Shadowing Practice: Why AI adoption fails—and how to fix it | Pam Maynard - Learn English Speaking with Video
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It's important to recognize that everybody's at different stages when it comes to AI adoption.
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Some of us are almost digitally native, AI native as we enter the workforce.
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Whereas sometimes there are people who have been in the workforce a very long time and are less comfortable with the technology.
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So I think it's really important as you think about how you drive your adoption strategies
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that there's no one size fits all.
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And you need to consider that.
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So in terms of getting skeptics on board or people who are more reluctant or maybe more hesitant,
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the first thing is making sure that they've had the training available to them.
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Because sometimes some of that hesitancy comes from the fact they just don't know how to use the technology.
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So equipping people with the technology, equipping people with the training,
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the dedicated training, thinking about,
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you know, is there role -specific AI training?
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That can help, you know, just to help people to feel more confident with the technology, not just teaching people or telling people how to use the AI,
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but potentially nudging people so they continue to use the AI in their flow of work.
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So that might be that every day you're sending a prompt of the day to everybody on the team.
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get the prompt as well as those people that are less advanced, but they're getting that help.
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Everybody is getting that help.
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And then also, you're making sure that people aren't being left behind.
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So you're continuing to refresh that training, you're spotting where people, you know, maybe more cautious or more skeptical,
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they aren't getting the training they need, and you're going back and reinforcing those skilling and training programs.
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So the first thing is, you know, equipping people with the skills with AI and helping them to understand how to use the AI.
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The second piece is, you know, is going and talking to them, going to where we see the skepticism and understanding what those issues might be.
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Having a conversation and helping them to understand how AI can actually help them them.
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So going and having the conversation can also help to overcome the skepticism and then move people on.
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And then the other piece is just continue to watch and look at the usage.
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of the AI, where maybe where you're seeing that falling off, is to go back and have some of those reinforcing conversations.
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Because change and adoption does ebb and flow through your AI transformation journey.
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And so continuing to look at those statistics, continuing to look at usage, continuing to have the conversation with people in the organization,
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and continuing to support them as needed, will help to overcome the skepticism.
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The next piece is about unlocking the ideation.
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You're going to have people in the team who are already pretty AI savvy, and you're going to have people in the team who are less so.
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And so how do you create an environment within the team?
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Just looking for opportunities for the team to learn together is hugely important in that aspect.
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That helps them to surface those ideas as how AI can really help them as an assistant to get work done.
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Some companies will run hackathons
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or they will run innovation days similar to sort of shark tank competitions across a period of time.
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We worked with a customer that actually did this in their organization.
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team with AI and they ran a big training event so everybody understood how they could use AI.
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And then they basically allowed them to work in small teams to solve problems that they could see in the business,
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come up with ideas to solve problems that they could see in the business.
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And that led through to where the leadership team looked at all the ideas that were surfaced.
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present those ideas.
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And then they chose the top two or three ideas.
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Those teams then got to implement their ideas in the business.
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They saw their AI ideas come to life.
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That was huge.
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It was galvanizing.
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It was energizing across that business.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 49 sentences and 703 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:15. The speaker talks at a steady 134 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 87% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| adoption noun | /əˈdɑp.ʃən/ | The act of adopting. |
| equip verb | /ɪˈkwɪp/ | To supply with something necessary in order to carry out a specific action or task; to provide with (e.g. weapons, provisions, munitions, rigging). |
| 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. |
| solve verb | /sɒlv/ | To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out. |
| overcome verb | /ˌəʊ.vəˈkʌm/ | To surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of. |
| usage noun | /ˈjuːsɪd͡ʒ/ | A custom or established practice. |
| workforce noun | /ˈwɝk.foɹs/ | All the workers employed by a specific organization or state, or on a specific project. |
| prompt verb | /pɹɑmpt/ | To lead (someone) toward what they should say or do. |
| reinforce verb | /ˌɹiː.ɪnˈfɔːs/ | To strengthen, especially by addition or augmentation. |
| membership noun | The state of being a member of a group or organization. | |
| aspect noun | /ˈæspɛkt/ | Any specific feature, part, or element of something. |
| whereas | /(h)wɛɹˈæz/ | In contrast; whilst on the contrary; although. |
| potentially adverb | /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/ | In a manner showing much potential; with the possibility of happening in a given way. |
| innovation noun | /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/ | The act of innovating; the introduction of something new, in customs, rites, etc. |
| transformation noun | /ˌtɹæns.fɔɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/ | The act of transforming or the state of being transformed. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. |
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. |
| fall off verb | To become detached or to drop from. |
| leave behind verb | To abandon. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 13 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, aren't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: adoption /əˈdɑp.ʃən/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, innovation /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/, transformation /ˌtɹæns.fɔɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/, cautious /ˈkɔːʃəs/
- Long words — get the stress right: potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, innovation /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/, transformation /ˌtɹæns.fɔɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/, skepticism /ˈskɛp.tɪˌsɪ.zəm/, digitally /ˈdɪd͡ʒɪtəli/
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 adoption, equip, skill.
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 | have been · they've had |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being left · were surfaced |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who have · people who are |
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.