Shadowing Practice: Why Gen Z Desperately Craves A Medieval Renaissance - Learn English Speaking with Video
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There's been a growing trend recently of people looking back to previous times like the medieval period
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or the renaissance period and longing to live back in those times
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or trying to cultivate a more renaissance approach to life today
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because they view those times back then as a time of more meaning or more purpose.
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And they feel like modernity is an era that lacks meaning or lives in this constant state of existential crisis.
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And while some people dismiss these arguments and dismiss these people as saying
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that they're only looking back at a time with rose -tinted glasses
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and they're not seeing it in its entirety and that people back then lived lives way worse off than we do today,
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I do think that critique slightly misses the point.
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Because people aren't looking back at those times and wishing to live like they did physically.
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They're looking back to those times and wishing to live like they did mentally.
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Because while, yes, they did suffer more physically and died of a younger age and had more disease, more illness and more violence,
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they didn't suffer the same way existentially and mentally.
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And if you ask most people to trade a longer, safe life for a life of more meaning,
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fulfillment, and adventure, they probably would make that trade.
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And so while there are many people out there talking about how we need to completely upend modernity
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and rewrite all of our politics and big societal ways of life in order to cultivate more meaning,
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I think we can look at this from a smaller angle
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and look at how we can take ideas from the medieval period
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and the renaissance period
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and apply it in our own lives practically in order to cultivate a more meaningful and purposeful and fulfilling life ourself.
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Because while we can all argue that modernity should change and that the world should change,
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how many people really have the ability to create that change?
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I certainly don't, you certainly don't, or most people watching this video certainly don't.
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And so the best thing we can do is just try
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and take ideas and practically apply it ourselves so that at least we can cultivate a life of more fulfilment.
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Because while we may think that it's modernity's fault that we don't feel fulfilled,
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I think there are a few lessons we can learn from the Renaissance period and the great
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Renaissance figures and look at how they lived and how they created meaning
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and purpose in their own life and see how we can do just that ourselves on a smaller scale.
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And so this video is going to be broken up into two parts,
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with part one being the three principles of meaning and purpose from both the Renaissance and the medieval period,
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and part two being a practical guide for how you can apply these principles in your own life starting today.
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And in order to extract those principles, we're going to look at the Oxford history of the Renaissance,
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because it talks about the Renaissance period and also relates it to the period which came before, which is, of course, the medieval period as well.
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And so it's a two birds with one stone or one book situation, because it does give you great insight into the medieval period as well.
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And it truly is my favorite book when it comes to the Renaissance.
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And so, with that said, let's get started with part one of this video and principle number one, which is the modern misunderstanding of purpose.
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The interesting thing about the Renaissance period was
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that it actually came out of a time where people felt like they were lacking meaning and purpose,
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and they wanted to change society to cultivate more purpose.
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So it was very similar to the period that we're living in today.
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And what they did back then was turn their eyes back to the ancient
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Greeks and look at how they looked at cultivating meaning and purpose themselves, and they tried to replicate that in their own time.
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And the interesting way at which they looked at purpose
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that was different to the way that we look at purpose is that for them, purpose wasn't found by endless introspection.
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For them, the real definition of purpose was a problem in the world
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that you feel you can fix with a skill that you have mastered.
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And so it really breaks it down into a tangible element where in order to find your purpose,
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the first step you need to do is look out at the world.
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Not look inward, but look out.
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Look at what you're interested in, what you're naturally energized about.
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Because we are all interested in at least something.
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Some people are interested in sport.
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Some people are interested in politics.
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Some people are interested in art, music.
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Some people feel like there's a problem in technology
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that they can solve or that they want to at least try and solve.
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But we all have our own interests.
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We all have our own problems that we want to try and solve.
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We all have a topic of interest that we want to try and explore.
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And so the first step when trying to find your purpose is not sitting back and looking inward, but looking at what gives you energy.
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And then once you've found what gives you energy, the second step is to look at what skills you have in proximity to yourself
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that you can try and learn and master
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and then use in order to explore or solve a specific problem or interesting topic.
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And so the way to look at this would be to look at two of the most famous
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Renaissance writers, being Shakespeare and Niccolo Machiavelli.
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They both mastered the same skill of language and writing, but they were doing it for different purposes.
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They were trying to solve different problems.
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William Shakespeare was much more of a psychologist or psychiatrist, where he was interested in what makes humans tick, how do we truly operate.
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And yes, he explored relationships and power like Machiavelli, but he also explored so many other elements of the human psyche,
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whereas Niccolò Machiavelli was very much interested in just power, how power works, how you lose it,
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how you gain it, everything about human society and power.
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And so the interesting thing there is that they both turned to the same skill for different reasons,
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and that's because that was the skill that they had proximity to in order to explore the topic they wanted to explore,
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and that's what gave them purpose.
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And so the way to look at this is
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that writing is not your purpose or being a blacksmith is not your purpose.
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Your purpose is the problem you want to solve.
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Your purpose is the topic that you're interested in
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and you're just going into a skill and trying to master it in order to explore that topic or solve that problem.
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And this really breaks it down
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because it's easy in the modern world to look out at all the different avenues
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and social media and all the different skills that people have mastered.
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But the reality is that some skills or some job opportunities you just don't have in proximity to yourself.
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You might not be in the right location for it.
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You might not have grown up around it.
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There are certain skills you have in proximity to yourself, but you can use that skill to try and solve a bigger problem.
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And you can do it with almost anything.
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A more contemporary example of this would be Conrad Hilton, who wasn't just interested in growing hotels and expanding a hotel empire,
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but he constantly talked about his purpose being to bring a
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more connective environment throughout the world where people from all different nationalities and groups and religions could come together in a unique,
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fun resort experience and connect.
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And that could lead to better connection between people who are different, lead to less conflict.
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That was his idea and his avenue, his skill that he mastered to try and solve that problem was by starting a hotel chain.
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Now, not everyone can go out and start a hotel chain that requires a lot of contacts, that requires a lot of upstart money,
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potentially money coming from your parents.
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And so most people don't have that opportunity in front of them.
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But you can master another skill to try and connect people.
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You can do that through media, you can do that through writing, you can do that through launching a charity,
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you can do that through so many different avenues.
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And so the idea here is that it's not the skill that really matters, it's not the skill that gives you a purpose,
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it's what you're interested in
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and you just go to a skill that's in proximity to yourself
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that you can use to then explore what you're interested in.
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It's also not going to be fun.
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In the Renaissance era, people like Leonardo da Vinci had to go
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and do apprenticeships where they didn't necessarily enjoy the mastering of the skill,
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but once they had become proficient in the skill and they had gotten through that period of the suck, that period where it's not fun,
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it's not enjoyable because you're not good at this skill, they were then able to use that skill to explore what they were interested in.
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And so for Leonardo da Vinci, when it came to his art, he could explore higher philosophical and theological concepts,
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but also explore scientific concepts and human anatomy and engineering through his art, through his drawing.
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And so whatever he was interested in,
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he could find and cultivate purpose through using the skill that he mastered because he had proximity to that skill.
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And then once you've done that, once you've found the skill you're going to master and the problem and concept you're looking to explore and solve,
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now it comes down to principle number two, which is to set extremely high standards.
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Now, the Renaissance and medieval period are known for having very high standards in the work that they produced.
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You can go back to the 12th century when the medieval period.. built the Notre Dame Cathedral,
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which is one of the most beautiful architectural structures ever built.
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And then you can go into the Renaissance era where you look at some of the incredible sculptures of Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel from Michelangelo,
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but also look at some of the incredible political works of Niccolò Machiavelli.
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Everything was done to a very high standard.
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And the reason they wanted to do it to a high standard was
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because that skill they were trying to master in order to solve this problem that they were very passionate about.
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When you're passionate about something, you're going to work harder to try and explore it and solve it.
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Think about it when you're at school.
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I know for myself, if I ever got a writing assignment about a topic I wasn't interested in, I didn't enjoy it.
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I didn't enjoy the writing process.
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But when I got an assignment about a topic I was interested in, all of a sudden, I enjoyed writing.
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All of a sudden, I set really high standards for my writing, for my grammar, my punctuation,
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for my flow and rhythm of the English language that I was using to explore this topic that I was interested in.
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It trickles down from having that passion to you setting high standards because you're actually interested in solving this problem.
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It's why a scientist will be able to write really well,
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really proficiently about a specific topic that they are trying to uncover
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or trying to fix or trying to solve or trying to prove.
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Whereas if you got them to write about anything else outside of the scientific realm, they probably wouldn't be that good at it.
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That's why they're not a professional writer.
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They're a scientist, but they're able to write because of what they're passionate about.
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And so it comes down to you setting those high standards for yourself because you're actually interested in that topic.
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But not only does that happen, but you also set extremely high standards in your routine, in your discipline.
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Because if you're passionate about something and you want to fix it, you're going to block out two,
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three hours before bed, two or three hours after you wake up to actually sit down
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and work hard and do it because you're interested in it.
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It gives you energy.
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And so all of a sudden, your life starts taking shape because you're setting these high standards.
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Your day has more of a routine than it did before.
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Your life has more of a direction than it did before.
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You walk with more meaning.
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You walk with more purpose.
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You actually feel energized when you wake up.
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And this has nothing to do with the bigger political realm.
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This has nothing to do with wider culture.
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This has everything to do with you finding your own purpose, finding the problem you want to solve,
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and having the skill that you're trying to master in order to solve the problem.
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This is your own personal creation.
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You create your purpose.
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You don't find it.
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If you're sitting back and just waiting for purpose to hit you in the head, it's just not going to happen.
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And that was the approach that the Renaissance period had where it differed to the medieval period.
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Both periods were grounded in a sense of purpose, but the medieval period believed that purpose was given to you from birth.
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If you're the son or daughter or whoever of a blacksmith, you're going to go into becoming a blacksmith.
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It was preordained, whereas in the Renaissance period, it was much more about creating your purpose.
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But both were very much valuing purpose, and both were eras at which everyone had some sense of purpose.
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But we live in a world similar to the Renaissance where you have to create purpose.
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And so that's the process of trying to create it.
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Whereas you go back to the medieval period, if you were just told you had to become a blacksmith, you still felt purposeful about it.
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Because if your community or group were going into a war about something that your country really cared about,
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all of a sudden you were doing a work for the church.
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You were working for God.
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Whether that's right or wrong, that's a whole other discussion.
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But the idea there is that you're trying to craft the best swords possible because you were doing it for your religion.
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You were doing it for your faith.
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There was still purpose there.
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But for us, we create our purpose much more like the Renaissance period.
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And so we have to follow their model and their steps when it comes to setting those high standards, having a high standard for your routine,
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and actually finding what it is you want to do.
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Which leads us in to the third principle of purpose from the medieval period and the renaissance period.
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This one draws more from the medieval period, and that is to have a long -term vision that is bigger than you.
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Something the medieval period did really well was that everything was tied to something bigger.
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They weren't sucked into just the worldly affairs of that day.
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They were very much concerned about future generations
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and about the.. eternal life of the human soul the eternal life of humanity
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and you don't have to be religious but you do know
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that after you're gone there are still going to be people on the planet continuing on humanity will continue
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and so they very much worked with that in mind
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which is why they constantly built structures where they knew
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they were never going to see the end result they were never going to see the end product, but future generations would.
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But what that did was that it contextualized everything they did
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and it gave them a moral framework because they weren't just trying to solve a problem, but they were trying to create a world.
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They were trying to shape the world in a way that they thought was good, right, and just.
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And that gives you an even more powerful purpose.
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That doesn't just give you a purpose, it dictates how you go about your purpose.
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A more contemporary example of this, and this might seem obscure, but you'll see why I'm choosing this example in the end,
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would be the American mafia.
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Because while they were criminals, while they did commit crime,
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some of those families had this long -term vision of just creating a good community for Italian -Americans.
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And so because of that, some families never got involved in the dealing of drugs, despite the fact it would make them money,
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despite the fact that dealing illicit substances would give them more profits,
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they worried that it would trickle down into their own community and ruin the people they're trying to protect.
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So even though they're criminals, even though they're bad people,
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it gave them a moral framework where they were able to say that this one action was wrong.
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That gave them a moral framework and a purpose
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that was bigger than them and was a world and community they were trying to create.
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And so if you do it in your own life
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and you come up with a long -term vision that is meant to be there for your children,
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for your children's children, or for the world at large down further, the Renaissance and medieval period believed that
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that gave you a moral framework for you to decide how you went about your own purpose, how you went about your own work.
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It doesn't just tell you – it won't allow you to do whatever it is you want, but it gives you a guiding post.
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It gives you a direction and a sense that you're moving in the right track, and you know what roads not to go down.
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You will become less distracted, and you will stay more focused and more disciplined because you have this long -term approach.
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At least that's what the medieval period believed, and at least that's what the Renaissance period believed as well.
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And so with that said, moving on from those three principles into a practical guide, part two of this video,
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how we can actually just do this today.
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Now, what I did after thinking about these processes and these principles
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and reading books like this one is I just simply opened up a document.
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And this is something I did quite a while ago to figure out what it is I want to do.
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And I'll give my own personal examples of how this has helped me as well.
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But what I did was I opened up a document and I wrote down in that document or in a notebook,
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wherever it is you want to write.
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What I did was I put down first what gives me energy.
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What am I actually interested in?
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And I wrote down all the different things I enjoy, all the different things that gives me energy.
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And then I wrote down the problems around that that I would like to solve.
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And you go through all of them and you pick out one.
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You pick out one which is above the rest, one that perhaps gives you more energy, gets your blood boiling even more.
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And so for me personally, when I wrote down all the things I enjoyed, which were books, movies, plays,
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performance, storytelling, out of that I looked at the problem I wanted to solve within it.
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And for me personally,
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it was taking storytelling and taking the higher arts of philosophy and literature and plays and storytelling more seriously.
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For me, I felt like modernity had treated it merely as escapism, merely as something just to be entertaining.
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And they were degrading the power of story, the power of philosophy, the power of the liberal arts and the importance of the liberal arts. And
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so I came up with a life purpose where all of my work would be dedicated towards trying to explore
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and talk about great books, talk about philosophy, film, storytelling, the liberal arts in a serious way,
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in a smart way, not in a way that was – it was merely just escapism, not in a way where it was merely just entertainment,
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but that it was actually something that mattered.
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And I looked at what skills I had in my own proximity to try and explore that and solve that problem.
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And for me, it was starting media.
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I had to learn the skill of talking on camera, of editing videos, of scripting out my own videos, learning the skill of social media,
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how to operate an Instagram, a TikTok, a YouTube, all of that I had to learn.
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But those were skills I had in proximity to myself to explore
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and use to try and solve this specific issue that I had.
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Whereas someone else might have the same issue and the same problem they're trying to solve.
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But for them, what's more in proximity to themselves is just writing.
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Perhaps they don't want to speak on camera.
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Perhaps they're not comfortable with it.
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And so what they did was start a sub stack.
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What they did was go on Twitter and put out daily tweets there are
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so many different angles you can go at this specific problem with
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but for me the skill that I felt I was closest to
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that I had proximity to one that I could try
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and master and get better at to try and solve
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and explore this problem was media and specifically video media like this one
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and so then after that you write down the skill you want to use how you want to do it
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And then once you've done that, you write down, why do you want to do this?
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What's the long -term vision?
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Where does this exist beyond yourself?
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What world does this create?
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And for me, my long -term vision was that
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if you have more people being inspired to take the liberal arts and books and philosophy more seriously, then you have more people thinking about them.
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And then you have even better ideas than I could possibly come up with
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because there'll be someone else smarter than me who can come up with a great idea
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and perhaps impact and shape the world in ways
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that we wouldn't have had if less people were taking storytelling and the liberal arts more seriously.
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As we all know, the Renaissance period changed the world,
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if not Europe, but I would say the entire world forever because of the seriousness that they took the liberal arts.
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And so hopefully, if I can inspire at least some people to go out and talk about this as well.
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They inspire more people.
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You all of a sudden have more brainpower, more people thinking about the liberal arts and perhaps creating better art, which exists way beyond me,
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which exists way beyond my own lifetime.
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And so that was my reasoning, my purpose, my long -term vision that was bigger than myself, so to speak. And
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so the answer to come up with the long -term vision
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of why it's bigger than you is to simply write down why do you even want to do this yes
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it's a problem you want to solve yes that's a skill you can try
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and master to solve that problem
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but why what's the why what's the purpose how does
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that give you a moral framework
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and contextualize how you're going to go about trying to follow this purpose
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and trying to live out this purpose and then once you've done that, you will have the motivation and the inspiration to try and do it,
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but you also need to write down a structure, a routine.
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You need to set specific assignments
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that you need to repeat in order to continue to create
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and produce because you can get stuck in just learning and thinking, but you also need to produce.
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So for me, because this is media, I know I need to get out a video a week.
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I know I need to get out articles on social media every week.
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I know I need to record multiple podcasts every week.
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And so I've set those assignments and they repeat and repeat and repeat.
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And I have to stay disciplined, but because I've written down in a document why I'm doing it,
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all of a sudden I'm more inclined to set those high standards and set those high standards, not just of the work,
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but of also the hours I need to put in to explore it.
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But that makes your life feel more fun.
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It's weird because when you're spending more time working
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and more time trying to follow a path that is tough
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that is tiring you feel more free you might be more restricted
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you're in this room more often you're working more often there's less options for you to go outside
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and do whatever you want but you actually feel more free you feel more fulfilled
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because you're doing something you love
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and i think that's something the renaissance had right is
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that they understood that you feel more free
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when you're tied to a purpose when you're tied to a mission
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and that that mission doesn't come to you it comes from you you have to create it
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and the only way you can really start to create it is following your own curiosity
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and following your own energy and so with that said
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that wraps up the renaissance
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and medieval video for today hope you guys enjoyed this one
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i hope you guys got some value from this um
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if you i also want to remind people
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that this is also on audio as a podcast now as well so
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if you can't catch the youtube video
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you can go to the audio podcast too once again hope you guys enjoyed it and until next time take care
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Why Gen Z Desperately Craves A Medieval Renaissance”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: purpose, skill, period, renaissance, solve. This video has 309 sentences and 4426 words to shadow. The speech runs for 25:11. The speaker talks at a natural 176 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 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. |
| renaissance noun | /ɹəˈneɪs(ə)ns/ | A rebirth or revival. |
| explore verb | /ɪkˈsploɹ/ | To examine or investigate something systematically. |
| medieval adjective | /mɪdˈi.vəl/ | Of or relating to the Middle Ages, the period from approximately 500 to 1500 AD. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| proximity noun | /pɹɒkˈsɪm.ɪ.ti/ | Closeness; the state of being near in space, time, or relationship. |
| principle noun | /ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/ | A fundamental assumption, fundamental law or guiding belief. |
| sudden adjective | /ˈsʌd.ən/ | Occurring quickly with little or no warning or expectation; instantly. |
| moral adjective | /ˈmoɹəl/ | Of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behaviour, especially conforming to principles of rectitude. |
| whereas | /(h)wɛɹˈæz/ | In contrast; whilst on the contrary; although. |
| framework noun | /ˈfɹeɪm.wɜːk/ | A support structure comprising joined parts or conglomerated particles and intervening open spaces of similar or larger size. |
| storytelling noun | The act and skills of presenting stories and tales. | |
| merely adverb | /ˈmɪəli/ | Without any other reason etc.; only, just, and nothing more. |
| routine noun | /ɹuˈtin/ | A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| write down verb | To produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something. |
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. |
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. |
| get out verb | To leave or escape. |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. |
| go out verb | To leave, especially a building. |
| open up verb | To open. |
| pick out verb | To remove by picking. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Think about it when you're at school.
- I didn't enjoy the writing process.
- What am I actually interested in?
- What's the long -term vision?
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 | There's been · have mastered · you've found |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be broken · wasn't found · are known |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | before, which is · one, which is · people who are |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 85 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, they're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: rhythm /ˈɹɪð.əm/, theological /θi.əˈlɑd͡ʒɪkl/, blacksmith /ˈblæk.smɪθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/, passion /ˈpæʃən/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: proximity /pɹɒkˈsɪm.ɪ.ti/, humanity /hjuˈmænɪti/, practically /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.k(ə.)li/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/
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 skill, solve, renaissance.
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.