Shadowing Practice: A Day in London during the Heatwave - Learn English Speaking with Video

Good morning, today we are in London.

This is an iced latte with honey.

Today we are spending the day in London.

I used to live in London while I was at university.

So I lived in London for four years while I was studying.

So for me, honestly, the touristy side of London is It's a bit boring.

I thought that we could check out some more local neighbourhoods today and Yeah,

see a little bit more of what the city is really like right now We are down by the Thames

so behind me you can see the city It's called the city the section of London.

It's associated with like the business side of London the banks and things like this Sweden this morning.

I had a flight at 7 :00 a .m.

It's now 9 :15 so we have the whole day ahead of us.

The plan is to drop our suitcases off at a hotel and then we're going to grab some brunch.

This right next to us is the HMS Belfast which is like an old battleship, it's quite cool.

We are heading to London Bridge Station, which is only like five minutes walk away.

We are stopping for brunch.

We are in an area called, I've forgotten, London Fields.

So we're in London Fields which is quite a cool area, it's quite trendy.

We've ordered a couple breakfasts like with like ricotta cheese we're waiting for that.

No salt Javier seriously.

Today there is a heat wave in London

so I don't know how hot it is right now but it's going to get to 30 degrees

To be honest with you, heatwaves in London are really shit because there's a lot of concrete,

there's a lot of concrete and a lot of really high buildings There's not a lot of breeze.

We're quite lucky where we are right now there is like a little bit of wind

but generally there's not a lot of breeze.

It's just impossible to escape the heat.

Like the tube is boiling, the buses are boiling.

There's also basically no AC in London except in like a hotel.

But hopefully today alongside showing you some neighborhoods.

I can also show you how we survive the heat waves as well.

Finding an outdoor garden like an outdoor cafe

or an outdoor bar is a really common thing to do

so we found this little outdoor cafe it's called E5 I think E5 Bakery

but beer gardens are popular going to parks is very popular as well

which is what we're going to do next we another coffee.

This is my my third one of today.

This is an iced latte with honey.

Normally I like to have my coffee with caramel, but they have no caramel, that's quite common.

in London, in somewhere like super trendy, they usually don't have like a syrup so I get honey Who cares?

Um...

Thank you!

All right.

- Thank you.

What a cute little car.

The cafe we went to was amazing.

I would definitely recommend it.

We really enjoyed the food and it was just cool.

Like all of the people in there were very cool.

There were lots of people in there on like first dates.

So it was really fun to, I mean, this is so bad, but I love eavesdropping.

on people, on dates.

I love trying to work out if I think it's going well.

or not so We're eavesdropping, eavesdropping some free furniture.

Thank you.

- - Something that I think lots of people don't know or maybe don't see in London when they're here.

are the canals and the canal boats.

Oh man, maybe more hens!

Oh, shut up.

- Yeah.

That's a moorhan. with chicks.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

Oh my god that's so cute.

But if you come to London, I think walking down by the canals It's so lovely.

So this is Victoria Canal.

There are others in the city as well.

There's a place called Little Venice which is full.

of canal boats and I definitely recommend checking it out while you're here - There are so many birds chirping.

Thank you.

London is a massive city.

I think it's 9 million people live here in London.

But it's very sprawling.

So sprawling means it's very wide.

Obviously the city of London that I showed you earlier has a lot of skyscrapers but

This area we're in right now has lots more of these like small

old townhouses and this is accessible by tube it's a cool place to visit Maybe if you're here for...

more than a weekend.

Like if you're here just for one weekend, There are probably some more I don't know, impressive?

landmarks to see like all of the museums, there are so many museums.

There are so many museums to see and so many monuments, so maybe you won't make it here, but if you're here for like a few days or If you're in London for study abroad,

This is a really cool area.

If I were moving back to London, I would probably, I'd probably move back into this area.

It's also quite green.

As you can see, there's lots of flowers and things on the streets.

It's gorgeous gorgeous in summer.

- some cute whites Terrace houses.

Probably Victorian, I think.

and straight ahead here is the Victoria Park.

Thank you.

I'm sleeping all that this time.

There are lots of people sunbathing.

A lot of us like to be tan.

So there's lots of people sunbathing.

There's also people like running.

which is crazy because it's 30 degrees.

But honestly, we're not very used to the heat.

So I think a lot of us just don't actually know like what you should be doing.

Lots of people like to have like a tinny A tinny in the park so I have a rhubarb and what?

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A gin.

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rhubarb and ginger tonic and what people will do is They will come to the park on a sunny day.

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and yeah just buy a drink from the local supermarket.

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from a nearby supermarket and yeah, just enjoy a drink in the park with their friends.

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might bring a speaker or they might sunbathe and just have a have a tinny So.

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Cheers.

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We're going to finish up these drinks and we're going to head back towards Shoreditch area.

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Hey.

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Um, well...

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I am now in a hotel.

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This afternoon I said I was going to show you around Brick Lane.

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and Guys, I haven't chained you around Brick Lane.

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I came back to the hotel and I fell asleep.

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I've been up since so early this morning.

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So I'm just feeling like so Tired like really really tired and I just needed to have a nap,

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but It's now about 6 :00 p .m.

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I think actually half six and Oh!

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It's actually it's 10. to seven.

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I'm now going to meet a friend for dinner and maybe get some drinks as well.

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The plan is I'm going to get ready super quickly.

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I'm just in the same outfit as before.

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I'm going to head out into London.

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So Today is Thursday.

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Thursday is quite a fun night, I think, because not everybody, but many people work from home, especially like on a Friday.

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So usually like people like to get drinks on a Thursday.

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It's quite fun.

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So there's usually a pretty good vibe, especially on a warm, sunny day like today.

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It should be nice to go out and grab a drink.

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I also am really hungry.

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I was planning on eating something else today, this afternoon, like a late lunch and then have a late dinner.

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But I fell asleep, so I think I'm going to get a pizza with my friend from from uni.

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Lots of people worry that London is maybe like a dangerous.

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city There's lots of discussions about like knife crime and phone snatching and stuff.

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I think London, I feel very safe in London.

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Actually, as far as like anywhere I've lived, I feel very comfortable in London.

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I feel happy walking around at night.

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I felt happy like going around by myself in the day.

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I actually think even in like four years I never had a bad experience living in London,

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which maybe that's like me being very lucky or being very privileged in the places that I'm in.

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I personally have had way more bad experiences in the United States.

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Well, the United States, only California.

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I lived in California for one year.

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Personally, for me, compared to like my experience in the US, the UK feels very safe.

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So come to London, it's a great city.

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And yeah, I'm going to head out now.

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I'm on my way to my friends now.

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I have ordered a pizza It's only from Domino's.

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Is that so bad?

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She wants like a proper Italian pizza and I was like I'm gonna bring one from Domino's.

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Which normally I think I have good taste in food but Domino's is like a guilty pleasure. of mine.

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It's like I shouldn't love it, but I do.

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Also, ignore my shoulder.

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It's a little bit sunburned. That sucks.

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I forgot my sun cream today.

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It was in my big suitcase, so I didn't actually put any on.

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Anyway.

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- Thank you.

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I'm in the same bathroom.

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So I have just got back from being out.

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I went to one of my friend's apartments to have pizza.

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She is doing an internship in the city so I got to catch up with her.

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And then I met up with my brother for some drinks.

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It's been a really good day.

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My channel is full up.

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hopefully is interesting.

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It's like, you know, listening practice videos for beginner and intermediate learners.

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That just leaves me to say thank you so, so much for watching, and I will see you in the next video.

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Bye.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 167 sentences and 1657 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:02. The speaker talks at a steady 127 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% 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
canal noun	/kəˈnæl/	An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
pizza noun	/ˈpi.tsə/	A baked Italian dish of a thinly rolled bread crust typically topped before baking with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients such as meat or vegetables.
outdoor adjective	/aʊtˈdɔː/	Situated in, designed to be used in, or carried on in the open air.
honey noun	/ˈhʌni/	A sweet, viscous, gold-colored fluid produced from plant nectar by bees, and often consumed by humans.
concrete adjective	/ˌkɑnˈkɹit/	Real, actual, tangible.
asleep adjective	/əˈsliːp/	In a state of sleep; also, broadly, resting.
tube noun	/tuːb/	Anything that is hollow and cylindrical in shape.
gorgeous adjective	/ˈɡoɹd͡ʒəs/	Sumptuously dressed.
sunny adjective	/ˈsʌni/	Featuring a lot of sunshine.
breeze noun	/bɹiːz/	A light, gentle wind.
boil verb	/bɔɪ(ə)l/	To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.
supermarket noun	/ˌsupɚˈmɑɹkət/	A large self-service store that sells groceries and, usually, medications, household goods, and/or clothing.
suitcase noun	/ˈsutkeɪs/	A large (usually rectangular) piece of luggage used for carrying clothes, and sometimes suits, when travelling.
ignore verb	/ɪɡˈnɔː/	To deliberately not listen or pay attention to.
impressive adjective	/ɪmˈpɹɛsɪv/	Making, or tending to make, a positive impression; having power to impress.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
check out verb		To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
finish up verb		To complete the last details of a task.
go around verb		To move or spread from person to person.
go out verb		To leave, especially a building.
head out verb		To leave, depart; to go on ahead.
shut up	/ʃʌt ʌp/	Stop talking (usually in the form of making annoying, irrelevant, or false comments, during a period of peace and quiet, or when one is not allowed to talk)…
walk away verb		To withdraw from a problematic situation.
walk down verb		To continually advance (on an opponent) and punch (the opponent) in order to control the fight and dominate the opponent, while shrugging off the opponent's…

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've forgotten · We've ordered · haven't chained
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	Belfast which is · Station, which is · Fields which is
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	was studying · were moving · was planning
Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea	should be · shouldn't love

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 44 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, we're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, internship /ˈɪntɜːnʃɪp/, battleship /ˈbætəlˌʃɪp/
Long words — get the stress right: supermarket /ˌsupɚˈmɑɹkət/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, accessible /əkˈsɛs.ɪ.bəl/, intermediate /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/

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 canal, pizza, outdoor.

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: A Day in London during the Heatwave - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?