Shadowing Practice: start before you’re ready - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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sometimes I feel a little stuck like there's too many options
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and if I choose the wrong one well my life might just fall apart
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and I find that I distract myself
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so I don't even have to make a choice my mornings
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look the same every day wake up at 7 do a little bit of exercise make a yummy breakfast, eat an apple, and then my favorite part, having a cup of coffee.
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After that, I like to go for a walk where I can think of new ideas.
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And that's when it happens.
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Every time.
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I start to question everything.
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Am I making the right decision?
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Do I really know what I'm doing?
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How will all of this come together?
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And my mind starts to race.
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But it wasn't always like this.
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For a while, I didn't have to make any choices.
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They were made for me.
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Andrew, can you take the trash out?
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Yeah.
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It's not that I didn't know what I was going to do, it's that others made all of my choices.
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All I had to do was listen.
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Until one day I realized I wanted to do something different.
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I picked up a camera for the first time in 2018.
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I had a fascination with images, mainly images that convey an emotion.
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I quickly realized that I didn't know how to take photos, but I went for it.
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I would go out every day and just try to capture a photo that meant something to me.
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I tried so hard for years to get big jobs and take my photography to the next level, but it never happened.
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Honestly, I wanted to give up.
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I felt like I had made the wrong choice in this pursuit, but with Every Day That Passed, I continued showing up.
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And five years after I picked up a camera for the first time, I was asked to shoot for Grammy award -winning artist Dea.
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I felt like I wasn't ready for this opportunity,
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mainly because I always viewed my work and my skill still as a beginner.
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I had never worked on a set before
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so to be thrusted into the lion's den I felt I was out of my depths.
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But just as I did every day leading up to it I tried to capture a photo that would convey an emotion.
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There was something so surprising about realizing how far I had come simply by showing up every day
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and trying to learn something new with each day.
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Looking back I realized that the fears and doubts that you have when starting something new don't always go away, and sometimes they morph into new fears,
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but being able to ignore them and press forward, you realize they hold no weight.
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And that takes us to our next endeavor, which didn't go so well.
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I've always wanted to create some sort of brand, and after a few years of doing photography, my friend Meredith and I decided to create a brand to bring creatives together.
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It was called Made by Saturday.
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The goal was simple, create a brand
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that would bring not only our friends together
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but also creatives we had never done anything like this before
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so we weren't sure how to start there was a strange
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piece in not having any expectations of what it could be our main goal bring people together
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and that's exactly what we did we designed shirts and sweaters
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and hosted our first pop -up and it went perfectly musicians baristas
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and a lot of our friends came we also sold out of everything
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that we designed from there me and meredith were eager to get back to the drawing board.
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And that is where it all changed.
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You see, after our first pop -up, I had put an unrealistic expectation on myself.
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The feeling of being successful had polluted my thinking.
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I didn't want to be viewed anymore as a failure, which led me to play it safe.
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I found myself disagreeing with Mare on her ideas.
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I didn't want to do anything that was a maybe.
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It had to be perfect.
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I found that in the beginning stages of doing anything new, you'll be bad and you need to be okay with that
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because that allows you the freedom to explore
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and try new things the lack of embracing
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that ultimately led to the end of made by saturday
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and experiencing all of that is what allowed me to follow through with endeavor number three
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youtube something that i always wanted to do yet at the same time it seemed like an impossible dream.
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I was already editing for a YouTuber and I knew how to make videos, but anytime I clicked record to film myself, it seemed like I didn't know what I was doing.
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There's a harsh reality in starting new things.
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First, it's exciting.
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And then that excitement wears off really fast.
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You go through a process of uncertainty and fear.
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And it's easy to connect your identity with what you're doing.
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To everyone else, it was a cute little hobby.
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But to me, it was something more.
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It was something that I had to see through.
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I had grown tired of starting new things and never finishing them.
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I knew that this time, it would have to be different.
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I'd have to give a new level of focus.
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And that is where Brick comes in.
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Brick is a physical device that temporarily removes distracting apps. But how?
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First, you choose the apps you want to block and then you brick your phone.
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This is different than the time limit feature on your phone because you can't just add more time.
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With brick if the physical device isn't with you you can't open the app
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which means I can use my phone more as a tool and less of a distraction.
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So what are you waiting for?
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Use the link in the description below to get 10 % off your next purchase
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and thank you brick for sponsoring this video.
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Ultimately the pursuit of these three things have told me
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that you can't just wait around and keep wondering if you're making the right choice.
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A mentor of mine used to tell me, instead of hoping you're doing the right thing, make it the right thing.
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There was something so simple about that.
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I don't think any great inventor or artist started out with 100 % confidence in their idea.
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And even as they pursued it, they probably encountered a lot of discouragement.
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I found that within all three of these pursuits, I had to deal with comparison in the early stages.
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I compare my day 1 to someone's day 1000 and I don't think that's very fair.
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I also found that I can't hold myself to expectations I can't control.
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For example, how people receive my art or my videos.
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I can only control the quality.
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So if there's a hundred people like it or a hundred thousand people, it doesn't change the quality or the importance of the thing I did.
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So maybe using the fact you don't know how it'll all
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work out as a reason not to do it maybe it's
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the very reason you should do it i wanted to to film this part
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because this is the reality of the process like you're making something
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and you don't think it's great
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but you just got to keep moving forward i guess
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and i feel like we can watch videos like this and get really
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inspired and like oh i'm just gonna go do it
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and it negates the reality of the emotions that you actually feel
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when you embark on
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that thing i i took footage of uh me writing i kid you not i'm literally writing this right now
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and i just i like i just was like is this
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is this even good like what i don't even know
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and i feel like the script so far in the video is good
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but now that i'm halfway through
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or whatever i'm just like what yeah i essentially the the intro to my video like you start
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and then all of a sudden you hit something
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and then in your mind you're just like dude i don't even know
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if this is good and yeah it's just really it was really hard
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i feel like i put a lot of pressure on myself to make this video perfect
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because my last one did so well
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and i didn't want to feel like i was taking a
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step back i wanted to feel like i was progressing
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and the whole time
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while making it is just like no the the voices in
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my head of like no this isn't a good idea this
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is dumb this is bad I realized I wanted to talk about
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that because you again you can watch a video like this
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and just be inspired to go do something but that doesn't mean
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that those voices won't be there having the understanding of like I'm gonna go through these like ebbs
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and flows but if I can just remain consistent through it the final product will be
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so worth it
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so i'm i'm like halfway through the video i don't feel
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great about the video to be honest i'm just gonna keep making it
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and hopefully by the time you're watching this part you'll have seen the whole thing
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and think dang that was a good video
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and i'm glad he stuck with it
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so i said this in my last video as well
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that for everyone
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that watches this video only about 20 percent of people will make it to this part um
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and if you are a part of
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that 20 leave a comment letting me know
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that you're a part of the 20 but also what is
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that what are those questions and those fears
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that keep coming up every time you think about something you want to pursue
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and maybe i don't know someone can read the comment
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and they've gone through that thing they can they can tell you like hey it's
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that none of that is true and you can make it through
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but yeah i don't know guys um hopefully by the time
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I'm done this the video will be I'm just rambling I hope this video was good anyway love you guys
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 146 sentences and 1736 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:38. The speaker talks fast, about 180 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 84% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| brick noun | /ˈbɹɪk/ | A hardened rectangular block of mud, clay etc., used for building. |
| 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. |
| pursuit noun | /pɝˈsut/ | The act of pursuing. |
| expectation noun | /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/ | The act or state of expecting or looking forward to an event as about to happen. |
| photography noun | /fəˈtɑ.ɡɹə.fi/ | The art and technology of producing images on photosensitive surfaces, and its digital counterpart. |
| capture verb | /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/ | To take control of; to seize by force or stratagem. |
| pursue verb | /pɚˈsu/ | To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase. |
| halfway adverb | /ˌhæfˈweɪ/ | Half of the way between two points. |
| inspire verb | /ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ | To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by… |
| convey verb | /kənˈveɪ/ | To move (something) from one place to another. |
| distract verb | /dɪˈstɹækt/ | To divert the attention of. |
| endeavor noun | /ɛnˈdɛv.ɚ/ | A sincere attempt; a determined or assiduous effort towards a specific goal; assiduous or persistent activity. |
| consistent adjective | /kənˈsɪs.tənt/ | Of a regularly occurring, dependable nature. |
| ignore verb | /ɪɡˈnɔː/ | To deliberately not listen or pay attention to. |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. | |
| pop up verb | To come up with a "pop" sound. | |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. | |
| come together verb | /ˈkʌm tʊˈɡɛðɚ/ | To assemble; to congregate; to combine. |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. | |
| fall apart verb | To disintegrate, to break into pieces. | |
| get back to verb | Return to (an activity) |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 60 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, trash /tɹæʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, photography /fəˈtɑ.ɡɹə.fi/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, temporarily /ˌtɛmpəˈɹɛɹəli/, uncertainty /ʌnˈsɜːtənti/
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 brick, emotion, pursuit.
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 | were made · was asked · be thrusted |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've always wanted · have told · have seen |
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.