Shadowing Practice: IELTS Listening Podcast Ep.29 - Luyện Nghe Tiếng Anh Thụ Động Mỗi Ngày - English Everyday Jan 2026 - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Section 1.
278 sentences
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Section 1.
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You will hear a new student on a short summer course getting information from the college receptionist.
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Now the test will begin.
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You should answer the questions as you listen,
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as you will not hear the recording a second time.
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Listen carefully to the first part of the conversation and answer questions one to five.
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Sorry to keep you waiting.
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Nice.
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OK, here's the information you need.
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On the first page there's some info about the college,
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the facilities, the courses on offer, etc. Uh-huh.
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Then, on these blue pages here,
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there's an outline of the social activities.
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You see there, OK?
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Yes.
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Now this part of the booklet here,
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the yellow pages, that's the main program starting at 9am tomorrow.
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9am, OK.
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So all the new students will be gathering in Herville Hall at 9 o'clock.
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Sorry, where?
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Herville Hall.
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I'll spell it for you.
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It's H-E-R-V-I double L and then H-A double L for hall, of course.
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It's the big white building by the entrance.
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OK, I've seen it.
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Right.
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Anyway, you'll be in there for an hour.
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First, the director of studies will explain the various courses we offer and the requirements for them.
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Then for the second half hour,
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the social organiser will tell you more about the social program and Saturday excursions.
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Is that all clear?
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Um, yes, I think so.
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Then where do I go after that?
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Ah, yes, OK.
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After the talks in the hall, there's a break.
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And then at quarter to eleven,
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go to classroom four to have a placement test test quarter
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to 11 this placement test is to find my level in
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English exactly then after the test all the new students are
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invited to a special welcome lunch in the cafeteria no no
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not for the welcome lunch it's in a restaurant near the
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school an Indian restaurant oh okay I don't think I've ever tried Indian food.
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Do you like spicy food?
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Yes, I do.
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Then you'll love Indian.
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So where's the Indian restaurant?
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Don't worry, it's really easy to find.
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Have you got that map I gave you?
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This one?
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Yes, that's it.
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See here, the main entrance to the school?
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Yes?
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Well, don't go out of there,
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there's a smaller entrance here, round the back.
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Oh yes, I see.
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Okay, so you go out of there,
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past the phone box, and then turn right into this road here,
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the one that goes along the side of the park.
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You'll see a supermarket on the left,
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and then it's just after that on the right.
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It's quite a big place, you can't miss it.
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Okay.
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And one more thing.
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Is there a post office near here?
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Post office?
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Oh, yes, of course.
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Just the other side of the park.
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Go through the middle of the park and it's there by the park entrance.
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Thanks a lot.
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You're welcome.
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There's a good cafe near here too.
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Very popular with the students.
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Just there.
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You go out of the main entrance into Varley Road,
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then turn left at the bank and it's at the end of the street.
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They do amazing coffee.
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That's great.
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Thanks very much.
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No problem.
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Enjoy your course.
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Thanks again.
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Bye.
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Section 2.
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You will hear the director of a new art centre speaking
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to a group of local people who have come to hear what the new art centre will be offering.
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Well, good evening everybody.
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Thank you all for turning out on this cold wet evening.
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Welcome to our new Art Centre.
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I'm delighted that so many people are interested in finding out about the facilities and events that we'll be offering.
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I'll start with the regular evening events that we've scheduled so far.
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Sunday night will be film club night.
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Each week we'll be showing a classic film from the 40s 50s or 60s.
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Films will start at quarter to seven
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and afterwards there will be an opportunity to discuss the film in the cafe bar for anybody who'd like to.
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Tickets for the film will be five pounds
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but the discussion afterwards is free although anybody who wants to buy me a drink is welcome to do so.
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On Thursday evenings at 7.30 the auditorium is given over to productions by touring theatre companies.
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This coming Thursday we're very excited to be welcoming Pizzazz,
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a drama company featuring both able-bodied and physically handicapped actors.
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They'll be performing a rather special version of William Shakespeare's The Tempest,
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featuring music and dance as well as dialogue.
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Fridays and Saturdays will be music nights starting at 8pm with classical
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or traditional music on the Fridays and pop rock on the Saturdays.
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However as the sound system hasn't yet been fully installed these events won't be starting for another few weeks.
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As well as evening performances,
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various events will take place during the day.
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So far a mothers and toddlers session has been arranged for Monday afternoons,
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and of course anybody can drop in for a coffee or a sandwich.
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The cafe bar will be open from 11am to 3pm,
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and 6pm to 11pm, Mondays to Fridays.
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11am to midnight Saturdays and Sundays.
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Lunch will be served from half past 12 till 2 and light snacks will be available all day.
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Of course this program is just the start and we expect to be announcing many additional events in the near future.
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Now I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you about becoming a member.
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Membership benefits include reduced price tickets,
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priority bookings and a monthly newsletter,
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which will feature the latest details of forthcoming events,
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plus details of other arts events in the local area.
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The cost of membership is just £15 a year,
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which I think is very reasonable.
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To get a membership card,
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you'll need to provide us with a passport-sized photo,
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plus payment of course, by cash or cheque.
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We can't accept credit cards,
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I'm afraid, at least not for the moment.
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We hope to have credit card payment facilities available in the not-too-distant future.
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when you want to buy reduced price tickets,
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you simply show your card at the box office or quote your membership number if you're making a telephone booking.
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Generally, a membership card will save around 20% on the full ticket price,
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so it really is very good value.
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Now we come to the most important part, your suggestions.
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It's your art centre, so we want to hear what you'd like to see.
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Section 3.
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John has applied to train as a teacher and is being interviewed.
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In this stage of the interview,
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the interviewer will discuss John's previous studies and work experiences.
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Hello.
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Come in and take a seat.
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You are John Evans?
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Yes, I am.
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Well, as I'm sure you're aware,
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the purpose of this part of the interview is to go over your CV
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and talk a little further about your previous studies and experiences.
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Yes.
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So, your first degree was in French, of course?
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Yes, with a minor in film studies.
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Hmm.
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An interesting combination.
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Mostly French films, presumably.
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Well, European cinema in general,
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but with a bias towards French cinema.
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Ah.
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And your degree took four years?
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Yes.
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In the third year, I was an exchange student at Bruges University in Belgium.
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Ah.
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I was there for a full academic year, nine months.
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Hmm, right.
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Well, you graduated two years ago, and then you, er...
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you took some time out, as it were.
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Yes, I spent six months as a volunteer working on restoring historic buildings in France.
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Was that with a well-known organisation?
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They're called Restoration Vacations here,
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but they operate under different names in several countries.
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I think they're quite well-known.
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So, it was a six-month vacation, really?
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No, I went for a week,
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but really liked it, and I got asked to stay on as a translator.
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Because I could speak French quite well,
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it was my job to liaise between the owners of the buildings and the English-speaking volunteers.
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That must have been a very enjoyable experience.
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Well, it was certainly a very enjoyable experience to begin with,
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but after the first three months or so,
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I actually got a bit bored.
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I was talking about the same things every day.
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Bricks, cement, window frames, that kind of thing.
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It wasn't really stretching my French.
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Also I wasn't getting paid,
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just free accommodation and food, plus some pocket money.
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Ah, I see.
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So then you started working for a bank in Paris.
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BCFC, I think.
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Ah, yes.
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Were you doing entirely translating again?
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Well, translating was the major part of it,
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mostly from English into French this time.
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Official documents, letters, that kind of thing.
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Much more challenging.
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But I was also in charge of coordinating the translation work going on in the bank's offices in Switzerland,
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Belgium and other parts of France.
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Oh.
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And what did that involve?
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It was simple, really.
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I just had to keep track of what had been translated in each office.
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To save wasting time having the same document translated twice in different offices.
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So, you stayed there for a year and a half and then you left.
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Why was that?
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Simple, to apply for this course.
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I see.
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Why give up a secure job in Paris to train as a teacher here?
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I've always imagined that I'd be a teacher, really.
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I loved being in Paris,
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but I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life working for a bank.
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Do you think your experiences in France will help you as a teacher of French?
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It certainly helped my French.
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and my experiences certainly gave me a much better understanding of French culture,
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although that may not be of enormous use when it comes to standing up in front of a class of British 13-year-olds.
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Perhaps not.
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Well, thank you very much.
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The next stage of the interview will be conducted by my colleague in room 207.
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Section 4.
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You will hear a talk about the Kentish pipe.
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A 17th century musical instrument.
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Good evening.
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I'd like to introduce Geoffrey Rourke of the Early Music Foundation.
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Geoffrey has recently restored a genuine 17th century Kentish pipe and,
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as you all know, will be giving us a recital on it later this evening.
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But first, he's kindly agreed to talk to us about this exciting and little-known instrument.
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Thank you very much.
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I'd like to begin, if I may,
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by talking to you about the rather unusual construction of the Kentish pipe.
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The main part of the instrument,
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as you can see, is a long,
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straight wooden tube, which we call the chanter.
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This one is in beech wood,
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but other woods were used.
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At one end there is the airbag.
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This rests under the arm of the player, like this.
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The blowpipe
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that inflates the airbag is quite long
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and bends round the front of the body to be inserted in the mouth of the player.
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Like this.
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You see, the flexible nature of this tube is a unique feature of the Kentish pipe.
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In my restored version here,
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the blowpipe is, I'm sorry to confess, made out of plastic.
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In the original version, it would have been made out of leather using an elaborate stitching and waxing technique.
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However, the skills required to do this have now been lost.
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Good old plastic was the only alternative we could come up with.
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The airbag is obviously a modern replacement too.
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This time it is made out of leather and,
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as far as we can be certain,
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is likely to be pretty much identical to the original.
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A particularly soft and supple yet strong leather is required.
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Ordinary shoe leather would start to crack in no time.
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The main pipe, or chanter,
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is original, of course, as its rather battered appearance makes obvious, I would imagine.
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But it still sounds pretty good after nearly 400 years.
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We can't actually put a precise date on it,
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because the maker kindly inscribed it for us.
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Just here.
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You probably can't see it.
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JD, the maker's initials, and the date 1634.
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The most recent feature is the reed,
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the part that actually makes the noise.
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Although probably identical in every way to the original,
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it is in fact a piece from a plant picked yesterday morning by my son by the river near our house.
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So that's the construction.
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But why bother with the bag, you may be wondering.
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Why not just blow directly into the pipe?
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Well, you can play the instrument that way.
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You can just detach the bag like this and blow into this hole here.
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But you need a lot of breath to do it.
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Much more than say a flute or clarinet.
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After a few notes, you have to stop to take a breath.
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The bag allows the player to breathe while continuing to play.
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This meant that music for the Kentish pipe could be loud and fast.
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The way they liked it in Kent in the 17th century, no doubt.
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So we have the pipe,
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but unfortunately we don't have the music.
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Not a single piece of music written specifically for the Kentish pipe has been found.
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Luckily some of my colleagues from the Early Music Foundation have
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adapted some traditional music from the period for the Kentish pipe
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and we hope this will closely reflect the impression performances on the original instrument would have made.
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During the recital, I'm also going to play some modern pieces ranging from rock to classical.
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And I hope you'll agree with me that the instrument can bring its own special character to familiar tunes.
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Well, thank you very much for that
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and I'm sure we're looking forward very much to hearing you play it after the break.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
This video offers an authentic listening experience that is essential for anyone aiming to improve their English speaking skills through daily practice. Engaging with actual dialogues, such as the exchange between the new student and the college receptionist, provides real-life contexts for language use. When you listen and repeat using techniques like shadowspeak or shadow speech, you familiarize yourself with everyday language that you will encounter in academic settings. By practicing speaking along with the video, you enhance your ability to comprehend and respond naturally in conversations, a key aspect of effective communication.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In examining the dialogue from the video, several grammatical structures and expressions stand out:
- Direct questions: The use of questions such as “Is that all clear?” not only encourages interaction but also showcases a polite way to confirm understanding.
- Future plans: Phrases like “you’ll be in there for an hour” illustrate the simple future tense, a crucial aspect of English for discussing upcoming events.
- Spelling requests: The speaker uses “I’ll spell it for you,” which integrates practical vocabulary for situations where clarity is needed—especially relevant when navigating unfamiliar terms or locations.
- Conditional responses: The phrase “If you like spicy food, you'll love Indian” employs a conditional form to suggest a relationship between preferences and recommendations, useful for learners to express opinions or suggestions.
Common Pronunciation Traps
Every language learner faces pronunciation challenges, and this video presents a few noteworthy examples:
- “Herville Hall”: The pronunciation of place names can be tricky; ensure to practice stressing the syllables correctly to sound more natural.
- “Placement test”: This phrase might pose difficulties due to the linking of consonants. Pay close attention to how the sounds blend when spoken quickly.
- “Cafeteria” & “Excursions”: These words have multiple syllables and can be challenging. Practicing them repeatedly can help with flow and clarity in speech.
By utilizing resources like this video as part of your English speaking practice regimen, you will not only improve your listening skills but also master pronunciation and grammar within context. Make sure to learn English with YouTube for varied and engaging content that supports your language journey. Incorporate these insights into your daily practice, and you'll be well on your way to achieving fluency.
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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