Shadowing Practice: Australia Has A Tradie Shortage - BTN High - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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How has your apprenticeship been so far?
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Oh heaps good.
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I love my job.
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How are you going today?
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We're building Australia and we're building the world.
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If you don't have a plumber, you don't have a toilet.
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If you don't have a sparky, you don't have lights.
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If you don't have a tradie, you don't have anything, you don't have a house to live in, you don't have none of that.
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Without enough people, construction work takes longer, it's more expensive and the quality can suffer as well, so we really desperately need more tradies.
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Australia's population is growing.
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It's jumped from 23.8 million to more than 27 million over the past 10 years.
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And with more people comes greater demands for, well, everything.
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But the number of people starting apprenticeships and joining the trade sector hasn't kept up.
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In fact, it's barely changed.
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And with a housing crisis on our hands, it has a lot of people asking, where are all the tradies?
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So I'm Will Frogley, I'm the Chief Executive Officer of Masters Builds SA.
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There's a massive shortage of tradies running around Australia.
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I think we're seeing this shortage because for
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so many years kids were told they had to go to university and you have to go to uni, you have to go to uni, you have to go to uni, otherwise it's, you know, your second rate almost.
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Nothing could be further from the truth.
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According to Monash University's 2024 Australian Youth Barometer report,
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70% of young people aged 15 to 19 say they plan to go to university after school.
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But for apprenticeships, the numbers are a lot lower, with only 15.2% of males planning to do an apprenticeship.
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And it's even lower for women and gender-diverse young people.
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The stigma that parents put on kids and schools put on kids, that they have to go to uni to be successful.
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It's just, like, it's so not true.
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Isabella is a third-year electrical apprentice, and while she was always a hands-on kid, trades weren't really offered to her as an option at school.
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Loved Lego growing up, loved helping in the garden, and I was just really inspired by my dad.
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He was a tradie and I just always wanted to help him out as much as I could, so, yeah, it's definitely a big part.
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I went to a private all-girls school and trade really wasn't even an option for me.
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I had to do all the research myself.
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I was told I had to apply for uni.
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Literally, they would make sure we applied.
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Otherwise, they were like, we can't let you graduate.
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So I ended up applying for uni, but I knew I wasn't going to go.
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There are apprenticeships for all kinds of things.
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They combine on-the-job training with formal study.
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You get paid for it, there's no HECS debt, and at the end, you'll be qualified to do a specific trade.
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So, basically, you work a full-time job.
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It's a good way to get paid to learn, pretty much.
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So you work and you get paid and you learn.
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That was terrible.
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An apprenticeship is earning while learning.
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Joseph is in his third year of his plumbing apprenticeship.
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I wasn't too keen at school.
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It wasn't my forte.
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I liked working more and I knew I liked working hands-on instead of being in a classroom, you know, reading a book and typing on a computer.
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So I always knew trade was an option for me.
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Being paid to learn is great for getting people into the industry.
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But the wages aren't very high because, well, apprentices are still learning and the businesses
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that hire them often take on the costs and risks that come with training someone who's not yet qualified.
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I guess the wages are a bit challenging sometimes when you got, you know, in car insurance to pay for and rego or, you know, your car's broken down and that can be hard if you're not a good saver.
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And wages is something the government is targeting to try and entice more people to learn a trade.
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Master Builders Australia estimates
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that the industry needs an extra 130,000 workers to reach the government's national target of 1.2 million homes by mid-2029.
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So, earlier this year, the federal government announced an incentive
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that would pay housing and construction apprentices $10,000 in five instalments over the duration of their training,
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with more given to those who live away from home.
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Right now, a first year carpentry apprentice earns about two thirds of the minimum wage.
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Some apprentices earn even less.
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Many apprentices have said they could earn more stacking shelves at the supermarket.
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And too many leave training because they simply can't afford to stay.
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They absolutely do make a difference.
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We need to make it as attractive as possible to be an apprentice.
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You can earn more money today doing something else, but my message is if you stick with it, once you've finished your apprenticeship,
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within a few years you can be earning really good money and that's why it's really rewarding to stay the course.
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The wage goes up every year and the award rates always go up
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and once you're qualified as well the money's just pretty insane for what it is and what you can do.
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But it doesn't start and end with money.
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Some in the industry say there are cultural challenges
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that contribute to the fact that almost half of apprentices don't actually finish their training.
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I reckon there should be a bit more support for apprentices.
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Some companies and some trades people very hard on the apprentices.
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It's sink or swim.
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Maybe some bullying as well, like some people face that.
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I've had a lot of mates do apprenticeships and then not follow through, which were very challenging times for them.
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There's a mindset from some of the old guard in the industry
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that kids lack resilience these days they don't know how to work, you know, they're much more high maintenance than they used to be.
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But at the end of the day, it is a different generation and they want more support.
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So you give it to them to help them succeed.
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That's what it's all about.
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And we haven't even mentioned the fact that fewer than 3% of people on the tools in Australia are women.
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And how honest am I being here?
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One of my friends got told that she shouldn't be doing her job, so.. because she's not strong enough.
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Probably the worst thing I've experienced is actually female toilets on sites and the lack of them.
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I've been on a couple job sites where I've been told to drive to the closest servo for a toilet, where there's been a block of men's toilets with, like, urinals in it.
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So obviously I don't want to go in there.
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And then they won't have a female toilet at all.
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There's also a lack of sanitary facilities in women's toilets when they're on site.
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We do push for a toilet, that sometimes they just don't respond.
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We need way more female tradies, but you've got to get the basics right if you want to attract more women into the industry.
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I might not be as tall and strong as a guy on site, but I've got different problem solving skills to him.
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You need different skills on the job site.
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I've seen it firsthand and yeah, we work really well together.
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Have a good one.
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Good years.
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Good years.
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Will, Joseph and Isabella say that while there are challenges that come with the trade industry, it's also really rewarding.
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And in Australia, there's never been a more important time to become a tradie.
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As everyone knows, there's a real shortage of housing in Australia at the moment, and there's a lot of plans to build more homes, but without enough skilled trades,
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it takes a lot longer and people need a roof over their heads now.
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So that's why if you're wanting to get into the building construction industry, there's never been a better time to get your foot in the door because employers are absolutely crying out for people.
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It's heaps satisfying fixing problems especially when you're you know getting better at your job
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and you start doing things by yourself and figuring things out.
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I've been learning a lot not just plumbing but also as myself
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and becoming you know an adult and a tradesman so it's been very good in that aspect as well.
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Every time we speak about women in trade it's always at trade events
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and I just think we need to go broader so get out to the schools get out to society in general.
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If it doesn't even seem like an option people aren't going to consider it.
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You can't be what you can't see.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Australia Has A Tradie Shortage - BTN High”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: trade, apprentice, apprenticeship, tradie, toilet. This video has 110 sentences and 1482 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:58. The speaker talks fast, about 186 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 84% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| apprentice noun | /əˈpɹɛntɪs/ | A trainee, especially in a skilled trade. |
| apprenticeship noun | /əˈpɹɛn.tɪs.ʃɪp/ | The condition of, or the time served by, an apprentice. |
| tradie noun | A tradesman, tradesperson. | |
| shortage noun | /ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/ | A lack or deficiency; an insufficient amount. |
| qualify verb | /ˈkwɑ.lɪ.faɪ/ | To describe or characterize something by listing its qualities. |
| plumbing noun | /ˈplʌmɪŋ/ | The pipes, together with the joints, tanks, stopcocks, taps, and other fixtures of a water, gas, or sewage system in a house or other building. |
| carpentry noun | /ˈkɑː.pɪn.tri/ | The trade of manipulating materials in order to construct, install, and/or repair buildings or other structures. |
| entice verb | /ɪnˈtaɪs/ | To lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope. |
| firsthand adjective | /ˈfɜːstˌhænd/ | Direct, without intermediate stages. |
| instalment noun | /ɪnˈstɔːl.mənt/ | Australia, UK, and Canada standard spelling of installment. |
| plumber noun | /ˈplʌm.əɹ/ | One who furnishes, fits, and repairs pipes and other apparatus for the conveyance of water, gas, or drainage. |
| sanitary adjective | /ˈsænɪt(ə)ɹi/ | Of or relating to health. |
| sparky adjective | Lively and animated. | |
| tradesman noun | A skilled manual worker (implied male). | |
| urinal adjective | /ˈjʊɹɪnəl/ | Synonym of urinary. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go up verb | To move upwards. |
| break down verb | To stop functioning. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| follow through verb | To execute or complete a commitment. |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. |
| keep up verb | To maintain; to preserve; to prevent from deteriorating or falling. |
| run around verb | To be very busy doing many different things. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- How has your apprenticeship been so far?
- How are you going today?
- Otherwise, they were like, we can't let you graduate.
- I wasn't too keen at school.
- You can't be what you can't see.
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 | hasn't kept · have said · you've finished |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were told · weren't really offered · was just really inspired |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | those who live · through, which were |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 50 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I've, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: apprenticeship /əˈpɹɛn.tɪs.ʃɪp/, shortage /ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/, shelf /ʃɛlf/, duration /dʒʊˈɹeɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: apprenticeship /əˈpɹɛn.tɪs.ʃɪp/, sanitary /ˈsænɪt(ə)ɹi/, resilience /ɹɪˈzɪl.ɪ.əns/, supermarket /ˌsupɚˈmɑɹkət/, desperately /ˈdɛs.p(ə.)ɹət.li/
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 apprentice, apprenticeship, tradie.
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.