Shadowing Practice: The Impact of Technology on Communication | Grant Dillard | TEDxBrentwoodCollegeSchool - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
C1
Yurgaid Reviewer
⏸ Paused
Speed:
All Sentences182 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Yurgaid Reviewer
2
Yo, what up?
3
And I'm back.
4
Thank you very much.
5
For those of you who are unsure about the object currently shown behind me,
6
you were all staring down the barrel of a fully loaded revolver.
7
Much like my friends and I were this past June.
8
See, it was at this point that all hopes to start the summer with a bang completely diminished.
9
That was not the type of bang that we wanted to start,
10
nor end our summer with.
11
Now, as bad as I wish I could come up here
12
and tell you that the reason the man holding this weapon did not shoot us was
13
because we had a civil conversation with him,
14
we talked to him in a civil manner,
15
and he simply just put his gun away.
16
I also wish I could tell you
17
that the reason we got into this mess in the first place was due to the sheer insanity
18
that this man possessed and that my friends and I did not provoke him whatsoever.
19
But as you can imagine, that's not what happened.
20
So what essentially happened was this.
21
I live in Portland, Oregon, born and raised.
22
Out on my basketball court is where I spend most of my days.
23
When one particular night, a man who was seemingly up to no good,
24
started making trouble in my neighborhood.
25
And so, this man approached the fence that separates my basketball court from my yard,
26
and started spewing gibberish at us while we were trying to play.
27
And, like most rabid teenage boys,
28
we were always on the ready to force our masculinity down the throats of our enemies enemies,
29
or really anyone for that matter.
30
And so this man approached us as we did him and hence began the hostility.
31
And it turned out, surprise,
32
surprise, he wanted to party.
33
Well, we essentially told him that we're not interested and we're also underage and that he should get lost,
34
yet he stayed very persistent.
35
And I'll admit, regardless of my extensive debate background,
36
this man seemed to always have an equally,
37
if not more powerful, comeback to the things me and my friends had to say to him.
38
Kind of like when we said,
39
well, dude, we don't really trust you,
40
and so he assured us that he had only done cocaine and shrooms together three times.
41
Very impressive.
42
Very reassuring.
43
And so, as you can see,
44
he usually just responded with the things that we had to say to him,
45
with how he approached us,
46
which was, may I remind you, gibberish.
47
And so, getting fed up with each other, we began to argue.
48
And this argument quickly escalated to the point where he reached into his backpack
49
and pulled out the revolver that you've all become so acquainted with the past couple of minutes.
50
And let me tell you,
51
there's something very sobering about having a loaded weapon pointed at your face.
52
As much as I wish I could tell you,
53
the thoughts running through my head during this time were,
54
Which die-hard catchphrase should I say once I disarmed this fool and put him a wooshy finger-hold?
55
It wasn't.
56
All I could really think about was how badly I wanted to run back to my room and hug my mom.
57
And so we ran.
58
And thankfully, as reality hit us,
59
it hit him, and he ran the complete opposite direction.
60
I guess somewhere along the lines,
61
he sobered up a little bit too
62
and realized maybe I shouldn't shoot four 17-year-old kids on their property because they won't do drugs with me.
63
No, whatever his reasoning, I'm extremely grateful.
64
But it was the lack of civil conversation that resulted in this dangerous situation.
65
No one attacked us and held us at gunpoint.
66
There was no pre-existing anger fueling this man's desire to threaten us or for us to hurt his feelings.
67
Yet none of us, nor the man,
68
had the verbal skills necessary to come to a solution that did not conclude in violence.
69
And this began to make me wonder why this was.
70
Why, when thrown into a foreign situation where neither of us knew each other,
71
did we immediately jump into arguing as opposed to discussing?
72
And why did we resort to the most unnecessary form of resolution, which is violence?
73
And I began to think of all the other situations that could have been solved simply by talking things out.
74
See, humans have been given this phenomenal gift,
75
which is the ability of fluid communication.
76
Granted, we've deducted that we are not the only species capable of communicating our thoughts with one another,
77
but we know that no other species has the advanced communication abilities that humans naturally have stored in their brains.
78
And with that natural ability,
79
the previous generations have continuously blessed us with the creation of language.
80
And the 6,500 languages existing today have vastly evolved and been tailored towards us.
81
What I mean by this is that through the centuries,
82
through the generations, we have exponentially developed our languages to the point of max capability.
83
In my opinion, and hopefully the opinion of all of you,
84
and many others, verbal communication is a gift that we are all privileged to use to express our most intricate,
85
complicated, and complex thoughts and ideas with each other each and every day.
86
So what is this?
87
What is this?
88
Please tell me that man injected me with some of his Loopy syndrome,
89
I feel like I'm having a bad trip with all these creepy Simpson looking moth- Oh!
90
Faces staring down at me.
91
I mean, really people, are we going backwards?
92
Because correct me if I'm wrong,
93
but don't these look a whole lot like this?
94
Ah yes, these are hieroglyphics.
95
And for those of you that don't know what they are,
96
it's what the Egyptians used to communicate.
97
Over 4,000 years ago.
98
See, now of course, when I say this,
99
I'm not saying that emojis are bad,
100
or that they are the sole reason that our generation largely refuses face-to-face communication with each other,
101
not at all nor am I saying that I don't use them.
102
Heck yeah, I do.
103
I love them.
104
But when we are using emojis to express over 30 to 40% of our thoughts
105
and feelings with each other each and every day?
106
Come on.
107
Our leaders, for instance, used to always address us as if we were intelligent.
108
You know, like this.
109
The Gettysburg way.
110
And now we're supposed to merely be satisfied with something like this?
111
Dating has progressed to the mere action of swiping your finger across the screen.
112
We end and begin relationships constantly through our devices.
113
We lay in bed and argue with each other,
114
staring up at our phones.
115
At some point, we need to think,
116
did we bring this upon ourselves?
117
Now, all of us realize that when it comes to our future,
118
whether it be long-term employment or relationships, that communication is key.
119
And not unlike what our teachers tell us,
120
we know that we cannot Snapchat our way into our career.
121
But what I fear most of us don't realize is that verbal communication is not just the ability to speak intelligently.
122
What many don't understand is it's a skill like any other that must be practiced.
123
Take, for instance, training for a marathon.
124
You will never improve if you cut every practice short.
125
The equivalency to this in communication is the act of DMing or texting,
126
Snapchat, whatever have you.
127
See, while the previous generations have had their entire lives to practice and perfect the skill of verbal communication,
128
we have become largely reliant on communicating through our phones and technology.
129
Now this would not have to be a bad thing
130
if the trade-off wasn't our ability to communicate with each other thoughtfully and clearly, but it is.
131
Take for instance, I don't know,
132
you are going on a date with the person of your dreams,
133
or you're on the job interview for the job of a lifetime.
134
You've always wanted it.
135
Maybe your knees are weak, your arms are heavy.
136
Maybe there's vomit on your sweater already.
137
And you begin to realize they're not
138
going to ask me for my max snap streak score or for me to define myself in 140 characters or less.
139
We cannot allow our phones to disconnect us from each other and therefore dampen our skills of communication.
140
And I'll admit, I'm a huge hypocrite.
141
Most of you know that I Most of you know that I am a huge hypocrite.
142
Me standing up here and talking to you about this is me being a huge hypocrite.
143
And I'll even go as far as to say
144
that my phone has blocked me from more physical conversations than many of you in this room.
145
But I'm working on it.
146
Each and every day I'm working on it.
147
I've been working on it for years.
148
And me standing up here and talking to you about this is me working on it.
149
And yet, heck, I have my phone right here in my pocket.
150
Right here.
151
Mmm.
152
You gotta hate how with the new phones you just look at it and it just turns on.
153
Especially when you have so many notifications, you know?
154
Yeah.
155
My buddy Joe, my best friend from back home,
156
he's live-streaming this right now.
157
He's Snapchatting me.
158
For those of you who know me,
159
you know I'm not one to leave people on red.
160
So if you don't mind,
161
really quick, as Mr. McPherson did, I just want it.
162
Ha ha.
163
Oh yeah.
164
I love that.
165
Pardon me one second.
166
What up, bruh?
167
Low-key in TED Talk.
168
T-T-Y-L.
169
Pardon me, excuse me.
170
That was embarrassing.
171
As you can see, I have this issue.
172
Many of you have this issue whether or not you were willing to admit it.
173
And if you don't think it's an issue now,
174
I challenge you to think into the future,
175
maybe a couple years, maybe further,
176
maybe when the iPhone 12 comes out, or the Galaxy S20.
177
As time progresses, there's going to be more and more ways for us to communicate with each other face-to-face,
178
less and less.
179
So please, let's find the joy in talking to each other,
180
face to face with those that we share this wonderful world with like humans were designed to do.
181
And I promise you, you will even have fun doing it.
182
Thank you.
Download App
AI scoring for every sentence you speak
TRENDING
Popular
4.9/5 on App Store & Google Play
Shadowing English
On Mobile
Learn English anytime, anywhere with the Shadowing English app. Improve your communication skills today!
Track your learning progress
AI grading and error correction
Rich video library
About This Lesson
In this lesson, learners will practice English speaking skills using a transcript from Grant Dillard's TEDx talk, "The Impact of Technology on Communication." This engaging narrative provides insights into real-life conversations and emotional situations, perfect for enhancing your vocabulary and improving your speaking fluency. As you explore the themes of communication and conflict resolution, you'll have the opportunity to work on your articulation and expressiveness by using the technique of shadowspeak. This method involves mimicking the speaker's tone and rhythm, making it an effective exercise for mastering both comprehension and pronunciation.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Revolver: A type of handgun that has a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers.
- Civil conversation: A polite and respectful discussion between people, even when they have differing opinions.
- Underage: Referring to someone who is below the legal age for certain activities, such as drinking alcohol.
- Persistent: Continuing firmly or obstinately in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.
- Gibberish: Speech that is nonsensical or hard to understand.
- Masculinity: Traits traditionally associated with men, which may include strength, toughness, or assertiveness.
- Hostility: Unfriendliness or opposition towards someone or something.
- Comeback: A witty or sharp reply, often in a debate or argument.
Practice Tips
To maximize your learning from this video, consider using shadowspeak techniques while following along with the transcript. Pay attention to the speaker's tone and emotional delivery, especially during tense moments in the story.
Here are some useful tips for effective shadow speech practice:
- Slow it down: If the original speech is too fast, adjust the playback speed. Start at a slower pace to grasp pronunciation and intonation.
- Break it down: Focus on short sections of the transcript. Repeat phrases multiple times until you feel comfortable before moving on.
- Imitate emotions: Notice the speaker's emotional cues. Try to mimic not just the words, but also the feeling conveyed by their tone to deepen your delivery.
- Record yourself: Listen to your own shadowing. Compare your pronunciation and rhythm with the original to identify areas for improvement.
- Engage in discussions: Use the vocabulary from the lesson in your conversations. Practicing with others will help reinforce your skills.
By consistently applying these shadowspeaks techniques, you will enhance your English speaking skills and gain confidence in your ability to communicate effectively in various social situations.
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.
☕ Buy us a coffee
ShadowingEnglish remains 100% free thanks to your support. Server and AI costs are high — your coffee keeps us going! 🙏