Yet everyone, everywhere recognises them for what they are: clouds.

This is what ‘unique’ means.

The word has less to do with difference, whatever people may say, than with something we have always known to be true: a qualified, modulated likeness - the whole world as uniquely various as fingerprints, as DNA, as zebra stripes.

As clouds. Yeah, uniqueness.

There’s no such thing as another cloud.

And yet, of course there is.

Every cloud is different.

I love the fact that you can be the same, recognisably the same, and yet entirely different, entirely yourself.

That’s what real uniqueness is.

And every person has it. Every animal has it.

Every plant has it. Every cloud has it.

What saddens me though is that most people don’t even see it.

There are too many other things in their lives to occupy them.

And very often they are things to do with business or with stresses of life, making a living, looking after a family... all of these things...

which are important of course.

But if that blinds you to a magic that is every day, all around you, then there’s something sad about that.

I think we need to remind ourselves that so much is happening and we are part of that magic.

You asked who I am.

That is who I am...

I am magic.

You are magic.

Because we are part of a magic that may not be definable but is unmistakably there.

It’s not waving a wand and pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

What is magic for me is...

ahhhh, it’s so hard to say...

but it’s the feeling that my own heartbeat, my own breathing, is as a response to and in parallel with a heartbeat and a breath that is already out there.

When you’re absorbed in magic and you recognise it as you as well, you’re not just looking at it. You’re not just seeing it over there.

But you’re becoming aware that you are part of it and it is part of you. That’s true magic.

It’s special, instinctive, natural magic.

That’s what real magic is.

I grew up in a very urban, harsh, working class area outside Liverpool in the 1950’s and 60’s.

And it was not a very pleasant place to be because although it was surrounded by countryside, it was quickly disappearing under concrete, under roads.

And I was aware even then, although I probably couldn’t have articulated it, that I had to value this while it was still here.

And the things that really did grow to dominate my life were the natural things.

But because it was a rough, urban area it was not something you were encouraged to tell your friends about.

You were more supposed to be playing football, swearing a lot, fighting.

Doing all the things that I didn’t do and I wasn’t very good at.

So I learned very quickly to keep quiet and to internalise it.

Because as a young person I wanted to fit in.

Everybody wants to fit in and be like everybody else.

Peer pressure is a very powerful thing.

Years went by and eventually I began to realise that what I had dismissed as unimportant was probably the most important thing in my life.

I suddenly began to realise that this is what I am.

We are part of the natural world.

There’s a difference between loneliness and aloneness.

And sometimes I want to be alone, I long to be alone.

Alone, away from other human beings.

But that is not alone in the sense that there’s no life around you.

You’re going out into your family. You’re going out into a soup of life.

It’s something that almost always...

no, let’s forget the word ‘almost’...

always revives me.

No question about that.

Because there is everything there that inspires me.

Everything that is breathing along with me.

And I feel welcomed when I go out there.

Rivers, streams, coming down the mountain.

Fynbos (plants) with birds twittering in it.

Little blue headed lizards that greet me and wave.

I’m not alone, of course I’m not alone.

It’s something that is special, it’s special.

So let me be alone like that... I’m not lonely.

Seasons are important because they’re inevitable.

They are what life is.

If we can admire and be part of and be within the seasons, then it seems to me that the seasons inspire, in the sense that they breathe into us what they are and remind us of what we are.

But it’s the change, it’s the variety.

All of those things are what reflect us.

To know love, you have to know its opposite.

To know ecstasy, you have to know despair.

And my struggles, compared to the struggles of others, are probably laughably small.

But yes, I’ve known for example what it’s like to be without, to have no money.

I’ve known bereavement.

I’ve known upset. I’ve known betrayal.

And knowing that those days will pass, recognising that you can live with them and come out the other side, is an important part of knowing who you are.

It’s one of the reasons that growing older is helpful.

Because generally speaking, you have a life behind you.

And if it’s been a full life, or even a semi full life, you’ve known some of these down times.

So that when the good times come you know how to accept them, you know how to live with them.

You know how to feel in love with them.

Without that, what’s life for?

Autumn is this slowing down toward winter’s halt: leaves shed, days short, a rest and recovery without which there will be no spring, no new growing.

Observe. I am this garden, semi-deciduous, a once-fresh image rotting to the old cliché: No decay, no compost.

No death, no life.

No now, no tomorrow, no soon.

I’m aware that it’s autumn for me.

As of course autumn has to come to everyone.

But I don’t feel that that’s necessarily a bad thing.

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Autumn is the necessary compost for the rest of life.

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I’m a grandfather now.

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And I’m aware that what we leave for our grandchildren is absolutely essential to the quality of the life and the length of the life that they will have.

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So we have a responsibility to make sure that they have an awareness of the possibilities of their life.

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The most important possibilities are those that say let’s look after this earth that we’re on because it’s the only one we have.

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I’m grateful for being alive because the chances of it are infinitesimally small.

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But I’m here. And while I’m here enjoy it, do your best within it and recognise the magic of it.

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Magic, magic, magic... I’m part of magic.

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What more could I ask for?

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 108 sentences and 1237 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:10. The speaker talks slowly, about 87 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 84% 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 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

cloud /ˈklaʊ̯d/ (noun) — A visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air.
autumn /ˈɔtəm/ (noun) — Traditionally the third of the four seasons, when deciduous trees lose their leaves, and temperatures and daylight hours decrease; typically regarded as…
breathe /bɹiːð/ (verb) — To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.
remind /ɹəˈmaɪnd/ (verb) — To cause one to experience a memory (of someone or something); to bring to the notice or consideration (of a person).
realise (verb) — Non-Oxford British standard spelling of realize.
inspire /ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ (verb) — To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by…
heartbeat /ˈhɑɹtˌbit/ (noun) — One pulsation of the heart; especially an irregular one, hence the emotion which causes it.
necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/ (adverb) — Inevitably; of necessity.
compare /kəmˈpɛɚ/ (verb) — To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it…
encourage /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ (verb) — To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit.
hungry /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/ (adjective) — Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food.
awareness /əˈwɛɹ.nəs/ (noun) — The state or level of consciousness where sense data can be confirmed by an observer.
concrete /ˌkɑnˈkɹit/ (adjective) — Real, actual, tangible.
helpful /ˈhɛlp.fl̩/ (adjective) — Furnishing help; giving aid; useful.
poetry /ˈpoʊ.ə.tɹi/ (noun) — Literature composed in verse or language exhibiting conscious attention to patterns and rhythm.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

do with (verb) — Only used in to do with
fit in (verb) — To be physically capable of going into a space.
live with (verb) — To share an abode as an unmarried partner in a sexual relationship.
look after (verb) — To follow with the eyes; to look in the direction of (someone or something departing).
ask for (verb) — To request; to order.
come down (verb) — To descend, fall down, collapse.
come from (verb) — To have as one's origin, birthplace or nationality.
come out /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ (verb) — To be discovered; to be revealed.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 31 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, grandfather /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌfɑðɚ/
Long words — get the stress right: necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, inevitable /ɪˈnɛvɪtəbəl/, articulate /ɑːɹˈtɪk.jə.leɪt/, deciduous /dɪˈsɪd͡ʒ.u.əs/, definable [dɪˈfaɪnəbəɫ]

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 cloud, autumn, breathe.

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	have never existed · have always known · I've known
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was surrounded · were encouraged

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: Life Is Magic: How to Rediscover the Miracle in Every Day - Learn English Speaking with Video

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This Video Found You For A Reason

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?