Shadowing Practice: Collins Vocabulary for IELTS Unit 1 Track 1-3 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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50 sentences
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I've
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learned a lot from so many people, but I suppose the person that stands out is my colleague Lynn.
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When I started working at the firm, my employer didn't give me a lot of formal training, so I had to learn on the job.
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I was given the desk next to Lynne and she explained everything to me.
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She was incredibly efficient.
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She knew the job so well and she made it look so easy.
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Speaker 2 The person I admire the most is probably my boss.
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She really knows what she wants to achieve with the organisation, but at the same time she is so flexible and open to new ideas.
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She really takes an interest not only in her clients, but also in her employees.
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She really listens to what they have to say.
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Speaker 3 I suppose the relationship I've found most difficult,
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but ultimately most rewarding, has been my relationship with my younger brother.
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He's different from me in almost every way you can imagine.
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I'm the kind of person who likes to get things done, but he is a real dreamer, so idealistic.
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It used to drive me crazy, but over the years I've come to really admire him for following his dreams.
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Track Two I'm going to begin this section of my talk by saying something about only children,
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that is, children without siblings.
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Historically, only children were relatively uncommon.
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However, these days, as families are becoming smaller, being an only child has become relatively more common.
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There are many reasons for this trend, social, economic and political, which I won't go into at this point.
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However, I will say that having an only child generally means that parental resources can be concentrated on the one child.
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And I would add that by parental resources, I mean not just money, but also care and attention.
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Only children have frequently been seen as different from children with siblings and subjected to negative stereotype.
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They are often considered to be less tolerant of others, i.e. less able to accept differences,
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to allow those with different points of view to say and do as they like.
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Not surprisingly, they are sometimes said to be less cooperative than other children.
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In other words, less able to work effectively with others.
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On the other hand, only children are often highly regarded for their autonomy,
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that is to say, their ability to make their own decisions without being unduly influenced by others.
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In short, the picture that's emerging is of children who are rather unconventional, that is, not quite normal in social terms.
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I think it's important to say here that many of These views have been challenged.
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In fact, more recent research has found that only children are in fact very similar to children with siblings.
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Track 3 The subject of my talk today is the relationship between birth order and personality.
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By birth order, I mean whether an individual is the firstborn child in the family, a middle child, an only child, and so on.
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The belief that birth order has a lasting impact on personality is widespread, and frequently referred to in popular psychology literature.
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Alfred Adler, an Austrian psychotherapist, was one of the first to suggest that there was a connection between birth order and personality.
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He noticed that first-born children experienced a loss of status with the birth of siblings.
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According to Adler, this made eldest children more likely to be anxious than other children.
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However, on the positive side, they also tend to be conscientious and achievement-oriented, perhaps because they want to regain a position of primacy within the family.
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Since Adler, there have been many attempts to establish links between birth order and a range of personality traits.
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Some studies have found that last-born children tend to be more extrovert and agreeable.
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That is, they not only seek out the company of others, but also tend to get along well with other people.
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Children, on the other hand, are more likely to be rebellious,
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perhaps in an attempt to define themselves as special in relation to their more conscientious elder siblings and agreeable younger siblings.
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Some studies, for example, have found that middle children are more likely to choose unconventional careers and hobbies.
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However, whilst these views are widely held among the public, scholars have more recently cast doubt on their validity.
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Many studies have been found to employ a flawed methodology,
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for instance failing to adequately consider variables such as the family's socioeconomic status.
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Large-scale meta-analyses of studies have proved inconclusive, with no single trait consistently associated with a given position within the family.
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Nevertheless, most people are intuitively drawn to the idea that birth order has an effect on the sort of people we become.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 50 sentences and 798 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:02. The speaker talks at a steady 132 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% 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
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sibling noun | /ˈsɪb.lɪŋ/ | A person who shares a parent; one's brother or sister who one shares a parent with. |
| resource noun | /ɹɪˈzɔːs/ | Something that one uses to achieve an objective, e.g. raw materials or personnel. |
| admire verb | /ədˈmaɪɹ/ | To regard with wonder and delight. |
| parental adjective | /pəˈɹɛn.təl/ | Of or relating to a parent. |
| trait noun | /tɹeɪt/ | An identifying characteristic, habit or trend. |
| belief noun | /bɪˈliːf/ | Mental acceptance of a claim as true. |
| establish verb | /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/ | To make stable or firm; to confirm. |
| formal adjective | /ˈfɔɹməl/ | In accordance with established forms. |
| refer verb | /ɹɪˈfɜː/ | To direct the attention of (someone toward something). |
| desk noun | /dɛsk/ | A table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a… |
| efficient adjective | /ɪˈfɪʃənt/ | Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy. |
| associate noun | /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/ | A person united with another or others in an act, enterprise, or business; a partner or employee. |
| incredibly adverb | /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/ | In an incredible manner; not to be believed. |
| whilst adverb | /waɪlst/ | Often preceded by the: During the time; meanwhile. |
| achievement noun | /əˈt͡ʃiːv.mənt/ | The act of achieving or performing; a successful performance; accomplishment. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| get along verb | To interact or coexist well, without argument or trouble. |
| stand out verb | To jut out, protrude (from a surface etc.). |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 7 contractions and reduced forms, such as I've, I'm, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: nevertheless /ˌnɛvɚðəˈlɛs/, methodology /ˌmɛθ.əˈdɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: establish /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/, efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, organisation /ˈɔː.ɡə.naɪˌzeɪ.ʃən/, relation /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/
- Long words — get the stress right: associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, organisation /ˈɔː.ɡə.naɪˌzeɪ.ʃən/, psychology /saɪˈkɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, nevertheless /ˌnɛvɚðəˈlɛs/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like sibling, resource, admire.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've found · has been · I've come |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was given · can be concentrated · been seen |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | person who likes · children who are |
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.