Shadowing Practice: CELPIP Speaking Practice | Giving Advice - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Take a look at this guy.
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Take a look at this guy.
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He's taking the CELPIP exam and he's doing the speaking part of the exam.
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And he sees a question where he has to give advice to someone about something
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and he has one and a half minutes to answer the question.
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How should he answer it?
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Well, in this lesson, I'm going to tell you exactly how he should answer the question.
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Okay, now, if you haven't subscribed to my channel yet,
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make sure you subscribe because I'm going to be making a lot of videos on CELPIP,
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IELTS, TOEFL, and any other kind of test that you can imagine.
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Okay, so here is the question.
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A friend is looking for a summer job.
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advise him about different ways he can find work for the summer.
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Okay, do you think you could answer this question if you saw it in one and a half minutes?
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What would you say?
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Okay, I think most people would say this.
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I would tell him that he should look online for work or he should do this or that.
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Okay, now the thing about this question is that it says advise him.
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Advise your friend.
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Okay, so you need to speak to your friend.
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You need to imagine that you're talking to your friend.
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So you should use your friend's name.
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John, I would suggest, okay,
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if you don't have a friend,
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just make up a name.
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John.
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John, I would suggest...
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Now, the awkward thing about this is that in the CELPIP exam,
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you're talking to a computer.
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You're not talking to a real person.
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You're just looking at a computer.
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But you need to imagine that you're talking to your friend and you're giving your friend advice.
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Okay, so you should talk like this.
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You should start it by saying this.
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John, I would suggest, and then an ing verb.
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Okay, so you could use this for any question.
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Let's say the question was,
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advise your friend about which restaurant to go to.
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Okay, then you would say,
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John, I would suggest eating at the new restaurant on 10th Street.
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Or, John, I would suggest going to McDonald's or some other restaurant.
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Okay?
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So, I would suggest verb with ing.
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Start, that's how you should start it.
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Okay?
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It doesn't matter what the question is, just memorize this.
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Because when you're giving advice to someone,
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you're not telling them what to do.
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You're not ordering them, you need to do this, this, and this.
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When you're giving advice, you're just giving a suggestion.
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So this is a really good way to start the question where you have to give advice on something.
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John, I would suggest going to...
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Okay, so here's how you should start it.
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Okay, John, I would suggest looking for an outdoor job.
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There are lots of seasonal jobs that begin in May and end in September.
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Okay, what's a seasonal job?
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A seasonal job is a job that's just for one season,
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like summer or winter.
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Remember the question said that you need to advise your friend or your friend is looking for a summer job.
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Okay, that means they just want it for the summer.
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They're not looking for a long-term job,
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they're just looking for a summer job.
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Okay, so you can say there are lots of seasonal jobs that begin in May and end in September.
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Okay, that's a great start.
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Now what should you say?
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It only takes about 10 seconds to say this,
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and you have to talk for one and a half minutes.
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This doesn't look like a very long time,
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but trust me, when you're nervous and when you're looking at the computer screen
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and you see the time counting down it's a long time
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so you have to talk and talk for one
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and a half minutes okay so the good thing is
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that before the question before you you have to talk you have 30 seconds to take some notes okay
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so you should take a lot of notes in that 30 seconds make an outline for yourself.
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Okay, maybe three or four points that you're going to talk about.
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So, okay, we think, hmm,
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okay, I'm going to advise John to get an outdoor job for the summer,
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like a golf course or landscaping,
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because the weather is really good in the summer.
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Maybe he could also do a pizza delivery job.
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Okay, do you know what landscaping is?
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Landscaping is sort of an outdoor job in the summer where you might mow the lawn.
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That means cut the grass.
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You might cut grass.
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You might trim bushes or hedges or trees.
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You might plant flowers.
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You might put in a new pond in someone's yard.
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Maybe they want some fish, goldfish, in their backyard.
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So they'll hire some landscapers to come in and put a nice little pond in their backyard.
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Okay, so that's what landscaping is.
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So pizza delivery could also be an option for the summer.
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Okay, you think, hmm, okay,
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yeah, pizza delivery, they make good tips.
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It's a very easy job.
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What else?
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Okay, maybe a night job,
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okay, where he works in a warehouse because that has really good pay.
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And then you're going to try to think of a little story at the end.
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If you run out of things to say,
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but you still have time,
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you should just keep talking.
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That's why you should think of some short story or something that you can tell at the end.
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Okay, so I'm going to give you an example of how I would answer this question.
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Okay?
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And I'm going to try to do it in a minute and a half.
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I have my stopwatch here.
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So we'll We'll see what happens.
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Okay, you ready?
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Here we go.
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John, I would recommend looking for an outdoor job for the summer because the weather is really nice here in the summers.
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It's really warm.
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Sometimes it rains, but it doesn't rain too often.
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So you're really going to enjoy working outdoors in the summer.
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Maybe you could get a job at a golf course or a landscaping job.
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There's tons of landscaping jobs in the city during the summer.
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And I have a friend who works at a golf course right now and he says it's amazing.
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He has to start work really early in the mornings,
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but he says the fresh air and the exercise he gets is just, it's just awesome.
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So I would recommend working outside.
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if you don't want to work outside in the summer you
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could also get a pizza delivery job now pizza delivery guys make great tips you could make like 30
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or 40 dollars in one evening just on tips
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and pizza delivery is such an easy job you just drive around
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and give people pizza okay you could also work a night job in a warehouse.
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Now you're going to get more money at this job than you would
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if you did pizza delivery or worked at a golf course.
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So that might be good for you.
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So my time's up.
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All right.
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Now I was going to start a story.
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So in my mind, so here's my notes, right?
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I had a story that I was thinking of,
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but I ran out of time.
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And that's good.
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If the time ends and you're halfway through a sentence or you're halfway through a story, that's good.
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That's fine.
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That means you spoke from the beginning to the end.
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That's great.
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Okay, the story I was going to tell was that my boss brought,
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ordered Chinese food for all the workers.
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And the other day, we just sat around for two hours eating Chinese food and we didn't do any work.
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Everyone had a great time.
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We were laughing.
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You just you're thinking of anything some sort of a story to put at the end
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Just so that you you fill your whole time
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because let's say I had talked about all of this in One minute
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that means I still have 30 seconds that I need to talk okay
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So that's why if you can think of some Story or some you can say my friend told me what happened
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Something crazy that happened last week at his job He was climbing a ladder,
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but the ladder fell over backwards
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and he fell down and he broke his back
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and then he went to the hospital I don't know you
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just just keep talking just keep talking the biggest mistake is
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that people don't talk enough very often on these exams like the IELTS exam when you're talking to a person,
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the person will go like this.
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Say more.
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Say more.
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You still have time.
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You have like a whole minute, right?
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If you're on the IELTS,
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if you have to talk for two minutes, that's a long time.
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Most people, they stop talking after a minute and they say, ah, that's it.
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I'm done.
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Keep talking.
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Okay.
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You need to just keep talking.
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That's the most important thing about the speaking tests.
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Okay, so let's do some practice.
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Look at this question.
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Your friend is considering studying abroad.
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Which country would you advise her to go to?
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Okay, so your friend is thinking about studying in another country.
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Which country would you advise her to go to?
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Okay, you have 30 seconds,
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so you're going to take some notes.
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I'm going to advise her to go to Vietnam,
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okay, Because the food is good,
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the weather is good, and the people are really friendly.
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Okay?
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So then, and then you think of a story.
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What can I say?
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Oh, a story.
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Maybe, maybe my friend ordered some crazy food at a restaurant.
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Okay, so now you have your story.
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Okay, now it's going to say, start speaking now.
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And then you have to start speaking.
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Okay?
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So you're going to spend about 30 seconds talking about the great food,
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30 seconds talking about the great weather in Vietnam,
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another 30 seconds talking about the great people there,
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and then if you still have some time,
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you're going to tell your story.
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You can say, um, so my friend went to a restaurant last week and she told me that she ordered spaghetti.
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But when they brought her food, it was fried spiders.
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And she went crazy because my friend is so afraid of spiders.
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And here was a plate full of spiders in front of her.
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She just, she got so scared and she just went crazy.
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Okay, so a story can fill up all the extra time at the end.
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Okay, so I want you to let me know your plan,
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your notes, down there in the comments,
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and I'll tell you if they should be a little bit better,
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or maybe if it's not enough to talk for the full minute and a half.
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I think if you try to have like three or four points,
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that should be enough to talk about for a minute and a half.
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Anyway, let me know down there in the comments,
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and I'll see you over in the next episode of Mad English TV.
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Take care.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Practicing your speaking skills through targeted exercises, like the advice-giving scenario in this CELPIP speaking practice video, is essential for effective language learning. Engaging with real-life contexts helps you develop your fluency and confidence when speaking English. This particular exercise emphasizes how to give advice, a common conversational skill, which is crucial not only for exams like CELPIP but also for daily interactions. By visualizing yourself advising a friend, you are more likely to use natural language flows and expressions. Additionally, using tools like a shadowing app can enhance your practice by allowing you to mimic the speaker's tone and rhythm, enriching your learning experience as you learn English with YouTube content.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
The speaker in the video demonstrates several key grammatical structures and expressions that can elevate your spoken English. Here are three notable examples:
- I would suggest doing...: A polite and effective way to start giving advice. For instance, the phrase, "John, I would suggest looking online for job opportunities," illustrates how to structure your advice using a gerund (the 'ing' form) after 'doing'. This format provides a soft and friendly tone.
- Imagine you’re talking to a friend: This phrase emphasizes the importance of maintaining a conversational tone while speaking. When you approach the response as if you were advising a friend, your language becomes more genuine and relatable.
- Using names in advice: Addressing someone directly, like “John,” personalizes your suggestions and creates engagement. This can make your speaking more impactful and allow for a more fluid interaction.
Incorporating these structures into your speaking practice, especially through a shadowing technique, can help you master the art of advice-giving effectively.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While practicing your speaking, pay close attention to specific words and phrases that might pose pronunciation challenges. For example:
- Suggest: Many learners confuse the pronunciation of this word. Emphasize the 'juː' sound at the beginning to make it clearer.
- Advice: The difference between 'advice' (noun) and 'advise' (verb) can create issues—practice the subtle vowel sounds and stress.
- Opportunities: This longer word can trip up even advanced speakers. Break it down into syllables: op-por-tu-ni-ties, and use shadow speech techniques to master its flow.
To avoid these common pitfalls, consider recording your practice sessions and listening for errors or areas for improvement, activating your shadowspeak skills as you refine your pronunciation and clarity.
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.
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