Shadowing Practice: Maybe it's time to leave Stockholm. - Learn English Speaking with Video

Okay, here's the thing.

I have a dilemma.

I hope you can maybe give me some input or something, because I've been thinking about this for months.

I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons.

I'm trying to make myself just make a decision.

I don't know why it's so hard.

We're going to talk about that while I get ready for midsummer.

Today's midsummer.

I want to have these two braids in the front.

I'm going to give that a try

and then put a light little makeup on

and also take you guys with me today to see what we're doing here in Sweden when we celebrate.

For a long time now, I've just been feeling very lost, very stuck.

Like, what am I doing with my life?

Where do I want things to go?

I'm not following the traditional path, which I think that makes me feel more lost because most people by this time,

they're married, maybe they have a kid, maybe several kids, and I am just not.

I mean, you guys, you're following my dating journey, at least as much as I'm sharing,

and you know that the dating front just isn't doing anything for me right now.

So I also can't

wait for that like i can't pause my life

and be like well maybe i'll meet someone and maybe things will change

and no we're not doing that because time goes by

so fast and you need to do what you want to do

and do it now if you can the dilemma is i want to leave stockholm

I'm not gonna get into Stockholm is great in so many ways.

Yeah, it is.

But also It's not so great in many ways

and it's not even about it being great

or not being great It's more about the fact that I feel like I need some novelty

I am getting very very comfortable in my day-to-day

and I think I'm maybe getting too comfortable I feel like if I'm this comfortable now

where I'm starting to feel lots of friction when it comes to getting out of my comfort zone and doing new things, what will I be like in five or ten years?

That kind of scares me.

Routine isn't bad.

I love routine

and this is part of why I just have not been able to make a decision because I love my kitchen, I love my walks, I love the people I see every week,

I love the predictability of my routine right now in a way.

I feel like I've built a pretty good life for myself

and part of me is like why would I go away from that?

Why would I change that at all?

Why not just live the life I've created, enjoy it and that's it.

But part of me is also like, but I just miss being a little lost.

Well not mentally lost, because we have plenty of that.

Physically lost.

Like going to a new place and having to sort of create a new routine and maybe meet some new people, see some new faces, hear maybe a different language

and just sort of throw myself out there because i remember

when i lived abroad for two years i grew

so much i learned so much but not even just

that just you know having a good fulfilled life where you've done different things

and i feel like if i don't move abroad again now

when would i do that

when would be the better timing than now i feel like there really isn't a better timing than now

because now I'm not tied down by much like I have obviously people

that I love here and again my routine and my lovely kitchen

and my bed I would miss those things so much

and here's also another thing that happens when you grow older is

that you are not as willing to be uncomfortable

if you can avoid it like when I moved abroad

when I was 20 21 I didn't really care about the fact

that I was going to share a fridge with six seven other people

and when i say moving i don't even know for how long maybe a temporarily move temporary move maybe a few months,

six months, maybe a year, maybe longer, you never know.

When you make a big life decision, it could go either way.

Let's say you move abroad.

You could move, you could feel miserable and sad

and like you don't fit in and you can feel like maybe it wasn't mistaken, you just want to go back home and it wasn't at all what you expected, that could happen.

What could also happen is that you could go somewhere

and it could be this amazing experience where you're like thank god I did that, I'm so happy, this was the best thing that could have ever happened to me, look at all these people that I've met,

look at this life that I've built in the new grocery stores

and yeah maybe my bed isn't that comfortable but it's my bed in this new city.

How lucky am I to even be here?

Or you could fall somewhere in the middle where you could be like yeah it's a good experience, I'm enjoying it, I could be here for five months but you know then I'll be happy to go back home.

You don't know in advance and that's what makes every decision

so scary because you don't have any information in advance

and this goes for any leap of faith that you take in your life.

You can try to intellectualize and do research and pros and cons list and do all the planning.

And that is good to an extent because you want to be prepared.

You don't want to just be

dumb spontaneous as i call it

but then you reach a point where it's like now it's

not really up to me anymore i can't really control anything

behind this point now it's just up to faith life god destiny whatever you might call it

and that's where i think a lot of people pump the brakes

and they're like okay am i willing to risk things not going the way that i want them to go

the way that I hope for them to go.

What if it's a waste?

What if it's a bad decision?

Another thing that I think about a lot is that, is it Stockholm or is it me?

That one is a little bit painful.

And it's a little bit one, like, I don't want to really think about it.

Because I'm like, there's no way it could be me.

I am a little bit notorious for moving around quite a bit.

Not abroad, but, you know, within my city.

So I also know that I sort of have a bit of a hard time just settling.

But also, why would I want to settle?

Is that just because it's the norm?

Like, oh, you should settle.

You're now at the age where you should just chill out.

100

you know, find someone, build a life.

101

And to an extent, honestly, I'm like, you know, I wish that's what I wanted.

102

I wish that's what I wanted because it sounds, I don't want to say less stressful.

103

I feel like that sort of doesn't do justice to how hard that is.

104

Obviously, kids, family, it's not easy.

105

That is not, not what I'm saying.

106

But then you at least know the route

107

that you want to take that's the only thing i'm talking about then you know

108

that that's what you want and i wish i knew

109

that that's what i want but it's not at least right now

110

and is that cope am i coping

111

because i'm like i'm never gonna find someone anyway

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and i don't know like let's just let's just pretend like that's not what i want

113

because that hurts less i don't know i don't think so that's not what it feels like to me But realistically, how would I know?

114

We are, as humans, very, very good at deceiving ourselves.

115

So the things that you think you know, you may not actually know.

116

But when I close my eyes, what excites me more is the thought of going somewhere new,

117

stepping out an airport, and just smelling newness. and being like let's

118

see let's

119

see am

120

i escaping myself am i moving from place to place to place and still not feeling fulfilled in me, like, maybe that place, maybe if I go there.

121

Will this feeling, this longing that I can't really name, follow me?

122

Or is it really the location?

123

Is it my environment that just isn't feeding me right now?

124

I feel like I can't be my best self here in a way.

125

Something about being here makes me feel boxed in in a way, or like I'm being held back in a way.

126

I can't really put my finger on it.

127

Not that it's too small necessarily.

128

I mean Stockholm isn't… Stockholm is a great hub for a lot of things

129

and a lot of creatives and things like that, but somehow, for some reason, it still kind of feels a little small right now.

130

Or is it just that my life in Stockholm feels small?

131

I am not creating the best life that I could be creating here.

132

I don't even have one clear city in mind.

133

I would have to try out a few different places.

134

Or just make up my mind and just go for it.

135

Because maybe it's gotten to a point where this whole research part of my brain,

136

the whole making lists and weighing pros and cons and going back and forth, is actually becoming just avoidance and procrastination.

137

And maybe it's actually no longer productive.

138

I have to cut my brows.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Maybe it's time to leave Stockholm”. This video has 138 sentences and 1669 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:21. The speaker talks at a natural 161 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 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
midsummer noun	/mɪdˈsʌmə(ɹ)/	The period around the summer solstice; around June 21st in the northern hemisphere.
dilemma noun	/daɪˈlɛmə/	A circumstance in which a choice must be made between two or more alternatives that seem equally undesirable.
fulfill verb	/fʊlˈfɪl/	To satisfy, carry out, bring to completion (an obligation, a requirement, etc.).
weigh verb	/weɪ/	To determine the weight of an object.
deceive verb	/dɪˈsiːv/	To trick or mislead.
excite verb	/ɪkˈsaɪt/	To stir the emotions of; to cause to feel excitement.
intellectualize verb	/ɪntəˈlɛkt͡ʃuəlaɪz/	To treat in an intellectual manner; to discuss or express intellectually.
newness noun	/ˈn(j)uːnəs/	The property of being new; novelty; recency.
predictability noun	/pɹəˌdɪktəˈbɪlɪti/	The characteristic of being predictable.
procrastination noun	/pɹəʊˌkɹæs.tɪˈneɪ.ʃən/	The act of postponing, delaying or putting off, especially habitually or intentionally.
realistically adverb		In a realistic manner.
avoidance noun	/əˈvɔɪdəns/	The act of avoiding or shunning; keeping clear of.
brow noun	/bɹaʊ/	The bony ridge over the eyes, upon which the eyebrows are located.
smelling verb	/ˈsmɛlɪŋ/	Used in adjectival compounds.
novelty noun	/ˈnɑvəlti/	The state of being new or novel; newness.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
go back verb		To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
get out of verb		To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.
make up verb	/ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/	To constitute, to compose.
move around verb		To relocate to new homes repeatedly; to not live in any one place for long.
step out verb		To exit a place on foot, often for a short time.
tie down verb		To constrain, or to confine within set limits.
try out verb		To test (something) to see how it works or whether it is suitable.

Sentences worth repeating

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

Where do I want things to go?
Why would I change that at all?
How lucky am I to even be here?
Will this feeling, this longing that I can't really name, follow me?
Is it my environment that just isn't feeding me right now?

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 been thinking · I've just been feeling
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have not been · I've built · I've created
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	wasn't mistaken · be prepared · being held

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 67 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: procrastination /pɹəʊˌkɹæs.tɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, friction /ˈfɹɪkʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: intellectualize /ɪntəˈlɛkt͡ʃuəlaɪz/, predictability /pɹəˌdɪktəˈbɪlɪti/, procrastination /pɹəʊˌkɹæs.tɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, spontaneous /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs/, notorious /nə(ʊ)ˈtɔː.ɹɪ.əs/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like midsummer, dilemma, fulfill.

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 →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?