Shadowing Practice: why we started to hate technology. - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

122 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

Hey everyone, the tech world has never been in such a weird place as it is today.

Everything is just split down the middle.

Smartphones have kind of hit their peak, AI is the only thing brands want to talk about.

We're starting to romanticize physical media, old technology, old devices, when things used to be fun and unique and exciting and different and weird,

when things had personality, and when technology wasn't constantly being pushed to us all the time.

And as a result of this, people are starting to go back.

Right now we're seeing the biggest rejection of new technology that I've seen in pretty much my entire life.

And obviously I've been really excited about seeing new tech and seeing new things,

but there obviously is a fatigue element that comes into play as well.

And it's not just people being sick of AI constantly being pushed into our lives all the time.

It's sort of a rejection of modernity itself.

It's a mix of wanting to be different, embracing nostalgia, longing for the past, and the funny thing is,

a lot of people who actually are buying these older devices these days never really even grew up with them either.

There's like a lot of young people who are just done with Spotify, for example, and are buying their first CD players or their first iPods,

which is honestly pretty cool.

Now, the iPod point I totally get, and it makes me very happy as well seeing people appreciate iPods again.

I made a video almost four years ago now about why I still use an iPod here

and there to detach from my phone, support artists directly, and I just enjoy the design,

the experience, and the overall feeling that the iPod gives me when I use it.

And other people are starting to appreciate that as well right now, which is truly amazing.

It's honestly so special, and maybe it's just a trend right now, but people are buying up older iPods, loading them with their libraries,

modding them with Bluetooth, USB -C, AirTags, everything.

And further proof that people are actually longing for

and embracing older technology is the fact that brands are producing modern day versions of old devices.

Brands are noticing this love for retro technology and older products

and of course they're going to capitalize on it and make new products based on old products.

There's like modern iPod dupes with Bluetooth, USB -C, weird

Android touchscreen iPod style devices.

There's like a whole market out there just for stuff like this.

Even like Fujifilm for example just dropped a brand new camera

that really does rely on nostalgia and the love for actually taking photos and videos.

And look, I know what you're going to say.

Buying these like older devices or using old technology might seem kind of like performative, like pulling up to the coffee shop,

getting a matcha, sitting there listening to CDs with your Koss headphones.

Look, it does seem kind of performative, but at the same time,

people just like want to feel unique and different and they want to enjoy something that feels special and kind of human.

Maybe this is all a trend, but people are longing for something different.

The concept of single -purpose devices is something I've been seeing a lot of as well.

People taking their phone and separating all of the apps that they regularly use into different devices entirely.

When the first iPhone came out, when the App Store came available, immediately people started to group all these devices into this one singular device.

And since then, it's just been much more convenient.

But people almost want to have like a daily bag of things they carry with them full of all these different devices

And it's not to make their lives inconvenient or more annoying

It's to really use our phones less myself included I use my phone way too much

and i'm trying to separate that device into other entities as well

Like I prefer to write in a notebook for my ideas.

I prefer to have a physical calendar in my home

I prefer to have different music listening devices throughout my home

as well whether it's a record player cd player mp3 player I like the idea of having dedicated devices

and places for the things that I do.

Oh, and by the way, CDs are definitely back, and physical media entirely is kind of back as well.

I've discovered so many artists just going to the thrift store and buying, like, a 20 -year -old CD that someone enjoyed once.

Like, being able to actually own something these days, like, physically be able to pick it up and use it, that's art in my home.

Like, I collect old technology, I collect CDs, records, tapes, magazines, books, they're all usable media, but they're also beautiful objects that inspire me.

Especially now when everything is a subscription and you lose all of that the second you miss a payment,

like being able to hold on to something is really nice.

So physical media is back and it's amazing.

Another thing I've been noticing is the growing trend of the love for imperfection.

AI images, AI videos, AI writing, it's all just too perfect, too smooth, too glossy, and you can just tell that it's not real.

And when you ask AI to make like an imperfect image or an imperfect video, it still looks in some ways too perfect or too staged.

Yeah, you can prompt imperfection, but it'll never be real imperfection.

Imperfection that comes with just being a human and not being perfect by any means.

And that's why people are really embracing old phones and digicams for capturing photos and videos.

By today's standards, these cameras are terrible.

They're bad in low light, they're blurry, they're grainy, the colors aren't great, things are really muted, and people really don't care.

There's just something real about all of that.

And yes, of course it's all about the aesthetic.

People love that retro digicam aesthetic, but what's the real reason?

In a world where everything is perfect, imperfection is the only way that human work actually stands out.

It's easy for AI to be flawless and perfect, like you can easily prompt a perfect looking image.

What's hard for it is to feel alive and imperfect.

Imperfect photos or videos are proof of life, proof that a human is actually behind the work.

And the thing that hits me the most is seeing restaurants use AI photos for food.

Like there's nothing worse than seeing an AI shwarma.

It's just, it's not great.

I would much rather see a terrible photo taken by the owner of a shop with his like seven -year -old

Samsung phone of a plate of food then see this perfect ai image of food

that isn't even like what the food is going to look like ai is literally making imperfection become a trend

and yes using an older phone or an older camera

or a film camera might seem performative and it might just be a current aesthetic trend,

but there is obviously a real human truth beneath all of that.

It also comes as a result of what photos look like from modern day phones, which are so over -processed and perfect.

And I for one have to admit, it is great to get a perfect photo all the time.

Like you just pull out your phone, take a photo, take a video, and it looks amazing.

But sometimes you actually want to capture the authenticity of the moment and you don't have any control over that.

Like take something like this iPhone 6, for example.

The photos and videos aren't great.

They're noisy, blown out, the dynamic range is not good, the colors are off, they're shaky, they're blurry, but there's something honest about them.

When I compared the iPhone 17

Pro camera to the original iPhone camera in a short video, it absolutely blew up,

and people honestly appreciated the original iPhone photos more than the brand new iPhone that had just come out.

And it's a mix of how warm those photos felt, how unsharpened, how unprocessed they were, how just like real and nostalgic they felt.

And I didn't expect it at all because I was

so excited about being able to take photos with a brand new iPhone as I do every single year.

But as soon as I started to read the comments and understand, people are starting to shift their opinions on technology.

This is my job.

I've been doing this for a little over 10 years now as a serious full -time job,

if you want to call it that and I love new technology.

I love showing you new technology but there's certain things

100

that are happening that I just don't really fully like or agree with.

101

And I've talked about AI a lot in this video mostly in a negative way

102

but I do use AI in my own life in some capacity to answer things, understand things, summarize things, reword things,

103

learn how to do new things.

104

It is a useful tool and it is useful in certain contexts,

105

but the day I use it to replace all of my creative work is the day I just stop doing everything entirely.

106

Because at that point, what's the point?

107

I started making YouTube videos originally as a way to express myself

108

and a creative outlet to just make something to share with people.

109

And And since then, it's gone way beyond that original concept, but at the core of everything, I love what I do.

110

I love making videos, I love taking photos, I love working with really exciting, cool brands, I love designing things.

111

That's the whole fun of this job.

112

And because I love this work so much, I've never and probably will never hire anybody to edit videos for me or edit thumbnails,

113

make thumbnails, take photos, design things for me.

114

If I can't do it, I'm going to learn how to do it or not do it.

115

So look, all of this to say, all my yapping, tech is in a really interesting place right now.

116

I'm going to continue to cover new things.

117

I'm going to cover old things, things that I care about, things that excite me.

118

And if you like my videos, you like my old videos, nothing is going to change, of course.

119

I also make a lot of short -form videos as well if you don't want to watch me talk for this long.

120

So if you enjoyed this video, be sure to leave a like, subscribe if you're new here, and of course, thank you for watching.

121

Damn.

122

Thank you.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

155 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “why we started to hate technology”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: photo, device, technology, perfect, ipod. This video has 122 sentences and 1812 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:06. The speaker talks at a natural 179 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% 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
embrace verb	/ɛmˈbɹes/	To clasp (someone or each other) in the arms with affection; to take in the arms; to hug.
aesthetic adjective	/ɛsˈθɛ.tɪk/	Concerned with beauty, artistic effect, or appearance.
capture verb	/ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/	To take control of; to seize by force or stratagem.
collect verb	/ˈkɑlɪkt/	To gather together; amass.
edit verb	/ˈɛdɪt/	To change a text, or a document.
rejection noun	/ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkʃən/	The act of rejecting.
prompt verb	/pɹɑmpt/	To lead (someone) toward what they should say or do.
retro adjective	/ˈɹɛt.ɹəʊ/	Of, or relating to, the past, past times, or the way things were.
nostalgia noun	/nɑˈstæld͡ʒə/	A longing for home or familiar surroundings; homesickness.
element noun	/ˈɛləmənt/	One of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based.
compare verb	/kəmˈpɛɚ/	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…
tape noun	/teɪ̯p/	Flexible material in a roll with a sticky surface on one or both sides; adhesive tape.
android noun	/ˈænˌdɹɔɪd/	A robot that is designed to look and act like a human being (not necessarily a male one).
hire verb	/ˈhaɪɹ/	To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment.
smooth adjective	/smuːð/	Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.
blow out verb		To extinguish something, especially a flame, especially by means of a strong current of air or another gas.
blow up verb		To explode or be destroyed by explosion.
buy up verb		To buy the whole of; to purchase the entire stock of something.
go back verb		To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
pull out verb		To withdraw; especially of military forces; to retreat.
stand out verb		To jut out, protrude (from a surface etc.).

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	I've been seeing · I've been noticing · I've been doing
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has never been · I've seen · I've been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is just split · being pushed · are really muted
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	people who actually · people who are · now, which is

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 36 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, I've, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: aesthetic /ɛsˈθɛ.tɪk/, smooth /smuːð/, beneath /bɪˈniːθ/, authenticity /ɑθɛnˈtɪsɪti/, thumbnail /ˈθʌm.neɪl/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, rejection /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkʃən/, subscription /səbˈskɹɪpʃən/, imperfection /ɪmpɚˈfɛkʃən/, shaky /ˈʃeɪki/
Long words — get the stress right: entity /ˈɛn.tə.ti/ [-tʰi], authenticity /ɑθɛnˈtɪsɪti/, imperfection /ɪmpɚˈfɛkʃən/, capitalize /ˈkæpətəˌlaɪz/, inconvenient /ˌɪn.kənˈviːni.ənt/

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 embrace, aesthetic, capture.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: why we started to hate technology. - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

I switched to an iPod in 2026 (I'm never going back)

Wild times we live in

Why Young People Love Old Things

The Reusable Water Bottle Trend is DEAD

Poking Apple’s Touchscreen MacBook Pro: What Actually Impressed Me

The Buy Nothing Rebellion is Growing... No More CRAP

iPhone Duo Problem is Getting Worse

Is YouTubes biggest competitor a Chinese app?

Mick Jones Thinks Today's Music Is Contrived | HPL

I'm Learning to Appreciate My Phone

Tiktok is changing our hobbies

The strange history of Red Hot Chili Peppers (it gets… messy)