Shadowing Practice: The uncomfortable truth | Yuval Noah Harari - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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The truth is costly.
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If you want to know the truth about anything, you need to spend a lot of time and energy and effort looking for it,
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and fact-checking, and investigating.
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Fiction is very, very cheap.
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You just write anything you want.
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The truth has another problem, which it tends to be complicated.
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People don't like complicated stories.
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Fiction can be made as simple as you would like it to be.
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Finally, the truth is often not just complicated, it's also painful.
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There are many things people don't really want to know about themselves, about their nation, about their group, whatever.
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Fiction can be made as flattering, as pleasant as you want it to be.
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So in a competition between the truth, which is costly and complicated and sometimes painful,
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and fiction, which is cheap and simple and very attractive and flattering,
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fiction tends to win unless we make the special effort to support the truth.
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And over history, humans again and again made the effort to build institutions to search for the truth and to protect it.
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Journalism, for instance, is one such institution.
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The scientific establishment is another such institution.
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There are huge advantages, of course, to knowing the truth.
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Everybody in the end wants to know at least some truths, at least about yourself.
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You want to know the truth about your life, otherwise you will never be happy.
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If you don't know yourself, then for instance, you will never know what are the sources of misery
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and what are the sources of happiness in your life.
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And then even if you are the most powerful person in the world, if you don't know the truth about yourself,
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you'll be miserable because you will not know how to use all your power to make yourself happy.

Understanding the Speaker’s Message: A Closer Look

Yuval Noah Harari, a renowned thinker, shares a thought-provoking take on truth vs. fiction in this video. His clear, deliberate speech makes it a great tool for English learners—especially those practicing shadowspeaks or prepping for IELTS speaking practice. The dialogue’s mix of complex ideas and conversational flow helps build both vocabulary and confidence.

5 Phrases to Boost Your Daily English

Extract practical phrases from the video to use in real life: 1. “tends to win” (e.g., “In debates, simplicity tends to win over complexity.”) 2. “make the special effort” (e.g., “I need to make the special effort to call my mom.”) 3. “sources of misery” (e.g., “Lack of sleep is a source of misery for me.”) 4. “fact-checking” (e.g., “Always do fact-checking before sharing news.”) 5. “huge advantages” (e.g., “Learning a language has huge advantages.”)

How to Master Shadowing with This Video

The shadowing technique (or shadow speak) works wonders here. Follow these steps: 1. Listen first: Watch the video once to grasp the message—don’t focus on words yet. 2. Break it down: Pause after 5-second clips. Repeat aloud, mimicking Harari’s pace and tone. This improves English pronunciation by training your mouth to form natural sounds. 3. Focus on stress: Notice words he emphasizes, like “costly” or “painful.” Copying this helps with IELTS speaking fluency. 4. Record yourself: Compare your version to the video. Adjust where you stumble—this is key for progress. 5. Practice daily: Spend 10 minutes daily with this clip. Over time, you’ll find shadowspeaks feels easier, and your confidence in speaking grows.

Whether you’re prepping for IELTS or just want to speak more clearly, this video and the shadowing technique are powerful tools. Start small, stay consistent, and watch your skills improve!

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.