Shadowing Practice: IELTS Speaking Mock 8.5 | IELTS ZONE - Learn English Speaking with Video

So at the beginning I say, please come and take a seat.

We're not going to do that.

Then I say, can you tell me your full name, please?

And then I say, can I see your ID, please?

Have you got any ID?

I do have my ID at home, but not here. At home?

Well, that's not relevant. So let's begin.

Can you tell me your full name, please?

Yes, so my full name is Asil Bekyushupo.

and you don't need to show me your ID.

So we will start.

In this first part, I'd like to ask some questions about yourself, okay?

So let's talk about where you live now.

Aselbek, do you live in a house or an apartment?

Well, right now I live in an apartment.

I think it's a two-bedroom apartment and I have three more roommates.

Why?

Because that way we can keep the cost of the rent down.

So all four of us share the cost of the rent and that's why it's cheaper for us.

And what things make your home pleasant to live in?

Lots of different things like having an AC, air conditioning unit, that's one thing.

And then having lots of trees nearby.

So it creates a pleasant natural atmosphere.

What's your favorite room in your home?

Well, my favorite room is my room because there I usually go to bed and I wake up, get dressed, read a lot of books.

So that's definitely my favorite room.

Let's talk now about sports.

Did you learn to play any sports as a child?

As a child, I think I did learn to play football when I was way younger, probably 10 or 15, no, probably 10 or 11 years ago.

So yeah, at the time, football was really, really popular.

And we had an extra football class after school hours.

So that's what I was really interested in.

Do you think all children should do sports at school?

Yeah, I definitely think so.

Because nowadays, especially, lots of people are gaining, lots of young people are gaining weight over time.

They're not doing physical activities as much as they used to do.

So with sport classes at school, I think they can definitely become healthier.

Which sports do you enjoy watching or playing?

In terms of watching sports, I would say nowadays I watch a lot of UFC fights.

It's become really popular in my country.

A lot of boxing matches and sometimes football matches too.

Why boxing?

I guess because boxing became really popular in my country after some sports people won gold medals in the Olympics.

and that's when I was practicing boxing as well so yeah that's how I became interested in boxing.

Are there any sports you would like to try in the future?

Extreme sports maybe like bungee jumping, skydiving, car racing.

I did practice scuba diving recently it was really enjoyable.

Why?

One it was scary at first but then once I got the hang of it it became amazing.

We dove underwater and explored coral reefs and whatnot.

So it was scary at first, but then exciting.

Let's talk now about feeling bored.

Do you often feel bored?

Yes and no. I mean, yes, because just like everybody else, I sometimes feel bored.

But no, I don't think I feel bored as much as other people

because I know it's a part of being human and I try to accept it naturally.

Did you ever find school boring when you were a child?

Not really.

I mean, I did find school lessons boring, but not the school itself.

The whole school experience is much more than just attending lessons.

I used to play around a lot with my friends and do different activities other than taking part in school lessons.

and what sort of things do you find most boring now

now interestingly I find watching movies incredibly boring especially ever since I started reading actual books

and novels for some reason story progression just feels really slow

when I watch movies but if I read a book instead it feels much more alive and exciting.

And what do you do to stop yourself feeling bored?

I try to keep myself occupied.

Nowadays I read books or watch some videos on social media.

Like I'm trying to go on a diet and lose some weight so that's what I do nowadays.

So I feel like I'm getting bored.

Why?

Because it's something useful and it's something I have to do. So

if I'm gonna keep myself occupied why not also do something that's going to be useful for my body as well

now i'm going to give you a topic uh asalbek

and i'd like you to talk about it for one to two minutes

before you talk you will have one minute to think about what you're going to say

and you can make some notes

if you wish all right uh do you understand yes here is a piece of paper

and a pen for making notes and here is your topic one second please

uh yes i'd like you to describe a time when someone apologized to you

all right remember you have one to two minutes for this

so don't worry if i stop you i'll tell you when the time is up.

Can you start speaking now please?

Yes, all right.

So to be honest with you, it's hard for me to remember when exactly someone apologized to me because it's,

I feel like it's happened such a long time ago that it's difficult to remember.

But in my memory there's one particular time which was really memorable for me.

At the time my friend did say some things

that hurt me really deeply and I immediately confronted him

and told him like that's not what a friend is supposed to do.

So the context is I was trying to start going to the gym

and start eating healthy so I can lose some weight and get in shape and that's what I told my friends.

So like at the end of this month this is what I'm going to do

and as soon as I said

that my friend just said no you're not going to do

it like I'm your best friend I know the real you you're not going to do it.

You say you're going it, but it's not gonna happen.

Even if you do start taking it seriously, it's gonna fall out eventually.

You're not gonna persist and finish what you set out to do.

100

And that's when I realized words can be deeply hurtful because I realized even my own best friend doesn't believe in me.

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And then I said, I think that's not what a friend is supposed to say.

102

sure I could be someone who doesn't take their goals seriously

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but at the same time I think if my friends

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and the people around me like my family members believe in me

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and they support and encourage me to do what I always want to do then I think even

106

if I'm the kind of person you say you say I am then I could change

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and people have the potential to change and when I said

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that it took him a moment to realize what he just said himself

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and then he immediately apologized to me

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and he said you're right i think i was a bit too negative about your commitment to eating healthy

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and working out at the gym and i think that's what a healthy friendship is all about it's about

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making mistakes learning from your mistakes and apologizing to each other

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when you know you did something wrong and thank you yeah

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so um do you often apologize to other people

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if i feel like I've done something genuinely wrong yes

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but okay thank you all right can I have those back please yes thank you very much

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so we have been talking about a time when someone apologized to you

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and I'd like to discuss one

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or two more general questions related to this okay okay let's talk about.. let's talk about apologies in daily life.

120

Can you tell me some common situations that require an apology in everyday life?

121

So common everyday situations that require people to apologize, maybe when you step on someone's shoes in the subway station let's say,

122

and when you're like crossing the street and you somehow bump into someone else,

123

that's when you have apologize and when you're lining up at a queue

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and you overtake someone without knowing

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so i think those are the kind of situations where you'll have to apologize

126

because you know we did something wrong um i don't know

127

if you would agree but maybe some people find it difficult to apologize well i absolutely agree

128

and i've seen it with my own eyes for some reason it feels like

129

if people apologize no it feels like people have too much ego and they don't want to admit their own mistakes

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and if they apologize it makes them feel like they've done something wrong

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and even even though they've actually done something wrong they don't want to admit it

132

because it makes them feel i don't know like a wrong person um so when people do apologize what makes

133

a sincere apology, do you think?

134

Well, words are empty if they're not accompanied by action.

135

Like, you could say, I'm sorry 100 times.

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But if you don't actually try to make amends and make up for your mistake, then it doesn't mean anything.

137

Like, let's say...

138

But do people mean it in the moment that they say it, do you think?

139

Here's the thing.

140

You can only know whether they mean it

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or not by what they do afterwards

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so i don't think you can actually figure out whether

143

that apology is sincere or not at the moment that's what you don't think

144

that they feel sincere when they apologize i don't trust feelings i trust actions so no um let's talk about

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apologies on a larger scale now sometimes famous people

146

or even politicians might make a public apology is

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that something that's important somehow well it's certainly important for them it's important for their public image

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and especially when the whole public knows that those people in power, you know, they really messed up.

149

I think they should step up and apologize to the whole public for the wrong things they committed.

150

But like I said, if it's just apology itself, it's just empty.

151

Would you agree that that doesn't happen very often?

152

Yeah, I know it doesn't happen very often because people at the top somehow they feel like

153

they're above us and they don't owe us an apology for the things they did.

154

Can you think of any examples when you've seen public shigas apologize?

155

I think I've seen a few examples, especially in Japan.

156

I remember there was one particular example where a Ministry of Energy or something,

157

they bowed to the whole audience for about 15 minutes because that's how long the power outage was.

158

That's how the power outage lasted.

159

Yeah, if I'm not mistaken, that's what happened uh incident yeah it was a very good

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example of how even politicians should sometimes apologize uh what about

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uh whole nations uh sometimes nations apologize for historical wrongs um is

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that something that should happen do you think it's hard for me to say

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because uh if it's if it's something

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that happened long in the past then why should we apologize

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like it's not something we did well maybe it's something we may have done in the past

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but it's not something we the people of now did it right

167

so why should we apologize for okay it's like it's like

168

your ancestor your long last ancestor did something in the past and now you have to make up for it

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it's paying for something without actually buying it or taking it

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so what about if for example there was a genocide

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or something do you think later generations should mention it or

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or just it belongs to history um they should probably make a public apology

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and say okay uh our ancestors dead commit some atrocities let's say

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and we are deeply sorry for the harm caused

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but at the same I think we shouldn't judge current people by what people of the past did.

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Thank you very much.

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That is the end of the speaking test.

178

Thank you.

179

Thanks.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 179 sentences and 2102 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:26. The speaker talks at a natural 157 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 86% 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
apologize verb	/əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/	To make an apology or excuse; to acknowledge some fault or offense, with expression of regret for it, by way of amends
bore verb	/boɹ/	To inspire boredom in somebody.
apology noun	/əˈpɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/	An expression of remorse or regret for having said or done something that harmed another: an instance of apologizing (saying that one is sorry).
nowadays adverb	/ˈnaʊ.ə.deɪz/	At the present time; in the current era.
lesson noun	/ˈlɛs.ən/	A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
deeply adverb	/ˈdi(ː)pli/	To a deep extent or degree; very greatly.
sincere adjective	/sɪnˈsɪɹ/	Genuine, honest, and free from pretense or deceit; heartfelt.
topic noun	/ˈtɑpɪk/	A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest.
everyday adjective	/ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/	Appropriate for ordinary use, rather than for special occasions.
scary adjective	/ˈskɛə.ɹi/	Causing fear or anxiety
commit verb	/kəˈmɪt/	To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to entrust; to consign; used with to or formerly unto.
pleasant adjective	/ˈplɛz.ənt/	Giving pleasure; pleasing in manner.
politician noun	/ˌpɑ.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/	One engaged in politics, especially an elected or appointed government official.
occupy verb	/ˈɑkjəpaɪ/	To fill.
naturally adverb	/ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/	In a natural manner.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
fall out verb		To come out of something by falling.
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
mess up verb		To make a mess of; to untidy, disorder, soil, or muss.
play around verb		To behave in a silly, childish, or irresponsible way.
step up verb		To increase, augment, or advance, especially by one or more steps.
wake up verb	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	To stop sleeping; to awake.

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true	used to do · used to play
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've done · i've seen · they've done
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	time which was · someone who doesn

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 55 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: politician /ˌpɑ.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/, friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, shoe /ˈʃu/, progression /pɹəˈɡɹɛʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, apology /əˈpɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, politician /ˌpɑ.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/

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 apologize, bore, apology.

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

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?