Shadowing Practice: Why Are There 7 Days In A Week? - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Did you know that there is only one thing every single culture, country and religion in the world agrees on?
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And it's that there is only 7 days in a week.
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Not one more, not one less.
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Christians, Muslims, Jews, Europeans, Arabs, Asians.
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From China to Antarctica, everybody has 7 days a week.
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But why 7?
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What's so special about that number that every single person on the planet agrees to it?
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Let me explain.
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Thousands of years ago, people didn't have iPhones or watches to tell the time.
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So they would look up at the planets and their positions to guess it.
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They saw seven planets, including the sun and the moon, and believed that each had superpowers.
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So they started to worship them.
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One would be the god of justice, the other would be the goddess of love, and just like that, every planet became a god.
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They wanted these gods to watch over them 24 /7.
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So they assigned one God to every hour of the day.
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And eventually, they even gave a whole day to each.
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And that's how we ended up with seven days for seven gods.
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Moon day, Mars day, Mercury day, Jupiter day, Venus day, Saturn day, and of course, Sunday.
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These people were the Babylonians.
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Their weak system got so popular that it spread to Spain, France, India, Malaysia, and even the North Pole.
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That's how Mars day became Tuesday after the Norse god of war, Tu.
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Mercury day was renamed to Wooden's day after the Norse god of Wisdom, Wooden or Odin.
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Jupiter day was called Thor's day, after the Norse god of Thunder.
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And Venus day was renamed after the goddess of love, Frigg or Freya.
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So it was called Freya day.
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Many cultures tried to change the week, like the Egyptians and Romans who had 10 days instead of 7.
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But it never worked out because almost every other country in the world was happy with 7.
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Actually, the world fell in love with 7.
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That number became so popular that we started using it everywhere.
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The seven wonders of the world, the seven colors of the rainbow, the seven deadly sins, the seven continents, the seven seas, the seven chakras,
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the seven white keys of the piano, and even the seven Harry Potter books.
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It became a lucky number.
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So lucky that if you hit it three times in a slot machine, you'll become mega rich.
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It's so popular, even Cristiano Ronaldo picked it up as his jersey number.
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And James Bond uses it as a code name.
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Scientists found out that the reason we love it so much is
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because we can only remember up to seven things at a time in short -term memory.
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Anything more than that and we would need to write it down.
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So the next time you feel like your week is too long or you can't wait for the weekend, just remember it could have been much longer had you had followed the Egyptians.
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Academy.
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It's an education platform to upskill yourself from the best teachers.
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See, we found the most successful people in the world.
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The CEOs, the YouTubers, the entrepreneurs, the crypto geeks.
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And we invited them to teach everything they know on our platform.
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So go to nasacademy .com before their classes start and put NAS Daily as a promo code to get 10 % off.
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This is only for the first 1000 of you.
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Or alternatively, you can just join one of our free workshops to try it out.
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Thank you so much and I'll see you in the next video.
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Why 7 Days? A Fascinating Story to Boost Your English
Learning English with YouTube is a fun way to improve, and this video about the 7-day week is perfect for practice! It’s packed with interesting facts and everyday language, making it great for English speaking practice and even IELTS speaking practice. Let’s dive in!
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- "24/7" – Means "all the time." Example: "My cat wants attention 24/7."
- "Ended up" – Describes a result. Example: "We ended up watching a movie instead of studying."
- "Worked out" – Succeeded. Example: "The plan didn’t work out, but we tried."
- "Fell in love with" – Started to like a lot. Example: "I fell in love with hiking last year."
- "Short-term memory" – Memory that lasts a short time. Example: "I use short-term memory to remember phone numbers."
Step-by-Step Shadowing Guide for This Video
Shadow speech (repeating aloud while listening) is a powerful tool. Here’s how to use this video for shadowing practice:
- Listen once to understand the story. Focus on the flow of the speaker’s voice.
- Break it into 10-second clips. Pause, then repeat each clip immediately, copying the tone and speed. This helps with pronunciation and fluency.
- Focus on key phrases like "24/7" and "ended up." Say them slowly first, then match the speaker’s pace.
- Record yourself and compare to the video. Notice where you need to adjust (e.g., stress on "seven" or "gods").
- Practice daily for 5 minutes. Use a shadowing app if you need help with timing—consistency is key!
You’ll not only learn why we have 7 days but also improve your English quickly. Ready to start? Hit play and let’s shadow!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was renamed · was called |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the best · the most successful |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | you'll become · I'll see |
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.