Shadowing Practice: More Money, Same Problems — Here's Why | Easy English Conversation | Mike's Podcast - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
75 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Welcome back to Mike's English Podcast.
2
Real English, real conversations for every level.
3
Here's something strange.
4
You get a raise at work, more money every single month, and somehow you still feel broke.
5
Sound familiar?
6
Today I want to talk about why that happens, and by the end of this episode,
7
you'll understand something about your own brain that most people never actually figure out.
8
I'll be honest with you this happened to me I got a raise a
9
while back more money coming in every month
10
and six months later I somehow had less in savings than before made no sense to me at the time
11
so let's break it down together and
12
while we do you'll pick up some really natural English expressions people use
13
when talking about money way beyond just I don't have enough so let's start with the basic idea.
14
Psychologists call this lifestyle inflation when your spending increases at the same speed as your income.
15
You earn more so you upgrade everything.
16
A bigger apartment, a nicer car, more expensive restaurants.
17
And here's the tricky part.
18
It happens so gradually you don't even notice it happening.
19
In a few minutes I'll tell you about a specific trick your brain plays on you
20
that makes this almost impossible to avoid without a plan.
21
It actually has a name, and once you hear it, you'll recognize it instantly in your own life.
22
One really useful phrase here is to live beyond your means.
23
It means spending more money than you actually earn.
24
For example, after his promotion, he started living beyond his means.
25
Quick tip, you'll hear beyond your means a lot in financial conversations.
26
You can also flip it around.
27
Living within your means means spending less than or equal to what you earn.
28
Keep both of those in your pocket.
29
Now, here's that trick I promised you.
30
It's called hedonic adaptation, a strange psychological name for a pretty simple idea.
31
Humans quickly get used to good things, and then those things just stop making them happy.
32
Think about it.
33
The first time you eat at a fancy restaurant, it feels amazing.
34
The tenth time, it just feels normal.
35
Your brain resets its idea of normal every single time your situation improves.
36
And that's exactly why more money doesn't automatically mean more happiness or more savings.
37
So when people say money can't buy happiness, this is actually part of why.
38
Not because money is bad, but because we adapt to it so fast that the happiness just quietly disappears.
39
Here's a useful expression for this.
40
The thrill wears off.
41
It means the excitement fades over time.
42
For example, the thrill of the new car wore off after just a few weeks.
43
Now, there's a social side to this too, and honestly, it's a bit uncomfortable to talk about.
44
It's called social comparison, comparing your lifestyle to the people around you.
45
This one is huge.
46
When your friends upgrade their lifestyle, you unconsciously feel pressure to match it, even if nobody says a single word about it directly.
47
And in a moment, I'll give you the exact phrase people use in English when they're trying to impress others with money.
48
It's more common than you'd think.
49
The phrase is, peeping up with the Joneses.
50
It means trying to match the lifestyle of your neighbors or friends, especially by spending money you don't really need to spend.
51
It actually comes from an old comic strip, but people still use it constantly today.
52
For example, they bought a bigger house just to keep up with the Joneses.
53
It's a great phrase, honestly, because it captures something everyone secretly understands.
54
So, if this happens to almost everyone naturally, is there actually a way to avoid it?
55
because I definitely wish someone had told me this a year before it happened to me.
56
There is a way, and it's simpler than you'd think.
57
Stick with me for one more minute, because this is honestly the most useful part of the whole episode.
58
The trick financial experts recommend is called paying yourself first.
59
Before you spend anything from your new income, you automatically move a percentage of it straight into savings as if it doesn't exist.
60
Your lifestyle simply adjusts to the income you see, not the income you actually have.
61
It's such a simple shift in thinking when you really sit with it.
62
You're not fighting your brain's natural behavior, you're just working around it.
63
You can't stop lifestyle inflation completely, and honestly, you probably shouldn't.
64
Enjoying more of your money is a...
65
Okay, let's do a quick scenario before we wrap up.
66
Imagine your salary just increased by 20%.
67
What would you actually do?
68
And more importantly, how would you say it in English?
69
Would you say, I'm going to treat myself, meaning buying something nice for yourself as a reward?
70
Or would you say, I'm going to pay myself first, meaning saving before spending anything?
71
Both are completely normal, natural English expressions, but now you understand exactly what's happening in your brain behind each choice.
72
Try it right now.
73
Say one sentence out loud describing what you would actually do with extra money using at least one expression from today's episode.
74
Thanks so much for listening today.
75
If this episode changed how you think, even a little, follow the podcast, and I'll see you in the next one.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B11
451 sentences
The Things Money Can't Buy 🌱 ｜ Real English Conversation
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
128 sentences
Why Earning More Still Doesn't Feel Like Enough
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B1585 sentences
Why You Should Stop Comparing Your English | English Speaking Practice
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
96 sentences
How to STOP Spending Too Much Money? | 💖 Healing podcast | Intermediate
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
190 sentences
07.b Wealth Steps MS - Effortless Business English
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
A249
24 sentences
Real Easy English 26
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B12
78 sentences
Learn the English Phrases "that kind of money" and "rolling in it"
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
281 sentences
Once You Understand the Value of Your Time, Everything Changes | English Listening Practice
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B118
50 sentences
B1 English Listening Practice - Midlife Crisis
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
95 sentences
#108 Talking about the cost of living | SBS Learn English
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
235 sentences
Psychology of Money in Just 10 Minutes
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
323 sentences
Once You Get Money, Buy These 10 Things Immediately
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “More Money, Same Problems — Here's Why”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: lifestyle, English, spending, phrase, expression. This video has 75 sentences and 899 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:20. The speaker talks at a steady 142 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 86% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| thrill verb | /θɹɪl/ | To suddenly excite someone, or to give someone great pleasure; to (figuratively) electrify; to experience such a sensation. |
| inflation noun | /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/ | An act, instance of, or state of expansion or increase in size, especially by injection of a gas or liquid. |
| podcast noun | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on… |
| hedonic adjective | /ˈhiːdənɪk/ | Of or relating to pleasure |
| unconsciously adverb | /ˌʌnˈkɑnʃəsli/ | In an unconscious manner; unknowingly |
| psychologist noun | /ˌsaɪˈkɑl.ə.d͡ʒɪst/ | An expert in the field of psychology. |
| reset verb | /ɹiːˈsɛt/ | To set back to the initial state. |
| fade verb | /feɪd/ | To hit the ball with the shot called a fade. |
| tenth adjective | /tɛnθ/ | The ordinal numeral form of ten; next in order after that which is ninth. |
| impress verb | /ɪmˈpɹɛs/ | To affect (someone) strongly and often favourably. |
| tricky adjective | /ˈtɹɪk.i/ | Hard to deal with, complicated. |
| adapt verb | /əˈdæpt/ | To make suitable; to make to correspond; to fit or suit. |
| secretly adverb | /ˈsiː.kɹɪt.li/ | In secret, covertly. |
| adaptation noun | /ˌæd.æpˈteɪ.ʃən/ | The process of adapting something or becoming adapted to a situation; adjustment, modification. |
| adjust verb | /əˈd͡ʒʌst/ | To modify. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| wear off verb | to diminish in effect |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
| keep up with verb | To manage to remain beside or just behind someone or something that is moving away from one. |
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. |
| work around verb | To bypass or circumvent (a problem or obstacle). |
| wrap up verb | To cover or enclose (something) by folding and securing a covering entirely around it. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Comparatives -er than / more … than — comparing two things | more money than · more common than · simpler than |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | started living · stop making |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | you'll understand · I'll be · you'll pick |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | they're trying · You're not fighting |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 23 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'll, you'll, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thrill /θɹɪl/, tenth /tɛnθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: inflation /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/, unconsciously /ˌʌnˈkɑnʃəsli/, adaptation /ˌæd.æpˈteɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: unconsciously /ˌʌnˈkɑnʃəsli/, psychologist /ˌsaɪˈkɑl.ə.d͡ʒɪst/, adaptation /ˌæd.æpˈteɪ.ʃən/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/
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 thrill, inflation, podcast.
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.