Shadowing Practice: 2 South for the Winter - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

225 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

South for the Winter I never stay in one country for a long time.

It gets boring.

I like to move on, see new places, meet different people.

It's a good life, most of the time.

When I need money, I get a job.

I can do most things.

Hotel and restaurant work, building work, picking fruit.

In Europe, you can pick fruit most of the year.

You need to be in the right country at the right time, of course.

It's not easy work, but the money's not bad.

I like to go south in the winter.

Life is easier in the sun, and northern Europe can get very cold in the winter.

Last year, 1989 it was, I was in Venice for October.

I did some work in a hotel for three weeks, then I began slowly to move south.

I always go by train when I can.

I like trains.

You can walk about on a train, and you meet a lot of people.

I left Venice and went on to Trieste.

There, I got a cheap ticket for the slow train to Sofia, in Bulgaria.

This train goes all down through Yugoslavia and takes a long time, a day and a half, but that didn't matter to me.

The train left Trieste at nine o'clock on a Thursday morning.

There weren't many people on it at first, but at Zagreb more people got on.

Two girls went along the corridor, past my carriage.

They looked through the door, but they didn't come in.

Then an old woman came in, sat down and went to sleep.

The two girls came back along the corridor and looked into the carriage again.

The train left Zagreb, and I looked out of the window for about ten minutes, then I went to sleep too.

When I opened my eyes again, the two girls were in the carriage.

They looked friendly, so I said, Hello.

Hi, they said.

You're American, I said.

Or Canadian, right?

American, the taller girl said.

She smiled. And you're twenty-three?

Your name's Tom Walsh.

You've got blue eyes.

And your mum lives in Burnham-on-Sea, UK, right?

How did you know all that?

I asked.

The second girl laughed.

She looked at your passport.

It's in your coat pocket.

Oh, right.

My coat was on the seat next to me.

I took my passport out of my pocket and put it back in my bag. Who are you then?

I asked.

They told me.

Melanie and Carol from Los Angeles, USA.

They liked Europe, they said.

They knew a lot of places.

Britain, Holland, Denmark, Germany, France,

Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece.

I'm going to Bulgaria now, I said, for about a month.

Then I'm going south for the winter.

Cyprus, or perhaps North Africa.

Oh yes, they said.

We love Bulgaria.

Sofia is a great town, wonderful.

What do you do about money?

I asked.

Well, you know, Carol smiled.

Sometimes we get a little job.

This and that. But what about you?

Yeah, come on, Melanie said.

Tell us about you.

Tom Walsh with the blue eyes and the mum in Burner Monsi.

What are you doing with your life, hey? So I told them.

They were nice girls.

They were older than me, perhaps twenty-seven or twenty-eight, but I liked them.

We talked and laughed for hours.

I told them a lot of stories about my life.

Some of the stories were true, some weren't.

But the girls laughed and said I was a great guy.

I asked them about Bulgaria, because I didn't know the country.

They knew Sophia well, they said.

Hey, Carol, Melanie said, we're staying in Bela Palanka for a day or two.

But let's go over to Sophia this weekend and meet Tom there.

We can meet him on Saturday night at the Hotel Marmara.

Yeah, it's a good hotel, Carol told me.

Cheap, but good.

What do you think, Tom?

Great, I said.

Let's do that.

The train was very slow.

We got to Belgrade at six o'clock in the evening, and a lot of people got off.

There were only me and the girls in the carriage then.

The guard came and looked at our tickets, and went away again.

Carol looked at Melanie.

Hey, Mel, she said, why don't you and Tom go along to the restaurant?

I'm not hungry, and I want to sleep for an hour.

Er, food's very expensive on the train, I said.

I haven't got much money just now.

I'm going to get a job in Sofia.

Oh, Tom, Melanie said, why didn't you tell us?

Look, you're a nice guy, right?

We're OK for money this week.

We can buy you a meal?

Of course we can, Carol said.

And look, in Sofia, we can take you to the best restaurant in town.

100

It's a great place.

101

We love it.

102

What could I say?

103

I was hungry.

104

They had money.

105

I didn't.

106

So Melanie and I went to the restaurant and had a meal.

107

When we came back, Carol was still alone in the carriage.

108

Melanie put her feet on the seat and went to sleep.

109

At Nys, some more people got on the train, and two old men came into our carriage.

110

They looked at Melanie's feet on the seat and talked in loud voices.

111

Carol laughed, and Melanie opened her eyes and sat up.

112

"'Are we nearly there?' she asked Carol, and looked out of the window.

113

"'Yeah, about half an hour, I think.' "'Why are you getting off at Bela Palanca?' I asked.

114

"'What are you going to do there?' Melanie smiled.

115

Find a cheap hotel, meet people, take a look at the town, you know.

116

"'Just for a day or two,' Carol said.

117

"'But there's nothing there.' "'Oh, well, you never know,' Melanie laughed.

118

"'See you in Sofia, right?

119

On Saturday night.

120

"'The Hotel Marmara, okay?

121

Eight o'clock,' Carol said.

122

"'Don't forget now.' "'Okay.

123

Great,' I said.

124

"'See you there.' The train came into Bella Polanka and stopped.

125

The two girls got off and stood on the platform.

126

They smiled at me through the window.

127

"'Saturday, eight o'clock,' Melanie shouted.

128

"'Okay,' I called.

129

They couldn't hear me because of the noise in the station.

130

They smiled again, picked up their bags and walked away.

131

Nice girls.

132

I'm going to have a great time in Sofia, I thought.

133

The train left Yugoslavia and crossed into Bulgaria at two o'clock in the morning.

134

Then the train stopped at some village.

135

I don't remember the name.

136

I ate an apple and looked out of the window.

137

Suddenly, there were a lot of policemen on the train.

138

Everybody in the carriage sat up and began to talk.

139

What's happening?

140

I said in Italian to the old man next to me.

141

I don't know, he said in bad Italian.

142

Perhaps they're looking for somebody.

143

Look, the police are taking some people off the train.

144

Then two policemen came into our carriage, a tall, thin one and a short, fat one.

145

They looked at everybody carefully.

146

And then they looked at me again.

147

Come with us, please, the fat policeman said in English.

148

What, me?

149

I said.

150

Why?

151

What's the matter?

152

And bring your bag with you, the tall policeman said.

153

I began to ask a question, but policemen never like questions from young men with long hair.

154

So I stayed quiet, picked up my bag, and went with them.

155

In the station building there were a lot more policemen and some people from the train.

156

They were all young people, I saw.

157

Some were afraid, some were bored.

158

The police looked in everybody's bags, and then the people went back to the train.

159

My two policemen took me to a table.

160

"'Your passport, please,' the fat policeman said, "'and opened your bag.' "'They looked at my passport,

161

and I opened my bag.

162

"'There was a young policewoman with red hair at the next table.

163

"'She had a nice face, so I smiled at her, and she smiled back.

164

"'Aha!' the tall policeman said suddenly.

165

All my dirty shirts and clothes were out on the table.

166

The policeman picked up my bag and turned it over.

167

Onto the table, out of my bag, fell packet after packet of US American dollars.

168

Nice new dollars.

169

Fifty dollar notes in big packets.

170

A lot of money.

171

My mouth opened and stayed open.

172

I couldn't find my voice.

173

I was suddenly a very interesting person,

174

and a lot of police ran up to our table and stood behind me.

175

Fifty thousand, a hundred thousand, a hundred and fifty thousand,

176

there's two hundred thousand dollars here, the tall policeman said.

177

What an interesting bag, Mr. Tom Walsh.

178

I found my voice again quickly.

179

But it's not my bag, I shouted.

180

There was a big happy smile on that policeman's face.

181

Well, he said, it's got your name on it, look.

182

So I looked, and of course there was my name, and yes, of course, it was my bag.

183

So how did two hundred thousand US dollars get into my bag?

184

You cannot bring US dollars into this country, the fat policeman said.

185

He had very short grey hair and little black eyes.

186

He didn't smile once.

187

But I didn't bring them, I said quickly.

188

They're not my dollars.

189

I never saw them before in my life, and...

190

There was a lot of noise in the station.

191

I looked out of the window and saw my train.

192

Slowly, it began to move.

193

Hey!

194

I shouted.

195

That's my train!

196

The tall policeman laughed.

197

It was a great day for him.

198

Oh, no, he said.

199

You're not getting back on that train.

200

You're staying here with us, in our beautiful country.

201

He smiled happily.

202

So, I never got to Sophia on Saturday.

203

I was very unhappy about that.

204

I wanted to have a little talk with Melanie and Carol.

205

Ask them one or two questions, you know.

206

You're a nice guy, Tom.

207

See you in Sophia, OK?

208

Take you to the best restaurant in town.

209

Yeah, great.

210

And I never got down to Cyprus or North Africa that winter.

211

Oh, well, I live and learn.

212

It's not an easy life in prison, but it's warm in winter, and the food's not bad.

213

And I'm meeting some interesting people.

214

There's a man from Georgia, USSR.

215

Boris, his name is.

216

He comes from a place by the Black Sea.

217

He's a great guy.

218

When we get out of here, he and I are going down to Australia.

219

Brisbane, perhaps. Or Sydney.

220

Get a job on a ship.

221

Start a new life.

222

Yeah.

223

Next year's going to be OK.

224

Thank you.

225

Thank you.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Same Channel

Recommend Video

74 sentences

Conversation - Everything changes, Using public transportation, and Good bye

Interview EnglishTravel EnglishTeens

95 sentences

SLOW English Podcast for High Beginners! A2-B1 — My Trip to the USA! 🇺🇸(comprehensible input)

Travel EnglishTeensDaily Conversation

168 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “2 South for the Winter”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: train, looked, bag, Melanie, Carol. This video has 225 sentences and 1795 words to shadow. The speech runs for 17:18. The speaker talks slowly, about 104 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 83% 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

The 12 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
policeman noun	/pəˈliːsmən/	A police officer, usually a male.
carriage noun	/ˈkæɹɪd͡ʒ/	The act of conveying; carrying.
passport noun	/ˈpæspɔɹt/	An official document normally used for international journeys, which proves the identity and nationality of the person for whom it was issued.
packet noun	/ˈpæk.ɪt/	A small pack or package; a little bundle or parcel
shout verb	/ʃaʊt/	To utter a sudden and loud cry, as in joy, triumph, exultation or anger, or to attract attention, to animate others, etc.
fifty noun	/ˈfɪfti/	A banknote or coin with a denomination of 50.
corridor noun	/ˈkɒɹɪdɔː/	A narrow hall or passage with rooms leading off it, as in a building or in a railway carriage.
bore verb	/boɹ/	To inspire boredom in somebody.
policewoman noun		A female police officer.
cloth noun	/klɒθ/	A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes…
unhappy adjective	/ʌnˈhæpi/	Not happy; sad.
happily adverb	/ˈhæp.ə.li/	In a happy or cheerful manner; with happiness.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
pick up verb	To lift; to grasp and raise.
come back verb	To return to a place.
get off verb	To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it.
sit up verb	To assume a sitting position from a position lying down.
get down to verb	To start focusing on doing something serious
get out of verb	To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.
go along verb	To participate, cooperate, or conform.
go away verb	To depart or leave a place.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

How did you know all that?
It's in your coat pocket.
What do you do about money?
What are you doing with your life, hey?
We can buy you a meal?

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group	the best
Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now	I'm going · are you doing · we're staying
Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming	I'm going to get · are you going to do · I'm going to have

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 33 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, I'm, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

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 policeman, carriage, passport.

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 →

Shadowing Practice: 2 South for the Winter - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

07 weekends 01 SS1PCBNh

Conversation - Everything changes, Using public transportation, and Good bye

SLOW English Podcast for High Beginners! A2-B1 — My Trip to the USA! 🇺🇸(comprehensible input)

Trains in Different Countries be like...

A Happy Memory BBC Vlogs

Slow English - My Travel Routine ✈️ A2–B1 Shadowing Practice

I Survived On €0.01 For 1 Week - Day 2

This interaction felt so immensely real #Shorts

Esta Edu B-Teacher: Where I would love to be

Learn English Fast with fun and travel - Comprehensible Input

Learn English with a Real Story | Why I Missed the Train | Slow English A2-B1

Tactics for Listening Third Edition Developing Unit 24 Travel

My First Month Living Abroad

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?