Shadowing Practice: IELTS Speaking Part 3: Cities, Transport and the Environment - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
1
Let's move on to some general questions about cities.
2
Why do you think so many people move to big cities?
3
Mainly for work, I think. That's where the jobs are.
4
Cities also offer better hospitals, universities and entertainment.
5
Ha, and much better coffee, of course!
6
What problems can this cause?
7
Well, traffic is probably the biggest problem.
8
In my city, a ten-kilometre trip can take an hour!
9
And all those cars make the air really dirty.
10
An hour? That sounds exhausting.
11
It is. I spend about two hours a day commuting.
12
How could governments encourage people to use public transport?
13
Hmm... I think the first step is making it cheaper.
14
If buses cost more than driving, people won't switch.
15
They should also make trains more frequent and reliable.
16
Some cities charge drivers to enter the centre. Is that fair?
17
Well, it's a bit controversial, to be honest...
18
It's unfair on people who have no other option.
19
But London's charge has reduced traffic quite a lot.
20
Do you think cars will disappear from cities one day?
21
Disappear completely? No, I don't think so!
22
But electric cars and bike lanes will become far more common.
23
Some cities have already turned whole streets into parks!
24
Interesting. Thank you, that's the end of the test.
25
Thank you! I really enjoyed that discussion.
26
Good. And good luck with that commute!
27
Ha, thanks! I'll need it.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “IELTS Speaking Part 3: Cities, Transport and the Environment”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: cities, cars, hour. This video has 27 sentences and 231 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:36. The speaker talks at a steady 145 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow. 7 of its 27 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
disappear verb/dɪsəˈpɪɹ/To vanish.
commute verb/kəˈmjuːt/To exchange substantially; to abate but not abolish completely, a penalty, obligation, or payment in return for a great, single thing or an aggregate; to cash…
encourage verb/ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit.
reliable adjective/ɹɪˈlaɪəbl̩/Suitable or fit to be relied on; worthy of dependence, reliance or trust; dependable, trustworthy
frequent adjective/ˈfɹiː.kwənt/Done or occurring often; common.
controversial adjective/ˌkɑn.tɹəˈvɝ.ʃəl/Arousing or likely to arouse controversy.
unfair adjective/ʌnˈfɛɚ/Not just.
lanes noun/leɪnz/bowling alley
exhaust verb/ɪɡˈzɔst/To draw or let out wholly; to drain completely.
kilometre noun/kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/An SI unit of length equal to 10³ metres. Symbol: km
transport noun/ˈtɹæns.pɔɹt/An act of transporting; conveyance.
entertainment noun/ˌɛn.tɚˈteɪn.mənt/An activity designed to give pleasure, enjoyment, diversion, amusement, or relaxation to an audience, no matter whether the audience participates passively as…
mainly adverb/ˈmeɪnli/Of a person or thing being the driving force influencing the outcome of an event; chiefly; certainly for the most part.
switch noun/swɪt͡ʃ/A device to turn electric current on and off or direct its flow.
dirty adjective/ˈdɝti/Unclean; covered with or containing unpleasant substances such as dirt or grime.

Sentences worth repeating

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

  • Let's move on to some general questions about cities.
  • Why do you think so many people move to big cities?
  • Do you think cars will disappear from cities one day?
  • No, I don't think so!
  • Thank you, that's the end of the test.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 3 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'll, won't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

  • Long words — get the stress right: controversial /ˌkɑn.tɹəˈvɝ.ʃəl/, kilometre /kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/, entertainment /ˌɛn.tɚˈteɪn.mənt/

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like disappear, commute, encourage.

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 →