Shadowing Practice: uneventful days at home alone - Learn English Speaking with Video

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I'm actually gonna do an at -home workout because I'm doing arms

and abs and I actually have most of the equipment that I need for that workout at home.

I'm not really a machine person at the gym yet.

Why am I hunched like that?

I use the machines for some exercises but for most of them I just use weights.

I feel like the machines are scary.

I'm also definitely getting my period maybe today, maybe tomorrow.

This week for sure I can feel it.

I can tell by the way

that I've felt more annoyed than normal at even the tiniest inconveniences

and I've been cussing like a sailor at things that I wouldn't normally cuss at and it's like what 9 a .m.

So this is my at -home workout setup location.

I've crammed myself between my window and my chairs.

The sun hits windows are open and i can just take my time

and work out at my own pace and i love that

today's the last day of august 2026

and i don't journal every day not right now sometimes i do

but not right now what i do never skip though is end of month journal entries

so now i'm doing my end of month for august

and it's just reflections on what have i really enjoyed this month what can i

remember that's made me feel happy feel content feel fulfilled

and also things that have been pulling me down what's been weighing on me what are some things

that i hope to resolve going forward on things

that i'm hoping to leave behind and just reflections like

that i do have a few questions that I tend to answer one at a time,

but oftentimes I also find myself kind of going off script, so to speak, and start writing about just whatever I feel like,

where one thing will lead into another.

So one thing that I hope to resolve that I'm writing about by September is this

confusion of where i want to live going forward as you guys know

i've been experimenting a little bit i went to barcelona to see

if i could see myself living there and i do have another city

in mind a city that i would really really love to spend more time in

but i'll give you a hint here

it's a very expensive city i know i love this city so much there's no question of it

but is it realistic and is it like a smart choice?

I don't want to be in Stockholm anymore.

I don't feel creatively inspired here.

I feel like I've done what I need to do right now.

You know, I don't feel excited to go out and try new things or film the streets

because i've done that for you know seven years there is

so much b -roll of me in stockholm and on the beautiful streets

and stockholm is the love of my life you know there's no question but

i want some freshness i want some newness and

that is the main thing

that i know i'll be writing about this month okay

i just got back from the grocery store let's do a little grocery haul got some crème fraîche,

some kvary which I have no idea if those are the English words for these but it is the Swedish words,

some butter for cooking, some chocolate,

some potatoes that I will need to make for dinner tonight because the potatoes always go bad really quickly.

I got some milk, some parmesan cheese, cream that I used for cooking and then we have a second bag.

I got some beef

because i've started slowly cooking meat a couple times a week tomatoes some corn tortillas lemon one avocado

which isn't ripe right now but i think tomorrow this avocado will be perfect cucumber some

which is just like hard bread the bar some oat milk i was craving this so bad and I got a röttika.

Some sun -dried tomatoes, these are so good, so much flavor.

And some sauerkraka.

Surkål.

Thank you.

Oh, my God.

Okay, I realize this dinner looks so freaking boring, but it's honestly so good

and it's all i can bear cooking right now it's some tomatoes with some sauce

and some beef and also my kindle has no batteries

so i'm like am i just gonna raw dog this meal just sit here

and not watch anything not listen to anything honestly why not

let's take a first bite with you all let's see

if this is cooked like i said

because i just started cooking meat after many many years being

a vegetarian like I'm still terrified of the meat not being cooked enough I definitely overcook any meat

that I cook take a shot every time I say cook in this segment you know another thing

that I had no idea about because I haven't been buying meat for so many years was how expensive it is.

I can get 20 packs of beans or more for this price.

Mm -hmm.

A little burn.

That's okay.

There is no law that gods must be fair, Achilles, Shireen said.

And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone, do you think?

Perhaps, Achilles admitted.

I listened and did not speak.

Achilles' eyes were bright in the firelight, his face drawn sharply by the flickering shadows.

I would know it in dark or the skies, I told myself.

I would know it even in madness.

I got chills.

That was nice.

Let's go.

I had my coffee.

I woke up.

I had this idea for a podcast episode.

I was going to go out to the gym straight away, but when you get an idea for a podcast,

for something to write, for a YouTube video, for anything that's in the realm of creativity,

entertainment, I think, you need to sort of work on it right away, because the chance is that you will lose it.

I've been on YouTube for seven years.

A tip that I have, when an idea strikes you, a concept, anything, if you cannot execute it right away.

At the very least, write it down.

I'm gonna sit here.

Oh, you saw me getting my chair ready for my podcast episode.

Well, there was an insect on my chair, so I have thrown that in the bin.

Never using that chair ever again because I lost the insect.

I have no idea where it is.

It was long, it was hairy, it was strange.

100

It's early morning, but we're still gonna have our beautiful lamp to add to the ambiance.

101

Okay, I've recorded my podcast episode now.

102

It feels really good.

103

I still don't know.

104

I can't decide if I'm going to the gym or if I'm going for a beautiful walk.

105

Also, if I go on a walk, I can bring you guys along.

106

I'm not gonna film inside

107

to the gym okay i've decided

108

now i'm going to the gym started pouring rain as i was walking back from the gym

109

so i'm gonna hop in the shower now

110

and then make some lunch it is the best feeling ever

111

when you have worked out you're back home you showered you've moisturized you have left overs from yesterday

112

so you don't just stay in the kitchen

113

and cook for an hour now

114

and best of all you have no plans i have no plans the plan is me

115

and that today is the best day ever

116

i wonder

117

if i didn't do a braid for like 30 years would i forget how to do a braid

118

i know about muscle memory but how far does it go i can go

119

so long without doing braids and i'll remember or riding a bike

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but things like the piano i'll forget in like a week

121

if i don't study maybe it's the things that you learn fully

122

that become muscle memory like if you fully learn the braid in

123

and out you can do with your eyes closed then you'll never forget it

124

or learning a bike never forget or a language but

125

when it's something

126

that you've only learned a little bit then you're not going to remember

127

it you have to learn it fully maybe that would be my guess

128

i don't know why i'm like this but there are some things

129

that i will just postpone forever this is one of those things

130

so i made a vlog what four

131

or five months ago about this wooden box

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that i got from ikea for my kitchen

133

and i still haven't assembled it

134

so it's just been laying there on my chair collecting dust i have to get this over with now

135

because i want to start using it

136

and also it's in the way it's bothering me by just being there on the chair

137

because i am so deeply uninterested in it.

138

That's why I'm just not figuring it out.

139

Even when it's something as simple as this.

140

Okay, I think I threw away the instructions.

141

Wait, what?

142

No. No. Oh, this has to be.

143

come on use the strength in your arms nice okay let's go let's go

144

nice okay now we need to get them all the way in do people still say

145

that's what she said see this wasn't even hard

146

i don't know why i made such a big deal out of it i think it's

147

so difficult doing things that you just have no interest in at all.

148

And I think that's what people mean when some people say that they can't cook.

149

Of course there's advanced cooking and understanding ingredients and all the things you go to school for,

150

but just basic everyday cooking where some people claim that they can't do it.

151

I think what they mean is they simply have no interest for it.

152

Unless you have a very, very hard time following simple instructions, because most recipes are really just simple instructions and most things

153

that you have to assemble like this one is just simple instructions.

154

So I think this was the easy part actually because now I'm a bit confused.

155

Well that's a lot of screws.

156

Oh there's a lot of screws.

157

Wow okay.

158

You know I really hope I get a lot of use from this box

159

and I think I will because I want to feel like this was worth it.

160

But it's it's already worth it.

161

I can already feel it's being rewarding.

162

You know I know some of you watching are going to think

163

this is such a simple thing anyone can do

164

and you know I mostly agree with that

165

but we all have different things that we find to be difficult

166

or bothersome or that we procrastinate on for whatever reason

167

and I don't mind celebrating myself

168

and feeling proud of myself for accomplishing even small things

169

or successfully doing something even

170

if to the eyes of the world it seems like such a small thing who is the world to say

171

that right these are really not wanting to get in there can i hammer them in there maybe

172

that will be easier i have my hammer here i don't know

173

if this is a bad idea not a bad idea at all let me mute this part

174

because this is going to be very loud all right muting you again enjoy the music who said i was not handy

175

Look at that.

176

I feel this is probably not even good for my ears now that I think about it.

177

I know Ikea is cheap

178

but the amount of time

179

you have to put into the labor to assemble these things is equivalent to the time

180

that I could have spent putting up my own Etsy shop.

181

You know what?

182

I think I'm done.

183

Now let's figure out what I'm going to put in it.

184

I can't remember why I bought this.

185

Thank you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “uneventful days at home alone”. This video has 185 sentences and 2025 words to shadow. The speech runs for 15:06. The speaker talks at a steady 134 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 81% 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
podcast noun	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on…
instruction noun	/ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/	The act of instructing, teaching, or providing with information or knowledge.
workout noun	/ˈwɝk.aʊ̯t/	An exercise session; a period of physical exercise.
tomato noun	/təˈmeɪ.toʊ/	A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit.
assemble verb	/əˈsɛm.bəl/	To put together.
muscle noun	/ˈmʌs.əl/	A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.
beef noun	/bif/	The meat from cattle or other bovines; especially, that from adults.
reflection noun	/ɹɪˈflɛkʃən/	The act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.
resolve verb	/ɹɪˈzɑlv/	To find a solution to (a problem).
hammer noun	/ˈhæmɚ/	A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding.
potato noun	/pəˈteɪ.təʊ/	The edible starchy tuber of the plant species Solanum tuberosum.
grocery noun	/ˈɡɹəʊ.s(ə.)ɹi/	Retail foodstuffs and other household supplies.
insect noun	/ˈɪn.sɛkt/	An arthropod (in the Insecta class) characterized by six legs, up to four wings, and a chitinous exoskeleton.
mute adjective	/mjut/	Not having the power of speech; dumb.
meal noun	/ˈmiːl/	Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
go off verb		To explode.
go out verb		To leave, especially a building.
going forward adverb		In the immediate future and beyond.
leave behind verb		To abandon.
put up verb		To place in a high location.
throw away verb		To discard (trash, garbage, or the like), to toss out, to put in the trash.
wake up verb	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	To stop sleeping; to awake.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Why am I hunched like that?
I've crammed myself between my window and my chairs.
I don't feel creatively inspired here.
That's why I'm just not figuring it out.
I can already feel it's being rewarding.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	I've been cussing · have been pulling · i've been experimenting
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've felt · I've crammed · have i really enjoyed
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is cooked · being cooked · be left
Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form	start writing · started cooking · started pouring

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 67 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: bother /ˈbɑðɚ/, bothersome /ˈbɑðɚsəm/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: instruction /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/, reflection /ɹɪˈflɛkʃən/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/, confusion /kənˈfjuːʒən/, accomplish /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: successfully /səkˈsɛs.fə.li/, experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, creativity /kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/, vegetarian /vɛ.d͡ʒɪˈtɛ.ɹi.ən/, ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like podcast, instruction, workout.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: uneventful days at home alone - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?

PRODUCTIVE day in my life SUMMER edition