Практика Shadowing: I Wish I Knew This When I Started Scuba Diving - Изучайте разговорный английский по видео

Did you think scuba diving would be easy?

I did, and now after logging over 500 dives, diving has become second nature for me.

But let me tell you, it was a grind in the beginning, and I wish I'd known how to make the process faster, safer, and honestly a lot more fun along the way.

So to help make scuba diving easier for you, here are 13 things that I learned that will help you when you first start scuba diving.

Let's get into it.

I'm Thomas Hughes, a professional scuba instructor, and on this channel, you'll see videos on scuba education, equipment, experiences, and environmental awareness.

Lesson number one.

When I first started diving, I was so worried about doing something wrong on a dive, I kept thinking things like, what if I messed up something for one of my dive buddies,

or what if I screw up and hurt myself, right?

I'd get stressed and anxious before a dive, and honestly, it made me unsure if I wanted to keep diving at all.

But lesson number one is to relax.

Remember diving is supposed to be fun.

This level of anxiety and stress just isn't needed and just remember your training.

Focus on those fundamentals and get out there and enjoy your diving.

Lesson number two.

On my first dive trip ever, I witnessed a dive emergency that could have turned into a serious incident.

But luckily everyone was able to end their dive safely and they all got back home okay.

In diving, it's a bit of an international signal that if your scuba cylinder has a dust cap on the valve, that means that it's a full cylinder.

And when you use a tank, you're taught to never put the dust cap back on, which makes sure that someone doesn't mistake it for a full tank, right?

Should always be checking your air pressure before you get in the water, but mistakes happen.

And well, on this trip, a dive instructor ended up grabbing a nearly completely empty tank by mistake because they were in a rush okay.

The first time they checked their SPG was about five minutes into the dive

when they took the last breath of air off that rig and their SPG read empty.

Luckily they were near their dive buddy who donated their octo and they made a safe ascent ending their dive early.

So lesson number two is don't become complacent.

Always do your pre -dive safety checks even if that means

that your buddies have to wait an extra minute before you get into the water.

Lesson number three.

I remember after getting my open water certification I had the feeling of like what's next

and I wanted to just immediately jump into the next class.

I was hooked right.

I really felt like I had a lot of knowledge already just from the basics

and more training would just open even more doors for me and just I had this thirst for knowledge at the time.

Unfortunately what actually happened is as I learned more I realized there was even more I didn't know about diving

and that really impacted my confidence.

I started to get a bit more anxious again and wondering

if I would ever improve and be able to enjoy dives like all of my dive buddies seem to.

But then I realized this is just what's known as the Dunning -Kruger effect taking place.

Lesson number three is understanding that the more you learn about a topic, the more you realize you don't know about that topic.

Okay, this is normal and it's important to stay humble, not be complacent, and continue learning gradually as you gain experience.

Lesson number four.

The first time I ever put on a wetsuit it was a brand new five millimeter

that did not fit me very well.

It was so tight.

It cut off my circulation in my arms and in my legs

and because it was brand new it made me way more buoyant than I was used to.

I struggled so much with my buoyancy that day

that I gave up and decided I just wasn't going to go diving that day.

Now luckily an instructor friend told me that struggling with buoyancy is normal

and help give me some tips so I could work on it.

Lesson number four is to focus on your buoyancy early and often.

You'll always be working on it.

Once I started to dedicate time specifically to just focusing on buoyancy and trim,

my dives were way more enjoyable and now I can stay neutral in just about any position underwater.

Lesson number five.

As I was focusing on my buoyancy, I had to learn a few things as well, right?

I wasn't perfect obviously at the beginning.

I kept struggling to hold my position in the water column

and I felt like I constantly had to add puffs of air

or release air from my BCD to kind of raise and lower myself over and over again.

But then I realized something.

My lungs were like an internal BCD

and the BCD itself was more for just kind of becoming neutrally buoyant at first at a different depth, right?

So lesson number five is to understand the link between buoyancy and breath control.

Once this clicks for you and once it clicked for me, I was able to easily rise and fall with just my breath

and only needed to touch my BCD

if I decided I needed to become more neutral again

because maybe I went to a deeper depth or to a shallower depth.

Lesson number six.

Believe it or not, when I took my advanced open water course, I almost quit diving because of how bad I was in the water.

I was frustrated by terrible air consumption, horrific buoyancy control, and I really lacked in just the basic fundamentals of diving.

I remember still I walked into the dive shop and told the owner, I don't think this is for me.

Do you have suggestions for selling my scuba gear?

Because I went out and bought everything after open water thinking that this is the new career for me.

Now, luckily, they talked me out of quitting diving completely

and suggested that I just take some time trying to enjoy diving before getting too worked up about classes

and whether I'm being bad or good in the water and all these different things.

So I got more dives in and he was right.

Everything became easier as I gained more experience.

So lesson number six is that more time in the water helps everything from buoyancy control to air consumption.

And if you feel like you're struggling to improve, you may just need to spend some more time underwater in order to relax and improve.

Lesson number seven.

When I am teaching a class, especially open water students, I almost always see them using their hands to swim and turn underwater, right?

It's natural response because if you know how to swim, you would swim with your arms normally, right?

But this is very ineffective and wastes a lot of energy and air when we're diving.

Instead, I teach them to cross their arms

or hold it onto their BCD straps or clasp their hands

so they can just occupy themselves and stop flailing

so much underwater like one of those wacky inflatable marketing things

that you see on the side of the road here in the U .S.

Now, in every single case, this helps them to improve their air consumption

and protects them from hitting corals or rocks and things like that by accident and getting hurt underwater.

So lesson number seven is to not use your hands to swim or turn underwater.

Use your fins instead and learn how to do things like helicopter turns and stuff like that over time, okay?

It's going to save energy, it's going to save air, and you'll be amazed by how much this can help with your air consumption alone.

Lesson number eight.

After I got certified as an open water diver I was absolutely hooked on diving

and like I said I went to the shop I asked about the next course

and I bought a full set of gear including a dive computer, regulator, and BCD.

100

As my diving continued I realized there were a lot of things I wish I had

101

that my BCD and regulator just couldn't really provide for me and they're things that I really wanted.

102

Now this was anything from like d -ring placement on my

103

BCD to the number of ports on my first stage

104

and later I ended up having to replace most of

105

that initial gear because I needed more than what it could offer me

106

and I kind of wasted money on that initial investment.

107

I ended up selling a lot of it on Facebook marketplace and other parts I just wound up donating away.

108

So lesson number eight is that you do not have to buy all your gear at once.

109

Take some time diving to learn what you do

110

and don't like about rental gear and look at what other divers have and ask about their kit that they're wearing.

111

You're going to learn a lot this way

112

and it can save you from wasting money on gear that you're just going to end up replacing later.

113

Lesson number nine.

114

I don't know what I'm going to do when I get past 10.

115

So a few years back I had just moved to North Carolina from Texas

116

and outside of a couple family members I didn't know anyone here at all

117

and as we all know making friends as an adult can be tough

118

but I went to the local dive shop to see what

119

kind of diving was in the area kind of ask about charters trips things like that

120

and honestly i had a great time i ended up hanging

121

out there for over an hour chatting with the shop employees

122

and some of the divers that were in

123

and out of the shop as well

124

and it kind of just turned into a little hangout spot

125

now i didn't really know anyone well at all especially

126

that first day but they invited me out to a local beer garden

127

and i made a bunch of friends including my now best friend.

128

So lesson number nine is to be sociable.

129

Divers love talking about diving and it's a great way to make friends since you already have a hobby in common.

130

If you see someone with a dive flag on their car

131

or a diving shirt like this one here or something like that, don't be afraid to stop them and start talking about diving.

132

You might be surprised you might find a new friend there.

133

Lesson number 10.

134

When I went on my first dive trip, I had less than 10 dives total in my logbook, and that included my initial checkout dive, so really it was more like four or five dives, right?

135

But during that trip, we dove three to four times a day for five days straight, and I added 18 dives to my logbook.

136

So in one trip, I more than doubled my time underwater, and it made a huge impact to my diving.

137

Diving that many times, day after day, back to back like that, allowed me to gain so much confidence and improve my fundamentals tremendously.

138

Now, lesson number 10 is to go on dive trips.

139

They truly accelerate your skills by so, so much and are incredible experiences as well.

140

If you're new, you're going to see so much improvement back -to -back diving like that.

141

And if you're more experienced, you get to see amazing things that you can't always get back home.

142

I love dive trips so much.

143

It's one of the reasons why I'm going to be hosting my own coming soon.

144

So click that first link in the description to get my newsletter

145

so you don't miss out when I start offering those trips and you can go diving with us.

146

Lesson 11.

147

So now speaking of experience, I often hear divers talk about the number of dives they have or how long they've been and diving.

148

Some like to show off which certifications they have too and try to prove how experienced they are, right?

149

Well, the funny thing is I've learned

150

that even people who have been diving for 40 years may not be that experienced still.

151

Diving often and in varied conditions is really way more important than the total number of dives

152

or total years of diving that you've had.

153

If you dive twice a year for 50 years versus 50 times a year for two years, you both have 100 dives,

154

but I'd argue person diving more frequently may actually be a little bit more experienced in the water just

155

because of how often they get that repetition so lesson number 11 is

156

that certifications years of diving

157

and total dives don't automatically equal experience experience comes from diving frequently

158

and experiencing many different diving conditions as well once i realized

159

this i learned who i wanted to take more advice from

160

and who i would listen to but honestly maybe i'd ignore their advice overall

161

because they just aren't as experienced as they might sound on paper.

162

Lesson number 12.

163

I had just finished that first dive trip

164

that I mentioned a little bit earlier

165

and one of the divers on the trip asked me

166

when my next one was and where I was going to be going next.

167

I remember I looked a little bit cheapish

168

and mentioned how expensive trips are and that I wasn't sure

169

when I would be able to take off time from work to go on another trip like that.

170

And she asked me a really important question that's always stuck with me she said do you live to work

171

or do you work to live and

172

that question has just stuck with me ever since now I make sure to really invest time

173

and money into the right trips where I can get the best experiences possible

174

because I work to live I don't live to work lesson number 12 is

175

that dive trips can absolutely be expensive but they're also absolutely worth it especially

176

if you do it right do not let life pass you by

177

because you're so caught up in work

178

that you never take time to enjoy what you're actually working for and getting to live life as well.

179

Lesson number 13.

180

Now, speaking of trips, I used to stress before every dive trip making sure I packed everything I needed and then some.

181

But then I was anxious about keeping the baggage weight under the limit as well

182

because I didn't want to have to pay extra fees for either extra bags or overweight bags.

183

The thing is, once the dive trip was over, I usually would realize that I had a bunch of stuff

184

that I packed that I never even used from dive gear to extra rash guards, clothes, and just things I didn't need.

185

But then I started keeping a packing list for everywhere I've gone, especially noting the things that I never even used on the trip or things that I wish I had.

186

And now I just use my packing list and make small edits as needed, removing all that stress and worry.

187

So lesson number 13 is to keep a good packing list for your trips.

188

Learn from others and adjust it based on what you actually use on the trip, not just what you brought on the trip.

189

And if you wanna see my generic packing list for scuba travel, you can click the link down in the description below and I'll send it over to you.

190

Now, I did say 13 lessons, but I wanted to share one more with you

191

because I think it's an absolutely critical tip if you want to improve as a diver.

192

The thing is, it's a bit of a longer one, so watch this video next where I give you a trick to help fix your buoyancy problems.

193

With that, stay safe, have fun, and let's go diving.

194

You

✨ Рекомендуемое видео

81 предложений

30 Things You Can Do Without Scrolling | Use Your Time Better | Improve Your English Fluency ✅️

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

Почему стоит практиковать речь на этом видео?

Видео о сноркелинге — отличный материал для shadow speak, потому что он сочетает разговорный английский с конкретными сценами. Томас Гьюз говорит естественно, с эмоциями, что помогает освоить интонацию и ритм живой речи. Практика на таком контенте улучшает понимание повседневных выражений и готовит к реальным коммуникациям, например, с инструкторами или товарищами по погружению. К тому же, тема сноркелинга интересна и познавательна, что мотивирует больше тренироваться!

Грамматика и выражения в контексте

В диалоге встречаются полезные структуры, которые стоит запомнить:

"I wish I'd known..." — конструкция для выражения сожаления о прошлых действиях. Например: "I wish I'd known how to make the process faster" (Хотелось бы, чтобы я знал, как ускорить процесс). Очень удобна для разговоров о опыте.
"It was a grind in the beginning" — фраза "to be a grind" означает "быть тяжелым, утомительным". Полезна для описания сложностей: "Learning a new language can be a grind at first" (Изучение нового языка сначала может быть тяжелым).
"Don't become complacent" — "Не становись самодовольным". Это важное предупреждение, которое можно использовать в разных контекстах, не только в сноркелинге.

Трудные места в произношении

Некоторые слова и фразы могут вызвать сложности при shadowing. Обратите внимание:

"Scuba diving" — правильно произносится "skuːbə ˈdaɪvɪŋ", а не "skjuːbə". Убедитесь, что первый слог "scu" звучит как "sku", а не "skju".
"Buoyancy" — это слово с неочевидным произношением: "ˈbɔɪənsi". Запомните, что stress падает на первый слог, а "oy" звучит как "ой".
"Dunning - Kruger effect" — фамилии могут быть сложными, но важно произносить их чётко: "ˈdʌnɪŋ ˈkruːɡər ɪˈfekt". Постарайтесь не скидывать звуки в конце.

Используйте эти tips для тренировки shadow speech — повторяйте за спикером, копируя его интонацию и ритм. На shadowing site вы можете найти больше видео для практики, но начните с этого — оно поможет вам улучшить речь и узнать много нового о сноркелинге!

Грамматика в этом видео

Конструкции, которые говорящий использует чаще всего, с точными словами из видео:

Конструкция	В видео
Present Perfect have/has + причастие прошедшего времени — прошлое действие, важное сейчас	has become · they've been · I've learned
Пассивный залог be + причастие прошедшего времени — важно, что происходит, а не кто это делает	isn't needed · was hooked · was frustrated

Что такое техника Shadowing?

Shadowing — это научно обоснованная техника изучения языка, изначально разработанная для подготовки профессиональных переводчиков и популяризированная полиглотом доктором Александром Аргуэльесом. Метод прост, но эффективен: вы слушаете аудио на английском от носителей языка и немедленно повторяете вслух — как тень, следующая за говорящим с задержкой в 1–2 секунды. В отличие от пассивного прослушивания или грамматических упражнений, Shadowing заставляет мозг и мышцы рта одновременно обрабатывать и воспроизводить реальные речевые паттерны. Исследования показывают, что это значительно улучшает точность произношения, интонацию, ритм, связную речь, понимание на слух и беглость речи — что делает его одним из самых эффективных методов для подготовки к IELTS Speaking и реального общения на английском.

Техника шедоуинга: читать полное пошаговое руководство →

Практика Shadowing: I Wish I Knew This When I Started Scuba Diving - Изучайте разговорный английский по видео

How to Survive Being Lost in the Amazon

This Breathing Patter Will Change The Way You Swim 🏊‍♀️ #swimming #swim

B2 English Listening Practice - Airplanes and Flying

21 Lessons I Learned on My First Bike Tour - Cycling Tour Tips

Sucked Into an Oil Pipe and Survived: The Christopher Boodram Story

COMPLETE FIRST CERTIFICATE 2015 UNIT 7

20 Cheat Codes I Wish I Knew at 20

Lesson 1: Why you freeze (and why it's normal)

The Most Incredible Cave Rescues Ever

How to perform CPR - A Step-by-Step Guide

Cold Plunging With JENNIE | Vogue