Shadowing Practice: Sisyphus and the Impossible Dream - Learn English Speaking with Video
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182 sentences
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you're broke totally broke it's embarrassing it hurts but then in that moment you say to yourself
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you're finally brave enough to ask her out
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she was the love of my life she just didn't know it yet yeah i know who you are casey
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but who gave you my number right then and there you think someday i'm gonna marry this girl
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dad wake up are you awake casey was in a pretty bad motorcycle accident tonight
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i was like are you okay are you okay are you okay and he said no no
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and then i looked at him and his leg was snapped winter 2007 I was on a scooter, the other guy ran a red light.
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I'm a mess.
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Tomorrow they're cutting me open and replacing my femur with a titanium rod.
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They rebuilt the leg out of metal.
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The doctor said I'd mostly recover, but they made it clear.
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I'd never run again.
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Broken here.
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Here.
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And then in that moment,
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a thought, I would heal and I'd run a marathon and I'd do it in the impossible time of under three hours.
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Now, a marathon is always 26 .2 miles long.
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And to break three hours, you have to run faster than a six minute and 50 second per mile pace.
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That's impossible.
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First attempt, Richmond, Virginia.
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The goal was two hours and 59 minutes.
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Now I'd never run 26 miles in my life but I was confident I could do it.
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I failed.
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For context the average worldwide marathon time is four hours
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and 29 minutes
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and my very specific goal was 259 I had to make some changes starting
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now I'd run every day no more drinking definitely no more smoking
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and I lost 20 pounds I was a A totally different person for that second marathon.
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Still failed though.
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New York City, 2009.
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This was my first time breaking 310.
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California International.
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This is a super fast course.
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Disney.
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You get stuck in this loop.
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You try, fail, try, fail.
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All right, today is February 20th, 2011.
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Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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Failure, it's a muscle, and every time you use it, it gets a little stronger.
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Open it up, Joe!
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You're so close.
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Try, fail.
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Try, fail.
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Get knocked down, get back up, get knocked down again.
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In Greek mythology there's this story of a king who's been cursed.
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And his curse was to push a boulder up a hill, and just as he got to the top,
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the boulder would roll back to the start.
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His curse was to do this really hard thing, and he'd get super close to accomplishing it, but then he'd fall back,
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and after the entire thing over again.
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And he'd do this over, and over for eternity.
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See you in 26 miles!
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Three hours, three minutes.
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Fail, fail, fail.
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Ow!
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And then you get married, and then you have a kid, and then another kid, and then a new job,
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and you're moving, and you're moving again, then you're 40.
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Dear Casey.
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You're 40!
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But you still haven't done it.
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Happy birthday to you.
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Okay, we're off.
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Alright, just had to have a quick visit to the medical tent.
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I feel good now, but a minute ago, I felt very dizzy.
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This is my Nana.
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Her impossible dream was to dance forever.
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She did that.
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She was on her feet dancing until the day she died at age 92.
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She made it happen.
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No one else has anything invested in this.
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No one cares if you do it or don't do it.
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To the world, this pursuit is just your cute little hobby.
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I was 26 when I set this goal.
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I was young then, and I couldn't do it.
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Now I'm old.
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If I don't do this now, it's just going to get harder.
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And if I back off, if I let reason win, then I have to carry the weight of that unrealized goal until the day I die.
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So those are the stakes.
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And I want to be like Nana.
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Go runner!
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Cheers!
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Thank you.
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6 a .m.
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August 1, today's day one of marathon training.
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2023 New York City Marathon.
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This year was really different.
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This is Roberto.
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He's my coach now, and I followed all of his guidance.
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This stadium is seeing all the fans.
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I took no shortcut.
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Crazy, we're cooking 653 of it, so.
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I have an Olympic marathon coach.
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He's running next to me.
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I told, yes!
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And me alone for 26 hours.
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This was it.
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Your boy is fit.
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I was fitter than I've ever been.
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I was fast.
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Six days, Roberto.
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And I had Roberto pacing me.
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That is the New York City marathon finish line.
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It was pretty exciting.
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It was 16 months of focused training just for this race.
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Good luck!
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Good luck!
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Today's gonna be the day.
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I was stronger than I'd ever been.
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KC!
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KC!
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At mile 13, I was on pace.
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KC!
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Mile 18, I was on pace.
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KC!
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I felt strong.
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Go KC!
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Go KC!
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Go KC!
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Why was this so hard, talking about a margin of less than two minutes?
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Moreover, why do I care anymore?
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It's not about a broken leg or needing to prove that doctor wrong.
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I have now run two dozen marathons.
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I won.
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at age 42 I had just run the fastest marathon of my entire life we had a good day the official
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The final result is 3 .01.
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We had a good time, 6 .48 through 22 miles, but you were all great out there.
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Thanks for cheering.
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It's just an arbitrary number.
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I don't need to break three hours to know who I am.
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What matters are the experiences, the journey, even if I failed in the goal.
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See, life's a battle, and there are times when you need to accept that you've been beat.
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It's been a long road, and there's a lot to be proud of, but I'm never gonna break three.
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I'm just not that guy.
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Oh, fuck that.
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It's been, uh, Five weeks since I failed in New York City.
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I'm here in Tucson, Arizona.
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Doing it again.
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You don't just give up.
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You can't just walk away.
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You get out there and you find that fucking dog.
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Yes, it's hard.
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If it was easy, everyone would do it.
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You're not out here because it's easy.
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You do a lot of meaningless, purposeless, stupid things.
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You get obsessed.
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You spend years focused on them.
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And literally no one cares but you, but you persevere anyway.
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You keep running.
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You keep running, you don't quit, you die trying.
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Because when you add up all those stupid, meaningless obsessions and accomplishments, what they equal, what they add up to, is your life.
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Yeah!
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Woo!
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Coming over from New York.
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It's about to finish.
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Casey Neistat and Roberto Mangi.
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What's the time?
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Bro, 2 .57!
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Say it again, say it again.
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2 .57!
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Oh, my God.
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Let's go, Casey!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Yeah!
180
Yeah!
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Yeah!
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Sisyphus and the Impossible Dream”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: marathon, Casey, mile, fail, goal. This video has 190 sentences and 1189 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:33. The speaker talks slowly, about 103 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| marathon noun | /ˈmæɹəθən/ | A 42.195-kilometre (26-mile-385-yard) road race. |
| pace noun | /peɪs/ | A step taken with the foot. |
| curse noun | /kɝs/ | A supernatural detriment or hindrance; a bane. |
| knock verb | /nɑk/ | To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood. |
| boulder noun | /ˈboʊl.dɚ/ | A large mass of stone detached from the surrounding land. |
| meaningless adjective | /ˈmiː.nɪŋ.ləs/ | Lacking meaning. |
| fort noun | /fɔɹt/ | A fortified defensive structure stationed with troops. |
| muscle noun | /ˈmʌs.əl/ | A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement. |
| marry verb | /ˈmæɹi/ | To enter into the conjugal or connubial state; to take a husband or a wife. |
| brave adjective | /bɹeɪv/ | Strong in the face of fear; courageous. |
| guidance noun | /ˈɡaɪdəns/ | The act or process of guiding. |
| invest verb | /ɪnˈvɛst/ | To spend money, time, or energy on something, especially for some benefit or purpose; used with in. |
| pound noun | /ˈpaʊ̯nd/ | A unit of weight in various measurement systems. |
| loop noun | /luːp/ | A length of thread, line or rope that is doubled over to make an opening. |
| recover verb | /ɹɪˈkʌvɚ/ | To get back, to regain (a physical thing; in astronomy and navigation, sight of a thing or a signal). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| knock down verb | To hit or knock (something or someone), intentionally or accidentally, so that it falls. | |
| add up verb | To take the sum of; to total. | |
| add up to verb | To have a particular effect in combination. | |
| back off verb | To move backwards away from something. | |
| fall back verb | To retreat. | |
| get out verb | To leave or escape. | |
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- You're finally brave enough to ask her out.
- I was like, are you okay?
- Starting now, I'd run every day.
- I'm not going to make a good time.
- Moreover, why do I care anymore?
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 | who's been cursed · haven't done · I've ever been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was snapped · been cursed |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 43 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, I'd. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: marathon /ˈmæɹəθən/, mythology /mɪˈθɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: accomplish /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/, obsession /əbˈsɛʃən/, accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/, shortcut /ˈʃɔːtkʌt/
- Long words — get the stress right: motorcycle /ˈmoʊtɚˌsaɪkəl/, arbitrary /ˈɑː.bɪ.tɹə.ɹi/, eternity /əˈtɜɹnəti/, accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/, mythology /mɪˈθɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/
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 marathon, pace, curse.
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.