Shadowing Practice: 5 things about IELTS Speaking Band 9.0 | 9 WORKOUT | The IELTS Workshop - Learn English Speaking with Video
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41 sentences
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Hi guys, my name is Tung Dang and these are 5 things that people don't tell you about Isle Speaking Band 9.
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Your number one goal should not be to impress.
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Your number one goal should be to speak naturally.
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You gotta have enough language to be able to carry on a conversation in a relaxed, genuine manner.
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You can't strategize your way to a high score.
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Grammar should be an afterthought.
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This is sort of an extension of the first point.
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Grammar should be something that is second nature to you.
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You should not have to think about whether you're conjugating your verbs correctly, or whether a simple or complex sentence would be more appropriate in a certain situation.
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Grammar is the conduit.
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It's like the electrical grid.
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It's the invisible infrastructure that allows you to organically,
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seamlessly, effortlessly, instantaneously convey what is in here through here.
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There's no such thing as fancy vocabulary.
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There's the right word, the almost right word, and the wrong word.
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A lot of the lexical items that people like to flaunt
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when they're delivering an IELTS speaking test are either almost right or outright wrong.
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The truly excellent candidate is always self-assured that his diction is measured, thoughtful, articulate, but appropriate.
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You don't always have to be comfortable with the topic to deliver good answers.
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The IELTS speaking test does not consist of any topics or questions that are highly technical in nature.
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You don't have to be an expert, nor do you need to possess any sort of specialized knowledge in order to succeed in the test.
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But sometimes you do get asked questions that you don't normally think about.
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Questions like, is your country a cash-centric society?
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Or should people be encouraged to travel less because of the enormous environmental footprint of travel?
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When you get asked questions like these, you might be stumped, and that's perfectly normal.
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You don't have to be comfortable with these questions, you just got to be comfortable with your temporary ignorance
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if you will on the topic and try to figure out what you think about it by talking about it.
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Don't be too reliant on contrived phrases like, oh that's an interesting question.
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Just start talking and it'll get easier, I promise.
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The only way to guarantee a certain band score is to be overqualified for that band score.
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You want 9?
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You should aspire to speak like an educated native speaker, not like other 9ers.
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If you focus too much on whether you're good enough for a certain band score, chances are you're going to be met with disappointment.
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The test is not perfect by any means.
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Sometimes you get a worse score than a person who is not as proficient as you are, sometimes you get a higher score than the performance that you give in the test room.
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And there's no point in rationalizing why you did or did not get a certain band score.
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There's no such thing as being good enough.
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You're either not good enough or you're so good
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that it will be unreasonable for the examiner to give you anything less than what you deserve.
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But at the end of the day, it's just a test.
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Take it seriously, but not too seriously.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “5 things about IELTS Speaking Band 9.0”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: score, test, band, certain, grammar. This video has 41 sentences and 545 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:28. The speaker talks at a natural 157 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| bind verb | /ˈbaɪ̯nd/ | To tie; to confine by any ligature. |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
| afterthought noun | /ˈæft.ɚ.θɔt/ | A reflection after an act; a later or subsequent thought, action, or expedient. |
| aspire verb | /əˈspaɪɚ/ | To have a strong desire or ambition to achieve something. |
| centric adjective | /ˈsɛntɹɪk/ | Being in the centre; central. |
| conduit noun | /ˈkɑnd(j)ʊɪt/ | A pipe or channel for conveying water, etc. |
| conjugate verb | /ˈkɒn.d͡ʒə.ɡeɪt/ | To inflect (a verb) for each person, in order, for one or more tenses; to list or recite its principal parts. |
| contrived adjective | /kənˈtɹaɪvd/ | Created in a deliberate, rather than natural or spontaneous, way. |
| diction noun | /ˈdɪk.ʃən/ | Choice and use of words, especially with regard to effective communication. |
| effortlessly adverb | /ˈɛf.ɚt.ləs.li/ | Without effort; without difficulty or struggle. |
| flaunt verb | /flɑnt/ | To parade, display with ostentation. |
| instantaneously adverb | Without any delay; in an instantaneous manner. | |
| lexical adjective | /ˈlɛksɪkəl/ | Concerning the vocabulary, words, sentences or morphemes of a language. |
| organically adverb | /ɔːˈɡænɪkli/ | In an organic manner. |
| overqualified adjective | Having too many qualifications to be deemed appropriate for a (usually unskilled) job. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- You can't strategize your way to a high score.
- Questions like, is your country a cash-centric society?
- Just start talking and it'll get easier, I promise.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 15 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, you're, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: afterthought /ˈæft.ɚ.θɔt/, thoughtful /ˈθɔːtfəl/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: diction /ˈdɪk.ʃən/, proficient /pɹoʊˈfɪʃ.ənt/, rationalize /ˈɹæʃənəlaɪz/, specialize /ˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/, assure /əˈʃʊɹ/
- Long words — get the stress right: effortlessly /ˈɛf.ɚt.ləs.li/, organically /ɔːˈɡænɪkli/, rationalize /ˈɹæʃənəlaɪz/, examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/, articulate /ɑːɹˈtɪk.jə.leɪt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like bind, grammar, afterthought.
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.