Shadowing Practice: living in nyc ☆ art & home vlog - Learn English Speaking with Video

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183 sentences

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I'm going

to go to the next video.

I'm

going to

go to the next video.

I'm

going to

go to the next video.

So it's almost 3 p.m.

It's that time of the day we get sleepy.

Kayla's actually napping in between the pillows right there.

But I've just been sitting at my desk all day.

So we're going to go out and run errands.

And what I'm taking with me out today is my Songmont bag, who is the partner of today's video.

Thank you, Songmont.

I've been wanting a bag from them for so long.

So I might have squealed a little bit when they reached out.

In case you don't know, Songmont is the leading Chinese luxury brand.

And they prioritize unique designs, functionality, and you can really see that in the Lattice Collection.

This is the Lattice Shell Seeker bag.

I chose brown and it has gold hardware, super soft, long shoulder straps, and it does a good job of kind of molding to your body but still keeping it structured.

And I'm going to show you how and what I pack in my bag

because this has some of the most clever design I've ever seen.

So the geometric Lattice Pattern is a single piece construction.

It's inspired by an ancient Chinese leather weaving technique called lengbian

And with this technique means there's no seams to split

or glue to untether It's full grain vegetable tan leather

and on the inside it looks like that there's three sections

So two pockets on each side and then a zipper compartment

But this zipper compartment is actually a detachable bag Which is

so so useful as an artist as someone who likes to work in cafes If I want to put my art supplies, my sketchbook in here, I can.

And instead of having my bag out on the table, I can just take this out.

And they're sewn in magnets that make sure everything stays in position and stays closed when you're out and walking.

So in here, I can actually fit my main camera setup when I have my vlogging lens on it.

So I carry around my tripod that goes with the camera I'm currently filming on.

I have my journal and my fountain pen.

My little e-reader.

My wallet, of course.

some beauty essentials, the best mints in the world.

Also my lens cap must have fallen off

when I put the camera in there and two sets of earbuds and on the outside I have a lucky pouch charm.

It hangs on a key ring that's built into the bag and look how cute it is.

I love that my bag has a bag.

If you're looking for a new bag for yourself or for a loved one that has great craftsmanship, is spacious, comfortable, I highly recommend Songmont.

I'll have the link for you to check it out in the description box.

Thank you Songmond for partnering with me for this video and we're gonna go get some groceries.

I bet it would get easier, but I don't know who for.

Days move faster now I swear, I can feel them slip away.

But some things last forever, for love it never fades.

Oh!

He's camera shy.

Never fade.

He likes it back.

Hello, we are back home.

I have the frying pan getting hot and I'm gonna tell you what groceries I got.

It's not too much.

I am trying to clean out my freezer, which is mostly protein.

So I just got some produce and herbs, big bag of spinach.

I love stir frying this or just blanching it.

My two favorite herbs, sawtooth coriander.

It's like a sibling of cilantro, but it has a slightly different flavor profile.

This goes so well in soups, stir fries as a fresh topping, Thai basil, classic, green onion,

and some limes to make fish sauce.

One Asian pear, cause it was on sale.

A giant pomelo, because I wanna try adding it to my salad that I'm gonna make tonight deep fried shallots.

You can buy these in bulk, you can make them at home.

I like buying them in bulk because it's easier.

And of course, the thing I ventured out for, Vietnamese coffee.

And tonight I am going to make a version of my chicken salad.

It's a Vietnamese dish, it's very fresh and light, easy to make, you just chop up a bunch of things and add it to a bowl, mix it up.

You can do it with a rotisserie chicken, but I have chicken breast, so I'm just gonna shred everything, mix it in a bowl, make some fish sauce, season it, top it off with shallots,

and we're gonna eat dinner!

Ah, yes!

Ta-da!

Yuck-yuck!

I have gotten ready for bed.

It is late.

It's like 10, 15.

And the last thing I want to do today that I went to the craft store to get,

I am going to stamp and address my envelopes because I'm sending out freebies to BTS ARMYs across the US.

In case you missed it, I was very privileged to go see the Arirang Comeback Show in Seoul

and so I made a bunch of freebies of each member in the style of a metro card

and I have a few left over because I had a ton of B grade.

The cutting and centering on these aren't perfect but I didn't want to just throw them away.

So I had a little form open up and we're gonna send it out your dress labels to make it easy.

And I have some stamps I picked up recently from the post office that are new.

And I also have some stamps that are left over from my small business days.

So I'm gonna put on an episode of the pit

and we're gonna grind through as many as I can until I get sleepy.

I'm

going to

go to the bathroom.

so good oh it feels so good so good now

I'm going

to go to the next video.

Look at Kayla right now.

She's awake.

Okay, I'm almost done with my YouTube video.

I've been working on it all day.

100

Very unglamorous, just sitting at my desk.

101

But I am getting ready for a cocktail hour tonight.

102

My former director invited me a week ago.

103

The last time we worked together, my life looked so different.

104

Coming out on two years of being post-grad, I guess when I was 18,

105

I thought I'd be going to grad school or I'd be working a full-time job.

106

I guess I had a preconceived notion that careers are linear and if you stick to a path,

107

you'll be rewarded with the work you put in or building seniority, gaining experience.

108

But now everything feels like I'm riding waves.

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Lots of steady highs and lows that cycle in and out.

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Okay, I did not mean to get really deep.

111

I'm actually running late because it starts at 5 30.

112

I think it's fine if I show up at like 6 15.

113

Video editing definitely took a little bit longer than I thought it would today so gotta put the pedal to the metal.

114

This is what I decided to wear.

115

I haven't worn this blazer in a while.

116

I thought it clashed too much with my bleach chair

117

but it's not too bad now that I see it on me

118

and I'm wearing heat tech underneath because it gets chilly at night still in New York.

119

I have my song mount back of course, it matches perfectly.

120

And I'll see you there.

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Bye!

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I have a bump on my head now,

123

but my video's done!

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Man, I look so silly.

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The so so I'm

126

trying to get

127

a little

128

bit of a drink so

129

Oh my god, I think it's up my counter.

130

So that's why I think I must have turned off.

131

Applications are all to go.

132

My history is losing.

133

I'm going to go to the next one.

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I'm going to go to the next video.

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I'm

136

going to

137

go to the next one.

138

All right,

139

it's the weekend and I finally have time to myself to draw.

140

Oh man, my eyes get tired of looking at the screen and I want to make something for myself.

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That's, you know, not necessarily a client project.

142

I have a few ill ideas I've been brewing in my mind.

143

I've been thinking about them non-stop.

144

Right now I'm going to do some warm-up drawings and tonight I'll plan and sketch the bigger pieces I want to do.

145

My favorite things to work with right now are alcohol markers and colored pencils.

146

I was gifted a huge set of alcohol markers earlier this year, which I've dreamt of since I was a kid but they're really expensive.

147

So to have what is essentially a limitless color palette now is so awesome.

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This is the first time I'm announcing this, but I signed up for two art classes this summer.

149

I am a self-taught everything when it comes to what I do for YouTube, Instagram, drawing.

150

I think I always surprise people when I told them, no, I didn't take AP art in high school.

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I didn't take a single art class in college.

152

So I'm really excited to dip my toes in and see what it's like.

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I'm looking forward to building a lot of the basic technical stuff

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and I want to be in an environment where I'm seeing other people make art, where I can get feedback.

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I am just happy to be learning again.

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I haven't taken a class since obviously college and I feel

157

so lucky that there can be days in my week where I just wake up

158

but I have to get done that day.

159

It's just make stuff so that is the dream life for me.

160

A lot of flowers come in.

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The wine-like and I will begin.

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In the middle of the day, the dog-like.

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It should be like this.

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The wine-like and the garden-like, it's in the ocean.

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This is the tea plant, and I said to have you got some warmish water.

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I've got some bad stuff now.

167

It's so sunny!

168

I'm gonna

169

go there, rinse, and then just one soy sauce.

170

Ooh, good.

171

This is the end of the video.

172

Thanks for sticking around if you made it this far.

173

I feel like my life on average does look like what I captured for this video.

174

A lot of it just being at home and being behind the laptop.

175

Sometimes I go out.

176

Even if it doesn't feel special now to me, I think I'll appreciate that I made this video and documented this moment in life so I can look back on.

177

But yeah, that's where I am right now.

178

I hope you enjoyed.

179

I'll see you in the next video.

180

Stay safe.

181

Bye!

182

Bye.

183

Bye.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 183 sentences and 1841 words to shadow. The speech runs for 21:32. The speaker talks slowly, about 86 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

fry /fɹaɪ/ (verb) — To cook (something) in hot fat.
stamp /stæmp/ (noun) — An act of stamping the foot, paw or hoof.
technique /tɛkˈniːk/ (noun) — The practical aspects of a given art, occupation etc.; formal requirements.
desk /dɛsk/ (noun) — A table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a…
leather /ˈlɛðɚ/ (noun) — A tough material produced from the skin of animals, by tanning or similar process, used e.g. for clothing; often denotes leather from cattle when no qualifier…
bulk /bʌlk/ (noun) — Size, specifically, volume.
lens /lɛnz/ (noun) — An object, usually made of glass, that focuses or defocuses the light that passes through it.
salad /ˈsæl.əd/ (noun) — A food consisting principally of raw vegetables (especially greens, e.g. lettuce), other savoury ingredients (typically cooked), fruit, or confectionary; often…
stir /stɝ/ (verb) — To disturb the relative position of the particles (of a liquid or similar) by passing an object through it.
marker /ˈmɑː(ɹ)kə(ɹ)/ (noun) — A felt-tipped pen, a marker pen.
fade /feɪd/ (verb) — To hit the ball with the shot called a fade.
herb /hɜːb/ (noun) — A plant whose stem is not woody and does not persist beyond each growing season.
sleepy /ˈsliːpi/ (adjective) — Tired; feeling the need for sleep.
groceries /ˈɡɹoʊ.s(ə.)ɹiz/ (noun) — Retail foodstuffs and other household supplies; the commodities sold by a grocer or in a grocery store.
compartment /kəmˈpɑɹtmənt/ (noun) — A room, or section, or chamber, typically within a vehicle.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

go out (verb) — To leave, especially a building.
look at (verb) — To observe or watch.
build into /bɪldˈɪn.tu/ (verb) — to add components to a larger entity without interfering with the purpose or functionality of the larger entity
clean out (verb) — To clean, especially to tidy by removing the contents.
come in /ˌkʌm ˈɪn/ (verb) — To enter.
do for (verb) — To doom; to bring about the demise of someone; to injure or harm someone.
fall off (verb) — To become detached or to drop from.
go with (verb) — To choose or accept (a suggestion).

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 72 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, gonna, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: leather /ˈlɛðɚ/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/, sawtooth /ˈsɔːtuːθ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, luxury /ˈlʌk.ʃə.ɹi/, dish /dɪʃ/, notion /ˈnoʊʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, geometric /ˌd͡ʒiː.əʊˈmɛt.ɹɪk/, coriander /ˈkɔ.ɹiˌæn.dɚ/, prioritize /pɹaɪˈɒɹ.ə.taɪz/

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 fry, stamp, technique.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	I've just been sitting · I've been wanting · I've been working
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've ever seen · have gotten · haven't worn
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are left · be rewarded · was gifted
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	bag Which is · someone who likes · freezer, which is

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: living in nyc ☆ art & home vlog - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

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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?