Shadowing Practice: My January Books - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hey guys, I wanted to talk about all the books I read and listened to in the month of January.
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So I started off the month with Ripe by Sarah Rose Edder.
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One of my reading resolutions for 2025 was to kind of stray away from classic literature
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and read more modern releases and that is why I decided to start the year with this one.
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I would say this book largely but not totally centers around disillusionment, that modern disillusionment.
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It reminded me a lot of The New Me by Halle Butler because both deal with that bitterness that comes with disillusionment.
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They also both take place in workplaces, although the main character here I think is less unlikable than the one in The New Me.
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Her name is Cassie, she's in her 30s, and she's just landed a job working in Silicon Valley in tech.
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Cassie has dealt with depression, feelings of dread, and anxiety nearly her whole life.
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She says she's been born with a black hole that's followed her around since.
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Literally, there's a black hole hovering above her head.
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At first, I thought Cassie was dealing with some imposter syndrome at work, but as I got to know her more, I didn't really see that as the case.
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Even though she constantly doubts herself and she doesn't think she's right for the job, when the moment actually comes for her to deliver, she does.
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It's almost like she dissociates and becomes this hard -working, titan tech machine.
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However, that version of her who is willing to work herself into the ground, do morally questionable things, she feels that is not the real her.
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In fact, it's making her miserable.
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But she feels that she has to dissociate in order to survive in the workplace.
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And yes, she is making a lot of money from this job
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but she's also working somewhere where the rent is very high
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in fact she says on page 103 the way wild amounts of wealth brush up against extreme poverty
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and displacement here is like nothing i've ever seen i'm somewhere
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in the middle neither wealthy nor displaced just suspended in the air writhing having our little panic attacks
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when she's not this hard -working titan trying to make a
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living just trying to get by she's with her black hole over
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and over in the novel you see her try to connect
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with other people in her life such is her mother and her father.
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She says that from a young age, her mother has continuously stung her like a bee.
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She tries to express herself to her dad, but he feels like, what more could you want?
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You've made it.
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You can't come back home.
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You have a job that everyone wants.
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On page 20, she says, in the end, it was endless meetings, corporate pressure, profit goals.
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It was nowhere near as exotic as it seemed at the dinner table.
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When you're young, every part of life seems big and monumental.
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Once older, you can see it for what it is.
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Smaller pieces of a larger game you have no choice
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but to play it's criticizing capitalism hustle culture and toxic workplaces
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that have been born from this hustle culture the kind of company
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that wants their workers to think of them as family
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but at the same time they weaponize access to their workers livelihood we have tech ceos megalomaniacs wanting more
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and more to the point of corruption
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and cassie is stuck running in this corporate wheel like a hamster i finished this on january 3rd
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and i can definitively say that I did like this.
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However, I do still feel unsure about the way in which the book veered towards the end.
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Part of me feels like there was no other way it could veer
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and that there were obvious hints strewn throughout the story.
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Would I recommend this book?
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You know, when I shared this on my Instagram story, I got so many messages from people saying that they did not like this book at all, and I understand that.
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I think it's a polarizing one.
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I think if what I'm saying about this book piques your interest and you read the blurb, you like what you're reading, I would pick this one up.
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I didn't dislike it.
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Once I finished Ripe, I moved on to The Last Sane Woman by Hannah Regal.
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Reading the blurb of this one, I had really high expectations.
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The story starts with our main character, Nicola, and she's visiting a feminist archive, and she tells the woman working that she wants to read about women who cannot make things.
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Very interesting request.
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The archivist then brings out a series of one -sided letters written by a woman named Donna.
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Thus, Nicola begins to read these letters by Donna and finds that her and Donna have a lot of eerie similarities.
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They're both artists who feel insecure yet protective of the art that they create.
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Yeah, I didn't love this one.
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I thought it was sad and that certain parts were impactful, but mostly I felt confused while reading this.
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The story does alternate between Donna's voice and Nicola's voice, and most of the time I was kind of confused about who was speaking.
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I'm not sure if it was the author's intention to have the two women blur into one another.
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For me, it just didn't work.
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And then in the latter half of the book we hear
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from susan who is donna's friend she was writing the letters
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to susan we never get to read susan's responses to donna
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because nicola doesn't have those letters even during susan's parts i would get confused
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and i think this confusion would cause my mind to drift
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and then two pages would pass
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and i would realize oh i have no idea what i have just read i would then go back
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and reread and that was getting kind of annoying yeah it's a book about making art
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and these women who struggle
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because they have this desperate desire to create something in this world yet they feel
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that their art is never good enough wherever they go to find inspiration invigoration they feel as
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if they don't belong the inspiration is not there do i recommend this i don't think
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so i also was not feeling the prose personally
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and i think this is one as the years pass i'm going to totally forget after
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that i moved on to she's always hungry by eliza clark I think I've now read everything
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that Eliza Clark has published boy parts and penance.
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I don't think Eliza Clark is a writer for everyone.
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However, I do think she's doing something that is very trendy right now and I feel bad calling it trendy.
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Not weird girl literature.
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I would call it jaded girl literature featuring the unlikable nasty female narrator.
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I don't at all mean this in a diminutive manner.
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I love an unlikable female narrator.
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I resonate with them.
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It is trendy though because
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so many books like this have been published in the last 10 years
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and i don't think all of them have pulled this off
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eliza clark though she does this is not gratuitous nasty writing
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which i usually cannot stand anyways this is a collection of
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short stories as you can guess from the title they all
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center around hunger literal hunger for food also hunger to be beautiful
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and loved companionship survival power there's a greedy hunger these stories are dark disgusting creepy
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but some of them also make me teehee a little bit clark's writing is usually very sharp and scathing.
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I think she's clever, and I would recommend these short stories if this sounds like your type of writing.
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Then I listened to the first audiobook I've ever been able to finish, and that's Down the Drain by Julia Fox.
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Listen, I chose this book not knowing anything about Julia Fox.
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I just have seen some of her fashion photos from the street.
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What else was there to know about her?
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A lot.
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Julia Fox has had such a crazy life, at least crazy from my perspective, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her regale her stories.
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She narrates essentially from childhood until today.
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Her writing feels very honest and raw, also humorous and raunchy.
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There are also some parts that are very touching and relatable.
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I have personally never felt or thought anything negative about Julia Fox, but I do think this book really humanizes her.
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What is interesting is I've never been able to listen to an audiobook fully before, and I do think if I had read this book,
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I would not have enjoyed it as much as listening to Julia Fox herself narrate her story.
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There were certain parts, I remember one part in particular, where I could really hear the raw emotion in her voice
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and i think that just lended the story more power she has really been through it
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and it's iconic that she's here to tell these stories
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and she's more successful than ever i loved the last few
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lines i felt proud of her she doesn't care what anyone thinks
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because she's so firm in herself
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and i think that's very admirable then i went on to
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read the pearl by john steinbeck you guys know i love
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east of eden east of eden is one of my favorite
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books one i read i think two years ago now
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and i still think about it this pales in comparison however
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i do think it's unfair to compare this to east of
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eden in the first place even though both were written by
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steinbeck anyways this was good it's about a fisherman named kino his wife
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and his baby son one day they're out fishing
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and he comes across a pearl
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and we're talking about the pearl of pearls a giant pearl he has essentially hit the jackpot
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so they start making plans they can take their baby to
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the doctor they can send him to school they can make a better life for themselves nope no, because everyone knows about the pearl.
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There is a giant target on their back.
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While dodging all the evil people that are trying to take this pearl away from him, Kino himself kind of starts to lose it.
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All he can think about is the pearl and keeping his pearl and the injustice of other people taking it from him.
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He's relying on this pearl for his happiness.
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This read to me like a fable.
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In fact, I think the little intro of this story calls this a fable, a parable.
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Yeah, it definitely reads like a parable and the moral lesson is very obvious like you can't miss it.
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It's a short read.
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I do think if you have not read and studied this for school it is well worth the read.
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I also listened to the book This Here Flesh by Cole Arthur Riley.
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This was recommended to me by Hannah's Reading Again on TikTok and Instagram.
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After my success with Down the Drain I wanted to try more memoir audiobooks.
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I think it's just nice hearing people's own voice as they read their own story
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but I actually wish I had read this one.
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I listen to audiobooks when I'm doing other things like walking
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or driving or cleaning and there were so many moments
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when listening to this where i desperately wanted to underline
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or highlight something that she had just said i couldn't
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so i would try to memorize that part
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so i could google it later
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if you are interested in this book i recommend buying a
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physical copy this book is not about one thing i would call it
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contemplations spirituality and selfhood first and foremost also self -esteem belonging largely the African -American identity and like calling in life.
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She quotes Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde, and James Baldwin quite a lot and gives context to those quotes.
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I really liked those parts actually.
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I did feel that the book had a very loose flow and that she was jumping from topic to topic.
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I'm not sure if that's because I listened to it however I do think that it worked here.
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Her writing is very poetic and vulnerable.
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In one of my reading vlogs I did quote a section I liked which I'll put on the screen here.
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Yeah mostly I would say
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if you're interested in reading a book about spirituality as related to selfhood
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and identity i would highly recommend this i am not particularly
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spiritual myself however i still did enjoy this the last book
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i i guess consumed in january was stay true by hua shu
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and this is also one i listened to it was pretty
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short i think i finished it in about three days
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and i don't feel like i listened to it for very long during those three days okay
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so just like this here flashed down the drain this memoir is about selfhood and being true to yourself.
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As you can guess by the title, it veers into other related areas such as friendship largely, Asian -American identity, politics as related to Asian -Americans,
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the marginalization of Asian -Americans and how that can be experienced so differently.
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And I would say just identity in general as a human being, that universal experience of searching for yourself and your purpose.
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And I would say the latter half of the book centers mostly around grief and trauma.
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Okay, so I do think this book is worth reading.
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I also feel that memoirs sometimes get a pass from being too criticized, because how can I cut down someone's story?
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I can't.
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I simply can't hua shu is writing about himself
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and his life in regards to a tragedy
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that deeply affected those two things and i feel deeply for
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that and i only respect it i also feel
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that i would have liked this more
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if i had read a physical copy of it i'm not sure how old hua shu was
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when he was in college but there were a lot of things he was referencing
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that i had no idea about pop culture things like music
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and i was curious i wanted to see in writing maybe they were also things
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that people from California and specifically Berkeley could relate to more.
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Another reason why I wish I had read this is because his voice sounded so eerily familiar to me.
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I feel like someone I know was narrating this in my ear.
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Yeah what I'll say is there were some elements to the writing
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that I didn't really like and there were some statements he made that kind of made me roll my eyes a bit.
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Overall though I appreciate his vulnerability in telling his story.
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I do think it's an impactful story and one
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that will deeply move a lot of people so if you're interested in reading this, I highly recommend it.
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Those were all the books I read and listened to in January.
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I also read Daughter by Claudia Day for most of the month, but I have not finished that yet.
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I've been taking my time with it.
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Same with The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.
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I feel like these two books are better read at a slower pace so I can really take them in.
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Anyways, let me know what you guys read in January, any standouts, anything you disliked.
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I'm always keen to know this.
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Exploring Modern Life Through a Book Discussion
The video features a casual chat about a January read, Ripe by Sarah Rose Edder, blending personal reflection with literary analysis. This real-life scenario mirrors how people share book reviews, discuss themes like work culture and mental health, and connect personal experiences to stories. It’s a rich source for learning conversational English, as it uses natural phrasing, anecdotes, and critical thinking—all skills useful for daily interactions.
Useful Chunks & Collocations to Memorize
- "stray away from": To intentionally avoid a usual habit (e.g., "I wanted to stray away from classic books and try modern ones").
- "deal with bitterness": To manage or experience deep resentment (e.g., "The story deals with the bitterness of unmet expectations").
- "work herself into the ground": To overwork to the point of exhaustion (e.g., "She works herself into the ground to meet deadlines").
- "weaponize access to": To use control over something as a tool of power (e.g., "Companies sometimes weaponize access to jobs to pressure workers").
- "piques your interest": To make someone curious (e.g., "If the plot piques your interest, give the book a try").
Your Shadowing Challenge
Practice the shadowing technique with 1–2 minutes of the video. Play a short clip, pause, and repeat it aloud, mimicking the speaker’s tone, pace, and stress. Focus on phrases like "suspended in the air writhing" or "running in this corporate wheel like a hamster"—these vivid expressions are key to natural speech. For extra practice, use a shadowing app to record yourself and compare it to the original. Shadowing speech helps improve fluency and intonation, making you sound more like a native. Try this daily, and you’ll notice progress in how you shadow speak and engage in real conversations. Learning English with videos like this one turns passive listening into active skill-building!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has dealt · i've ever seen · You've made |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | been born · have been born · is stuck |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | women who cannot · women who struggle |
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.