Shadowing Practice: Shadowing English: Repeat After Me: Speaking Practice for Pronunciation and Fluency - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
B1
Hey, hey. Welcome back, English practicer. I wake up every morning and make an English lesson for you. Yeah. Hey, I haven't sung that song in a long time. That was fun. All right. Today, we're going to break the procrastination cycle. This is kind of a listening exercise. I want you to listen, learn, and shadow me if you can. Try to say it with me. Repeat little chunks of speech that you hear that you want to remember and practice. All right, let's jump into it. Today we're tackling something everyone deals with. Everyone deals with it. What…
27 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Hey, hey. Welcome back, English practicer. I wake up every morning and make an English lesson for you. Yeah. Hey, I haven't sung that song in a long time. That was fun. All right. Today, we're going to break the procrastination cycle. This is kind of a listening exercise. I want you to listen, learn, and shadow me if you can. Try to say it with me. Repeat little chunks of speech that you hear that you want to remember and practice. All right, let's jump into it. Today we're tackling something everyone deals with. Everyone deals with it. What is it?
2
Procrastination. That nagging habit of constantly putting off important tasks. Putting off. If you if you put something off put off, you postpone it. So you're constantly postponing putting off important tasks. That's procrastination, right? Let's start with the word nagging. It means something that keeps bothering or irritating you. It keeps bothering irritating me. It's nagging me.
3
Like that little voice in your head [snorts] that won't leave you alone. Leave me alone, please. My nagging little voice in my head. So why do we let procrastination get the best of us? Get the best of us. If you say it got the best of me, that's another way you can say it got the best of me.
4
That means it overwhelmed me. I was defeated by it. I got it got the better of me. I lost control.
5
It got the best of me. It got the best of us. So, procrastination can get the best of us sometimes, right? Why does that happen? Let's find out. What exactly is procrastination? It's when we delay important tasks by doing easier, less important things instead. Oh, I do that a lot. We all do it. Cleaning, scrolling on our phones, or binge watching shows instead of handling something crucial. Here's another word for you. Here's another word for you. Deferral. Deferral. Deferral means postponing something. Procrastination is a kind of deferral. But it's almost always irrational. Not rational, irrational. We know we shouldn't delay the task, but we do it anyway.
6
It's surprisingly easy to trick ourselves into feeling productive. I was productive.
7
Have you ever cleaned your whole room or organized all your files just to avoid doing something more important? That's procrastination at work.
8
It feels like you're doing something useful, but deep down you know you're just avoiding the real task.
9
Why does procrastination happen? It's not always about laziness. One reason is immediate gratification. Gratification right now. immediate, which means seeking quick pleasure.
10
Our brain craves instant rewards, like watching a fun video or grabbing a snack, even though that important task is still waiting. It's still waiting for you. But you got to go see that fun video. You got to grab that delicious snack. You crave it.
11
Here's another term. Cognitive overload. Whoa, big word. Cognitive overload. Cognitive overload is that feeling of being so overwhelmed by a big task that you avoid starting it at all.
12
You avoid starting that big task because it's just overwhelming.
13
It's too much to think about. Cognitive is your thinking about it. Overload, it's just too much. Too much to think about. Cognitive overload.
14
Breaking that task into smaller steps can make it much easier to handle. Here's a tip. Divide a large project into tiny manageable parts. Small parts that you can manage. Manageable parts. When you complete a small piece, you feel accomplished. And that motivation can help you keep going.
15
Have you ever made a to-do list and felt a little rush of satisfaction just from crossing something off? Crossing something off your to-do list. I did it. That's the power of small wins.
16
Here's one more phrase to remember. Procrastination paralysis.
17
paralysis. Procrastination paralysis. This is uh when you're so overwhelmed by procrastination that you freeze. So freeze is our key word here for paralysis. If you're paralyzed, you can't move. You're frozen. So you freeze. Paralysis.
18
Let me start from the top again. Procrastination paralysis is when you're so overwhelmed by procrastination that you freeze and can't even begin. You don't even begin because you're frozen by procrastination paralysis. It's that moment when delaying leads to total inaction. Inaction is no action. Taking no action is inaction. [snorts] All right. What's the cost of procrastination? It's not just about putting things off. It also increases your stress.
19
You're building up what's called emotional debt. Emotional debt. The mental load of all the unfinished tasks you carry around. All that mental load that all the thinking about that's your emotional debt. It's just building up more and more debt. Emotional debt. The longer you delay, the heavier that debt becomes. Got to pay off your debt. Procrastination doesn't just waste your time, it steals your peace of mind. It's like carrying a backpack full of rocks. Nobody wants to do that. Every time you delay a task, another rock gets added to your backpack and it's getting so heavy and you're trying to climb up the mountain and it's getting heavier and heavier.
20
I used to struggle with procrastination, too. I'd let tasks pile up until they felt like an impossible mountain. But once I started using time blocking, I saw a big improvement. Time blocking.
21
I began breaking tasks into smaller parts and dedicating just 10 or 15 minutes to each one.
22
It might sound simple, but those small chunks add up quickly. And before you know it, you've made real progress.
23
So, how do we stop procrastinating? One helpful technique is again time blocking.
24
This means setting a specific amount of time for a task, like telling yourself, I'll just work on this for 10 minutes.
25
It makes getting started easier. And once you begin, it's much easier to keep going. And don't forget to reward yourself. Once you finish a task, give yourself a small treat. This taps into your brain's craving for immediate gratification, but in a positive way. Yeah. Give yourself a small treat. This taps into If it taps into it, it accesses it. It It taps into your brain's craving for immediate gratification. Our brain craves immediate gratification. So let's give our brain immediate gratification by doing the task that we need to do. That's a positive way to deal with it. Rewards don't have to be big or expensive. They can be as simple as taking a short break, having a snack, or watching an episode of your favorite show. These rewards kind of sound like uh procrastination to me.
26
I don't know about you. [laughter] Sounds like another form of procrastination. I'm rewarding myself right now. And but you're really procrastinating. H I don't know. I don't know about this advice. Just make sure the reward doesn't turn into another excuse to procrastinate.
27
That's the point I wanted to make. And that's it. That's it for today. Hey, thank you for practicing with me again. What do you think of this style of lesson? Is it good for you? I hope so. Good workout. Stay persistent. Stay consistent. And if you do so, you are bound to succeed. Keep moving forward one step at a time and I shall see you in the next English speaking practice video.
Download App
AI scoring for every sentence you speak
TRENDING
Popular
About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will engage in an effective English speaking practice exercise focused on tackling procrastination. The video guides you through listening and repeating phrases using a technique known as shadow speech, which enhances your pronunciation and fluency. By participating in this practice, you'll learn to break the cycle of procrastination, understand its psychological impacts, and boost your language skills simultaneously.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Procrastination: The act of delaying or postponing tasks.
- Nagging: Something that persistently bothers or irritates you.
- Cognitive overload: A feeling of being overwhelmed by a large task, leading to avoidance.
- Emotional debt: The mental burden of unfinished tasks that accumulate over time.
- Procrastination paralysis: A state where one is so overwhelmed by procrastination that they are unable to start any task.
- Time blocking: A method of dividing your time into specific blocks to focus on individual tasks.
- Immediate gratification: Seeking quick pleasure or reward, often at the expense of completing important tasks.
Practice Tips
To make the most out of this shadowing exercise, follow these practical tips tailored to the video's speed and engaging tone:
- Start with Short Segments: Focus on short phrases or sentences, repeating each one after the speaker. This shadowspeak method will help you stay in sync with the natural rhythms of English.
- Repeat with Emotion: Foster your connection to the material by not only mimicking the words but also the emotions conveyed in the lesson. This will enhance your ability to express yourself fluently.
- Use Pauses Wisely: After each segment, take a moment to reflect and repeat the phrases aloud, allowing you to internalize the vocabulary effectively for better English pronunciation.
- Practice Daily: Keep a consistent practice routine. Set aside 10 to 15 minutes each day to focus on shadow speech. Make this a habitual part of your English speaking practice.
- Keep Track of Your Progress: Note improvements in fluency and confidence, as this will motivate you to continue. Success with small wins fosters a greater drive to tackle larger language challenges.
By integrating these practices into your routine, you'll not only improve English pronunciation but also combat procrastination in your language learning journey. Dive into the rhythm of shadowing, and watch your speaking skills grow!
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.
☕ Buy us a coffee
ShadowingEnglish remains 100% free thanks to your support. Server and AI costs are high — your coffee keeps us going! 🙏