Shadowing Practice: Luyện nghe tiếng Anh cho người mới — Why time feels faster when we get older. Level A1. - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Hey everyone, you're listening to Achieve, the podcast where we explore simple ideas that can change how you see life.
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I'm Emma.
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I'm Jason.
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Hello listeners.
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Really glad you're here with us today.
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So Jason, have you ever felt like time is moving faster and faster as you get older?
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Yeah, actually, I do.
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I mean, when I was a kid, summer holidays felt so long.
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Now, a whole year feels quick.
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Exactly.
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And that's our topic today.
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Why time feels faster when we get older.
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You know, this reminds me of a famous quote by Albert Einstein.
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Oh, what quote?
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He said, When you sit with a beautiful girl for one hour, it feels like one minute.
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But when you sit on a hot stove for one minute, it feels like one hour, which basically means time feels different depending on our experience.
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That's such a good example.
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And honestly, very true.
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Yeah, time isn't really changing.
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Our brain is changing how we feel it.
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Exactly.
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Scientists say one big reason is about new experiences.
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When we're young, everything is new.
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School, friends, hobbies, places.
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Mmm, yeah.
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Lots of first times.
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Our brain saves more memories when things are new.
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But when we get older, life becomes routine.
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Work, home, same schedule.
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Right.
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So fewer new memories.
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Yes.
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And when we look back, fewer memories make time feel shorter.
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Oh, wow.
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So it's not time moving faster.
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It's our memory.
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There's also something called the proportion theory.
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I mean, each year becomes a smaller part of your life.
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For a 10-year-old, one year is a big part.
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For a 50-year-old, it's much smaller.
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Ah, right.
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That makes sense too.
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Actually, um, I remember reading about an experiment once.
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A neuroscientist asked people in their 20s and older adults, around 60 to 80 years old, to count seconds in their heads.
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Oh, what happened?
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They had to press a stopwatch when they thought three minutes had passed.
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The young students pressed it at about three minutes and three seconds on average.
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But the older adults pressed it at around 3 minutes and 40 seconds.
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Wow, that's a big difference!
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Yeah, so for the same real 3 minutes, older people felt less time passing,
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which kind of shows that time really does feel faster when we age.
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That's really interesting.
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Some research also shows older brains notice fewer changes during the same time.
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Fewer changes?
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Yeah, fewer events.
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So time feels smoother and faster.
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That's normal.
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Routine makes time feel faster.
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Yeah, and from that point of view, I think the solution is to create lots of new experiences and memories.
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Oh, I like that idea.
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What do you mean exactly?
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Well, for example, learning a new musical instrument, traveling to unfamiliar places, joining a book club,
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or reading books about topics you don't usually explore.
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That's beautiful, Jason.
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I love that.
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I do feel time moving faster now, especially after college.
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Years feel shorter, but I try to do new things, cooking new food, visiting new places.
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Listeners, you can try this too.
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Life can feel longer when it's interesting.
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Before we go, let's share one tip.
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Right.
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My tip is break your routine sometimes.
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Nice.
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My tip is take photos and write memories.
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It helps your brain remember.
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Yeah, memories make life feel bigger.
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That's right.
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Well, that's all for today on Achieve.
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Thank you for listening.
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We hope time feels a little slower for you today.
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See you next time.
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Bye-bye, everyone.

Context & Background

In today's podcast episode, the hosts Emma and Jason delve into a fascinating topic that many of us can relate to: the perception of time as we age. They discuss how our experiences shape our memories and how this influences our perception of time. The conversation touches on psychological theories and interesting scientific studies that illustrate how our age can affect the way we perceive time. For English learners, this dialogue not only presents an engaging topic but also serves as a valuable resource for enhancing listening and speaking skills.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • Time feels different: A phrase to express how we perceive the passage of time.
  • New experiences: Refers to activities or situations that are unfamiliar and often memorable.
  • Life becomes routine: Indicates a sense of monotony that can occur with aging or in daily life.
  • Fewer new memories: Highlights the idea that repetitive experiences may lead to a decreased perception of time.
  • Proportion theory: A theory that explains how the relative size of time periods changes as we age.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To effectively utilize the shadowing technique introduced in this episode, follow this structured guide to enhance your English speaking practice:

  1. Initial Listening: Listen to the podcast episode multiple times without interruption. Focus on understanding the overall message without worrying about specific words or phrases.
  2. Transcription: Try to write down what you hear. This will help reinforce your listening skills and familiarize you with sentence structures and vocabulary.
  3. Repeat and Imitate: Play the audio again, but this time, pause after each sentence. Repeat immediately what you hear, imitating the speakers’ intonation and pronunciation.
  4. Use a Shadowing App: Consider utilizing a shadowing app to help you practice timing your speech with native speakers for better fluency.
  5. Review and Reflect: After several sessions, review your recordings. Compare your pronunciation with the original audio. This will help you identify areas for improvement in your English pronunciation.

By consistently applying this shadowing site method, you can effectively improve your listening skills and speaking fluency, making English a more integral part of your daily communication.

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.