Shadowing Practice: Talking About Phone Addiction in English | Easy English Podcast for Beginners - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Everyday English Academy,
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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Everyday English Academy,
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where we make English simple and enjoyable.
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I'm Sarah.
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And I'm Mike.
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Hello to all of our wonderful listeners wherever you are in the world right now.
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Mike, you look so tired today.
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Are you OK?
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I am tired, Sarah.
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I made a terrible mistake last night.
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Oh no, what happened?
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I went to bed at 10 p.m.
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Nice and early, right?
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That sounds great.
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But I didn't fall asleep until 1 a.m.
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Wait, what?
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What were you doing for three hours?
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I was on my phone.
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I told myself, let me just check one thing.
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One thing became two things,
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two things became ten things,
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and suddenly it was one in the morning.
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Three hours just disappeared?
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Gone.
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Like magic.
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Very bad magic.
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I think many of our listeners know exactly this feeling when you lose track of time on your phone.
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You don't even realize the hours are passing.
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Yes.
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To lose track of time,
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it means you stop noticing how much time is going by.
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You think it's been five minutes, but it's been 45.
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It's scary, honestly.
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And I think maybe we should talk about this today?
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I think we need to talk about this.
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Because phones are amazing, but they also steal a lot of our time,
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our sleep, and sometimes even our attention during real moments.
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So today, we're going to talk about phone addiction in English,
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how phones affect our daily lives,
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and some useful words you can use to talk about this topic.
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And listeners, has this ever happened to you?
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You go to bed early but your phone keeps you awake?
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Tell us in the comments.
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Okay, Mike.
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So let's be honest here.
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How much time do you spend on your phone every day?
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Honestly, probably four or five hours, maybe more.
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And I don't feel good about it.
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I think most people are surprised when they actually check.
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They think, oh, maybe one hour.
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And then they look and it's four.
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Exactly.
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And here's the thing.
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Most of that time is mindless.
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You know what mindless means?
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Tell us.
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Mindless is when you do something without really thinking about it.
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Your brain is kind of off.
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You're not choosing to look at your phone.
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Your hand just picks it up automatically.
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Yes.
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Like when you're waiting for the bus and your hand reaches for your phone without you even deciding to.
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It just happens.
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Exactly.
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And then you're watching videos you don't even care about for 20 minutes.
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That's mindless phone use.
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And I think one of the biggest problems is the morning, right?
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Like, what's the first thing you do when you wake up?
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I check my phone.
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Before I even open my eyes properly,
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I'm already looking at the screen.
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Me too.
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And I know it's not good for me,
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but it feels like this strong pull,
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this feeling inside that says, check it now.
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And even when there's nothing new,
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no messages, no news, I still check.
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Why?
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What am I expecting to find at 6.30 in the morning?
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Maybe something amazing happened while we were sleeping.
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It never does.
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It's always the same stuff.
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But I check anyway.
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It's completely automatic.
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And that pull you feel,
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that strong feeling inside, there's actually a word for it.
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That feeling is called the urge.
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An urge is a strong feeling inside you that pushes you to do something even when you know you shouldn't.
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Yes.
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I had the urge to check my phone during dinner.
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You just feel it in your body.
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Or, I'm trying not to look at my phone,
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but the urge is so strong.
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It really is like that.
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And here's something strange that happens to me, Mike.
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What?
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Sometimes I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket,
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but when I check, there's nothing there.
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No message, no call, nothing.
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Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about.
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It's creepy, right?
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It is.
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And there's actually a name for it.
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It's called a phantom vibration.
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phantom vibration.
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A phantom is something that isn't really there, like a ghost.
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So a phantom vibration is when you think your phone is vibrating, but it's not.
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Your brain is so used to your phone buzzing that it creates the feeling even when nothing is happening.
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That's actually a little bit scary.
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I keep feeling phantom vibrations.
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I think I use my phone too much.
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If you're feeling phantom vibrations,
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that might be a sign.
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And actually, there's a real word for people who are afraid of being without their phone.
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Wait, there's an actual word for that?
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Yes, it's called nomophobia.
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N-O-M-O, phobia.
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It comes from no-mobile-phone phobia.
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Nomophobia.
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So, the fear of being without your phone.
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Exactly.
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Like that moment when you leave your house and realize your phone is still on the table and your heart drops.
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Oh, I know that feeling.
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It's like pure panic.
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Do I go back?
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I have to go back.
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That's nomophobia.
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My friend has serious nomophobia.
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She can't even go to the bathroom without her phone.
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Okay, I might have a little bit of nomophobia too.
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Maybe a lot.
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Okay, so now I want to talk about something you mentioned earlier, Mike.
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The bedtime trap.
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Oh, yes.
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This is the worst part for me.
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Me too.
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So, what happens exactly?
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You go to bed.
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I get into bed, I'm comfortable,
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I'm tired, and then I think,
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let me just check one quick thing on my phone.
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One quick thing.
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One quick thing that turns into watching videos,
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reading articles, checking messages, and suddenly it's been two hours and I'm more awake than before.
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You know what the worst part is?
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You know you should stop.
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Your brain is saying, put it down,
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go to sleep, but your thumb,
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your thumb has other plans.
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The thumb always wins.
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Always.
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And then you look at the clock and think,
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okay, after this video I'll stop.
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But then another video starts and it looks interesting and...
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And another hour is gone.
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Gone.
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And you just zone out completely, right?
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Totally.
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To zone out means your mind goes somewhere else.
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You stop paying attention to the world around you.
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You're just in the phone.
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I zoned out on my phone for an hour and forgot I was cooking dinner.
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That's dangerous.
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But seriously, when I zone out on my phone at night, I sleep badly.
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I wake up tired and then I need more coffee.
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And then you're tired all day,
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so at night you go to your phone again because you're too tired to do anything else.
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It's a cycle.
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A vicious cycle.
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That means a bad situation that keeps repeating itself.
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One problem causes another problem,
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and that problem makes the first problem worse.
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Phone addiction and bad sleep are a vicious cycle.
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You can't stop one without fixing the other.
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Exactly.
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And by the way, listeners,
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what's the last thing you do before sleep?
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Is it your phone or something else?
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Tell us in the comments.
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We're very curious.
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So, Mike, phones also affect how we are with other people, right?
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Oh, 100 percent.
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Here's something that happened to me.
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I was having dinner with a friend last week,
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and he was on his phone the entire time.
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Like, I'm talking, telling him a story,
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and he's just looking down at his screen.
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That is so rude.
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How did you feel?
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Honestly, invisible.
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Like, I wasn't even there.
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And then he would look up and say,
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sorry, what did you say?
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And I had to repeat everything.
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That's frustrating.
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But Mike, do you do that sometimes? Be honest.
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Maybe.
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I knew it!
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Okay, okay.
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I do it sometimes without realizing it.
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And that's the problem.
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We're so hooked on our phones that we don't even notice we're ignoring real people.
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Hooked on.
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That's a great one.
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When you're hooked on something,
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you can't stop doing it.
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It's like a fish on a hook.
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You're caught and you can't escape.
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I'm hooked on this new game.
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I play it every night for hours.
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It means you really, really can't stop.
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Or he's completely hooked on watching short videos.
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He watches them all day.
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And the sad thing is,
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when we're hooked on our phones during real conversations,
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we miss what's actually happening right in front of us.
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Important moments, funny stories, a friend who needs you to listen,
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all missed because of a tiny screen.
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And here's something else.
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Have you ever been in a group of friends and everyone is on their phone,
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nobody is talking?
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Yes, that's the worst.
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people sitting at a table,
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all looking down at their screens in complete silence.
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It's like, why did we even meet?
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We could have stayed home and done this.
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Exactly.
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And I think younger people have a word for this.
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They call it fubbing.
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Fubbing?
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What is that?
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Fubbing is when you ignore the person you're with because you're looking at your phone.
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phone plus snubbing equals fubbing.
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Snubbing means ignoring someone in a rude way, right?
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Exactly.
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She was fubbing me the entire dinner.
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I felt so invisible.
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Or, I hate being fubbed.
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It makes me feel like I'm not important.
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Wow, that's such a useful word.
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It really is.
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And we all do it sometimes,
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even if we don't mean to.
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deep, Sarah.
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I have my moments.
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OK, so we talked about all these problems,
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but what can we actually do about it?
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Good question, because I think everyone knows they use their phone too much.
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The hard part is actually changing it.
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Right.
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Some people say you should just stop using your phone completely.
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Go cold turkey.
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Ooh, go cold turkey.
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That's an interesting expression.
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What does it mean?
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To go cold turkey means to stop doing something suddenly and completely.
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No slow reduction, just stop from 100 to zero.
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He went cold turkey on social media.
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He deleted all his apps in one day.
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But honestly, Sarah, I tried going cold turkey.
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Remember the challenge I mentioned?
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Let me guess.
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It didn't work?
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I lasted about an hour.
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Going cold turkey is really hard with phones because we need them for so many things.
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Work, messages, maps.
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So maybe going cold turkey isn't realistic for most people.
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What about something easier?
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I think the better approach is to cut down on your phone use.
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To cut down on something means to reduce it,
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to do less of it.
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Not zero, just less.
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I'm trying to cut down on how much I use my phone before bed.
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That's a realistic goal.
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Or, she cut down on social media and now she only checks it twice a day.
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I like that.
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Small steps, not all or nothing.
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And there's another thing I want to try.
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A digital detox.
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Yes, a digital detox is when you take a break from technology — phones,
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computers, tablets — everything digital.
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Maybe for a few hours,
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a whole day, or even a weekend.
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I did a digital detox last Sunday.
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No phone all day.
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It felt amazing and also terrifying.
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Both at the same time.
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But seriously, even a small digital detox can help.
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Like no phone during meals.
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Or no phone for the first hour after you wake up.
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Those are really good ideas.
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And you know what I noticed?
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When I'm not on my phone,
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I actually notice things around me.
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The weather, the people, the sounds.
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It's like waking up from a dream, right?
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Exactly.
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You suddenly realize, oh, there's a whole world out there.
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A world with trees and birds and actual sunshine.
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And conversations where you look at people's faces, not their profile pictures.
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And it doesn't need Wi-Fi.
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One more tip that actually helped me.
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I started leaving my phone in another room before bed.
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Really?
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And that works?
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It was hard the first two nights.
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I kept wanting to get up and check it.
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But after that, I started falling asleep so much faster.
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And my mornings are calmer because I'm not immediately looking at a screen.
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That's actually really smart.
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You're removing the temptation.
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If the phone isn't there,
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you can't pick it up.
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Exactly.
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And I bought a real alarm clock so I don't need my phone next to my bed.
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Old school.
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I like it.
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Sometimes old school is the best school.
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Okay, let's do a quick review of what we talked about today.
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Yes, we learned some really useful words.
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First, mindless.
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Doing something without thinking, like mindless phone use.
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The urge.
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That strong feeling that pushes you to do something, like checking your phone.
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Phantom vibration.
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When you think your phone is vibrating, but it's not.
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Gnomophobia.
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The fear of being without your phone.
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Zone out – when your mind goes somewhere else and you stop paying attention.
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Vicious cycle – a bad situation that keeps repeating and getting worse.
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Hooked on – when you can't stop doing something.
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Fubbing – ignoring someone because you're on your phone.
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Go cold turkey – stopping something suddenly and completely.
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Cut down on, reducing how much you do something.
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And digital detox, taking a break from all technology.
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Those are really useful for talking about phone habits,
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or any kind of habit, really.
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So, listeners, we have one last question for you.
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What's the longest you've ever gone without your phone?
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One hour?
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One day?
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One week?
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Tell us in the comments.
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And if you enjoyed this episode,
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please subscribe to Everyday English Academy and give us a like.
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It really means a lot to us.
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Share this with a friend who is always on their phone.
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You know who they are.
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Everyone knows at least one person.
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Thank you so much for spending time with us today.
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Keep practicing your English, keep being curious,
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and maybe try putting your phone down for just 10 minutes today.
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Just 10 minutes.
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You can do it.
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We believe in you.
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Take care, everyone.
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Bye, and please watch where you're walking.
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Perfect.
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Bye everyone.
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Thank you.
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Context & Background
In this episode of the Everyday English Academy podcast, hosts Sarah and Mike delve into the subject of phone addiction—a common challenge faced by many in today’s digital age. Their discussion begins with a candid exchange about their personal experiences with excessive phone use, particularly how it can disrupt sleep and consume valuable time. Sarah and Mike aim to highlight not only the implications of this habit but also furnish listeners with relevant vocabulary and expressions that relate to phone addiction. By sharing relatable anecdotes, they invite the audience to engage and reflect on their habits, fostering a sense of community among learners.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- Lose track of time: This phrase describes the moment when you become so engrossed in an activity, like using your phone, that you fail to notice how much time has elapsed.
- Check one thing: This expression often leads down a rabbit hole of distractions—starting with one task quickly snowballing into several others.
- Steal our time: A metaphorical way to express how certain activities (like excessive phone usage) can take away precious hours from our daily lives.
- Honest reflection: This phrase encourages open and truthful contemplation about one’s daily habits, particularly regarding technology use.
- It’s scary: A colloquial expression to communicate concern or surprise at the impact of modern technology on our well-being.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To effectively engage with the content of this video, consider employing a shadowing technique during your english speaking practice. Here’s how to do it:
- Initial Listening: First, listen to the podcast episode without any interruptions. Focus on the overall message and the feelings of the speakers.
- Transcribing: Write down key phrases or sentences while listening, especially those related to phone addiction. This will help you internalize the language.
- Use a shadowing app: Play the audio again and try to repeat after Sarah and Mike. Mimic their pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm to enhance your speaking skills.
- Record Yourself: After shadowing, record your speech and compare it to the original audio. Identify areas for improvement in your pronunciation and fluency.
- Daily Practice: Incorporate phrases from the podcast into your daily conversations or journal entries. This will reinforce your learning and make it easier to recall during actual discussions.
By practicing with these methods, you can improve your shadow speech and gain confidence in using phrases related to phone habits and addiction. Visit a suitable shadowing site or use a dedicated app to continue refining your abilities.
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.
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