Shadowing Practice: Social Media is Warping Your Mind - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
106 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
It is literally diminishing and neutralizing the power of the human brain.
2
And these people, they are literally people who are programming us with their algorithms.
3
They understand the power that this has.
4
They know what they can do with it.
5
Have no conscientiousness about it.
6
How is social media making us dumber?
7
And do you think brain rot is a real disease?
8
i've noticed it in myself so
9
if i can notice something in myself i don't have to feel like i'm superior to everyone else
10
and it makes me understand what people are going through
11
and i've noticed in myself levels of distraction that i didn't have before and so i for instance
12
instagram now only in the last three or four years have i started really paying attention to Instagram.
13
And the feed is unbelievable.
14
You know, these videos are addicting.
15
They're amazing.
16
Animals, comedians, you know, exercises that you didn't know about, things like that, products.
17
And you get addicted and you watch more and more of them.
18
And it cuts off your ability to focus deeply on something
19
because your mind is split up into 30 second little bits here
20
and there and and there and there and there
21
and i realized the reason it works is
22
because it operates on your emotions it's not a conscious cognitive thing
23
they know how to operate on your emotions they know what hooks you things
24
that are pleasant things that are entertaining things that make you angry things
25
that are informing you of something
26
that you never thought of before they hit your emotions and they hit the most vital emotion of all, which is loneliness.
27
You feel like you're a part of something.
28
You're not so alone, right?
29
Okay, you're in some kind of virtual community.
30
But the human brain was designed for focus.
31
That's our power.
32
That is our superpower.
33
It's what made us who we are.
34
The fact that unlike an animal, and believe me, I think animals are incredibly intelligent, but they're always distracted.
35
They're always looking around.
36
Where's the predator coming next?
37
When am I going to get eaten?
38
You know, how do I protect myself?
39
Where do I get food?
40
We develop the ability to be able to be safe, first of all, and then to focus deeply on things like a rock
41
that we can now turn into a weapon or a tool, right?
42
Our brains developed out of our ability to focus without distractions for a minute, for two minutes, for five minutes for 30 minutes
43
when our ancestors tracked large game in order to hunt
44
and kill them they had to focus for hours and days tracking
45
that game that's what developed the human brain that's how we're able to write books create music design buildings
46
that don't fall down build things create things that are beautiful that are useful these constant distractions,
47
these constant sense of what are other people doing that I'm not doing,
48
what am I missing, is continually breaking that focus.
49
It's like a circuit.
50
The circuit is being short -circuited, you know, 20 times in the space of a couple minutes.
51
Whereas if that two minutes where you're like getting all these little bits of feedings from your social media,
52
If you were to take those two minutes and focus on a problem, focus on yourself, focus on your life, something very different would be happening.
53
So it is literally deteriorating our brains.
54
It is literally diminishing and neutralizing the power of the human brain.
55
And I don't say that from a position of superiority in judgment because I see it in myself.
56
I see it and I understand it very deeply.
57
And it's very human and these people who are programming us, and they are literally people who are programming us with their algorithms.
58
They understand the power that this has.
59
They know what they can do with it.
60
And they completely have no conscientiousness about it.
61
They take no responsibility for what they're doing to young people in their brains
62
and how young people can't read a book anymore.
63
They can't go through a 300 -page book
64
because it's too long they're too distracted right they can't write an essay anymore
65
because well they can get ai now to write the essay for them
66
but and once again i'm not preaching i understand it
67
if i were 20 years old growing up in this world i would be like
68
that and it's already infecting me but it is rotting our brains and Anybody who argues against that, I don't know.
69
I mean, the evidence I think is overwhelming that this is actually happening.
70
But I wrote in my book, Mastery, literally it's a manual about how the human brain operates.
71
And it's based on science and studies.
72
And I'm showing you that this is the brain that we all inherited.
73
And we are literally now in the process of trying to rewire our brains in a way that is not human,
74
is not effective, is not powerful.
75
and as far as the mechanism that makes us distracted
76
and kind of takes us away from our roots of being
77
able to focus on problems for an extended period of time is it just
78
we're not built to experience all these different emotions back to back so quickly
79
or is it all these different novel dopamine stimuli like what is it exactly well as i said it's emotion based
80
so if it were just thoughts and ideas if they were just posts about plato and nietzsche and philosophy
81
and you know all that stuff wouldn't have the power that it has we'd be able to control it
82
In fact, we probably wouldn't be very interested in it.
83
But because it plays on our emotions, we have to pay attention.
84
And because we are, we think of ourselves as rational beings, but we are really emotional beings to the core.
85
And we have very deep, rich emotions, and they play on those emotions.
86
And when you get something that excites you, you see on your feed, something that excites you, you can't ignore it and and
87
and it becomes an addiction you go down this hole so
88
so people are getting addicted to like experiencing a bunch of emotions essentially I guess you could put it
89
that way they're addicted to the experience of being taken outside of their day -to -day life
90
and into this alternate realm where everything is interesting right okay
91
so I love animals that's like one of my passions and I see, I don't really do TikTok, so I'm mostly on Instagram.
92
And I know there's a whole bunch of other things that people are, Instagram's kind of passe probably.
93
But I noticed there's like things about elephants or about tigers.
94
Gee, I can't ignore that.
95
They're so well done.
96
They're so interesting that I have to watch it, right?
97
And then now that I've watched one of them, now 10 of them suddenly appear.
98
They flood.
99
I noticed, like I started, I'm trying to like get my posture better because of my stroke.
100
I saw one of post about how to correct your shoulders and loosen them up.
101
And now hundreds of them.
102
And I have to watch them because I'm something I'm interested in.
103
They know how to hook you.
104
They know how to, you're addicted to the experience of social media itself, of being entertained, diverted, distracted.
105
I think that's the source of it.
106
Thank you.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
B2291
You Need to Believe in Yourself I Robert Greene
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B2244
The Power of Your Dark Side I Robert Greene
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
Embrace the Pain and Slowness I Robert Greene
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B210
Don't Take Things Personally I Robert Greene
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B28
The Emptiness We All Feel I Robert Greene
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C199% of People Are Sleepwalking Through Life
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B23
Seduction is Psychology, Not Looksmaxing I Robert Greene
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
C11
How to Not Let People Bring You Down I Robert Greene
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B1Look at People’s Patterns of Behavior I Robert Greene
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B227
What Is Greater Than Happiness I Robert Greene
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B24
The Most Critical Social Skill
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
The 48 Laws of Power Summarized in Under 8 Minutes by Robert Greene
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
We Are Programmed, We Are Asleep
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
C14
Be Strategically Authentic
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
Changing Careers Intelligently l Robert Greene
Business EnglishWorking Adults
C12
How to Be Truly Creative
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B26
How to Alter Your Consciousness
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
Read Books That Challenge Your Mind
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B216
The Pleasures and Powers from Reading Books
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B26
My Advice To Young Women
Business EnglishTeensHigh School Students
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
C158
40 sentences
How Social Media Is Rewiring Our Brains
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C111
39 sentences
You Will Only Like Half of This Video
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C110
52 sentences
Supernatural thinking: Your brain’s anti-anxiety mode | Clay Routledge
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
235 sentences
Your brain wasn't built to hold this much information | Richard Cytowic
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
125 sentences
The Surprising Reason Your Past Still Controls You
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21,441
20 sentences
Social Media and Your Mental Health
TeensDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C18
138 sentences
The Internet is Worse Than Ever – Now What?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
141 sentences
Mark Manson: Self-control is a complete illusion
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
115 sentences
Neuroscientist: "DELETE Your Social Media NOW!" - Here's Why!
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2142
24 sentences
Is technology making us lazy and less intelligent? #FOREsight | MOTIVATIONAL BOOKS
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C12
203 sentences
How To Rewire Your Brain | Andrew Huberman Motivation
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
386 sentences
All of Human Psychology Explained in 20 Minutes
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Social Media is Warping Your Mind”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: brain, emotion, focus. This video has 106 sentences and 1254 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:18. The speaker talks at a natural 151 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| emotion noun | /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/ | A person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data. |
| addict noun | /ˈæd.ɪkt/ | A person who is addicted, especially to a harmful drug. |
| distract verb | /dɪˈstɹækt/ | To divert the attention of. |
| circuit noun | /ˈsɝ.kɪt/ | The act of moving or revolving around, or as in a circle or orbit; a revolution |
| deeply adverb | /ˈdi(ː)pli/ | To a deep extent or degree; very greatly. |
| distraction noun | /dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən/ | Something that distracts. |
| ignore verb | /ɪɡˈnɔː/ | To deliberately not listen or pay attention to. |
| hook noun | /hʊk/ | A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment. |
| essay noun | /ˈɛs.eɪ/ | A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject. |
| algorithm noun | /ˈælɡəɹɪðm̩/ | A collection of ordered steps that solve a mathematical problem. A precise step-by-step plan for a computational procedure that possibly begins with an input… |
| entertain verb | /ˌɛntəˈteɪn/ | To amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably. |
| argue verb | /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/ | To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply. |
| superior adjective | /sʊˈpɪɹ.i.ɚ/ | Higher in rank, status, or quality. |
| passion noun | /ˈpæʃən/ | A true desire sustained or prolonged. |
| essentially adverb | /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/ | In essence: by nature. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| cut off verb | /ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf] | To remove by cutting. |
| fall down verb | /fɔl ˈdaʊn/ | To fall to the ground. To collapse. |
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. | |
| look around verb | To inspect a building or area. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- How is social media making us dumber?
- You feel like you're a part of something.
- When am I going to get eaten?
- You know, how do I protect myself?
- Where do I get food?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is split · was designed · being taken |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who are · all, which is · Anybody who argues |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | i've noticed · I've watched |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 41 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, they're, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, distraction /dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən/, passion /ˈpæʃən/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, conscious /ˈkɑn.ʃəs/
- Long words — get the stress right: superior /sʊˈpɪɹ.i.ɚ/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, intelligent /ɪnˈtɛlɪd͡ʒənt/, mechanism /ˈmɛk.ə.nɪ.zəm/
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 emotion, addict, distract.
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.