Shadowing Practice: Why Reading is So Important || Improve Your English || Learn English Through Story || Graded Reader - Learn English Speaking with Video
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301 sentences
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1
Hello, my dear friend.
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Welcome to this special lesson.
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Today, we are not going to study grammar from a boring book.
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We are not going to memorize a long list of words.
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Instead, we are going to talk about a superpower.
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Yes, a real superpower that you already have.
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This superpower is reading.
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Maybe you think reading is boring.
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Reading is like school.
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But I want you to change your mind.
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I want you to imagine that reading is a magic door.
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When you open this door, you enter a world where English is easy, natural, and fun.
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In this video, we are going to explore why reading is the most important thing you can do for your English.
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You don't need to look at the screen.
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You don't need to take notes.
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Just listen.
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Let my voice guide you.
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Relax your mind.
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Whether you are walking in the park, cooking dinner, or lying in bed, just let these English sentences flow into your ears.
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This is passive learning.
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It is the most natural way to grow.
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Let's discover the magic together.
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Imagine you have a personal English teacher.
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This teacher is with you 24 hours a day.
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This teacher never gets tired.
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This teacher knows millions of words and stories.
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This teacher is a book.
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When you read, you are having a conversation with a very smart person.
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Every sentence you read is a lesson.
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But it is a silent lesson.
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You don't feel like you are studying.
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You feel like you are exploring.
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Many people ask, how can I become fluent?
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The answer is simple.
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You need input.
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Input is the information that goes into your brain.
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Reading is the highest quality input you can get.
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Why?
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Because when you read, you see the language in its perfect form.
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You see how words connect.
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You see how ideas grow.
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Reading is your personal teacher that fits in your pocket or your phone.
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Let's talk about grammar.
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Most students hate grammar rules.
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They hate terms like present perfect or conditional sentences.
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And that is okay.
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You don't need to love the rules to speak the language.
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Think about a small child.
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Does a five-year-old child know grammar rules?
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No. But does the child speak correctly?
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Yes.
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Why?
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Because the child has heard and seen the language thousands of times.
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Reading does the same for you.
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When you read a story, you see grammar in action.
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You don't study the rule.
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You see the result.
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You see a sentence like, she has lived here for 10 years.
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Your brain sees this pattern.
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If you see this pattern 50 times in different books, your brain starts to understand it automatically.
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Next time you speak, you won't think about the rule.
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You will just say the sentence correctly because it sounds right.
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Reading kills the boredom of grammar and replaces it with a natural feeling for the language.
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This is how you move from a student to a speaker.
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Every new word you learn is a treasure.
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But how do you collect these treasures?
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If you just read a list of words, you will forget them in 10 minutes.
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The brain forgets information that has no emotion or context.
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Reading provides the perfect context.
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Imagine you are reading a story about a dark forest.
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You see the word gloomy.
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You don't know what it means.
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But the story says the sky is grey, the trees are old, and the birds are silent.
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Ah, now you understand.
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Gloomy means dark and sad.
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Now, gloomy is not just a word in a dictionary.
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It is a feeling.
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It is a picture in your mind.
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This is how you build a powerful vocabulary.
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You are not just collecting words, you are collecting experiences.
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When you read, you see common words many times.
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You see words like decide, prepare, suddenly and beautiful.
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Because you see them often, they become part of your permanent memory.
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You don't have to try to remember them.
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They stay with you like old friends.
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This is the big challenge for every learner, how to stop translating.
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When you translate in your head, you speak slowly.
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You get tired.
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You feel nervous.
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Translation is a wall between you and fluency.
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Reading is the hammer that breaks this wall.
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When you get lost in a good story, you forget about your native language.
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You start to picture the story in your head.
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You see the characters.
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feel their emotions.
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In these moments, you are thinking in English.
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The more you read, the more your brain gets used to the English rhythm.
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You start to follow the logic of English.
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Slowly, the bridge between your language and English becomes shorter and shorter until it disappears.
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Reading trains your brain to accept English as a natural way of thinking.
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It is like training a muscle.
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The more you use it, the stronger it becomes.
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You might ask, how can reading help my listening skills?
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It sounds strange, right?
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But it is true.
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Listening is hard because the sounds move very fast.
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Sometimes, native speakers eat their words.
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If you don't know the words well, your brain gets confused.
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But when you read, you become very familiar with English patterns.
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You know which words usually go together.
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For example, your brain gets used to interested in, good at or looking forward to.
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So when someone speaks to you, your brain doesn't have to work hard to catch every sound.
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It already knows the patterns.
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It recognizes the words faster.
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Reading builds the foundation for listening.
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It prepares your brain to catch the sounds because it already knows the shapes of the words.
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Reading and listening are like two legs.
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You need both to walk comfortably.
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Every person has a unique way of speaking.
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In your native language, you have a style.
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Maybe you are funny.
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Maybe you are serious.
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Maybe you like to explain things in detail.
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In English, many students feel like they have no personality.
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They feel like a robot.
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This is because they only know textbook English.
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Reading different authors helps you find your own voice.
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You see how different people express joy, anger, or excitement.
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You see how they tell jokes.
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You see how they describe the world.
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As you read, you naturally steal the phrases you like.
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You start to borrow the style of your favorite characters.
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Slowly, you build your own identity in English.
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You stop being a student who repeats sentences.
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You become a person who expresses ideas.
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You find your voice through the voices of others.
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One of the most beautiful things about reading is that it is a form of travel.
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You can be in your room in Germany, but your mind can be in London in the year 18.
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You can be on a spaceship moving to Mars.
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You can be in the heart of a person who lives in a completely different culture.
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This is very important for learning English because English is a global language.
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It belongs to many cultures.
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When you read stories from different parts of the world, you understand the soul of the language.
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You learn about history, food, traditions and different ways of living.
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This makes you a more interesting person to talk to.
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When you join a conversation, you have something to share.
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You don't just talk about the weather.
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You talk about ideas.
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You talk about the world.
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Reading makes your English rich and colourful.
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In a classroom, the teacher says a sentence once and then moves to the next topic.
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If you didn't understand, the moment is gone.
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But a book is patient.
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You can read a sentence ten times.
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You can stop and think.
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You can go back to the previous page.
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You are the boss.
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This repetition is the key to deep learning.
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When you see the same word in chapter 1, chapter 5 and chapter 10, your brain says, hey, I know this.
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This is important.
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This is why children love to read the same story again and again.
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They are building a strong foundation.
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You can do the same.
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Don't be afraid to read a simple book twice.
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Each time, you will notice something new.
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Each time, your confidence will grow.
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Now you might say, OK, I want to read, but it is too hard.
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I don't understand the words.
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The secret is to start small.
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Don't start with Shakespeare.
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Don't start with a difficult medical journal.
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Start with something that is easy and interesting.
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If a book has 20 new words on one page, it is too difficult.
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You will get tired and stop.
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Find a book where you understand 90% of the words.
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This is the sweet spot for learning.
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And use the 10-minute rule.
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Don't tell yourself, I will read for 2 hours.
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That is too much.
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Just say, I will read for 10 minutes.
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Anyone can do 10 minutes.
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If you read for 10 minutes every day, that is 70 minutes a week.
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In a year, that is more than 60 hours of high-quality English input.
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This small habit will change your life forever.
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Consistency is more important than speed.
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The world of reading is huge.
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There is something for everyone.
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Graded readers, these are books written specifically for English learners.
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Children's books, don't be shy.
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Children's books have beautiful pictures and clear language.
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They are very helpful.
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Comics and graphic novels.
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The pictures help you understand the story.
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The dialogues are short and natural.
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Blogs and articles.
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If you like sports, read about sports.
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If you like cooking, read recipes.
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When you are interested in the topic, your brain learns faster.
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Social media, even reading long captions on Instagram or posts on Reddit is helpful.
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The best thing to read is the thing you enjoy.
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If you are smiling while you read, you are learning at maximum speed.
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It sounds strange, but reading is the best way to stop being shy when you speak.
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Why are we shy?
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Because we are afraid of making mistakes.
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We are afraid of looking stupid.
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We don't have enough words in our active memory.
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Reading fills your passive memory first.
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After some time, these words start to move to your active memory.
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You start to feel more prepared.
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You have a library of sentences in your head.
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When you need to speak, your brain goes to this library and pulls out a phrase.
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Because you have seen it in a book, you know it is correct.
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This gives you a feeling of safety.
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You are not guessing, you are remembering.
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This confidence is the key to speaking fluently.
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Every language has a music.
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English has a specific rhythm of long and short sounds.
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When you read, especially if you read out loud sometimes, you start to feel this music.
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You notice how the sentences flow.
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You notice the punctuation when to stop, when to go fast.
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This helps your pronunciation and your flow.
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You stop speaking word by word like a computer.
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Learning English is not just about the language.
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It is about the information you can access.
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Most of the information in the world is in English.
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Most of the internet, the scientific papers, and the business news are in English.
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When you learn to read in English, you are giving yourself a huge gift.
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You can learn anything.
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You can learn about psychology, history, technology, or art from the best experts in the world.
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You are not just a language learner, you are a global student.
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English is the tool that gives you the key to the world's library.
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This is why reading is so powerful.
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It opens your eyes to new ideas.
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To make reading a habit, you need a good environment.
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Find a comfortable chair, get a cup of tea or coffee, turn off your phone notifications.
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This is your English time.
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It should feel like a reward, not a chore.
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If you are stressed, reading can help you relax.
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It is a quiet time for your mind.
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In our busy world, 15 minutes of quiet reading is like a meditation.
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If you enjoy the process, you will do it every day.
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And if you do it every day, you will become fluent.
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It is a simple formula, joy plus consistency equals success.
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Let me tell you about a student named Anna.
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Anna studied English for five years in school.
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She knew all the grammar rules.
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She could pass any test.
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But she could not speak.
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She was too afraid.
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One day, Anna decided to stop studying grammar.
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She bought a simple book called The Little Prince in English.
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At first, it was hard.
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She had to look up some words.
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But the story was beautiful.
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She wanted to know what happened next.
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She started reading for 20 minutes every night.
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After three months, she finished her first book.
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She felt like a hero.
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She bought another book.
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Then, another.
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One year later, Anna went to an English-speaking country.
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To her surprise, she could understand almost everything.
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And when she spoke, the words came out easily.
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She didn't translate.
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She didn't worry about rules.
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She just spoke.
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What was her secret?
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She filled her mind with thousands of correct English sentences through reading.
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Her brain was full of English.
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Anna's story can be your story too.
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Growth is invisible.
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When you plant a tree, you don't see it growing every minute.
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But if you give it water and sun, one day, it will be a giant tree.
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Your English is the same.
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After one day of reading, you might not feel different.
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but after one month, you will notice that you are faster.
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After six months, you will notice that you are smarter.
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After one year, you will be a different person.
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Don't compare yourself to others.
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Compare yourself to who you were yesterday.
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If you read one page today, you are better than you were yesterday.
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That is a victory.
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We have reached the end of our talk, but this is the beginning of your journey.
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Reading is not just about words on a page.
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It is about your growth, your confidence and your future.
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It is the most powerful tool you have.
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Go and find a book today.
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Or a short story.
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Or an article.
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It doesn't matter what it is, as long as you like it.
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Start small. Be consistent.
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Be kind to yourself.
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Thank you for listening to this long lesson.
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Your ears have been working hard and your brain is growing right now.
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You are already on the path to fluency.
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Stay curious, stay patient and keep reading.
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The world of English is waiting for you.
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And it is a beautiful world.
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I will see you in our next lesson.
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Have a wonderful day full of stories and dreams.
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Goodbye.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 301 sentences and 2463 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:42. The speaker talks at a steady 147 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 89% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- grammar /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ (noun) — A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general.
- lesson /ˈlɛs.ən/ (noun) — A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
- input /ˈɪnpʊt/ (noun) — The act or process of putting in; infusion.
- collect /ˈkɑlɪkt/ (verb) — To gather together; amass.
- translate /tɹænzˈleɪt/ (verb) — To change spoken words or written text (of a book, document, movie, etc.) from one language to another.
- topic /ˈtɑpɪk/ (noun) — A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest.
- compare /kəmˈpɛɚ/ (verb) — To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it…
- silent /ˈsaɪ̯lənt/ (adjective) — Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
- ear /ˈɪə̯/ (noun) — The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea.
- helpful /ˈhɛlp.fl̩/ (adjective) — Furnishing help; giving aid; useful.
- explore /ɪkˈsploɹ/ (verb) — To examine or investigate something systematically.
- phrase /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ (noun) — A short written or spoken expression.
- relax /ɹɪˈlæks/ (verb) — To make something loose.
- habit /ˈhæb.ɪt/ (noun) — An action performed on a regular basis.
- correctly /kəˈɹɛk(t).li/ (adverb) — In a correct manner.
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- talk about (verb) — Used to draw attention to the speaker's characterization of someone or something.
- read for (verb) — To study for a degree or an examination.
- think about /ˈθɪŋk əˌbaʊt/ (verb) — To ponder.
- come out /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ (verb) — To be discovered; to be revealed.
- do for (verb) — To doom; to bring about the demise of someone; to injure or harm someone.
- feel for (verb) — To experience sympathy for, to sympathise with.
- fit in (verb) — To be physically capable of going into a space.
- go back to (verb) — To stem from; to originate in.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 24 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, didn't, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, treasure /ˈtɹɛʒəɹ/, translation /tɹænzˈleɪʃən/, dictionary /ˈdɪk.ʃəˌnɛ.ɹi/, meditation /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: consistency /kənˈsɪs.tən.si/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, psychology /saɪˈkɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, invisible /ɪnˈvɪzəb(ə)l/, dictionary /ˈdɪk.ʃəˌnɛ.ɹi/
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 grammar, lesson, input.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If you enjoy the process, you will do |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has heard · has lived · have seen |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | student who repeats · person who expresses · person who lives |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most important · the most natural · the highest |
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.