Shadowing Practice: The Secret to a Calm Life - Learn English Speaking with Video
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19 sentences
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1
We're likely to try out many sorts of lives before we land finally on the quiet variety.
2
Rarely does anyone start there, the kind of life where we try to be in bed by 10
3
and are intensely grateful when nothing's gone dramatically wrong in the preceding hours.
4
First, we might try out the life of fame, the sort where we dream that someone will stop us in a shop
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or a train and say, aren't you? or don't I know you from?
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That's not a negligible thrill, especially if you didn't feel too noticed in childhood, or if in adolescence it was always someone else who was able to make people you loved smile.
7
Or we might be drawn to the life of melodramatic relationships, the kind where we're constantly wondering whether they love us or we love them, where we break up every couple of weeks
8
and are calling them frantically to come back from their parents' house and we didn't mean all those crazy words we said, we were just scared.
9
It can take a lot of pain before we make our peace with so-called ordinariness
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and accept it for the wonder it is, before we can deeply love a day when we have nothing to do other than wake up early, finish the dishes from last night,
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shower, read a few poems, answer some emails, maybe go to the museum to see some African masks or a canoe from Oceania, some bread, fry some eggs.
12
We might become rather fierce at anyone and anything that threatens this hard-won achievement.
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At well-meaning people who invite us on complicated excursions or worrying parties.
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At newspapers that force us to think about driven types, starting companies and releasing a new film or a record.
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We know how much these stimulants can cost us.
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It takes great confidence to give up on being special.
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It takes kindness to oneself to interrupt for longing for suffering and anguish.
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One might have needed to try out almost everything else before realising in the end
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that it was calm we always really wanted.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “The Secret to a Calm Life”. This video has 19 sentences and 352 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:56. The speaker talks fast, about 183 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| adolescence noun | /ˌædəˈlɛsəns/ | The transitional period of physical and psychological development between childhood and maturity, beginning at the onset of puberty and with an endpoint… |
| anguish noun | /ˈæŋ.ɡwɪʃ/ | Extreme pain, either of body or mind; excruciating distress; an emotional state caused by intense misery or suffering. |
| excursion noun | /ɪkˈskɜː.ʃən/ | A brief recreational trip; a journey out of the usual way. |
| frantically adverb | /ˈfɹæn.tɪk.li/ | In a frantic manner. |
| melodramatic adjective | /ˌmɛl.ə.dɹəˈmæt.ɪk/ | Of or pertaining to melodrama; like or suitable to a melodrama; unnatural in situation or action. |
| negligible adjective | /ˈnɛɡlɪd͡ʒɪbəl/ | Able to be neglected, ignored or excluded from consideration; too small or unimportant to be of concern. |
| ordinariness noun | The quality or condition of being ordinary. | |
| precede verb | /pɹɪˈsid/ | To go before, go in front of. |
| stimulant noun | /ˈstɪmjʊlənt/ | A substance that acts to increase physiological or nervous activity in the body. |
| canoe noun | /kəˈnuː/ | A small long and narrow boat, propelled by one or more people (depending on the size of canoe), using single-bladed paddles. The paddlers face in the direction… |
| intensely adverb | /ɪnˈtɛnsli/ | In an intense manner. |
| interrupt verb | /ˌɪntəˈɹʌpt/ | To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly, especially by speaking. |
| thrill verb | /θɹɪl/ | To suddenly excite someone, or to give someone great pleasure; to (figuratively) electrify; to experience such a sensation. |
| fierce adjective | /fɪɹs/ | Exceedingly violent, severe, ferocious, cruel or savage. |
| threaten verb | /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/ | To make a threat against someone; to use threats. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| try out verb | To test (something) to see how it works or whether it is suitable. | |
| break up verb | To break or separate into pieces. | |
| come back from verb | To become successful, confident or effective again after an injury, setback, failure, embarrassment, etc. | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
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 | might be drawn |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who invite |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 6 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, we're, aren't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thrill /θɹɪl/, threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: anguish /ˈæŋ.ɡwɪʃ/, excursion /ɪkˈskɜː.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: adolescence /ˌædəˈlɛsəns/, melodramatic /ˌmɛl.ə.dɹəˈmæt.ɪk/, negligible /ˈnɛɡlɪd͡ʒɪbəl/
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 adolescence, anguish, excursion.
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.