Shadowing Practice: 【地道英式Podcast】如果可以選，你要更多時間還是更多錢？｜用自然英文聊人生選擇，邊聽邊提升英文聽力｜對話練聽力｜讓英文突飛猛進｜B1 聽力Podcast｜Mind the Gap 系列 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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442 sentences
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1
I swear the days have been disappearing lately.
2
I look at the time in the morning and think I've got loads of it and then suddenly it's evening.
3
That's usually when you realise you haven't done half the things you were supposed to do.
4
Exactly.
5
I had this little list in my head for yesterday.
6
Nothing dramatic.
7
I just wanted to go for a run, tidy up the flat, cook something decent and reply to a couple of messages. And?
8
I replied to the messages.
9
All of them?
10
Most of them.
11
So, we're calling that a successful day.
12
I knew you were going to say that.
13
The run didn't happen, the flat is still a mess, and dinner was toast.
14
Toast is dinner.
15
I'm not judging.
16
Thank you.
17
Finally, some support.
18
Although, I do wonder where the rest of the evening went.
19
That's the embarrassing part.
20
I don't know.
21
I sat down for five minutes after work, picked up my phone, and somehow half an hour disappeared.
22
That happens so easily.
23
You think, I'll just have a quick look.
24
And then you're suddenly watching a video about someone organising their kitchen cupboards.
25
Oh, I know that one.
26
And it's never even useful.
27
You just end up watching someone put 12 little jars into a drawer.
28
And somehow you need to know how they do it.
29
For some reason, yes.
30
I've had days like that as well.
31
I can be busy from morning until night, but if someone asks me what I actually did, I have to think about it.
32
That's such a strange feeling.
33
You're tired, you've been doing things all day, but you don't feel like you've got anywhere.
34
Maybe that's why we keep saying we don't have enough time.
35
Sometimes we do have the time, We're just not very good at noticing where it goes.
36
Hmm, that sounds annoyingly true.
37
Sorry.
38
No, it's fine.
39
But I do think we're always putting things off.
40
There's always something we say we'll do when we've got more time.
41
I've got a few of those.
42
Like what?
43
There's a book I've been meaning to read for about eight months.
44
Eight months?
45
I bought it with good intentions. And now?
46
Now it has become part of the furniture.
47
That's not reading.
48
That's interior design.
49
Fair enough.
50
But honestly, I think most people have something like that.
51
A hobby they want to start, somewhere they want to go, someone they want to spend more time with.
52
And somehow there's never a good time.
53
Yeah, and that's probably the bit that bothers me.
54
We talk about time as if it's something we're always waiting to receive as
55
if one day we're going to wake up
56
and suddenly have loads of it exactly and I'm not sure
57
that day is coming so what would you do
58
if you could actually change it change what the amount of
59
time you've got imagine someone just gave you a choice you could have more time in your life
60
or or more money oh
61
that is actually a difficult one is it i thought you'd
62
have an answer straight away i know what i want to
63
say i'm just not sure it's what i'd actually choose that's
64
interesting i think i'd go for the money really see that's
65
the reaction i expected i just thought you'd choose time why
66
you complain about being busy all the time that's exactly why i want the money
67
if i had enough money i could stop doing some of the things that take up my time.
68
Such as?
69
I don't know, maybe work less, get someone to clean the flat, stop spending ages cooking when I'm tired, live somewhere closer to work.
70
So your answer is more money because you think it would give you more time.
71
When you say it like that, it sounds very clever.
72
I wasn't trying to make you sound clever.
73
Thanks, Jen.
74
You know what I mean.
75
I do, but that's genuinely how I see it.
76
Having more money doesn't just mean buying expensive things.
77
It gives you choices.
78
That's fair.
79
If you're worried about every bill or you can't afford to take time off work, that's not really freedom, is it?
80
No, I suppose not.
81
But I'd still be tempted to choose time.
82
Why?
83
Because I think there's a limit to what money can fix.
84
If you're constantly working, constantly rushing around and never have an evening to yourself, having more Your money doesn't automatically make your life better.
85
But you could use the money to stop working so much.
86
If you had enough, yes.
87
So we're back to money.
88
Not quite.
89
I'm thinking about the time you can't replace.
90
Like if you miss your friend's birthday because you're working, you can't just give them money and get that evening back.
91
That's true.
92
Although if they were a really good friend, they might accept the money. Would you?
93
Depends how much.
94
There we go.
95
I'm just being honest, but I think there's something else.
96
If I had more money, I'd probably worry less.
97
And when you worry less, you actually have more energy for the things you care about.
98
That's a good point.
99
Money can buy a bit of breathing room.
100
Exactly.
101
That's what I mean.
102
But then there's the other side.
103
You can have plenty of money and still be terrible at making time for yourself.
104
That's probably me, actually.
105
I wasn't going to say that.
106
You didn't have to.
107
Fair enough.
108
So maybe the question isn't really which one is more valuable.
109
Maybe it's what you'd do with it.
110
Now that's a much harder question.
111
What do you mean?
112
Because if someone gave you more money tomorrow, would you actually change your life?
113
I'd like to think I would.
114
That's not quite the same as saying you would.
115
Alright, don't make me think too hard before we've even finished our coffee.
116
Fair.
117
But now I'm curious. About what?
118
What would actually be enough money to change your life?
119
That's dangerous.
120
Once you start putting numbers on it, things get interesting.
121
Actually, now that you've said it, I think I know what I'd spend it on first.
122
Go on.
123
I'd buy back all the boring parts of my life.
124
Buy them back?
125
You know what I mean.
126
Cleaning, cooking when I can't be bothered, sitting in traffic, waiting for deliveries.
127
All those little things that eat up your day.
128
That's actually quite a good way of putting it.
129
You wouldn't really be buying more time, you'd be getting some of your time back.
130
Which sounds like more time to me.
131
I can see the logic.
132
Imagine you had enough money that you never had to clean your flat again.
133
Honestly, that alone might change my answer.
134
See?
135
I hate cleaning.
136
You don't hate cleaning.
137
You hate starting.
138
That's worse.
139
Fair.
140
But it's not just cleaning.
141
You You could pay for a taxi instead of spending 40 minutes on the bus.
142
You could order food when you're exhausted.
143
You could live closer to work.
144
You could even pay someone to deal with all the boring little admin things.
145
That's the bit I find interesting.
146
We already do this, don't we?
147
All the time.
148
Whenever you pay for something because you don't want to spend your own time doing it, you're basically making that trade.
149
Money for time.
150
Exactly although sometimes I think we make the wrong trade how
151
so you can save 20 minutes by spending 10 pounds
152
but then you spend the next hour working
153
because you feel like you should be productive that's painfully accurate
154
we can be very strange about time we are we treat free time as
155
if it needs to be earned yes you finish everything on your list
156
and then maybe you're allowed to sit down
157
which means you never actually finish there's always another email another
158
message another thing to clean another thing you're supposed to be doing
159
and suddenly it's 11 at night you've spent the whole day being busy
160
and somehow you've still got no time for yourself that's why i think money can help
161
if money removes some of those jobs you've got a bit more space a bit of breathing room Exactly.
162
Not luxury.
163
Just breathing room.
164
I'd happily pay for that.
165
There you go.
166
You're slowly becoming a money person.
167
Don't get carried away.
168
There's still something that bothers me, though.
169
What?
170
All the things we can save time on are things we can replace.
171
A cleaner can do the cleaning.
172
A taxi can get you somewhere faster.
173
But what about the time you lose because you were working?
174
You can't exactly hire someone to live your life for you.
175
That's what I mean.
176
Although, for a million pounds, I might consider it.
177
You'd hire someone to be Casey.
178
I'd need someone with excellent references.
179
Naturally.
180
But seriously, I get your point.
181
Saving time isn't the same as creating time.
182
And some time just matters more than other time.
183
Like?
184
Time with people you care about, a birthday, a holiday, seeing your parents, things like that.
185
You can't really put a price on those.
186
No. You might be able to pay for a nicer holiday, but you can't pay to have that holiday again once it's gone.
187
That's probably where I start leaning towards time.
188
Really?
189
A little bit.
190
Don't look so pleased with yourself.
191
I'm not.
192
You are.
193
Maybe a little.
194
Still, I think we'd probably both spend the money differently, depending on what it was for.
195
Which brings us back to your question about the number.
196
The dangerous number.
197
Let's make it simple.
198
Someone offers you £1 million tomorrow.
199
I'm listening.
200
There's just one condition.
201
For the next ten years, you have to work six days a week.
202
Oh, that's horrible!
203
Would you take it?
204
You had to add a condition, didn't you?
205
It makes the question more interesting.
206
Give me a second. Because suddenly...
207
That million pounds doesn't look quite so attractive.
208
Right, let me actually think about this.
209
One million pounds sounds enormous when you just say the number.
210
It does.
211
I mean, that's the sort of money that makes you start imagining a completely different life.
212
And then you remember the small print.
213
Ten years, six days a week.
214
And presumably you don't get to choose what the job is.
215
Oh no, that changes everything.
216
Why?
217
Because if you said I could work six days a week doing something I genuinely loved, I'd probably think about it.
218
For 10 years?
219
Well, don't make it sound so long.
220
10 years is quite a long time, Casey.
221
I know.
222
I'm trying to avoid thinking about that part.
223
That's the problem with the question, isn't it?
224
A million pounds feels very real, but 10 years is harder to picture.
225
Exactly.
226
You can imagine what you'd buy with a million pounds – a house, travel, maybe never worrying about money again.
227
But it's much harder to imagine yourself 10 years from now.
228
Especially when you're thinking about giving up most of your weekends.
229
And that's what I'd be thinking about.
230
Not the money, really.
231
I'd be thinking, what would my life look like during those 10 years?
232
You'd have almost no time off.
233
Exactly.
234
One day off a week isn't much.
235
You'd start protecting that one day like it was gold.
236
I'd probably spend the whole day doing nothing.
237
Then you'd be wasting your one day off.
238
That's my idea of a good day.
239
Fair enough.
240
I'd probably be the opposite.
241
I'd make a list of everything I wanted to do, and then I'd get annoyed because there wasn't enough time to do all of it.
242
Which brings us back to the original problem.
243
Not enough time.
244
Even with a million pounds.
245
That's quite depressing.
246
Maybe.
247
But I think there's another way of looking at it.
248
Go on.
249
What if you took the million pounds and used it to make those ten years easier?
250
But you've still got to work six days a week.
251
True, but you could live close to work.
252
You could get a cleaner.
253
You could take taxis.
254
You could travel during your one day off.
255
That sounds less terrible.
256
And you'd know there was an end to it.
257
That's important.
258
If someone told me, work six days a week forever, I'd say, no chance.
259
But ten years?
260
I'd have to think about it.
261
What about five years?
262
You're making it worse.
263
Why?
264
Because now I'm thinking about the money again.
265
How much would change your answer?
266
Five million.
267
That's quick.
268
I have my limits.
269
So, ten years for one million is too much.
270
But five years for five million… Now we're talking.
271
What would you actually do with five million?
272
I'd buy a house on my quiet.
273
I'd travel.
274
I'd probably take a long break after the five years.
275
So, you'd spend five years working hard so that you could buy yourself more time afterwards.
276
When you put it like that, it sounds slightly ridiculous.
277
It does, a little.
278
But people do that all the time.
279
They do.
280
We work more because we want more money.
281
And then we spend the money because we want more free time.
282
And sometimes we don't even notice we're doing it.
283
Which makes me wonder whether I'd make the same choice at 25.
284
I don't think I would.
285
You'd choose differently.
286
Probably.
287
At 25, I'd be more willing to trade time for money.
288
I'd probably think, I've got loads of time.
289
I'll make it back later. And now?
290
Now, I'm not so sure you can always get it back.
291
Hmm.
292
That's probably the first thing you've said that's made me seriously reconsider my answer.
293
So, you're choosing time now.
294
Don't push it.
295
Fair enough.
296
You know, I think 25 -year -old me would have taken the million.
297
Without thinking twice?
298
Probably not.
299
I mean, I would have thought about it just not for very long.
300
What would your reasoning have been?
301
I'd have thought I had time.
302
10 years sounds like forever when you're 25.
303
It really does.
304
If you told me at 25, you'll be 35 in 10 years, I'd probably have thought, that's ages away.
305
And then you blink and you're there.
306
Don't say that.
307
Sorry.
308
It really does feel faster now though.
309
When I was younger, a summer holiday felt endless.
310
A week felt like a week.
311
Now a week feels like two days.
312
Monday morning and then somehow it's Friday afternoon.
313
And you're wondering what happened to Wednesday?
314
Wednesday has disappeared from my life.
315
Completely.
316
I wonder if that's part of getting older though.
317
Not just having less time but having more things competing for it.
318
That's a good way of looking at it.
319
When you're younger you might have a whole Saturday with nothing planned.
320
As you get older, there's always something.
321
Work, family, friends, errands, appointments.
322
And the annoying thing is, they're not necessarily bad things.
323
Exactly.
324
You might actually want to do them.
325
You want to see your friends.
326
You want to go somewhere nice.
327
You want to exercise.
328
You want to cook.
329
You want to read that book you've been ignoring for eight months.
330
I feel personally attacked.
331
I'm just saying.
332
But that's the strange thing about time.
333
Having more free time doesn't necessarily mean you'll use it well.
334
That's very true.
335
Give me a completely free day and I'll probably spend the first three hours deciding what to do.
336
And then it's lunchtime.
337
Exactly.
338
That's why I've become more willing to spend money on convenience.
339
Like what?
340
If I can pay a little more to save an hour, sometimes I'll do it.
341
Not because I'm lazy, I just don't want to spend my limited free time doing something I don't really care about.
342
That's probably where I am now as well.
343
When I was younger, I'd look at something and think, that's expensive, I'll do it myself.
344
Now, I sometimes look at it and think, how much is an hour of my time worth?
345
That's quite a big shift.
346
It is.
347
And I'm not saying it's always the right way to think.
348
Sometimes I pay for something and then realise I could have done it myself in 10 minutes.
349
That's the danger.
350
But if it gives me a bit more time for myself, I'm usually happy with it.
351
I think that's what changes as you get older.
352
You start thinking less about how much something costs and more about what it costs you in time.
353
That's interesting.
354
Although I suppose it depends on what you want your time for.
355
What would you spend more time on?
356
People, probably.
357
People?
358
Friends, family, and maybe myself a bit more.
359
That's probably the bit we forget.
360
What?
361
Having time for yourself isn't the same as doing nothing.
362
Sometimes it's just having enough space to do something because you want to, not because you have to.
363
That's a nice distinction.
364
And maybe that's why I'd rather have more time now.
365
Not because I suddenly hate money.
366
Good to hear.
367
I still like money.
368
I had noticed.
369
But I think when you're younger, you see time as something you've got plenty of.
370
Later, you start to realise it's actually the thing you don't get back.
371
You can always make more money, but you can't get time back.
372
We spend a lot of time trying to make more money and then wonder why we don't have enough time.
373
That's a bit of a trap, isn't it?
374
Maybe that's the real question. Which is?
375
If you could choose again, right now, knowing everything we've just talked about, would you still choose the money all right you've made me
376
think about this far more than I expected that's what happens
377
when you have coffee with me I usually regret it fair enough but
378
if you ask me again now I think I'd choose time
379
you've changed your mind a little what changed it I think
380
I was looking at the money as an answer to everything more money would give me more choices
381
and that's definitely valuable but having more choices doesn't mean much if you don't have the time to enjoy them.
382
That's probably where I ended up as well.
383
You still choose time?
384
I think so.
385
Although I wouldn't mind having the money as well.
386
That's cheating.
387
I'm being realistic.
388
No, you're trying to have both.
389
Can you blame me?
390
Not really.
391
Actually, now I'm curious.
392
If you woke up tomorrow and suddenly had 10 million pounds, what would be the first thing you'd do?
393
I'd probably sit there for a while and make sure it was real.
394
Fair.
395
Then I'd probably take some time off.
396
How much time?
397
I don't know.
398
A month, maybe.
399
A month?
400
I know.
401
That sounds like nothing.
402
You've just been given £10 million.
403
I'd disappear for at least six months.
404
Where would you go?
405
Somewhere warm.
406
Somewhere I don't have to set an alarm.
407
So your first purchase would be time.
408
Oh, that's annoyingly true.
409
You can't escape it.
410
Maybe that's the strange thing about the whole question.
411
We spend so much of our time trying to earn money.
412
But in the end, what we really want from the money is more time.
413
More time to do the things we actually care about.
414
To see people, to travel, to sit around and do absolutely nothing sometimes.
415
Which is surprisingly difficult to do without feeling guilty.
416
Oh, completely.
417
If I'm sitting on the sofa doing nothing, part of my brain is already making a list of things I should be doing.
418
Maybe that's something we need to get better at.
419
Doing nothing.
420
Having time without feeling like we need to justify it.
421
I like that.
422
Although I'm still keeping the 10 million.
423
Of course you are.
424
I can want more time and more money.
425
That's probably the most honest answer we've had all day.
426
What about you then?
427
If someone offered you the money tomorrow, would you take it? yes see there we are
428
but I'd use it to buy more time
429
so we're both choosing time just taking very different routes to
430
get there I suppose that's the thing maybe the answer isn't really money
431
or time maybe it's what you want your life to have
432
more of that's a good question to leave people with so what would you choose More time or more money?
433
So, what would you choose?
434
More time or more money?
435
And don't say both.
436
Fine, we'll leave that one with you.
437
If you enjoyed listening, you can let us know what you'd choose.
438
We always like hearing different answers.
439
And if you're using Mind the Gap to get more English into your day, hopefully you've picked up a few useful expressions along the way.
440
We'll be back with another conversation soon.
441
See you next week.
442
See you!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “【地道英式Podcast】如果可以選，你要更多時間還是更多錢？｜用自然英文聊人生選擇，邊聽邊提升英文聽力｜對話練聽力｜讓英文突飛猛進｜B1 聽力Podcast｜Mind the Gap 系列”. This video has 442 sentences and 3463 words to shadow. The speech runs for 20:38. The speaker talks at a natural 168 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 89% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pound noun | /ˈpaʊ̯nd/ | A unit of weight in various measurement systems. |
| disappear verb | /dɪsəˈpɪɹ/ | To vanish. |
| taxi noun | /ˈtæksi/ | A vehicle that may be hired for single journeys by members of the public, particularly one with an automated meter to calculate the fare. |
| depend verb | /dɪˈpɛnd/ | To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition |
| realise verb | Non-Oxford British standard spelling of realize. | |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| annoy verb | /əˈnoɪ̯/ | To disturb or irritate, especially by continued or repeated acts; to bother with unpleasant deeds. |
| annoyingly adverb | /ʌˈnɔɪjɪŋli/ | In an annoying manner. |
| bore verb | /boɹ/ | To inspire boredom in somebody. |
| toast noun | /toʊst/ | Bread that has been toasted (cooked lightly by browning). |
| genuinely adverb | /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/ | In a genuine manner; truthfully, truly. |
| clever adjective | /ˈklɛv.ɚ/ | Nimble with hands or body; dexterous; skillful; adept. |
| differently adverb | /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt.li/ | In a different way. |
| cupboard noun | /ˈkʌb.əd/ | A cabinet, closet, or other piece of furniture with shelves intended for storing cookware, dishware, or food; similar cabinets or closets used for storing… |
| embarrass verb | /ɪmˈbæɹəs/ | To disrupt someone's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
| buy back verb | To purchase (something already sold, misplaced, destroyed, or given away). | |
| carried away adjective | Made excessively emotional or excited, so that one goes too far. | |
| eat up verb | To consume completely. | |
| get back verb | Return to where one came from. | |
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- We already do this, don't we?
- You had to add a condition, didn't you?
- How much would change your answer?
- What would you actually do with five million?
- What would your reasoning have been?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If I had more money, I'd probably · If you told me at 25, you'll be |
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | have been disappearing · you've been doing · you've been ignoring |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't done · I've had · has become |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be tempted · can't be bothered · be earned |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 187 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'd, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: distinction /dɪˈstɪŋkʃən/, intentions /ɪnˈtɛnʃənz/
- Long words — get the stress right: annoyingly /ʌˈnɔɪjɪŋli/, genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/, differently /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt.li/, reconsider /ˈɹiːkənˌsɪdə/, presumably /pɹɪˈzuːməbli/
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 pound, disappear, taxi.
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.