Shadowing Practice: Meditations: The Obstacle Is the Way - Learn English Speaking with Video
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24 sentences
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Picture the most powerful man on Earth, nearly two thousand years ago.
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Now picture him alone in a tent, scribbling notes to himself by lamplight.
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That man was Marcus Aurelius, and those notes became Meditations.
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He ruled Rome through a devastating plague and almost constant war.
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He never intended anyone else to read what he wrote.
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It was a private diary, a way of talking himself through the day.
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One entry opens with a rather blunt warning to himself.
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'Today,' he writes, 'I'll deal with people who are meddling, ungrateful and arrogant.'
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But instead of resenting them, he reminds himself that we're all made to work together.
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Much of the book boils down to one deceptively simple distinction.
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Some things are within our control: our judgements, our choices, our actions.
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Almost everything else, other people, the weather, the past, isn't.
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And pouring energy into that second category is, frankly, exhausting.
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His most quoted line is about obstacles.
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'The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.'
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In other words, the problem itself can become the path forward.
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A cancelled plan becomes a chance to practise patience.
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Marcus also kept death firmly in view, not to be gloomy,
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but to remind himself that time is the one thing we never get back.
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That's what makes even an ordinary day so precious.
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Perhaps my favourite line is also the shortest.
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'Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.'
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Two thousand years later, it's still remarkably good advice.
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So, what's standing in your way today? It might just be the way.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Meditations: The Obstacle Is the Way”. This video has 24 sentences and 269 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:54. The speaker talks at a steady 142 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| deceptively adverb | /dɪˈsɛptɪvli/ | In a deceptive manner; misleadingly. |
| devastate verb | /ˈdɛv.ə.steɪt/ | To ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a region, or trees of a forest. |
| gloomy adjective | /ˈɡlumi/ | Not very illuminated; dim because of darkness, especially when appearing depressing or frightening. |
| impediment noun | /ɪmˈpɛdɪmənt/ | A hindrance; that which impedes or obstructs progress; impedance. |
| lamplight noun | /ˈlæmplaɪt/ | The light emitted by a lamp. |
| meddle verb | /ˈmɛd.əl/ | To interfere in or with; to concern oneself with unduly. |
| resent verb | /ɹiˈzɛnt/ | To feel resentment over; to consider as an affront. |
| scribble verb | /ˈskɹɪbəl/ | To write or draw carelessly and in a hurry. |
| ungrateful adjective | /ʌnˈɡɹeɪtfəl/ | Not grateful; not expressing gratitude. |
| obstacle noun | /ˈɑbstəkəl/ | Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress, either physically or figuratively |
| arrogant adjective | /ˈæɹəɡənt/ | Having excessive pride in oneself, often with contempt or disrespect for others. |
| remarkably adverb | /ɹɪˈmɑɹkəbli/ | In a remarkable manner. |
| exhaust verb | /ɪɡˈzɔst/ | To draw or let out wholly; to drain completely. |
| boil verb | /bɔɪ(ə)l/ | To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas. |
| plague noun | /plɛɡ/ | The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| get back verb | Return to where one came from. |
| work together verb | To be coworkers with someone; to share a workspace with someone. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 3 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'll, isn't, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: deceptively /dɪˈsɛptɪvli/, impediment /ɪmˈpɛdɪmənt/, remarkably /ɹɪˈmɑɹkəbli/
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 deceptively, devastate, gloomy.
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.