Shadowing Practice: IELTS SPEAKING 2026: Why Does Your Mind Go Blank? | Common Problems | Ideas & Vocabulary - Learn English Speaking with Video

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When you start answering IELTS speaking questions, all the ideas and useful vocabulary you've learned seem to disappear and your mind suddenly goes blank.

Does that sound familiar?

Then keep watching this video to find out how to solve this problem.

If you're new to the channel, my name is Anastasia, I scored 9 out of 9 on the IELTS.

I am an IELTS specialist and I run both this channel

and our IELTS Prep Telegram community where I share important IELTS updates, new vocabulary and answers to your questions.

The Telegram channel is still relatively new, so there is a lot of content coming soon, including student experiences, practice exercises,

free resources, and much more.

Now, let's get back to the video.

This is the third part of our IELTS success stories behind the score series.

In the previous two videos, I explained how I helped my student achieve band 8 after scoring only band 6 on her previous attempt.

In particular, I discussed how we improved her reading, listening, and writing scores.

In this video, we'll focus entirely on the speaking sections.

If you're more interested in the other sections, check out the previous parts.

You can find them in the corresponding playlist.

Alright, let's get started!

As always, we started by identifying Natalie's main problems.

She had three issues that are very common among the students I work with in my 101 sessions, so we're going to discuss them today.

Problem number one was a lack of vocabulary.

And by that, I don't mean that Natalie couldn't express herself, she could communicate just fine,

but her vocabulary was not advanced or varied enough for her to score higher than 6.5 or 7.

When she talked about general topics, she did well.

However, once the questions became more topic specific.

She started to struggle.

Let's take a typical IELTS speaking question.

Describe a traditional dish from your country.

Imagine you are asked this question.

I'm sure most of you can picture a traditional dish and you could probably describe it in your native language, but can you do the same in English?

Do you know the right words to describe its flavor, ingredients, texture, or how it is prepared?

That is where it becomes more difficult.

Natalie lives in Thailand and she wanted to talk about Thai green curry, which is a very popular dish there.

She described it as a delicious dish made with coconut milk, vegetables, green curry paste, herbs, and chicken.

She also added that it contains garlic, ginger, lime, lemongrass, and different spices.

However, once she learned the topic-specific vocabulary that we also cover in our IELTS course, she was able to give a much more descriptive answer.

In fact, we had three separate lectures dedicated to food

because the vocabulary related to this topic can also be used when discussing many other subjects such as memorable experiences, travel, and childhood memories.

She started using more topic-specific words such as savory and flavorful.

For example, Thai green curry is a savory and highly flavorful dish.

Aromatic.

It's made with aromatic herbs.

Rich, the coconut milk gives it a rich, creamy taste, tangy and refreshing.

Lime and lemongrass add slightly tangy and refreshing notes.

Excessively.

A good green curry should not be excessively spicy.

Now, what I normally do in class and what I recommend you do at home, especially if you're pressed for time,

is go through the five most common and universal IELTS topics and learn around 20 topic-related words for each one.

This will help you sound more natural and improve your score, especially if you're aiming for band 8 or higher in the speaking section.

Feel free to join our Telegram channel as well.

We're currently discussing crime-related vocabulary there,

using pictures, examples, and IELTS speaking questions to help you start using the new words in context straight away.

The second problem Natalie experienced was giving unstructured answers.

Of course, it's important to sound natural, but when you do not have a clear structure in mind, you tend to repeat your ideas and often fail to develop them properly.

As a result, the examiner might ask you additional questions, which may make you think you perform badly and leave you feeling a little discouraged.

So what we did was go through the three most common speaking strategies that we also cover as part of the course.

I'll now tell you about one of them.

It's called the It Depends Strategy.

The strategy is especially useful for part 3 questions where you're expected to speak at greater length.

You can use it when the examiner asks you a controversial question, or when you don't have enough arguments to support a single point of view.

You start with It Depends.

For example, when answering a part 3 question, such as Do adverts influence what people buy?

Instead of simply saying yes or no, you can say that it depends on the type of product being advertised, or the type of person watching the advert.

This will not only make your answer more balanced, but also give you more ideas to talk about.

Finally, the last but certainly not least problem Natalie experienced was a lack of ideas and active vocabulary.

You probably know the feeling when you watch sample responses on YouTube and think, I will never be able to speak that smoothly,

use such impressive vocabulary, or come up with so many ideas.

And when you actually start practicing speaking, all the ideas and useful words you've learned seem to disappear and your mind suddenly goes blank.

If you have experienced this, do not worry.

The only real solution to this problem is regular speaking practice and speaking drills.

I mentioned this in the previous video about writing, where I explained that you need to practice different parts of an essay separately, until you can write them almost automatically.

The same principle applies here.

not need to know every advanced or impressive expression that exists.

That is why simply watching other people's sample answers will not necessarily help you improve your score.

Everyone is different, and we all think in different ways.

Even if you try to imitate someone else's answer, you may struggle to use their ideas and vocabulary naturally once the test begins.

You may return to your default settings, as I often call them, because that is what usually happens when people feel nervous or stressed.

You'll naturally start talking about your own experiences and expressing ideas in a way that feels most comfortable to you.

That is why, with Natalie, we focused on the words, ideas, and stories that were personal to her.

This is also what every student should do.

First of all, let's talk about ideas.

If I asked you right now, describe a memorable trip you've taken.

Some of you might need a little time to decide what to talk about.

Most of us have had several memorable trips, so it can be difficult to choose one on the spot.

However, once you come up with an idea and describe the trip several times, you already have a story stored in your personal mental library.

You can then use the same story when answering other similar questions.

For example, imagine you were asked, describe a happy childhood memory.

could talk about the same trip.

Or if you were asked to describe something that has recently made you happy, you could use the same story again.

You see?

That's how it works.

Once you have a collection of these stories in your head, there will be a few questions you cannot answer, even if they are about topics you haven't practiced beforehand.

I've compiled a list of the most common IELTS speaking questions, as well as general lists of stories you should prepare and add to your mental library.

In class, we first practice coming up with suitable examples.

I usually bombard you with different questions and you simply tell me which story you would use for each one.

Then, once you become good at choosing the right story for most questions, we move on to actually practicing giving full answers.

And when we reach that stage, I recommend phrases that naturally fit your stories and that you can reuse in many different answers.

This way, you're not learning what works for other people.

You're learning what works for you.

Idiomatic vocabulary, phrasal verbs, and topic-related expressions that match your own experiences.

I choose the expressions that fit your stories, which makes it much more likely that you will actually use and remember them.

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This is very different from memorizing words from other people's sample responses or random videos, which most students quickly forget.

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Before we wrap things up, Many students have been contacting me about individual lessons

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and asking whether I can open up additional time slots that work better for their time zones.

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At the moment, my schedule is a bit tight, however, if you cannot find a suitable time slot, you can always book a lesson with our expert IELTS teacher, Xenia.

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She can help you with your IELTS preparation and practice the same skills and strategies I've just mentioned.

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You can find the link to her page in the description below.

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I wish you all a great day and remember, scoring high on the IELTS is not an impossible feat.

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You can do it!

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See you in the next video.

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Bye-bye!

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 109 sentences and 1574 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:22. The speaker talks at a natural 168 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 84% 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
vocabulary noun	/vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/	A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning.
topic noun	/ˈtɑpɪk/	A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest.
dish noun	/dɪʃ/	A vessel such as a plate for holding or serving food, often flat with a depressed region in the middle.
curry noun	/ˈkʌ.ɹi/	One of a family of dishes originating from Indian cuisine, flavored by a spiced sauce.
naturally adverb	/ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/	In a natural manner.
depend verb	/dɪˈpɛnd/	To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition
memorable adjective	/ˈmɛm.(ə)ɹə.bl̩/	Worthy to be remembered; very important or remarkable.
bind verb	/ˈbaɪ̯nd/	To tie; to confine by any ligature.
impressive adjective	/ɪmˈpɹɛsɪv/	Making, or tending to make, a positive impression; having power to impress.
lesson noun	/ˈlɛs.ən/	A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
suitable adjective	[ˈsjuː.tə.bɫ̩]	Having sufficient or the required properties for a certain purpose or task; appropriate to a certain occasion.
blank noun	/ˈblæŋk/	The white spot in the centre of a target; hence (figuratively) the object to which anything is directed or aimed, the range of such aim.
disappear verb	/dɪsəˈpɪɹ/	To vanish.
slot noun	/slɑt/	A narrow depression, perforation, or aperture; especially, one for the reception of a piece fitting or sliding into it.
coconut noun	/ˈkəʊ.kə.nʌt/	A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
come up with verb	To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it.
go through verb	To travel from one end of something to the other.
check out verb	To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
find out verb	To discover, as by asking or investigating.
get back to verb	Return to (an activity)
open up verb	To open.

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	you've learned · have experienced · you've taken
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are asked · being advertised · were asked
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	curry, which is · stories, which makes

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 22 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, you've, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: dish /dɪʃ/, refresh /ɹɪˈfɹɛʃ/, delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, specialist /ˈspɛʃəlɪst/
Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/, universal /ˌjunəˈvɜɹs(ə)l/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/

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 vocabulary, topic, dish.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: IELTS SPEAKING 2026: Why Does Your Mind Go Blank? | Common Problems | Ideas & Vocabulary - Learn English Speaking with Video

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