Shadowing Practice: πŸ’¬ Chatting | IELTS Speaking Part 1 | Model Answers and Vocabulary (2025) - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hello, sunshine, I'm Maria.
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Hello, sunshine, I'm Maria.
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And my name is Rory, and we're the hosts of the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast, the podcast that aims to help you improve your speaking skills as well as your listening skills along the way.
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We've started this podcast to give you gorgeous grammar and fabulous vocabulary for your high IELTS school.
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Oh, Rory, you're late again.
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I know, I'm sorry, I was chatting with the postman.
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Chatting with a postman?
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Shall we talk about chatting?
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Chatting?
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Yes, let's talk about chatting.
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Yes, chatting.
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But before we talk about chatting, Maria, we are going to talk about chatting, but do you have any predictions for what I might chat about?
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You might chat about chatting to your friends, to students.
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Maybe you sometimes get tired of chatting and you don't like this, you know, like empty, useless chatter when you're just about nothing.
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You want it to be productive and meaningful.
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All right.
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So, Maria's predictions.
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Let's see how right she is then.
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Let's go.
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Do you like chatting with friends?
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Assuming there's nothing else we should be doing, yeah.
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Who doesn't like a good chinwag with their pals?
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We don't often see each other, so it's a good way to catch up.
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What do you usually chat about with friends?
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Other than catching up on all the latest gossip?
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Just the usual things, like maybe work drama or anything related to what we're doing.
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It could be about climbing, for example, if I'm with my friends for doing that.
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Maybe a conversation piece if we're at a gallery or something like that.
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Do you argue with friends?
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Well, I think everybody has disagreements at some point, but it's usually just a difference of opinion and not like a full-blown row or anything like that.
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I think that would be a bit of a particular or at least a conversation stopper.
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Do you prefer to communicate face-to-face or via social media?
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I think it depends on what I'm doing and who I'm talking to, really.
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If it's one of my friends, I think it feels more authentic to chat in person, unless it's something like organizing when to meet up.
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But if it's some random I've never met in my life, then I think social media can be good for keeping them at a healthy distance until I get to know them better.
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Do you prefer to chat with a group of people or with only one friend?
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I don't know, really.
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I think I'm generally good at managing table talk when I'm with people, but at the same time I'd quite like just blethering away with my one best friend.
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Especially with the kind of banter we have, not everyone would get it and they might feel left out of the conversation.
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As you know, we now release all of our premium content for free, and it's available for one month.
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After one month, it goes into our super secret archive.
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To sign up for the archive, click the link in the description below.
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See you soon.
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Yeah, these questions are a bit strange.
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Do you like chatting with friends?
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Do you argue with your friends?
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Do you like your friends?
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Doesn't everybody?
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Oh yeah, well, IELTS, dear listener, what can we say?
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Just don't take these questions seriously, all right?
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Just chatting.
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So, we chat with somebody.
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Chat or we talk to people.
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We can chat to people as well.
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Chat to people, chat with people.
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Speaking of words beginning with CH, we can have a chin wag.
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Chin wag.
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What's that?
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Dear listener, it's informal and it's British English, okay?
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it's not american it's british so it means a chat chinwag like the jaw is going up and down
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we got together for a good old chinwag to have a chat so we got together to have a chat
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like have a chat like we met to have a chat or we met for a good old
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chinwag a long and pleasant conversation between friends we had a good chinwag over a bottle
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of wine it's a good way to catch up catch up is your phrasal verb of this topic
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which means to talk to each other to share the recent news we can also catch up on things
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catch up on the latest gossip if you don't like gossip you can catch up on news yeah we usually
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catch up on gossip we usually catch up on news on studies so we just we discuss we meet we
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discuss things we have a chat and you can use it as a noun a catch up with friends
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or family so a meeting or a conversation yeah and we catch up on the latest
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gossip the latest so the recent gossip and gossip like something they're not very
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nice but when you talk about other people's private lives we catch up on
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the latest gossip we catch up on some juicy gossip some interesting intimate
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details about other people yeah and we talk about work or work drama, some, you know, like dramas that happen at work, what we're usually doing.
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It could be about swimming, sports, studies, work, money, anything.
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And another synonym is a conversation.
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We usually have a chat or have a conversation about...
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Sometimes we argue with friends or roi what's a phrasal verb that you can use to mean argue
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to have a row and if it's a serious one a full-blown row oh to have a row with friends yeah
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like i never have a row with friends yeah or fall out you can say like i never fall out
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with my family with my friends or sometimes I fall out with my friends or I fell out with my friends over something, right?
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Like because of something.
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Like sometimes we have a disagreement, but it's not something serious.
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It's not like a full-blown row, as I always said, like a serious argument.
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And if we had a row, it would be a mood A nice one.
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Imagine you get together with your friends and then you disagree with someone, you start having a row, and it's a mood killer.
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It kills all the mood hmm it makes us unhappy unengaged with things yeah and it might stop the
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conversation so it would be a conversation stopper but that's just a word for bringing the conversation to an
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end yeah like that argument was a real mood killer at the party or his negative comments were a mood killer during the meeting
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Nice.
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Yeah, a conversation stopper.
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Like somebody starts talking about politics.
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That's it.
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Stopped all the conversation.
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Conversation stopper.
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A conversation stopper.
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A remark or a comment that stops the natural flow of conversation.
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I prefer to chat face to face or I prefer to chat via social media or on social media, okay?
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I usually chat on Facebook, on Telegram, on Instagram.
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I usually use different messengers.
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Messengers?
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Messengers, yeah.
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Like Telegram, WhatsApp or something else.
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And it depends who I'm talking to and why.
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It feels more authentic to chat in person.
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So you can say chat face-to-face or chat with a person.
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Offline, face-to-face.
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But if it's some random people I've never met in my life, I chat to them on social media.
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I keep a healthy distance.
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So I keep away from them.
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Maybe keep them at arm's length, which is an idiom.
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Yeah, nice.
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So I keep them at a distance.
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So I keep them at an arm's length.
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length until I get to know them better.
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So get to know people.
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Or you can say I usually use social media to get to know them better and then we chat in person.
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I'm good at managing table talk.
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That is just conversation when you are at the table.
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Like at a meal or something.
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Yeah you have like ten people.
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And how do you manage to talk to everybody you can say i'm i'm bad at managing table
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talk so i prefer to talk to one person only or i'm good at talking to different people at
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the same time so i'm good at managing table talk and another one is this verb starts with b rory what did you say it's a bit strange
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blether blethering blethering is just chatting away about nothing in particular
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yeah a blether or blether like it could be e or a so in uk it's blether with an e but
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it's called it can also be blether with an a to talk for a long time in a silly or annoying way Oh, stop blathering.
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Stop saying nonsense.
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Or just like chatting about nothing, you know, in particular.
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Or I'm fine blathering on about anything.
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Or if Rory starts speaking about nothing, I'm going to say like, Oh Rory, what on earth are you blathering on about?
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Or blithering on about.
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Blithering, yeah.
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Or blathering.
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But I never do that.
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Not ever.
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Not even one time, Maria.
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Never on the podcast.
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Never, nope.
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But you know, like when I catch up with my friends, I quite like just blathering away to my best friend.
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And this kind of banter, which is another B word, also about talking, chatting, banter.
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Informal conversation.
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Yeah, conversation that is funny, not serious.
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Again, not serious, just chatting, you know, like this usual banter.
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And could you please use a banter in a sentence, please?
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Well, everybody likes to have banter with their friends.
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You probably don't like to have banter with your parents so much because it's very informal and some people prefer to be more formal with the parents.
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And you need to be very careful with workplace banter because it could really accidentally offend some people.
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Yay!
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And also dear listener, these days a lot of people chat to chat GPT.
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They do.
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Yeah, when they're lonely, when they need therapy, when, I don't know, they just want to have a chat.
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They chat to ChatGPT or some other AI, so you can talk about that.
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I sometimes talk to ChatGPT, like it's my friend.
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All right.
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Okay.
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Talking about things we chat about, Maria, you made some predictions, but did they come true?
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Nothing about being bored.
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and actually I said that you don't like useless chat, like you don't like banter but actually you're fine with banter and like you're fine blathering away I did talk about my friends did I talk about my students?
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no, no, no, you didn't talk about your students actually and then did I talk about being bored?
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no, no so it's a 50-50 prediction so far maybe the listeners did better, who knows however, thank you for chatting with us we'll see you in the next episode bye
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Bye.
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Do you like chatting with friends?
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Assuming there's nothing else we should be doing, yeah.
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Who doesn't like a good chinwag with their pals?
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We don't often see each other, so it's a good way to catch up.
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What do you usually chat about with friends?
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Other than catching up on all the latest gossip?
167
Just the usual things, like maybe work drama or anything related to what we're doing.
168
It could be about claiming, for example, if I'm with my friends for doing that.
169
Maybe a conversation piece if we're at a gallery or something like that.
170
Do you argue with friends?
171
Well, I think everybody has disagreements at some point, but it's usually just a difference of opinion and not like a full-blown row or anything like that.
172
I think that would be a bit of a mood cooler or at least a conversation stopper.
173
Do you prefer to communicate face-to-face or via social media?
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I think it depends on what I'm doing and who I'm talking to, really.
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If it's one of my friends, I think it feels more authentic to chat in person, unless it's something like organizing when to meet up.
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But if it's some random I've never met in my life, then I think social media can be good for keeping them at a healthy distance until I get to know them better.
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Do you prefer to chat with a group of people or with only one friend?
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I don't know, really.
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I think I'm generally good at managing table talk when I'm with people, but at the same time I'd quite like just blethering away with my one best friend.
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Especially with the kind of banter we have, not everyone would get it and they might feel left out of the conversation.
πŸ“±

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Context & Background

In this engaging episode of the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast, Maria and Rory explore the theme of chatting with friends, a common topic in the IELTS Speaking Part 1. They use a lively and informal style to discuss various aspects of communication, including preferences for face-to-face interactions versus social media, and the nuances of friendships. Their dialogue aims to provide listeners with practical vocabulary and phrases that can enhance their speaking proficiency while preparing for the IELTS examination.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • Chinwag: An informal British term for a friendly chat. For example, β€œWe had a good chinwag over coffee.”
  • Catch up: To share recent news or experiences with someone. You might say, β€œLet’s catch up on the latest gossip!”
  • Row: A British term used to describe an argument. For instance, β€œWe had a bit of a row last night about trivial matters.”
  • Mood killer: An event or comment that disrupts the friendly atmosphere. For instance, β€œThat discussion about politics was a real mood killer!”
  • Conversation stopper: Something that halts the flow of conversation. As Rory noted, β€œThat topic was a conversation stopper at the party.”

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To effectively improve your English pronunciation and speaking skills using this episode, follow this structured shadowing guide:

  1. Listen Actively: Begin by listening to the entire podcast episode. Focus on the speakers’ intonations, stress points, and overall rhythm.
  2. Transcribe Key Sections: Write down phrases that you find particularly interesting or useful. Pay close attention to the highlighted phrases above.
  3. Repeat and Imitate: Using a shadowing app, listen to one short segment and then pause to repeat what you hear. This helps improve your accent and fluency. Consider using tools like shadowspeak to facilitate this process.
  4. Record Yourself: After shadowing for a while, record your voice saying the same phrases. Compare your pronunciation with the original audio to identify areas for improvement.
  5. Engage in Conversations: Practice these phrases in real-life situations with friends or language partners. This will reinforce your learning and boost your confidence in using English naturally.

Utilizing a shadowing site or app can further enhance your practice by allowing you to control speed and replay sections as needed. By embracing these techniques, you'll not only improve your language skills but also develop a more authentic English-speaking style.

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 β€” 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 β€” making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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