Shadowing Practice: Matt Cutts: "Try Something New for 30 Days" - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Reviewer Gisela C.P.

A few years ago, I felt like I was stuck in a rut,

so I decided to follow in the footsteps of the great American philosopher Morgan Spurlock and try something new for 30 days.

The idea is actually pretty simple.

Think about something you've always wanted to add to your life and try it for the next 30 days.

It turns out, 30 days is just about the right amount of time to add a new habit or subtract a habit, like watching the news from your life.

There's a few things that I learned while doing these 30-day challenges.

The first was, instead of the months flying by forgotten, the time was much more memorable.

This was part of a challenge I did to take a picture every day for a month, and I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day.

I also noticed that as I started to do more and harder 30-day challenges, my self-confidence grew.

I went from desk-dwelling computer nerd to the kind of guy who bikes to work for fun.

Even last year, I ended up hiking up Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.

I would never have been that adventurous before I started my 30-day challenges.

I also figured out that if you really want something badly enough, you can do anything for 30 days.

Have you ever wanted to write a novel?

Every November, tens of thousands of people try to write their own 50,000-word novel from scratch in 30 days.

It turns out, all you have to do is write 1,667 words a day for a month. So I did.

By the way, the secret is not to go to sleep until you've written your words for the day.

You might be sleep deprived, but you'll finish your novel.

Now, is my book the next great American novel?

No, I wrote it in a month.

It's awful.

But for the rest of my life, if I meet John Hodgman at a TED party, I don't have to say, I'm a computer scientist.

No, no. If I want to, I can say, I'm a novelist.

So here's one last thing I'd like to mention.

I learned that when I made small, sustainable changes, things I could keep doing, they were more likely to stick.

There's nothing wrong with big, crazy challenges.

In fact, they're a ton of fun, but they're less likely to stick.

When I gave up sugar for 30 days, day 31 looked like this.

So here's my question to you.

What are you waiting for?

I guarantee you the next 30 days are going to pass, whether you like it or not.

So why not think about something you have always wanted to try?

And give it a shot for the next 30 days.

Thanks.

Thank you to everyone that took the time to vote for us on the Mazda Rebels Hub.

We've been humbled by the support that we've received and the Mazda grant is going to make a huge difference.

The grant is going to support three major projects, both getting peaked out there to the community, it's going to support a hospital in Kenya to deliver eye care immediately,

and a bakery which is going to provide employment and a sustainable way of delivering eye care into the future.

We're really excited about sharing these different projects.

There are many challenges ahead, but come back here and we'll share the stories with you as they happen.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Matt Cutts: "Try Something New for 30 Days"”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: challenge, novel, month, write, word. This video has 41 sentences and 583 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:02. The speaker talks at a steady 144 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 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

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
sustainable adjective	/səˈsteɪnəbəl/	Able to be sustained.
habit noun	/ˈhæb.ɪt/	An action performed on a regular basis.
adventurous adjective	/ædˈvɛn.t͡ʃɚ.əs/	Inclined to adventure; willing to take risks; prone to embark on hazardous enterprises; daring.
deprive verb	/dɪˈpɹaɪv/	Used with “of”, to take something away from (someone) and keep it away; to deny someone something.
footstep noun	/ˈfʊtstɛp/	The mark or impression left by a foot; a track.
reviewer noun		A person who writes reviews for a newspaper or other publication; a critic.
subtract verb	/səbˈtɹækt/	To remove or reduce; especially to reduce a quantity or number.
dwell verb	/dwɛl/	To live; to reside.
novelist noun	/ˈnɑvəlɪst/	An author of novels.
bakery noun	/ˈbeɪ.kə.ɹi/	A place in which bread (and often other baked goods such as cakes) is baked and/or sold.
philosopher noun	/fəˈlɑsəfɚ/	A lover of wisdom.
hike noun	/haɪk/	A long walk, usually for pleasure or exercise.
memorable adjective	/ˈmɛm.(ə)ɹə.bl̩/	Worthy to be remembered; very important or remarkable.
humble adjective	/ˈhʌmbəl/	Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.
scratch verb	/skɹæt͡ʃ/	To rub a surface with a sharp object, especially by a living creature to remove itching with nails, claws, etc.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
turn out verb	To end up; to result.
come back verb	To return to a place.
end up verb	To bring to a conclusion.
figure out verb	To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
give up verb	To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Have you ever wanted to write a novel?
What are you waiting for?
We're really excited about sharing these different projects.

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	you've always wanted · Have you ever wanted · you've written
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	guy who bikes · bakery which is
Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming	are going to pass · is going to make · is going to support
Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction	you'll finish · we'll share

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 13 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, they're, we've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

Long words — get the stress right: sustainable /səˈsteɪnəbəl/, adventurous /ædˈvɛn.t͡ʃɚ.əs/, philosopher /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/

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 sustainable, habit, adventurous.

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: Matt Cutts: "Try Something New for 30 Days" - Learn English Speaking with Video

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