Shadowing Practice: Complete IELTS Bands 6.5 - 7.5 Unit 5 - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Unit 5.
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Listening.
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Exercise 3.
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Hi Milton.
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I didn't see you this afternoon.
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You missed a really good talk.
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Oh, did I?
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That's a pity.
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It was Mr Brand's talk about fossils, wasn't it?
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Yeah.
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I hadn't really expected to enjoy it, but it was fascinating.
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I thought it would be.
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I'd been planning to go to the talk, but then when I was in the lab this morning, I realised I hadn't done any reading for tomorrow's history seminar.
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Well, I think he's going to repeat it sometime, but it may be next year.
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Perhaps you could tell me a bit about it then.
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Well, he talked about himself in the first part.
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I saw on the notice that went round that he went to America to study and met a famous anthropologist.
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Yeah, that's right.
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But he said he got interested in fossils well before then when he was about six,
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in fact, and he found the most amazing fossil on a school visit to a national park.
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He showed it to us.
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He still has it.
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Though he said he wasn't looking for it at the time.
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Most kids wouldn't recognise a fossil if they saw one.
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I know.
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They want to watch adventure films or play with model dinosaurs.
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But apparently he spent his school holidays hunting for fossils in the farm pits near his home.
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So, does he lecture on the subject now?
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Yes, but he also runs a business organising fossil hunts for groups of adults and children.
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Wouldn't it be great if we could do something like that?
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He showed us a lot of pictures.
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So, they all go out in a group to the cliffs or somewhere with little hammers, do they?
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Yeah, apparently.
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The kids tell everyone that's the best bit, tapping the stones to see if anything's there.
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Do they know what they're looking for?
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Yeah.
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They get shown some examples of what they might find first.
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And do they actually get to find any fossils?
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Yes.
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Mr Brand showed some photos of children proudly holding up their fossils for the camera at the end of the day.
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If they take them home, I bet they become prized possessions in their rooms as well. For sure.
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He said he never stops being amazed at how close you can be to a fossil.
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I guess the children aren't aware of history that much.
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No, but for them, the key thing they learn is that if they keep looking, they will find something.
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You have to wait.
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It's not for people who want instant success.
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So, why don't we go on one of these hunts?
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Well, yes, I'm quite keen.
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The hunts are fully booked until the end of the year, unfortunately.
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I could talk to some of the other students and see if we can form a group.
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Oh, that's a good idea.
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I'll give him a call.
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Then, if we have enough people, we might be able to get him to do an extra one for us.
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I'll look on his website when I get back to the dorm, just to get a bit more information.
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Unit 5.
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Listening.
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Exercise 5.
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So, what did he talk about in the second part? well
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that was more theoretical but just as interesting and there were lots of visuals
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you know how fossils are formed not exactly we all know
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they're the remains of living organisms sort of entombed in rock
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but i don't know how they get to be there well he basically went through the stages
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that make that happen so did he talk about the conditions that bring about fossilization Yes, and he used a fish as an example.
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Here, I'll show you my notes.
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Wow, these are great diagrams, Junie.
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Thanks.
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OK, stage one.
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Ah, yes, that's right.
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A lot of fossils form underwater, don't they?
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Yeah, like as soon as a fish dies, it sinks to the bottom of the ocean, and as long as a predator doesn't come along, it just lies there.
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Undisturbed.
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That's right.
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And since the ocean bed's soft, well, much of it is, plus it's muddy as well, the fish gradually gets covered over and can't be seen anymore.
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Hmm.
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Apparently, for a fossil to begin to form, you also need conditions where the light is minimal and there's very little oxygen.
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So the organic matter doesn't break down too quickly.
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Yes.
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And, you know, there are fault lines, even on the seabed, and the rocks can move.
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Yeah, so once the fish gets buried, I guess that has to happen quite quickly.
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All the sand and sediment piles up into layers
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and the huge pressure and weight of all the layers compacts it and you move on to stage two,
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where it gets heavier and heavier until it becomes hard rock.
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there'd be no water left so the fish skeleton would be entombed it can stay like
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that for millions of years can't it it can but during
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that time the bone in the skeleton is replaced by minerals i see
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and these minerals sort of mimic the shape of the skeleton yes
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and that's how you get a fossil but how do we find them
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if they're buried so far down again it's all down to the movement of the earth's plates.
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In the last stage, many millions of years after the fossil has formed, the rock may lift and eventually be above sea level.
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Meanwhile, the surface of the rock wears away?
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Yes.
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Another natural process called erosion wears away the rock until one day you can see the tip of the fossil.
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And you break open the rock and there it is.
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It's incredible, really.
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unit 5 speaking exercises 2 and 3 actually there are a number of objects
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that i could talk about in my home
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so it's quite hard for me to decide what to choose
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however i'm going to talk about a very special necklace
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that i keep in my attic first i think i'll tell you where it came from Basically, it was an inheritance from my grandmother,
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who was ninety -five years old when she died.
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As far as I know, she'd been given it by someone, possibly an aunt, who'd bought it in a market in India.
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It's a pity I didn't ask my grandmother.
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I'd know its origins for certain if I'd asked her.
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Anyway, undoubtedly it's pretty ancient now, probably an antique, although I've no idea what it's worth.
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But, as my mother says, you can't put a price on something that has sentimental value.
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If I were to lose it, I'd be really upset.
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Just looking at it, I don't think you get an idea of its age.
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You wouldn't realize how old it was unless you examined it closely.
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I wouldn't say that it's strikingly beautiful, or something you'd choose to put on to go out for the evening.
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It's just a long line of blue beads that are quite chipped and faded now.
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They look pretty worthless, not as eye -catching as the gold necklace that I got for my twenty -first birthday.
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Actually, I don't use the beads for anything because, as I said earlier, I don't wear them.
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They're not at all fashionable.
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In fact, I don't really like beads, but having said that, I'll always keep them.
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If I were to throw the beads out, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.
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I'll pass them on to my children, so that they become an equally important family treasure for them.
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It's funny to think, but if it hadn't been for my granny's aunt, I wouldn't have inherited that necklace.
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Unit 5.
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Speaking.
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Exercise 7.
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Why do you think some people like to keep old things, while others don't have any interest in doing this?
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Actually, I'm sure there are all sorts of reasons, but perhaps the main one is space.
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You know, if I were to live in a small apartment, I wouldn't be able to store much.
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On the whole, people who are hoarders tend to have large attics or spare rooms or cupboards where they can put things.
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I think it must be a question of personality.
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And by that, I mean, well, some people are really sentimental, so they don't like to throw away things like cards or presents.
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even though they don't want them anymore i guess you know
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were they to throw them away they'd feel a sense of loss whereas other people maybe don't care
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that much they're just happy to focus on the present unit
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five pronunciation exercise two well old things are full of memories and i think that's the main reason why people keep them.
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Perhaps the most obvious example is photographs.
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I mean, although people might get rid of the ones that they don't like themselves in, they often keep others because they remind them of a special person or event.
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What You'll Learn from This Video
This conversation is perfect for building everyday conversational skills—like how to express regret ("That's a pity"), share plans ("I'd been planning to go"), and suggest ideas ("Why don't we go on one of these hunts?"). You'll also pick up natural ways to talk about past experiences (e.g., "he found the most amazing fossil on a school visit") and future possibilities ("it may be next year"). These are exactly the skills you need for real-life chats, making it a great resource to learn English with videos.
Listen For These Sounds
Pay attention to connected speech! The speakers often link words, like "I didn't see you" becoming "I din't see ya" and "he said he" sounding like "he sed he". You'll also hear reductions, such as "that's right" turning into "that's righ'" and "they want to" becoming "they wanna". These small changes make speech flow, and noticing them will help you understand native speakers better—key for shadowing practice.
Say It Like a Native
To mirror the speakers' rhythm, stress the important words: "fascinating", "amazing", "prized possessions". Notice how they pause before sharing key info, like "Well, he talked about himself in the first part"—that pause builds anticipation. Try shadow speak by repeating the lines right after the speakers, copying their tone and speed. This "shadowspeak" technique trains your mouth to move like a native. For extra practice, use a shadowing site to record yourself and compare. Remember, the goal is to sound natural, not perfect—so focus on the flow, not every single word. With time, you'll start speaking with the same ease as the people in the video!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if they keep looking, they will find · If I were to lose it, I'd be |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being amazed · are formed · can't be seen |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who want · people 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.