Shadowing Practice: My Best Life Advice For You | What 83 Years Of Living Has Taught Me | Life Over 60 - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hello and welcome.
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So nice to see you again.
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Thank you so much for joining me for a few minutes for this conversation today.
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As you know, those of you who follow me, my granddaughter and her friend came to Florida to visit with me while they were going to a country music concert in Fort Lauderdale.
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And we had the best conversation and I want to share that with you today.
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Let us all just take a minute, stop, and look around,
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and be thankful for everything that we have right now in this moment.
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It seems as though when you're an elder, you get asked a lot of questions because everyone is curious about your life and about what your ideas are on life.
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my granddaughter is 18 and she and her friend came down here to Fort Lauderdale.
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They came to Fort Lauderdale for a country music festival and had a great time.
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We went out to breakfast, as you know, because I've shown pictures.
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And while we were sitting after breakfast and walking along and we sat down near the beach, she asked me a question and she said, Nana, what advice would you give me
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that will help me age just the way you have.
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I said, well, I don't know whether I can help you age,
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but I can tell you in all the years that I have lived, things that I have learned that have helped me lead a better life, and maybe not a longer life, but a better life.
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And I said, well, McLean, I have learned a lot in my lifetime.
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I've made a lot of mistakes.
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But the best thing about those mistakes is that I took the lessons from them so that I was not making those same mistakes over again.
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But the first thing I told her is, in your life, do what is right, not what is easy.
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And I want you to think about that.
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Sometimes we take the easy route because it's, you know, less complicated and good for us and maybe not really good for everybody else.
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But I want you to take the other road.
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I want you to do what is right, whether it's in your college, whether it's with your friends or your workplace or your family.
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Don't take the easy road, but just sit down and think about it.
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And maybe the easy road is the right road.
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But don't take the easy road and always think about taking the right road.
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Now, I know a lot of you probably have had circumstances in your life when you have had to make that decision.
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And maybe when you were younger, you made those decisions because it was easier for you.
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But now that you're mature and you've lived a little bit longer, maybe you realize that that was a mistake and you should have taken the right road.
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I have always tried to take the right road, although it has not always been easy.
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And mainly, I think probably the biggest thing that I did is when my husband became ill, I gave up a thriving career on television.
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It was so hard for me because I absolutely loved
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what I did I love getting up and going to work every single day I loved it but
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I knew that when I lost my husband and when I was the main caretaker of
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my children I knew the right road was to be with them and not to have them lose both their mother and their father.
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I knew the right road was to stay with them and to raise them and to be able to have some type of work that I could support us all, but yet that I could be there with them more.
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It wasn't easy, but I knew it was what I should do.
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It was the right road, and it's because I love them.
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So that is the first thing that I would say to my granddaughter or to anyone.
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Always try to take the right road.
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When you're younger, weren't we full of dreams?
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Oh, I can remember the dreams that I had were absolutely maybe out of touch for when I was living in this small industrial town in Ohio.
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But dreams are only dreams until you take action.
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Maybe it takes you a long time to realize that dream.
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It took me 50 years to realize my dream of being on the stage in New York City and acting or being in film or being on television.
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It took me 50 years, but I never let go of that dream back in my mind.
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The time frame may not be the one that is meant for you, but if you have a dream, don't only dream that dream,
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but take action to try to make it come true.
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Treat others always the way that you want to be treated.
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You know, at the end of all of my videos, I always said, be kind to whomever crosses your path.
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And that's because this has been one of the things that I have learned throughout the life.
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Treat others the way that you want to be treated.
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Because I have found everything in life that you give out, you get back.
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Everything.
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If you give out negativity and hate and spite and jealousy, that'll come back to bite you.
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It really will.
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But if you give out love, support, kindness, all of those things will come back to you.
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But I do believe so much in treating others the way that I want to be treated.
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I think that is extremely, extremely important.
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take risks.
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And if you fail, don't stop there.
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Don't stop.
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Get up off of your knees.
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As I've said a thousand times, get up off of your knees and don't quit.
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Because if you quit, You will never realize anything in life.
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Never.
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Everything will just stop and fail and you will wind up being extremely unhappy and you're going to wonder why am I here.
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But don't quit.
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If you have a dream, if you have a purpose, if you have a goal, whatever it is in your life that you want to do, don't quit.
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Even if you're planting a garden and you spread those little seedlings out so beautifully and you water and you water and you water and only half of them come up.
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Don't give up.
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Plant new seeds and water them and they surely will grow.
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But that's like our lives.
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If we don't plant good seeds, then we will never grow.
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And nothing, very few good things probably will happen to us because we don't follow through on everything.
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So try not to quit.
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And that I think is something that I think encourages even young people to because in this world
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things to be so overwhelming that they sometimes just give up because it seems too
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too hard remember I always talk about your gut instinct and how important it is
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in everything that we do and how many times we don't listen to that instinct that is 99.9% right most of the time.
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Listen to your instinct.
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Whenever you are wondering about something and whenever you have to make a decision in your life,
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whenever you meet someone and there's a vibe there that you are feeling, whether it's negative or positive, listen to your instinct.
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How many times in your life has your inner voice told you something and you've pushed her aside
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and said shut up I don't want to hear it and you go on because your heart tells you to or because
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you want to and it turns out to be the wrong thing and then you look back and you
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said uh-huh my instinct told me way back when that this was not a
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good choice for me listen to your instinct so if you start young McLean
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and you can always take that gut instinct and roll it around and think about it probably the choice that you will make from that will be the right one for you.
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We've talked about this a lot.
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Learn something every day.
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You are never too young to be curious and to try to learn something new every day, even if it's a new way of tying your scarves, even if it's a something new in technology,
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even if it's a new book coming out or learning a new skill.
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Be curious about life.
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Be curious about the planet around you.
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And try to be curious about your friends and what is happening with them.
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Because so often, whatever is happening with them, they hide.
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And what you see on the surface is not what they're feeling.
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how many times maybe we can reach out and help other people if we actually listen
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and we learn ask questions about them ask them how they're feeling anything
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in life never stop learning and that I think will keep you young forever to the very
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last breath and when you think of all of the older women who in their 80s became famous because they were living their dream and they were not too old to learn
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something new believe in yourself we have talked about this too i mean some of these things i know that we have discussed before.
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But believe in yourself, McLean.
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Believe in yourself.
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Don't ever let outside static or other people's opinions shape your own view of you.
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Because if you do that, a lot of times you'll miss out on opportunities and a lot of times your self-worth will be eroded away.
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And basically that kind of comes down to the last thing I want to talk about.
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Don't worry.
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Don't ever worry about what other people think.
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Now, I probably spent three quarters of my life worrying about what other people thought.
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Whatever people thought about me, what other people thought about my marriage, what other people thought about my circumstances, how I dressed, you know, whatever people thought about anything.
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I was so concerned about my public image and what people thought and even my private image.
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What, you know, when I was having problems with my husband who was ill, oh my, I'm so embarrassed.
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What are people going to think?
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You know, how stupid I am or how uncaring I am or or how could I make such choices in my life?
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Don't worry about what other people think.
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And then when I went through menopause, I gained 20 pounds or maybe 30 pounds, and I thought, oh, gee, people will think I'm fat.
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Who cares?
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Who cares?
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Let it go.
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And when you're young, that is so hard because you really don't know who you are yet, and you don't usually have the mature self-confidence to be strong enough to believe that you are unique and you are special.
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But don't worry what other people think.
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Be unique.
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Be memorable.
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Be confident.
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Be proud.
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But mainly, be you.
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I hope she remembers and will take my advice as she goes along through her life in college and business and
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beyond or maybe getting married and have a family if I'm not here on this planet I hope she
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will remember if you were to sit down with your children or your grandchild or maybe your
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granddaughter because it's basically I can't be both male and female but basically toward young women and
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if they would ask you what are the pieces best pieces of advice you can
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give me just exactly what would you tell them I really would love to know if you
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can and if you have time and if you don't mind thinking about it please put your
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responses down in the comments I would genuinely love to know what seven
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excellent pieces of advice would you give to your child or to your grandchild to help them lead a better life going forward.
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Thanks so much for joining me today.
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I am blessed and I feel so special that all of you have come to share conversations with me and share a little bit of time with me.
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Sophie is down here on the floor sleeping.
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She's having a senior moment of relaxation after her long walk today and it's really hot down here in Florida.
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Please do something wonderful for yourself today.
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Be kind to whoever crosses your path.
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Let's all share the love and pray for world peace.
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Thank you again, and I hope to see you in my next video.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
This video, featuring valuable life lessons from an 83-year-old speaker, offers a rich context for English speaking practice. Engaging with such content not only allows learners to absorb wisdom but also to embrace the art of storytelling. Practicing speaking by mimicking the speaker's tone and rhythm can enhance your ability to express complex thoughts and emotions in English. This is particularly beneficial for those preparing for IELTS speaking practice, as it teaches how to articulate ideas clearly while reflecting on personal experiences. Engaging in english speaking practice through shadowing helps learners gain confidence and fluency.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In this transcript, several key structures and phrases stand out:
- “Do what is right, not what is easy.” - This imperative construction encourages learners to express strong opinions and moral judgement effectively.
- “I have learned a lot in my lifetime.” - The present perfect tense is used here to indicate ongoing relevance, a useful structure in conversational English.
- “When my husband became ill, I gave up a thriving career.” - This sentence showcases the past simple tense in reporting a significant personal decision, reinforcing narrative skills.
- “If you have a dream, take action.” - The conditional structure is a key element of making suggestions and giving advice, which enhances learners' ability to motivate others.
These structures are excellent for learners to shadow, aiding in constructing nuanced sentences and expressing personal narratives during shadow speak sessions.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While watching and practicing with the video, pay attention to specific pronunciation challenges:
- The phrase "take the right road." - Be cautious with the sounds in "right" and the ending of "road" to ensure clarity.
- "always try to take the right road." - The linking of words in this phrase can lead to the pronunciation of "always" blending into "try." Practice saying them distinctly first, then as a connected phrase.
- The word "dream." - Ensure the 'd' sound is clear, as it can often blend into other sounds, especially for non-native speakers.
By focusing on these tricky words and phrases, learners can not only improve English pronunciation but also sound more natural in conversation. Shadowing these segments will provide practical experience with the rhythm and intonation used by seasoned speakers.
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.
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