Shadowing Practice: What I Got Wrong About Changing the World | Malala Yousafzai | TED - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Rehra Srinivasan Reviewer Rehra Srinivasan Reviewer When I was a child, I thought changing the world was simple.
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Rehra Srinivasan Reviewer Rehra Srinivasan Reviewer When I was a child, I thought changing the world was simple.
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I would tell the people in charge all of my problems, and they would fix them.
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I know how naive this sounds now, but at nine or 10 years old, it made sense to me.
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I lived in a remote mountainous region of Pakistan.
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The prime minister was more than 100 miles away from me, in the capital city, he couldn't see the trash polluting our rivers or our broken school bus or hospitals with outdated equipment.
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I was sure that our leaders could solve all of these problems if only I could get their attention.
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At age 11, I faced the biggest, most devastating problem of my life.
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The Taliban took control of my town and decreed that girls could no longer go to school.
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I knew what life would be like for me without an education.
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Marriage in my teens, two or three children.
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By the time I was just 20, it meant I would have no choice, no control of my future.
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If I was ever going to get people's attention, this was the moment.
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I decided to become an activist.
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I gave interviews at protests, I spoke on television, I wrote a blog for the BBC, and I appeared in a New York Times documentary.
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I did everything I could to reach to our leaders and ask for their help.
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Simply for the crime of speaking out, the Taliban tried to kill me, shooting me in the face at point-blank range.
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I was 15 years old.
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But with the help of many doctors and even more prayers, I survived.
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Millions of people heard my story.
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Presidents and prime ministers all over the world wanted to meet me.
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I was finally in the rooms where decisions were made.
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and I could bring attention to girls like me who did not have the opportunity to be in school.
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And that's when I realized that changing the world wasn't as simple as pointing out the problems.
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You had to argue for every policy change and budget increase, and you might have to get the support of as many people as possible, and you might have to advocate for months or even years to take one step forward.
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Eventually, I came to believe that change was slow, but steady.
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Incremental, but thankfully inevitable.
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My foundation had been hope and optimism.
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Faith that people would do the right thing.
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Trust that when leaders said they cared about making our lives better, they meant it, even if it took longer than I wished.
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But then, in a single day, my belief in progress shattered.
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It was August 2021.
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I was in the hospital, recovering from one last surgery to repair the facial paralysis I suffered after the attack.
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I picked up my phone and saw the Taliban had taken control of Afghanistan.
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I was stunned, shattered, terrified, angry.
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How could I continue to have faith that things would improve?
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How could anyone believe that leaders were committed to girls' education when they handed over an entire country to the men who pointed a gun at my head and pulled the trigger.
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From the recovery room, I called Afghan women I knew, activists who were working around the country.
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They were frightened too.
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On TV, experts and politicians were saying that the Taliban had changed, that this new version of the Taliban wouldn't ban girls from school or oppress women.
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The Afghans I spoke with didn't believe it.
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And they were right.
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Today, in Afghanistan, girls are not allowed to attend school past sixth grade.
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It is a crime.
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Women who five years ago were doctors, politicians, engineers and artists are not allowed to go to university or pursue a career.
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A woman speaking in public is a crime.
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But do you know what is not considered a crime?
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This year, in 2026, the Taliban decreed that it is legal for men to beat their wives and daughters.
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The Taliban have imposed a system of segregation and domination, a gender apartheid on millions of women and girls.
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For years, I thought the purpose of my life was to serve girls.
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After Afghanistan, the optimism I had as an 11-year-old activist was gone.
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But I couldn't walk away, because I knew exactly what Afghan girls were going through.
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When I saw pictures of little girls standing outside the locked gates of their schools, I could not stop thinking about them.
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I know many of us feel overwhelmed and lost today, like the obstacles are too big, and there's little we can do to fix the problem.
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But there's a lot I have learned over the past few years, and I want to share with you how to keep fighting for change when you have lost hope.
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First, you have to start with something.
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While I couldn't undo the catastrophe that had just happened in Afghanistan, I knew I had to get out of my hospital bed and find a way to help.
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I started by supporting underground schools, because the Afghan girls are not giving up on learning, even if it means risking their lives.
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Across the country today, they are listening to lessons on the radio, discreetly passing cassette tapes and books to each other, and trying to keep studying in secret.
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It is far from the education that they deserve, but it's a start.
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The second thing I learned is the importance of working with others.
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And that has led me to some unexpected places, like movie theaters and football fields.
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I have produced two films about Afghanistan, Bread and Roses and Champions of the Golden Valley.
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Stories of Afghan men and women who are resisting the Taliban's oppression.
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And I have joined the campaign of Afghan women's national football team to push FIFA to allow them to compete in exile.
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The Taliban are erasing...
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Thank you.
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The Taliban are erasing women from public life.
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But I am here to do the opposite of what the Taliban want.
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That is why I am taking every opportunity to show Afghan women speaking, singing, kicking the ball, and standing up for their rights.
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because the artists and athletes that I work with help connect the world to the women and girls who are living through this crisis and to the belief that every life carries equal worth.
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My final lesson.
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Stay ambitious.
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I know it might sound foolish to be setting high goals when you are losing a battle, but the bigger the fight, the bolder you have to be.
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What is happening in Afghanistan is a wake-up call for all of us.
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Because the Taliban's cruelty against women and girls did not begin in 2021.
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They tried to silence me a decade earlier in Pakistan.
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And before I was even born, they were stopping girls from school in parts of Afghanistan.
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Yet, we have no international laws against gender apartheid, nowhere to hold the perpetrators and their sympathizers accountable.
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That is why Afghan women are campaigning to add these abuses to the UN's Crime Against Humanity Treaty.
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And I have joined this movement to ensure that we change things for women and girls everywhere.
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It is a big goal.
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I know it may take many years to see the Taliban brought to justice.
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But I will keep fighting so that these crimes are not committed against another generation of girls anywhere in the world.
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When I think about the 11-year-old girl I once was, I want her to be proud of who I am today.
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I want her to know that although changing the world is not as simple as she thought, I will not give up.
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Here is the truth.
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I don't have all the answers on how to change the world, And I don't believe anyone else does either.
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If I have learned anything, it is that progress is never guaranteed.
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There isn't one speech or one story, one moment or one person that can bend the arc of history on their own.
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But if we start with something, work together, and stay ambitious, hope stops being the thing we wait to feel and become something we create.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you so much.
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Thank you.

Context & Background

In her powerful TED talk, Malala Yousafzai shares her journey from a naïve child believing that changing the world was straightforward to grappling with the complex realities of activism. Growing up in a remote region of Pakistan, she faced the harsh realities of life under Taliban control, where education for girls was a distant dream. Through her activism, Malala worked to bring attention to the importance of education for girls and the dangers they faced. Despite her immense courage and constant advocacy, she faced grave danger, ultimately surviving an assassination attempt. Her story reflects the struggle for gender equality and serves as a critical reminder of the ongoing challenges faced by women around the world.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • "I wanted to be heard." - This phrase captures the essence of speaking out for change.
  • "What I thought was simple." - A reflection on initial beliefs versus reality.
  • "It is a crime." - Use this expression to highlight serious issues or injustices.
  • "We need to advocate." - A call to action for supporting important causes.
  • "Incremental change." - This phrase underscores the nature of progress in social issues.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To effectively utilize shadowing while watching Malala's TED talk, follow this structured approach to improve English pronunciation and understanding:

  1. Listen Actively: Play the video and listen to Malala's speech carefully. Pay attention to her intonation, stress, and rhythm.
  2. Use a Shadowing App: Utilize a shadowing app or audio tool that allows you to follow along with the transcript. This will help you track her speech as you practice.
  3. Repeat Phrases: Choose the top phrases listed above and repeat them out loud, trying to match Malala's accent and pronunciation as closely as possible.
  4. Break It Down: Focus on one sentence at a time. Listen, pause, and repeat each segment to ensure clear understanding and pronunciation.
  5. Record and Review: Record yourself speaking and compare it to the original video. Analyze your pronunciation and intonation to identify areas for improvement.

Applying the shadow speech technique can significantly enhance your speaking skills, making it both an engaging and rewarding experience. The practice gained from shadowing Malala’s compelling dialogue can not only improve fluency but can also instill a deeper understanding of activism and the struggles many face in pursuit of education.

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.

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