Shadowing Practice: You'll end up alone with your cats - Learn English Speaking with Video
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66 sentences
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So, I know quite a few women who are pretty much like this.
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She's in her 30s, maybe 40s, messy bun, lives alone, probably talks to her cat a little too much,
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and everyone kind of feels sorry for her.
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However, the fact
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that these people seem way calmer than the people feeling sorry for them got me wondering why
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that idea bothers everyone so much.
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And honestly, I think a big part of it comes from how we were raised.
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Most of us grew up with one version of a happy ending.
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You meet someone, you get married, you have kids, the end. So anything outside of
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that gets treated like a waiting room, you know? like you're just sitting there until your real life starts
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and in the story a cat is basically proof
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that you've stopped waiting
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which for some reason people find terrifying personally though i don't really buy it because
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when you look a little closer at how these women actually
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live the story feels really different take my older sister for example she's not married no kids
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and her career is honestly going amazing like she is the person
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i call whenever i have no idea what i'm doing with my life
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and every evening after a long day at work
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she comes home to two of the most chill adorable cats ever one is usually stretched out on the couch
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and the other one wanders over like oh you're back cool
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she makes herself some tea they climb into her lap
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and that's the night every time i visit i get a little jealous
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because she just looks so happy and so at peace you know
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and to me that's that's the part people tend to miss being alone
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and being lonely are two different things
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so loneliness at least the way i understand it is
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when you feel invisible even in a room full of people
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being alone on the other hand can be really peaceful once you've made your space feel like home.
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On top of that, taking care of an animal changes you in small ways you don't notice at first.
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For one, you start waking up at the same time every morning because someone is yelling for breakfast.
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Then you start noticing when they eat less or sleep in a wet spot and you worry.
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You also learned patience since a cat will never do anything just
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because you wanted to
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and slowly without really meaning to you get better at looking after something i would even say
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that at some point that something includes you okay
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so back to what i'm saying what i find even more interesting though is the kind of love
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you get from a cat it's hard to explain
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but it's quiet it doesn't ask you to perform you don't have to be funny
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or pretty or successful that day you can cry on the floor at 1 a .m
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and they still just come and sit next to you
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kind of judging you sure but staying away and
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if you think about it a lot of people never get
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that from another human they spend years trying to earn affection i think wanting a partner is completely normal
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and i would be lying
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if i said being single is always fun some days it's lovely
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and some days it's just a lot you know weddings take holiday getting sick
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and having to go buy your own medicine
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so yeah both things can be true at the same time what i'm really pushing back on this idea
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that your life is on pause until someone picks you the years
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you spend single are real years you're building habits friendships a home
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and a version of yourself you actually like that way
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if a relationship does come along it gets to join a life that's already full nobody has to come
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and rescue you from an empty one you know
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so the next time someone says
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you're gonna end up alone with your cats like it's some kind of threat maybe just smile
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Honestly, a warm apartment, a little routine, something purring on your chest while you fall asleep, there are worse endings, you know?
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And hey, if the right person does show up one day, great.
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They'll just need to understand one thing, the cat was here first.
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so i hope you like this video with my little lovely cat moon let me introduce
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you my sister cat this is moon say hi to the camera my name is moon
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and i'm one year old gosh moon is really heavy look
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at the camera look at the camera a lot of people are watching
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you right now look look at whoo look at over there hello guys my name is moon
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and i love my sister
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so much this is ma it's like apricot in english hi everyone my name is ma it's
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so nice to meet you guys hello guys hello bye
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “You'll end up alone with your cats”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: cat, moon, alone, honestly, camera. This video has 66 sentences and 838 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:11. The speaker talks at a steady 135 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 89% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| earn verb | /ɝn/ | To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work. |
| rescue verb | /ˈɹɛs.kjuː/ | To save from any violence, danger or evil. |
| bother verb | /ˈbɑðɚ/ | To annoy, to disturb, to irritate; to be troublesome to, to make trouble for. |
| friendship noun | /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/ | The condition of being friends. |
| introduce verb | /ˌɪntɹəˈdus/ | To cause (someone) to be acquainted (with someone else). |
| routine noun | /ɹuˈtin/ | A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure. |
| asleep adjective | /əˈsliːp/ | In a state of sleep; also, broadly, resting. |
| stretch verb | /stɹɛt͡ʃ/ | To lengthen by pulling. |
| lonely adjective | /ˈloʊnli/ | Unhappy due to feeling isolated from contact with other people. |
| habit noun | /ˈhæb.ɪt/ | An action performed on a regular basis. |
| jealous adjective | /ˈd͡ʒɛl.əs/ | Suspecting rivalry in love; troubled by worries that one might have been replaced in someone's affections; suspicious of a lover's or spouse's fidelity. |
| climb verb | /ˈklaɪ̯m/ | To traverse a slope or contour, either upwards (ascending) or downwards (descending). |
| patience noun | /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/ | The quality of being patient. |
| chill verb | /tʃɪl/ | To lower the temperature of something; to cool. |
| couch noun | /ˈkaʊ̯t͡ʃ/ | An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come along verb | To accompany. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. |
| stay away verb | To avoid or not go anywhere near someone or something. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've stopped · you've made |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were raised · is usually stretched |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 16 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, patience /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/, affection /əˈfɛk.ʃən/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: invisible /ɪnˈvɪzəb(ə)l/, adorable /əˈdoɹ.əˌbəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like earn, rescue, bother.
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.