Shadowing Practice: The perfect technology for creeps? - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Smart glasses are a new technology for your face that millions of people are buying for some reason.
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And while big tech companies like meta, Google, Apple and snap hope that these futuristic spectacles will one day be the next iPhone.
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A whole lot of other people think they're basically just for perverts.
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So are these devices the future of personal computing or are they simply ideal creeper peepers?
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According to Google, the term smart glasses refers to eyewear that's equipped with gadgetry such as a camera, microphone, speakers, visual display, and more.
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Meanwhile, the term pervert refers to sex freaks who own those toe shoe things.
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Now we in 2026 are no strangers to the social ridicule that's thrust upon smartglasses enthusiasts.
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Users of Google Glass were quickly labeled glass holes, while users of Snap Spectacles were quickly labeled assholes compared to their predecessors.
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However, today's smart glasses have seen remarkable commercial success.
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By far, the most popular pair are Ray-Bans from meta, which sold over 7 million pairs last year before launching a buzzy partnership with Kylie Jenner.
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But whenever there's a boom, there's backlash.
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Pervert glasses problem with Meta ray bans. Ban the pervy meta glasses right now.
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Freaks and perverts recording us in public.
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Creepy and dangerous.
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They're the worst.
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One of the most terrifying, most horrifying inventions.
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A psy-op to make surveillance technology more civilian.
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They don't know when they're being filmed.
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You’re a fucking creep. Didn't know he was recording me.
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The so-called pervyness of smartglasses comes from how easy it is to sneakily record with their built in cameras.
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Unsurprisingly, this has been used to create an entire genre of videos my middle school cousin showed me that feature pickup artists trying to rizz people while secretly filming them.
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Granted, the meta glasses do have a little LED light in the corner of them to indicate when they're recording, but users have found ways to get around that.
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I'm going to do this now.
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Do you see a light?
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No. No, nothing.
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I'm recording you.
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Right now you are? Right now.
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Joanna Stern is an independent tech reporter who, for journalistic purposes, recently became a pervert herself after paying a man to remove the recording light on her meta glasses.
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I took these glasses to a man's garage in new Jersey.
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Stay with me for a second.
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He was offering a service to drill the light out of these glasses as a service.
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Because people do not want you to know they're recording you.
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So gave these glasses to him, gave him a little bit of money.
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He took a little tiny drill drilled inside to the light right before it sort of breaks the light bulb, but not the sensor.
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And he then did some magic with epoxy and put this epoxy on top of the broken area to make it look very smooth and like there was still glass there.
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And so if you look really close into this, you would have no idea that this was ever broken.
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And he did this all in a matter of, I would say, ten minutes in his garage.
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I gave him $100 and then I left.
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Altering the light in one's glasses is a violation of Meta's Terms of service agreement.
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I know because I read it during foreplay.
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Joanna told me that following her investigation Meta cracked down on the entire industry of so-called modders across social media by disabling their glasses’ cameras and threatening legal action.
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Meanwhile, many organizations are banning smart glasses outright and some states are proposing new recording laws that account for horn dogs walking around covertly recording us hot people.
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As you're probably seeing in your research, there are states where it's one party consent only I have to consent to recording you.
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There are other states where there's a two party consent, where you have to consent, and I have to consent, and we decide together.
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We are consenting adults that are recording each other.
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We don't necessarily yet have precedent about this.
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Right now, this is sort of the Wild West in terms of the law.
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But despite the backlash, Big Tech isn't slowing down in their ambitions to smart our glasses.
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I've spent the last ten years reporting on various smart glasses AR glasses efforts at all of the major players.
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I don't think it's a stretch to say I've probably broken more stories on this topic than any human alive.
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Alex Heath is an independent tech reporter who writes the fantastic newsletter Sources.
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The last time he came on my program- ew.
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The last time he was on good work, he sported a pair of the meta douchemasters, so I felt it necessary to invite him back on to talk about the smartglasses industry as a whole.
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Dan, do you want to apply to this exciting job?
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Dan, do you want to drink some vino tonight?
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I have an exciting opportunity for you.
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Dan. Dan, click on the link to fix your credit score.
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What are you doing?
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Dan, your CEO has requested Dan, that nothing is worse than being interrupted by spam, especially when you were trying to do something important like YouTubing.
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But spam doesn't simply just happen.
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You get spam messages because at some point you gave your information to accompany you trusted, and they either didn't protect it, or they sold it to a data broker who sold it to a scammer.
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Those bastards.
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But folks, today's sponsor can help you fight the good fight against spam.
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Aura has a whole suite of security tools that work together to keep you safe online.
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They automatically opt you out of data broker sites.
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Monitor the dark web for signs of your info out on the loose.
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Check for suspicious activity in your banking accounts, provide VPN, antivirus, and a password manager for your devices, and cover you with up to $5 million in identity theft insurance.
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Hot dog What doesn't aura do?
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Or is a US based company whose all about protecting your information, not monetizing it.
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They sent 14 million dark web alerts to customers last year.
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Just think about it.
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That means if I had a dollar for every dark web alert Aura sent last year, I would have for $14 million.
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Folks, your data is being sold right now As I YouTube directly at you.
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Our sponsor Aura will find the broker selling it and remove you automatically.
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Try 14 days free at aura dot com slash good work.
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Now get back in there champ!
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Meta is definitely leading it in terms of putting stuff out, but there's a lot coming.
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So Google is reviving glass later this year is going to be coming out with their own approach with Warby Parker, Gentle Monster, basically every other eyewear brand that meta couldn't lock up.
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Apple is also working on its own pair of smart glasses that everyone thinks are coming in 2027, and then you've got snap, which has its first consumer release for full AR glasses, later this year.
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And while so far the most popular use case of smart glasses appears to be steroided out Miami guys hitting on teenage girls while streaming on some platform called Juzz, Big Tech hopes that this technology will soon mature.
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The number one argument we hear from tech companies developing smart glasses right now is you can be freed from your phone, which is ironic since those are the very companies that tethered us and trapped us on our phones.
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But now we want to give you something to get away from that.
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You don't need to be scrolling all the time.
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You don't need to go to your camera, get distracted by five other notifications, and then not take the photo.
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It's kind of like how the cigarette companies are the ones that own Zyn right now, and Zyn is advertised as a way to get off cigarettes in a way.
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that's actually a really good comparison.
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I hadn't thought of that one.
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I like that. Really.
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Like actually? I think so.
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We were workshopping that for several weeks.
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Okay. Replacement for the phone is the grand ambition, but everyone building this agrees that's going to take a long time, and the phone will probably always be around.
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The real holy grail for these companies is true augmented reality, or AR glasses that overlay computing onto the world around you, rather than have it be trapped inside, you know, a little screen on your phone.
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But to get to a place where we're all weaning off our phone addictions by getting addicted to our smart glasses, these companies face a huge uphill battle in overcoming the creep factor that's taken down this technology before.
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For more, here's a guy with a camera on his face.
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They keep getting it wrong over and over again, and I keep seeing these companies trying to make smart glasses and just going down the toilet.
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It's kind of creepy.
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It's it's just fundamentally wrong.
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Steve Mann is the so-called father of the wearable computer who started building some of the earliest iterations of this shit in the 1970s, creating prototypes of the smartwatch and augmented reality goggles.
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That thing on his head? Brain scanner!
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While Steve has been made famous by his bespoke cyborg life, he believes that many of the smart glasses that are coming out today prioritize the wrong things.
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So what I argue is that weartech—wearable technologies—is, is very close and intimate and connected to us.
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And so it should not be a technology of surveillance.
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The technology needs to be able to see and understand the world around it in order to help us see, like it's functioning like eyeglasses, it fundamentally has to be able to see.
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So then how do you create a technology that can see while also creating a technology that doesn't, that that isn't a piece of surveillance technology?
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That's the key essence. That's a tough problem.
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And the thing is, a lot of these companies are skirting around it, trying to make a fast buck.
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There's a lot of questions like, where is my data going?
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How do I verify?
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So you yourself find the modern smart glasses creepy?
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Absolutely.
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I don't want nothing to do with any of it.
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That human Best Buy makes some good points.
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In February, a story went viral saying that meta was considering putting facial recognition features in the glasses, which came with a patent for the technology depicting people hanging out whilst being ogled at by perhaps the pervious man to ever perv.
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Separately, there have been reports that meta contractors have seen footage of smart glasses users changing clothes and using the bathroom, and while meta is doing their usual backpedaling, none of this makes it seem like they're developing their supposed paradigm shifting technology in the most responsible way.
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Which is why if I see anybody wearing a pair of these, I find it only right to assume that they're a pervert and making my personal responsibility to shoot them in the brain.
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Corey Catholic is a man who is blind, and is also the assistive technology manager at the Perkins Library at the Perkins School for the blind.
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And Dan Toomey is a journalist who is very sorry and did not mean to insinuate that we should shoot blind people in the brain.
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Corey explained to my prejudiced ass that his experience with this technology has proven smart glasses to be a game changer for both him and the people that he works with, even with the privacy risks that come from wearing them.
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So are smart glasses just for pervs?
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Well, if you think all blind people are pervs than sure, but then you'd be a piece of shit.
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Meta has sold nearly 10 million of these devices, and I don't think they've sold 10 million devices to perverts.
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There's obviously a lot of functionality of the smart glasses.
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We can list some.
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There's the cameras, there's the ability to talk to AI.
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I would call that the second use case, and then the third case just using them as AirPods or earbuds.
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I really fell into the first category where I, on the weekends, did not want to have my phone all the time when hanging out with my kids.
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This typically happens with any kind of technology, where there's a group of bad actors that kind of ruin it for everyone else, at least in terms of mind share.
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And I think that's what's happened here.
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I think the public's right to be questioning if the world needs these.
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I don't think anyone expects them to just be embraced.
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I think they need to be good products first and foremost, before any kind of like sentiment shift on them is even warranted.
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By now, I think it's safe to say that we're at a point where smartglasses haven't proven themselves to be good enough to replace everybody's phones, and while these things do already make some people's lives easier, especially those who need accessibility help, it seems like the best applications of commercial smart glasses remain niche.
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Meanwhile, my investigation has proven their mere existence creates the possibility of a flourishing surveillance state that makes perverts lives easier than ever.
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And if there's anything we don't want to do, it's make perverts lives easier.
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I mean, I remember the days when creeps had to sweat for it.
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Wait eight hours in a tree next to some honeys bathroom window, become a French painter and demand that all of your subjects be topless.
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Steal a pair of briefs for you to sniff.
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We used to be somebody.
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So do all the big tech product developers out there.
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If you want me to think that these things are for a mass audience other than perverts, you got some work to do.
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And that's something I can clearly see.
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Smart glasses or not.
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And for good work, I'm Dan Toomey.
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Folks, I don't know if you know this, but there's another accessory out there that a lot of people think is also only for perverts.
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But I want to get ahead of that and definitively say that trench coats are not pervert clothes. See?
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Look how good and normal I look in that.
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Sure, they're full coverage and quick release buttons make them the perfect garment for flashing.
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But don't listen to what people say about the trench coat.
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It's a tool of televisual journalism.
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The full coverage that simply inspires me to get full coverage of the story and nothing more.
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So in 2026 and in the years ahead, what do you say we leave the old trench coat alone and quit yelling at me on the street about it?
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There's nothing to see here.
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Okay? All right.
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Glad we could settle that.
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I'm innocent.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 155 sentences and 2491 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:37. The speaker talks at a natural 170 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| meta adjective | /ˈmɛtə/ | Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level. |
| consent verb | /kənˈsɛnt/ | To express willingness, to give permission. |
| aura noun | /ˈɔːɹə/ | A subtle emanation or exhalation of any substance, such as an aroma or odour. |
| surveillance noun | /sɚˈveɪ.ləns/ | Close observation of an individual or group; person or persons under suspicion. |
| spam noun | /spæm/ | Any undesired electronic content automatically generated for commercial purposes. |
| meanwhile adverb | /ˈmiːnwaɪl/ | During the time that something is happening, often specifically in a different place. |
| coat noun | /ˈkoʊ̯t/ | An outer garment covering the upper torso and arms. |
| snap verb | /snæp/ | To fracture or break apart suddenly. |
| drill noun | /dɹɪl/ | A tool or machine used to remove material so as to create a hole, typically by plunging a rotating cutting bit into a stationary workpiece. |
| creepy adjective | /ˈkɹipi/ | Moving by creeping along. |
| broker noun | /ˈbɹoʊkɚ/ | A mediator between a buyer and seller. |
| creep verb | /kɹiːp/ | To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground. |
| trench noun | /ˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ/ | A long, narrow ditch or hole in the ground; either manmade, or formed naturally through erosion or tectonic plate movement. |
| refer verb | /ɹɪˈfɜː/ | To direct the attention of (someone toward something). |
| label noun | /ˈleɪ.bəl/ | A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| back onto verb | To reverse a vehicle onto something. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| come out with verb | To say (something) unexpectedly. | |
| get ahead of verb | To take preemptive action before a potential development becomes reality. | |
| get around verb | To move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path. | |
| get off verb | To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it. | |
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. | |
| lock up verb | /ˌlɒk ˈʌp/ | To imprison or incarcerate (someone). |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 42 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, they're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: smooth /smuːð/, theft /θɛft/, threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/, thrust /θɹʌst/, enthusiast /ɪnˈθuːziˌæst/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: garage /ɡəˈɹɑʒ/, ambition /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/, backlash /ˈbækˌlæʃ/, partnership /ˈpɑɹtnɚʃɪp/, recognition /ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃ(ə)n/
- Long words — get the stress right: necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, recognition /ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃ(ə)n/, developer /dɪˈvɛləpɚ/, violation /ˌvaɪ.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/
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 meta, consent, aura.
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 | have seen · has been · have found |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being filmed · was ever broken · being interrupted |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | snap, which has · phone, which is · man who is |
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.