Shadowing Practice: Beginner English Conversation about Free Time Activities - Learn English Speaking with Video
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124 sentences
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1
So Meg, what do you like to do in your free time?
2
Actually, I love cooking.
3
I like to try new dishes and I love baking as well.
4
Oh, nice.
5
That's interesting because I hate cooking.
6
Oh, really?
7
Yeah, and I don't know anything about baking, but I like cleaning.
8
Cleaning is relaxing.
9
Really?
10
Is that true?
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Yeah, really.
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I like cleaning.
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So my house is usually very clean.
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My house is usually clean also, but I don't like cleaning very much.
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Yeah, I think most people don't like cleaning, but some people think cleaning is relaxing, like me.
16
That's true.
17
What else do you like to do?
18
Well, I like exercising.
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I like going to the gym.
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I like listening to podcasts.
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So I listen to a lot of podcasts a lot.
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And I like surfing the internet.
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And sometimes I enjoy reading books.
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I also enjoy reading books when I have time.
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But these days, I often listen to books instead.
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I listen to audiobooks.
27
Oh, really?
28
Yeah, I like listening to audiobooks.
29
Why?
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Because I can't exercise at the same time.
31
Ah, so exercising and reading at the same time.
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Yeah, it's fun.
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So I love jogging, and I go jogging almost every day, usually for one hour so I listen to audiobooks when I jog.
34
So you can do two things at once.
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Very important.
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Multitasking.
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I love multitasking.
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Sounds like you're good at multitasking.
39
Let's talk about outdoor activities.
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Do you like doing yard work?
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I don't especially like doing yard work, but right now I don't have a yard,
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so doing yard work isn't something I have to worry about.
43
What about you?
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I like doing yard work.
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I think it's very relaxing.
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It's like cleaning, so I enjoy it.
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But like you, I don't have a yard, so now I don't do yard work very much.
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Or I can't do yard work.
49
So you like gardening if you have a yard?
50
Yeah, so I grew up on a big house, so we had lots of yard work, lots of gardening. So, yeah.
51
Right.
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But what about other things like hiking?
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Do you like hiking?
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I love hiking.
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Anything that is in nature, I love doing.
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So I love hiking.
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I love kayaking.
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I love canoeing.
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Any outdoor sports.
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Do you like hiking?
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I do.
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I'm with you.
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I love hiking.
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What about things like rock climbing?
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I have never been rock climbing.
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Have you gone rock climbing?
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No, rock climbing looks dangerous, so I'm a little scared, so I've never done rock climbing either.
68
What about things like singing and dancing?
69
Do you enjoy singing and dancing?
70
I enjoy singing, but I'm not very good at it, so I like singing when I'm alone or in my car.
71
Are you good at singing?
72
No, I'm terrible at singing, so I hate singing.
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I really, really hate singing.
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But I like going to karaoke and listening to people sing.
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Yeah, some people are really good at singing.
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Yeah.
77
What about dancing?
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I hate dancing too.
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Yeah.
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I'm not good at dancing, so dancing is very embarrassing for me.
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So I don't like it.
82
I'm not good at dancing either.
83
Are there any other activities you really dislike doing?
84
Like for me, I hate writing letters.
85
For example, I don't like writing thank you letters.
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I don't like writing anything with my hand.
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Typing is okay.
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I don't mind typing things, but I hate writing.
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So using your hand to write, you hate writing.
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Yeah, I like typing.
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Fingers is okay.
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Thumb is okay on the phone.
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Like, I don't mind texting.
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I don't mind typing.
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I just don't like physically writing with a pencil or pen.
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Like, yeah, pen or pencil, like a letter, writing a letter.
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Right, because my writing is really bad, and it's hard to read, so it's embarrassing.
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I'm sure it's fine.
99
How about you?
100
For example, do you like ironing your clothes?
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I don't like ironing my clothes, but...
102
My clothes usually don't need ironing, so I don't have to worry about it too much.
103
I don't like doing laundry.
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It's related to ironing clothes.
105
So it takes a long time, and the clothes, I have to dry the clothes.
106
So doing laundry is a little bit boring for me.
107
I don't mind doing laundry if I go to the coin laundry, but I hate hanging my laundry out.
108
So I hate hanging out my laundry.
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It takes forever.
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I don't know why.
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You put it out, you take it back in.
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It just takes so much time.
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That's funny.
114
I'm kind of the opposite.
115
So I don't mind hanging out my laundry because I like saving money.
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So I don't have to use money at the coin laundry.
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Plus you are helping the environment.
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That's true.
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I like helping the earth.
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Yeah.
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I should change.
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Okay.
123
Thanks, Meg.
124
Yeah.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Beginner English Conversation about Free Time Activities”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: yard, singing, hate, laundry, writing. This video has 124 sentences and 821 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:52. The speaker talks at a steady 140 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 22 of its 124 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| laundry noun | /ˈlɔːn.dɹi/ | A laundering; a washing. |
| cloth noun | /klɒθ/ | A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes… |
| hike noun | /haɪk/ | A long walk, usually for pleasure or exercise. |
| climb verb | /ˈklaɪ̯m/ | To traverse a slope or contour, either upwards (ascending) or downwards (descending). |
| relax verb | /ɹɪˈlæks/ | To make something loose. |
| outdoor adjective | /aʊtˈdɔː/ | Situated in, designed to be used in, or carried on in the open air. |
| coin noun | /ˈkoɪ̯n/ | A piece of currency, usually metallic and in the shape of a disc, but sometimes polygonal, or with a hole in the middle. |
| podcast noun | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on… |
| pencil noun | /ˈpɛnsəl/ | A writing utensil with a graphite (commonly referred to as lead) shaft, usually blended with clay, clad in wood, and sharpened to a taper. |
| bake verb | /beɪk/ | To cook (something) in an oven (for someone). |
| finger noun | /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ | A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other… |
| physically adverb | /ˈfɪz.ɪ.kli/ | In a physical manner. |
| dish noun | /dɪʃ/ | A vessel such as a plate for holding or serving food, often flat with a depressed region in the middle. |
| scare verb | /skɛɚ/ | To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way. |
| thumb noun | /ˈθʌm/ | The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What else do you like to do?
- Do you like doing yard work?
- Have you gone rock climbing?
- Do you enjoy singing and dancing?
- Are you good at singing?
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 | have never been · Have you gone · I've never done |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | love cooking · love baking · hate cooking |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | have to worry · have to dry · have to use |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 36 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: cloth /klɒθ/, thumb /ˈθʌm/
- Long words — get the stress right: audiobook /ˈɔdi.oʊbʊk/, karaoke /ˈkæ.ɹiˌəʊ.ki/
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 laundry, cloth, hike.
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.