Shadowing Practice: IELTS Speaking Band 7.5+ Mock Test with Feedback | IELTS with Charles - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hello and good afternoon, nice to meet you.
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Good afternoon.
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How are you today?
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Good, but a little bit worried.
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A little bit worried.
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May I ask what is your name please?
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My name is Nhi.
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Fantastic.
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Nhi, the test today will be around 12 to 15 minutes.
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If you're happy, we can start?
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Oh yes.
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Fantastic.
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Nhi, I want to start please by talking about your hometown.
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Tell me, where is your hometown?
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I was born and raised in the thriving metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City, which is located in the south of Vietnam.
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As it's a state-of-the-art urban area, so lots of people live there.
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There is a really busy, lively and fast-paced lifestyle.
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Fantastic, thank you so much.
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What do you like most about your hometown?
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There are various things I love about it.
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Firstly, there are many job opportunities to work in prestigious companies,
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which is really important because people can earn a high salary and have a better quality of life.
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Secondly, there is the world-class education system.
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Therefore, students can develop and learn their skills in a high standard learning environment.
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Wonderful, that's wonderful.
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Thank you.
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Has your hometown changed much over the years?
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Absolutely.
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The most common vehicle in my city was bike.
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I mean, most people cycle to work and go to school school.
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But now, as you can see, most people use motorbikes to move around the city.
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Yes.
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And moreover, it was much cleaner as there were more parks and gardens,
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but now they replaced by factories and buildings because of the industrialization.
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Fantastic.
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Thank you.
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And the final question for Hometown.
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Is there anything you would like to improve about your hometown?
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There are two things I would like to change about my hometown.
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The first one is the air quality.
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I mean, as you know, the majority of people use their personal vehicles,
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especially motorbikes, which release films directly to the air, causing air pollution.
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And the second one is noise pollution.
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There is a lot of noise from factories as well as karaoke
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which badly affects my life so I want the government to do something to do with these problems.
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Wonderful, thank you very much.
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Moving on now, let's talk about your daily routine.
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Tell me Miss Ni, what time do you usually wake up?
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I would say that it depends on the day.
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In weekdays I usually wake up at 6am as I need to go to school early in the morning.
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But at weekend I always wake up at 9am as I sleep more
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because I want to recharge my batteries after a hard week.
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Fantastic.
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Thank you very much.
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Do you prefer to have a fixed routine or a flexible one?
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Oh, that's an interesting question.
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I think that I'm keen on a flexible routine because of two main reasons.
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The first one is I can't predict the future.
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So I usually adjust my work to suit the situation
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and the second one is it depends on my energy levels of that day.
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I mean some days I feel really tired
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so I do less work on that day and we'll do more in another day when I'm more energetic.
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Wonderful, how fascinating, brilliant.
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What part of the day do you enjoy most?
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I think that I enjoy myself most in late evening, around 9 to 10pm when I finish all my homework
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and I can use social media such as TikTok or chat with friends with a fresh and comfortable mind.
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And at that time I feel really happy and relaxed.
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That's wonderful, fantastic.
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And finally, has your routine changed recently?
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Changed?
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Oh, absolutely yes.
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I usually spend two or three hours a day to finish all my assignments.
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and go to bed around 10 30 pm
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but since this Monday it took me four five or even six hours a day
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to finish all my tasks as well as revise the lessons and definitely I went to bed later
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around 11 or at midnight to prepare for my final term exams two weeks later.
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It made me a little, sometimes it made me a little bit exhausted, but I think it's worth it.
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As I think that when I learn and revise more,
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I will pass the exams with flying colors and my parents will be proud of me.
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Fantastic, that's the main thing.
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Okay, Ni, I really enjoyed that, listening about your daily routine in the hometown.
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And now we will move on to part two, please please.
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In part two I will give you a question and you have one minute to prepare, okay?
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Fantastic.
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The question for today please, Ni, is could you describe a place in your city that you enjoy visiting?
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Thank you.
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Okay Ni, thank you so much.
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That is the end of the one minute.
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When you're ready, could you please start now?
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Yes, there are many fascinating places I could talk about however
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if i had to pick one it would be the up-to-date shopping center gigamon
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it's located on phan vang dom street in ho chi min city about 15 minutes from my house
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there are many activities there are a variety of activities i
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could do there firstly i usually tried some mouth-battering cuisine at high-quality restaurants.
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And I highly recommend Saesaria, an Italian restaurant.
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And the food there is really delicious.
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And secondly, me and my friends always take photos together when we get there,
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especially photo booth, a Korean style photography model, which is really trendy among young people.
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I can remember vividly that last year, me and my best friend went to Gigamon to celebrate her birthday.
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At that time, I gave her a ceramic cup as a gift and she really loved it.
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And definitely, I really appreciate that moment.
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And then we took some photos together to give some unforgettable memories.
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The reasons why I love that place, not only because it is delicious food,
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but also it has sentimental value to me.
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As it witnessed all my moments and memories with my family and friends, who I love the most in the world.
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In the future, I will definitely go visit that place again and again.
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Thank you so much.
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I really enjoyed that.
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I've not been there, but I'll try to go there in the future.
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Thank you so much Ni.
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I'll just take that back.
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Thank you.
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Ni, I want to continue talking about cities and urban life now.
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Could you tell me please, why do so many people prefer living in cities nowadays?
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Generally speaking, as I've mentioned above,
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there are many job opportunities to work in prestigious companies which give them a financial freedom.
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For example, in Ho Chi Minh City, there are lots of big international companies like Samsung or LG,
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which need a huge number of employees and offer them a high salary.
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Moreover, people can find some services like hospitals or schools easily,
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which is really necessary for their basic needs.
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Thank you very much.
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But what problems can large cities face?
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In my opinion, I'm sure that most cities in the world face air pollution caused by factories gas.
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I mean, for example, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, there are lots of big cities that are built there.
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They are always on the top cities which have the worst air quality in my country.
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Moreover, because the urban areas have more modern facilities,
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so lots of people from rural areas move there, and makes them overcrowded and noisy.
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Thank you.
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Yeah, very interesting.
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That's great.
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How can governments make big cities more comfortable to live in?
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In my opinion, I think one thing the government could do is tackle the problems I mentioned above.
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About air pollution, I think they could introduce some new laws to restrict and reduce the amount of exhaust gas.
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Besides that, they could improve the infrastructure in rural areas and encourage residents to move there,
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which leads to reducing the overcrowded situation.
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Well done.
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Thank you.
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Brilliant.
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Finally, let's talk about leisure activities now, Nhi.
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Tell me, do people have enough free time today compared to in the past?
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From my point of view, I think there is less time for them to relax than in the past,
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as people now have a huge number of assignments they have to do in their work or their study.
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For example, in Vietnam in the past, students used to have full three-month summer holidays,
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days but now they only have around two
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and a half months even they need to they need to participate in some extra classes like a math
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or english class so however some people said
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that in the in the past they needed to do part-time
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job in every time to have their to have their family
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so it's not the time when they enjoy or for them to relax themselves.
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Interesting, very interesting isn't it?
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How can technology influence the way that people spend their time?
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In my opinion, people spend much more time on their phones during their free time,
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which makes them a little bit isolated.
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For example, in the past, children Children usually gather together to play,
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to do other activities like playing handshake or playing football.
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But now you hardly ever see anywhere.
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However, some people make friends through the social media and then they share their
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with the people that have the same hobbies with them and it makes them more relaxed and comfortable.
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Thank you so much, well done.
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And now please the final question for today, should parents encourage children to spend more time outdoors?
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I think that it's really necessary as children can develop their practical skills like communication
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or problem solving skills and avoid becoming passive people.
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For instance, now children spend more than eight hours a day playing online games and don't talk to other people.
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And it badly impacts on their future.
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But, so, however, there's a high crime rate, such as kidnapping children for ransom.
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I mean, criminals will kidnap their children and then require their parents for a huge sum of money.
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And after they receive money, they will give back their children.
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Yeah, so some parents really worried about that so sometimes they discourage their children to spend a lot of time outside.
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Amazing, thank you very much.
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And that brings us to the end of the test.
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Thank you very much.
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Well done, well done.
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I'm so proud of you.
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Fantastic, fantastic.
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How did you find that?
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Oh, fresh.
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I thought you were absolutely phenomenal.
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Your fluency was absolutely amazing.
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Your pronunciation was beautiful.
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I'm so proud of you.
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I know that you were so nervous before we did that.
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Yeah, but you did absolutely amazingly.
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I'm so proud of you.
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Well done.
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Good job.
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Good job.
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One thing I really liked is your part one and your part two were phenomenal.
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They were absolutely amazing.
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Your part three, there were some difficult questions there, especially for someone of your age because you are still, you know, in school.
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So it's difficult for you to think about big ideas, but I thought you did a wonderful job.
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Wonderful.
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Especially with the part two, when you relaxed into it and you told that wonderful story about your family.
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Yeah.
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Are you excited to book your test soon?
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Oh, I'm so worried about my tests.
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Well, we will practice a few new strategies for part three
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so I love that you followed a really clear and logical formula.
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Soon in our next lessons I will teach you some other ways to answer them as well okay
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so I'm really looking forward to that but overall I thought you were phenomenal so thank you so much.
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High five, come on Nick, well done.

Context & Background

The speaking section of the IELTS exam is designed to assess a test-taker's ability to communicate fluently and coherently. In this transcript from a mock IELTS speaking test, the candidate, Nhi, shares insights about her hometown, Ho Chi Minh City, and her daily routine. Throughout the conversation, Nhi demonstrates a clear understanding of the questions posed, while also showcasing her ability to express her thoughts on various topics. This interaction not only helps her practice for the IELTS but also provides a rich context for English learners to engage with real-life dialogue.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • "How are you today?" – A common greeting to inquire about someone's well-being.
  • "I would say that it depends on the day." – An expression reflecting variability in routine or circumstances.
  • "I love about it." – A way to express affection or appreciation for a place or thing.
  • "There are various things I love." – This phrase introduces multiple positive aspects of a subject.
  • "I would like to improve." – A gentle way to express desires for change or enhancement.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

If you're aiming to improve your English pronunciation and enhance your speaking skills, using the shadowing technique with this video can be beneficial. Here’s how to effectively tackle its difficulty:

  1. Watch the video: First, watch the video in its entirety without any interruption to understand the flow of conversation.
  2. Listen carefully: Play specific sections of the video and listen intently to how Nhi responds to the examiner's questions.
  3. Start shadow speaking: Choose a sentence from the transcript, pause it, and repeat immediately after hearing it. Focus on mimicking Nhi's intonation and rhythm.
  4. Record yourself: Capture your own voice while practicing shadow speak, then compare it with the original to analyze your pronunciation.
  5. Practice regularly: Engage in this English speaking practice daily. By consistently using the shadowspeak approach, you’ll gradually build confidence and fluency.

Incorporating this method into your study routine will not only help in mastering nuances of daily conversation but also prepare you for tests like the IELTS. Embrace the process, and you’ll see significant improvements in your speaking abilities.

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.