Shadowing Practice: You Need to Believe in Yourself I Robert Greene - Learn English Speaking with Video
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12 sentences
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1
The world is a tough, mean place.
2
People want to bring you down constantly.
3
It's not easy to create a film or a book or anything like that because people are so damn critical.
4
They want to bring you down.
5
And so you have to have a lot of self -belief in this world to get ahead.
6
You have to really be able to shut out all the crap people throw at you.
7
A lot of business leaders are narcissistic because to get to the top, you have to have that level of self -belief and you have to have charisma.
8
You have to be kind of an Elon Musk.
9
So a lot of high -functioning, high -level people are narcissists.
10
Some of them can control it and they channel it into something productive, like a good business, like an op work of art.
11
Others are brought down by it because it's like a demon inside themselves
12
and it takes them over and they can't control it in any way.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 12 sentences and 170 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:45. The speaker talks fast, about 226 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
14 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| belief noun | /bɪˈliːf/ | Mental acceptance of a claim as true. |
| productive adjective | /pɹəˈdʌk.tɪv/ | Capable of producing something, especially in abundance; fertile. |
| demon noun | /ˈdiː.mən/ | An evil being resident in or working for Hell; a devil. |
| charisma noun | /kəˈɹɪzmə/ | A gift or power of leadership or authority. |
| narcissist noun | One who shows extreme love and admiration for themself. | |
| narcissistic adjective | /ˌnɑɹ.sɪˈsɪs.tɪk/ | Of or pertaining to the nature of narcissism. |
| constantly adverb | /ˈkɑnstənʔli/ | In a constant manner; occurring continuously; persistently. |
| leader noun | /ˈliː.də(ɹ)/ | Any person who leads or directs. |
| channel noun | /ˈt͡ʃænəl/ | The hollow bed of running waters; (also) the bed of the sea or other body of water. |
| critical adjective | /ˈkɹɪt.ɪ.kəl/ | Inclined to find fault or criticize. |
| throw verb | /θɹoʊ/ | To hurl; to release (an object) with some force from one’s hands, an apparatus, etc. so that it moves rapidly through the air. |
| function noun | /ˈfʌŋkʃən/ | What something does or is used for. |
| shut verb | /ʃʌt/ | To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through. |
| tough adjective | /tʌf/ | Of a material, strong and resilient; sturdy. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| bring down verb | To make (a ruler or government) lose their position of power. |
| get ahead verb | To advance toward success. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are brought |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: function /ˈfʌŋkʃən/, shut /ʃʌt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like belief, productive, demon.
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.