Shadowing Practice: A1 English Listening Practice - Cultural Customs - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hey English learners, welcome to this A1 English listening practice video. Today I'm gonna talk about some different customs in the US and in Mexico.
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Hey English learners, welcome to this A1 English listening practice video. Today I'm gonna talk about some different customs in the US and in Mexico.
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I've lived in both of these countries and I have a lot of experience with the different customs in these different cultures.
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So hopefully you find this topic interesting. Uh many people like hearing about my experience living in Mexico uh because it's interesting to live abroad and experience these differences in culture and in customs. So that's what I'm going to talk about today. And remember that if you want my help to understand fast English, make sure to sign up to become a listening time member so you can watch my listening practice seminars in which I help you understand English when people speak fast. So that link is down below. Okay, let's talk about some different customs in the US and in Mexico. The first thing I want to talk about is meals. Uh, eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner. These are meals.
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Let's talk about the different uh meal times in the US and in Mexico. Uh in the US uh lunch is usually between 12 and 100 p.m. usually and it's usually not the biggest meal of the day. So sometimes people eat a lot, but often it's not a heavy meal, it's a light meal. Uh so perhaps someone might just eat a sandwich for example. Uh but people can also eat a hot meal maybe. Uh, it depends on the person, but lunch usually isn't the biggest meal of the day. And sometimes people eat lunch at their office while they're working or in their car uh on their lunch break uh when they have a break from work. Uh, so this is different in Mexico. In Mexico, lunch is later in the day. It's usually between 2 and 4 p.m. So maybe around 300 p.m. on average. Uh, and it's usually the biggest meal of the day. This is usually when people eat the most. People might go to restaurants uh around this time. So, you see a lot of people at restaurants at 300 p.m.
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3:30 p.m. This is very typical. It's common. uh in the US uh you don't see as many people at restaurants at that time because that's too late for lunch in the US and it's too early for dinner, right?
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Um, in the US, dinner is typically around 6, 6:30, 7 p.m. Dinner is usually served around that time. Uh, and dinner is usually the biggest meal of the day.
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This is when people eat the most.
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And when I was a kid, I always ate dinner with my family, my parents and my sister, and we ate almost every day uh at the same time. Um, we ate dinner around 6:30 p.m. and we sat down together and my mom uh cooked a big meal for us. This was the most important meal of the day for me and my family when I was growing up. And this is when restaurants are the busiest. You see many people at restaurants around dinner time in the US. In Mexico, dinner is later. Uh it's usually between 8 and 10 p.m. maybe. And usually it's not too heavy. It's not a really big meal because lunch is typically the biggest meal. And for example, my wife's family often eats sweet foods for dinner. Um, not everyone does that, but uh they uh often eat snacks and sweet foods uh for dinner. But uh there are many different things people might eat for dinner in Mexico. Uh, and it's a little strange for many of us to think about eating dinner that late. It's hard to imagine eating dinner at 900 p.m., for example. That's not typical in the US. All right, let me talk about another custom. uh the custom of arriving on time or arriving late. In the US, most people think that it's normal to arrive on time for events, parties, appointments, etc. They don't want to be late. It's not good to be late. In the US, of course, sometimes people arrive late.
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It's not always a problem, but in general, people think that it's good to arrive on time to things. In Mexico, this is less strict.
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Many people arrive late to different events or appointments, meetings, uh, parties.
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And often the other people don't get mad. And I remember uh arriving at a birthday party in Mexico that started at 6:00 p.m. or they told us that it started at 6:00 p.m. and we arrived at 6:00 p.m. and nobody was there. and the host, the person who was having the party, they weren't even ready for us to come inside yet. And this shows the difference in culture. In the US, if someone says that uh a birthday party is going to start at 6:00 p.m., it's going to start at 6:00 p.m.
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If you show up at 6:00 p.m., you arrive at 6. That's normal. But in Mexico, it's normal for people to arrive late. and sometimes very late to parties. I remember that uh at that party uh people came at like 700 p.m. or later even uh but the party was uh supposed to start at 6 p.m. So, uh, some people like, uh, when, uh, a culture, um, is less strict about arriving on time. Uh, some people like punctuality, meaning they like when people are on time. People have different opinions about this and you probably prefer one or the other. Um, I like being on time, but that's just me. All right. One other custom I want to talk about is greetings. When you say hello and goodbye to people in Mexico, it's common to give people a kiss on the cheek. Uh, usually you don't touch your lips to their skin. Uh, but you make the sound, you touch your cheeks together. And women do this with other women. Men do it with women as well. Um, and people do this even if you don't know the person very well. Even if you don't know them that well, you probably still greet them with a kiss on the cheek. It depends.
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Sometimes you don't do this, but I did this many times when I lived in Mexico.
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This was new for me. It was something that I had to adapt to when I lived in Mexico because in the US, this is not a common greeting. Some people do this, but usually it's people who they're very close with and typically older people might do this. It's not common to see young people give a kiss on the cheek. I don't remember seeing that uh in the US.
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So this is not a common greeting in the US and so it can be a little strange when someone from the US goes to Mexico and uh people greet them like this. Uh you have to uh realize that this is a very different custom in the two countries. In the US, it's common to give people a handshake in some situations or uh it's also common to give a hug.
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Different types of hugs uh depending on the situation.
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It depends on how well you know the other person. If you know them really well and you're really close to them, um, you might have a different type of greeting than someone who you don't know well at all.
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There are different types, different ways to greet people in the US, but normally people don't give each other a kiss, especially if they don't know each other well. But it depends. Like I said, there are many other examples of customs that are different in the US and in Mexico, but those are a few that I wanted to talk about. Hopefully, this video was helpful for you. I know it was probably challenging for some of you. I don't only use A1 language in my A1 videos because the purpose of an A1 listening practice video is to challenge you and help you get to the next level to A2. So there are some things I say that are challenging, but that's okay.
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If you are at an A1 level, you should listen to things that are above that level. Okay, thank you for watching and remember that you can check out my listening practice seminars that will help you understand fast English. If you want those, you can go down below and click on the link to sign up. All right, thank you so much for watching this video and I'll talk to you in the next
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Context & Background

This A1 English listening practice session dives into cultural customs by the speaker who has lived in both the United States and Mexico. With a rich experience in observing the differences in traditions, meal times, and social customs, the speaker aims to enlighten English learners about these distinctive practices. Such knowledge not only broadens cultural awareness but also boosts engagement and understanding of conversational English, which is a vital component of successful language acquisition.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • “What time is lunch?” - A common question reflecting cultural differences in meal schedules.
  • “Do you want to join us for dinner?” - A polite invitation that encourages social interactions.
  • “I’m running late.” - A phrase frequently used in both cultures to address punctuality.
  • “Let’s meet up at 6 p.m.” - Establishing plans highlights punctuality norms.
  • “A kiss on the cheek is common here.” - A phrase that explains a specific greeting custom, showcasing cultural nuances.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To improve your English pronunciation and listening skills using this video, follow this structured shadowing guide:

  1. Listen Actively: First, watch the video without trying to imitate. Focus on understanding culturally significant points.
  2. Pause and Repeat: Play segments that stand out to you. Use a shadowing app to repeat phrases while paying attention to pronunciation and intonation.
  3. Practice the Key Phrases: Take the top phrases listed above and practice saying them out loud. This will help reinforce your speaking skills and oral fluency.
  4. Record Yourself: Use a voice recording tool to capture your attempts. This will allow you to track improvements and adjust any mispronunciations over time.
  5. Engage with Cultural Context: Try to relate the customs discussed to your own experiences or research other cultural practices. This not only enhances your vocabulary but also deepens your understanding of context during conversations.

By applying these steps, you set yourself up for IELTS speaking practice as you become more conversant in English and comfortable discussing diverse topics. Consider leveraging your shadowing experience to move from the A1 to A2 levels in English proficiency effectively.

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.

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