Shadowing Practice: Why Love NEVER Lasts FOREVER - Learn English Speaking with Video
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34 sentences
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1
When love is working, we want it to last, of course, forever.
2
It isn't enough that it should have been nice today and that we've got some plans for tomorrow.
3
We beg the lover to promise that they're going to be with us until the end.
4
A dog can be happy in the present moment.
5
We aren't satisfied until we've secured the next half century.
6
We can read this same demented longing for permanence in the histories of whole nations and peoples.
7
It's why we build arches, consecrate temples, write treaties in gold, put up statues to generals, saying to ourselves in the future,
8
in effect, we want to and will be always loyal till the final hour of the final day.
9
The difficulty in all this is that we're largely made of water.
10
Most bits of us at a cellular level weren't here five years ago and won't be here in another five.
11
Everything is in motion.
12
The planet is rotating at 67 ,000 miles an hour around a sun
13
that's going to go dark in five billion short years from now.
14
And still, we decide to get married.
15
The surest prediction any of us can make about ourselves is that we're going to forget.
16
We've forgotten the famous generals.
17
We no longer remember the old songs.
18
The ancient gods mean nothing to us anymore.
19
When we were 11, we said we were going to love
20
Bobby until the end of time.
21
Then we changed class and hung out mostly with Jen, who was later replaced with Ahmed, none of whom we've seen in two decades.
22
The countries that plan to be allies for the next millennium have, despite the triumphal arch, taken up arms again.
23
The old temples are being converted into flats.
24
Our bodies give us no more guarantees than our emotion.
25
An aneurysm might get us tomorrow.
26
We can be felled by a coin dropped from a second floor.
27
We can be safe by recognising that there is no safety.
28
We should at all times keep a small bag packed at the back of a cupboard.
29
The good news is that despite our feeling of fragility, though we might now use baby language with our new partner,
30
we aren't in fact small, helpless children.
31
We'd survive if it ended, we're canny, we've lost everything before, and can do so again if the next relationship collapses.
32
All of which frees us to do our best to savour the rest of today with our new friend,
33
aware that nothing has been promised to us for even the first part of tomorrow.
34
And that's absolutely fine.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Why Love NEVER Lasts FOREVER”. This video has 34 sentences and 434 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:19. The speaker talks fast, about 188 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| temple noun | /ˈtɛm.pl̩/ | A house of worship dedicated to a polytheistic faith. |
| arch noun | /ɑɹt͡ʃ/ | An inverted U shape. |
| guarantee noun | /ˌɡæɹ.ənˈtiː/ | Anything that assures a certain outcome. |
| difficulty noun | /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/ | The state of being difficult, or hard to do. |
| treaty noun | /ˈtɹiti/ | A formal binding agreement concluded by subjects of international law, namely, states and international organizations; a convention, a pact. |
| lover noun | /ˈlʌvɚ/ | One who loves and cares for another person in a romantic way; a sweetheart, love, soulmate, boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse. |
| bobby noun | /ˈbɑbi/ | Cocaine. |
| loyal adjective | /ˈlɔɪəl/ | Having or demonstrating undivided and constant support for someone or something. |
| coin noun | /ˈkoɪ̯n/ | A piece of currency, usually metallic and in the shape of a disc, but sometimes polygonal, or with a hole in the middle. |
| emotion noun | /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/ | A person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data. |
| collapse verb | /kəˈlæps/ | To break apart and fall down suddenly; to cave in. |
| convert verb | /kənˈvɝt/ | To transform or change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product. |
| ally noun | /ˈæl.aɪ/ | A person who co-operates with or helps another; an associate; a friend. |
| statue noun | /ˈstæt͡ʃu/ | A three-dimensional work of art, usually representing a person or animal, usually created by sculpting, carving, molding, or casting. |
| satisfy verb | /ˈsætɪsfaɪ/ | To be enough (for) |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| put up verb | To place in a high location. |
| take up verb | To pick up. |
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 secured · We've forgotten · we've seen |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being converted · can be felled · has been promised |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 15 contractions and reduced forms, such as we've, we're, aren't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, prediction /pɹɪˈdɪkʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/, aneurysm /ˈæn.jəɹ.ɪz.əm/, fragility /fɹəˈd͡ʒɪlɪti/
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 temple, arch, guarantee.
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.