Shadowing Practice: WHEN LIFE HURTS - Powerful Motivational Speech - Learn English Speaking with Video
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78 sentences
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What do you do when your battle chooses you?
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What do you do when something shows up on your doorstep that you did not directly cause,
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choose, or definitely anticipate?
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Life is not always easy.
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In fact, some of you today, you're here and you're going through the toughest season of your life.
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There will be seasons where we will suffer.
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There will be seasons of real pain.
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And the question is, how will you respond in those moments?
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Life is hard sometimes.
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Easy, it's not an option. But it's worth fighting.
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It's worth believing.
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It's worth giving yourself a chance.
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It's worth mustering yourself up, standing up inside yourself.
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It's worth fighting relentlessly, never giving up.
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It's worth it.
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You can do it.
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You can do it.
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There's problems that we go through that cause stress, worry, anxiety, and fear, but you might be in the battle of your life.
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I want to encourage you.
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It's not about what's happening around you.
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It's always about what's happening inside of you.
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Just because you feel afraid doesn't mean you have to be afraid.
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Just because you feel discouraged doesn't mean you have to be discouraged.
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Just because you have fear doesn't mean fear has to have you.
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The sentence out of your mouth is a story that you are putting out.
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I'm not going to make it.
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I quit.
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Let's get a divorce.
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business is never coming back we've lost too many people
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I've made too many mistakes I'm a failure nobody can help me
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I've done too many bad things I don't know what's coming out of your mouth
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but it's a death sentence and as you continue to confess it
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and as you continue to declare it well don't be surprised
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when it becomes true in your life we have to make sure that whenever I feel when I think a death sentence.
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I must speak a life sentence.
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Oh, I'm feeling the sentence of death.
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I'm feeling the thoughts of anxiety.
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I'm feeling the thoughts that I'm done.
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I feel like I've been used and it hurts and it's difficult.
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But when that happens, I start speaking out a life sentence.
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No, I'm just going to keep showing up.
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No, I'm going to give back up.
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The righteous man, he falls seven times, but he gets back up.
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Never give up.
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Never give in because skill can't get you past certain things.
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Quickness, agility can't get you.
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You gotta have mental toughness.
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Pain ain't permanent.
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Your pain ain't permanent.
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You can get through this.
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You bigger than your pain.
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You better than that.
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Come on, you need to remember.
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This is not the first time you cried.
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This is not the first time you were short of breath.
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This is not the first time you didn't see a way clear.
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This is not the first time you were hurt.
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This is not the first time your heart was broken.
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This is not the first time you didn't have enough money.
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This is not the first diagnosis that came up from behind
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So I'm gonna live to tell the story this too shall pass I will remain I'm not gonna quit
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Every one of my burdens there's a blessing on the inside of it
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If you don't quit you will win baby
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You gonna work through this you gonna get up you gonna get dressed you gonna get out
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and you're gonna do what you've been called to do.
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You're gonna be what you called to be and you're gonna prove to everybody that tried to break you, everybody that tried to stop you,
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everybody that tried to kill your dream, you're gonna prove all of them wrong.
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Just keep coming back.
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If you got nothing left to give, just show back up.
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Hassle's life, man, is just showing up.
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And I'm telling you right now, don't give up.
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I'm telling you right now, don't give in.
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Get through it.
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And if you can get through it, if you can work through your pain, I'm guaranteeing you.
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On the other side is a reward.
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Pain is not permanent.
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Pain is temporary.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “WHEN LIFE HURTS - Powerful Motivational Speech”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: pain, sentence, worth, quit, permanent. This video has 78 sentences and 695 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:38. The speaker talks at a natural 150 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 89% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| anxiety noun | /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/ | An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event. |
| discourage verb | /dɪsˈkɝɪd͡ʒ/ | To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits of; to deprive of confidence; to deject. |
| temporary adjective | /ˈtɛmp(əˌɹ)ɛɹi/ | Not permanent; existing only for a period or periods of time. |
| encourage verb | /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ | To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit. |
| suffer verb | /ˈsʌfɚ/ | To undergo hardship. |
| guarantee noun | /ˌɡæɹ.ənˈtiː/ | Anything that assures a certain outcome. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| divorce noun | /dɪˈvɔːs/ | The legal dissolution of a marriage. |
| reward noun | /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/ | Something of value given in return for an act. |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| burden noun | /ˈbɝdn̩/ | A heavy load. |
| diagnosis noun | /daɪəɡˈnəʊsɪs/ | The process of, or an instance of, identification of the nature and cause of a medical condition or illness. |
| blessing noun | /ˈblɛs.ɪŋ/ | Some kind of divine or supernatural aid, or reward. |
| declare verb | /dɪˈklɛɚ/ | To assert or announce formally, officially, explicitly, or emphatically. |
| distress noun | /dɪˈstɹɛs/ | Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| get through verb | /ɡɛt ˈθɹu/ | To overcome; to endure. |
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). | |
| come back verb | To return to a place. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. | |
| work through verb | To get past a difficult or stressful situation by thinking or talking about it. | |
| get out verb | To leave or escape. | |
| get up verb | To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What do you do when your battle chooses you?
- It's not about what's happening around you.
- It's always about what's happening inside of you.
- I'm not going to make it.
- I'm feeling the thoughts of anxiety.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've lost · I've made · I've done |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be discouraged · were hurt · was broken |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 49 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, gonna, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, temporary /ˈtɛmp(əˌɹ)ɛɹi/, anticipate /ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/, agility /əˈd͡ʒɪl.ɪ.ti/, relentlessly /ɹɪˈlɛntləsli/
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 anxiety, discourage, temporary.
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.