Shadowing Practice: Favourite things - B1 Listening Practice - British Council - Learn English Speaking with Video
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56 sentences
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A. My favorite thing has to be my new tablet.
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It's really light and quite small, so I take it with me everywhere.
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I'm always writing messages to friends, and it's big enough to do college work on it too.
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It takes really good photos, and I play games and listen to music on it as well, of course.
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I often download films onto it and watch them in bed.
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My mum says I'm addicted, because I'm always on it.
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I even read things on it at breakfast time.
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I'm not allowed to at dinner time, though.
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I have to be polite and talk to people then.
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Welcome back to real life, my mum says.
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B. My favourite thing?
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Does my cat count as a thing?
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She's not really a thing, but anyway, she's a really beautiful little cat.
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I've had her since she was four months old.
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You know how some cats are really independent and hardly talk to you?
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I know cats don't really talk, but you know what I mean.
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Well, she's not like that at all
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She's really affectionate
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And comes up to me as soon as I get home Purring away like mad
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She makes a lot of noise for a tiny thing
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She loves being stroked
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And comes and curls up next to me when I'm on the sofa
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She's great company C My new scooter
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It's quite small, but fun and just what I needed for getting around the city.
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I used to have quite a long walk to the metro, then a longish walk at the other end to get to college,
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but now I can just whiz there on my scooter and there's no problem parking.
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There's always space for it.
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You have to be careful with the cars and lorries.
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They don't always see you.
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When it rains, the surface of the road is terrible.
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It gets really slippery.
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But in general, it's perfect for me and I can fit a friend on the back too.
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I've got an extra helmet for a friend.
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It's great.
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Riding along makes me feel so free.
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D. This may sound a bit old -fashioned but my sewing machine is my favourite thing.
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I'm studying fashion and love making things as well as designing them.
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I also really love clothes myself
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and often buy second -hand clothes everyone loves the vintage look at the moment
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and then I adapt them to my size it's much easier using a machine to do
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that than doing it by hand I do alterations for my mum
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and my sister too
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if I don't make it as a designer I suppose I can always set up my own alterations
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and customising business customising clothes by taking things off and adding things on is actually very creative, so I wouldn't mind that.
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E. My set of Japanese knives.
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That sounds a bit sinister, doesn't it?
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But I'm not a murderer or anything.
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They're chef's knives, and the best ones come from Japan.
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Cooking is my new hobby.
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I got into it when I started watching MasterChef on TV.
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Then I went to an evening class for beginners, and I haven't looked back since.
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I try and have dinner for between four and eight friends every two or three weeks.
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That gives me something to work towards and I always do new dishes
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so they can try them out and give me feedback.
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It's quite an expensive hobby if you use good ingredients but now my friends help towards the cost.
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They still get a good meal for a very low price.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Favourite things - B1 Listening Practice - British Council”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: cat, mum, clothes. This video has 56 sentences and 602 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:02. The speaker talks at a steady 149 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| cloth noun | /klɒθ/ | A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes… |
| knife noun | /ˈnaɪ̯f/ | A utensil or a tool designed for cutting, consisting of a flat piece of hard material, usually steel or other metal (the blade), usually sharpened on one edge… |
| hobby noun | /ˈhɑ.bi/ | An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time. |
| scooter noun | /ˈskuːtə(ɹ)/ | A kick scooter or push scooter; a human-powered land vehicle with a handlebar, deck and wheels that is propelled by a rider pushing off the ground. |
| meal noun | /ˈmiːl/ | Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity. |
| designer noun | /dɪˈzaɪnɚ/ | A person who designs something, or who designs things as a profession. |
| feedback noun | /ˈfiːdˌbæk/ | Critical assessment of a process or activity or of their results. |
| dish noun | /dɪʃ/ | A vessel such as a plate for holding or serving food, often flat with a depressed region in the middle. |
| metro noun | /ˈmɛtɹoʊ/ | A rapid transit rail transport system, or a train in such systems, generally underground and serving a metropolitan area. |
| vintage noun | /ˈvɪn.tɪd͡ʒ/ | The yield of grapes or wine from a vineyard or district during one season. |
| tablet noun | /ˈtæblət/ | A slab of clay, stone or wood used for inscription. |
| helmet noun | /ˈhɛlmɪt/ | A hard, protective head covering, typically part of armour. |
| adapt verb | /əˈdæpt/ | To make suitable; to make to correspond; to fit or suit. |
| polite adjective | /pəˈlaɪt/ | Well-mannered, civilized. |
| murderer noun | /ˈmɝdɚɚ/ | A person who commits murder. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come up to verb | To approach. | |
| get around verb | To move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path. | |
| look back verb | To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight). | |
| set up verb | /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ | To make ready for use. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'm not allowed to at dinner time, though.
- Does my cat count as a thing?
- I've had her since she was four months old.
- They don't always see you.
- I've got an extra helmet for a friend.
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 had · haven't looked |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | loves being · love making · started watching |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | has to be · have to be |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | I'm always writing · I'm studying |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 16 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: dish /dɪʃ/, alteration /ɔl.tɚˈeɪ.ʃən/, affectionate /əˈfɛkʃənət/
- Long words — get the stress right: ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/, alteration /ɔl.tɚˈeɪ.ʃən/, affectionate /əˈfɛkʃənət/
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 cloth, knife, hobby.
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.