Shadowing Practice: 全英｜生日也可以是这一年的回顾 - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

B2
Do you like celebrating your birthday?
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Do you like celebrating your birthday?
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When I was a kid,
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birthdays were a really big deal.
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My parents would always make me and my siblings feel really special on our birthdays.
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My mom would make our favorite meal
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and she would also make a huge cake and our whole family would come over to celebrate together.
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I come from a relatively big family,
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so sometimes birthdays felt like the only day you could get all the attention you were craving
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and it was always something to look forward to.
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But now with each year that I get older,
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I feel like my birthday is more of a day for self-reflection and looking back at the past year in my life.
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What did I accomplish?
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Did I do everything I wanted to do?
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If 10-year-old me could look at myself now,
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would she be proud of me or even think that I was cool?
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This past year, I really pushed myself to do things I never thought I would have been able to do.
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and I think a big reason for why I was able to do them was
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because I started to become more independent and I also gained more self-confidence.
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From sharing my stories online,
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I found that there were a lot of people who had experiences very similar to mine,
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and even though I might not have that many people around me in real life,
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it just felt really good to know that people could relate to me or that people even liked watching my videos.
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When I started to express how introverted and shy I am online,
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a lot of people started commenting and saying
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that people who are really shy or really introverted wouldn't even dare to post these kinds of videos online.
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And that was the case for me in the beginning.
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When I first started making these videos,
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I would just open my camera on my phone
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and just stare at myself without even being able to say a single word
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because I literally felt so embarrassed and so self-conscious.
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I even used to be way too nervous to even hold my phone up in public
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and record myself or even the things around me but the more
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that i pushed myself to do this i started to feel less
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and less awkward and actually i found that this is a perfect way for me to express myself.
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Because in real life, not everyone has the patience to fully listen to all of my ideas
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or to listen to how I'm feeling.
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And sometimes I don't even know how to communicate to other people how I'm feeling.
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But once I found my own way of expressing myself,
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I started to understand myself more and I started gaining confidence in everything that I do do.
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So when I reflect on this past year in my life,
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I feel like I've been able to gain a lot more confidence and independence,
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and I've also been better at adapting to all the changes around me.
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A year ago, I had just moved to a new city,
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and it was a really hard time for me because I didn't know anybody there,
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and I was feeling really lonely all the time.
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And also within the first week of moving,
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there were so many instances of people being not very friendly towards me,
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like the time that I was struggling to get my car out of a parking spot
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and there was just a group of girls outside of my car pointing at me
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and laughing at me instead of actually trying to help me.
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And if that had happened to my old self,
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I would have been really depressed and really upset for a long time.
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But over time, as I've grown up,
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I've slowly come to realize that I can't control what other people do or say,
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but I can control how I react and how I let things affect me.
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And the most important thing is that I'm doing things
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that I feel proud of and living a life that makes me happy.
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And I do feel proud of myself for how far I've come in my journey of self-improvement.
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And now here I am a year later,
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I've just moved to another city again,
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and I have so many things that I want to accomplish and share with all of you.
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I want to encourage people to follow their dreams and find their passions in life,
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even when other people tell you that you can't.
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I think instead of believing other people when they tell us this,
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we can use it as inspiration to make ourselves better and prove them wrong.
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And you never know what you can accomplish if you never try.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice speaking and listening skills through reflection on personal experiences—specifically, the way birthdays can serve as a milestone for self-assessment. This topic encourages learners to explore their thoughts about personal growth and the emotional significance of birthdays. By engaging with the content, you will improve your English pronunciation and expressiveness through the shadowing technique. This approach helps you internalize the natural rhythm and intonation of English speech.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Self-reflection – the process of examining one's thoughts and feelings.
  • Accomplishment – something that has been achieved successfully.
  • Independence – the state of being self-sufficient and autonomous.
  • Self-confidence – belief in one's own abilities and judgment.
  • Introverted – a personality type shy or reserved in social situations.
  • Express myself – communicate one's thoughts or feelings in words.
  • Adapting to changes – adjusting oneself to new circumstances.

Practice Tips

To effectively use the shadowing technique as demonstrated in this video's transcript, follow these tips:

  • Listen carefully: Begin by watching the video without trying to speak. Focus on the speaker's tone and pace.
  • Start small: Select short segments of the transcript and repeat them out loud immediately after hearing them. This will help you improve your English pronunciation, focusing on pronunciation patterns and emotions expressed by the speaker.
  • Match the pace: The speaker’s pacing is natural but may feel fast initially. Gradually increase your speed as you grow more comfortable, using a shadowspeak approach to mimic their rhythm.
  • Practice regularly: Consistency is key in shadowing. Aim to spend a few minutes daily repeating phrases or sections, fostering improvement and fluency in your spoken English.
  • Use a mirror: Watch yourself while speaking to enhance your awareness of facial expressions and body language, which complements your verbal communication.

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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