Shadowing Practice: Sometimes the Mind Turns Uncertainty Into Fear | A2 English Shadowing - Learn English Speaking with Video
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123 sentences
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Have you ever worried about something that has not even happened yet?
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Maybe you are waiting for an important message.
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Maybe you have a job interview tomorrow.
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Or maybe you are waiting to hear an answer from someone.
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Nothing bad has happened, but your mind starts asking questions.
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What if something goes wrong?
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What if I fail?
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What if they say no?
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And suddenly, a small unknown thing feels like a big danger.
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Sometimes, we are not afraid of what is happening.
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We are afraid of not knowing what will happen.
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In this Level A 2 shadowing practice, we will look at three simple reasons why uncertainty can feel scary.
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More importantly, we will learn one simple idea that can help.
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You do not need to know everything before you take your next step.
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In this practice, listen to my voice and speak just behind me.
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Try to follow my rhythm and keep going, even if you miss a few words.
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Do not stop for every mistake.
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Stay with the story and let your English become more natural.
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Imagine that you send an important message to someone.
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You wait for a reply.
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10 minutes pass.
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Then one hour.
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Then several hours.
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At first you think, maybe they are busy.
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But then another thought comes.
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Maybe they are angry.
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Then another one.
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Maybe I said something wrong.
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Soon, your mind has created a whole story, even though you still have no new information.
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This happens because the mind is not like empty spaces.
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When we do not know the answer, we often try to create one.
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The problem is that the answer we create is not always true.
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Think about being in a dark room.
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You see something on the floor, but you cannot see it clearly.
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It could be a bag.
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It could be a jacket.
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But because the room is dark, your mind may imagine something worse.
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The object did not change.
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Your information changed.
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The same thing can happen with the future.
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When you cannot see what is coming, your mind may fill the empty space with fear.
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This is why uncertainty can feel bigger than the real problem.
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The next time you notice this happening, ask yourself one simple question.
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What do I know and what am I only imagining?
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That question can create a small space between the facts and the story in your head.
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And sometimes, that small space is enough to make fear feel smaller.
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But understanding the facts is only half of the story.
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But here is the strange part.
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Your mind may be trying to help you.
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Imagine you are in bed at night and suddenly hear a strange sound outside.
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Your body becomes alert.
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You start listening.
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What was that?
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Is something wrong?
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Your mind quickly looks for danger.
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This reaction can be useful.
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Our minds often try to protect us by thinking about possible problems before they happen.
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The problem begins when this protection goes too far.
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You have an interview tomorrow, so your mind says, what if I fail?
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You are starting something new.
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So it says, what if I make a mistake?
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You are waiting for an important answer.
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So it says, what if the answer is bad?
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Notice what is happening.
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Your mind is trying to prepare you for a future that does not exist yet.
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It is looking at a possibility and treating it like a problem.
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And when you keep asking, what if, the mind can build one scary story after another.
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What if I fail?
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What if people laugh?
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What if everything goes wrong?
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But there is another question you can ask.
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What if things go well?
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You do not have to force yourself to think positively.
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You only need to remember that the future has more than one possible ending.
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Maybe the interview will be difficult.
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Maybe it will go better than you expect.
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Maybe the person will say no. Maybe they will say yes.
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Right now, you do not know.
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And that is the important part.
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Not knowing is not the same as knowing that something bad will happen.
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Your mind may want to protect you from every possible problem, but you cannot prepare for every possible future.
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So, what can you do when you cannot know the answer?
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That is where the next idea becomes important.
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Imagine walking on a road at night.
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You cannot see the whole road You can only see a short distance in front of you
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So you take one step Then another
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Then another
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You do not need to see the end of the road before you move Life can be like
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that We often want a clear answer before we act We want to know
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if the choice is right We want to know
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if the plan will work We want to know what will happen next
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but sometimes the answer only comes after we take the next step.
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You may be thinking about learning English.
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You do not know how good you will become in six months.
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You do not know if you will speak perfectly, but you can study today.
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You may be thinking about having a difficult conversation.
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You do not know how the other person will react, but you can decide what you want to say.
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You may be waiting for an answer about something important.
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You cannot control the answer, but you can control what you do while you wait.
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This does not mean uncertainty will disappear.
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It means you can stop asking uncertainty to disappear before you live your life.
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You can say, I do not know yet.
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I will see what happens.
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I cannot control everything, but I can control my next step.
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These are simple sentences, but they can change the way you look at an unknown future.
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You do not need a map for the whole journey.
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You only need enough light for the next step.
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And that may be enough.
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A thought is not a fact.
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A possibility is not a problem.
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And maybe is not the same as danger.
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When you do not know what will happen, your mind may try to give you an answer.
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Sometimes that answer is fear.
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But you do not have to believe every story your mind creates.
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Look at what is real.
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Take the next step.
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Let the future arrive before you decide what it means.
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Sometimes, peace does not come from knowing what will happen.
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It comes from knowing you will be okay even when you do not know.
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You stayed with the story and practiced English at the same time.
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Keep shadowing, keep listening, and keep going.
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You do not need to speak perfectly today.
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You only need to take the next step.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 123 sentences and 1125 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:14. The speaker talks at a steady 137 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 95% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| uncertainty noun | /ʌnˈsɜːtənti/ | Doubt; the condition of being uncertain or without conviction. |
| shadow noun | /ˈʃædəʊ̯/ | A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object. |
| scary adjective | /ˈskɛə.ɹi/ | Causing fear or anxiety |
| disappear verb | /dɪsəˈpɪɹ/ | To vanish. |
| arrive verb | /əˈɹaɪv/ | To reach; to get to a certain place. |
| alert adjective | /əˈlɝt/ | Attentive; awake; on guard. |
| jacket noun | /ˈd͡ʒæk.ɪt/ | A piece of clothing worn on the upper body outside a shirt or blouse, often waist length to thigh length. |
| react verb | /ɹiːˈækt/ | To act in response. |
| importantly adverb | /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/ | Used to mark a statement as having importance. |
| rhythm noun | /ˈɹɪð.əm/ | The variation of strong and weak elements (such as duration, accent) of sounds, notably in speech or music, over time; a beat or meter. |
| positively adverb | /ˈpɑ.zɪ.tɪv.li/ | In a positive manner. |
| fail verb | /feɪl/ | To be unsuccessful. |
| danger noun | /ˈdeɪn.d͡ʒɚ/ | Exposure to likely harm; risk of death or serious injury. |
| suddenly adverb | /ˈsʌd.ən.li/ | Happening quickly and with little or no warning; in a sudden manner. |
| mistake noun | /mɪˈsteɪk/ | An error. |
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 | Have you ever worried · has happened · has created |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | may imagine · may fill · may be |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | starts asking · start listening · keep asking |
| Comparatives -er than / more … than — comparing two things | bigger than · better than |
Pronunciation to watch
- Long words — get the stress right: uncertainty /ʌnˈsɜːtənti/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, positively /ˈpɑ.zɪ.tɪv.li/, possibility /ˌpɑ.səˈbɪl.ə.ti/
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 uncertainty, shadow, scary.
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.