Shadowing Practice: A1 English Listening Practice - Free Time - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hey everybody!
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Hey everybody!
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Welcome to this A1 English listening practice video.
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You can use this video to practice your listening and comprehension as I speak.
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Before we start, remember to subscribe to the channel, click on the bell, and follow us on Instagram.
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You ready?
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So today, I'm going to talk about free time.
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This is a good topic because everyone enjoys having free time.
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I love having free time and you probably do too.
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So first let's talk about how much free time people have.
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Most children have more free time than adults.
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When you're a kid you don't have the responsibilities that an adult has.
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Adults have to work, pay the bills, and take care of their children.
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Kids usually don't have to do these things.
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Kids usually have to go to school and do homework.
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This can be difficult, but it's usually not that difficult.
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So children have more free time.
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When I was a kid, I had a lot of free time.
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I got home from school around 2 or 3 p.m.
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and after that I played a lot.
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On weekdays, from Monday to Friday, I probably had around 4 or 5 hours of free time each day.
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Sometimes I got bored because I had so much free time.
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But as I got older I had more homework each year.
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So each year I had a little less free time.
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I didn't have too much homework though.
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In the US we don't get that much homework.
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In some other countries children have a lot of of homework.
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I'm glad that my schoolwork wasn't very hard.
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On weekends I had even more free time.
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On Saturday and Sunday I did many activities.
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Weekends were the best because I had all day to play and rest.
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I really liked weekends and I still do.
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Now that I'm an adult, I don't have a lot of free time.
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I have to work and do many other things.
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I usually start working early, like at 7 a.m.
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or 7 30 a.m.
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So I have to wake up around 6 a.m.
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When I was a kid, I slept more.
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I usually slept for eight hours every night.
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As an adult, I don't sleep eight hours every night.
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I usually get seven hours or seven and a half hours of sleep.
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How about you?
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How many hours of sleep do you get?
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So, after I finish work, I have some free time in the evening.
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However, I usually do some extra work or studying during this time.
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I have to make these YouTube videos and Instagram videos, and I also study foreign languages.
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At night, I have some free time to just relax.
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My wife and I spend the evenings together and enjoy this time.
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Okay, now let's talk about some popular activities that people do in their free time.
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For example, many people like to play sports or exercise in their free time.
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When I was a kid, I played a lot of sports.
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I played basketball, baseball, tennis, soccer, football, and golf.
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I really liked playing sports in my free time.
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But as an adult, I don't play any sports.
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I'm not very interested in playing sports nowadays.
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However, I exercise in my free time.
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I work out almost every day, but just for a short time.
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Other people spend a lot of time exercising.
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So another activity that people do in their free time is watch TV shows and movies.
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Many people do this in their free time.
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I know some people who watch many hours of TV every day.
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I don't watch a lot of TV or movies.
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I really like playing games in my free time.
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I play chess online but I'm not very good.
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I also like playing board games with my family.
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We play games like Catan and Codenames.
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Do you like playing board games?
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One last activity that most people do in their free time is surf the internet.
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This is probably the most common activity that people do.
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I spend a lot of time on the internet.
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Some days I spend too much time on the internet.
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It's not good to spend all day inside on the computer.
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We should try to go outside and do other activities too.
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But the internet is very entertaining so it's easy to spend many hours surfing the web.
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Okay, now I'm going to ask you some questions about the video to see if you understood.
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Write your answers in a comment down below.
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Number 1.
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What time did I get home from school when I was a kid?
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Number 2.
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How many hours do I sleep each night?
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Number 3.
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What game do I like playing online?
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Alright, remember to subscribe to the channel, click on the bell, and follow us on Instagram for more English tips and lessons.
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I'll see you next time.
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About This Lesson: Mastering "Free Time" in English

Dive into this engaging A1 English listening practice video focused on the universally enjoyable topic of "Free Time." This lesson provides an excellent opportunity to enhance your English speaking practice by exploring everyday routines, hobbies, and activities. The speaker clearly describes his past and present free time experiences, offering rich context for understanding how English speakers discuss their personal lives.

Through this video, you will:

  • Expand Your Vocabulary: Learn essential words and phrases related to daily schedules, responsibilities, sleep patterns, and popular leisure activities like playing sports, exercising, watching TV, playing games, and using the internet.
  • Practice Grammar Patterns: Solidify your understanding of the past simple tense when discussing childhood memories ("when I was a kid, I had...") and the present simple for current habits and general truths ("now that I'm an adult, I don't have..."). You'll also encounter comparative structures to talk about differences in free time.
  • Develop Comprehension Skills: Follow a natural conversation about a relatable topic, improving your ability to grasp meaning from spoken English at a beginner level. This is a foundational step towards achieving greater English fluency.
  • Prepare for Real-Life Conversations: The themes discussed – daily life, work-life balance, and hobbies – are common in everyday chats and even relevant for IELTS speaking topics in parts 1 and 2.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases from "Free Time"

Here are some useful English phrases and vocabulary from the video that you can incorporate into your own conversations:

  • Pay the bills: (phrase) To manage and settle financial obligations for services like electricity, rent, or utilities. (Example: Adults have to pay the bills.)
  • Get bored: (verb phrase) To feel tired and annoyed because you have nothing interesting to do. (Example: Sometimes I got bored because I had so much free time.)
  • Wake up around [time]: (verb phrase) To stop sleeping at approximately a specific time. (Example: I have to wake up around 6am.)
  • Spend the evenings together: (verb phrase) To pass time with someone during the late part of the day, usually relaxing or doing activities. (Example: My wife and I spend the evenings together.)
  • Work out: (phrasal verb) To do physical exercise. (Example: I work out almost every day.)
  • Surf the internet: (verb phrase) To spend time looking at different websites and pages on the internet. (Example: Most people surf the internet in their free time.)
  • Not very good [at something]: (adjective phrase) To indicate a lack of skill or ability in a particular area. (Example: I play chess online but I'm not very good.)

Practice Tips for This Video to Boost Your English Fluency

This "Free Time" video is perfectly suited for several effective English speaking practice techniques:

  • Use the Shadowing Technique: The speaker has a clear, moderate pace and an American accent, making this an ideal video for shadowing. Listen carefully to his rhythm, intonation, and pronunciation. Pause the video, then try to imitate his speech as closely as possible, focusing on mirroring his tone and speed. This is fantastic for pronunciation practice.
  • Answer the Questions Aloud: At the end of the video, the speaker asks three comprehension questions. Instead of just thinking the answers, practice speaking them out loud. Try to form complete sentences using vocabulary from the video. This simulates an IELTS speaking Part 1 interaction where you answer personal questions.
  • Personalize the Topic: After listening to the speaker describe his free time, pause and describe your own. How much free time do you have? What activities do you enjoy? What did you do for fun as a child? Comparing your experiences with the speaker's will help you activate new vocabulary and grammar patterns naturally, boosting your English fluency.
  • Focus on Time Expressions: Pay attention to how the speaker uses phrases like "when I was a kid," "on weekdays," "on weekends," "in the evening," "usually," and "almost every day." Practice integrating these into your own descriptions of routines.
  • Re-tell the Story: Watch the video a second time without the transcript, then try to re-tell the main points of the speaker's story about his free time. This will test your listening comprehension and your ability to summarize, a crucial skill for advanced learners.

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.

How to Practice Effectively on ShadowingEnglish

  1. Choose your video: Pick a YouTube video with clear, natural English speech. TED Talks, BBC News, movie scenes, podcasts, or IELTS sample answers all work great. Paste the URL into the search bar. Start with shorter videos (under 5 minutes) and content you find genuinely interesting — motivation matters.
  2. Listen first, understand the context: On your first pass, keep the speed at 1x and just listen. Don't try to repeat yet. Focus on understanding the meaning, picking up new vocabulary, and noticing how the speaker stresses words, links sounds, and uses pauses.
  3. Set up Shadowing mode:
    • Wait Mode: Choose +3s or +5s — after each sentence plays, the video pauses automatically so you have time to repeat it out loud. Choose Manual if you want full control and press Next yourself after each repetition.
    • Sub Sync: YouTube subtitles sometimes appear slightly ahead or behind the audio. Use ±100ms to align them perfectly so you can follow along accurately.
  4. Shadow out loud (the core practice): This is where the real work happens. As soon as a sentence plays — or during the pause — repeat it out loud, clearly and confidently. Don't just mouth the words: mirror the speaker's exact rhythm, stress, pitch, and connected speech. Aim to sound like a shadow of the speaker, not just a word-by-word recitation. Use the Repeat feature to drill the same sentence multiple times until it feels natural.
  5. Scale up the challenge: Once a passage feels comfortable, push your limits. Increase speed to <code>1.25x</code> or even <code>1.5x</code> to train high-speed language reflexes. Or set Wait Mode to <code>Off</code> for continuous shadowing — the most advanced and rewarding mode. Consistent daily practice of 15–30 minutes will produce noticeable results within weeks.

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