Shadowing Practice: You're Not Obsessed Enough - Learn English Speaking with Video

Let's call them tennis lessons.

So here's the first.

Effortless is a myth.

I mean it.

I say that as someone who has heard that word a lot.

Effortless.

People would say my play was effortless.

Most of the time they meant it as a compliment, but it used to frustrate me when they would say he barely broke a sweat or is even trying.

The truth is I had to work very hard to to make it look easy.

I spent years whining, swearing, throwing my racket before I learned to keep my cool.

The wake -up call came early in my career when an opponent at the Italian Open publicly questioned my mental discipline.

He said, Roger will be the favorite for the first two hours, then I'll be the favorite after that.

I was puzzled at first, but eventually I realized what he was trying to say.

Everybody can play well the first two hours.

You're fit, you're fast, you're clear and after two hours your legs get wobbly, your mind starts wandering and your discipline starts to fade.

It made me understand I have so much work ahead of me and I'm ready to go on this journey.

I get it.

My parents, my coaches, my fitness coach, everyone had been calling me out and now even my rivals were doing it.

Players, thank you.

I'm eternally grateful for what you did because you made me work harder.

So I started to train harder, a lot harder actually, but then I realized winning effortlessly is the ultimate achievement.

I got that reputation because my warm -ups at the tournaments were so casual that people didn't think I'd been training hard.

But I had been working hard before the tournament when nobody was watching.

Maybe you've seen a version of this at Dartmouth.

How many times did you feel like your classmates were racking up A after A without even trying

while you were pulling all -nighters?

Loading up on caffeine, maybe, or crying softly in a corner of Sanborn Library?

Hopefully, like me, you learned that effortless is a myth.

I didn't get where I got on pure talent alone.

I got there by trying to outwork my opponents.

I believed in myself, but belief in yourself has to be earned.

There was a moment in 2003 when my self -belief really kicked in.

I was at the ATP Finals where only the best eight players qualified.

And I beat some of the top players I really, really admired by aiming right at their strength.

Before, I would run away from their strength.

If a guy had a strong forehand, I would try to hit his backhand.

But now, I would try to go after his forehand.

I tried to beat the baseliners from the baseline.

I tried to beat the attackers by attacking.

I tried to beat the net rushers from the net.

I took a chance by doing that.

So why did I do it?

To amplify my game and expand my options.

You need a whole arsenal of strength.

So if one of them breaks down, you've got something left.

When your game is clicking like that, winning is easy, relatively.

Then there are days when you just feel broken.

When your back hurts, your knee hurts, I've had that a lot.

Maybe you're a little sick or scared, but you still find a way to win.

And those are the victories we can be most proud of.

Because they prove that you can win not just when you're at your best, but especially when you aren't.

Yes, talent matters.

I'm not going to stand here and tell you it doesn't.

But talent has a broad definition.

Most of the time it's not about having a gift, it's about having grit.

In tennis a great forehand with sick racket head speed can be called a talent.

But in tennis, like in life, discipline is also a talent and so is patience.

Trusting yourself is a talent.

Embracing the process, loving the process is a talent.

Managing your life, managing yourself.

These can be talents too.

Some people are born with them.

Everybody has to work at them.

From this day forward, some people are going to assume that because you graduated from Dartmouth, it all is going to come easy for you.

And you know what?

Let them believe that, as long as you don't.

Okay, second lesson.

It's only a point.

Let me explain.

You can work harder than you thought possible and still lose.

I have, many times.

Tennis is brutal.

There's no getting around the fact that every tournament ends the same way.

One player gets a trophy.

Every other player gets back on a plane, stares out of the window, and thinks, how the hell did I miss that shot?

Imagine if today only one of you got a degree.

Congratulations, this year's graduate.

Let's give her a hand.

The rest of you, the other 1 ,000 of you, better luck next time.

So, you know, I tried not to lose, but I did lose, sometimes big.

For me, one of the biggest was the finals at Wimbledon in 2008, me versus Nadal.

Some call it the greatest match of all time.

Okay, all respect to Rafa, but I think it would have been way, way better if I had won.

losing at wimbledon was a big deal

because wimbledon winning wimbledon is everything obviously except winning

that dartmouth master pong title sophomore summer it is i mean

i've gotten to play in some amazing venues around the world

but when you have the chance to walk onto center court at wimbledon the cathedral of tennis

and when you finish as the champion you feel the magnitude of the moment and there's nothing like it In 2008,

I was going for a record six consecutive title.

I was playing for history.

I'm not going to walk you through the match point by point.

If we did, we would be here for hours, almost five hours to be exact.

There were rain delays.

The sun went down.

Rafa won two sets.

I won the next two sets in tie breaks.

And we found ourselves at seven all in the fifth.

I understand why people focus on the end.

100

The final minute so dark I could barely see the chalk on the grass, but looking back I feel like I lost at the very first point of the match.

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I looked across the net and I saw a guy who just a few weeks earlier crushed me in straight

102

sets at the French Open and I thought this guy is maybe hungrier than I am and he's finally got my number.

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It took me onto the third set before I remembered, hey buddy, you're the five time defending champion

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and you're on grass by the way you know how to do this

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but I came too late and Rafa won

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and it was well deserved some defeats her more than others

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I knew I would never get another shot at six in

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a row I lost Wimbledon I lost my number one ranking

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and suddenly people said he had a great run is this the changing of the guard

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but I knew what I had to do keep working

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and keep competing in tennis perfection is impossible in the 1526

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singles matches i played in my career i won almost 80

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of those matches now i have a question for you what

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percentage of points do you think i want in those matches

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only 54 in other words even top ranked tennis players when barely more than half of the points they play.

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When you lose every second point on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot.

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You teach yourself to think, okay, I double -faulted, it's only a point.

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Okay, I came to the net, then I got passed again, it's only a point.

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Even a great shot, an overhead backhand smash that ends up on ESPN's top 10 playlist, that too is just a point.

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So here's why I'm telling you this.

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When you're playing a point, it has to be the most important thing in the world, and it is.

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But when it's behind you, it's behind you.

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This mindset is really crucial because it frees you to fully commit to the next point and the next point after that.

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With intensity, clarity, and focus.

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The truth is, whatever game you play in life, sometimes you're going to lose.

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A point, a match, a season, a job it's a roller coaster with many ups

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and downs and it's natural when you're down to doubt yourself

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and to feel sorry for yourself

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and by the way your opponents have self -doubt too don't ever forget

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that but negative energy is wasted energy you want to become a master at overcoming hard moments

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that is to me the sign of a champion the best in the world are not the best

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because they win every point it's because they know they'll lose again

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and again and have learned how to deal with it you accept it try it out

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if you need to and then force a smile you move on be relentless

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adapt

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and grow work harder work smarter remember work smarter lesson three

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are you guys still with me for a for a guy

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who left school at 16 this is a lot of lessons as well for me too

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so here's the third here's the third one life is bigger

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than the court a tennis court is a small space two thousand one hundred

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and six square feet to be exact that's what singles matches

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not much bigger than a dorm room I can make that three or four dorm rooms in mass row

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I worked a lot, learned a lot and ran a lot of miles in that small space, but the world is a whole lot bigger than that.

144

Even when I was just starting out, I knew that tennis could show me the world, but tennis could never be the world.

145

I knew that if I was lucky, maybe I could play competitively until my late 30s, maybe even 41.

146

But even when I was in the top five, it was important to me to have a life, a rewarding life, full of travel, culture, friendships and especially family.

147

I never abandoned my roots, I never forgot where I came from, but I also never lost my appetite to see the very big world.

148

I left home at 14 to go to school in the French part of Switzerland for two years

149

and I was horribly homesick at first but learned to love a life on the move.

150

But these are the reasons I never burned out, maybe.

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I was excited to travel the world, but not just as a tourist.

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I realized pretty early that I wanted to serve other people in other countries.

153

Motivated by my South African mother, I started a foundation to empower children through education.

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Early childhood education is something we take for granted in a place like Switzerland, But in sub -Saharan Africa,

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75 % of children do not have access to preschool.

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Think about that, 75%.

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Like all children, they need a good start if they're going to fulfill their potential.

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And so far, we've helped nearly 3 million children to get a quality education

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and help to train more than 55 ,000 teachers.

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It's been an honor.

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Thank you.

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It's been an honour and it's been humbling, an honour to help tackle this challenge and humbling to see how complex it is,

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humbling to try to read stories to children in one of the languages of Lezutu,

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humbling also to arrive in rural Zambia and have to explain what tennis actually is.

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I vividly remember drawing a tennis court on the chalkboard for the kids to see

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because I asked them what tennis was and one kid said it's the one with the table right with the paddles

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pong again it's everywhere I have to tell you it's a wonderful feeling to visit these incredible rural places

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and to find classrooms full of children who are learning and reading

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and playing like children everywhere should be allowed to do it's

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also inspiring to see what they grow up to be some

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have become nurses teachers computer programmers it's been an exciting journey

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graduates i know the same is true for you your parents your families they made the sacrifices

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to get you here and they have shared your triumphs

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and your struggles they will always always be in your corner

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and not only them as you head out into the world

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don't forget you get to bring all of this with you

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this culture this energy these people this color green it's everywhere the friends who have pushed you

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and supported you to become the best versions of yourself the

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friends who will never stop cheering for you just like today

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and you will keep making friends in the Dartmouth community possibly even today

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so right now turn to people on your left

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and on your right

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and maybe this is the first time you've met you might not share experiences

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or viewpoints but you share this memory and a whole lot more

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when i left tennis i became a former tennis player

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but you are not a former anything you are future record breakers world travelers future volunteers

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and philanthropists future winners

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and future leaders I'm here to tell you from the other side of graduation

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that leaving a familiar world behind and finding new ones is incredibly, deeply, wonderfully exciting.

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142 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 189 sentences and 2280 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:00. The speaker talks at a natural 163 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
tennis noun	/ˈtɛnɪs/	A sport played by two players (or four in doubles), who alternately strike the ball over a net using racquets.
lesson noun	/ˈlɛs.ən/	A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
humble adjective	/ˈhʌmbəl/	Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.
discipline noun	/ˈdɪsəplɪn/	A controlled behaviour; self-control.
opponent noun	/əˈpəʊ.nənt/	One who opposes another; one who works or takes a position against someone or something; one who attempts to stop the progress of someone or something.
belief noun	/bɪˈliːf/	Mental acceptance of a claim as true.
rank noun	/ˈɹæŋk/	A row of people or things organized in a grid pattern, often soldiers.
grass noun	/ɡɹɑːs/	Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by leaves that arise from nodes in the stem and leaf bases that wrap around the stem, especially those grown as…
honour noun	/ˈɑnəɹ/	British, Canadian, Commonwealth, and Ireland standard spelling of honor.
myth noun	/mɪθ/	A traditional story which embodies a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are…
earn verb	/ɝn/	To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work.
percentage noun	/pə(ɹ)ˈsɛntɪd͡ʒ/	The amount, number or rate of something, regarded as part of a total of 100; a part of a whole.
defend verb	/dɪˈfɪnd/	To ward off attacks against (something or someone).
reputation noun	/ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/	What somebody or something is known for.
hungry adjective	/ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/	Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
break down verb		To stop functioning.
burn out verb		To destroy by fire.
get around verb		To move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path.
go down verb		To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one.
look back verb		To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight).
run away from verb		To avoid or shirk a problem or consequences; to rush to back away from or disclaim responsibility for something.
start out verb		To emerge suddenly; to jump out.
wake up verb	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	To stop sleeping; to awake.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 33 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: myth /mɪθ/, cathedral /kəˈθiːdɹəl/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, crucial /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/, casual /ˈkæʒ(u)əl/
Long words — get the stress right: reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, consecutive /kənˈsɛkjʊtɪv/, intensity /ɪnˈtɛnsɪti/

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 tennis, lesson, humble.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	If we did, we would be
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has heard · you've seen · i've gotten
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was puzzled · be earned · can be called
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	someone who has · guy who just · children who are

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 →

Shadowing Practice: You're Not Obsessed Enough - Learn English Speaking with Video

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