Shadowing Practice: CAM 20 | IELTS LISTENING TEST | TEST 2 - SECTION 3 #english #listeningpractice #ielts #education - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Part 3 You will hear two students, called Rosie and Colin, discussing their Human Geography assignment.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25.
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Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25.
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Colin, I'm really struggling to think of a topic for our human geography assignment.
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Me too, Rosie.
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I'll tell you what.
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Let's think about the different aspects of human geography and see
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if we can narrow the topic down a bit to help us decide.
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OK, so one aspect is population.
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That would be all about population density and migration and so on.
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Lots of facts and statistics.
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Maybe a bit boring?
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Yeah, but quite straightforward to find on the internet.
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I suppose so.
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How about health?
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I'd never thought about the links between that and geography until Professor Lee gave us that lecture on cholera.
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How in the 19th century, a physician used street plans and plans of water supplies to find the source of a cholera epidemic.
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Yes, fascinating, wasn't it?
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Or we could do something more general, like economies.
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So how financial and commercial factors are linked to the physical environment?
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Yeah.
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I thought that had been taken off the syllabus for this year. Has it?
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I'm not sure.
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But it might be best to avoid it.
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OK.
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Maybe we could do something on culture.
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We had that lecture about culture and geography last week.
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I didn't get much out of that.
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It was also general, and the lecturer didn't give any useful examples.
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Yeah, I hardly took any notes.
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It didn't seem worth it.
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Me neither.
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We could focus on poverty.
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That's something that's a global problem.
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The trouble is, Dr Lee was saying, that you have to be careful with some of the figures relating to poverty.
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They're sometimes deliberately manipulated.
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You mean the information gets changed for political reasons?
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That sort of thing, yes.
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Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30.
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Thank you.
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Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30.
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So what are we going to do our assignment on?
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I'll tell you what, one of the possibilities we haven't discussed is urbanisation, and now over half the world's population lives in cities.
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That's really important.
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OK, good idea, Rosie.
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Let's do that.
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I love living in a big city, but of course there are problems.
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Things like theft and robbery?
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Yes, but where I come from, that's linked to another more serious issue, which is that a lot of people don't have jobs.
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That's getting worse and worse.
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And we also still have quite a lot of people who are homeless, though that's not quite so bad as it was.
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It'd be nice to talk about some positive developments, like some of the new developments on the outskirts of cities.
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Yeah, they've opened some massive new shopping centres outside my city.
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Yeah, the same with mine, but it's meant a lot of the shops in the city centre are closing down.
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But the outskirts are ideal for buildings that need a lot of space, like for conferences.
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They've opened a couple of big ones.
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Yes, we've got some too.
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It'd be nicer to have more facilities for things like football too, but that's not happening where I live.
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Same in my area.
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We could include something about developing disused industrial sites.
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It seems like a good idea because you're not doing any harm to the natural environment.
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Yeah, but aren't the buildings architecturally significant?
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Not really.
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And what people forget is that they often used quite dangerous materials, chemicals and things, which haven't been properly cleared away, so the whole site has to be made safe.
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Hmm, that can't be cheap.
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And I bet it's often not budgeted for.
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You're right.
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Have you read about Mazdar City?
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In Abu Dhabi?
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Yes.
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It was designed to be a green city, wasn't it?
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That might be a good example of a city which set out to depend entirely on renewable energy.
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Yes, we should say something about that.
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It was designed to be totally pedestrianised too, wasn't it?
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With the transport underground.
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Yes, and they had big plans for recycling to reduce waste to the lowest possible level.
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But let's stick to talking about power sources.
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Then there's that ecotown in England, Green Hill Abbots.
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It set out to conform to the usual principles – sustainability and so on.
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A lot of people were against it at first.
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They said the plans were unrealistic.
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I'm not sure how far they've got with it.
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I'll check.
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Right.
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So it looks as if we have a sort of plan.
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And we can work...
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That is the end of part three.
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You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to part three.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.

Context & Background

In this engaging discussion, two students, Rosie and Colin, navigate the challenges of selecting a topic for their Human Geography assignment. Their conversation reflects common struggles faced by students, such as narrowing down broad subjects and dealing with the complexities of various topics like population density, health, and cultural influences. Through their dialogue, learners can observe how to articulate thoughts, express uncertainty, and collaborate effectively, all while exploring essential geographical themes. This context provides a practical foundation for English learners looking to enhance their communication skills in an academic setting.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • "I'm really struggling to think of a topic." - A useful expression for expressing difficulty in decision-making.
  • "Let's think about..." - A collaborative invitation to brainstorm, ideal for group discussions.
  • "I suppose so." - A phrase for conceding or agreeing with an idea tentatively.
  • "That sort of thing, yes." - A way to elaborate or clarify a previous statement for better understanding.
  • "That's a good idea." - A positive affirmation that encourages further exchange of ideas.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To master English listening and speaking through the content of this video, follow this step-by-step shadowing guide:

  1. Initial Listening: Play the video without any interruptions. Focus primarily on understanding the context rather than memorizing specifics.
  2. Read Along: Find the transcript of the video. Reading along while listening helps in grasping the flow and rhythm of speech.
  3. Repeat Phrases: Use a shadowing app to record yourself mimicking phrases from the dialog. Pay special attention to intonation and pauses.
  4. Break it Down: Select one phrase or sentence at a time. Repeat it multiple times until you feel comfortable with your pronunciation and delivery.
  5. Practice Daily: Commit to practicing with the video regularly. Utilize programs that allow you to improve English pronunciation, such as language learning platforms or language exchange meetups.
  6. Engage in Conversations: Try to incorporate the learned phrases into your daily communication, whether in class discussions or with friends, allowing you to enhance fluency and confidence.
  7. Use Visual Aids: Consider using tools like "shadowspeak" techniques, where you visualize the conversation's context for better retention of vocabulary and phrases.

By consistently practicing these strategies with "learn English with YouTube" resources like this video, you'll not only solidify your understanding of the material but also boost your overall speaking fluency in real-world scenarios.

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.