Shadowing Practice: English Listening Practice for Beginners: My Weekend! (A1-A2) - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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hello what did you do last
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hello what did you do last
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weekend was it exciting boring interesting i am going to tell you
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about my weekend.
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First, slowly.
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Then, normally, learning English doesn't have to be difficult
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or complicated it can be easy over the weekend
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I took the bus to my parents house my mom and my dad
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They both live together with my little brother, Joaquin.
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He edits these videos.
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I decided to visit my parents last minute around 4 p.m.
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But at 4 p.m., the traffic in Mexico City is crazy.
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So, I decided to wait for the traffic to settle down.
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Traffic never settles down in Mexico City, but around 8pm, it's not too crazy anymore.
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But there was still so much traffic.
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I was sat in traffic for about two hours and then he finally started driving.
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He drove all the way to my hometown where my dad picked me up in his car.
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He drove his car to the bus station and he picked me up.
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I hopped in and I sat in the front seat of the car.
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Not the back seat, the front seat.
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Because my mom wasn't there.
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So I got to sit in the front seat.
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I was a little hungry because I hadn't had any dinner yet.
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So my dad drove me to get some esquites.
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Esquites have corn, mayonnaise, lime, tajin.
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It's a mixture of good stuff.
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It's the perfect late night snack.
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We bought two eskites, one for me and one for my mom, and we drove home.
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We ate our eskites and we hung out, listening to music,
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watching videos, and The next morning, we all went to the cafe where they sell breakfast, coffee.
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You can sit down and chat with friends or family while you eat breakfast.
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I ordered a maple donut with bacon.
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Mmm, that was the perfect combination.
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Maple with bacon.
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So good.
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The donut was fluffy and soft, but crunchy on the outside.
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I also ordered a omelette with spinach and I ordered a cappuccino.
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My dad drove us all back home and we watched a movie called Roommates on Netflix.
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It was really good.
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It's one of those movies that keeps you on your toes, just waiting for the next thing to happen.
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It wasn't suspenseful or scary.
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It was just frustrating and just annoying to see how her roommate got away with everything
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again and again, but it was really good.
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Later, my dad drove me to my nail appointment.
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As you can see, I got my nails done again.
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I used to never get my nails done, but lately with my videos and my rings, I really love
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looking down while I'm working and seeing my nails and saying, Mmm, those are cute nails.
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I chatted and I gossiped with the nail technician and I loved my nails.
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Do you like them?
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Same as, do you like them?
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But quickly, do you like them?
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I decided on the color pink.
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I don't know if pink is really my color, but lately I've been really obsessed with pink.
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I just bought a new purse with pink polka dots.
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These are polka dots.
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So I thought, I think pink nails would go well with my new bag.
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You know what I mean?
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That's something I noticed I say a lot.
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Native speakers say it a lot.
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Do you know what I mean?
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Kind of to reaffirm that you understand.
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So if I say, yeah, I got my pink nails because they match my new bag.
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And pink is just a pretty color.
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Do you know what I mean?
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You know what I mean?
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Do you know what I mean?
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That's something you could use just if you want to make sure that somebody understands your point, your idea.
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You know what I mean?
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After my nail appointment, I had some lunch with my mom and I took the bus back to my apartment.
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I took a shower and I got ready because I had a techno event to go to.
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Just an event where they play techno music.
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I did my makeup, I put some eye shadow on, some lip gloss, and some cute earrings.
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By the way, do you want me to make my next video about makeup, the vocabulary, the steps
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in simple English?
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Let me know.
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I went to the techno event and I danced all night and the next morning I got breakfast at Tox.
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Tox is a chain of restaurants.
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It's very popular in Mexico.
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Do you have any restaurant chains in your country?
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If so, which one is your favorite and why?
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I slept all day and then I went with my sister to
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walk around some cute bazaars and markets in Mexico City and I bought this necklace.
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It's my favorite flower, the jacarandas, and they made it a necklace.
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I love it.
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It's my new favorite necklace.
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I also recorded a few videos for the week.
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I worked on my English community, and then I went to sleep again.
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It was a really special weekend.
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I saw family, friends, and I spent time with myself.
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What about you?
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What did you do this weekend?
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You know what I mean?
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Try and integrate this phrase into a sentence you use today.
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It's a fun phrase to use, I think.
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Now, here goes the normal speed.
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So, over the weekend, I took the bus to my parents' house, my mom and my dad.
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But my dad was the only one who picked me up at the bus station.
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We chatted in the car for a little bit, and I was a little hungry because I hadn't had anything for dinner.
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So, he took me to get some esquites.
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An esquite is a mixture of corn, mayonnaise, lime, tajin, sometimes cheese.
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But I don't eat that much cheese because it's bad for my acne.
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We all hung out, we ate esquites together, and we listened to music and watched YouTube videos.
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Next day, we went to my favorite cafe in my hometown and I ordered the most delicious donut.
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It was a maple donut with sprinkles of bacon on top.
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The bacon wasn't too crispy or too soggy.
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It was perfect.
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And so was the donut.
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The donut was fluffy and soft on the inside, but the outer layer was crunchy where the maple was.
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It was really good.
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I also ordered an omelet with spinach and I had a cappuccino coffee.
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Then my dad drove us home and we watched a movie on Netflix called Roommates.
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It's really good, but it just keeps you on your toes.
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It keeps you kind of on the edge of your seat because you're like, what's going to happen next?
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What's she going to do to her next?
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It was a little frustrating to watch, but really interesting.
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Then my dad drove me to my nail appointment.
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I got my nails done and I chatted and gossiped with my nail technician.
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I got pink to match some accessories that I've been buying.
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I just bought this brown purse with pink polka dots and I thought that my nails would match it perfectly.
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After that, I took my bus back to my apartment and I rushed to take a quick shower.
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I did some quick makeup, eyeshadow, put on some cute earrings and I head to a techno event with my friends.
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We danced all night and then we had breakfast together at Tox.
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It's a chain of restaurants in Mexico that's very popular.
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And I think I ordered some enchiladas suizas.
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If you've never had enchiladas suizas before, if you ever go to Mexico, you need to try them.
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They're so good.
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But I'm curious, do you have any restaurant chains in your country?
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And if so, which one is your favorite?
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It was a really fun weekend and I'm curious, what did you do this weekend?
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If you enjoyed this video, be sure to like it and subscribe so you can continue to learn English easily.
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English doesn't need to be boring or frustrating.
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Learning a language can be fun.
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It can be easy.
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So subscribe to continue learning English with me.
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And if you liked this video, I'm sure you'll like these two that I made just for you.
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And remember, never stop learning.
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Bye!
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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will engage in English listening practice by exploring a casual recount of a weekend. The speaker shares experiences like traveling to their parents’ house, eating snacks, enjoying breakfast, and attending events. This practice is designed for beginners (A1-A2 level) and aims to enhance your listening comprehension, familiarize you with everyday vocabulary, and build your confidence in speaking about similar personal experiences. By listening closely, you'll gather insights into the rhythm and tone of natural English conversations, making your English more fluent and relatable.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Exciting: Something that generates interest or enthusiasm.
  • Traffic: Vehicles moving along roads, often in a congested manner.
  • Snack: A small portion of food eaten between meals.
  • Cappuccino: A type of coffee made with espresso and steamed milk.
  • Nail appointment: A scheduled visit to a salon for nail care.
  • Bazaar: A market where various goods are sold.
  • Gossiped: Talking about the personal lives of others, often in a casual or informal manner.

Practice Tips

To maximize your learning from this lesson, consider using a shadowing app to repeat the speaker's words and phrases. Start by listening to the audio at a slower pace, focusing on pronunciation and intonation. The speaker’s tone is friendly and conversational, which makes it ideal for mimicking. Practice shadow speak by following along after each phrase, ensuring you’re mimicking not only words but also emotional emphasis. This technique not only boosts your English pronunciation but also prepares you for IELTS speaking practice scenarios, helping you express yourself naturally in everyday situations. Be patient with yourself and repeat difficult phrases until you feel comfortable.

It's beneficial to revisit this video multiple times, gradually increasing the playback speed as you feel more confident. This repetition will enhance your understanding of contextual vocabulary, as well as improve your listening skills. Remember, listening and speaking regularly will greatly contribute to your overall language proficiency, so make this a consistent part of your English learning journey!

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.

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