Shadowing Practice: 2 IELTS LISTENING MOCK TEST SECTION 2 Brandley Castle - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Section 2.

You will hear a guide talking to a group of tourists who are about to visit an English castle.

First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 15.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 15.

We'll be arriving at Branley Castle in about five minutes, but before we get there,

I'll give you a little information about the castle and what our visit will include.

So, in fact, there's been a castle on this site for over 1100 years.

The first building was a fort constructed in 914 AD for defence against

Danish invaders by King Alfred the Great's daughter, who ruled England at the time.

In the following century, after the Normans conquered England, the land was given to a nobleman called Richard de Vere,

and he built a castle there that stayed in the de Vere family for over 400 years.

However, when Queen Elizabeth I announced that she was going to visit the castle in 1576, it was beginning to look a bit run down,

and it was decided that rather than repair the guest rooms, they'd make a new house for her out of wood next to the main hall.

She stayed there for four nights, and apparently it was very luxurious, but unfortunately it was destroyed a few years later by fire.

In the 17th century, the castle belonged to the wealthy Fenness family, who enlarged it and made it more comfortable.

However, by 1982 the Fennis family could no longer afford to maintain the castle, even though they received government support,

and they put it on the market.

It was eventually taken over by a company who owned a number of amusement parks.

But when we get there, I think you'll see that they've managed to retain the original atmosphere of the castle.

When you go inside, you'll find that in the staterooms, there are lifelike moving wax models dressed in costumes of different periods in the past,

which even carry on conversations together.

As well as

that, in every room there are booklets giving information about what the room was used for

and the history of the objects and furniture it contains.

The castle park's quite extensive.

At one time sheep were kept there

and in the 19th century the owners had a little zoo with animals like rabbits and even a baby elephant.

Nowadays the old zoo buildings are used for public displays of paintings and sculpture.

The park also has some beautiful trees, though the oldest of all, which dated back 800 years,

was sadly blown down in 1987.

Now, you're free to wander around on your own until 4 .30, but then, at the end of our visit,

we'll all meet together at the bottom of the great staircase.

We'll then go on to the long gallery,

where there's a wonderful collection of photographs showing the family who owned the castle a hundred years ago having tea

and cakes in the conservatory.

And we'll then take you to the same place where afternoon tea will be served to you.

Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 16 to 20.

Now listen and answer questions 16 to 20.

now

if you can take a look at your plans

you'll see branley castle has four towers joined together by a

high wall with the river on two sides don't miss seeing the great hall

that's near the river in the main tower the biggest one which was extended and redesigned in the 18th century century.

If you want to get a good view of the whole castle, you can walk around the walls.

The starting point's quite near the main entrance.

Walk straight down the path until you get to the south gate, and it's just there.

Don't go on to the north gate.

There's no way up from there.

There'll shortly be a show in which you can see archers displaying their skill with a bow and arrow.

The quickest way to get there is to take the first left after the main entrance

and follow the path past the bridge.

Then you'll see it in front of you at the end.

If you like animals, there's also a display of hunting birds, falcons and eagles and so on.

If you go from the main entrance in the direction of the south gate, but turn right before you get there instead of going through it,

you'll see it on your right, past the first tower.

At 3pm, there's a short performance of traditional dancing on the outdoor stage.

That's right at the other side of the castle from the entrance and over the bridge.

It's about ten minutes' walk or so.

And finally, the shop.

It's actually inside one of the towers, but the way in is from the outside.

Just take the first left after the main entrance, go down the path, and take the first right.

It's got some lovely gifts and souvenirs.

Right, so we're just arriving.

That is the end of Section 2.

You now have half a minute to check your answers.

Thank you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “2 IELTS LISTENING MOCK TEST SECTION 2 Brandley Castle”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: castle, main, entrance, century, tower. This video has 66 sentences and 845 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:47. The speaker talks at a steady 124 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
castle noun	/ˈkɑːsəl/	A large residential building or compound that is fortified and contains many defences; in previous ages often inhabited by a nobleman or king. Also, a house or…
entrance noun	/ˈɛn.tɹəns/	The action of entering, or going in.
gate noun	/ˈɡeɪ̯t/	A doorlike structure outside a house.
arrive verb	/əˈɹaɪv/	To reach; to get to a certain place.
shortly adverb	/ˈʃɔɹtli/	In a short or brief time or manner; quickly.
atmosphere noun	/ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/	The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body.
carefully adverb	/ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/	With care; attentively, circumspectly.
fort noun	/fɔɹt/	A fortified defensive structure stationed with troops.
skill noun	/skɪl/	A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.
repair verb	/ˈɹiːpɛɚ/	To restore to good working order, fix, or improve damaged condition; to mend; to remedy.
belong verb	/bɪˈlɒŋ/	To have its proper place.
extend verb	/ɛkˈstɛnd/	To increase in extent.
furniture noun	/ˈfɝ.nɪ.t͡ʃɚ/	Large movable item(s), usually in a room, which enhance(s) the room's characteristics, functionally or decoratively.
announce verb	/əˈnaʊn(t)s/	To give public notice of, especially for the first time; to make known.
outdoor adjective	/aʊtˈdɔː/	Situated in, designed to be used in, or carried on in the open air.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
go down verb	To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one.
go through verb	To travel from one end of something to the other.
run down verb	To hit someone with a car or other vehicle and injure or kill them.
take over verb	To assume control of something, such as a business or enterprise, and sometimes by force.
walk around verb	To walk with no planned destination; to meander.

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was given · was decided · was destroyed
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	there's been · they've managed

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 17 contractions and reduced forms, such as you'll, we'll, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shortly /ˈʃɔɹtli/, sheep /ˈʃiːp/, danish /ˈdeɪ.nɪʃ/, luxurious /lʌɡˈʒʊəɹi.əs/
Long words — get the stress right: luxurious /lʌɡˈʒʊəɹi.əs/, conservatory /kənˈsɝ.vəˌt(ɔ.)ɹi/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like castle, entrance, gate.

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 →