Shadowing Practice: Why I'm Always So Calm - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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A big thank you to Squarespace for being today's sponsor and for helping me build my new website.
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But more on that later.
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Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to tell you that the world is ending.
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We're electing everyone who has been tuning in for the past few years.
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We'll see on the other side.
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Goodbye.
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Damn.
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I guess that was that.
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So this is kind of a weird topic for me, because it's almost like being a potato and someone going, "How are you so potatoey?" and you're just like,
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"I don't know." I'm just that potatoey and I don't really know of anything else.
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Yep, that's sort of what it feels like when people ask me "how are you always so calm?"
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because it feels like I've always been this way.
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Although it's been more so that people have pointed it out to me rather than me realizing it myself.
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But I haven't, in fact, always been this way.
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Not exactly.
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It's taken a major shift in mindset and quite a bit of work to get to this stage of chillness.
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At this very moment, for example, my camera charger is missing, and I've been looking for it since yesterday.
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The battery is at about 11 % charge, which is enough to film this segment right here, and likely another minute or two.
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I'm a bit frustrated with myself for not putting it back where it belongs in the first place, because had I done that, I wouldn't have been in this situation right now.
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As far as I'm aware, screaming and throwing things around doesn't magically summon missing objects.
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The only way to potentially find it is to keep looking
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for it one drawer at the time without creating any unnecessary mess, while also keeping my blood pressure steady.
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If it does remain lost despite my efforts to find it, the only practical solution would be to simply go in and buy a new one.
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And it's not about keeping emotions inside and torturing myself it's about picking your battles and carefully choosing your words,
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figuring out what the appropriate response to a given situation is to avoid making a habit out of destructive behaviors
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and thought patterns.
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See, even if I am freaking out about something on the inside, whether in a good way or in a bad way,
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majority of the time, I will look like I'm sitting on a yacht with the wind blowing in my hair.
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And quite honestly, this has gotten me in, I wouldn't say you question how I really feel sometimes,
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because my lack of reaction can sometimes be perceived as indifference.
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And to be completely transparent, you know, sometimes I've had to ask myself if I'm just being empathic.
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The nihilist in me says yes, but then I remember crying over bruised tomatoes
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and the excruciating feeling of guilt every time I need to separate fruits and vegetables from their friends and family.
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at the grocery store. So, yeah.
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Pretty positive that it has nothing to do with apathy.
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I think I'm constantly torn between every single little thing matters
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and will trigger my anxiety and literally nothing matters
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and we are just a tiny piece of insignificant dust
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and none of this will ever be important in the grand scheme of things anyway.
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And that's not meaning it in a nihilistic way.
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I think, but rather in the way
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that there is no need to get too worked up when things don't go the way that we want them to.
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Just ask yourself this: when was the last time you actually listened to a person who was yelling and took them seriously?
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In my experience, letting anger get the best of you to the point where you express yourself aggressively or disrespectfully, tends to only make you lose your credibility,
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and it oftentimes makes you look like a fool.
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Or how about this: Can you remember a time where getting loud
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and vulgar has benefited you or the situation in any way?
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Perhaps you can.
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I for sure cannot.
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If there's anything I've learned, getting unreasonably worked up just delays everything.
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A problem that could have been solved in five minutes is likely to remain unresolved for much longer than that.
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Not only because no one is listening, but also because the focus tends to shift from the issue at hand,
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to deal with someone who is speaking to you impolitely or even irrationally?
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What are we even arguing about?
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Practicing keeping your cool is not only doing your own piece a favor, but it's also doing a favor to the piece of those around you.
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If I were to get overly worked up every time something stressed me out, like not finding my camera charger,
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that'll affect those around me as well.
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And although some of us are more tempered and less patient by nature,
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or by I do believe that it is our liability to at the very least,
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do our best to lessen the suffering of both ourselves and of those who have to live with us.
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And that's not to say that you should keep your emotions to yourself and be afraid to express them.
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Not at all.
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I just think that it's important to gain a healthy sense of perspective.
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It'll make you better equipped for keeping your cool when shit hits the fan or even when it doesn't.
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And now the obvious way to gain perspective is through life experiences.
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But let's take a moment to appreciate the mind -transforming powers of certain books.
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We are currently reading Cosmos by Carl Sagan for our book club.
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I'll leave a link in the description box on how to join, and it has reinforced something I keep reminding myself of, and that is that we are so small.
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I'd like to share a quote with you, and Just hearing this quote will make you at least 15 % more unbothered as a person.
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We inhabit a universe where atoms are made in the centers of stars.
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where each second a thousand sons are born where life is sparked by sunlight
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and lightning in the airs and waters of youthful planets.
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where the raw material for biological evolution is sometimes made by the explosion of a star halfway across the Milky Way,
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where a thing as beautiful as the galaxy is formed a hundred billion times, a cosmos of quasars and quarks,
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snowflakes and fireflies, where there might be black holes in other universe
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and extraterrestrial civilizations whose radio messages are at this moment reaching the Earth,
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How pallid by comparison are the pretensions of superstition and pseudoscience?
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How important is it for us to pursue and understand science that characteristically human endeavor.
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And just like that, you will never again suffer when a dude leaves you on read.
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And now besides gaining perspective, you could also just do things that are calming, like gardening, taking long walks,
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or I don't know, building a website with Squarespace, which is also today's sponsor.
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So, I often get messages from people who are artists, writers, musicians, entrepreneurs, youtubers who share their work with me,
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or from people who want to start blogging or create their own space and community online, and then when I go to check them out,
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I'm Oftentimes, they don't have a website, and every single time, I think to myself, Why don't they have a website?
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Why don't they get their stuff out there?
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I think having your own website can only benefit you regardless of the current size of your audience or spectators.
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Creating one is so easy.
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A few months back, I launched my own site on there and up until that point, I had thought that building a website was going to take a lot of time and work,
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but with Squarespace, it really didn't.
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I just picked one of their beautiful and professional templates and started building a site that I felt suited me.
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And now I've shared all of my favorite books on there, my camera equipment, I've connected my social media accounts, I get close insights to the traffic on the site,
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and so much more.
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To try it out yourself, go to squarespace .com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch,
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go to squarespace .com /Lanablakely to save 10 % off your first purchase of a website or domain.
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I'll leave a link for that in the description box.
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Thank you again, Squarespace, for being today's sponsor.
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And that was it for today's video.
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Please share any thoughts you might have on this topic.
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Are you more of a… calm person or are you more upbeat?
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And if you are someone who tends to be very cool, calm, What is one situation that really triggers you?
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I would love to know that, because I know that I have some of those situations.
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Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you in the comment section.
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Thank you you Bye.
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you Thank you.
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you .
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you Thank you.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice your English speaking skills by focusing on the concept of calmness and emotional regulation, as discussed in the video titled "Why I'm Always So Calm." Through shadow speaking exercises, you'll learn how to articulate thoughts on maintaining composure in stressful situations while deepening your vocabulary related to emotional well-being. By the end of this lesson, you will not only improve your fluency but also develop a nuanced understanding of how to express feelings in a composed manner through shadowspeak.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Calm - a state of tranquility and peace.
- Frustration - feelings of annoyance or anger due to inability to resolve an issue.
- Mindset - a set of beliefs or attitudes shaping one's outlook.
- Pick your battles - to choose which issues are worth confronting.
- Empathic - the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.
- Nihilistic - rejecting meaningful aspects of life, believing nothing has purpose.
- Credibility - the quality of being trusted and believed in.
Practice Tips
To enhance your english speaking practice through shadowing, follow these tips tailored to the video’s style and pace:
- Start Slow: As the speaker discusses deep topics, begin by shadowing at a slower pace. This will help you catch the nuances of pronunciation and intonation.
- Listen Carefully: Focus on the emotions expressed in the speaker's voice. Notice how the tone shifts during different phrases — this is crucial for shadow speech.
- Mirror the Speaker: While practicing with a shadowing app, try to mimic not just the words but also the emotional undertones. This will give your speech a more natural flow.
- Practice Emotional Expression: When shadowing, convey the calmness that the speaker embodies. This will enhance your ability to express complex feelings effectively.
- Repeat and Refine: Don’t hesitate to replay sections. Repetition reinforces learning, making your articulation smoother and more confident in real-life contexts.
By regularly incorporating these approaches into your floor practice and shadowing sessions, you'll cultivate more effective communication skills that will serve you well in conversations on emotional balance and beyond.
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.