Shadowing Practice: You are not running out of time. 人生不需要那么着急，你根本没有晚 - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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If you feel like you're running out of time
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If you feel like you're running out of time
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and other people are moving at a much faster rate than you
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and people are building more than you and becoming more successful than you then I think you need to watch this video.
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Honestly I think a lot of young people these days feel like they don't have much time left
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and they need to become successful as soon as possible otherwise there's no other chance left for them in this world.
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And I totally understand that.
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I also feel that way sometimes.
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It feels overwhelming and you feel like you have to accomplish so much at one time.
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Personally, I think there are a few reasons why people in our generation feel this way.
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And one of them is that we're constantly comparing ourselves and our generation to past generations,
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but it doesn't really work that way.
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You might think, oh back then when people were like 25 or 21,
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maybe they already had a house,
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they already had a kid or two kids,
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and it seems like they were very successful at a very young age.
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But that was in the past.
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We live in the modern age and we might have different goals
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and it's not exactly possible to do the same things
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that our parents or grandparents did and that's okay we just have to accept
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that
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and it's not only this comparison of past generations there are
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other problems as well for me I think one of these huge problems is social media
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when you go on social media it can seem like everyone
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is constantly achieving something you might see someone super young starting their own business
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and everything is going really smoothly they're really successful or maybe someone bought a house really young and it looks beautiful,
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it looks huge, and it seems like their life is super amazing.
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And when you see this every single day,
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it starts to affect the way that you think about yourself.
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You think, why don't I have those things?
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Or what's wrong with me?
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Everyone else is doing so well,
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but I just feel like I'm stuck where I am.
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But I don't think you have to feel that way.
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The stuff online is not real life.
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It's literally just an edited version of someone else's life and you can't compare that with yours.
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And I think there is another problem that leads us to feel like we're running out of time,
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which is that we have so many choices.
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I mean, if you really think about it,
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there are a lot of choices in life.
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You get to choose what you wear every day,
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what you eat every day.
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And you also get to choose what you do in your free time.
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You get to choose what you spend your time on,
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what you learn and what you study,
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and maybe what you want to do in the future.
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There are so many careers.
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There are different cities you can move to.
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Anything is possible.
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There are so many choices.
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But personally, I feel like when we have so many choices,
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it can actually cause us to freeze up because you feel indecisive.
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I mean, for me, I also feel very indecisive sometimes.
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Like sometimes it's hard to even choose what to eat for dinner.
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I'm sure some of you maybe feel the same thing.
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It's really hard to make decisions.
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So when you're bombarded by so many decisions every single day,
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some big, some small, it can really be exhausting.
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And there is this very famous quote by Sylvia Plath where she's talking about this fig tree.
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And it's literally a fig tree,
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but she's imagining all of these figs as different versions of herself.
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You know, one is a doctor,
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one is an artist, one is a scientist, one is a poet.
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And one fig is one possible lifetime.
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she's sitting at the bottom of this tree and thinking about all of the possible versions of herself.
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But the problem is while she's sitting there and thinking and contemplating,
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the figs start to rot.
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She starts to lose the choices that she thought that she had.
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So in the end, you basically end up with nothing because you didn't make a decision when you should have.
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But another fear is that when you choose one, you lose the others.
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By choosing one fig and one lifetime
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that means you're saying no to the other possibilities you're giving up on everything else
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and that's this fig tree dilemma i mean this is kind of depressing
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if you really think about it for too long
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but i think we can see this in a more positive light as well
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because yes i can totally relate sometimes i feel overwhelmed by the possibilities in life and it's hard to make these decisions.
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I think another way to look at this is not as the person sitting next to the tree and
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looking at all of these possibilities fade away and rot basically in front of you.
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I think another way to think of this is as yourself as the tree.
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You are the tree.
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Which means you contain multitudes.
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Right now you have all of these beautiful ripe figs,
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but that doesn't mean you're never gonna have any more.
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You know this set in this season the figs might rot but that's okay because there will be a next season.
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You will have other chances.
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I personally don't believe that you have to make certain decisions by a certain age.
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I think you can start over at any time as long as you're still alive,
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as long as you are capable.
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I think you can change your life at any moment.
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Some people start over at 30.
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Some people become a CEO at 50.
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I think the possibilities are endless.
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So I don't think you should feel like you're running out of time.
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There will be more chances.
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There will be more versions of yourself to meet in the future.
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And there will be more figs.
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At the end of the day,
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your life is your own.
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And you can do whatever you want with it.
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You don't have to listen to what other people are doing.
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Just because you see something online,
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It doesn't mean that you should be doing the same things.
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That's just someone else sharing their own life.
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And it might not even be really authentic to what their real life is like.
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And honestly, from my own experience,
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I think life feels better and more enjoyable
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when you learn to accept who you are and you learn to take life at your own pace.
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So I really think it's great to continue to grow,
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to learn new things, build more skills.
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But I also think that sometimes you just need to do nothing
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and sometimes you need to enjoy the life that you're living and focus on the present
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Because if you're always so focused on improving yourself for a better future Then you're constantly thinking about the future.
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But what about yourself right now?
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Does doing this make you happy?
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Is getting this result really gonna change your life?
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Is that what is going to make life worth living?
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I think those are just some things to consider because also you don't know what's to happen.
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You don't know if you will get the outcome that you wanted.
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But if you're okay with your life at the present,
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then no matter what happens in the future,
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if you get that job or not,
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if you get accepted into the school or not,
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you're still going to be okay with yourself.
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Honestly, I think I started to think more about this when I was getting my bachelor's degree.
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At that time, I had just graduated high school.
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I was like 18 years old in my linguistics major getting my degree and one of my very good friends,
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well she was my classmate at the time,
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we became very good friends.
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She was 30 years old and she had a six-year-old little boy
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and she had a lot of friends and a really full
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and amazing life but on paper it might seem like she was a bit late.
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Like she was getting her degree at 30.
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To most people that might seem like you know late,
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not on the right path.
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But honestly she was super happy with her decisions.
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She was always smiling, always laughing.
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She was such a great friend.
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She was fun to be around
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and it honestly made me change my perspective on life as well because I was also struggling in my major.
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I like I said was learning linguistics
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and at that time people were telling me
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that it wasn't the best major to choose there are not
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a lot of job opportunities you're gonna struggle after you graduate
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and that's true that's totally valid but I just wanted to do something
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that I was passionate about and that's what it was
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so I persisted and eventually things turned out okay
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but I really just think like you shouldn't do something because other people expect it from you.
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You can do everything at your own pace.
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Nobody's life is exactly the same and there's no one correct way to live a life.
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You don't have to have this imaginary timeline of your whole entire life.
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That's just not how things work because you never know what's gonna happen.
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There might be some surprises or a new path is revealed that you have never even thought about before.
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So you're not running out of time.
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You are not late and don't let anyone else make you believe that you are.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
This video offers a valuable context for English learners to engage in IELTS speaking practice. The speaker addresses common feelings of inadequacy and the pressure to keep up with others, which resonates with many young individuals today. By discussing relatable topics such as societal expectations and the influence of social media, you can practice expressing your thoughts and emotions in English. This type of content encourages learners to articulate their own perspectives on pressure and success, aiding them in not just comprehension but also in constructing coherent and expressive responses during speaking tasks.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Here are some key structures used by the speaker that you can incorporate into your own English practice:
- Conditionals: "If you feel like you're running out of time..." Using conditionals can help frame discussions about hypothetical situations.
- Present Continuous Tense: "Everyone is constantly achieving something..." This tense is useful for describing ongoing actions or trends, making your speech more dynamic.
- Comparative Structures: "It's not exactly possible to do the same things that our parents did..." This structure enables you to compare different situations effectively, a skill vital in the IELTS speaking practice.
- Emphatic Expressions: "I totally understand that." Using phrases that add emphasis can make your conversation more engaging and relatable.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As you practice shadow speech with this video, pay special attention to the following tricky elements:
- “Comparing” vs. “Comparison”: Many learners confuse these terms when speaking quickly. Ensure you pronounce both syllables clearly to convey your message accurately.
- “Amazingly”: Notice how the speaker emphasizes this word. It’s a great opportunity to practice your intonation and stress patterns, which are crucial for improving English pronunciation.
- Reduced Sounds: The speaker often uses contractions and links words, such as "what's" instead of "what is." Practicing these contractions will make your speech sound more natural.
By engaging with these contexts and structures, and by focusing on pronunciation elements, you can greatly enhance your ability to communicate effectively in English, making you more prepared for real-life conversations and formal tests alike.
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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