Shadowing Practice: Why the World Is Still Not Built for Women | Virginia Santy | TED - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Do you feel comfortable?
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Do you feel comfortable?
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(Laughter) Really think about your experience right now.
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Are you too hot or too cold?
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How does your butt feel sitting in this chair?
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Do you feel safe?
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These questions might seem a little silly, but silly for different reasons, depending on your gender identity.
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We don't really ask these questions of men, because for the most part, we don't have to.
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Our environments are built for men and how they experience the world.
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For you women, these questions are different because we are so conditioned to accept our own discomfort, to accept the environments or systems around us as normal and natural, we often fail to realize when they don't quite fit us, we just work around it.
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How many of you women are carrying a purse or a bag big enough to fit an extra sweater or a down comforter, in case you get cold sometime today?
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(Applause) The truth is, the world wasn't built for women.
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In fact, in nearly every way, it's been quite literally built for men.
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From Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" to a concept called "The Modular Man" from the mid-20th century, we've used men's bodies to measure what we feel is normal and appropriate in our world.
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And then we've used those measurements to build everything around us, from chairs to buildings and cars.
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Women are, for the most part, not seen, not measured, not valued.
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And this means the basic physical structures of our environment or the structures of our systems, work against women, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.
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And this is exponentially true for women of color, women with disabilities, and women with intersectional identities.
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It was only 20 years ago we included female crash test dummies.
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It was only 1991 when we included women in medical trials.
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It is like we have only recently realized women aren't men.
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(Cheers and applause) A few years ago, I started daydreaming about what it would look like to build an office space, a workplace, for women.
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I was tired of freezing in sterile-feeling offices.
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I felt defeated by the woeful tales of moms who had to breast-pump in bathroom stalls or copy rooms.
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I was sick and tired of feeling guilt or embarrassment for having to bring my baby to work with me, a few hours, every once in a while, to compensate for some caregiving emergency or another.
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So I started talking to women and asking them what worked, what didn't work in their spaces.
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And then I used that information to sketch out the perfect plan for a new workspace.
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Women told me, office parking spaces are too narrow, and a car seat with a kid in it is pretty bulky and inflexible.
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So we designed our space with ample parking and spots wide enough to open a car door all the way and take out a car seat.
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Women told us, simply entering a building can be frustrating.
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Have you ever walked up to a door and had to try a few times to get it open?
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You really had to throw your weight behind it.
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That's because doors open more easily for men.
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Literally, it is not just a metaphor anymore.
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So we reduced the force required to open our doors, making it easier for women to use them.
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Moms told us juggling work and children is their most difficult challenge.
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So instead of pretending workers are 100 percent autonomous agents with no human connection and children simply drop from the sky and raise themselves, we plan for on-site childcare rooms where moms could use our partner childcare services or bring their kids to play while they worked.
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This all wasn't just physical.
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From research, we learned women are most likely to attend a professional development event with a friend.
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So we made all learning social.
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These were all great things, and the results were glorious.
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Women supported one another and collaborated across businesses and industries.
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They shared resources and recommendations, anecdotes and pep talks.
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We have built a place where women could unabashedly discuss that other scarlet letter capital-A word for which they are so often judged and criticized: ambition.
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(Laughter) And find not only encouragement from others but strategies.
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We built a place where women felt valued and could therefore be themselves.
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And while I believe valuing women is the only argument we need for building places that work for them, there is also an economic argument.
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Today, there are more men than women in the workforce.
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In fact, women's workforce participation is at the same level today as it was 30 years ago.
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And the gap is only getting wider.
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Building places of work where women feel comfortable and valued is one way to address this.
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If women worked at the same levels as men, the US GDP would increase by five percent.
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Or one trillion dollars.
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(Applause) Globally, we know, when women are more financially secure, they invest more and more often in their families and communities.
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Everything I've mentioned so far are things you can do at home, in your workplaces.
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But we need to think bigger too, and design for women on a larger scale.
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Can we design whole cities to serve women?
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That's the question that inspired my work for the Downtown Denver Partnership.
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The first thing I learned is that women aren't really on the radar of city builders.
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Ninety-four percent of US cities have city plans, yet only two percent of those plans include any mention of women.
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And if women aren't on the radar, it means their distinct experiences aren't on the radar, either.
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Care work is a useful illustration.
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Women spend 37 percent more time per day on household chores or caregiving activities than men.
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And this doesn't end with children.
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The average caregiver for an older adult is a 49-year-old woman who works full-time outside the home and spends an extra 20 hours a week caring for a family member.
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If this is the reality for women, how can we redesign our cities to better serve them?
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Most city centers are childcare deserts, despite a growing number of young families who live and work downtown.
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And women who live in metropolitan areas tend to use public transit to accomplish a range of household or caregiving responsibilities.
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Yet a city's public transportation system isn't really what we think of when we hear the phrase “family friendly.” Public transit is tough to navigate with a stroller.
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It doesn't facilitate the short, frequent trips women tend to take in care work.
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If we really thought about women's experiences, simply recognizing the centrality of care work in women's lives would mean a much different city than what we're used to.
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Imagine this scenario.
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A mom walks a short distance from her home to her transit stop.
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She and her two-year-old child socialize with other parents and kids at the stop because there are other parents and kids at the stop.
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She takes the transit to work, where she goes to the on-site, corporate-sponsored daycare facility.
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She gets a chance to kind of network with the VP at her office, because he and his kids also use the daycare facility.
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Later in the afternoon, she returns to the daycare center for an afternoon snack with her kid.
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Feeling energized by that visit, she returns to her desk, finishes up her day, picks up her kid, heads back to the transit stop.
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She doesn't have to worry about transportation schedules because the transit stop is a hub of services.
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She swings by the walk-in healthcare clinic to get her flu shot.
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She drops by the bank -- which is open past 5pm, by the way -- and sets up a financial account that does not penalize her with higher interest rates simply for being a woman.
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(Applause) She boards her transit home along with other families, feeling like she has had quality time with her kid, as well as a productive and strategic day.
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I daydream about this scenario in the same way I used to daydream about riding a flying pony when I was eight years old.
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(Laughter) And in some ways, it feels just as mythical and surreal.
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But it doesn't have to.
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To me, the workplace, cities, are inventive opportunities to question what we see as normal and natural in our world.
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Why do we make it so difficult on working mothers when their contributions quite literally fuel the future success of our economies?
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(Cheers and applause) How can we do things differently?
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And how can we continue to iterate as gender identities and gender norms evolve?
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Finally, what would it take to make these changes?
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The answer is so simple, it sometimes feels silly to say it aloud.
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Value women.
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(Applause) See women as not only human, and therefore worthy of our consideration, but as people who make incredible contributions to our collective success.
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Recognize, women's experiences are different than men's, but that those differences are not deficiencies.
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(Cheers and applause) This could be a sad story.
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But in many ways it's one of triumph.
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Women succeed in personal, political, cultural, economic arenas, all in spite of systems, places, not designed to serve them.
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Imagine what women could do if we made things a little easier on them.
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We can build places, cities, systems, that are not derivatives of or adjustments to what works for men but the product of inspired thought and creativity.
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We can design for women, measure their lived experiences, and build with those experiences in mind.
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And the world will be better for it.
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Thank you. (Applause and cheers)
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Context & Background

The TED talk by Virginia Santy addresses critical issues regarding how societal structures are predominantly designed for men, often overlooking the needs of women. Santy invites the audience to reflect on their experiences and comforts in various environments, highlighting the discomfort that many women endure due to these biases. The talk encompasses various facets, from workplace design to societal expectations, emphasizing the importance of creating spaces that accommodate and value women's perspectives and experiences. This subject provides a rich context for English learners to engage with nuanced discussions about gender, design, and inclusivity while practicing their language skills.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • “Do you feel comfortable?” - A simple yet profound question to gauge someone’s well-being.
  • “How does your body feel?” - Useful for checking in on physical comfort in any situation.
  • “I’m sick and tired of...” - A common way to express frustration or dissatisfaction.
  • “This is something we need to address.” - A phrase to initiate important discussions or changes.
  • “Let’s build a place where... ” - A constructive way to propose new ideas or environments.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To improve your English speaking skills through the TED talk, follow this structured approach:

  1. Listen Actively: Start by watching the video attentively without attempting to repeat or imitate. Focus on the speaker's intonation and emotion.
  2. Break it Down: Divide the video into smaller segments, ideally around 1-2 minutes each, to make it manageable for practice.
  3. First Shadow: Play a segment and pause after every sentence. Repeat what you hear, mimicking the speaker's tone, pace, and stress. Use a shadowing app to record your voice for comparison.
  4. Reflect and Refine: Listen back to your recordings, focusing on areas for improvement—pronunciation, rhythm, and clarity.
  5. Practice Daily: Incorporate daily practice into your routine using learn English with YouTube sessions. Consistency is key to mastering these phrases and expressions over time.

Engaging with content like TED talks through methods such as these not only enhances your language skills but also broadens your understanding of important societal topics. Utilize resources from shadowing sites to diversify your learning experiences and reinforce your confidence in English speaking practice.

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.

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