Shadow English Podcast

It’s too hot (Expressions about the heat) (Ep.17)

Episode Description: Kevin talks about a few English expressions you can use about the heat. 
To go to the shadowing immediately, go to 2:51. 
すぐにシャードイングしたい場合、2:51に行ってください！
#shadowing #summer #heatexpressions #shadowenglish #foreignlanguage #english #level up
Other ways to listen
Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@ShadowEnglish4649
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/69oQvsoqtRlIOIj1CTrcoc?si=8bff1d4f9ceb4a23
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/jp/podcast/shadow-english-podcast/id1685237645
Google Podcasts - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9lMDNjYmFmMC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw
Outro music - by Lundstroem - "Great podcast intro" (Short version and Long version)
Here in Japan, where I live, it has been incredibly hot. And watching the news, it seems that Japan is not alone. 
So today I thought I would go over a few expressions that you can use when talking about the heat.
One thing you can say is that ‘It is scorching out here’. Or sometimes…”It is a scorcher today”. Scorch is a verb and it means to burn the surface of something. Like scorching a creme brûlée. Or ’The houses were scorched by the blast’.  But you can use this to describe the weather. Obviously it is an exaggeration, but we say it sometimes. Scorching or scorcher are only used to refer to the natural outside temperature. So you can’t use it if it is hot because someone is blasting the heat inside a building.
Another expression is, ‘I am sweating bullets’.  This doesn’t mean that bullets are literally coming out of your skin, rather it is referring to the size of your sweat drops. You are sweating so much that the size of the sweat drops are like bullets.
Another expression is, “I am sweating like a pig”..and you can use this when…well, you are sweating a lot. I have heard that pigs don’t actually sweat though, so I am not sure if this expression is actually accurate or not.
Let’s see… you can also make comparisons, like ‘It feels like a sauna”…or ‘It’s like an oven outside’.
You can also say..”You can/could fry an egg on the sidewalk..”
Yeah, okay, I don’t want to overload you with too many expressions. But I hope you have found one that you like and will try using one of these expressions.
Have a great day! Stay cool.

The hardest part about learning a foreign language (Ep.16)

Episode 16 - The hardest part about learning a foreign language
Episode Description: Kevin talks about the hardest part of learning a foreign language, which may be not what you expect.
To go to the shadowing immediately, go to 2:51. 
すぐにシャードイングしたい場合、2:51に行ってください！
#shadowing #studyingaforeignlanguage #shadowenglish #foreignlanguage #english #level up
Other ways to listen
Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@ShadowEnglish4649
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/69oQvsoqtRlIOIj1CTrcoc?si=8bff1d4f9ceb4a23
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/jp/podcast/shadow-english-podcast/id1685237645
Google Podcasts - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9lMDNjYmFmMC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw
Outro music - by Lundstroem - "Great podcast intro" (Short version and Long version)
Hi everyone. Another language learning focused episode today. I was wondering the other day what the hardest part about learning a language is. As I’ve said in the past, in essence, learning a language is mastering the vocabulary, meaning recognizing language input and getting good at the output….Again, much like I mentioned in episodes 6 and 10.
However, to me…I think the hardest part about studying a language is that you’re not at the level of what you’re interested in. 
So, what I mean by this is that the things that I currently watch or listen to in English are too difficult for me if I were to try and do the same in Japanese. I couldn’t do it passively. It would be an active and effortful endeavor that would require a lot of concentration…and a lot of me looking up words. So what do I do..I listen to Japanese podcasts or YouTubers that target Japanese learners that speak and teach to my level…more for the intermediate crowd. The problem here is that usually what those teachers talk about is not so interesting to me. I mean, they try to be interesting…and they often are from an objective point of view. But I guess….what they talk about just isn’t interesting to me in that moment. 
But I have hope for the future of foreign language input. With more and more regular teachers putting out free content on the internet in various languages…the scope and range of content continues to increase.  Many foreign language teachers recognize this hole…the hole that there is a lot of content that could be communicated in an easier way…for beginners and for intermediate learners alike.
And we are just at the beginning of this new age of language learning, in my opinion. I guess then the issue becomes how to find the best match. That is, how to find input that is at your level and of your interest in that moment that you want to study a foreign language. Perhaps AI will be able to help with that.
Anyways, just some thoughts.
Have a great week!

There is no Free Will (Ep.15)

Episode Description:
In this episode, Kevin talks about why he believes there is no such thing as "Free Will".
To Shadow, go to 5:20.
Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@ShadowEnglish4649
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/69oQvsoqtRlIOIj1CTrcoc?si=8bff1d4f9ceb4a23
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/jp/podcast/shadow-english-podcast/id1685237645
Google Podcasts - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9lMDNjYmFmMC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw
Outro music - by Lundstroem - "Great podcast intro" (Short version and Long version)
Transcript:
Hello everyone. Today I wanted to briefly talk about the idea of free will.  Now this is a big topic.. so that’s why I want to emphasize “briefly”.  And this isn’t going to go deeply into the theories of free will vs determinism. These are just my thoughts..
Okay, so… Free will is defined as the capacity to make choices that are genuinely one’s own. So the idea of choice is important here. 
So, when presented with a choice, for example...Do you want vanilla or chocolate ice cream.?  We have the ability to choose one or the other. 
From an objective point of view, we do have the ability to choose between one or more options. Or day to day, when we decide what we are going to do each day...or when we plan for the week, year, or more...we can make decisions, or choices, that determine the course of our life.  Even when we do not actively plan to decide, we can decide or choose as a response to an external situation, like uhhh being asked what you want to eat tonight, pizza, ramen, or sushi. 
The opposite of the Idea of free will is called determinism, which I found the definition being "the idea that all events, including human actions, are ultimately determined by causes regarded as external to the will."  Now the word to focus on in that definition is the word "will". 
Will has many definitions, but the “will” we are referring to here has two main definitions: 
the faculty of conscious and deliberate action, the power to control the mind over one’s actions
power in choosing one's own actions.
And some synonyms include “choose”, “crave”, “desire”,and “prefer”.
So the idea of free will is to be able to freely choose one’s actions, and to control the mind. Yet, interestingly synonyms of “will” are desire and prefer.  I say interesting because it may be that our choosing of something is synonymous with our preference, or our desire, for something.
Okay, so basically, I don’t think we have free will in the way most people think we have it…like we can choose our actions. We can choose what to do, but we can’t choose the choice…if that make sense.
Or…here are some quotes from Sam Harris, a philosopher/podcaster that makes a very cogent argument for there not being free will in his book aptly named“Free Will”. Please consider these quotes and let me know your thoughts:
“You can do what you decide to do — but you cannot decide what you will decide to do.”
“Take a moment to think about the context in which your next decision will occur: You did not pick your parents or the time and place of your birth. You didn't choose your gender or most of your life experiences. You had no control whatsoever over your genome or the development of your brain. And now your brain is making choices on the basis of preferences and beliefs that have been hammered into it over a lifetime - by your genes, your physical development since the moment you were conceived, and the interactions you have had with other people, events, and ideas. Where is the freedom in this? Yes, you are free to do what you want even now. But where did your desires come from?”
“You are not controlling the storm, and you are not lost in it. You are the storm.”
“A puppet is free as long as he loves his strings.”
That’s all for today. See you next time.

Review of words/phrases of past episodes (Ep.14)

Episode Description:
In this episode, I review select words and phrases from past episodes
Intro and outro music by Lundstroem
To shadow, go to 4:00 min mark.
Transcript:
Hi guys! Sorry I missed recording last week. I got too busy with work. I think from now one I am only going to do one shadowing segment in each podcast episode. And it will be at regular speed. If you want the slow and fast version again. Please let me know. You can just leave a comment on one of my YouTube videos. Thanks and sorry again.
I thought today I would go back and look at some of my old episodes and review some words and phrases that I used that I think will be helpful. This won’t be an exhaustive list of all of the useful vocabulary, and if you have any other requests for me doing a review episode, please let me know again by commenting in the YouTube comments of this episode or any other episode.
Okay, so the first word…which is from episode 1 is “segment”.  Actually, I just used this in this episode, too..in the beginning. This word can be a noun or verb and means to separate or to divide. It can sound a little formal when used as a verb. Or it can mean “a part of something”.
So, how can you use this word?
For example, you can say:
"The TV show had a segment about cooking tips."
This means the TV show had a part of the show about cooking tips.
Or…
I segmented my list into different categories. Here “segment” means “divide”
The next word is “spark”, which I used in episode 3. 
This is like a small piece of fire or electricity that can cause a bigger fire if it lands on something flammable, that can catch on fire. So, it is often used metaphorically and as a verb. For example: "Do these belongings spark joy for you?"   "The assassination sparked the beginning of the war."
Or it can be used metaphorically as a noun… "There was a spark between them at their first meeting"
The next word phrase is “associated with”, from episode 4.
This means there is some connection between two things…like "spending time in nature is associated with good health" or… "There are risks associated with smoking tobacco."  It can also mean having a relationship with…as in, “Are you associated with that crazy man?.  No, no I am not associated with him"…meaning, I do not have any relationship with him at all.
The last phrase that I will cover today is from episode 5 and it is “lo and behold”. You should use this phrase when something surprising or unexpected happens.  Like …”I was about to give up on finding a parking spot, but lo and behold, a spot opened up right in front of the entrance.”  "I was searching for my pen when, lo and behold, it was on my ear the whole time."   Or “We had been waiting anxiously for the arrival of the bus, and lo and behold, it finally pulled up just as we were about to lose hope.”
Okay, that’s all I’ll do for today. 
If you like these vocab review episodes, please let me know and I will consider doing more of these types of episodes in the future.
See you next time.

My Two Biggest Losses (Episode 13)

Episode Description:
In this episode, Kevin talks about the two biggest losses in his life, which strangely were material losses.
Intro and outro music by Lundstroem
To shadow slow, go to 4:51
To shadow fast, go to 16:37
Tags: #biggest losses #shadowenglish #episode 13 #improveenglishspeaking #englishlearning #podcast
Transcript:
Today, I wanted to share with you a story about two losses in my life. This is personal, and it might seem ridiculous because when people usually talk about loss, they refer to someone important they have lost, like a family member or friend. However, I have been relatively lucky and privileged, as I have not experienced any major losses in my life. I have lost grandparents, but I was quite young and not very close to them. I did have a friend who died when we were both 16, but we weren't that close either. I have also lost pets, and one pet, in particular, felt like a significant loss to me. But the two most devastating losses that I can recall were when I lost material possessions, and this is why it might sound ridiculous or superficial.
My first experience occurred when I was around 18. I lost my CD case that contained all the music I had collected over the years, which I felt was a significant part of my life. Actually, they were stolen. A friend of mine asked if he could borrow my CDs for a party, and I said, "Sure, why not." However, at this party, someone stole them, and they were gone forever. At the time, my music collection felt like a substantial part of my identity. I believe this is true for most people, as the music you listen to as a teenager has the most significant impact on your life. People often continue to listen to the music they enjoyed in their youth decades later. So, it's little wonder why losing the music I loved as a teenager hurt so much. It might seem ridiculous now, considering that CDs are no longer in common use, and everyone can instantly stream their favorite music. However, in the 90s, we didn't have that luxury, so personal CD collections were greatly cherished.
My other significant loss was also material. When I was around 22 years old and attending college, my roommate used my computer and, for some reason, reformatted my hard drive, deleting all the files I had saved. To this day, I still don't have a clear idea of why he did that. Perhaps I was too angry to understand his explanation.
This loss may be more relatable to young people today than my CD case story. Imagine someone using your smartphone and deleting all your photos and apps. That's essentially what happened to me—I lost everything I had ever written, taken pictures of, and recorded in home videos up until that point. Of course, it was my fault for not backing up these files on a separate hard disk. But I never imagined my roommate would do such a thing. I was livid.
In both situations, losing my music CDs and all the important files on my computer made me very angry and depressed because I had wrapped my identity around those things. However, there were two silver linings that emerged from these incidents: First, I realized the impermanence of everything in life. Second, I realized that my identity and self-worth should not be dependent on material possessions. Both of these realizations have kept me grounded and helped me think more about death in a constructive manner. It might sound ridiculous because I have been fortunate enough not to lose someone very close to me yet. However, maybe these incidents have helped prepare me for when that time inevitably comes. The death that can help you cope with all deaths is ego death. By losing those things to which I associated my identity, it helped me let go of my ego a little.

The Mandela Effect - Episode 12

Episode Description:
In this episode, I discuss the Mandela Effect and how our collective memories can deceive us.
To shadow slow, go to 2:57.
To shadow fast, go to 9:29
Intro and outro music by Lundstroem
Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@ShadowEnglish4649
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/69oQvsoqtRlIOIj1CTrcoc?si=8bff1d4f9ceb4a23
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/jp/podcast/shadow-english-podcast/id1685237645
Google Podcasts - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9lMDNjYmFmMC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw
Transcript:
Hi guys!
Welcome back.
Today I thought I would talk about an interesting psychological phenomenon called The Mandela Effect. Maybe some of you have heard of it before. 
The Mandela Effect is a phenomenon where a large group of people remembers something differently from what it actually is or was. 
It was apparently named after Nelson Mandela, as many people vividly recall him dying in prison when, in fact, he was released and became the President of South Africa.
One more iconic example of this is from the movie quote "Star Wars." Can you quote Darth Vader? "Luke, I am your father," right? Wrong! The actual quote is, "No, I am your father." Our memories can deceive us, it seems.
Other examples include Curious George, the beloved children’s book about a curious monkey, who sometimes people remember as having a tail. Speaking of tails, some people remember Pikachu as having a black stripe on his tail when in fact it is completely yellow.
The evil queen in Snow White saying “Mirror Mirror on the Wall” when she actually says “Magic Mirror on the Wall”.  And the monopoly man is often thought to have a monocle when he in fact he does not.
I think one explanation for these false memories that we all share get started by some individual who spreads it to the masses. And perhaps another explanation is that our minds sometimes like to fill in information where it is not really present. Like, in the case of pikachu, since his pointy ears have black stripes, we might imagine his pointy tail in turn also has a black stripe. 
Anyways, do you know of any other Mandela Effect examples? Have you experienced any that I mentioned here?
That’s all for today.
Have a great week. Catch you next time!
#Mandela Effect #ShadowEnglish

Language is our operating system (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) (Ep.11)

Description:
In this episode, I talk about linguistic relativity, also known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.
Intro music by Lundstroem
Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@ShadowEnglish4649
To shadow slow, go to 4:38
To shadow fast, go to 16:07
Transcript:
Hello everyone. Sticking with the theme of language for now…I thought I would talk about one very interesting theory in linguistics called linguistic relativity. This is also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the name is derived from two linguists, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, who made significant contributions to this theory.
So, the theory is…in a nutshell, that whatever language we speak shapes our thoughts, perception, and understanding of the world. Or, using a computer analogy, languages are kind of like our operating system in which the other programs of our mind run.
Ever since I have heard of this theory, I have felt intuitively that this is true. And once you start learning a second language, I think you begin to realize quickly how languages can affect the way you think or perceive things.  
One example is color. I have read an article that apparently shows that Russians have separate names for blue and light blue. Whereas in English, both can fall into the category of blue. Because of this, Russians are purportedly more sensitive to the different shades of blues than English speakers…although of course, we are able to distinguish if prompted to do so. But the interesting thing is how language can make us more sensitive or less sensitive to the phenomena around us at any given time.  Also, I remember when I gave a coloring activity to some Japanese kindergartners. Whenever the Japanese kids colored the sun, they without fail used the color red, whereas I would imagine most westerners would use the color yellow. Of course, the sun can be perceived to be either color, but language, or perhaps culture in this case…shapes how we perceive it, or at least communicate about it.
Another example is in Japanese, they often use the words くれる when someone receives something, and あげる when something is given. These verbs are not only stand-alone verbs, but can attach to other verbs, thus these words are used to express a sense of appreciation for receiving something, in the case of ,くれる or to express that you did something for someone in the case of あげる. For example, in English, I could say, Mr. Smith taught me piano. But in Japanese, to say the same thing would be ピアノを教えてくれた。 And that final kureta adds a feeling of appreciation, that Mr. Smith did it for me..for my sake. You can say the same sentence without kureta but it would be considered weird. 
So, yeah…it seems language guides our attention. In the case of くれる　and あげる in Japanese, it directs our attention to the receiver or giver of something…which is something that English does not pay as much attention to. So, I believe the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, or linguistic relativity theory, would make the case that whatever language directs our attention to can then affect our perception of reality to some degree. This change in the perception of reality can in turn have an effect on how we think about the world.
I just gave a few examples, but can you think of any others from your own experiences? Please let me know by leaving a comment in the episode of Youtube!
Thank you for listening! See you next time!

You don’t have to understand everything, BUT...(Ep.10)

Episode Description
In this episode, I explain that when it comes to language learning, you don't have to understand everything, but...you have to understand enough. What do I mean by this? Listen to find out!
Transcript and Youtube video version of the podcast can be found on Youtube --> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC__8iO41YoypjkXHkgBjGdw
Intro music by Lundstroem - "Great podcast intro" (Short version and Long version)

Why Batman is More Real than We Are (Ep.9)

In this episode, Kevin explains why Batman and other fictional characters are more real than people who are alive.
Intro music by Lundstroem - "Great podcast intro" (Short version and Long version)
Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@ShadowEnglish4649
Transcript:
I had a thought the other day that I wanted to flesh out in today’s podcast. That thought is…Batman is more real (or realer) than we are.
Haha..What do I mean by this?
Well, I actually do not mean to single out batman. Any fictional character could replace ‘Batman’. Or at least any fictional character that has considerable popularity I believe is more real than we are. Whether it is Spiderman, Harry Potter, Son Goku, Neo from the Matrix, Hello Kitty, The Grinch, Mr. Bean, and so on. By real, I guess what I mean is that these characters will outlive us in the minds of others. Most people who do not reach worldwide popularity, or even local popularity, will be slowly forgotten when they die and those that know them gradually pass away. Whereas fictional characters live robust lives in the imaginations and iterations in which they appear…whether it be TV, movies, comics, or online. Many characters that are popular in one generation continue to be popular in another by some creator revitalizing the character and some adaptation via one of the mediums just mentioned.  Whereas one cannot really do that with real people.
One exception to this is mythology and religious customs…when historical people reach such notoriety that they continue to live on in perpetuity…such as St. Nicholas (known more by the name Santa Claus), or the Buddha, or Jesus Christ,…and many other religious figures. 
So it is possible for real people to continue on in the minds of others indefinitely, and this can happen to some degree with important historical figures as well, however their lives in the minds of current living people are more static due to the very nature of the idea that history cannot be changed.
People who create or interact with fictional characters and mythological or religious figures adapt these characters to the time and make them relevant to current society. 
So yeah...I guess on second thought, it all depends on how you define the word “real”. If real is simply a biological organism, then of course we humans are more real. But if “real” is defined by its longevity, its impact… or what leaves its mark on the world more, then fictional characters are more real than us living, breathing folk… That is not to say people do not have an impact on the world. I think we all do to some degree or another. But it often goes unnoticed or unrecognized, and thus the memory of the average person quickly fades..
Anyways, just some musings for today. Sorry if it was a bit difficult and philosophical today. But I hope you could learn some good words from this one.
Catch you next time!

The Importance of Output in Second Language Learning (Ep.8)

In this episode, I discuss the importance of output in second language learning.
Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@ShadowEnglish4649
This podcast can also be found on Apple Podcasts and Youtube!
Intro music by Lundstroem - "Great podcast intro" (Short version and Long version)