Shadowing Practice: ✍️ A Voice Struggling to Be Heard | My Salinger Year (2020) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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I didn't want to be ordinary.
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I wanted to be extraordinary.
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I loved watching the people around us.
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They seemed to have interesting lives.
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I wanted to be one of them.
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I wanted to write novels and speak five languages and travel.
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I didn't want to be ordinary.
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I wanted to be extraordinary.
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There were hundreds of us.
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Thousands, maybe.
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All girls, working at literary agencies or publishing houses.
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We answered calls for our bosses, ushered in the writers, fetched them water, never belying the fact that we wanted to be writers ourselves.
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We whispered about the lucky ones, the ones who were mentored by their bosses, who were allowed to take on books or clients,
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the ones who broke the rules to show initiative, the ones who wanted it badly enough.
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You probably never got to

About This Lesson

You're practicing English with "✍️ A Voice Struggling to Be Heard | My Salinger Year (2020)" using the Shadowing technique — a method originally developed for professional interpreter training.

Focus on sounding like the speaker — not just repeating words. With 15–30 minutes of daily practice, you'll build real-world speaking confidence.

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.