Shadowing Practice: Mindfulness isn’t the only powerful mental state | Clay Routledge - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Currently, it seems like we're seeing nostalgia everywhere, whether it's movies, music, fashion.
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We're also experiencing a lot of uncertainty in our society.
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When the world seems chaotic, our minds naturally drift towards past experiences that comfort us.
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But there's other reasons that we're nostalgic.
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Thanks to social media and streaming services, we have nostalgia at our fingertips.
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A common criticism of nostalgia is it keeps people stuck in the past.
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Because if you're thinking about the past, then how are you thinking about challenges in the present or potential challenges in the future?
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If you look at how nostalgia is actually experienced, it's not something that most people dwell on, it's not something that holds people back,
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it's actually more of a source of inspiration.
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I can hardly wait.
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Nostalgia actually has a pretty wild history.
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The term was coined in 1688 by a Swiss medical student who was working on his dissertation
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and at that time what he'd noticed was there were these soldiers
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that were coming down from the Swiss Alps to fight wars
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in the plains of Europe who were feeling very anxious and distressed.
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And so he coined the term nostalgia to represent this pain associated with people's longing for their homeland.
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And he saw it very much as a disease.
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If you fast forward to the present day, you would discover that nostalgia is actually considered a psychological resource.
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It's actually very helpful for our health and well -being.
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And what we discovered through careful experimentation using tools of modern behavioral science is
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that it's actually not the case that nostalgia makes people miserable.
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It's when people are miserable that they turn to nostalgia.
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And nostalgia doesn't reinforce that misery, it actually comforts them
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and then even more recently we've discovered that it actually motivates
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and mobilizes us to improve our lives and to pursue the goals that are meaningful to us.
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A lot of nostalgic memories are from when we're children or when we're in our teenage years.
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That's when we're becoming ourselves.
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We're figuring out our own interests, we're developing our own friendships, and there seems to be something about that time of self -development in life
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that we are drawn to as we get older.
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In times of life where we're going through changes, whether it's we're moving or getting married,
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things that involve big changes in life tend to make us want to reconnect with the past
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so we can reassert who we are.
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We can feel like we're the same person.
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This is referred to as self -continuity.
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We're happy to change.
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We're happy to grow, but we want to feel like at the core, the person who we are deep down,
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the authentic self, is relatively stable across time.
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And so as we approach middle age, we like to remind ourselves, oh yeah, this was what I was into, this is who I was then,
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and it helps us take stock of what we want to do in the future.
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Are there things we lost track of that we'd like to reconnect with?
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Nostalgia helps us do that.
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Turns out nostalgia has a number of psychological benefits.
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For one, nostalgia tends to improve self -esteem.
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Nostalgic memories are very much about the self as the protagonist in a story.
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So other people are present in the story, but really these are our stories.
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And so nostalgia gives us a sense of confidence for who we are, like a clarity of our self -concept,
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and that tends to boost our self -esteem.
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In addition, nostalgia is highly social.
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Even though the self is at the center of the story, nearly all nostalgic memories involve close relationships.
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And so nostalgia also boosts our feelings of connection or belongingness.
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nostalgia also increases a sense of meaning in life and this is
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because most of our nostalgic memories are cherished memories they're the life experiences
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that help us feel like we've lived a good life
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so you look at the past
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and say hey I had good things going on then I
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should be able to have good things going on in the future
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so nostalgia also increases optimism when life is uncertain or we're not really sure which direction to take,
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we need to find clues, right?
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We need help in making decisions.
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Nostalgia gives us wisdom, it gives us motivation to take on the challenges of the present
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and to pursue goals in the future.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Mindfulness isn’t the only powerful mental state”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: nostalgia, self, nostalgic, memories, present. This video has 41 sentences and 743 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:39. The speaker talks at a natural 160 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% 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
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| nostalgia noun | /nɑˈstæld͡ʒə/ | A longing for home or familiar surroundings; homesickness. |
| discover verb | /dɪˈskʌvə/ | To find or learn something for the first time. |
| boost verb | /buːst/ | To lift or push from behind (one who is endeavoring to climb); to push up. |
| comfort noun | /ˈkʌm.fət/ | Contentment, ease. |
| involve verb | /ɪnˈvɑlv/ | To have (something) as a component or a related part; to comprise, to include. |
| psychological adjective | /ˌsaɪ.kəˈlɑː.d͡ʒɪ.kl̩/ | Of or pertaining to psychology. |
| pursue verb | /pɚˈsu/ | To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase. |
| coin noun | /ˈkoɪ̯n/ | A piece of currency, usually metallic and in the shape of a disc, but sometimes polygonal, or with a hole in the middle. |
| miserable adjective | /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/ | In a state of misery: very sad, ill, or poor. |
| esteem verb | /ɪˈstiːm/ | To set a high value on; to regard with respect or reverence. |
| naturally adverb | /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/ | In a natural manner. |
| stable noun | /ˈsteɪ.bəl/ | A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses. |
| soldier noun | /ˈsoʊld͡ʒɚ/ | A member of a ground-based army, of any rank, but especially an enlisted member. |
| refer verb | /ɹɪˈfɜː/ | To direct the attention of (someone toward something). |
| helpful adjective | /ˈhɛlp.fl̩/ | Furnishing help; giving aid; useful. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
| turn out verb | To end up; to result. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- That's when we're becoming ourselves.
- We're figuring out our own interests.
- We're developing our own friendships.
- We can feel like we're the same person.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was coined · is actually considered · are drawn |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've discovered · we've lived |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | student who was · person who we |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 24 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, wanna, we've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, anxious /ˈæŋkʃəs/
- Long words — get the stress right: psychological /ˌsaɪ.kəˈlɑː.d͡ʒɪ.kl̩/, miserable /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/
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 nostalgia, discover, boost.
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.