Shadowing Practice: Complete IELTS Band 5-6.5 - UNIT 1 - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Complete IELTS, Bands 5 to 6.5, by Guy Brookhart and Vanessa Jakeman,
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published by Cambridge University Press.
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This recording is copyright.
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Track 1, Unit 1, Listening, Exercise 3.
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Hello, come in and take a seat.
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Oh, thanks.
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Good.
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And how can I help you?
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Well, I'd quite like to join this international social club, and I was hoping you could help me.
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Yes, no problem.
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Let me just get the form up on my screen and I'll fill in your details.
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Let's see.
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Yes, here we are.
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Okay, the first thing we need is your name.
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Jenny Fu.
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That's F double O.
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OK, great.
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And can you tell me how old you are, Jenny?
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I'm 21.
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Great.
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And how long have you been here in Australia, by the way?
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I arrived just last month, two weeks before the start of the academic year, just to sort things out and settle in a bit.
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Good idea.
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Where are you from originally?
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I'm from Kuala Lumpur.
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That's where I was born and brought up.
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So, you're Malaysian, are you?
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That's right.
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Though I lived in the United States for a couple of years when I was a teenager.
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We went there for my father's job.
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Right.
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And can you tell me your current address, please?
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Sure.
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Just at the moment, I'm lodging with a family at 13 Anglesey Road in Bondi.
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Okay, let me just type that in.
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How do you spell Anglesey, by the way?
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It's spelled A-N-G-L-E-S-E-A.
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Thanks.
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That's quite a long way from the city centre, isn't it?
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Is it a problem getting into the city centre?
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Not really, because the buses are good and It's a nice, quiet area to live in.
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That's true.
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So I guess you must have a cell phone number you can give me
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so we can keep you informed of events and so on.
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Yes.
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Let me just have a look.
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It's a new one, so I haven't learned the number yet.
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Ah, here it is.
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It's 040-422-9160.
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040-422-9160.
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OK, good.
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And you like the family you're living with?
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Sure.
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They've got a little boy who is quite noisy, but he's really no trouble.
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Fine.
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Now, let's see, what's next?
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Yep.
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Can you tell me what you do?
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I mean, are you working or studying?
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Well, at the moment I'm doing a temporary job with a company here in Sydney.
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I'm an economist, in fact.
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OK.
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And how long do you think you'll be here in Sydney?
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At least a year.
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I may look for work here afterwards.
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Great.
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Now, you want to join the International Social Club, and it will be good to know a bit about your free time interests as well.
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What do you like doing?
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Well, I'm quite musical and I really enjoy singing.
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Back home I sang with a band, just, you know, for fun.
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But for me, what I like best is dancing.
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You know, the modern sort?
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I really love it.
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Track two.
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Unit one.
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Listening.
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Exercise five.
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So, how are you getting on here?
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I mean, your level of English is better than most people who come from overseas to work, and you've got a really nice American accent,
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so I don't suppose you have any communication problems in the office, though you might find some of our Australian slang more difficult to understand.
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Well, a bit.
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But I haven't met that many Australians yet, outside of work, I mean.
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Right.
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But could you tell me a bit about the international club now I've joined?
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Sure.
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We've got, let's see, currently about 50 members, but people join all the time, so I should think that figure will go up.
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Last year we had 30 members and the year before just 18, so we're growing and getting better known.
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I reckon that at this rate, next year we'll have about 80.
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And does the club hold regular meetings?
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Yes, every second Thursday evening, in fact, so a couple of times a month.
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Though, of course, when you start making friends, you'll be getting together with them more often than that, I guess.
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The next meeting will be next Thursday, if I'm not mistaken.
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Yes, that's right.
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And what happens when the club meets?
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I mean, what sort of things are organised?
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The usual thing is for one of the members to give a little presentation about where they're from, their customs and so on.
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But from time to time they do other things, outings to places around Sydney or meeting up to eat together in a restaurant
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or go to a concert together or something like that.
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OK, that sounds fun.
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And the members aren't just people from other countries?
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Non-Australians, are they?
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No, not at all.
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The main point of the club is to give people like
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you the chance to mix in more with people from this country, people of all ages.
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You'll find us very friendly.
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I think the contact has a positive effect on visitors to this country.
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And in fact, it It affects us locals positively as well.
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You know, it's a sort of intercultural experience for everybody.
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And of course, you should get the chance to do all sorts of activities with other members of the club
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if you want to.
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It's not just for talking.
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And hopefully you'll make friends with people who have similar interests.
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It sounds great.
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I'm really looking forward to the first meeting.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 114 sentences and 905 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:15. The speaker talks at a steady 145 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 86% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| spell noun | /spɛl/ | Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers. |
| temporary adjective | /ˈtɛmp(əˌɹ)ɛɹi/ | Not permanent; existing only for a period or periods of time. |
| custom noun | /ˈkʌstəm/ | Frequent repetition of the same behavior; way of behavior common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; method of doing, living or behaving. |
| afterwards adverb | /ˈæf.tɚ.wɚdz/ | At a later or succeeding time; after that; |
| arrive verb | /əˈɹaɪv/ | To reach; to get to a certain place. |
| settle verb | /ˈsɛtəl/ | To determine (something which was exposed to doubt or question); to resolve conclusively; to set or fix (a time, an order of succession, etc). |
| presentation noun | /ˌpɹɛzn̩ˈteɪʃn̩/ | The act of presenting, or something presented. |
| overseas adverb | /ˌoʊvɚˈsiːz/ | Abroad. |
| copyright noun | /ˈkɑpiˌɹaɪt/ | The right by law to be the entity which determines who may publish, copy and distribute a piece of writing, music, picture or other work of authorship. |
| inform verb | /ɪnˈfɔɹm/ | To communicate knowledge to. |
| accent noun | /ækˈsɛnt/ | A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to… |
| teenager noun | /ˈtiːnˌeɪ̯d͡ʒə/ | A person between thirteen and nineteen years old (inclusive). |
| lodge verb | /lɑd͡ʒ/ | To be firmly fixed in a specified position. |
| visitor noun | /ˈvɪzɪtɚ/ | Someone who visits someone else; someone staying as a guest. |
| positively adverb | /ˈpɑ.zɪ.tɪv.li/ | In a positive manner. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| bring up verb | To mention. |
| go up verb | To move upwards. |
| look forward to verb | To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 28 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you'll, haven't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: temporary /ˈtɛmp(əˌɹ)ɛɹi/, positively /ˈpɑ.zɪ.tɪv.li/, economist /iˈkɑ.nə.mɪst/
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 spell, temporary, custom.
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 | haven't learned · haven't met · I've joined |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was born · are organised |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who come · people who have |
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.