Shadowing Practice: How life in Australia is getting too expensive for workers | Daily Mail - Learn English Speaking with Video
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137 sentences
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For millions of Aussies the cost of living just keeps going up.
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No outside coffee like you're making coffee at home.
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We had to move back into our parents place for a little bit to do that yeah.
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Mortgage repayments, rent, fuel, the weekly grocery shop, then there's electricity, insurance, child care, school fees and medical bills.
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I'd hate to be a young person starting out right now
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and there's almost no chance of most people ever buying a home without significant help from parents.
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And for many households, wages just aren't stretching as far as they used to.
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Aussies are being forced to cut back, dip into savings, or rethink spending that used to be considered normal.
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So, it's no wonder that people are feeling frustrated.
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Are you saving for a house at the moment?
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No, it's not.
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Not something you even thought about?
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Well, it's like, it's pushing it off.
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We hit the streets to find out what Aussies are sacrificing
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and who they think should be doing more to ease the pressure.
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Well, that's the government.
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Yeah.
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You know, that's...
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Yeah.
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That's Chalmers.
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That's Jimmy.
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That's...
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Not doing his homework.
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Do I own a home?
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Yeah.
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Well, if I don't own a home by 90, I will never own one.
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Yeah.
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I do because yeah I'm not a homeowner I'm renting
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and it is it seems like a daunting daunting thing I'm hoping
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if I can go in with someone I've got to find a partner
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and we both co -share and get a deposit for a house
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but yeah they're around 6 % now on homes
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but what do you think is easier 17 % deposit like
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back in the day on a cheaper house compared to now it's like 6 % but homes are like a million dollars.
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I think it's similar but the house prices have just gone up too fast you know
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and when that happens it's like the stock market then it's got to come down
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and when it's down that's when you strike.
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There you go.
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And do you think people nowadays they can still save up and pay for a home in cash?
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Do you think that's still possible like what you did or do you think it's more unrealistic now?
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Well it doesn't matter
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if you have to pay it off a mortgage on a house is normal you know that's that's fair enough
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but you know you just have to get your act together
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to get a deposit you can put ten thousand dollars down i was reading in the paper today yeah
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and that will get you a house a home did you know
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that ten thousand dollars deposit wow
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and you can move into your own house what would you prefer would you rather
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that 17 on a cheaper house or
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the six percent on a like one million dollar place 17 on a cheaper house
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well you're borrowing less so you're paying more for a bit okay but yeah uh in terms of like
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20 30 years right you're still uh depends on the math
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but do you reckon they had it easier back then um different challenges
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because salaries were lower but asset prices were cheaper yeah so I think if they do the math it was probably easier.
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And how was the saving you know between you
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and your partner what were you guys cutting back on what was the first to go you cancelling your Netflix subscriptions?
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Eating out less, grocery checking more specials on groceries.
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Yes there are lots of apps these days to make sure you get some deals
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and now so now you've got the place
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and you know you're still still having to save because you're making these big lump sum repayments.
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But you know you're here in Pitt Street, you're here with all the expensive shops, are you back to splurging a little bit?
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No, just walking through here, just going on a stroll.
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Going on a stroll, not spending anything?
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Yeah, no. Are you renting at the moment?
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Yeah.
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Yeah, do you reckon it's harder to save while renting?
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For sure, especially if you're like supporting yourself.
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Yeah.
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Because we're students.
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Yeah, fair and
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so do you reckon game plan would be I mean my game plan would yeah move them with parents yeah
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and then save hopefully by that you can save yeah
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when you're saving what's the first thing to go Netflix dinners drinks what do you like oh like splurge
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if you like I need to knuckle down
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and say what's the first thing no coffee no coffee no
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outside coffee like you're making coffee at home like hundred percent
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like you can't spend seven dollars on coffee every day what's the thing
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that you still have to have despite this cost of living crisis you're like coffees like like yes no coffees
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but like i can't give it up at the moment yeah
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just gotta treat yourself sometimes do you own a home yes i do and
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if you had to buy your home again today do you
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reckon you could afford it uh no probably not okay
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and why do you say
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that uh interest rates have gone up a lot in the last 12 years or so yeah yep
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cost of living everywhere else you know back in 1989 we saw interest rates at 17 %
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which is a real high
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but of course houses were cheaper comparatively to now now we are looking at
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that 6 % mark what would you rather do you reckon you'd go for the 17 % cheaper house
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or the 6 %
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but on like a 1 million dollar place in Sydney you
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used to be able to buy a house for 200 grand back then
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so I'll take the 200 grand with a 17 % mortgage
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and get it paid off in a few years which a lot of people did.
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I bought BHP shares when I was about 18 -19 and just left them and they paid for the house cash.
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And I saw a stat
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that said three around three quarters of average household income would go towards repayments that's if you have a mortgage.
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Which is anything above about 30 % considered mortgage stress I think so.
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Yeah but then like myself I'm renting
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and I am I'm trying save for a house
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but also i'd say like half my income is going towards half my monthly income is going towards my rent
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and then i think if i
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if i really need to make a good dent in
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that savings for my future home i'm gonna have to move back in with mom
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and dad yeah that's pretty common at the moment unfortunately yeah
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and people are living at home longer with their folks as you know so
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final message to camera anything i have to say uh elbow
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and labor fix the economy
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or get out of office please how much are you like
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paying each month like how much of your income is like half
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a quarter between me and my partner probably about quarters
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or half somewhere around there okay and did you guys go in together together okay
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which does makes it a lot easier yes
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but not not easy though um
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and what was the first thing to cut in your savings
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when you were saying is it is it subscriptions no no
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coffee my my my one piece cards all my leisure activities yeah yeah
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congrats you got one thank you uh were you guys renting whilst also saving for a deposit
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or did you guys move back in with your parents we
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had to move back into our parents place for a little bit to do
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that yeah standard uh if you had to i know i was going to say
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so would you rather
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because we were doing some research back in 1989 interest rates hit seven mortgage interest rates hit 17
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but homes were a lot cheaper whereas now six percent
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that homes could be like around the one mil mark yeah what would you rather would you rather
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that 17 100 100 lower prices higher of percentage
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because you can pay it off so much faster
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because i'm pretty sure most people like most of our parents
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have paid off their home loans at this point in time
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i can't imagine what it's trying to pay off a home loan now yeah
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but i can because i'm trying to yeah and uh
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so do you reckon they had it easier back then yes 100 um
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and how realistic does buying a home field for a lot
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of people right now like how how much grit sweat
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and tears i think in sydney it feels unattainable yeah where's your place in sydney
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but we bought it off the plan like a long time ago
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so like three four years ago so it's a little bit easier back then
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but um i mean a lot of my friends are discussing like moving to melbourne
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because it's cheaper down there and honestly
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “How life in Australia is getting too expensive for workers”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: coffee, cheaper, saving, reckon, mortgage. This video has 137 sentences and 1494 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:11. The speaker talks fast, about 182 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| mortgage noun | /ˈmoɹ.ɡɪd͡ʒ/ | A legal agreement in which a borrower pledges real property as collateral for a loan used to purchase or refinance that property. |
| reckon verb | /ˈɹɛkən/ | To count; to enumerate; to number; also, to compute; to calculate. |
| deposit noun | /dɪˈpɑ.zɪt/ | Sediment or rock that is not native to its present location or is different from the surrounding material. Sometimes refers to ore or gems. |
| household adjective | /ˈhaʊshoʊld/ | Belonging to the same house and family. |
| mathematics noun | /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/ | An abstract representational system studying numbers, shapes, structures, quantitative change and relationships between them. |
| grocery noun | /ˈɡɹəʊ.s(ə.)ɹi/ | Retail foodstuffs and other household supplies. |
| subscription noun | /səbˈskɹɪpʃən/ | Access to a resource for a period of time, generally for payment. |
| stroll verb | /stɹoʊl/ | To wander on foot; to ramble idly or leisurely; to rove. |
| percentage noun | /pə(ɹ)ˈsɛntɪd͡ʒ/ | The amount, number or rate of something, regarded as part of a total of 100; a part of a whole. |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
| wage noun | /weɪd͡ʒ/ | An amount of money paid to a worker for a specified quantity of work, usually calculated on an hourly basis and expressed in an amount of money per hour. |
| electricity noun | /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪsɪti/ | Originally, a property of amber and certain other nonconducting substances to attract lightweight material when rubbed, or the cause of this property; now… |
| whereas | /(h)wɛɹˈæz/ | In contrast; whilst on the contrary; although. |
| congratulations | /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/ | Expressing praise and approval, expressing approbation. |
| whilst adverb | /waɪlst/ | Often preceded by the: During the time; meanwhile. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go up verb | To move upwards. |
| pay off verb | To bribe, especially to deter oversight. |
| come down verb | To descend, fall down, collapse. |
| cut back verb | To reduce the amount of (something). |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| go in with verb | To commit to something with; to partner with. |
| save up verb | To accumulate money, especially for a specific, planned expenditure. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- No outside coffee like you're making coffee at home.
- Are you saving for a house at the moment?
- Not something you even thought about?
- Do I own a home?
- Are you renting at the moment?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to be |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have just gone · have gone · have paid |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 36 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, rethink /ɹiːˈθɪŋk/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: subscription /səbˈskɹɪpʃən/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, leisure /ˈlɛʒə(ɹ)/
- Long words — get the stress right: mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, electricity /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪsɪti/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, comparatively /kəmˈpæɹ.ə.tɪvli/, unattainable /ˌʌnəˈteɪnəbəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like mortgage, reckon, deposit.
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.