Shadowing Practice: Complete Ielts band 4-5 Unit 2 Track 11 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Track 11, Unit 2, Listening, Exercise 7 Hello?

Hi, Clive, is that you?

Yes, hi, Debbie.

Did you manage to see those candidates for our expedition?

Yes, I did, and there was an extra one who was quite a surprise you know he hadn't applied

and he just turned up out of the blue

so we haven't got any details for him really tell me about him okay

and you can take some notes then we'll see what we think fine first he's called Sanjay Dabashi okay Okay,

Sanjay is spelled S -A -N -J -A -Y, right?

Correct,

and Dubashi is D -U -B -A -S -H -I D -U -B -A -S -H -I Fine,

thanks I'm just getting that down And did you find out how old he is?

Sure.

He's round about our age, you know.

Well, a couple of years older.

He's 27.

Quite a big man, quite muscular, impressive, with a big moustache.

And what does he do?

Well, actually, he just says he's an office worker, you know.

Just one of those people with quite a routine job in an office.

Doesn't sound like he finds his job very interesting.

Has he got any experience, do you know, of going off to remote places on foot?

Yes, he's been all over the place.

He was telling me all about a trip he made in

a Land Rover across Central Africa from one side to the other, which sounded pretty exciting and dangerous.

Great.

I think it would be really interesting to cross Central Africa.

I'd love to do that.

Anything physical?

I mean, where he actually had to walk instead of driving?

You know, being so muscular, as you say.

I was coming to that.

Last year, he went to Russia with some friends in their summer holidays and they went up a mountain.

Let's see.

Mount Elbrus, it's called.

Wow, now that's really quite something.

By the way, Elbrus is spelled E -L -B -R -O -S, isn't it?

Not quite.

It's U -S.

Ah, OK.

What qualifications does he have which would interest us?

Has he done any sort of specialist training, for example?

Well, he's done a course in first aid, which may be pretty useful

if any of us get injured he should know what to

do good it might be useful to have someone who knows

how to do first aid in case someone has an accident

can he swim I didn't ask now you mentioned it I forgot

but he did tell me he can hold conversations in five languages he's not fluent in all of them

but he can get by he grew up in India

and I suppose

that helps you know for learning languages though now he lives

over here right what else has he been to university for instance

yes he graduated in media studies though he says he's never worked in the media okay and

when he's not off on expeditions to remote places what does

he like doing in his spare time he seems to do all sorts of things one thing he told me

which could be useful is

that he likes fishing yes we'd better tell him to bring his fishing rod

that is if we choose him

and he seems to spend a lot of time at the gym he says he really likes to keep fit and

when you meet him you'll believe it's true great another fitness

fanatic like you well sounds like i should meet him doesn't it?

When can you fix that up?

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 62 sentences and 595 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:27. The speaker talks at a steady 134 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 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

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
remote adjective	/ɹəˈməʊt̞/	At a distance; disconnected.
spell noun	/spɛl/	Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.
expedition noun	/ɛkspəˈdɪʃən/	A military journey; an enterprise against some enemy or into enemy territory.
muscular adjective	/ˈmʌs.kjʊl.ə/	Of, relating to, or connected with muscles.
impressive adjective	/ɪmˈpɹɛsɪv/	Making, or tending to make, a positive impression; having power to impress.
mount verb	/maʊnt/	To get upon; to ascend; to climb.
worker noun	/ˈwɝ.kɚ/	One who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor.
fitness noun	/ˈfɪt.nəs/	The condition of being fit, suitable or appropriate.
routine noun	/ɹuˈtin/	A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure.
spare adjective	/spɛɚ/	Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous.
specialist noun	/ˈspɛʃəlɪst/	Someone who is an expert in, or devoted to, some specific branch of study or research.
swim verb	/swɪm/	To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.
qualification noun	/ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/	The act or process of qualifying for a position, achievement etc.
fluent adjective	/ˈfluənt/	That flows; flowing, liquid.
excite verb	/ɪkˈsaɪt/	To stir the emotions of; to cause to feel excitement.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
find out verb	To discover, as by asking or investigating.
go up verb	To move upwards.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as doesn't, didn't, hadn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: expedition /ɛkspəˈdɪʃən/, specialist /ˈspɛʃəlɪst/, qualification /ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, moustache /ˈmʌstæʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: expedition /ɛkspəˈdɪʃən/, qualification /ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/

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 remote, spell, expedition.

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	he's been · Has he done · has he been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is spelled
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	one who was · someone who knows
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	was telling · was coming

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: Complete Ielts band 4-5 Unit 2 Track 11 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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