Shadowing Practice: IELTS Speaking: How to Introduce Yourself - Tips and Tricks - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hi, yes, it's nice to see you again too.

So listen, today we're going to be looking at how to introduce yourself in the IELTS Speaking Part 1,

including how to give your name and how to talk about your home or your hometown, work or studies.

And of course, we'll be looking at lots of language

and some tips and tricks to make sure this is a success for you.

Let's go.

First of all, please do remember to subscribe to this YouTube channel, IELTS Speaking Success and do turn on the notifications

and then that's going to make sure you don't miss out on any of the exciting videos coming your way soon.

So my name is Keith.

I run the IELTS Speaking Success website and YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Very nice to meet you.

And if I know you, good to see you again.

So listen, let's begin with part one.

What happens exactly in IELTS Speaking part one?

Well, you arrive at the test centre, of course.

You go in, you register.

Normally, and some test centres and countries are a little bit different, but normally you are asked to leave your belongings, your mobile phone in a special place.

And then you're taken to a waiting area and you would sit outside the exam room.

You wait there and then the examiner will come and open the door and invite you in.

They'll say hello, of course.

Just say hello, smile.

And normally, before you go in, they will start recording the test and they use a little mp3 player.

So don't be surprised.

Your whole test is recorded.

You're invited to sit down and then the test begins.

Of course, you need your ID or the passport

and the examiner will start to ask you questions and we're going to look at that.

Do remember, the examiner is the one who asks you questions.

You're not asking them questions.

It's not a conversation.

It is an interview, right?

And also, the examiner sometimes has a pen and makes notes.

Sometimes, right?

It has nothing to do with you.

Sometimes, because they have a clock and they write down the timing so that they follow the timing.

So they may write an 8 and a 12.

And of course, sometimes candidates look over.

Ooh, 8!

It's not your score.

It's nothing to do with you, right?

If you look over, you might see, oh, chicken.

Yeah, because maybe the examiner's just written down what they want for dinner.

It could be anything.

The important thing is don't pay attention.

Focus.

Okay, so let's look at a few tips and tricks at the start of the test.

Number one, get there early.

Don't be late because that's just going to give you stress on top of the stress you may already have, right?

So get there a little bit early.

If you can, on your phone, have something to listen to in English to get you in the mood

and to give you an English environment before the test, right?

So you're just kind of psyched up and ready for the test.

Then when you're in the testing centre, if you can, on your seat or go to the toilet, But get mentally prepared, right?

Just take a few moments to think about what's about to happen, okay?

And so the few minutes before the exam, one of the biggest challenges is that most candidates get nervous

and it starts to go into a cycle of being nervous and negative.

So you need to break that.

So when you're nervous, just say, that's fine.

I'm nervous.

That's okay and just let the nerves be.

See what happens.

It's actually good to have a few butterflies in the stomach before the test and then get focused and be positive.

Think my English is good.

That's the level I have.

I love my English.

I'm going to do my best and we will see what happens and just stay there.

Stay in that positive mind for a few seconds or minutes before the test.

And then just before you nip into the testing room,

smile and go in when the examiner invites you in.

Okay, just getting mentally prepared really, really helps.

Okay.

And then after you've sat down, the examiner checks your ID, your passport or your national identity card.

And then we'll say, okay, what's your name?

And just say your name.

And then they will probably say, and what can I call you?

Okay.

Keep it simple.

You can call me Tom.

You can call me Keith.

Okay.

So what's your name?

Keith Michael O 'Hare.

And what can I call you?

Just call me Keith.

Keep it really simple.

Okay.

And then next, the examiner is going to move on to ask you a couple of questions on one topic,

either your home, your hometown, work or studies.

And after that, you'll have two more part one topics.

So let's look at what they might ask you.

First of all, if they talk or ask you about your hometown.

In the very first question about hometown or home or work, it is true that this is really a warm -up, right?

It is time for you to warm up

and it's time for the examiner to get used to your voice and to you.

So they don't really evaluate it.

And it is very short.

So you don't want to worry too much about fancy vocabulary and showing off, right?

My advice, keep it short and simple, right?

100

Keep it short and sweet.

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For each question, just give two to three sentences.

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Very, very brief.

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Now, it is a warm -up, but first impressions count.

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And so, if in your first two sentences, you're making grammar mistakes, right?

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It's like having tomato sauce on your shirt.

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It's like, oh, hello.

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Oh, right.

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The first impression straightaway is, what a mess, right?

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So your first few sentences, if possible, keep them so short and simple that they're accurate and there are no mistakes.

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If you try to make them complex, the chances are you may make more mistakes and you'll have pasta sauce on your shirt.

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So keep it simple, short and sweet, two to three sentences.

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I don't think the introduction is the time to show off.

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Maybe later, when you're warming up, especially in part two and part three, you want to be showing off your vocabulary and your language, right?

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But think of it like this.

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Imagine you went to a party, right, and you met somebody and straight away they say, Hi, yeah, I'm Michael.

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Yes, I live in London, one of the great cosmopolitan metropolises of Britain and it's a beautiful place.

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I work for Google, one of the greatest multinational companies in the world.

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I've got a PhD in astrophysics.

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You're going to be like, uh, yeah, um, sorry, John,

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you'd be shooting off to the bar like an arrow.

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I mean, that is not the way to make a good first impression, right?

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You want to keep it simple and friendly, right?

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Hi, my name's Keith.

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Yes, I'm from Manchester.

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I work in Google.

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That's it.

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Maybe later when you've got to know each other, you can tell a bit more, but keep it simple, right?

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Okay.

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So no tomato sauce, course, no PhD.

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Let's move on.

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So now the examiner begins the first question.

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Let's talk about your hometown.

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Tell me about the town where you live.

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So the first thing to notice is what I call signposts.

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So the examiner normally gives you a little signpost to say, this is what I'm going to talk about, right?

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Let's talk about your hometown.

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Listen out for the signpost.

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Okay.

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Or let's talk about your home.

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Ah, home.

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Got it.

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Now, this question sometimes confuses people because if you listen carefully, they say, let's talk about your hometown.

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Tell me about the town where you live.

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And some people go, do you want to know about my hometown

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or the town where I live? because they're not the same.

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What do I do?

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Do I talk about Manchester or Santander where I'm living?

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And panic sets in.

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So remember, the examiner doesn't actually care about your hometown.

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You can talk about any town.

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But just talk about one, right?

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Either your hometown or where you live.

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If it's not the same place, it doesn't matter.

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So don't sweat the small stuff.

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Just go straight in.

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Talk about your hometown, right?

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So you could say something like, I live in Santander.

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I've been living there for two years, actually.

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And yeah, it's a coastal city with some nice beaches.

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that's it right now this is actually a bit of a trick

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but I say I live in blah blah blah I've been

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living there for two years for five years I've been living

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there is really nice complex grammar right now I said don't show off

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but if you know this tense and you can say it naturally I've been living there.

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Remember the I have, I've.

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I've been living there for two years.

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Great.

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That's nice.

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Still simple, right?

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Right.

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It's a coastal city and it has some beaches.

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Okay.

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It's a big city with lots of industry.

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It's a small village with lots of parks.

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Something like that.

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Nice and simple.

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And then the next question will come in

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and there is a variety of questions

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but let's take one for example what's the most interesting part of

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that city here again keep it simple just talk about one interesting part

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or maybe two and say why it's interesting and

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if you want a simple template to begin the most interesting part for me is probably the beaches.

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The most interesting part for me is probably the shops.

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It's a nice simple template if you want, especially at the beginning of the test.

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If you want to have a simple template to use, that could be it, right?

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You might say, the most interesting part for me is probably the beaches.

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There are quite a few beaches that attract quite a lot of tourists

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and I like to go down there sometimes to have a swim

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or a paddle or just to have a stroll on the sand.

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Okay now another tip and a trick.

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when students are preparing for IELTS speaking I know

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that they often write down their answer what they want to say

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and so this is okay but there's a problem right

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because most of the time

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when you write down what you think is a good answer you're writing written English not spoken English.

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And so it might look something like this.

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There are several beaches that attract many tourists.

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I like to go to these beaches most weekends for a swim or a paddle.

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Sometimes I just go for a stroll on the sand.

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Okay.

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Now also that's okay but the problem as well is

202

that a lot of students then try to make it more complicated

203

and they start crafting and creating a better answer and it starts to become something like this.

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There are several beautiful beaches that attract a myriad of tourists.

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I like to go to these scenic spots most weekends for a swim or a paddle.

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Sometimes I just go for a stroll on the soft golden sand and you start to sound like a poet.

207

It becomes so written that it's not natural and that bad impression, that pasta on your shirt has just got worse

208

because it doesn't sound natural and it sounds like you've memorised a written answer.

209

So how do you avoid this?

210

Very simply, when you see the question you want to practice answering, speak out your answer, right?

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Speak out a natural answer, record it, and then if you want, write down what you've recorded.

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Make small changes, but keep it spoken, right?

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And also a good tip is if you do write out what you've said, don't write sentences.

214

Write it in chunks.

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So it looks like this.

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Can you see there are different phrases one after the other?

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There are several beaches that attract a lot of tourists and I like to go to one of them.

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You're kind of chunking the clauses usually.

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It makes it easier and more natural to speak like this.

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So that's a great tip.

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If you're going to write your answer, write it like that.

222

So can you see it's much more natural?

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It's not overcomplicated.

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And that is really the best way to prepare.

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Don't create and write down your answer.

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Speak it out, record it.

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And then if you want, write out what you've said.

228

Keep it natural, keep it spoken.

229

That sounds like a great slogan, right?

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Keep it natural, keep it spoken.

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But it's true.

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Let's move on.

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And then the next question that sometimes comes up is quite difficult, right?

234

Is what kind of jobs do people do there?

235

What a difficult question.

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What kind of jobs do people do there?

237

Well, there's everything.

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There's postmen, there's bankers, there's butchers, there's bakers, there's businessmen.

239

I don't know, Mr. Examiner, right?

240

But what the examiner's looking at here is maybe in your town, there's a special industry that is particularly strong.

241

So you can talk about it.

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If not, that's fine.

243

Right.

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You just give a more general answer.

245

So you may say something like, well, a variety of jobs, I think.

246

There are a lot of fishermen, actually, because fishing is a major source of income for that city.

247

A number of people also work in the tourism sector.

248

Short and simple.

249

Right, so we've looked at some of the questions for hometown.

250

Let's look now at home, sometimes accommodation.

251

So here the signpost might be, let's talk about your home.

252

Let's talk about your accommodation.

253

that's the signpost right and then the question do you live in a house or a flat

254

or sometimes the question is what kind of accommodation do you live in

255

examiners nod their head a lot right to help you understand so here you may say something like

256

well i live in a in a flat in a high

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-rise building it's in the suburbs of the city it's not too big not too small

258

but it's nice and cozy

259

so here you'll probably want to learn some of the language

260

around houses detached house a townhouse a bungalow flat an apartment

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high -rise building you may talk about the location it's in the suburbs it's in the city center

262

or it's downtown or it's slap bang right in the city centre it's in the outskirts okay

263

and then talking about the size you know it's huge it's small you couldn't swing a cat in there

264

if it's so small not too big not too small most houses will be

265

that normal size right nothing special it's nothing to write home about it's a nice expression

266

if something's not special it's nothing to write home about not too big not too small

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but it is nice and cozy nice binomial right short

268

and sweet nice and cozy fish and chips these are very common two words with

269

and or an together it's nice and cosy.

270

Now, talking about your home, another common question is who do you live with?

271

Well, it's none of your business, actually.

272

It's a bit of a personal question, right?

273

I mean, maybe you're living in secret with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Who knows?

274

But remember, the examiner doesn't really care who you live with, right?

275

It's just about language.

276

So maybe you live with your close family your spouse

277

and children maybe with your parents

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or maybe you live on your own on your own

279

or possibly you're sharing a house with classmates schoolmates university mates

280

who knows now in the same way do you remember we

281

talked about your job right i work in the Santander Bank and I've been working there for five years.

282

We can do the same here if you feel comfortable with it.

283

So maybe you say, I live with my wife.

284

We've been together for five years and with my daughter who is two.

285

For example, I live with my parents.

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I've always lived with them actually.

287

Or I live on my own.

288

I've been living on my own since I left home. Or, I share a house actually with some mates from university

289

and we've been living together and sharing the house for about a year and a half now.

290

Okay.

291

And if you've got a pet, talk about your pet and we have a dog and a cat who lives with us too.

292

Great.

293

Now, the next common question about homes is about often decoration.

294

So they may ask, how is your home decorated?

295

Or what is your favourite room?

296

A very quick trick.

297

If it helps you, you can repeat the question, right?

298

How is my home decorated let me see well my home

299

is decorated with yep what's my favorite room mmm just a moment well my favorite room is my bedroom

300

that is absolutely fine

301

if it helps you gain time to think do it this

302

is not like IELTS writing where you have to paraphrase and use synonyms it's not like that you can just be natural.

303

We often repeat the question, right, in your natural language, in your mother tongue.

304

So you can do the same here.

305

Talking about decoration, we can talk about furniture, photos and paintings, adornments, things like that, right?

306

So you may say, well, for example, you can talk about plants.

307

Yep.

308

Maybe you've got, oh, hello.

309

Oh, hello.

310

This way.

311

Maybe you've got a bookshelf.

312

Maybe you've got some kind of adornment, like my little guitar, right?

313

All of that.

314

I'll tell you what, that plant, it's looking a bit the worse for wear, right?

315

Hang on.

316

That should cheer it up.

317

Apparently, they say if you talk to plants, they grow.

318

Oi, come on, grow.

319

Maybe not like that.

320

So you can talk about decoration, maybe something like this.

321

Well, my favourite room, I would say is my bedroom.

322

And in my bedroom, I've got a simple table and chair from Ikea, actually.

323

And I've got two paintings hanging on the wall.

324

One is a portrait and one is a landscape yeah nice simple

325

but some good language let's move on finally another question you

326

are often asked about your home is do you like living there

327

you want to say briefly yes or no and remember to say why

328

so maybe something like yes i do I really like it actually because it's cosy.

329

It's spacious and cosy.

330

There are plenty of shops and restaurants nearby and it's well connected.

331

Let's move on to talk about what you do.

332

So you'll hear the following.

333

Let's talk about what you do.

334

Do you work or are you a student?

335

Again, keep it short and sweet.

336

Just say which one you do, maybe what your job is and where you do it, right?

337

Do you work or are you a student?

338

I'm a student, actually, and I'm studying English at the University of Da Da Da.

339

I work.

340

Actually, I work in a bank and I'm a bank teller.

341

Or I work in a school.

342

I'm a teacher.

343

I'm an English teacher.

344

Then very often they ask, what do you do every day?

345

Now, it can be tempting to give a list of lots of things.

346

Well, I wake up, I prepare my classes, I give the classes, I have to make exams, I mark the exams.

347

No, don't give a list.

348

It's a bit better, maybe just say two, maybe three things, but just a little bit of detail, right?

349

Just a little bit.

350

It just sounds more natural rather than a shopping list, right?

351

So what do you do every day?

352

Well I teach, right?

353

I give classes online so I have to prepare my classes and I usually do a bit of research for that.

354

On top of that I also have to write reports for my students right just two

355

or three things with small details next question

356

what would you like to change about your job now here

357

it's not would you like to change your job it's what

358

would you like to change about your job what are the activities in your job you don't like

359

and you would change if you could right so here you may say something like make?

360

Well, I'm not a big fan of mm -mm -mm.

361

If I could, I would change that.

362

It would be great to mm -mm -mm.

363

Something like that.

364

So for example, in my case, well, I'm not a big fan of writing reports, actually.

365

So if I could, I would change that.

366

It would be good to outsource that to somebody else actually.

367

But all in all, you know, I enjoy my job.

368

All in all, all in all just means overall, by and large, right?

369

So it's a nice way just to summarise what you're saying here, right?

370

I would change this, but overall, all in all, I enjoy my job.

371

Next, remember there are many different kinds of questions you may get

372

but one of them could be can you describe your work environment your work environment is not

373

so much the cars in the street outside your building it's

374

more about the room the furniture the facilities the people

375

and the atmosphere you have at work right

376

so you could describe your working place i work in an

377

office it's an open plan office i work from home actually

378

i do there are about 20 of us in the office

379

there are 20 other people there it's just me on my

380

own the facilities are pretty good you could say talking about the facilities.

381

We have air conditioning.

382

We've got a canteen.

383

There's a gym or a creche where we can leave the children.

384

Furniture, you may mention.

385

We've got simple tables, comfy seats, ergonomic chairs, maybe, if you're lucky.

386

And the atmosphere, well, it's about how you get on with people, right?

387

Is it a tense atmosphere where everybody's on edge Or is it relaxed?

388

Is it a relaxed atmosphere where everybody's quite chilled out and laid back?

389

There's a good atmosphere where I work.

390

Everybody gets on pretty well together.

391

Brilliant.

392

Let's move on now.

393

Look at studying.

394

So if you don't work, probably you study.

395

Some people I know work and study at the same time

396

and they're not sure which one to choose it doesn't really matter, right?

397

Remember again, the examiner doesn't care.

398

So long as you are able to talk about stuff, that's what matters.

399

So if you're a student and you say, I study, they may ask you, well, what do you study?

400

If you've already said what you study, the examiner will probably skip that question and go to the next one. Or not.

401

Sometimes they just repeat the question to test you right

402

so you've said i study i study biology in oxford university

403

and then the examiner says and what do you study and you go biology i just told you

404

are you paying attention right no of course you don't say that what the examiner's testing is as in a normal conversation.

405

Can you say, well, as I mentioned before, I'm studying biology and it's really interesting.

406

So you're repeating but paraphrasing a little bit in a polite, acceptable way.

407

As I just mentioned, I'm studying biology.

408

Yep.

409

Don't insult your examiner.

410

It's not a good idea right and then they may skip

411

or move on often they ask you not always

412

but often why did you choose that subject now here maybe you chose it

413

so say why maybe your parents chose it you can explain

414

that okay you may want to say something like to tell you the truth truth.

415

My parents chose it for me.

416

To be honest, my parents chose it for me.

417

Or, well, I chose it because I've always been interested in biology.

418

I've always enjoyed biology.

419

I've always wanted to be a scientist.

420

Nice use of the present perfect.

421

I've always wanted to be a scientist or biologist.

422

I was inspired by blah blah blah the famous biologist and ever since then I've always wanted to be a biologist.

423

Something like that you may want to add I think it will be really useful for my future career.

424

Again keep it simple but explain why.

425

Make sure you give a bit of detail on your reason.

426

Moving on another common question. Do you like it?

427

Sometimes you do, right?

428

Sometimes you regret studying or choosing that subject and you wish you had done something else.

429

I can see an opportunity, right?

430

Do you like it?

431

Not really.

432

I've realised now that it's not my cup of tea.

433

I wish I had chosen a different subject, actually.

434

Lovely, right?

435

I have realised it's not my cup of tea.

436

I wish I had chosen, right?

437

Something that is not true, but you wish it were.

438

I wish I had chosen another subject.

439

Brilliant. Or, absolutely.

440

I love it.

441

I particularly like where we do experiments on the animals.

442

Maybe, I don't know.

443

Because we get to learn about the anatomy of the different animals.

444

So you can explain the part that you like and why.

445

Or you explain the part that you don't like and why.

446

I do like studying biology actually yes very much

447

but I'm not really fond of the experiments we do on animals

448

because I get a bit squeezy

449

and I'd rather not experiment on animals don't be a biologist my friend anyway

450

so we can talk about yes the things you like or the things you don't like keep it fairly short and sweet.

451

You know it's two to three sentences for each question.

452

Great.

453

There you have it.

454

So we've talked about a hometown, home, study or work.

455

First impressions are important.

456

You don't want spaghetti on your shirt and you don't want to be the PhD show -off at the party.

457

You want to make a good first impression.

458

That's it.

459

Just to remind you, there are a lot more videos on YouTube to help you in different parts of the test.

460

But if you want a really deep experience to learn the language and techniques at a much deeper level, I do have an online course.

461

It's on Udemy.

462

It's called IELTS Speaking Success, Get a Band 7 Plus,

463

which will help you improve all aspects of your English spoken English to help you get a band seven or above.

464

Check it out.

465

If it's right for you, go for it.

466

I've enjoyed making the video today.

467

I hope it can help you.

468

I look forward to seeing you very soon.

469

Take care, my friend.

470

Bye -bye.

471

Do you live in a house?

472

I particularly like report writing no that's a job now

473

if you've just said you live with your wife you better say yes no

474

so here you you we've got simple desks we've got we've

475

got what can I just add just add just to remind you what am I going to remind you

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IELTS PrepInterview EnglishUniversity Students

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “IELTS Speaking: How to Introduce Yourself - Tips and Tricks”. This video has 475 sentences and 4582 words to shadow. The speech runs for 34:02. The speaker talks at a steady 135 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 72 of its 475 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
examiner noun	/əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/	A person who investigates someone or something.
hometown noun	/ˈhoʊmˌtaʊn/	An individual’s place of birth, childhood home, or place of main residence.
biology noun	/baɪˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/	The study of all life or living matter.
impression noun	/ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/	The indentation or depression made by the pressure of one object on or into another.
trick noun	/ˈtɹɪk/	Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle.
atmosphere noun	/ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/	The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body.
attract verb	/əˈtɹækt/	To pull toward without touching.
bedroom noun	/ˈbɛdˌɹum/	A room in a house, apartment, hotel, or other dwelling where a bed is kept for sleeping.
sand noun	/sænd/	Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in…
experiment noun	/ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/	A test under controlled conditions made to either demonstrate a known truth, examine the validity of a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of…
remind verb	/ɹəˈmaɪnd/	To cause one to experience a memory (of someone or something); to bring to the notice or consideration (of a person).
furniture noun	/ˈfɝ.nɪ.t͡ʃɚ/	Large movable item(s), usually in a room, which enhance(s) the room's characteristics, functionally or decoratively.
swim verb	/swɪm/	To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.
accommodation noun	/əˌkɒm.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/	Lodging in a dwelling or similar living quarters afforded to travellers in hotels or on cruise ships, or students, etc.
decoration noun	/ˌdɛkəˈɹeɪʃən/	The act of adorning, embellishing, or honoring; ornamentation.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
write down verb		To produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something.
show off verb		To exhibit the best attributes of something.
warm up verb	/ˌwɔː(ɹ)m ˈʌp/	To become warmer.
look over verb		To check quickly; to make a brief or cursory visual inspection of.
sit down verb		To assume a sitting position from a standing position.
speak out verb		To assert or promote one's opinion; to make one's thoughts known.
write out verb		To write at full length or in expanded form.
come up verb		To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Hi, yes, it's nice to see you again too.
You're not asking them questions.
It's nothing to do with you, right?
Do you work or are you a student?
Do you live in a house?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	I've been living · I've been working · we've been living
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	If I could, I would change
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	you've sat · I've been · you've memorised
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are asked · is recorded · is decorated

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 120 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I've, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: impression /ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/, accommodation /əˌkɒm.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/, decoration /ˌdɛkəˈɹeɪʃən/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/
Long words — get the stress right: examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/, biology /baɪˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, accommodation /əˌkɒm.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/, decoration /ˌdɛkəˈɹeɪʃən/

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 examiner, hometown, biology.

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 →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?