Shadowing Practice: Steve Harvey's Motivational Speech Will Change Your Future! - Learn English Speaking with Video
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156 sentences
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Why would you not go for it?
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Why would you not take a chance?
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Why you think you keep imagining opening a business?
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Why you keep imagining graduating, getting a better job?
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Why do you keep imagining buying a house?
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Why do you keep imagining driving a really nice car?
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Why do you keep imagining getting rich one day?
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Why do you keep imagining that?
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Because God is talking to you.
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He's showing you something that he has for you you've got to understand how good god is
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he ain't playing with you he the real deal he created you
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and then he even showed you what he got for you
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you got to start believing in your imagination you got to
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start talking to him about this stuff you be seeing how many times has god showed you something in your imagination
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that you thought was so wonderful
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and then you took it in there to your family
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and your friends and you shared it with them and they shot it down.
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You know why they shot it down?
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Because they couldn't see it.
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You know why they didn't see it?
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Because God didn't show it to them.
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He showed it to you.
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Stop telling your visions to other people because they're not going to see it.
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All of you have a gift.
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You just got to quit want your gift to be somebody else's gift identify your own gift
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because you already have it here's the way you identify your gift your gift is the thing
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that you do the absolute best with the least amount of effort
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that is your god -given gift the dude
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that gave me my first haircut in texas you know how
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much he charged me for my haircut ten dollars do you know
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when he came out on the road with me on the kings of comedy
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and did the steve harvey show do you know how much he was making per haircut?
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$1 ,500 a haircut.
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You know how many haircuts I got a week?
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Four haircuts a week.
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This dude made $6 ,000 a week cutting hair.
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You know what he do?
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He cut hair.
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When I went bald, he damn near killed himself.
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But you know what he did?
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He went back to what he do.
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Now guess what he got?
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He got four salons in Texas and two barber colleges.
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You know what he make?
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$6 million a year you know what he do he cut
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half that's all he do listen to me y 'all got a gift
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that god gave to you at birth if i was you i would do
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that gift for you mess around and leave this world
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because your gift will make room for you you'll be the happiest you've ever been
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and you'll make the most money you ever made i dare you to try it that's a promise god made
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but you have not because you ask now.
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So if you see the vision, the imagination, but you don't ask God for it, what you want him to do?
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He showed it to you.
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Faith without works is dead.
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So now you got to put in work.
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But if you don't work, if you don't ask him for it, he cannot give it to you because he created us with the power of choice.
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We make choices every day.
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If you decide that you will be poor there's nothing i can do you're gonna be poor
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if you decide to be rich today who gonna stop you who
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if you decide you want to be rich all you gotta do is start
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why not who gonna stop you unless you tell it to
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the wrong person mama mama listen to me i'm going to
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be rich anybody rich in this family go in there
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and sit out somewhere get yourself a good job now mama could be wrong
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because what you have in your imagination God didn't show it
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to your mama I'm sorry he showed it to you even in some of your darkest moments
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when you make mistakes you have got to stick around for the two things
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that the mistake is made for every failure is made for
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every misstep is made for it is made for a lesson
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and a blessing them two things follow every single one of
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them every single time god don't send down rain without a return
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when he send down rain flowers grow trees get bigger you got to understand what the rain
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and the dirt is for people get so angry
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when people start throwing dirt on you you have no idea what i've done
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you have no idea what i've been through you you wouldn't even talk to me
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if you knew what i had to do to be him.
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But God is in the forgiving business.
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God is in the get your life together business.
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God is in the turn it around business.
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God is in the saving business.
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God did all that for me.
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So I'm telling you right now, if God can fix Steve Harvey and turn him into this, I bet he can turn you into that.
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Everything you're going through is preparing you for what you ask God for.
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You just got to quit tripping while you in the process.
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because the process is necessary you may not see it now
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but when he gets you on the other side of it you're gonna see exactly why it went
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that way and you're gonna be okay with it
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but quit tripping during the process oh lord why me you
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ain't the only one oh lord why i lose my job you ain't the only one unemployed pull yourself together
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and quit tripping cause you in the process God is processing me.
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He ain't through with you.
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If he was through with you, you would not wake up in the morning.
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He gonna fix it.
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I look back on my life and all that I've been through.
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So the stuff I'm currently going through, I have built up enough reservoir that living in the car taught me that this ain't it.
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So the things I'm going through now, I know this ain't it.
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That he gonna come get me in a minute.
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So all I got to do is sit tight.
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I ain't in a bad place.
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Now, I ain't where I want to be, but the spot I'm in is better than where I was.
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I ain't homeless.
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So what I'm going through right now, y 'all don't know, I got some challenges.
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People think when you get famous or rich that your problems is over.
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Oh, they got a whole new set of them for you.
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They got some stuff you ain't seen.
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But I'll tell you the truth right now.
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The problems I got right now, I take them
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because the problems I had
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when I was homeless I don't want them no more see
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money gonna change your life a little bit folks all of
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you gonna get more the Bible says you have not
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because you ask not it didn't say you have not
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because you don't make enough it didn't say you have not
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because your credit ain't straight it simply say you have not
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because you ask not but you don't ask because you ain't got that together when you ask God for something quit tripping.
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He got it from him.
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God can't give you what you want because you want to hold on to what you got.
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You all in the way.
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Now you're telling him how to bless you.
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You can't tell God how to bless you.
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It's a simple process.
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The only reason I'm telling you this is because this is how I made it.
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When you're standing on the cliff of life and you see people soaring by and you see people soaring, going to exotic places, you hear about them doing wonderful things.
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Maybe you look up the street
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and your neighbor just gets a car every year every two years well how is he doing
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that have you ever thought maybe this person right here has identified their gift
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and is living in their gift
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because your bible says this is your bible says your gift will make room for you
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your gift not your education you go get an education that's nice
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but if you don't use your gift that education only gonna take you
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so far i know a lot of people got degrees man they ain't even using them it's your gift
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but the only way for you to soar is you got to jump
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every successful person in this world has jumped you eventually you are going to have to jump
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you cannot just exist in this life you have got to try to live
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if you are waking up thinking
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that it's got to be more to your life than it is man believe
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that it is believe in your heart of hearts that it is
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but to get to that life you're gonna have to jump you got to take
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that gift that's packed away on your back you got to jump off
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that cliff and pull that cord that gift opens up
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and provides the soil if you don't ever use it you're gonna just go to work
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and if you getting up going to work on a job every day
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that you hate going to that ain't living man
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you just existed at one point in time you ought to see what living is like
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but the only way to see what living like you got to jump
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when you jump it's not going to open right away
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you're gonna hit them rocks you're gonna get some skin tore
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off on them cliffs you're gonna get all your clothes tore
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off you're gonna get some cuts on you you're gonna be bleeding pretty bad
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but eventually the parachute has to open that is a promise of God that ain't a theory that's a promise.
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His promises is true because listen to me you cannot name one single thing God has not gotten you through.
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You can play it safe and deal without the cuts
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and the tears and you can stand on that cliff of life forever safe.
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But if you don't jump I got another promise I can make you.
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Your parachute will never You'll never know.
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You'll never know what God really had for you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 156 sentences and 1758 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:00. The speaker talks at a natural 176 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 90% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| haircut noun | /ˈhɛə(ɹ)kʌt/ | The act of cutting of the hair, often done professionally by a barber, hair stylist, or beautician. |
| mama noun | /ˈmɑmə/ | Synonym of mother (“a female parent”). |
| imagination noun | /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/ | The image-making power of the mind; the act of mentally creating or reproducing an object not previously perceived; the ability to create such images. |
| cliff noun | /klɪf/ | A vertical (or nearly vertical) rock face. |
| tear verb | /tɛɹ/ | To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate. |
| dirt noun | /dɝt/ | Soil or earth. |
| bless verb | /blɛs/ | To make something holy by religious rite, sanctify. |
| parachute noun | /ˈpæɹəʃut/ | A device, generally constructed from fabric, that is designed to employ air resistance to control the fall of an object or person, causing them to float… |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| flower noun | /ˈfloʊɚ/ | A reproductive structure in angiosperms (flowering plants), often conspicuously colourful and typically including sepals, petals, and either or both stamens… |
| soil noun | /sɔɪl/ | A mixture of mineral particles and organic material, used to support plant growth. |
| dare verb | /dɛ(ə)ɹ/ | To have enough courage (to do something). |
| forgive verb | /fɚˈɡɪv/ | To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against. |
| folk noun | /foʊk/ | People, persons. |
| blessing noun | /ˈblɛs.ɪŋ/ | Some kind of divine or supernatural aid, or reward. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| send down verb | To cause something or someone to pass from a higher to a lower place. | |
| build up verb | To erect; to construct. | |
| get up verb | To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb. | |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| jump off verb | To move from an elevated place by one jump. | |
| look up verb | /ˌlʊk ˈʌp/ | To have better prospects. |
| mess around verb | To fiddle idly. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 85 contractions and reduced forms, such as gonna, ain't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: imagination /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/, parachute /ˈpæɹəʃut/
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 haircut, mama, imagination.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if i was you i would do · If you decide that you will be |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've ever been · i've done · i've been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is made |
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.