Shadowing Practice: British English Conversation about Living Abroad - Learn English Speaking with Video

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and my mum will buy me a card to give to a friend and I'm like, come on, please, really?

Yeah, my mum does that for my brother too though, she doesn't do it for my sister.

Hello everybody and welcome back to another British English chit chat, natter conversation with me Lewis and another amazing guest.

So, let's get straight into it, cut to the chase.

So Kirsty, welcome and how are you?

Hi, Lewis.

I'm really well.

Thank you for having me.

I'm good.

How are you?

I can't complain.

You know, I've just had a sandwich because I was a bit peckish before we started recording.

I was a little bit hungry, so I thought, oof, I could just do with a bite to eat.

And I've got a brew here as well.

Oh, it wouldn't be.

Yeah, it wouldn't be a chat without a brew.

Perfect.

Well, cheers to that.

Yeah, cheers.

Cheers, Lewis.

But let's begin with a little bit of an introduction.

I'm sure pretty much everybody will know you or have watched your videos before, but just for anybody who hasn't watched Kirsty's videos before,

could you do us a favour and introduce yourself?

You can tell us as much or as little as you want.

Well, my name's Kirsty.

As you just said, I'm a British expat.

I live in France where I teach English.

I'm married to a Frenchman and I have children here in France.

And just like you, Lewis, I teach English on YouTube also.

So let's start with that.

We're going to focus mainly on a specific topic in today's conversation, which is about living and moving abroad.

But I'm just curious, Kirstie, how come you started your YouTube journey?

Why did you decide to start making videos and posting them online?

I think it's an amazing way to help as many people as you possibly can.

I live in the French countryside in the south of France,

and it was just a way of me being able to teach um to more foreign students

which i absolutely love um and

so i've got a great community going on on youtube

and also in my private lessons

and you know it's just really enjoyable for me i grew up in a very international setting

when we moved to france and you know i was missing

that interaction that you can then get off from youtube so So that was why I started my YouTube journey.

What about you?

I mean, in my case, I remember it as if it were yesterday, more or less, at least, which was when I moved to Brussels because of my partner's job.

And I was a bit of a, I don't know, a turning point in my life.

I wasn't sure what to do with my free time.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do in the future.

I was starting to have these little doubts and thinking like, should I keep teaching English or not?

Should I try and get a more stable job?

So I was weighing up different options and knowing that I'm quite indecisive, I thought, well, I don't want to make a proper decision yet.

I can keep putting that off for the future, which is why I thought, well, I'm going to start posting videos, short videos on Instagram, TikTok,

and YouTube shorts and see where it goes to see

if I can get some new students and i kind of liked it

and i got a bit addicted

and the moment you see a video do well i was like oh

that feels nice it's almost like gambling

and winning a bet yeah i agree there is that element

and i agree yeah you can become addicted to posting on youtube

but for me i like the the the gambling side to it like you said

but more importantly it's the comments when people come

and say hi hi i'm from here hi i'm from here

and the same people coming back as well week after week to say i'm i like this video

or this has really helped me or how are you doing kirstie i love

that i find it amazing you know that we can communicate

and have this banter back and forth uh with people across the globe

so yeah yeah i totally agree with you on

that yeah i think one of the coolest things as well is

when you recognize a profile slash username on youtube for example

and then you see this profile has booked a class with you

and you're like ah i've seen that name so many times

and that's when you're finally able to put the profile name to the face

and get to know that person

and then it's like awesome you see we're connecting just from simple videos

or conversations podcasts you can reach so many people and teach them for free as well so it does feel

Like you're giving something back and you're helping all sorts of people, even if maybe they cannot afford to have classes with you,

you know that they're going to be able to immerse themselves in the language to be able to pass exams,

move abroad or get a job speaking English.

So maybe that's a great way of linking us with the topic of this conversation.

I mentioned moving abroad and Kirstie you live in France so I want to know first what's the weather like today?

Really hot Louis it's scorching um yeah we're coming towards the end of summer

and I think the sun has just decided to give you know a last little scorcher to France

and um but we're expecting storms quite violent storms actually

so we'll see how that goes

and then it's supposed to be 10 degrees cooler tomorrow

so to be honest that will be a welcome break I bet I mean

if you've got a heat wave and a drought for months

and months and months then

when you see a little bit of rain it's like oh yeah that's new that's different I like it Yeah, you want to do a rain dance.

What about you?

Where are you right now?

Well, right now I'm back home.

I'm still at my mom and dad's house

and people are going to think that I live here because I've been recording lots of podcasts and videos here.

I don't live here, I promise.

I did move out when I was 18 years old, but it's always nice to come back.

And when I do come back, I often stay for two or three weeks.

I make the most of the full fridge and the countryside walks here.

I can catch up with my friends and the rest of my family as well.

And the reason I've extended this stay is partly because in a couple of days, I've got my friend's wedding.

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So I didn't really want to fly back from England to Belgium and then Belgium back to England because it's a hassle.

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It's a bit of a pain.

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So I'm still here for another few days and looking forward to the wedding.

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And the weather is a little bit all over the place

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because right now I've had to lower the blinds because if not, it's really bright and sunny.

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But then two hours ago, I went for a run and just when I stopped running, it started pissing it down.

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It started pouring it down and it was really windy as well.

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So I was like, oh no, we're gonna catch a cold at this rate

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so yeah the weather is all over the shop good old

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british weather then exactly um do you miss it do you miss english weather i miss british weather

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um i i like i actually like seasons um at one point uh

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when i was younger i lived in the caribbean for almost three years okay yeah

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that was another time that i lived above it was the French Caribbean

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so it was still France

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and it was really strange to it felt like it was the same day over

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and over again you know like Groundhog Day the Bill Murray film um

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so you'd be doing your shopping in December

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and the people the the people at the checkout would have Father Christmas Santa Claus hats on

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and you'd be like oh yeah it's December but

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because it's always hot and always summer um I realized at

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that time my in my life how much I love seasons

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so I do I do actually enjoy cold weather I like seasons for sure

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but we get seasons in France as well yeah I guess in winter it gets cool

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and cold maybe but if you're in the south south of France it never gets like freezing

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or does it it depends where you are in the south of france

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if you are closer to the mountains you do get a real winter um

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so yeah it depends it really depends where you are south

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um like can we say cans in english right they say can um and the could yeah i mean it gets

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slightly cold but not cold cold yeah

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but I don't live down on the Côte d 'Azur yeah

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I'm I'm more middle south more not too far from the mountains

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so we get real winter which is nice I like real winter too okay perfect

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and by the way I mentioned the word freezing

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which is very very cold but

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if you want to say a little bit cold you can say it's cool it's chilly

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or we can also use a kind of northern british slang word

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which is nippy it's like oh it's a bit nippy

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when i went out for a run earlier i was like wow we're recording this in september

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but it's a bit nippy it's a bit Yeah, nippy.

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You don't hear that very often in France or in Brussels, but my mum definitely says it.

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Yeah, nippy.

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Perfect.

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So let's begin with this first question related to moving abroad.

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Kirstie, I'm curious.

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I want to find out when did you first move abroad

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and how come well i moved to france it was a family project

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and i was almost 17

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so i went to an international school to finish my a levels um

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so yeah it was a family project um i had been

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preparing to move to france for a few years as a teenager and

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so i have been learning french from home in england yeah

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listening to french radio watching three french films non -stop

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that i had and shadowing i didn't know at the time

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that i was shadowing but i was so that's something

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that i tell all of my students to do shadow shadow

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shadow repeat you were way ahead of the curve unbelievable i was just desperate to speak french

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and you know

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and i was worried i think as a teenager thinking oh

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will i make friends will i be able to fit in

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um you know you need to speak a language in order to to fit in

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so yeah so i was quite young okay

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and did you know for quite a long time

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that the plan was to move to france like did you have a year

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or two to be able to train

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and improve your french before making the move yeah yeah a

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couple of years yeah we knew a couple of years in advance

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and uh the move was quite easy as i say

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because um we used to go to france on holiday um

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my i had an uncle who had a house in france

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and we would spend summers in france as well um talking

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to people in french villages it was very charming you know it was typical you know typical rural France um

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and so yeah so we had some time to prepare

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and the move was quite easy because my mom is also an English teacher

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and you know it runs in the family

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if you want to travel teach English you know um

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so yeah so the move was quite easy

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and my sister was um about to begin high school

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so i was doing my a -levels she started high school i mean it was difficult at first you know

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because our french wasn't perfect

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but we were fluent enough to to to to not find it too difficult yeah i mean i guess

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if you were kind of like you were just about an adult

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but you're still you know not fully independent so maybe it makes it easier to learn a language because you're younger.

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And I guess when you moved, you'd have been forced into so many situations where you had no choice but to use French.

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It's not like you can hide and use English all of the time, especially moving to a countryside.

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Because this is a common tip that I sometimes give people, which is people want to move to London, for example.

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But if you move to London, it's going to be very easy to avoid using English if you want to do that.

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Let's say you are Brazilian and you really want to immerse yourself in English and you move to London.

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Well, maybe London isn't the best place because you will find working or in different language schools, lots of other Brazilians.

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So then you can kind of sit back, relax and stay in your comfort zone, which isn't going to benefit you in the long run

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and you're not going to be able to push yourself to use the language every single day

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so related to that was this an advantage for you

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that you moved to the countryside rather than paris for example

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um well actually it wasn't the countryside i live in the french countryside now

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but when we moved we actually moved to quite a big city in the north of france

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which is why I know Belgium and Brussels

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because we actually moved to Lille in the north of France you know they're just next to each other

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so it's not Paris though you definitely see more French people

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and you know interact with more French people but being in an international school

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you know I was hanging out mostly with English speakers.

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So I agree with what you've just said.

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You really need to surround yourself with the language.

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And if you're only hanging out with people who speak your mother tongue, that's not going to work.

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Yeah.

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So in that case, if you had moved to a small town in the countryside, maybe it would have helped you.

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Maybe I would have gone running back to England to my grandmother's house.

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Don't forget I was 17.

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So I think I needed the big city, you know um

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so it wasn't too it eased me into french life

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and speaking french having a few bilingual friends

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because in the international school often children are there

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because they have a bilingual setup at home um you know french mom british dad

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or american mom french dad so okay

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and lille i think it's a pretty cool city as well

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of course living in brussels i've been a couple of times

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and it's quite nice the architecture is beautiful yeah there's lots

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of students as well i think it's a student city yeah

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and it's big without being like intimidatingly big

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so exactly i imagine it's like comparing it to maybe a

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leeds a liverpool perhaps a manchester where it's a big city

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but you know Paris would be like ah this is

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so big what do I do where do I go yeah

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yeah I agree yeah no Lille is is a really nice

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it's a great city for like weekend breaks I loved uh

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growing up in Lille I then studied in Lille I went to French University um

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and yeah it was amazing and in France, everyone says that northerners, people from northern France,

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are the kindest and the warmest people.

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And I have to say it's true.

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They're very, very kind.

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Yeah.

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So it was quite easy to fit in.

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People are really open.

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Yeah.

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You see, the same stereotype exists in the UK as well, that northerners

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and scots as well are much friendlier you know kind of

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down to earth as well easier to get along with

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and then the stereotype not saying it's true

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but the stereotype is in the south of england

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that people can sometimes be a little bit stuck up

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and this adjective stuck up is to describe someone who almost looks down on others

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that they feel perhaps superior to others of course massive generalization yeah just stereotypes

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but you know the stereotype exists for a reason don't you think maybe yeah

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because i didn't mention that i was from liverpool at the beginning of our conversation

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so yeah lewis and i we are northerners yeah so

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which is why we're so friendly obviously we we believe

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that northerners are just really friendly yeah it's slightly biased maybe just a little bit slightly yeah

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and how long did it take you before you felt comfortable speaking French at university etc was it relatively quick

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or did it take quite a long time

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so I think my language journey was in two phases

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so I reached fluency before we moved to France

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and I was quite at ease with the language

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when we arrived in France then you pick up everyday slang

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which you don't learn you know

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when you're learning a language it's not what you learn at school it's not

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so then I spoke kind of more of an everyday French and then

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when I wanted to go to university as a French student

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like treated as a French student you know I couldn't just

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write on my exam paper please don't mind my mistakes I'm British they're anonymous like all exam papers

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that was definitely the next step academic French and

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that was much more difficult

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and I needed to study a little bit more before I

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went to university to then do I did a degree

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and a master's to train to be a curator actually which

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and now I'm an English teacher but yeah I trained to be a curator

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so um and the studies were amazing i absolutely love history um

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but it was that was very difficult academic french was yeah

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and you know and quite rightfully

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so none of the university professors were giving me any you know get out of jail free cards to

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if i made mistakes I needed to speak French as good as the next French student.

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So that was quite difficult, but very enjoyable.

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And it really pushed me as well

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so you know sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you just have to make that effort

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and so that's what happened to me

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and it was a really good thing you know it really

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boosted my french yeah i guess it was kind of like sink

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or swim you know it's one of these scenarios where you

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are dropped into a swimming pool for example you don't know how to swim you're not prepared

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so okay are you able to think on your feet

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and adapt and be able to go through the tough times

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and hopefully come out at the other end of it

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so it was yeah think or swim

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or swim absolutely you swam yeah like this just about just about at first

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and then it became easier

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but yeah i i had to play catch up quite a bit at the beginning um

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but yeah what about you lewis your your language journey tell it tell me more about

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that well you speak fluent spanish am i right i speak

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fluent spanish of course there are some slight imperfections sometimes maybe people can tell

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that i'm not a native speaker but i'd still class it as fluent um

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so that happened uh initially just because at school

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when i was studying languages

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which was a very very very small amount of time each

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week maybe one hour of french one hour of spanish

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and for some reason with spanish i saw the funny side of like playing a role

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and imagining that i was spanish imagining i was colombian imagining

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that i was mexican so i was really over exaggerating my accent

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because i saw it almost like theater like drama

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so it was like you have science you have maths you have lots of different subjects

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that maybe you don't feel passionate about so it's hard to get through it

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and then Spanish and French

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when I was studying at school it was like oh this is fun I can just mess around

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and Lewis the Mexican came out exactly I had my sombrero and I was like hola okay that's really funny.

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So that was maybe one of the first moments when I thought, this is quite fun.

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I can consider it in the long term.

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And then I mentioned just 15 minutes ago that I'm quite an indecisive person sometimes.

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So then when I went to university, I was weighing up two options of doing physiotherapy or languages.

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And I thought, well, if I do languages, then it's going to be more fun.

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And I'm going to university to have fun, not thinking about my future at all, just about making friends, going out and having fun.

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So then I did Spanish, Italian and Portuguese later.

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And I first moved abroad properly when I went to Argentina.

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And I lived with an Argentinian family teaching a few classes in their school.

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And this was great because it was kind of in the countryside side.

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People spoke a little bit of English, but not that much English.

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And I went with the attitude of, okay, I need to squeeze as much as possible out of this experience.

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So even if I could probably use English with some of them, I'm going to insist on using Spanish all of the time.

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So I learned a lot.

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I immersed myself in the culture.

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I made friends as well.

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And I think that was a moment where I thought to myself, like, yeah, this is cool.

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I don't want to go back to England.

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I want to carry on traveling.

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I want to carry on learning about more cultures and improving my language skills in each country.

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So then from there, I did my Erasmus in Italy, in Palermo.

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my italian isn't anywhere near as good as it should be

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but hey you live

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and you learn what were your housemates not italian i suspect erasmus my housemates were spanish

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and portuguese so it was so you improved your spanish in italy my spanish got

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so much better and i even improved my portuguese as well

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and you know i made some slight improvements with my italian

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but nowhere near as much as I would have liked

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and well in the last decade more

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or less I've been living between Spain more recently Belgium I

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had a little stint in Australia as well working there

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so I've moved around and I've lived abroad for I'd say half of my life now

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because I was in the UK until 18.

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Of course, I come back very often, but I haven't properly ever, well, actually, funny thing, I've never paid taxes in the UK.

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so you really are an expat okay yeah exactly i'm kind

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of like a digital nomad at the moment you could say

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that anyway yeah okay so so you lived a little bit all over the place

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and really got got down to improving your spanish

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so would you say spanish is your strongest second language 100 without a shadow of a doubt

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and that is because i lived quite a long time in Spain, in Seville.

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But the other obvious reason is that I'm getting married to a Spaniard

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and we've been in a relationship for almost 12 years.

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So between the two of us, we speak maybe 60 to 70 % of the time in Spanish and 30 % of the time in English.

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Unless we have a row, unless we have an argument, and then both of us, we stick to our mother tongues so i'll get angry in english

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and she'll always get angry in spanish

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and it's just okay a spanglish couple i suppose oh that's so funny

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that you go back to your mother tongue okay no i can have rounds in french definitely now yeah

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so yeah yeah okay maybe that's the moment

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when maybe that's the moment yeah you dream in french you

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you have a right you can have a row in french pretty much french at

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that point yeah fluency is there yeah 100 and just to go over

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that a row is an informal slang way of saying an argument very common in british english

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and it's confusing

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because it's written in exactly the same way as a row like rows on a plane

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or a train so that's slightly misleading but remember row like ow

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if it is an argument and a row of different rows, I don't know, at school, for example.

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Cool.

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Now let's keep going and let's move on to another question and let's give some tips.

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We've mentioned some of them in passing, but let's go a little bit deeper.

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So what advice do you have for people moving abroad?

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I imagine some people are watching this and thinking, oh, I'm panicking.

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I'm nervous.

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I'm moving abroad in the next few weeks or months so Kirsty what tips would you give people?

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I think we definitely need to come back to what you said earlier

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which is if you're moving abroad try not to stick with people who speak your mother tongue I think

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that really is rule number one so

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that you can immerse yourself not just in the language

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but in the culture so join I don't know a dance class a music class

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some kind of a group sports anything

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that will allow you to interact with local people I think

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that is absolutely key to moving abroad for the language for

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the culture for you know setting up your new network of friends and people that's really important

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um and also i would say don't want to make anyone panic

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but prepare before you go

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and i say this a lot on on my channel um

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you can prepare from home especially now with netflix youtube you

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can listen to a lot of input um i mean

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if you're moving obviously to an english -speaking country listen to

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English podcasts series things you enjoy though okay it has to

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be something you enjoy otherwise you know you'll just stop listening you'll get bored

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and it won't go in anymore

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so I would say prepare before you go with input as much input

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and shadowing as you can and

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when you get to your new uh destination your new uh

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country um yeah join join clubs groups places go to places

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where you will meet locals for sure 100 that's the best way i would say

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to that's that's the best advice i think i can give to someone moving abroad what about you

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because you are an expat yourself,

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a nomad expat, what would you say is the best advice you could give someone for moving abroad?

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I'd say a very similar thing.

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Of course, I couldn't agree more with everything you said about getting as much input as possible

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and also kind of being a yes man or a yes woman of like, okay, if there's an opportunity to practice the language, let's do it.

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Why say no?

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YOLO, you only live once.

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Yeah.

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But to give more concrete, specific tips.

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I'm going to give you specific examples of what I have done when I have moved abroad to different places.

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So I remember focusing on input.

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When I was in Argentina, I watched like Argentinian soap operas and I didn't particularly enjoy them that much,

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but I was seeing it as a way of learning and a very lazy way of learning.

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So I've never been the kind of person who would write down lots of notes

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and stuff like that i just tried to get as much input as possible

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and i think if you are moving to a country you should not only learn about the language

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but also the culture and the traditions and how can you do

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that well you can consume content from that culture country etc

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so in argentina argentina argentina I watched a lot of you know soap operas

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which were from Argentina then when I moved to Italy despite actually not making

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that much progress I went in with the right attitude

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because I did the same thing I found a soap opera

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which was I think every three days there was a new episode

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so I'd learned so much about the country through that

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and then with Spain I did a very similar thing as well where there was a tv program

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which was set in the past and it went over all of like spain's history

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and focused on different cultural moments throughout history

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and how a family reacted to these moments and it's a series just in case anybody knows it it's called Cuéntame,

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which is tell me.

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Cuéntame.

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It's got a very catchy theme tune as well.

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Just in case anyone can't find it, that's the tune.

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That's it.

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And I learned about 20 years of history of Spain

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and it went through the dictatorship and how the country became more open to foreign countries.

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So it was really interesting that I actually learned a lot about the country whilst improving my language skills.

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So if you can find something similar to this in English, which there's plenty of it, think about the crown, maybe.

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If you want a different genre, you could go Peaky Blinders.

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There's loads and loads, but get as much input as possible.

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And then once you move, just say yes to everything.

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Go for it.

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What have you got to lose? immerse yourself in the language

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and try to seize every opportunity you have to make friends in English and communicate in English, essentially.

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Yeah.

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Even a part -time job, I mean, it depends how old you are and the reasons, you know, that you're going to that country for.

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Maybe you're moving for a new job.

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But if you are a student, for example, or if you are retired

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and you want to spend some time in an english -speaking

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country um then a small part -time job is amazing for

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learning the language as well you know in a pub or

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or a bar even an ice cream shop anywhere it gives

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you permanent interaction with with british people you know yeah

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and you're killing two birds with one stone

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because you're forced to communicate whilst also earning a little bit of cash

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so yeah funding your travels yeah what's there not to like exactly now quickly another question pros

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and cons what are the biggest pros and cons advantages

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and disadvantages of living abroad i'll kick off with one of each and then over to you so i say

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the one big pro, one big advantage, I'm repeating the obvious, is just improving your language skills.

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And it doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to get a lot better at the language if you move abroad,

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because you can fall back into lazy habits and just end up hanging around with people from the same country.

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So try not to do this.

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But usually, if you do move abroad, you're going to improve your speaking skills, usually.

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And then a con is, well, being far away from family.

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So it is the obvious reason why people might kind of chicken out

451

and not want to move away and live abroad because you feel like you might miss certain birthdays,

452

weddings, etc. I make an effort to not miss these moments,

453

but it means that it can be a little bit stressful that I'm constantly traveling around between the UK, Belgium, and Spain.

454

So there you have a big pro and a big con.

455

Kirsty, over to you.

456

I, I totally agree with your pros and cons.

457

Um, a big pro for me was being able to see my own culture in a different light.

458

When you live in your own culture, it's very difficult to look at it with fresh eyes.

459

You need to live in a different culture to be able to analyze your own culture

460

and there are lots of little things that

461

that i'll give you it's it's a really small strange example

462

but in england we have card shops there may there may be less now it might be less fashionable

463

but definitely when i was younger just shops that only sell cards okay

464

because we send cards for everything agree everything uh birthday cards

465

well done you've passed your driver's license card congratulations on graduating

466

university card you're feeling sick get well soon card father's day father's day birthday cards new baby okay

467

and in france there are no card shops so

468

when we moved to france we wanted to send cards home you know on birthdays

469

and christmas all the card opportunities and it was really difficult

470

and the French don't send cards as much

471

and I realized it my own culture seemed really strange

472

when you know in England you arrive at someone's birthday maybe it's not the case anymore

473

but it was definitely a tradition

474

with a present and a card on top

475

so you arrive with a present and you say happy birthday

476

and then here's a card also saying happy birthday that

477

that didn't seem strange to me

478

but it was a french person who said to me

479

so you say happy birthday you see the person

480

and then you give them a card where you say happy

481

birthday in the card i was like yeah that's all we do whereas in france

482

if you send a birthday card it's

483

because you're far away you don't walk up to someone

484

and give them a birthday card do you see what i

485

mean it's just small things i mean that's that's a detail

486

i think that's a very good point like personally i'm kind

487

of anti -cards i mean today it's different yeah ecology wise

488

and stuff and you know yeah but not not not for those reasons just

489

because i i agree with the french it's just like what's

490

the point i'm saying happy birthday it to you why do i have to give you a card as well

491

and i'm realizing it with like engagements and weddings

492

and all these different things as well

493

and my mom will buy me a card to give to a friend

494

and i'm like come on please really do we need my mom does

495

that for my brother too though she doesn't do it for my sister

496

so yeah yeah no exactly

497

so you see your mom is still in this big card tradition um

498

when i see my grandparents at christmas um there are loads of cards

499

and you know they're open you can read people's cards they're

500

not private either people people set up cards at home

501

and i i was saying to my grandma oh who sent you

502

that nice christmas card oh you know it's carol down the road

503

or so the neighbor has come to the house to say merry christmas

504

and here's merry christmas in writing too you see now

505

that i live in france it seems strange but

506

when i was in england you couldn't go to a birthday

507

and not have a present and a card i mean you know

508

that would be wrong so it's small things it allows you to really analyze your own culture

509

and for bigger things as well not just cards obviously um

510

and i really appreciated that and i felt also

511

that i mean france isn't that different to britain um

512

but i really felt like i was i was gaining you

513

know i was definitely opening my cultural horizons picking up little traditions in france

514

that i love so keeping traditions from britain that i loved

515

and adding traditions from france or the continent in general

516

that i loved um

517

so that's the big pro for me was to be able

518

to you know just really think about your own culture in a in a different way um

519

and i'm sorry

520

but my con is the same as yours i get homesick

521

even after years of being in france i i get homesick sick for a cup of tea

522

and a digestive biscuit with my grandmother i get homesick you know for squashy british couches

523

and carpet under my feet you know yeah there's there's there's something very cozy about Britain

524

that I mean France can be cozy too you know but I don't know there's something very very

525

cottage about Britain you know that that cottage feel not

526

that my grandmother lives in a cottage

527

but do you know what I mean about I know what you mean

528

that typical British coziness yeah I missed that

529

and a lot of people will complain about the UK with the fact

530

that we've got carpets everywhere yeah yeah and i i think maybe

531

if you've got carpets in a bathroom

532

or a kitchen it's a little bit of overkill it's a little bit too much

533

and nowadays it's not as common

534

but a lot of spaniards french people italians like oh yeah you have carpets everywhere don't you i'm like

535

but isn't it cozy isn't it nice

536

and warm don't you feel like oh i just want to

537

like get really comfortable get a blanket watch some tv with a cup of tea with my carpet

538

so england and the uk in general i guess it's a good place to be lazy

539

and stay at home during winter winter exactly yeah an accurate representation of this is the fact

540

that we have a tv program which is called goggle box

541

and i don't watch it that much but sometimes it'll be on tv

542

and my mom and dad will be watching it

543

and the concept of the program is having families

544

or couples sat down on the couch on the sofa watching different tv programs

545

and then kind of narrating slash commenting on what is going on on said tv programs and

546

that like defines for me like uh british culture especially in

547

winter where you're just you know leaning back you're on the

548

couch talking about what's going on on i'm a celebrity for example

549

and i feel like that is maybe not unique

550

but very characteristic of the uk just like birthday cards are

551

and cards for everything yeah cards for everything yeah no i

552

agree yeah like a family tv session where everyone has a

553

cup of tea yeah definitely yeah goggle box goggle box

554

when i was told about this concept

555

because i don't live in the uk anymore obviously So someone mentioned it when I went home, someone from my family, and I was like, what's Gogglebox?

556

And when they told me what it was, the concept of this, watching people watching television, I thought, how can that ever work?

557

And it's huge.

558

Everyone loves that show in the UK and it's funny

559

because sometimes when if I'm feeling like really homesick

560

and maybe on my feed a clip comes up from Gogglebox

561

because the algorithms know

562

that I'm British you know I'll be like sometimes I'll be like oh you know to see

563

because there's something very British about that program I totally agree

564

and yes we don't have carpets everywhere I agree with

565

that too and I didn't put carpets into my French house either you know I don't miss them

566

that much but there's something about carpets and my childhood I think

567

that I don't know it's I think what you miss about

568

home sometimes your home country even though I feel today like France's home

569

but I think you miss things that are

570

that you connect with your childhood for sure like I say you know a chocolate biscuit with my grandmother

571

and a cup of tea that's just small things you know uh lots of small things

572

and i'm still uh thinking about the insane obsession

573

that we have with cards i'm take i'm thinking about my grandparents house

574

and being at my grandparents house

575

and just having over christmas like cards in every corner all over the place yeah

576

and sometimes people put them on ribbons there are so many and they hang them up like decorations yeah

577

this is so British.

578

There are so many cards.

579

We have a problem with cards.

580

Yeah, yeah.

581

I agree.

582

But anyway, we're kind of running out of time, but don't worry because we're going to be repeating these conversations once every couple of months,

583

more or less, speaking about different topics.

584

So on that note, let us know in the comments, what topics would you like us to discuss in more detail?

585

Shall we keep having a chat about different types of cards or shall we mix it up.

586

So let us know in the comments.

587

And I'm also going to do a little bit of a recap now.

588

So I've been writing down some phrases, not all of them, but some phrases that are quite advanced.

589

So for one minute, I'm going to do a little bit of a recap, a revision.

590

So first, we'll start with scorching.

591

If it is scorching, it's boiling, it's roasting, it's really hot.

592

I said the weather was all over the shop, meaning it's very chaotic, disorganized.

593

One minute it's raining and then it's scorching.

594

Kirsty mentioned Groundhog Day, which is a famous film where every day is just the same.

595

You're repeating it over and over again.

596

Groundhog Day.

597

Then I said, it's a bit nippy, nippy.

598

This means cool, chilly, a little bit cold.

599

The opposite, if you want to say it's very cold, it's freezing.

600

I mentioned that Kirstie was a bit ahead of the curve.

601

She was more advanced with others when it came to shadowing

602

because she did it when she moved to France the first time.

603

And we use the phrasal verb, fit in, quite a lot.

604

To fit in is to belong or feel comfortable with a culture or a group of people.

605

So maybe when you start a new job, it takes a while before you fit in you feel like you belong in that group.

606

If something runs in the family, it means that you might inherit it from your mom, dad, grandparents.

607

So Kirsty's mom, English teacher, Kirsty, English teacher.

608

It runs in the family.

609

Then a down -to -earth person is somebody who is, I'd say friendly, normal, and not stuck up.

610

So they're kind of opposites.

611

If someone is down to earth, they're very normal, relatable.

612

Whereas a stuck up person is someone who feels superior to others, maybe.

613

They're a bit posh.

614

So they might look down on others, think they are better than others.

615

If you have a row, you have an argument.

616

So remember, row, like ow.

617

And Kirstie mentioned that what she likes about living abroad is

618

that it allows her to see her culture in a different light.

619

This is a nice way of saying you see it in a different way.

620

So from her perspective of French culture.

621

She can see English culture in a different light.

622

And last but not least, we have the adjective homesick.

623

If you feel homesick, it just means you're a bit sad because you miss home.

624

It's kind of like seasick where you are feeling a bit sick

625

because you are on about but homesick you feel sad

626

because you miss home so there we have a recap of some of the words

627

and phrases from today's conversation and Kirsty back to you

628

so excellent recap Lewis thank you

629

so much for having me I'd love to come back for

630

another cuppa soon now we need to remember next time we

631

do this don't forget to bring a cuppa absolutely yeah now I've got a class now

632

but Kirsty what are you gonna do now you're gonna have

633

lunch you're gonna teach what's the plan I have a class also after this

634

and then I will be getting my video ready for Friday so

635

let's go motivated awesome so anyway thank you everybody for watching thank you Kirsty for joining

636

and i look forward to doing it again in a couple of months

637

so me too me too see you later guys see you bye bye

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “British English Conversation about Living Abroad”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: french, card, france. This video has 637 sentences and 7557 words to shadow. The speech runs for 48:33. The speaker talks at a natural 156 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 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
countryside noun	/ˈkʌn.tɹiˌsaɪd/	An area located outside of towns and cities; an area that is not urban or suburban; a rural area.
carpet noun	/ˈkɑɹ.pət/	A fabric used as a complete floor covering.
homesick adjective	/ˈhoʊ̯m.sɪk/	Missing one's home and family very much when away; nostalgic.
nippy adjective	/ˈnɪpi/	Fast; speedy.
swim verb	/swɪm/	To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.
expat noun	/ˈɛksˌpæt/	An expatriate; a person temporarily residing in a foreign nation, often for an occupation, training, or education.
grandparent noun	/ˈɡɹæn(d)pɛəɹənt/	The parent of someone's parent.
immerse verb	/ɪˈmɜɹs/	To place within a fluid (generally a liquid, but also a gas).
northerner noun		A native or inhabitant of the north of a region (or of the world as a whole), such as one of the northern United States, the north of Norway, etc.
recap verb	/ɹiːˈkæp/	To seal (something) again with a cap.
scorch verb	/skɔɹt͡ʃ/	To burn the surface of something so as to discolour it
stereotype noun	/ˈstɛ.ɹi.əˌtaɪp/	A conventional, formulaic, and often oversimplified or exaggerated conception, opinion, or image of (a person or a group of people).
fluent adjective	/ˈfluənt/	That flows; flowing, liquid.
cosy adjective	/ˈkoʊzi/	Affording comfort and warmth; snug; social and comfortable.
goggle verb	/ˈɡɑɡəl/	To stare (at something) with wide eyes.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
come back verb		To return to a place.
stuck up adjective		Snobbish, conceited; believing oneself to be better than others, usually because of abundant success; haughty, arrogant or egotistical.
go back to verb		To stem from; to originate in.
look down on verb		To regard or treat as inferior.
look forward to verb		To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.
weigh up verb		To assess a person or a situation.
catch up verb		To pick up suddenly.
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:

Why did you decide to start making videos and posting them online?
Should I try and get a more stable job?
Where are you right now?
I don't live here, I promise.
What have you got to lose?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	I've been recording · have been learning · I've been living
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've just had · have watched · has really helped
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	anybody who hasn · conversation, which is · least, which was
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	have been forced · are dropped · was set

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 195 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, obsession /əbˈsɛʃən/, passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/, genre /ˈ(d)ʒɑnɹə/
Long words — get the stress right: stereotype /ˈstɛ.ɹi.əˌtaɪp/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/, indecisive /ˌɪndɪˈsaɪsɪv/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/

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 countryside, carpet, homesick.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: British English Conversation about Living Abroad - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?