Shadowing Practice: Reflection 240: Sweetness or Bitterness in Life? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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This is Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy from My Catholic Life.
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Today's Reflection is entitled, Sweetness or Bitterness in Life?
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Which do you prefer for your life?
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Daily sensory experiences of sweetness or bitterness?
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In other words, do you desire to take delight in the many aspects of your daily life,
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or do you desire that the daily duty you fulfill leaves you with a certain bitterness within your senses?
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For most people the answer is simple.
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Sweetness is much better. But is it?
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Interestingly, the experience of sweetness or bitterness in life is not a good guide toward a life of holiness.
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At times, even sin can taste sweet to us, while acts of holiness can be bitter at first.
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Understanding this will allow us to move deeper into our embrace of the will of God.
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Our goal must be to seek His will purely for the sake of His will.
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We must have no preference regarding the delight or suffering that comes as a result of embracing His will.
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If God's will requires great sacrifice, leaving us with a sensory experience of suffering, then so be it.
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If His will draws us to an exchange of love that leaves us with a sweet delight, then so be it.
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Though it is hard to arrive at a level of total detachment, we must strive for it.
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His will and His will alone must be our focus.
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In His will alone do we discover His abundance of mercy.
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Reflect upon the difference between God's will and the delight or distaste you feel from embracing it.
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When His will calls you to sacrifice, you will find it to be a sort of bitter experience,
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bitter in the sense that it may challenge your senses.
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Do not worry about this.
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Seek His will in all things,
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and the joy in your heart will ultimately overshadow all other immediate experiences you have.
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His will opens the door to His abundant mercy.
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Let us pray.
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Lord I seek Your most holy will about all things.
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me to choose your will no matter how difficult or how delightful it may be.
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Purify me, dear Lord, and give me a single focus in life
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so that my embrace of all you call me to do will bring forth your perfect mercy.
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Jesus, I trust in you.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Reflection 240: Sweetness or Bitterness in Life?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: experience, bitterness, sweetness, delight, mercy. This video has 32 sentences and 392 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:32. The speaker talks at a steady 111 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 5 of its 32 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| bitterness noun | /ˈbɪtənəs/ | The quality of having a bitter taste. |
| sweetness noun | /ˈswitnəs/ | The condition of being sweet (all senses). |
| delight noun | /dəˈlaɪt/ | Joy; pleasure. |
| embrace verb | /ɛmˈbɹes/ | To clasp (someone or each other) in the arms with affection; to take in the arms; to hug. |
| holiness noun | /ˈhoʊlinəs/ | The state or condition of being holy. |
| sensory adjective | /ˈsɛn.sə.ɹi/ | Of the physical senses or sensation. |
| detachment noun | /dɪˈtæt͡ʃmənt/ | The action of detaching; separation. |
| distaste noun | /(ˌ)dɪsˈteɪst/ | A feeling of dislike, aversion or antipathy. |
| overshadow verb | /ˌoʊ.vɚˈʃæd.oʊ/ | To obscure something by casting a shadow. |
| purify verb | /ˈpjʊɹɪfaɪ/ | To cleanse, or rid of impurities. |
| interestingly adverb | In an interesting way. | |
| strive verb | /ˈstɹaɪv/ | To try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently. |
| delightful adjective | /dəˈlaɪt.fl̩/ | Pleasant; pleasing, bringing enjoyment, satisfaction, or pleasure. |
| abundant adjective | /əˈbʌn.dənt/ | Fully sufficient; found in copious supply; in great quantity; overflowing. |
| fulfill verb | /fʊlˈfɪl/ | To satisfy, carry out, bring to completion (an obligation, a requirement, etc.). |
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 bitterness, sweetness, delight.
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.