Shadowing Practice: What if it works out? - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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A lot of times I'll be in a 200 mile run or something like that and I'm all jacked up.
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Bodies broken, minds broken, spirits broken.
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I start to say what if I can pull this off?
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When I first walked into the Navy SEAL recruiters office, he looked at me and said there's only been 35 African-Americans in 70 years making it through.
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You know I said to myself What if I can be the 36th?
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It's the what if I can pull off a fucking miracle?
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What if I can become someone that no one thinks I can be?
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And just that, just me talking about that, I have the hair going up on my arms.
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Because it makes me just like, what if?
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I once had a guidance counselor tell me that I shouldn't play basketball.
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That it would never amount to anything for me.
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You know what?
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Much to your surprise, I took that counselor's advice.
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I took it and I used it to be the best basketball player I could be.
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His negativity towards me made me stronger.
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You can't stop people from trying to limit your dreams, but you can stop it from becoming a reality.
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Your dreams are up to you.
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I encourage you to always be curious, always seek out things you love, and always work hard once you find it.
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So with that, I'll let you carry on with your evening.
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I hope you enjoy your special night.
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Please know I'm thinking of you, supporting you and encouraging you always.
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Peace.
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I had that one viewer and that viewer made me keep going.
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And each day and more, week two, I started averaging four viewers.
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Week three, eight viewers.
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Week four, 20 viewers.
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So on and so on and so on.
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So then my sophomore year, I just kind of gave up on school.
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I kind of gave up on school.
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I kind of give them everything that I had to my old life and just put everything onto my stream.
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I streamed every day.
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I didn't care about nothing else but YouTube streaming.
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As I was streaming, there was a clip that kind of blown up.
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It was on Warstar.
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You remember Warstar, right?
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It wasn't like, it wasn't like, it didn't go viral.
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It had like maybe 30,000 viewers.
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So my mom, so my dad showed my mom, because my dad watches Warstar.
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My mom seen the video.
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She's like, what are you doing?
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Blah, blah, blah.
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Why is everybody talking about you like online, blah, blah, blah?
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Because it was like, hate comments.
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So she kicked me out.
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No, she told me to quit.
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Yeah.
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Or I'm leaving.
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Like, you know, or like, you can't do this in my house.
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So I'm like, I'm out.
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Really?
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Yeah, I was like, I'm out.
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You know, like, I'm not about to stop.
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Like, I was already averaging like 20 viewers.
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I had like a thousand subs, 2,000 subs.
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Right.
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Like, I'm already going.
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So I'm like, and once I start something, I'm not stopping.
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Right.
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So boom, she kicked me out.
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I moved to my dad in Detroit.
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Then I kept going.
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I kept going.
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My dad didn't really care.
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My dad let me.
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Shout out to my dad.
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Shout out to my mom, too.
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I still love my mom.
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She didn't know what was going on.
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But anyways, I kept going in Detroit, and I got here.
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So I came home one day from working at a job called Ecolab where I sprayed for cockroaches.
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Made $1,000 a month, weighing 300 pounds.
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and I got home and I watched a show on Discovery Channel of guys carrying boats and logs, Navy SEAL training.
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I decided to make a change in my life.
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I called the recruiter up and he asked me these questions.
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He had to meet a certain height and weight limit.
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I was 6'1 and 300 pounds.
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He laughed at me.
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Seven other recruiters laughed at me.
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One recruiter finally said, come on in, I'm too busy to talk to you on the phone.
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He didn't know how much I weighed.
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I walked in the recruiter's office and he looked at me and he said, you're fat and you're black.
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Got someone to be a Navy SEAL.
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I didn't know there'd only been 35 African-American Navy SEALs at that time in over 70 years.
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He said I basically had to lose 106 pounds in less than three months because of my age.
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I was getting too old.
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I came back three months later, 106 pounds lighter.
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I, thank you.
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If you think the price of winning is too high, wait till you get the bill from regret.
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And then boom, years go by and I'm like, damn bro, like five, six, seven years went by and this is still not working for me.
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Like, how much time am I gonna spend on this thing?
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Like, I reorganized my whole life for this thing and it's still not working for me.
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Like, when my friends went and got jobs that paid well, these like security jobs that got $20 an hour, I would instead volunteer.
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I would, and so I needed to spend time on YouTube.
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I couldn't do nothing that would take away from YouTube.
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When I went to university, when I went to university, instead of going in the dorms, which looked way more fun,
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I got a townhouse with four other people because the internet sucked in the dorms.
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I had to be able to upload YouTube videos.
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I spent too much on this shit.
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Like, bro, there was way too much time.
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Like, when my friends would go out, I'd be like, bro, I haven't uploaded yet, so I gotta upload today.
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Boom, now I'm uploading.
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Bro, no exaggeration, I have reorganized literally everything in my life for this to work.
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And I remember I was in my third year in university.
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I think I have goosebumps.
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I was in my third year at university, bro, and it was summer.
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I wasn't even going home for the summer because it was tough to record at home.
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So I was staying at uni on a ghost campus and it was dumb, empty, it was boring as fuck.
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But I would stay there because it was better for YouTube.
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Everything was, let me just, bro, I need this to work.
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I need this to work This is what the fuck bro.
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I knew what I wanted bro if you don't quit you can't lose It's impossible
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because you can just get up and try again
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So that's all I did every time I felt like quitting
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I would just convince I would talk to some friends
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and I would convince myself of everything I already believed why I knew I wanted this from years ago, and I would go again And I will go again
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and it was one video that finally blew from me got 50,000 views after six seven years
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How bad do you want it?
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There's two options to continue forward
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pushing upward And if you do that dream is giving birth and forever you will live in the reality of it
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If you stop quit throw the towel I
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Promise you there's no distance you can travel far enough to find that dream again for it is dead.
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And it is dead.
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It's replaced by regret.
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That's what it takes.
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To do anything successfully in life, you've got to want it as bad as you want to breathe.
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And if you want it that bad, if you're willing to give it that much, you get a big piece of what you want.
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And life and dreams do come true.
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Anything you want can happen and become a reality.
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I believe that sincerely and I'll die on that thought.
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My philosophy is why be normal when you can be the best.
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I don't want to be normal.
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I want to make the difference.
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So everything I do, I want to make the difference.
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Because when I make the difference, I'm the best.
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And that is not arrogance, that is confidence.
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If I was to quit rapping and I say I want to go to the NBA, I would be in the NBA.
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No, you wouldn't.
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Yes.
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No, you wouldn't.
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Yes, I would.
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No, you wouldn't.
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Yes, I would.
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Why would you think you could make it to the NBA? because i think i can do anything

Why practice speaking with this video?

Engaging with the video titled "What if it works out?" provides a unique opportunity for English learners to enhance their speaking skills. The speaker's personal anecdotes illustrate resilience, determination, and the importance of believing in oneself. By practicing speaking with this content, you will not only improve your fluency but also learn to express emotions and motivations effectively. Moreover, discussing themes such as overcoming negativity and pursuing your dreams can lead to rich conversational practice, helping you incorporate both vocabulary and ideas into your spoken English.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

As you listen and speak along with the video, pay attention to these key structures:

  • "What if I can pull this off?" - This phrase exemplifies the use of conditional questions, inviting listeners to consider possibilities and ambitions.
  • "You can't stop people from trying to limit your dreams." - Here, the speaker effectively uses the negative form "can't" to convey a strong message about personal agency and resilience.
  • "I encourage you to always be curious." - Notice the use of the imperative form “encourage” which exemplifies how to motivate others in conversation, a useful skill in both personal and professional contexts.
  • "It made me stronger." - This reflects the simple past tense and allows learners to describe past experiences, a crucial aspect of storytelling and discussions.
  • "Just keep going." - A motivational phrase that embodies a common conversational expression, useful for providing encouragement and support.

Common Pronunciation Traps

While shadow speaking along with the video, you may encounter several tricky pronunciations and phrases, such as:

  • "What if" vs. "What if it works out?" - The contraction and linking between words can be challenging; practicing this will enhance your fluidity in casual conversations.
  • "Much to your surprise." - The stress on certain words here can affect clarity; focusing on intonation will help you sound more natural.
  • "Thinking of you." - The casual form and rhythm can trip up non-native speakers; mimicking the natural way the speaker conveys this sentiment can improve your phonetic skills.

By focusing on these elements while practicing with the video, you can effectively use shadow speech techniques to significantly boost your English speaking skills. Whether you are learning English with YouTube or other resources, incorporating emotional expressions and personal anecdotes into your practice will help you resonate more authentically in conversations.

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.