Shadowing Practice: Why Not You. - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
My personal question to you is why not you?
2
Why not you?
3
I wish I could say that to each of you individually.
4
Why not see what kind of person you can become?
5
Why not see how many people you can rescue from oblivion?
6
Why not?
7
You've got to stay here till you go.
8
I mean what else are you going to do?
9
Why not you?
10
promised.
11
So what do you do with your life?
12
How do you make the most of it?
13
How do you make your voice the loudest?
14
Eventually you are going to have to jump.
15
You cannot just exist in this life.
16
You have got to try to live.
17
If you are waking up thinking that it's got to be more to your life than it is,
18
life you're gonna have to chill.
19
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people
20
that were no smarter than you
21
and you can change it you can influence it you can mold it the minute
22
that you understand that you can poke life
23
and actually something will pop out the other side that's maybe the most important thing.
24
I always felt like I could do anything that's the main thing people They're slowed down by their perception of themselves.
25
If you're taught you can't do anything, you won't do anything.
26
I was taught I could do everything.
27
When you had that third failure in a row, did you think, "I need to pack this in"?
28
Never.
29
Why not?
30
I don't ever give up.
31
I mean, I'd have to be dead or completely incapacitated.
32
can pull off a miracle what if I can become someone
33
that no one thinks I can be what if I can be
34
that guy that people who call bigger and this and that
35
and now I'm speaking at Tom Ferry's an event what
36
if I asked the question why not you and now here's my last question my very last question
37
On the questions to ponder is why not now?
38
There never was a better time.
✨ Recommend Video
B17
12 sentences
Why not you? Jim Rohn
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B11
16 sentences
THIS 1 QUESTION PROVES IF YOU'RE DESTINED TO FAIL
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B11
23 sentences
أقوى فيديو تحفيزي عن الحياة ، إنجليزي مترجم Motivation about life
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B11
106 sentences
give me 7 min and i'll make you a completely different person...
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B11
35 sentences
You are NOT a failure.
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B11
121 sentences
You Are Closer To Getting Rich Than You Think...
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B11
30 sentences
Video
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B19
21 sentences
Why It Matters What You Say And Think - animated story motivation
Business EnglishTeensDaily Conversation
B11
46 sentences
Time For Greatness - Epic Motivational Speech
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B12
20 sentences
It’s Never Too Late | B1 English Listening Practice & Motivation
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B110
13 sentences
You can achieve anything you want
American AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B13
51 sentences
Nothing changes if nothing changes.
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 38 sentences and 345 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:36. The speaker talks at a steady 133 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 90% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow. 13 of its 38 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 14 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| rescue verb | /ˈɹɛs.kjuː/ | To save from any violence, danger or evil. |
| chill verb | /tʃɪl/ | To lower the temperature of something; to cool. |
| perception noun | /pɚˈsɛpʃ(ə)n/ | The organisation, identification and interpretation of sensory information. |
| miracle noun | /ˈmɪɹ.ə.kəl/ | An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin. |
| individually adverb | /ˌɪndɪˈvɪd͡ʒ(u)əli/ | As individuals, separately, independently. |
| mold noun | /moʊld/ | A natural substance in the form of a furry or woolly growth of tiny fungi that appears when organic material lies for a long time exposed to (usually warm and… |
| poke verb | /poʊk/ | To prod or jab with an object such as a finger or a stick. |
| incapacitate verb | /ˌɪn.kəˈpæ.sɪ.teɪt/ | To make someone or something incapable of doing something; to disable. |
| oblivion noun | /əˈblɪviːən/ | The state of forgetting completely, of being oblivious, unconscious, unaware, as when sleeping, drunk, or dead. |
| ponder verb | /ˈpɑn.dəɹ/ | To wonder, think of deeply. |
| teach verb | /ˈtiːt͡ʃ/ | To pass on knowledge to. |
| jump verb | /d͡ʒʌmp/ | To propel oneself rapidly upward, downward and/or in any horizontal direction such that momentum causes the body to become airborne. |
| pack noun | /pæk/ | A bundle made up and prepared to be carried; especially, a bundle to be carried on the back, but also a load for an animal, a bale. |
| loud adjective | /ˈlaʊ̯d/ | Of great intensity. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
| pop out verb | To appear on the screen as a temporary window or menu. | |
| pull off verb | To remove by pulling. | |
| slow down verb | To decelerate. | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- My personal question to you is why not you?
- Why not see what kind of person you can become?
- I mean what else are you going to do?
- How do you make the most of it?
- How do you make your voice the loudest?
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 made · was taught |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most of · the loudest · the most important |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | have to jump · have to chill · need to pack |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | are waking · I'm speaking |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 10 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, can't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: individually /ˌɪndɪˈvɪd͡ʒ(u)əli/, incapacitate /ˌɪn.kəˈpæ.sɪ.teɪt/, oblivion /əˈblɪviːən/
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 rescue, chill, perception.
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.