Shadowing Practice: Life Lessons I Wish I Knew Earlier – Here's What Matters - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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I want to share with you some of my life experiences to help understand how I got to where I am today as a person.
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I want to share with you some of my life experiences to help understand how I got to where I am today as a person.
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You know, when I was in my 40s, I sort of looked back to my 30s and my 20s and I sort of wondered, what, what the fuck, where did everything go?
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My life has changed so much, where did the time go?
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You know, in that time you feel invincible, you can do everything, anything.
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In your 20s, you drank, you work, you played hard, and you got up in the morning and went to work.
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You know, that was your life.
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You had no problems.
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You were, well, I was single.
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I was in relationships, but I wasn't in a real permanent relationship.
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Love was sort of up and down.
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and you're sort of making plans for the future and sort of, I'm going to do this, I want to have that.
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And then suddenly you look back, you reach 40 and go, what happened?
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And before you know it, the time has passed.
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And this is when you realise that time isn't endless.
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You know, every second that passes, every minute that passes, we're never going to get back.
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And you know, when I think back, you sort of, in that period, in that time, you're sort of wasting it on petty things, on materialistic things.
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A new car, or a new second-hand car, in my situation.
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Arguing with people that you love and care about.
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arguments at job trying to chase that promotion that didn't make any difference in your life
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anyway it you you start to realize was it worth it but now
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after reaching 40 and and my health part of major health scare
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in my mid-40s and after that I realized it sort of hit me what really is important in life.
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And that moment has helped me come to this stage in my life where I feel much better within myself and realise that the time I have in the future is not that long anymore.
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So I want to be able to enjoy this as much as I can.
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If you want to make a change, start now.
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Because tomorrow might not never happen.
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All that matters is how we choose to live today at the present moment.
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In the pursuit of happiness we seem to chase the things that don't really matter.
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I mean, I think it's just that inexperience of youth and the invigoration of life that you want to chase everything and you have that energy.
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and we tend to chase happiness in all the wrong places.
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In jobs that we feel toxic, that we're not happy in, but yet we stick in there because we find ourselves in a financial situation that we're too afraid to move from.
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Even relationships, I mean, in my 20s I had several relationships.
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Those relationships were important, but people change, people move on, you know,
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and in a way that was one of the positive things I had a wonderful time in those relationships
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but you grow from each other you have different stages different goals I won't know that partners that
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I had and that's okay you know it was great when it was there but we moved on and
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we weren't afraid to move on don't stick with it if you're not happy in it and talk about it with each other because I'm sure your partner's probably feeling the same way in that sort of situation.
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It wasn't until I hit rock bottom in my 40s that I realized that everything that I thought was important wasn't important.
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The important thing for me was my family and I learned to be healthy.
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I had to get healthier.
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My eye had destroyed part of my body and that was never going to recover.
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So I had to look after myself much, much better and that is due to my 20s and 30s and 40s.
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The lifestyle that I led and the habits I kept I had to break away from and it took a major trauma event,
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it took a major traumatic event in my life to turn me around and I hope this helps you that you don't
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have to go through that experience but just be aware and try and find the things that are important to you and find the things that make you happy.
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And I've got friends and all they tend to do in my age or even older and they still consume so much.
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They can't help themselves.
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That's the way they find their happiness.
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It's just consuming just to have everything.
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then they look at our quiet life and you know we're happy you know we don't have that stress off you know we've got a big house oh we've got to get a security system oh we've got to have a
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lock a bit better locks on the door and all this stress that comes with consuming you know and for us it's just chill man it's okay we don't need to worry about that you know it's good
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learn to appreciate the mundane things in life, the simple things, just walking in nature, being outside.
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You know, you don't have to be rush, rush, rush everywhere.
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And that's one thing that I have learned to do is that slow down, slow down in life, to love the journey, love the time you have now, because there is no destination.
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The only destination is a hole on the ground.
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And another point is fear of failure.
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You know, I missed many opportunities because I was too scared of leaving fear dictate my life.
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And that fear of failure played a big role in the way that holds you back.
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And the fear of saying, oh no, I won't do it now.
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I'll do it tomorrow.
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I'll do it next week.
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I have to think about it we're so good at making up excuses to put things off but tomorrow or next week might never come
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you know and you realise well I missed that opportunity or that person died
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and you know when we're at our age we experience the loss of loved ones more
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than we did in their 20s and 30s you know your parents, your cousins, your brothers or sisters.
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I mean, we're prone to much more diseases and illnesses.
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And death is much more around us than it was when we're younger, especially with loved ones.
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Don't let grudges stand in the way.
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Get out there and say hello again.
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Start a connection if you want to, if it's important to you, because you will regret it if you don't.
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And, you know, when you're ready to make that jump into doing something, to change something in your life at this age, at our age, you know, no one's going to be there to push you.
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You have to make that choice.
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You have to change, you know.
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You can't expect someone else to do it for you.
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Nobody is.
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Nobody cares about that.
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It's your change.
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Just like I did with this YouTube channel.
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I made that choice.
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I'm going to do it.
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I had to step in.
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Although I was afraid of doing this, talking to you, talking to people, talking to the camera, and talking about my experiences and my feelings.
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I've done it, and it feels great.
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I get so energized from it.
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That's a butterfly.
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Back to relationships.
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I mean, I've kindled relationships with people that I haven't seen or heard from in 30 years.
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And that is such a joyful thing to do, to have that ability to...
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It's such a nice thing to have now, is that connection of that part of your life.
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I mean, for me, that was in Australia.
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So to have that part of my life and to relive that in the memories of someone I spend that time with is just such a nice put you in such a nice space of understanding who you are
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so don't give up on relationships or if you're thinking about people that you haven't seen for a long time make that step don't wait for them to do it they may never do it make that step you You know,
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reflection on your life is the way forward to self-growth.
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We spent most of our time in the 20s and 30s and 40s just living, just consuming.
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Now we're at this stage of our life.
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It's time to reflect.
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It's time to...
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And this is where your spirituality or your faith grows, I think.
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And that's a really nice place to be.
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For me the self-growth that I'm doing, it's also my videos that I'm sharing are helping me reflect on myself.
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And I hope that that reflection helps someone else to turn and reflect on their life, to help them ease into their senior years.
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You don't have to rush around.
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You can ease into your senior years and just take your time, slow down, as I mentioned, slow down and live a simpler life.
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Enjoy it.
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And stop worrying.
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you know you you learn to I think the older you get you don't worry it well I don't I mean I have
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health issues but I don't let them control my life I control them I've been going to the hospital a lot over the last few months but I'm not letting that get me down sure I get down sure I get depressed
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but I try and lift myself out of that and just get on do it with growth you
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know being alone sometimes it's not a bad thing because it allows you that that time
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to to self-reflect to meditate even there's no second chance at life there's no rewinds there's not let's do it again I mean
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this video I can just rewind and do it again and then my my life is captured in
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video for all eternity on YouTube that's where I'm gonna be but
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but no life is now and don't forget that love be loved don't waste
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your time on fear don't waste it on things that don't matter be kind please be kind you only get one life so enjoy it if you like this video give us a thumbs up until next time
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Engaging with the video titled "Life Lessons I Wish I Knew Earlier – Here's What Matters" provides an excellent opportunity for English speaking practice. The speaker shares personal anecdotes and insights, allowing learners to connect emotionally with the content. This context-rich environment is perfect for applying the shadowing technique. By repeating what the speaker says, you can improve your pronunciation, intonation, and overall fluency. Additionally, the reflective nature of the video encourages you to think about your own life experiences, which can lead to meaningful conversations.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In this transcript, several key grammatical structures and expressions stand out:
- Past simple tense: The speaker often reflects on past experiences, saying things like, "I looked back to my 30s and my 20s." Practicing this tense will help you articulate your own stories.
- Rhetorical questions: Questions like "What happened?" invite the audience to think and engage more deeply with the content. Incorporating rhetorical questions in your speech can create a more interactive atmosphere when conversing.
- Conditional sentences: The speaker mentions, "If you want to make a change, start now." This conditional structure can be useful in making suggestions and discussing hypotheticals in conversations.
- Inversion for emphasis: The phrase "What really is important in life" emphasizes the importance of the topic. Learning how to use inversion can add depth to your English speaking skills.
- Expressions of realization: Phrases like "I realized that time isn't endless" reflect clarity and understanding, essential for effective communication.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As you practice your speaking skills with this video, be mindful of certain pronunciation challenges:
- Invincible: The speaker uses this word to describe youthful energy. Pay attention to the stress on the second syllable: in-VIN-ci-ble.
- Relationships: This word can often be mispronounced. Emphasize the middle syllable: re-LA-tion-ships.
- Materialistic: Another challenging word where the stress is on the fourth syllable: ma-te-ri-AL-istic.
- Health: Ensure that you pronounce the "th" correctly, as it is often tricky for non-native speakers. Focus on the sound by placing your tongue lightly between your teeth.
Utilizing this engaging content to learn English with YouTube not only enhances your speaking skills but also allows you to reflect on meaningful life lessons. By mastering these expressions and addressing pronunciation challenges, you can elevate your English communication to new heights.
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.
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