Shadowing Practice: Why you need a good night's sleep ⏲️ 6 Minute English - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
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I'm Georgie and we're ready to start, Phil.
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Phil?
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Sorry, Georgie.
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I was just catching 40 winks, you know, getting some shut-eye, dozing, taking a nap.
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I was sleeping.
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Sleeping at work!
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Phil, how could you?
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I know, I know.
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Sorry, I didn't sleep well last night.
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I'll forgive you this time, but make sure you go to bed early tonight because getting a good night's sleep is incredibly important.
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For example, did you know that people who get enough sleep live about five years longer than people who don't?
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Wow, so a good night's sleep can lengthen your life.
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In this programme we'll be finding out more about the benefits of sleep and as usual learning some useful new vocabulary as well.
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But first, now that you've woken up, I have a question for you.
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Do you know how much of the average person's life is spent asleep?
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Is it a a half, b a quarter, or c a third?
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Hmm, I think we spend about a third of our lives sleeping.
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OK, well I'll reveal the correct answer at the end of the programme.
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The question of why humans sleep is not easy to answer.
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In terms of evolution, why would it make sense to go unconscious every night, leaving yourself vulnerable to danger?
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It can only mean that the benefits gained from sleep are huge.
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Here, science journalist Ginny Smith explains some of these benefits to BBC Radio 4 programme Inside Science.
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So we've probably all experienced this, that if you've had a bad night's sleep and then you try and do some work, you just can't concentrate.
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Your brain isn't in the right state to take in new information.
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But we also need to sleep after we've learnt new things because that's when our brain consolidates the information, takes it from short-term storage to long-term storage, fits it in with other things we already know.
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That old adage of if you've got a problem, sleep on it.
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Your brain does actually work on things during the night and you can often wake up and have solved the problem in your sleep.
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When we sleep, our brains refresh, leaving us feeling rested in the morning.
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But after a bad night's sleep, it's more difficult to concentrate.
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We can't take in or understand new information.
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We also have the saying, if you've got a problem, sleep on it.
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To sleep on it means to delay making a decision until you've had time to think about it.
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But that also turns out to be true scientifically speaking.
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During sleep your brain really can work out problems and find solutions.
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But what about the other side of the story?
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What happens when you get too little sleep, or none at all.
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Here's Ginny Smith again, talking to BBC Radio 4 programme Inside Science.
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Sleep deprivation is a form of stress and we know that when you are stressed, your sort of fight or flight response is activated and that causes all these changes in your body that focus on immediate survival over long-term health.
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But if we are chronically stressed, money worries or a stressful job or something that's going on forever or life or chronic sleep deprivation that's causing that level of stress, then you might constantly have a damped-down immune system, which can then lead to all these knock-on problems.
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Having none or too little of something important is known as deprivation.
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Sleep deprivation is stressful for the body.
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so stressful that it activates a fight-or-flight response, changes in the human body in response to a life-threatening situation, which make us either stay and fight the threat or run away from it.
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As well as a fight-or-flight response, the stress of not getting enough sleep over a longer period also creates problems, including heart disease and a weakened immune system.
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Lack of sleep has these knock-on effects.
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It causes other things to happen, but not directly.
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Now do you see why it's so important to get a good night's sleep, Phil?
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Plus it will stop you sleeping at work again.
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Right, I think it's time to reveal the answer to my question.
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Yes, you asked me how much of the average person's life is spent asleep, and I said it was about a third.
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Which was the correct answer.
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Assuming you sleep eight hours a day, the average person will sleep for 229,961 hours in their lifetime or around one third of their life.
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Okay, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, starting with the phrases catch 40 winks, get some shut-eye, doze and take a nap – all of which mean to sleep.
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When someone takes in information, they understand it.
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If you have a problem and you sleep on it, you delay making a decision until you've had time to think about it.
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Deprivation is an absence or too little of something important, such as food or sleep.
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The fight or flight response describes changes in the human body in response to a dangerous situation, which make us either stay and fight the threat, or run away from it.
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And finally, if something has a knock-on effect, it causes other results indirectly.
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Once again our six minutes are up, but remember to join us again next time for more trending topics and useful vocabulary here at 6 Minute English.
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Goodbye for now.
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Bye.
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Learn English from the news with BBC Learning English.
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One big story every week, three news headlines and all the vocabulary you need to understand the story in English.
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Plus, you can download a free worksheet on our website for every episode.
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Search Learning English from the News on your podcast app or visit bbclearningenglish.com.

About This Lesson

You're practicing English with "Why you need a good night's sleep ⏲️ 6 Minute English" using the Shadowing technique — a method originally developed for professional interpreter training.

Focus on sounding like the speaker — not just repeating words. With 15–30 minutes of daily practice, you'll build real-world speaking confidence.

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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