Shadowing Practice: stop 'getting through' life. start living it. - Learn English Speaking with Video

There are now an extraordinary number of ways to discover you're doing perfectly ordinary things.

Incorrectly.

You can wake up at what seems like a reasonable hour and find out you've already missed the ideal window for sunlight.

You can make breakfast and discover that while the breakfast itself is fine, you've eaten it in the wrong order.

Yes, there's apparently a right order.

Going for a walk sounds innocent enough until someone explains that you should really be walking faster, or slower, or possibly uphill.

Even breathing has become suspicious.

There are people on the internet who would like to help you breathe better, sleep better, stand better, think better, and, somewhat ominously, age better.

You can improve your jawline while you sleep, optimize your shower.

Apparently there's even a correct way to sit down now.

I haven't looked into that one.

I need somewhere to draw the line.

The funny thing is, most of this advice is probably well -intentioned.

Some of it is useful.

Some of it might actually make your life better.

But taken together, it creates a pretty strange impression.

That being a person is something you could be better at.

This idea has become unusually literal lately.

Everything is being maxed.

Sleep maxing, looks maxing, health maxing.

The suffix can apparently be attached to almost any part of human existence and immediately make it sound competitive.

I'm waiting for lunch maxing, although I suspect we're already doing it and calling it protein.

What interests me isn't really the word.

The word will eventually disappear, as words do, when enough parents start using them correctly.

The instinct underneath it is much older.

We like improving things.

More specifically, we like the feeling that something can be improved.

Because improvement gives you somewhere to go.

There's a satisfying logic to it.

Identify the problem, make an adjustment, and, as a result, become slightly better.

This works beautifully for many things it's less straightforward

when the thing being optimized is a human being

because optimization requires a problem

and before you can improve something you have to find something wrong with it do

that to yourself often enough and you can become remarkably skilled at spotting everything in you

and your life that could use some work ask someone how they're doing

and it's remarkable how quickly the conversation can turn into everything

they should probably be doing better someone can tell you they're sleeping eight hours, exercising regularly, and eating reasonably well,

and somehow the conversation still has the tone of confession.

I really need to start stretching.

Of course, the stretching.

We forgot the stretching.

There's always one more thing standing between you and having finally done yourself correctly.

Maybe you should meditate.

You could certainly drink more water.

You haven't read enough lately.

By the way, how's your posture?

I'm talking to you.

Did you just sit up straighter?

There.

I've ruined sitting for you.

This is what I mean.

It happened so quickly that we barely noticed the assumption underneath it.

Wherever you currently are, there's probably a slightly better version available.

And I like better.

That's what makes this complicated.

I have ambitions, really big ones, and I don't really want to cure myself of them.

I think wanting things is a wonderful thing.

There are projects worth becoming temporarily unreasonable about and skills worth spending years getting better at.

But surely ambition needs a little jurisdiction.

Surely it doesn't also need breakfast.

There's another problem with all this improving, which is that nobody seems to know when it's finished.

This is easier with certain things.

If you're painting a wall, eventually the wall is painted.

If you're assembling a bookshelf, at some point it either resembles a bookshelf where you've made a very expensive pile of wood.

But what does finish look like when the project is you?

There's no obvious moment when you've slept enough, exercised enough, become interesting enough, or finally achieved the correct relationship with your phone.

The finish line has an annoying habit of moving as you approach it.

You start exercising because you want to feel better.

Then you feel better, which is great, except now you could be stronger.

You start reading more, and before long you're keeping track of how many books you've read, at which point somebody casually mentions they've read 52 this year

and suddenly what was once a book has become a disappointing statistic.

This is one of the more impressive things about humans.

Give us an improvement and we can turn it into a baseline almost immediately.

Maybe that's why satisfaction has started to feel so damn suspicious.

To be satisfied with something sounds dangerously close to no longer having plans for it.

Even saying, I'm pretty happy with myself, can feel oddly boastful.

You want to add something afterward, like, mostly, for now.

Obviously, there are things I'm working on.

There.

Much better.

We seem more comfortable with ourselves when there's a renovation underway.

And I understand that.

Wanting more has moved people across oceans.

It's made art and businesses in extremely tall buildings.

Dissatisfaction can be enormously useful.

But useful isn't the same as something you want running 24 hours a day.

A smoke alarm is useful, but I wouldn't want one providing general commentary.

I don't think you would either.

At some point, there has to be a difference between seeing possibility in yourself and treating yourself like you're perpetually behind schedule.

Satisfaction doesn't have to mean you've run out of ambition.

Maybe you're just allowed to occasionally look at something in your life without immediately reaching for a wrench.

because there's a point at which improving your life begins to interfere with the rather important business of living it.

You get through the morning routine so you can start work, get through work so you can exercise, get through exercise so you can make dinner, get through dinner because there's something you want to watch.

Then suddenly you're doing your sleep routine

because tomorrow you'd like to be exceptionally good at waking up and somehow another day has been successfully processed.

That's the part I find unsettling.

We keep trying to save time, organize things so they'll be faster, develop routines so we don't have to think,

and listen to podcasts and voice notes at one and a half speed because apparently even people's sentences are taking too long.

100

And whenever we manage to save some time, we immediately give it another job.

101

It never seems to remain saved.

102

I've never heard anyone say, I became much more efficient at email and now every afternoon I stare out the window.

103

No, we found 17 minutes.

104

Obviously, we put something in it.

105

Maybe that's why good enough makes people nervous.

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It sounds suspiciously like a person has stopped trying.

107

We hear good enough and imagine resignation, standard slipping, and someone eating beans directly from the tin.

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Which, depending on the hour, might just be efficient.

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But there has to be a difference between giving up and deciding that something doesn't require further improvement.

110

I don't need every part of my life operating at peak performance.

111

In fact, I'm not entirely sure I want to know what peak performance looks like in several areas.

112

Friendship, for example.

113

What would an optimized friendship even be?

114

You could probably make it more efficient.

115

Have an agenda and circulate notes afterward.

116

See each other for exactly 73 minutes because research recommends that's when the marginal friendship returns begin to decline.

117

Nobody wants this person.

118

And yet we increasingly bring that same little managerial instinct into experiences that become strange the moment they're measured too closely.

119

Fun is the obvious one.

120

Ask somebody who's laughing whether they're having fun and watch them briefly stop having it to find out.

121

Sleep does something similar.

122

The harder you concentrate on falling asleep, the more absurd the entire process becomes.

123

There are things that seem to require a certain amount of neglect in order to work, which is inconvenient for those of us who like to interfere i wonder

124

if this has something to do with why time seems to move

125

so quickly now we're always trying to get something over with

126

the email the workout the commute wednesday wednesday hasn't done anything wrong

127

but apparently we'd really like to get through that too

128

finish this start

129

that use the gap between the two to answer something you can make an entire day run beautifully

130

and then it's over do you see the danger in becoming extremely efficient at getting through your own life?

131

Because presumably getting through it wasn't the objective.

132

Well, nobody mentioned that in the brochure.

133

I don't think the answer is to abandon self -improvement.

134

That sounds exhausting in its own way.

135

You'd have to become very committed to not improving, and before long there'd probably be a podcast about it.

136

Then we'd call it lazy maxing, and somehow I'd find out I was doing that wrong too.

137

I think I'm more interested in leaving certain things alone, allowing some parts of life to remain completely unimpressive.

138

You should be able to waste an afternoon without later discovering it was actually restorative.

139

Maybe you watched a comfort film in the middle of the day.

140

You learned nothing.

141

Your cortisol remains whatever cortisol is supposed to be.

142

You are no better equipped to face the week ahead.

143

You watched The Parent Trap again.

144

That was the afternoon.

145

We're very suspicious of wasted time for people who regularly spend 40 minutes deciding what to watch

146

and maybe waste is the wrong word anyway you can waste an afternoon

147

and remember it for 20 years you can use an afternoon extremely well

148

and have absolutely no recollection of it the following week

149

which one was wasted i don't know but i think it's worth asking

150

because there's a possibility hiding inside all of this self -improvement

151

you could become healthier more efficient better read better rested and exceptionally well hydrated and still somehow miss your own life.

152

You were there, of course.

153

You were just busy taking notes on how the whole thing could have gone better.

154

At some point, you should be allowed to stop taking notes and just live.

155

No maxing required.

156

Oh, hey, you made it to the end.

157

Congratulations on your attention span.

158

Seriously, bravo.

159

If you want more of this sort of thing, the essays are available in printed form as well as a digital version if you prefer reading,

160

or listening if you're one of the surprisingly large number of people who enjoys my voice for reasons I'll never fully understand.

161

And if you're writing something of your own, the writing outline systems I use for books, film, and TV are there too.

162

Everything's at theashfiles .com.

163

Now, go and make something.

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And thank you for watching.

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87 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “stop 'getting through' life. start living it”. This video has 164 sentences and 1813 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:24. The speaker talks at a natural 174 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
efficient adjective	/ɪˈfɪʃənt/	Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy.
discover verb	/dɪˈskʌvə/	To find or learn something for the first time.
friendship noun	/ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/	The condition of being friends.
routine noun	/ɹuˈtin/	A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure.
stretch verb	/stɹɛt͡ʃ/	To lengthen by pulling.
suspicious adjective	/səˈspɪʃ.əs/	Arousing suspicion.
ambition noun	/æmˈbɪʃ.ən/	Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or fame; desire to distinguish one's…
afterwards adverb	/ˈæf.tɚ.wɚdz/	At a later or succeeding time; after that;
lately adverb	/ˈleɪt.li/	Recently; not long ago; of late; not long since.
breathe verb	/bɹiːð/	To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.
correctly adverb	/kəˈɹɛk(t).li/	In a correct manner.
satisfaction noun	/sætɪsˈfækʃən/	A fulfilment of a need or desire.
podcast noun	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on…
underneath adverb	/ˌʌndɚˈniθ/	Below; in a place beneath.
satisfy verb	/ˈsætɪsfaɪ/	To be enough (for)

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
get through verb	/ɡɛt ˈθɹu/	To overcome; to endure.
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
give up verb		To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
sit down verb		To assume a sitting position from a standing position.
sit up verb		To assume a sitting position from a position lying down.
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:

I haven't looked into that one.
What interests me isn't really the word.
You haven't read enough lately.
By the way, how's your posture?
Did you just sit up straighter?

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	you've already missed · you've eaten · has become
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	being maxed · be attached · can be improved
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	improving, which is · better, which is · work, which is

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 55 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, suspicious /səˈspɪʃ.əs/, ambition /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/, satisfaction /sætɪsˈfækʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: satisfaction /sætɪsˈfækʃən/, beautifully /ˈbju.tɪ.fə.li/, exceptionally /ɪkˈsɛp(t)ʃənəli/, complicated /ˈkɑm.plɪˌkeɪ.tɪd/, successfully /səkˈsɛs.fə.li/

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 efficient, discover, friendship.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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