Shadowing Practice: IELTS Speaking Test – Perfect Band 9 - Learn English Speaking with Video

Let's start off by talking about your work or your studies.

Do you work or study?

I work.

I studied architecture for five years and now I work in the research department, particularly focusing on urban planning.

So in a way it's a little bit different from my background in architecture, but it still gave me the basics to be able to do what I do today.

What was your favourite aspect of your career?

degree?

I think it's a very creative degree in the sense that you get to learn so many skills.

At the same time, you get to do a little bit of drawing, a little bit of creative thinking, a little bit of model making.

So in that way, it really makes you a

one full rounded person and I think that's probably the thing that I'm most grateful for throughout my studies.

If you could go back in time and do a different degree, what would it be?

I actually thought about that a lot.

I think I always was a little bit more

less creative oriented and more technical oriented

so I would have loved to do anything related to research in the biomedicine area or the...

I at some point even thought of doing some engineering degrees so something maybe a little bit less creative and more logical,

logical mindset oriented discipline.

Do you think that you will ever do a postgraduate degree in the future?

I have done my master's already in architecture itself.

If you're asking about a PhD, I think for my particular discipline it's a little hard to do a PhD in architecture,

simply because again it's more of a creative endeavour.

So, and a PhD is more of a research architecture that I would definitely do it.

Until then I don't really feel the need to do it just for the sake of doing it.

Now let's talk about your home.

Do you live in an apartment or a house?

I live in a studio apartment here but back home where my family is.

We live in like a slightly bigger apartment, a three bedroom apartment.

So yeah, I actually never lived in houses.

I'm definitely more of an apartment.

apartment person.

And can you describe your family home?

Yes.

So it's actually a rather

even spaced apartment in the sense that it has all the living rooms

and all the common spaces are large enough that we can gather in it and have guests without any issues.

We have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a very nice terrace area that actually has a very

beautiful panoramic view of the city and a little bit of a garden area too.

So very, very grateful for the house.

It's been the house that I lived in since I was four.

So it's a little bit run down around the edges, but still I feel very nostalgic every time I go back.

Is it a traditional house compared to other houses in your country?

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I would have loved for it to be a traditional house.

Traditional houses are, back in my country, at least very beautifully ornated, very beautiful colours, all of these riyads and all of these things.

But no, it's a definitely more, more, more typical modern apartment.

So no, not in that sense.

Can you describe your dream home?

Yes.

So my dream home actually always was for it to be as traditional as possible.

Going back to your previous question, I always wanted to imbue some of my roots in my house.

So ideally, I would love for it to have all of the colors that I was talking about, the beautiful blue bright colors, all of the patterns and all of the,

it has a very specific layout in that.

You have the garden area in the middle and all of the other rooms around it.

So I think that makes it very family gathering oriented in that sense.

Some Something like that would be ideal for me, but...

We'll see how in the future.

what the future brings.

Now let's talk about family gatherings.

In your country, what are the most common times of year where families gather together?

I would say is all of the Muslim national holidays.

So both Eids, the Eid after Ramadan and the second Eid, those are common in all Arab Muslim countries.

Other than that, the typical New Years and

our birthdays we try to celebrate together

but that's not really cultural that's more of our family traditions

so yeah all of these

and what food do you normally serve at a family gathering it depends on the event

so if it's a um uh like a muslim religious event then it would be anywhere between traditional sweets uh uh

Moroccan mint tea, And those are typically what we have for breakfast.

And then for lunch or dinner, we would have more of the heavy oil meals,

such as couscous is one of them.

Chicken pastilla is one of them.

Delicious, but very heavy in that sense.

But for birthdays, well, birthday cakes.

And now let's talk about hot drinks.

What's your favorite hot drink?

So I am Moroccan, so I love Moroccan mint tea.

That's actually, I would say, our national drink.

We love to have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and even tea at any point during the day.

So Moroccan mint tea, but not too sweet.

because that tends to be pretty sweet actually.

Are there any hot drinks that you dislike?

So I don't want to divide the community out there.

I'm not a big fan of matcha or any of those trendy hot drinks currently.

So that's a no -go for me.

Other than that, I wouldn't discriminate against anything else.

I love coffee too. So...

And if I visited your country, where is the best place to get mint tea?

I would say the most traditional coffee shops you can find out there, the roughest coffee shops with the roughest look and the roughest tears.

those tend to be the atmosphere there is great

so you would get the the pure um traditional atmosphere in that sense but uh any yeah any

I wouldn't say go to the dangerous neighborhoods either, but any of those.

So the original plan that I have was back when I was 18.

I had planned to study, continue my studies in France, still architecture.

However, I...

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Because continuing your studies in France is such a common pathway for every Moroccan out there.

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I wanted to try something different.

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I wanted to experience a new culture and I wanted to learn a new language particularly.

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So I rather shifted my focus to more of a new path.

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I wanted to study in the UK and I do not regret that decision, not even one bit.

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very, grateful that I got to experience the British culture.

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I was actually enamored by the British culture when I was 18.

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I got to really practice my English and speak a new language

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and I think had I not done that I would have probably not been able to speak English so fluently today.

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And also I got to travel a lot across the UK that I don't think would have been something

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I stuck to my original plan.

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So I feel very grateful about that.

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I still I still got to visit France every now and then, so it's not that I completely ignored the country or the other,

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but I managed to do both at the same time.

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And other than that, in terms of my studies themselves,

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I would say that perhaps studying in the UK gave me a better exposure to certain universities,

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a certain level of doing that specific discipline in a specific way. So...

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No regrets.

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So we've been talking about a plan that you made and that you changed.

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Now let's continue to talk about plans.

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Do you think it's a good idea to make plans with friends?

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It depends on the age I think.

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You reach a certain age where even making plans with friends doesn't guarantee

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that you would actually end up going to the or sticking to the plan that you originally made.

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So I am at an age, unfortunately, where I think it's better,

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you're better off simply going with the flow and or perhaps planning a day or two in advance.

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But planning, from my experience, planning a week in advance never really works out.

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Maybe it's just that I have bad friends, I don't know.

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Do you think that it's better to discuss plans with someone or to keep it to yourself?

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Well, I'm a big believer in keeping your plans to yourself, particularly if they're very personal, particularly if they're aspirational.

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I think you should really let your actions speak.

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I don't like listening to people that tell me their plans, I like to see them act on it.

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So I would probably keep my personal plans to myself.

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Um, yeah.

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Now let's talk about, uh, making plans for your career.

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Do you think it's important to plan a degree that leads directly into your, chosen career or not?

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Also depends on the age.

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At 18 you really you cannot know what you want to do for the rest of your life.

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So in that sense, planning your career is

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almost guaranteed to be an effort or an endeavor that doesn't really amount to anything.

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So I would not encourage

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anyone at 18 to really plan their career to the T because more likely than not it's going to change.

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So it's important to go with the flow and be open to any new opportunities because you really don't know,

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I think, when you're that young what you want to spend your life on the rest of your life doing.

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So in that sense, planning your career, particularly educational path is not the best idea,

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but it's good to have a baseline nonetheless, and a little bit of leeway in between.

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Do you think that it's essential for someone to get experience in a

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career they hope to go into or should they just go into that career?

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Definitely.

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And I wish that that's something that as students did more or schools encouraged to do more instead of

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asking them to make a decision at 18,

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I think it would be very beneficial for everybody to spend a couple of months doing different things all at once.

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Foundation year I think is something that the UK does.

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I wish I had done that because I think particularly at

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that age it's very important to get to experience so many different things,

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really getting hands -on on very different experiences rather than simply imagining what could be good for you or not.

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Once somebody embarks on a career, if they become unhappy, should they stay the course or should they change careers?

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That's a very controversial question.

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I think people have different approaches.

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So I don't want to really disencourage anybody to quit.

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But I'm It-- depends again also on your responsibilities.

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I think it's harder when you have a family,

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when you have people to take care of to simply act on a rash and leave your career.

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So where you're at an age where you don't really have as many responsibilities, I would say yes.

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Life is short.

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Why would you stick to something that you're unhappy doing?

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I'll give you some feedback on part one, part two and part three and then we'll talk about your scores.

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If you would like your speaking assessed one -on -one we do offer that as part of our VIP package.

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To thank you for watching the video I'll offer you 10

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and you can get 10 % off today.

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So part one was excellent you answered every question and then developed it and We've already discussed this, but it did feel like a conversation.

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It felt like we were getting to know each other rather than me peppering you with questions.

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It didn't feel like an interrogation where you're trying to extract the language out of someone.

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It just felt like getting to know you, which was excellent.

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If you do that in the real test, you will be absolutely fine.

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Bear in mind that not every examiner will be friendly.

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Some of them are tired.

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Some of them are just grumpy because that's the way they are.

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They're not told to be friendly.

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They're told to assess the test accurately.

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Most of them will be friendly, but sometimes you get someone on a bad day and

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it goes from them you feeling like this is a conversation to oh they don't want me to be here

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if that happens just pretend i'm sitting there and pretend

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that it's a

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or pretend it's a friend you're talking to part two i thought was excellent you you talked you clearly stated

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I was thinking of doing this.

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Here's the reason why I chose it.

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Here's what happened after.

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So it was definitely about the topic that you were asked to talk about.

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You spoke for about 1 minute 35 seconds and then you realised, oh, It's not two minutes yet?

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Did it feel like two minutes?

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No, I actually misunderstood.

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I thought you told me to stop, but I...

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Oh, I apologize.

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No, no, no, it was my mistake.

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It was my mistake completely.

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But I should have continued until there was a clear sign.

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The way they will stop you is very clear.

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It'll be, they'll take the card away or they'll be like this or they'll say, "Well, then that's the end of part two." You recovered very, very well.

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You did exactly what you should have done, which was look down, find out what to talk about and then start talking again.

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And you did that very well.

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And you did have a little bit of audible pausing,

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but that was natural when somebody stops you talking and then you have to talk again, so no problems there.

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Part three, again, was very, very good.

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It's unusual for me to say that part three felt like a conversation, It did.

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Part three, because the questions are more like academically inclined,

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sometimes it can feel like like a university seminar or something like that where, you know, what do you think about this?

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I'm not saying it was bad in any way.

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I'm just saying it was unusual, but it did feel like that.

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I think that's a very, very good thing.

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You did hesitate from time to time, but it was small.

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And normally, bad hesitation where people, uh, is when somebody is trying to think of the correct grammar or the correct vocabulary.

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That was not you at all.

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Bad hesitation can also be if somebody is really overthinking something.

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The example I use is Elon Musk.

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If you actually watch interviews with him, he...

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is very, his fluency is not good because he's thinking very deep.

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He's wrestling with a lot of things.

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You don't do that.

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You are just pausing from time to time.

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It's like, okay, I'm going to talk about this.

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Then I'm going to talk about this.

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So it's not unnatural pausing.

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It is very natural pausing, which is fine.

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Let's talk about your scores.

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There's one thing that I'm a little bit concerned about and then the others I'm not concerned about at all.

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Let's talk about the things that I'm not concerned about.

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Your vocabulary is a real strength.

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For example, when in part two you were talking about changing degrees, you were saying I shifted my focus, I don't regret it, not even one bit, I was really enamored with it.

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These are very, very advanced ways of describing things and you not only did that accurately, which is very difficult.

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You did it appropriately.

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To say something like, I don't regret it, not even one bit, that is very, very advanced.

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None of those words are advanced, but together.

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is amazing because only native English speakers or very high level English speakers who've lived in the UK would be able, because you've heard that quote, I don't regret it, not even one bit, you know.

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It's not something that would be taught in textbooks.

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I'm not saying something like, I love the UK, I was enamored by the UK.

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Excellent.

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And most of your answers had that type of vocabulary in there.

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Not every sentence had something like that, but you don't need to do that to get a band nine.

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was it was very appropriate when you were doing that. So excellent.

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Well done.

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Awesome.

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Thank you.

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You did make some little slips every now and again.

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Act on a rash?

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I think you made, I acted rashly?

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Or what were you trying to say?

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I think you said I acted on a rash.

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I might have.

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What was I trying to say?

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It was a bit rash.

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It was a bit rash.

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I acted on a limp.

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Maybe that's what I was trying to say.

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On an impulse?

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Impulse probably.

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That was the only thing I picked up on.

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That was an obvious error.

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But to get band 9, you can make little slips like that and still get a band 9.

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If you were making that every few sentences, you were making a little error like that, you wouldn't be able to get one of the higher scores.

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Or if every sentence had an or every other sentence had an issue like that.

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But that was the only one that I heard.

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There might be more that I didn't pick up on.

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But it's very...

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The fluency of your errors is very, very low.

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So that's an indication that you're at a very, very high balance score.

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Fluency and coherence, excellent.

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Your fluency is very natural.

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Your pausing is very natural.

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It does happen from time to time, but it is absolutely fine.

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Your coherence is very good.

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You're answering the questions, you're developing your answers.

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Your pronunciation is the thing that I'm a little bit concerned about, but not what you would think.

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Can you guess what I'm going to say?

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So my pronunciation, I think where it stands is that it's a bit of a mixture between...

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I'm not talking about accent.

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Oh not accent pronunciation, no enunciation.

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Exactly.

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So sometimes your voice is extremely low.

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So for example, when you said the word "matcha"...

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I'm not a big Fan of matcha?

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I just about got that.

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Because you barely breathed it out of your mouth.

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So a lot of...

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The story of my life.

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A lot of people have this issue.

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I used to have this issue when I was a child.

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So even when I was speaking English, people couldn't understand me because I was very shy.

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So I would speak low because I didn't have the confidence.

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I didn't want people to hear because I was afraid of being criticized.

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So I would speak inside my mouth.

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I've obviously got over that.

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But how I do that is, or how you could do that.

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The examiner will probably not be this close.

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They'll probably It differs from test center to test center, but it could be this close.

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It could be a little bit farther back.

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Imagine I'm sitting at the wall and speak to me as if I'm speaking at the wall.

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That will force you to enunciate and to say your words.

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It's just a volume issue.

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You're not doing what a lot of people do, which is speak like really speaking inside your mouth, which affects pronunciation.

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Your pronunciation is actually perfect.

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It is literally the volume.

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a little bit, but have you got that feedback before?

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- Yeah, that's why I said story of my life.

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That's something that I get very often.

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It probably is.

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I don't know if it makes sense to say that I was born this way, but it probably is like a force of habit, I think, that I speak very low anyways, on a day -to -day basis.

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So yeah, good to know.

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- What the examiner will be thinking is, for pronunciation, can I understand what she is saying.

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Can I understand each word?

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I could understand every single word, but you never know on test day two things could happen.

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Number one, you could be farther away from the examiner, that often happens, and they won't be able to hear you.

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They won't really consider that, oh, that's a volume issue or that's a confidence issue

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because they can't ask you about that the way we're talking about it.

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They'll just consider that a pronunciation issue.

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I'm not saying you need to for your life in general, I'm just saying for that 15 minutes of the test,

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speak through the back of their head.

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Don't give them any chance.

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to give you a lower score.

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Your pronunciation is great.

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Every single word I can understand.

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And the great thing about your pronunciation is you don't sound British or American.

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You're not trying to fake an accent or anything like that, which I think is great.

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You can tell you're from Morocco, you've learned English and it's very, very clear.

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All right.

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So, and that's excellent.

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And you're also using good intonation and sentence stress, like your voice is naturally going up and and just speak to them.

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Any questions about that?

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Well the thing is for certain people sometimes who have a naturally low voice, sometimes trying to kind of almost force

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that little bit of a louder voice can be a little bit distracting

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and it can be a little bit sometimes even affect the way you pronounce certain words, how do you get around that?

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That is an excellent question.

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I know what you mean because our brains are not good at multitasking.

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So our brains are not good at thinking, have I answered the question?

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How's my vocabulary?

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How's my grammar?

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And on top of that, Am I speaking?

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at a volume where he or she could hear me.

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The way I teach is we want to actually stop you thinking as much as possible.

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The fewer things you think about, the better your score is going to be.

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Whenever you're speaking to your friends or your family, you're not thinking at all.

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That is when you are most fluent.

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That is when your language is at its best because you're not conscious.

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We want you speaking kind of subconsciously.

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You're not consciously thinking about what to say.

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So I understand your point.

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because we if you're consciously thinking about volume, that could affect your ability to answer the question, your grammar, your vocabulary.

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If I could devise It would be there are decibel monitors on phones.

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So you could speak naturally and practice and it will monitor the decibels and it will give you instant feedback, whether you are speaking too low.

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And then if you practice it like that, then you'll get used to it.

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And it's like anything.

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It's like learning how to drive a car.

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At the start, you have to think gears, mirrors, after 10 years, you don't think about it at all same with riding a bike

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so get to the point where you're always at a certain decibel level

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and then you won't have to think about it okay perhaps the way

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that i'll do it next is imagine

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that i'm with my family outside near a construction site

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and they'll just speak very loudly i think

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that could help just to give you a little bit of confidence it's it's like a few words out of 15 minutes.

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It's not a huge problem.

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It's the one thing that I think you can improve.

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Overall, I think you're at a bad nine.

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Okay, awesome.

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But I'm thinking of what would possibly drop you down that would be the only thing based on what I heard today.

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Okay, thank you.

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I'll work on that.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice speaking English through a real-life scenario taken from the IELTS Speaking Test. The focus will be on discussing education, work experiences, and personal living situations. By engaging with this material, you will enhance your vocabulary, learn how to express personal insights, and improve your fluency. You will also develop your listening skills and practice responding to questions as you would in a real test, making it an effective method for english speaking practice.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

Urban planning - The process of designing and organizing the use of land and resources in an urban environment.
Creative degree - A course of study that focuses on artistic or innovative skills.
Postgraduate degree - An advanced academic degree pursued after completing an undergraduate degree.
Nostalgic - A feeling of longing for the past, often in a sentimental way.
Panoramic view - A wide and comprehensive view of an area.
Ornated - Decorated in a very intricate or elaborate manner.
Modern apartment - A contemporary style of home that typically emphasizes simplicity and functionality.
Living space - Areas within a home intended for daily activities and gatherings.

Practice Tips

To maximize your learning from this lesson, consider using a shadowing app that allows you to listen and repeat phrases in real-time. As you practice, pay close attention to the speed and tone of the speech in the video. Aim to imitate not only the words but also the intonation and rhythm of the speaker. This technique, called shadow speech, enables you to improve English pronunciation and fluency effectively.

Start by repeating short phrases and gradually work up to longer sentences. Don't hesitate to pause the video if needed, but try to keep your vocal pace aligned with the speaker. Daily repetition is key; by consistently practicing with this content, you will notice significant improvements in your speaking abilities. Remember to engage with the video actively, and consider recording your voice to track your progress over time. These strategies will help you become more confident in your English speaking skills, paving the way for success in tests like the IELTS.

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	If I could devise It would be
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	have been something · we've been talking
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was actually enamored · were asked · was really enamored
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have done · We've put · We've already discussed

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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About This Lesson

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

Practice Tips

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?