Shadowing Practice: B2 English Listening Practice with Test - Toxic Boss - Learn English Speaking with Video
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51 sentences
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Hi everyone.
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In this video, we will listen to a dialogue in which colleagues share their experiences with a toxic manager.
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Listen carefully and at the end you can take a comprehension test.
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Let's begin.
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Emma, have you heard the news about John?
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Apparently, he's not coming back.
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And there's even talk of him being fired.
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really i knew he was on leave but i assumed it was for personal reasons what's going on
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i don't think it's as simple as that have you ever worked with him directly
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not recently but i've heard plenty of stories about him over the years
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i've never worked with him myself but people who have say he was always yelling threatening to fire people.
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Jessica told me he stole one of her ideas.
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She pitched this amazing project at the monthly creative workshop, and everyone loved it, John included.
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But when she saw the meeting notes, her name was nowhere to be found.
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He basically repeated her ideas and made it seem like they were his.
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He even made her do all the planning.
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And then, when the project, the one about cars, finally started, she was reassigned to something else.
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Didn't that project win an award?
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It did.
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But Jessica got no credit for it.
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She was livid, but what could she do?
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Speaking up would have risked her job.
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Definitely.
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It's nearly impossible to challenge someone as senior as John, or as he was.
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What was your experience working with him?
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well you mentioned the shouting i've been in meetings with him
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and we all learned to stay quiet
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it was awful people were genuinely scared of him did you ever notice him taking credit for others ideas
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it wasn't always obvious he was brilliant no doubt about that but he had a whole team behind him.
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Not every idea was his, but after a while, it's hard to say, this was mine and that was yours.
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For me, the bigger issue was how unpredictable he was.
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One day, you were in his good graces, and the next, you were out, no explanation.
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And once you were out, things got really tough.
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I've heard women especially struggled working with him.
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Absolutely.
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Like I said, you had to stay on his good side.
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If he made a comment that made you uncomfortable, you just had to let it go.
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May I ask if this has ever happened to you?
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Not directly, no. But we all knew it happened.
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And no one dared to speak up.
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I was lucky.
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I didn't have to interact with him much.
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They're launching a full investigation.
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So I guess a lot of this come out eventually.
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I hope so.
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Honestly, I hope he's gone for good.
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Thanks for listening.
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I hope this helps you improve your English.
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Feel free to share your opinion about this manager in the comments section.
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You can also find a link to a comprehension test, as well as other useful materials, in the pinned comment.
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See you!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “B2 English Listening Practice with Test - Toxic Boss”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: comment, project, heard. This video has 51 sentences and 505 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:35. The speaker talks at a steady 141 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| comprehension noun | /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/ | A thorough understanding. |
| awful adjective | /ˈɔːfʊl/ | Very bad. |
| carefully adverb | /ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/ | With care; attentively, circumspectly. |
| explanation noun | /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/ | The act or process of explaining. |
| pitch noun | /pɪt͡ʃ/ | A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand. |
| steal verb | /stiːl/ | To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it. |
| nowhere adverb | /ˈnoʊ.(h)wɛɹ/ | In no place. |
| dare verb | /dɛ(ə)ɹ/ | To have enough courage (to do something). |
| dialogue noun | /ˈdaɪəˌlɑɡ/ | A conversation or other form of discourse between two or more individuals. |
| pin noun | /pɪn/ | A needle without an eye (usually) made of drawn-out steel wire with one end sharpened and the other flattened or rounded into a head, used for fastening. |
| toxic adjective | /ˈtɒk.sɪk/ | Having a chemical nature that is harmful to health or lethal if consumed or otherwise entering into the body in sufficient quantities. |
| uncomfortable adjective | /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/ | Not comfortable; causing discomfort. |
| workshop noun | /ˈwɝk.ʃɑp/ | A room, especially one which is not particularly large, used for manufacturing or other light industrial work. |
| genuinely adverb | /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/ | In a genuine manner; truthfully, truly. |
| scare verb | /skɛɚ/ | To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| speak up verb | /ˌspik ˈʌp/ | To talk more loudly or clearly. |
| come back verb | To return to a place. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Didn't that project win an award?
- What was your experience working with him?
- I've heard women especially struggled working with him.
- May I ask if this has ever happened to you?
- I didn't have to interact with him much.
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 heard · i've never worked · i've been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being fired · be found · was reassigned |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 9 contractions and reduced forms, such as I've, didn't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: comprehension /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, workshop /ˈwɝk.ʃɑp/, shout /ʃaʊt/
- Long words — get the stress right: explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/
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 comprehension, awful, carefully.
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.