Shadowing Practice: You still have a lot to fight for. - Learn English Speaking with Video

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First, you're going to fail sometimes, and that's a good thing.
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For all the amazing successes I've been lucky to share, and few things have shaped me more than the auditions that Ben and I used to go on as young actors, where we'd get on a bus, we'd show up in New York,
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we'd wait our turn, we'd cry our hearts out for a scene, and then be told, okay, thanks, meaning game over.
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We used to call it being okay-thanksed.
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And those experiences became our armor.
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Alright, now you're thinking, great, thanks Matt.
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Failure is good, thanks a ton.
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Tell me something I didn't hear at my high school graduation.
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To which I say, okay, I will.
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You know the real danger for MIT graduates?
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It's not getting okay thanksed.
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The real danger is all that smoke that's been blown up your graduation gowns about how freaking smart you are.
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Well, you are that smart.
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But don't believe the hype that's thrown at you.
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You don't have all the answers, and you shouldn't, and that's fine.
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You're going to have your share of bad ideas.
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For one, or for me, one was playing a character named Edgar Pudwacker.
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I wish I could tell you I'm making that up.
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But as the great philosopher Benjamin Affleck once said, judge me by how good my good ideas are, not how bad my bad ideas are.
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You've got to suit up in your armor, you've got to get ready to sound like a total fool.
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Not having an answer isn't embarrassing, it's an opportunity.
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Don't be afraid to ask questions.
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I know so much less the second time I'm fake graduating than the first time.
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The second thing I want to leave you with is you got to keep listening.
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The world wants to hear your ideas, good and bad, but today is not the day you switch from receive to transmit.
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Once you do that, your education is over and your education should never be over.
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But whatever you do, just keep listening, even to people you don't agree with at all.
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I love what President Obama said at Howard University's commencement last month.
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He said, democracy requires compromise even when you are 100% right.
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I heard that and thought, here is a man who has been happily married for a long time.
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Not that the First Lady has ever been wrong about anything.
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Just like my wife, never wrong.
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Not even when she decided last month
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that in a family with four kids what was missing in our lives was a third rescue dog.
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That was an outstanding decision, honey.
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And I love you.
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But not every problem has a high-tech solution.
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Now, if anybody has the right to think we can pretty much tech support the world's problems into submission, it's you.
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Think of the innovations that got their start at MIT or by MIT alums.
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The World Wide Web, nuclear fission, condensed soup.
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That's true.
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You should be very proud of that.
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But the truth is, we can't science the you-know-what out of every problem.
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What are you going to be a part of?
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What is the problem that you will try to solve?
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Whatever your answer, it is not going to be easy.
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Sometimes your work will hit a dead end.
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Sometimes your work will be measured in half steps.
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Sometimes your work will make you wear a white sequined military uniform and make love to Michael Douglas.
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All right, maybe that's just my work.
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But for all of you here, your work starts today.
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And seriously, how lucky are you?
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I mean, what are the odds that you're the ones who are here today?
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In the earth's 4.5 billion year run, with 100 billion people who have lived and died,
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and the seven billion of us here now, here you are.
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Yes, here you are.
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Alive at a time of potential extinction-level events, a time when fewer and fewer people can cause more and more damage,
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a time when science and technology may not hold all the answers but are indispensable to any solution.
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what are the odds
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that you get to be you right now there are potentially trillions of human beings who will someday exist
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or not whose fate in large part depends on the choices you make on your ideas on your grit
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and persistence and willingness to engage
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if this were a movie i was trying to pitch i'd
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be laughed out of every office in hollywood joseph campbell himself would tell me to throttle down
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and lower the stakes but i can't
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because this is a fact this is not fiction this improbable
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thing is actually happening there's more at stake today than in any story ever told
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and how lucky you are that you're here and you're you
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and how lucky we are that you are here
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and you are you so i hope you'll turn toward the problem of your choosing
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This is your moment and it is all down to you.
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Ready Player One, your game begins now.

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About This Lesson

Ready to learn English with videos while boosting your speaking skills? This lesson uses a lively, relatable video to practice shadow speak (repeating phrases aloud in real time) and build confidence for IELTS speaking practice. You’ll focus on natural intonation, conversational pacing, and understanding everyday expressions—perfect for english speaking practice. The video’s warm, encouraging tone makes it easy to follow, so you’ll feel like you’re having a chat with a friend while learning.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Armor (noun): Something that protects you emotionally (e.g., "Those failures became my armor").
  • Okay-thanksed (verb, informal): Rejected politely (e.g., "We’d audition and get okay-thanksed").
  • Hype (noun): Exaggerated praise (e.g., "Don’t believe the hype about being perfect").
  • Dead end (noun): A point where progress stops (e.g., "Your work might hit a dead end").
  • Half steps (noun): Small, gradual progress (e.g., "Success is often measured in half steps").

Practice Tips

To master shadowspeak with this video, start by watching it once to get the gist. Then, play short 5-10 second clips and repeat immediately—focus on matching the speaker’s rhythm and emphasis (like the playful tone when talking about a "third rescue dog"). The video’s speed is conversational, so don’t rush; aim for clarity over speed. Pause and rewind tricky phrases (e.g., "judge me by how good my good ideas are") until you feel comfortable. For IELTS speaking practice, mimic the speaker’s confidence—even when discussing "bad ideas," he stays upbeat. Keep practicing daily, and you’ll notice your fluency and listening skills improve in no time. You’ve got this!

Grammar in this video

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

StructureIn the video
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer trueused to go · used to call
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters nowI've been · that's been blown · has been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itbe told · been blown · will be measured
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thingman who has · ones who are · people who have

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 →