Shadowing Practice: 2676 - Yours or Mine? Using Possessive Words to Talk About Homes - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

343 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Hey there, Michelle.
2
How are you today?
3
How's it going?
4
Hey, hey, hey, Lindsay.
5
I'm good.
6
How are you?
7
I'm feeling pretty good.
8
I'm feeling pretty good.
9
Michelle, I have a question.
10
You ready?
11
I am ready.
12
All right.
13
Do you prefer having people over to your house or would you rather visit theirs?
14
I think there are pros and cons to each for my life.
15
Yeah.
16
I think I do like, especially if it's like a dinner, it is nice to just have it be at your house.
17
And then you're already home.
18
Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure.
19
You don't have to drive anywhere at the end of the night.
20
Yeah.
21
So I do like that.
22
But then, of course, there are so many other things you have to deal with.
23
So I will say I prefer having people over now, though, especially since now I have a house.
24
Like when I was in the apartment, it was harder.
25
What about you?
26
Ooh, let's see.
27
I really like having people over to my house.
28
It's fun.
29
But it's a lot more work, you know.
30
Yeah.
31
A lot of preparation you find yourself cleaning starting to clean at like noon for an 8 p .m dinner
32
or something it's crazy and then clean up after
33
but I do like like just having people over it's kind of cool feels yeah
34
it is fun yeah it feels like you're playing house right like it feels like oh
35
I want to be a grown -up now um yeah
36
so today we're talking about ways to describe location
37
but not just any location we're talking about really someone's home
38
and this topic was inspired by a role play
39
that we did um in our episode it was uh from may 23rd
40
and it was no dice fun ways to say something didn't work
41
so this inspired today's episode yeah guys go check out
42
that episode and make sure you are following make sure you've hit the follow button on apple podcast
43
or even on youtube make sure
44
you are subscribed to not miss a single piece of content from us right that's right that's right
45
so i think we should read the role play
46
so guys we want you to listen to that episode
47
but we're gonna do the role play
48
because this is not really what it was about this was about no dice
49
and things like that right but we realized wait a second we realized something interesting
50
while we were doing this role play
51
so here we go realize let's do the role play
52
and we'll point out what we realized
53
so we go here
54
we go okay hey any luck making a reservation for tonight
55
no dice everywhere is fully booked unfortunately uh what about
56
that new place by yours oh no luck either
57
they're not answering their phone okay should we just grab takeout from
58
that chinese place and eat at mine okay so what did we realize in this role play michelle
59
yeah so we actually we had there was another team member who planned this episode um
60
and we realized that so when you say what about
61
that new place by yours yes right and eat at mine how did
62
that sound how did that feel to you to say
63
that it sounded kind of australian to me actually yeah yeah i've heard my aussie friends
64
when i lived in tokyo i had some very close friends from sydney
65
and they used to say that all the time that's
66
that was terminology that they use now i don't know
67
if they say that in England as well
68
but I know definitely in Australia
69
but I think in England too I'm not 100 I can't 100 % uh remember
70
but I I would bet on it yeah yeah for sure
71
so it didn't feel like American English I'll say
72
that yeah right yeah so this is really interesting uh that
73
because I have noticed that difference um with you know like Australian English
74
or British English and it always kind of sounds cool
75
and cute and I love you know other accents
76
so yeah I you know the British the Australian I um
77
so I always like hearing when people say it
78
but it is always something that I kind of noticed and
79
so I'm glad we're talking about this today because I mean
80
so this is very important for connection
81
because these terms are really personal since they refer to where people live 100 super important and just
82
because we may not say something in American in English doesn't mean we don't want to recognize it
83
and know exactly what it means and be able to respond.
84
Right. Of course.
85
Um, so today in today's episode, we're going to talk about ways to refer to someone's home.
86
Right.
87
Right.
88
Michelle, that's what we're getting into today.
89
Yep.
90
So we're, and, and, you know, we can talk again about those differences.
91
So, uh, so, but yeah, how do we refer to someone's home?
92
So you can say my place or my house or your place or your house, right?
93
yes my place my house so instead of mine
94
and yours it's something my something right my place my house
95
your place your house right let's go through some role plays michelle
96
and show our listeners both of these in action shall we okay here
97
we go um yeah yeah do you want to hang out later yeah let's go to my house
98
it's closer okay so there we said my house
99
and i could have you could have said let's go to
100
my place uh my place is a little bit more casual right wouldn't
101
you say yeah place is a little more casual
102
and it could be a house it could be an apartment right
103
so house is you know i mean would you say house about if
104
if you live in an apartment you can you can you can um
105
i feel like kids would be more likely to say
106
that you what i mean it's like a little bit juvenile sounding
107
but if it just it depends on how specific you need to be in
108
that moment right exactly yeah exactly um so
109
and i just want to point out you know grammatically
110
so again this is the possessive adjective and then place
111
or house right so um
112
so here's the next one yeah should we study at school no your place will be quieter there you go
113
and we put a certain emphasis on your place will be quieter right intonation wise yeah
114
now our place is the next thing or our house right
115
and this just means referring to a couple family roommates maybe right
116
so for example where should we watch the movie let's watch it at our house our living room is
117
so comfy and can fit everyone yeah nice and then their place
118
or their house of course have you talked to uh have you been to mike
119
and annie's new apartment not yet but we're going to their place this weekend
120
so this is just a matter of putting that possessive adjective there
121
and then changing you know
122
it's just context who are you talking about who whose place
123
is this right very straightforward okay yes exactly hey quick question do you want to feel more confident
124
when you speak english if so we made a free guide for you.
125
It'll help you avoid those common mistakes and start speaking more naturally in real conversations.
126
Go grab it in the description below.
127
And if this is helpful for you, make sure that you like and subscribe.
128
We're here five times a week to help you connect in English.
129
So are there any other ways that you could talk about people's homes, Michelle?
130
Let's get, let's go into this yeah
131
so well basically this is now what we're touching on
132
that difference yeah um so what happens in british or aussie english is that um they might use the possessive pronouns
133
on their own so that's what's going on here
134
so they might just say instead of my house my place they might say mine
135
and yours so yeah i wonder yeah i wonder why they're more likely how
136
that formed in australian english instead of american english i really don't know why right yeah it's it's interesting
137
because it sounds to me so much more casual oh at mine at yours
138
but i don't think
139
that that's really what it is what do you think yeah
140
i agree i don't think it means it's more casual
141
it's just a shortened form i mean i know in australian english
142
they have a lot of idioms they're known for a lot of expressions
143
and sayings so maybe that's part of it like a more casual culture maybe i don't know
144
but i don't think of british english as a more casual language environment right
145
i don't know right i don't know we have to interview someone from australia yeah that's true
146
but lindsay would you i mean yeah would you talk like
147
that would you say oh uh like should we meet at mine
148
or yours would you say
149
that it doesn't come to mind to say that's the thing like it's not in my head to say it
150
when you know we have all these phrases bubbling up
151
and ready to deploy when we're on the phone
152
or we're talking to someone it doesn't come up
153
but i could see like
154
if i were living in a place where i were frequently around australian people
155
and british people hearing it all the time i would definitely start using
156
it 100 right yeah that's the fun thing about
157
when you are with people from different places
158
and you start to adopt some of the things that they say
159
but yeah i don't think that
160
that would naturally come into my head as you know say at mine at yours well
161
you know we generally will say the object right my place my house yes my apartment um
162
so yeah um so again mine
163
that would be for my home that's what they're saying yes
164
so it would sound like this yeah where are you watching the movie later
165
i'm going to watch it from mine see
166
that just i don't think i would say yeah not natural for me no no um yeah for sure
167
and then yours of course means your home
168
and I guess it doesn't refer to anything else right
169
it's just yours means your home that's the only thing it means that's interesting I wonder
170
if it could also mean like your office like
171
if you're you know should we go by yours right
172
if you're at work or something I don't know probably it can refer to other things like
173
if someone's handling groceries oh you know you look
174
it looks like those groceries are heavy why don't you hand me yours of course
175
that would refer to their groceries
176
so be careful we don't mean it just refers to the home um
177
and in terms of like different yeah i don't know michelle interesting yeah
178
that's a good point this is very specific to right now talking about people's homes
179
or their places that they spend a lot of time in
180
and trying to figure out like locations um rather than oh these groceries are mine right
181
because we do like you know we do say oh can you help me with mine right
182
or right we would say
183
that yeah oh you have it looks like you're not having
184
a problem holding your groceries can you help me with mine meaning my groceries
185
it's just referring to the item we're just shortening it we don't need to say groceries again we know
186
that yeah we right so it's interesting
187
so again guys this is really specific a very specific context here um
188
that you might hear the difference uh in
189
if you're depending on who you're talking to yeah um
190
so let's do so then there's also hours yeah so
191
that could mean our home so for example couples family roommates yeah yeah
192
when you live with other people where's the party we're actually hosting it at hours yeah okay
193
so talking probably talking to the person
194
that lives with you um right wouldn't you say not necessarily though no no i mean
195
if you are friends i mean if you are coming over to my house uh
196
or i'm hosting yeah i mean for example
197
we're hosting my daughter's birthday party i could say you know i'm talking about ours that's true not yours
198
but my family yeah that's true you don't need to be talking to the person
199
that lives with you exactly
200
and then theirs means their home um what does this look like michelle yeah
201
so i've never seen their home well we're gonna stop by theirs later you should come yeah yeah
202
and you can also say his or hers
203
but it's less common unless the context is really clear
204
so both people need to be talk must need to know the person okay um
205
so for example are you at daniels no
206
i'm heading to his now yeah it's just really different
207
it's just different from what we do here in the states
208
so love that yeah yeah it's very interesting to spot these differences um
209
so yeah if you noticed we use these after prepositions right
210
so after at from by so i'm heading to mine now i'll call you
211
when i get home yeah or we were hanging out near yours
212
so we thought we'd stop by right yeah right interesting
213
but yeah but in american english again we're not really using those possessive adjectives by themselves
214
but there are some exceptions so right let's let's go over
215
when we might do something like this so first thing is
216
when the word house
217
or place was just mentioned this is like a grocery example yes exactly uh
218
so should we go to my house or your house right
219
so that's we don't need to say house right we might just say should we go to my house
220
or yours so that's an example where we would cut off the house the second house yes yes
221
because we've already heard house in the first in the my house
222
or yours we know we're talking about my house
223
or your house right right right same thing would go for
224
with theirs right are we having dinner at our place
225
or their place rather we would say are we having dinner at our place
226
or theirs or when we're choosing between two homes
227
so are we going to mine
228
or yours right right um yeah uh are we watching the game at mine
229
or yours tonight i don't know what do you think about this one
230
this one might still be a little bit more still to me yeah this one feels like it
231
but i do think in that first example that that that's
232
when the key difference is i think
233
so let's put this into a role play michelle
234
and see what it looks like here so here you
235
and i are friends and we are planning a birthday party
236
and we're deciding where to host it of course yes
237
so where should we have the birthday party mine or yours i was thinking your place.
238
It's bigger, right?
239
Yeah, and my place has better parking.
240
True.
241
Aubrey also offered to host.
242
Her place is huge, but really out of the way.
243
That's a good point.
244
Let's stick to mine.
245
It's more convenient.
246
Sounds good.
247
Should we get the cake delivered directly to your house then?
248
That makes sense, but please come over to mine early to set up.
249
I could use the help.
250
of course just let me know the time and i'll be there
251
so this is interesting so we're gonna go through this
252
and say and see
253
if you guys can you know kind of figure out would are we more likely to say
254
this as an american english or not so because we have them kind of mixed in
255
that'll be fun let's identify what is hodgepodge yeah what is more australian english
256
and what is more american english so first i said
257
so where should we have the birthday party mine
258
or yours what do you what do you think michelle australian english
259
or american australian i would say i i don't think i would say mine
260
or yours i would probably still say my house
261
so i might say my house or your house
262
or just my house or yours exactly as we showed our listeners and then you said i was thinking your place
263
It's bigger, right?
264
And what about that one?
265
That's natural.
266
Yeah, that feels natural to me.
267
That's us, right?
268
Yeah.
269
Yep.
270
And then you said, yeah, and my place has better parking.
271
So that sounds more natural to me rather than saying, and mine has better.
272
I mean, because we did say your place.
273
It would be okay to say mine there, I think.
274
I think it would be okay.
275
Yeah, that's true.
276
In American English, right?
277
I think that, yeah.
278
So it's really about if it was mentioned, if it was just mentioned.
279
That's the difference.
280
in australian english they're okay with not mentioning um house right we said
281
that they don't necessarily say place again
282
we should have an aussie on the show to talk about this a bit more um
283
but in american english you have to say the place for like place
284
or home or house first yeah okay very interesting um
285
and then i said aubrey also offered to host her place is huge
286
but really out of the way yeah
287
and then i said that's a good point let's stick to mine right let's stick to mine
288
so i would i would say let's stick i would say mine
289
i don't think you necessarily need to say my place here again
290
we just we know what we're talking about it's too much
291
it's too many times saying place at this point the noun is out
292
there the noun is place right home house place
293
so we can say that right um
294
and then you said sounds good should we get the cake delivered directly to your house then
295
so that one yep you say that here and then yeah
296
and then but please come over to mine early to set up
297
so this one sounds less common to what i would say what do you think yeah
298
i mean even though we did just say house
299
we're talking about houses
300
i think just the chunk over to mine um yeah at
301
yours is just is is this could go either way i think i mean i would understand in american english
302
that you're saying my house right because we're talking about houses right
303
but again in isolation it's
304
when you find it in isolation hey should i come over to yours later right
305
that's australian english okay very very interesting stuff here you know it's
306
because and this is just important i mean well uh well okay we'll talk about this on the takeaway
307
but guys if you haven't already listen to episode 2575
308
that was five English idioms
309
that hit hard yes tell us Michelle why is this important let us know
310
because you're gonna hear you're gonna be speaking to people from I mean wherever you're practicing your English it's important
311
that we know these differences and that we're able to identify them
312
because I do think yes it's connection not perfection absolutely
313
and people are able to figure out what you're saying
314
but it is good to note some of these differences
315
because it can make to me a native English speaker go wait what at my you know
316
it does sound a little bit more unusual to what I would say
317
so I would say that you know if you are speaking more to Americans
318
that you would go one way you know and use
319
that object um right yeah what do you think yeah I mean I think also familiarity breeds connection right
320
so if you're using things in a similar way i also think
321
that our listeners our students all over the world learners of english are learning different versions of english right and
322
so you guys are going to be communicating with them too we're not just talking with native speakers we know
323
that we talk with you guys every week in open conversation club
324
and you tell us that your workplace is global it's international
325
that means everyone from everywhere and so many people who are non -native speakers
326
that maybe you're collaborating with through work are going to have learned australian english
327
so yeah they'll be speaking this way
328
so it's just important to know kind of all of these different ways of phrasing things
329
and then have your own style
330
or mirror whoever you're talking with that's kind of cool too you can become a bit of a chameleon
331
if you want to that well that's that's as you're saying
332
that that's so interesting to me because yeah i'm imagining you know
333
if our listeners work with americans and aussies and sure and
334
so do you just switch it based on who you're talking to at
335
that moment that could be a good follow -up episode
336
or do you just kind of go with one i mean
337
because i mean i i think the most important answer is
338
do you accept the invitation to go have dinner with these people right right exactly that's
339
yes that's true we don't need something like oh my god
340
which one you know it's it's fine um so exactly connection not perfection
341
that is really what it comes back to as always all
342
right good stuff Michelle we'll talk to you soon thanks for this little glimpse into Australian English
343
it's really fun all right all right bye guys

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing

Same Channel

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “2676 - Yours or Mine? Using Possessive Words to Talk About Homes”. This video has 24 sentences and 3713 words to shadow. The speech runs for 19:42. The speaker talks fast, about 188 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 89% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow. 79 of its 24 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

WordPronunciationMeaning
refer verb/ɹɪˈfɜː/To direct the attention of (someone toward something).
groceries noun/ˈɡɹoʊ.s(ə.)ɹiz/Retail foodstuffs and other household supplies; the commodities sold by a grocer or in a grocery store.
casual adjective/ˈkæʒ(u)əl/Happening by chance.
theirs/ðɛɚz/That or those belonging to them; the possessive case of they, used without a following noun.
listener noun/ˈlɪs(ə)nɚ/Someone who listens, especially to a speech or a broadcast.
necessarily adverb/ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/Inevitably; of necessity.
naturally adverb/ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/In a natural manner.
phrase noun/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/A short written or spoken expression.
depend verb/dɪˈpɛnd/To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition
isolation noun/ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃən/The state of being isolated, detached, or separated; the state of being away from other people.
subscribe verb/səbˈskɹaɪb/To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
inspire verb/ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by…
perfection noun/pɚˈfɛk.ʃən/The quality or state of being perfect or complete, so that nothing substandard remains; the highest attainable state or degree of excellence.
roommate noun/ˈɹu(m)ˌmeɪt/A person with whom one shares a room, as in a dormitory, barracks, rooming house, or apartment.
noun noun/naʊn/A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, word, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea…

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordPronunciationMeaning
figure out verbTo come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
go through verbTo travel from one end of something to the other.
point out verbTo identify among a group of similar subjects, or in a scene where the subject might not be readily seen or noticed, with a gesture of the body.
set up verb/ˌsɛt ˈʌp/To make ready for use.
check out verbTo record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
clean up verbTo make an area or a thing clean; to pick up a mess; to tidy.
come up verbTo emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
cut off verb/ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf]To remove by cutting.

Sentences worth repeating

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

  • How did that feel to you to say that?
  • Do you want to hang out later?
  • Do you know what I mean?
  • Why don't you hand me yours?
  • When you live with other people, where's the party?

Grammar in this video

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

StructureIn the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters nowyou've hit · i've heard · have noticed
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itwas inspired · are subscribed · is fully booked
Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good ideashould read · should we just grab · should we study
Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certainmay not say · might use · might just say

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 107 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

  • The “sh” and “zh” sounds: casual /ˈkæʒ(u)əl/, isolation /ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃən/, perfection /pɚˈfɛk.ʃən/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, exception /əkˈsɛpʃən/
  • Long words — get the stress right: necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, isolation /ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃən/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like refer, groceries, casual.

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 →