Shadowing Practice: IELTS Speaking Test Band Score 8.5 | Full Feedback & Tips (2025) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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214 sentences

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All right, from here starts the speaking test.

This is the speaking mock test of the International English Language Testing System, taking place in Roth's IELTS Academy.

The candidate is Mehdi, the candidate number is 0141327.

The examiner is Joseph, examiner number 443533.

Good afternoon.

My name is Joseph.

Would you please tell me your full name?

Sure.

My name is Mehdi, but you can call me Mehdi.

Alright, can I see your identification?

Yes, yes.

Here you are.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Sure.

Of course, let's move on to part one.

In part one, I ask you some personal questions.

First, let's talk about your daily routine.

Okay.

What do you usually do in the morning?

Well, what do I do in the morning?

Well, I actually wake up at sometime around 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning.

I start my day by drinking a glass of water and meditating for about 10-15 minutes.

Then I go for a jog in a nearby park and do a little bit of workouts, which really energizes me.

All right.

Do you prefer to plan your day or go with the flow?

Well, it's a mixture of both, actually.

I generally prefer to plan my day because that helps me stay organized.

I find that having a structured schedule allows me to use my time effectively.

At the same time, I also appreciate having some, you know, going with the flow,

because I believe daily chores can happen.

Thank you is your daily routine different on weekends is my

daily routine different uh well it is different yes uh during the weekdays i try to focus on my work

and uh try to you know spend time with my uh journalistic work as i'm a journalist uh

but on weekends i try to slip in a bit and uh try to

spend time outdoors with the family you know engage in hobbies

and everything now let's move on to talk about social media

sure how often do you use social media well i use social media

daily i can say about like a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the afternoon

i you know it actually helps me stay connected with family

and friends and as well as it keeps It keeps me up with news and trends.

Do you think social media is a waste of time?

Well, social media, well, it can be a waste of time if used excessively.

But the thing with social media is that if it is used mindfully,

it can be it actually allows for the sharing of information and ideas.

What are the advantages of using social media?

Well, like everything else, there are bright side to it and dark side to it.

But the advantages of social media is that you can actually stay connected with family and friends,

you know, try to keep up with the news and trends and everything.

And that's it.

Now, let's move on to talk about reading books.

Do you enjoy reading books?

Well, I find a great joy in reading books.

I feel that it's a wonderful way to escape realities in life and immerse myself into different cultures,

ideas and worlds and everything.

What kinds of books do you like to read?

Well, I have a diverse taste in literature.

But I particularly enjoy fiction, especially literary fiction and historical novels, I can say.

I find that these genres often offer profound insight into human values and society in society.

Do you prefer physical books or ebooks and why?

Well I prefer physical books for several reasons.

Firstly there's something irreplaceable about the tactical,

the tactile experience of holding a book like turning the pages even the smell of it.

Yes, that's it for part one.

Let's move on to part two sure uh i'm going to give you a topic

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

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

and you can make notes

if you wish do you understand of course of course uh

you can take some paper for taking notes yes thank you

and here's the pen yes and here's your topic i'd like you to describe a time When you help someone in me.

Yes.

All right, your one minute time is over and you can start speaking right now.

Sure.

Well, one time what actually helped someone in need was through a charity group I volunteered with.

The name of the group was Helping Hands.

The person I assisted was a homeless man, and his name was John actually,

who was struggling to find stable housing and employment.

This situation aroused during a community outreach event organized by a charity group When we actually provided food,

clothing and resources to those in need, John approached our booth looking quite lost and disheartened.

You know, he actually shared his story about how he had fallen in hard times after losing his job

and how difficult it was for him to get back on his feet.

I took the initiative to sit down with him and listen to his concerns.

I also, at the same time, I helped him fill out forms for local shelters and,

you know, job replacement services services.

After that, I actually provided him with a care package that included food,

hygiene products, and information available in the area.

After that, I felt a deep sense of fulfillment and gratitude.

Perfect.

And did you investigate his feeling?

Of course, you said that you felt a sense of accomplishment

but what about John did he feel like he was satisfied

by your help well John was quite happy about this you

know he was actually feeling he was relieved after having a

you know a lot of time you know facing difficulties

and predicaments in So he was relieved and he was thinking that a new chapter in life is actually opening for him.

And do you think that people should be grateful of others' help?

Well, yes, you know, that actually,

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it creates a huge sense of fulfillment inside you and, you know.

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Encourages you to go ahead and go on with more such acts of kindness.

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Thank you so much.

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That's the end of part two.

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Let's, of course, please hand me back the piece of paper and the key card as well as the pen.

105

Thank you so much.

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Let's move on to the third and the final part.

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We've been talking about a time when you help someone in need.

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Now, I'd like to ask you some questions related to this.

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Why do people help each other?

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Why do people help each other?

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Well, people help each other out of empathy and compassion.

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Many feel a moral obligation to actually assist those in need.

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as it strengthens community bonds and fosters a sense of belonging, I think.

114

And do you think people nowadays are less willing to help others compared to the past?

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Well, less willing, I can say I don't think people are less willing to help today.

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You know, while modern life can be fast-paced, many actively engage in charitable activities,

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activities, you know, often using social media to mobilize support for various causes, I think.

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All right.

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And should schools teach students the importance of helping others?

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The importance of helping others in schools?

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Well, yes.

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You know, schools should actually teach the importance of helping others,

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instilling values of empathy and social responsibility helps shape actually compassionate individuals

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and creates a more caring society, I believe.

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And in your opinion, do people help others for selfish reasons sometimes?

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Well, selfish reasons?

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Well, yes.

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Sometimes people help others for selfish reasons, like wanting to feel good or improve their reputation.

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However, the positive impact of their actions is what really matters most of all.

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And how do governments and organizations encourage people to help others?

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Governments and organizations can encourage helping others through awareness campaigns,

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providing incentives like tax deductions for donations and creating volunteer opportunities

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that make it easy for people to get involved in these actions.

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Thank you very much.

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This is the end of the speaking test.

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Now you can relax and please give me a couple of minutes to review how you did

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and I'll get back to you with the feedback and your overall band score.

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Do you want to know what band score you'll get in the IELTS speaking test?

139

Perhaps you want to improve your performance and prepare yourself for the real test?

140

Then why not book an online mock test with us that will last for 25 minutes, 12 minutes of the test itself

141

and 13 minutes of comprehensive feedback plus we'll give you useful tips on how to make your performance better

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so we know how to help you join us okay

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that was a lot of talking do you have any questions

144

thank you no thank you very much i really appreciate

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that you give me this feedback

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because i know this will help me this is exactly what i need although my job is hard I enjoy doing this.

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Usually if you have very different things, this is the last time we're going to talk about the exam day.

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You should make sure...

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Okay, this is the last time I'm going to talk about...

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You can pay to us.

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How to do it.

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How to do it.

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For our generation.

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Let's turn it out in a movie and talk about what they need to do for and film.

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So, you know, we're talking about...

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.. movie and cinnamon, cinnamon for death.

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Welcome back.

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Sure.

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I did review your performance, and honestly, congratulations.

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Sure, thank you.

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You were spot on.

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You were wonderful in how you handled different answers correctly and beautifully.

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Of course, as you know, there are four band descriptors for the IELTS speaking test.

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fluency and coherence, lexical resource or vocabulary, grammatical range and accuracy and pronunciation.

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So let's start with fluency and coherence.

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You are both fluent and coherent.

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You were able to speak at length about both familiar and unfamiliar topics.

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You were able to express your thoughts clearly with clarity and of course you were able to express your opinions about

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any given topic effortlessly, without the need to put any effort.

170

Of course, your responses were natural.

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The way you developed different topics was amazing.

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You gave and provided the answer.

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Then, if you had time, you elaborated on the answer.

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And that allowed me to understand you clearly and understand your thoughts clearly.

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So there were some minor hesitations in your responses

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but as long as those hesitations and even self repetition

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and self correction there were few instances

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but as long as they do not damage your overall response

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and as we say as long as they do not impede communication it's completely

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and absolutely okay of course

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so as I said your responses were natural you did use some fillers and boosters or what we call filler words.

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There were some instances of non-words and filler words but they did not damage your overall message.

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So all in all your fluency and coherence was perfect.

184

The lexical resource was also amazing.

185

You did use a wide range of vocabulary.

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Your word choice was spot-on and wonderful.

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You provided answers and you did use some words and vocabulary to describe any situation and circumstance based on the given question.

188

So you did use some idiomatic expressions.

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All of your words were relevant and to the point.

190

You did use relevant terminology.

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Discourse markers were spot on.

192

You did use some collocations.

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So the collocations, the way you use different words

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and combine different words to each other based on the context was really wonderful.

195

You said, for example, stay organized.

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You say mindfully and you did say immerse themselves in reading books.

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You did say diverse taste and different genres when referring to your interest in some certain books so

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yeah so you you were also uh amazing

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and you did a very great job in the lexical resource moving on to grammatical range

200

and accuracy i did not spot any issues with

201

that you were error free you were able to use simple structures

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and complex structures at the same time the verb tense and the verb subject agreement was spot on.

203

You did use some subordinate clauses and conditional clauses beautifully.

204

So you were error-free.

205

You were able to talk about different timeframes, about the past, the future, and simple and present tense,

206

of course, with a great command of grammar.

207

The final part is pronunciation.

208

You were, again, wonderful.

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You did a very great job.

210

You were easily understandable.

211

the articulation of the words was great you did pay attention to stress patterns you did

212

regard those patterns and stress patterns based on any given context you had

213

that stress on different sentences and different words the ups

214

and downs and what we call the intonation was perfect so all in all today congratulations

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “IELTS Speaking Test Band Score 8.5”. This video has 214 sentences and 2193 words to shadow. The speech runs for 17:29. The speaker talks at a steady 125 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% 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

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

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
coherence noun	/koʊˈhɪɹ.ən(t)s/	The quality of cohering, or being coherent; internal consistency.
filler noun	/ˈfɪlɚ/	One who fills.
fluency noun	/ˈfluːənsi/	The quality of smoothness of flow.
lexical adjective	/ˈlɛksɪkəl/	Concerning the vocabulary, words, sentences or morphemes of a language.
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.
organize verb	/ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/	To arrange in working order.
collocation noun	/ˌkɑ.ləˈkeɪ.ʃən/	The grouping or juxtaposition of things, especially words or sounds.
fulfilment noun	/fʊlˈfɪl.mənt/	The act of fulfilling or the state or quality of being fulfilled; consummation; completion; realization.
grammatical adjective	/ɡɹəˈmæt.ɪ.kəl/	Not breaching any constraints of the grammar, or morpho-syntax, of the relevant language.
immerse verb	/ɪˈmɜɹs/	To place within a fluid (generally a liquid, but also a gas).
mindfully adverb		In a mindful manner.
pronunciation noun	/pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/	The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken.
examiner noun	/əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/	A person who investigates someone or something.
hesitation noun	/ˌhɛzɪˈteɪʃən/	An act of hesitating
cinnamon noun	/ˈsɪnəmən/	A small evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka and southern India, Cinnamomum verum or Cinnamomum zeylanicum, belonging to the family Lauraceae.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
fill out verb	/fɪl ˈaʊt/	To complete a form or questionnaire with requested information.
get back to verb		Return to (an activity)
go ahead verb	/ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/	To proceed with; to begin.
keep up with verb		To manage to remain beside or just behind someone or something that is moving away from one.

Sentences worth repeating

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

Would you please tell me your full name?
Alright, can I see your identification?
What do you usually do in the morning?
Do you enjoy reading books?
What kinds of books do you like to read?

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 15 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'd, I'm, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: empathy /ˈɛmpəθi/, strengthen /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: collocation /ˌkɑ.ləˈkeɪ.ʃən/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, hesitation /ˌhɛzɪˈteɪʃən/, articulation /ɑɹˌtɪk.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/, deduction /dɪˈdʌkʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, collocation /ˌkɑ.ləˈkeɪ.ʃən/, grammatical /ɡɹəˈmæt.ɪ.kəl/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/

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 coherence, filler, fluency.

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

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?