Shadowing Practice: How to talk about personal interests in English - Learn English Speaking with Video
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30 sentences
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Hi, I'm Anna.
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Welcome to What To Say.
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do you know what to say
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when you talk about your personal interests listen out for useful
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language for talking about personal interests then we'll practice saying the new phrases after this
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hi Paul I made you a cup of tea just how you like it milk and two sugars oh thanks Amir you're
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welcome.
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So what do you do when you're not working?
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Oh, um, not much.
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I'm always really tired in the evenings and at weekends.
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Haven't you got any hobbies?
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Well, I've recently started doing meditation.
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I didn't know you did meditation i do too oh right
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so um how often do you practice most mornings usually but
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if it's really busy then sometimes it's hard to find time
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yeah i know what you mean i normally meditate once
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or twice a week i never have enough time to do it more than
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that what are you doing now nothing much Just drinking my tea.
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Hello again.
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now that's something you don't see in the office every day
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so did you notice the useful phrases used for talking about your personal interests listen to me
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and then repeat what do you do
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when you are not working what do you do when you are not working i didn't know you did meditation
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I didn't know you did meditation I do too I do too
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how often do you practice how often do you practice most mornings usually most mornings usually
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sometimes it's hard to find time sometimes it's hard to find time
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i normally meditate once or twice a week i normally meditate once or twice a week
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i never have enough time
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i never have enough time
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try and use some of these phrases the next time you talk about your personal interests in English bye for now
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This A2 speaking lesson is built on the video “How to talk about personal interests in English”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: meditation, interests, practice, personal, meditate. This video has 30 sentences and 310 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:58. The speaker talks slowly, about 78 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 85% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| meditation noun | /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/ | A devotional exercise of, or leading to, contemplation. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| hobby noun | /ˈhɑ.bi/ | An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time. |
| meditate verb | /ˈmɛ.dɪˌteɪt/ | To contemplate; to keep the mind fixed upon something; to study. |
| normally adverb | /ˈnɔː.mə.li/ | Under normal conditions or circumstances; usually; most of the time |
| sugar noun | /ˈʃʊɡə/ | A food consisting of small, sweet crystals, principally of sucrose, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used as sweetener and preservative. |
| milk verb | /mɪlk/ | To express milk from (a mammal, especially a cow). |
| repeat verb | /ɹɪˈpiːt/ | To do or say again (and again). |
| twice adverb | /twaɪs/ | Two times. |
| welcome | /ˈwɛl.kəm/ | Greeting given upon someone's arrival. |
| useful adjective | /ˈjuːsfəl/ | Having a practical or beneficial use. |
| weekend noun | /ˈwiˌkɛnd/ | The break in the working week, usually two days including the traditional holy or sabbath day. Thus in Western countries, Saturday and Sunday. |
| drink verb | /ˈdɹɪŋk/ | To consume (a liquid) through the mouth. |
| notice verb | /ˈnoʊ.tɪs/ | To become aware of; to observe. |
| evening noun | /ˈiv.nɪŋ/ | The time of day between afternoon and night. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | practice saying · started doing |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | you're not working · are you doing · are not working |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, I'm, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: meditation /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/, sugar /ˈʃʊɡə/
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 meditation, phrase, 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.