Shadowing Practice: You are NOT a failure. - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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I don't look at failure as failure.
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I look at failure as attempts at what I'm trying to accomplish.
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So, let's say I failed the first time.
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That's just my first attempt.
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Failure is a big word, but if you're failing at something that's extremely difficult, to me it's not really failure.
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I was not always this strong guy, you see.
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I went through a lot of hard times in my life to get here today.
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So I came home one day from working at a job called Ecolab where I sprayed for cockroaches.
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I made a thousand dollars a month weighing 300 pounds.
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I watched a show on Discovery Channel of guys carrying boats and logs, Navy SEAL training.
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I decided to make a change in my life.
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I was 6 foot 1 and 300 pounds.
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He laughed at me.
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Seven other recruiters laughed at me.
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I walked in the recruiter's office and he looked at me and he said, You're fat and you're black.
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He said I basically had to lose 106 pounds in less than three months.
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I came back three months later, 106 pounds lighter.
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I uh...
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Thank you.
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The best advice I can give anybody suffering from mental health or just going through a bad time,
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you are just as tough as all the other people that have endured what you are doing right now.
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So always stay in the fight.
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Build belief, build confidence to the point where Nothing can hurt you because you know exactly who you are.
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You've faced your demons.
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I'm no longer embarrassed.
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I'm no longer ashamed.
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Being ashamed is one of the biggest things that kill people nowadays.
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In their minds, kill them for moving forward.
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I'm ashamed of myself.
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Don't ever be ashamed of anything you've done in your life.
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Face it, fix it, make it better.
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Believe in yourself and don't rely on anybody to believe in you.
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Don't rely on anybody to push you or make you better believe in yourself
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and only yourself and allow that human being to make you a better person.
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If you live that way I guarantee that your goals and dreams will get accomplished.

About This Lesson

You're practicing English with "You are NOT a failure." 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.

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