Shadowing Practice: The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho - Animated Book Summary - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Let me ask you a question and be honest.
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Are you living the life you truly want to live?
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Are you on the path that you know deep down you should be on?
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Or do you feel like maybe you're not exactly living out your dream?
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Well, stay right there.
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Don't move.
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Because we're about to discuss 12 key lessons from a beautiful
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and enlightening story about pursuing your destiny your personal legend i'm talking about the alchemist by paulo cuelo
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the alchemist is a story about a shepherd boy from spain named santiago
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and his hero's journey as he leaves his herd of sheep
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in spain to go on a quest for hidden treasure near the egyptian pyramids
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he meets many colorful characters along the way from andalusia to tangier and all the way to the Egyptian pyramids.
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He falls in love, experiences hardship and success,
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and most importantly, he learns the power of discovering your own personal legend and pursuing it with all your heart.
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The characters he meets and the experiences along the way teach him many valuable lessons about life.
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Lessons we're about to go over.
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Now, let's jump into the lessons from this book.
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Lesson 1.
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There is power in committing to your path.
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Santiago learned three things from the old king of Salem, Melchizedek.
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One is that, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.
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Melchizedek refers to this process of pursuing your dream as choosing your own personal legend.
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When you commit to your dream, your path, you will find ways to overcome the obstacles you encounter.
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Nothing can stop you.
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Melchizedek taught Santiago another lesson.
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Lesson 2.
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Don't let others choose your path for you.
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He said, In the long run, what people think about shepherds and bakers becomes more important for them than their own personal legends.
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Other people, regardless of their successes or lack thereof, cannot tell you what your dream is.
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Only you can discover your personal legend.
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Don't let the cynics and the critics dissuade you from achieving your dreams.
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Finally, Melchizedek told Santiago, Don't believe the world's greatest lie.
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The world's greatest lie is this, that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us,
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and our lives become controlled by fate.
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Own your destiny.
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The only person who can choose your dream is you.
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Step onto the path to your personal legend and start walking.
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On to the next lesson, which Santiago learned in Morocco.
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Lesson 4.
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When life knocks you down, stay positive and keep moving forward.
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When Santiago was in Tangier, he met a young man who ultimately robbed him of all his money.
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Santiago was then faced with a choice.
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Do I view myself as a poor victim in a strange place?
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Or am I an adventurer? seeking treasure in a new place.
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Two completely different ways of viewing the exact same situation.
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Thankfully, our hero chose the latter.
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You are sure to face unforeseeable obstacles that you can't plan for.
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At this point, you'll have a choice.
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You can view each obstacle as an opportunity to learn or as a reason to give up.
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Look for the lesson in the pain.
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It's there, but you must be willing to see it.
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Our hero learned another lesson while he was in Tangier.
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Don't let yourself be fooled.
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Santiago reflected upon his gullibility and the ease with which he was robbed and thought to himself, I'm like everyone else.
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I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.
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Our biases are powerful and we are constantly searching for affirmation of what we believe.
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Be flexible and allow yourself room to grow, to see what's really in front of you.
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Moving on to lesson six, be bold and make decisions.
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In reflecting on some of his recent good fortune and how the universe had guided him through seemingly random situations,
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Santiago thought, making a decision was only the beginning of things.
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When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current
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that will carry him to places he has never dreamed of when he first made the decision.
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It's a beautiful thing.
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Decisions lead to action.
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Action leads to experience.
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And experience leads to learning.
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A life of indecision is a boring life.
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Make decisions, try things, and learn.
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Eventually, one of those decisions will lead to a big success.
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On to Lesson 7.
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Embrace the now.
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While Santiago was traveling with a caravan across the desert, he got to know a camel driver who told him,
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I don't live in either my past or my future.
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I'm interested only in the present.
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If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man.
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We all know this on some level.
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Yesterday is gone, and we are not guaranteed tomorrow.
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We need to focus on the moment.
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Be present, not only for yourself, but for the ones you love.
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This is the key to happiness.
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Lesson 8.
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Don't focus on the result.
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Focus on the process.
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Santiago learned many things from The Alchemist.
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The first is this.
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People don't find success when they seek only treasure, when they seek only the result.
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Success comes from living your personal legend.
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The journey and what's learned along the way, the process is often much more valuable than the treasure you find at the end of the journey.
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Another lesson from the alchemist is this.
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Don't let the fear of failure keep you from pursuing your dreams.
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Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself,
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and that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams,
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because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.
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The alchemist also told him, There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve.
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The fear of failure.
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Big rewards often require big risks.
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Every moment you spend pursuing your dream brings you a few steps closer to realizing that dream.
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Take risks, learn from your failures, and create the life you want.
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Finally, Santiago learned this beautiful lesson from the old alchemist.
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Lesson 10.
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When you make yourself better, you make the world better.
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He told Santiago, When something evolves, everything around that thing evolves as well.
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When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.
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Improve yourself, and you improve the world around you.
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Everything and everyone around you will benefit from your efforts.
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Finally, we learned two more lessons from Santiago.
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Lesson 11.
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Allow yourself to dream.
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Santiago thought to himself, it's the possibility of having dreams come true which makes life interesting.
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Don't limit yourself according to what might seem impossible to you today.
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From car engines to Apple computers, we would all be living in a much different world if some people didn't dream.
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Keep dreaming and stay passionate.
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The final lesson is this.
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Practice gratitude.
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Santiago thought to himself, when each day is the same as the next,
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it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises.
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Life can get repetitive.
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However, there's beauty in every moment.
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Learning to recognize the beauty around you can give you the boost of positivity and inspiration you need to achieve your dreams.
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Well, e -learners, that's it for The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
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I hope you enjoyed the lessons from this beautiful and inspiring book, and I'll see you next time on Mentally Fit.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho - Animated Book Summary”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: lesson, santiago, dream, alchemist, legend. This video has 47 sentences and 1271 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:26. The speaker talks at a natural 151 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| legend noun | /ˈlɛd͡ʒ.ənd/ | The life story of a saint (such stories are often embellished, but any kind is called a legend). |
| pursue verb | /pɚˈsu/ | To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase. |
| treasure noun | /ˈtɹɛʒəɹ/ | A collection of valuable things; accumulated wealth; a stock of money, jewels, etc. |
| suffer verb | /ˈsʌfɚ/ | To undergo hardship. |
| obstacle noun | /ˈɑbstəkəl/ | Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress, either physically or figuratively |
| discover verb | /dɪˈskʌvə/ | To find or learn something for the first time. |
| reflect verb | /ɹɪˈflɛkt/ | To bend back (light, etc.) from a surface. |
| rob verb | /ɹɑb/ | To steal from, especially using force or violence. |
| commit verb | /kəˈmɪt/ | To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to entrust; to consign; used with to or formerly unto. |
| encounter verb | /ɪnˈkaʊntɚ/ | To meet (someone) or find (something), especially unexpectedly. |
| destiny noun | /ˈdɛs.tɪ.ni/ | That to which any person or thing is destined; a predetermined state; a condition predestined by the Divine or by human will. |
| shepherd noun | /ˈʃɛpəɹd/ | A person who tends sheep, especially a grazing flock. |
| evolve verb | /ɪˈvɑlv/ | To move (something) in regular procession through a system. |
| pyramid noun | /ˈpɪɹ.ə.mɪd/ | An ancient massive construction with a square or rectangular base and four triangular sides meeting in an apex, such as those built as tombs in Egypt or as… |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). |
| go over verb | To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze. |
| live out verb | To not reside on the premises of one's employer (used especially of domestic staff such as nannies, cooks, maids, etc.) |
| move forward verb | To cause to make progress. |
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 | was then faced · be fooled · was robbed |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | person who can · man who ultimately · true which makes |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has never dreamed · has ever suffered |
| Comparatives -er than / more … than — comparing two things | more valuable than · worse than · better than |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 21 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: treasure /ˈtɹɛʒəɹ/, shepherd /ˈʃɛpəɹd/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, sheep /ˈʃiːp/, passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/
- Long words — get the stress right: inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, eternity /əˈtɜɹnəti/, repetitive /ɹɪˈpɛtɪtɪv/, adventurer /ædˈvɛn.t͡ʃɚ.ɚ/
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 lesson, legend, pursue.
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.