Shadowing Practice: THIS IS WHY I LOVE TORONTO (best city in Canada?) - Learn English Speaking with Video
Les maken...
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Welcome to my former home my friends.
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Welcome to the biggest city in Canada which is Toronto or Toronto if you're actually from here.
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So I moved to this fabulous city about 10 years ago now and lived here for almost seven.
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I have been a resident of Calgary for the last few years just
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because I needed my mom's place as a home base as I was moving around the different parts of the world.
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So that is actually why I moved.
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And now that I'm moving even further away from Canada, I'm actually here in the city right now
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because I'm in the process of getting my immigration visa to move outside of Canada.
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But if I was to still live in Canada full time, this is definitely the city that I would have as my home base.
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Now before I get into my reasons of why I think Toronto is so great, I do feel like I have to address the fact
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that last year I did make a video saying how you shouldn't move here.
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Things have gotten worse.
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But to be fair, that's not just Toronto.
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That's a lot of Canada.
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Unfortunately, there has been some really negative changes in the last few years.
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So I did want to be upfront with you guys
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that there are definitely things that I'm not happy about
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that have changed here in Toronto it's not exactly the same city
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that I lived in when I first moved here
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but even with the changes to be honest if I was to live somewhere in Canada this is where I would choose.
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So let's get into the top 10 reasons of why I
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would choose to live in Toronto above other big major cities in Canada
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and why I think other people choose it as well.
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I think the first reason on the list is quite obvious and probably most people's main reason, which is opportunity.
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Toronto being the largest city in Canada, it obviously has the widest range of industries to choose from if you're looking to advance your career.
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Whether you're in finance, advertising, manufacturing, technology, the entertainment industry,
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retail, the list goes on.
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Many large companies choose to have their Canadian headquarters here
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so of course living in the city you have more potential opportunities to land your dream job
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but keep in mind that this also means
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that there is far more competition than there would be anywhere
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else in canada for those top level jobs now my second
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reason of why toronto is my favorite city in Canada and why I chose to move here 10 years ago.
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It is definitely the pace of the city.
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Even though Vancouver too has a lot going on, so does Montreal, so does Calgary in its own way, but Toronto is definitely the fastest.
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And I think that's a universal thing that especially
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when you are young you are looking for the kind of place that has a lot going on, you know, where you can meet a lot of new people.
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And in Canada, Toronto is definitely that kind of place.
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That's why it makes me especially sad that in this day and age when the city has become so insanely expensive,
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I think it is pushing out a lot of younger people
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because it is just impossible to survive here unless you have a really well-paying job or like three roommates.
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So it would definitely break my heart
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if it gets to a point where all the young people are being pushed out of this city
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and especially the creative types, you know, people like myself that technically moved here for the film industry or the music industry,
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you know, hoping to make a difference, hoping to do what they love, but it's just impossible to sustain yourself,
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especially when you're starting out when things are so expensive.
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My third reason for wanting to live in Toronto was definitely the pretty good weather conditions.
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I grew up in Saskatchewan, so maybe you can understand the kind of winter hell that I lived through for 18 years.
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Basically all of the prairies are quite challenging to live in
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if you can't handle the cold
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and then of course we have you know the west coast bc
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which usually is much milder and beautiful nature
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but in vancouver their largest city it is of course very rainy
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and not only that it is also really overcast
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and i am a sunshine person i need sunshine to function optimally
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so that's why I picked Toronto where we do get quite a few sunny days in a year.
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The winter for Canada anyway is quite mild with maybe 0 to 10 degrees in the winter months.
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Believe it or not, that's pretty good.
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Now the fourth reason that I chose Toronto as the city to live in is definitely the public transit.
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Now I know the TTC is not amazing, especially recently it has certainly had and has its problems,
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but unfortunately within Canada we don't got a lot of better options.
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Unfortunately Canada is just a very car-centric country where if you move to like Saskatoon,
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Edmonton, and even Calgary.
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It is going to be very difficult to live in those kinds of places if you don't have a car.
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Personally, I don't like to drive and think having a car is just a huge,
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unnecessary expense if a city is actually built properly for the people, if there's good city planning.
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So Toronto is really one of the few places alongside Vancouver
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and Montreal where you can get by on the public transit so for anybody who feels the same Toronto's not bad.
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Number five on my list is actually something that I miss
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so much when I'm not in the city which is the food scene.
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Honestly I think the caliber and diversity of restaurants in Toronto is greatly underrated like even on a global scale.
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It wasn't until I moved here that I tried so many different cuisines that I had never had before.
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And most important in my particular case is I love brunch here.
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Like brunch is such a Toronto thing on the weekends and I haven't found any place that does it better.
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This looks absolutely incredible.
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Cheers.
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Delish.
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So guys, before I forget one thing that i made last year
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but strangely never let you know about here on my youtube is
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that i actually made a toronto google maps travel guide similar to the ones
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that i've made about bangkok and also bali basically making a digital travel map
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that imports directly into google maps
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so you have pins of all of my favorite restaurants attractions shopping like all of the places
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that you would really only know if you've spent a long time in the city
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so if you guys are interested in picking it up it is only 20 canadian dollars
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which is like 15 us i'll have a link in the
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description it has all my favorite places like lady marmalade
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and i think you would find it really helpful
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if you are new coming to toronto or if you just want some more recommendations of great places in the city
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number six on my list is the nature in toronto believe it
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or not for a big city toronto actually has quite a
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few green spaces like high park trinity bellwoods evergreen brickworks
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and of course we can't forget about lake ontario
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which it is set on just a beautiful boardwalk down by the water
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and also there is toronto island that makes for a great day trip
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so having access to those kinds of places definitely makes it easier to live in a concrete jungle.
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Now the next point on my list is definitely diversity and I'm not talking about just population.
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It is very well known that Toronto is you know an incredibly diverse and multicultural
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city but I'm actually talking more about the neighborhoods of the city that really stand out to me.
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Yes a lot of cities in Canada do have you know interesting little neighborhoods as well
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but nowhere do they range so wide as here in Toronto.
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Within a span of blocks I can go from Chinatown to Koreatown,
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to Little Italy where I am currently staying, Kensington Market.
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Like the list goes on and on of all the different districts
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that this city has to offer and that's why I lived here for
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so long is because there is an unending amount of neighborhoods to explore.
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Next on my list is film, art, and culture.
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As you guys know I moved to Toronto for the film industry
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because it really is only Vancouver and Toronto where you could have a lot of opportunities in that regard.
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But even as someone who just appreciates film,
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art, music, culture, this is a great city to have such a wide variety of events
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and Toronto is home to the Toronto International Film Festival,
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otherwise known as TIFF, where every year celebrities from all around the world come out to promote their films.
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So if you're somebody who's really into the arts like I am
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or even just really big cultural events like you know Toronto Pride for example
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so much fun there's just always something going on and
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so many things to see and do
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and lastly my very favorite you could say thing about living in Toronto and why I will be back is the people.
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Of course Canadians share many similarities no matter which city you go to
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or small town whatever but I will say that the people here in Toronto overall are my kind of people.
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Of course I can't paint everyone with a broad stroke
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but usually if you move to the biggest city in a country
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and you have a dream and you have a passion and you're here to actualize it, those are my kind of people.
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I've made some of my best friends
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that I've ever had in life in this city
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and they are the reason that I will be back
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and I think if you are a Canadian that is looking for a place to just really go for it, to try a new idea,
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this is probably the city that it is most likely to happen in.
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So even though it has its problems, as I've said in my last video, I still think Toronto is an amazing city.
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I am forever grateful for the time that I have had here
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and for all the lessons I have learned in the process.
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So I hope you guys found this video interesting.
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If you are thinking of moving here, let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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And also, if you are interested in picking up my Toronto Google Maps travel guide, I will have that linked in the description.
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I would really recommend it if you are looking for great suggestions of places to check out here.
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And as always, I'm sending you guys so much love.
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I hope you're having a fantastic day and keep being your own kind of beautiful.
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Bye, guys.
About This Lesson
Ready to practice real-life English while learning about one of Canada's most vibrant cities? In this lesson, you'll dive into a conversational video about Toronto, focusing on natural speech patterns, casual storytelling, and vocabulary used in everyday discussions. Perfect for IELTS speaking practice or anyone looking to sound more fluent, you'll learn to follow a speaker's flow, pick up on tone shifts, and use common phrases like a local. Let's get started!
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Home base: A central place to return to (e.g., "I used my mom's place as a home base").
- Upfront: Honest and direct (e.g., "I want to be upfront about the changes").
- Advance your career: Progress in your job (e.g., "Toronto helps you advance your career").
- Insanely expensive: Extremely costly (e.g., "The city has become insanely expensive").
- Sustain yourself: Support your basic needs (e.g., "It's hard to sustain yourself as a new artist").
Practice Tips
The video's tone is friendly and conversational, with a moderate to fast pace—ideal for mastering the shadowing technique! Here's how to practice: 1. Listen first: Watch the video once to grasp the story. Notice how the speaker pauses after key points (like "But to be fair..."). 2. Shadow immediately: Play short clips (5-10 seconds) and repeat them immediately, mimicking the speed, tone, and stress. This is called "shadowspeak"—it trains your mouth to keep up with natural speech. 3. Focus on flow: The speaker often connects phrases (e.g., "So I moved... and lived here..."). Practice linking words to sound more fluent, a key skill for IELTS speaking practice. 4. Use tools: Try a shadowing app or shadowing site to slow down clips if needed, then gradually speed up. You'll be surprised how quickly you pick up natural rhythm—consistency is key! Keep practicing, and soon you'll sound as confident as the speaker in the video.
Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?
Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.