Shadowing Practice: IELTS Speaking Topic (Education) || Learn ENGLISH with Podcast - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello, welcome to the Learn English Lab.
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Today's podcast is IELTS speaking topic on education.
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It's fantastic to be here.
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And you know, if there's one topic, just one, where we really need to get serious for the IELTS exam.
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I mean, this is it.
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Oh, absolutely.
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Without a doubt.
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We talk about so many different things here, you know, from technology to travel
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but education it really does feel like the like the final boss level of the ielts speaking test
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it is it's the heavyweight champion for sure and it comes up
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so often it does and there's a really specific uh strategic reason for
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that it's not just that ielts is an academic test it's
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because the topic itself is completely universal
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that makes a lot of sense i mean
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you think about it right not everyone's been to say france not everyone has a really niche hobby
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Right, like collecting vintage stamps or something.
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And not everyone works in, you know, a big corporate office.
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But every single person, and I mean literally every person who sits down for that test, has some experience with education.
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You've been in a classroom.
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You've sat at a desk.
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You've had a teacher.
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Whether you're, you know, 18 and fresh out of high school
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or you're 45 and you've been working as a nurse for 20 years, you've been through it.
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And you've had teachers you remember, right?
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Some who are just legends.
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Well, some who maybe shouldn't have been teachers.
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We've all had one or two of those, I think.
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But that shared experience, that universality, it's actually a safety net.
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It's a gift to the test taker.
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How so?
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Well, you don't need to be a policy analyst.
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You don't need to have read all the latest papers on educational theory.
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You just have to talk about your own journey, your story.
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I love that.
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That really takes the pressure off, doesn't it?
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You're not being tested on your knowledge of the national education budget.
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No. You're being tested on your ability to tell your story in English. But.
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And this is a big but.
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There's always a but.
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There is.
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Because it's so common, the examiners have heard it all before.
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I mean, thousands of times.
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They've heard my favorite teacher and my university degree until they can probably recite the answers themselves.
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So if I just go in there and say, yeah, I went to school.
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It was good.
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I'm basically putting them to sleep.
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You're inducing a coma.
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They've heard that exact sentence 500 times that week.
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So our mission for this deep dive is to make you the person who makes that examiner wake up,
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you know, lean forward and actually enjoy the conversation.
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So we're moving beyond the basic sort of bland answers.
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Far beyond.
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We're going to give you what we're calling the ultimate guide for this topic.
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We'll break down what great answers sound like.
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We'll look at the vocabulary that really scores points.
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And we'll talk about strategies for all three parts of the test.
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So basically, we're going back to school.
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Let's do it okay let's start where the exam does part one the warm -up the warm -up
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and you know it's easy to dismiss part one as just you know small talk just breaking the ice
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but that's a mistake it's a huge mistake this is your first impression
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it's your chance to settle your nerves absolutely
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but it's also where you signal to the examiner
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that you're comfortable you're confident and you can handle a conversation in english
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and it's pretty short right four or five minutes of these sort of general questions.
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That's right.
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And there's a, I call it the golden rule for part one.
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It's about finding the Goldilocks zone.
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Okay.
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Not too hot, not too cold.
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Exactly.
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Not too short and not too long.
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A one word answer gives them nothing.
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Silence can't be graded, but you know, a five minute monologue is just going to get you cut off and then it's awkward.
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So two to four sentences, that's the sweet spot.
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That's the sweet spot.
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Short, but complete.
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Okay.
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Let's make this real.
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Let's talk through a scenario.
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Scenario A, probably the most common opening question there is.
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Do you work or are you a student?
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So simple, but so easy to get wrong by just being too brief.
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Don't just say, I'm a student.
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Full stop.
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Right.
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The conversation just dies.
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So let's take the student profile first.
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Say someone is studying computer science.
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How do they answer that in a way that sounds like a high band candidate.
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Okay, so a basic answer is, I study computers at DACA University.
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It's fine, it's grammatically correct, but it's flat.
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It's a band five or six answer.
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Probably.
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A strong answer, a band eight or nine answer would sound more like this.
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I'm currently a student at DACA University where I'm pursuing a degree in computer science.
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Ooh, pursuing a degree.
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I like that already.
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See?
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It's a great collocation.
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It sounds active, ambitious.
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And you keep going.
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I'm in my third year now, and I'm really enjoying it because the coursework is both challenging and practical.
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I'm hoping to specialize in artificial intelligence once I graduate.
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Wow.
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Okay, that's so much better.
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It's smooth.
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It tells a little story.
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And look what it does.
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It doesn't just name the major.
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It uses high -level vocabulary.
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It explains why you like it.
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Challenging and practical are much better words than just interesting.
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Everyone says interesting.
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Everyone says interesting.
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Challenging says you're overcoming something.
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Practical says you're thinking about the real world.
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And it looks to the future with specialize in AI.
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That's a full picture in just three sentences.
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Precisely.
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So what about the other side of the coin?
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What if you're a professional?
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You're already working.
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The structure is actually very similar.
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You just shift the vocabulary.
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You could say something like, I'm currently working as a marketing executive at a digital agency.
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However, I graduated from Raj Shahi University a few years ago with a degree in business administration.
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Okay, so you're connecting your present work to your past education.
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Yes.
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And then you add the magic ingredient.
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You say, I still consider myself a lifelong learner, though I regularly take online courses to stay updated with the latest trends in my field.
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Lifelong learner.
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That is such a power phrase.
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It's fantastic.
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It tells the examiner you have a growth mindset.
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It says, my education didn't stop the day I got my diploma.
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They love that.
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Okay, great.
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Let's move to another common type of question in part one.
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Scenario B, expressing preferences and talking about the past.
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Something like, why did you choose to study that subject?
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This is a great chance to show some personality.
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A really effective strategy here is to combine a personal interest with, say, an external influence, like a teacher.
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Right.
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So if you studied English literature, don't just say, I like books.
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Please don't.
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Add some depth.
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You could say, well, to be honest, I chose it partly because of a wonderful teacher I had in high school.
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She just made literature come alive in the classroom.
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Made it come alive.
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That's a great phrase.
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It is.
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And you continue.
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And I realized that studying stories is really about understanding human nature.
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On top of that, I've always been an avid reader.
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So it just felt like a natural fit avid reader, natural fit.
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Those are the little nuggets of vocabulary that really lift your score.
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And it sounds conversational, doesn't it?
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It sounds like a real person explaining a life choice, not a robot reading a pre -written answer.
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It does.
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Now, here's a tricky one that I think stumps a lot of people.
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Do you prefer studying alone or with others?
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Yes.
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The trap question.
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Why is it a trap?
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The trap is thinking you have to choose one side and defend it like your life depends on it.
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I study alone because I hate people or I can only study in big groups.
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Right.
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It's not a black or white issue.
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Not at all.
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The smartest way to answer this is to show nuance.
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And the magic phrase for that is it depends.
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I love it depends.
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It immediately makes you sound more thoughtful.
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It does.
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It shows you can analyze different situations.
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So you'd say, well, it really depends on the subject.
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For something like mathematics, I definitely prefer studying alone because I need complete silence to concentrate.
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Okay, so you give a reason.
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You give a reason, and then you show the other side.
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But for subjects like history, I actually enjoy studying in a group because we can bounce ideas off each other.
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Bounce ideas off each other.
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That is such a natural native speaker kind of idiom.
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And in one answer, you've shown contrast, you've used an idiom, and you've demonstrated that you're not a one -dimensional thinker.
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It's a very efficient answer.
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Okay, last one for part one, a reflective question.
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Did you enjoy school?
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This could be a minefield, right?
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What if you hated it?
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Do you just lie?
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You don't have to lie, but you should aim for diplomacy. Be balanced.
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You don't want to launch into a two -minute rant about the terrible cafeteria food.
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So find the positives even in a negative experience.
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Exactly.
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Acknowledge the stress, but pivot to the good parts.
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A great model would be something like, yes, on the whole, I'd say I had a positive experience.
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Of course, the exams were often stressful, but I made some lifelong friends.
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That's a good anchor.
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Friendship.
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It is.
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And then you end with the reflective part.
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And I really think school shaped me into the person I am today.
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Ah, that's the money line right there.
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Shaped me into the person I am today.
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It is.
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It shows maturity.
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It shows you can look back on something difficult and still see the value in it.
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That's a very high level skill to demonstrate.
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So to sum up part one, be conversational, be balanced, use good vocabulary and stick to that two to four sentence rule.
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You're just warming up the engine.
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But now, now it's time to get on the highway.
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Segment two, part two, the long turn, or as I like to call it, the monologue.
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This is the bit that makes people's palms sweat.
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You get that cue card, you get one minute to prepare, and then it's just you talking for up to two minutes.
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That one minute of silence while you prep, it feels like an hour.
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The psychological hurdle is massive.
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It's so intense.
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And the biggest mistake people make is panicking and trying to write a full script in that one minute, which is impossible.
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Totally impossible.
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Yeah.
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Your hand can't move that fast.
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You should only be writing down keywords, prompts for yourself.
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And you have to have a structure in your head, right?
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You can't just ramble on.
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You have to.
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Think of like telling a mini story.
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You need a beginning.
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a middle and an end, or, as I like to frame it, introduction, the main points or the story, and then a conclusion or a feeling.
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The feeling part is interesting.
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It's crucial.
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Because if you're running out of facts or details, you can always talk about how the experience made you feel.
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It's a great way to fill time and end on a strong personal note.
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Okay, let's break this down with some case studies.
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These are model answers that really show how to tell a good story.
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Let's prompt comes up all the time.
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Describe a teacher who influenced you.
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And we've got a great example here focusing on a teacher called Mrs. Rahman.
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So a boring, low -scoring answer would be what?
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Mrs. Rahman was my English teacher.
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She was nice.
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She taught well.
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Exactly.
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Puts you to sleep.
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To get a high score, you need a hook.
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The model answer starts by saying she had a profound impact.
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Profound impact.
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Strong start.
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Very strong.
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But the magic is in the details.
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The candidate it doesn't just say she was a good teacher.
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They use contrast.
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They say, unlike other teachers who just lectured from a textbook, she made her lessons truly interactive.
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And then comes a specific example, right?
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The killer example.
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Yeah.
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They talk about acting out Romeo and Juliet in class.
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Yes.
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And they remember their part.
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They played Mercutio.
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That mental image of kids in a classroom standing on their desks, acting out Shakespeare, it makes the story so vivid.
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It puts the examiner right there in the room with you.
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It grabs their attention and then the story deepens.
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It gets emotional.
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The emotional arc.
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This is where it goes from good to great.
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It is.
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The student talks about a difficult time in their life.
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Their parents were going through a divorce and they were feeling very withdrawn.
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And Mrs. Ruman noticed.
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She didn't just see a quiet student.
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She saw someone who was hurting.
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And she encouraged them to use writing as an emotional outlet.
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So the final lesson, the takeaway from the story, isn't just, I learned how to analyze a poem.
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No, it's, she taught me resilience.
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She taught me self -expression.
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And that is the difference between a band six and a band eight.
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A band six describes what happened.
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A band eight reflects on what it meant.
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It answers the so what question.
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Okay, let's look at another one.
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Case study two.
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The favorite subject, in this case, biology, which I'll be honest, I was not a fan of in school.
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Not many people are, with all the dissections.
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But this model answer actually makes it sound fascinating.
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The key technique here is the use of analogy.
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Analogy.
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Yeah, the candidate talks about their teacher, Mr. Hassan, and how he would explain complex ideas using simple comparisons.
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For example, he compared a cell membrane to a security guard.
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It controls what goes in and what comes out.
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That's so simple and so clear.
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It shows you can communicate complex information effectively, which is a huge sign of fluency.
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And then they talk about the engagement, the thrill of the practical lab sessions.
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Dissecting specimens, seeing an amoeba under the microscope for the first time.
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And they use a fantastic word.
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They say it was mesmerizing.
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That's a great word.
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It conveys a sense of wonder.
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It does.
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And then the masterstroke.
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They connect it to the real world.
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They talk about how their high school biology classes helped them understand the news about COVID -19 and vaccines years later.
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That is brilliant.
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It shows the education wasn't just some abstract thing they memorized for a test.
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It has real modern -day relevance.
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It answers that, why does this matter?
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Questioned perfectly.
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Okay, case study three.
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This one's very contemporary.
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Learning a new skill Python coding.
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This connects back to that lifelong learner idea we talked about for part one.
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It does.
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And the context is really relatable.
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They learned it during the pandemic lockdown.
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So turning a difficult time into a productive one, it sets a positive tone right away.
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And the story follows a classic narrative arc, starting from zero on Coursera.
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And then, importantly, they introduce the struggle.
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You have to have the struggle, right?
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A story with no conflict is boring.
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Absolutely.
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The candidate talks about the frustration of debugging, of trying to find one missing comma in hundreds of lines of code.
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Oh, we've all been there with some piece of technology wanting to just throw your laptop out the window.
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Exactly.
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And sharing that frustration makes the eventual success feel so much more earned.
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When they finally build their first simple program, a calculator, They describe the feeling as discovering a superpower.
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Superpower.
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I love that.
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What a vivid description.
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It is.
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And the lesson is about persistence.
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It shows you can use technical vocabulary debugging variables, but explain it in a way that anyone can understand.
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All right.
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Case Study 4 takes us in a different direction.
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Back to childhood.
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Describing your childhood school.
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This one is all about atmosphere and feeling.
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It relies on sensory details and nostalgia to paint a picture.
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The yellow building, the mango tree in the courtyard.
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The dusty playground.
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You can almost see it, can't you?
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It's not just a list of facts.
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It's an immersive description.
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The atmosphere was close -knit.
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And then there's that one specific magical memory.
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The science fair volcano erupting.
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The classic baking soda and vinegar volcano.
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It's a universal childhood memory, and it works because it anchors the entire description in a single powerful moment.
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It's not just, I went to school.
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It's, I can still smell the vinegar from that volcano.
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Those sensory details really stick in the listener's mind.
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They do.
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Okay, one last one for part two, case study five, a skill you learned at university, in this case, public speaking.
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This is another great transformation story.
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So many people are terrified of public speaking.
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It's often listed as the number one fear people have, more than death.
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Right.
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I'd rather be in the coffin than giving the eulogy.
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So this candidate taps into that.
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They start by describing being absolutely terrified with shaking hands, but then they detail the process of getting better.
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It wasn't magic.
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They talk about the specific techniques they learned.
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Yes.
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Learning the power of three for structuring arguments, learning how to modulate their voice, how to make eye contact.
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And the payoff wasn't just a good grade in a clash.
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No, the payoff was real -world, career benefits, being able to lead meetings with confidence, social confidence.
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It shows, once again, the practical application of education.
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So across all these examples, the key is storytelling.
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Use specific details, talk about feelings, show a transformation or a lesson learned.
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And have a clear structure, a beginning, a middle, and an end.
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Don't just list facts, tell a story.
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Okay, we've made it through the monologue.
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Now it's time to dive into the deep end.
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Segment three, part three, the abstract discussion.
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This is where the intellectual gears really have to start turning.
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The difficulty level spikes here.
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You're moving from personal stories to big abstract ideas.
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It's not about your school anymore.
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It's about education with a capital E.
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And the examiner will really push you here.
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They might challenge your ideas.
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They want to see if you can defend a position.
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And to do that well, I recommend a simple strategy.
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I call it the PE strategy.
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Point, explanation, example make your point clearly, explain what you mean by that, and then support it with a specific example.
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And your answers need to be longer here, right?
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We're not in the two to four sentence world of part one anymore.
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No, you're looking at four to six sentences, maybe more.
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You need to develop your ideas.
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Okay, let's apply that to some of the big debates that often come up.
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Debate one, educational evolution.
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How has education changed over the last few decades?
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The classic starting point is to contrast the past with the present.
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So your point could be, That the focus has shifted from memorization to critical thinking.
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Away from rote memorization.
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Exactly.
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That's your explanation.
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In the past, it was all about memorizing dates and formulas.
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Yeah.
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Now the emphasis is on problem solving and project -based learning.
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And for an example.
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You could talk about the technology shift.
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Right.
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From blackboards and chalk to interactive whiteboards and online platforms like Zoom.
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You can even mention how the pandemic forced that change to happen much faster.
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And it's not just about the tech itself, but the impact, right?
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Like accessibility.
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That's a brilliant point to make.
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You can argue that education has become more democratic.
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There are more opportunities for girls, for people in rural areas, all thanks to technology.
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You're analyzing the social implications, which is very high level.
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Okay.
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Debate two, quality and attention.
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This is a fascinating one.
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Are students getting a better education now than in the past?
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It's a real paradox, isn't it?
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Your point could be that while resources have improved dramatically, students' ability to focus has declined.
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So the explanation is that we have incredible tools like
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Khan Academy, Coursera, endless YouTube tutorials.
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But our attention spans are shot.
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We're used to scrolling and skimming, not deep reading or deep diving into a topic.
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I'm definitely guilty of that.
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And what about an example of the downsides?
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That great example is the commercialization of education.
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You can argue that it's become a business.
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If education is a product, the wealthy can afford the premium version, leaving others behind.
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Which creates a huge inequality gap.
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Exactly.
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If you can articulate that tension between better resources on one hand and growing inequality on the other,
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you're showing the examiner you can handle complex, nuanced arguments.
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Let's talk technology.
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Debate three.
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Is technology a good or bad thing in the classroom?
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The most sophisticated answer here is a balanced one.
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The point could be that technology should be a supporting actor, not the lead.
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I love that metaphor.
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It works well.
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So you explain it by listing the pros and cons.
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The example of a pro could be using virtual reality to let medical students practice surgery
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or letting history students visit ancient Rome.
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And the cons?
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The cons are things like the loss of handwriting skills.
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I mean, when did you last write a proper letter by hand?
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I honestly can't remember.
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My handwriting is terrible now.
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See?
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Or the loss of mental arithmetic, because we all have calculators on our phones.
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And maybe even a loss of social empathy, because students are looking at screens instead of each other.
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So the ideal conclusion is a blended model.
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A blended model.
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You're using the best of technology to support, not replace, the essential human connection of teaching.
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Okay.
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A big one.
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Debate four.
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The economics.
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Should higher education be free?
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This is a tough political question.
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A good way to approach it is to present both sides.
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Your point can be that there's a conflict between the ideal of equal access and the practical reality of cost.
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So the explanation is, on one hand, education is a fundamental human right.
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It shouldn't be a privilege for those who can afford it.
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That's the argument for equity.
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But the other side of the explanation is that someone has to pay.
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Teachers need salaries.
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Buildings need electricity.
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That cost usually falls on the taxpayer.
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So what's a good example of a middle ground?
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A great example would be a system of heavily subsidized tuition combined with generous scholarships.
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This avoids the crippling student debt you see in some countries, but it maintains a sense of shared responsibility.
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It's a balanced, pragmatic solution.
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I like that.
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All right.
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Debate five.
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Curriculum gaps.
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What are schools not teaching that they should be?
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Oh, this is a great one to have an opinion on.
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Your point is that the current curriculum often fails to prepare students for real life.
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The explanation being we spend hours on, say, trigonometry, but no time on.
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On how to do your taxes.
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Yeah.
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Or how to create a budget.
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Financial literacy is a huge gap.
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And the examples just flow from there.
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Mental health education, like how to manage stress.
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Media literacy.
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How to spot fake news online.
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That's a critical survival skill in the 21st century.
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And basic practical skills like cooking or first aid.
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It's a powerful argument.
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School should prepare you for life, not just for the next exam.
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Last one for this section, debate six, bilingualism.
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Why is it important to learn other languages?
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Well, beyond the obvious practical benefits, the point is that it has profound cognitive and cultural benefits.
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So the explanation is that it's like a workout for your brain.
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Studies show it can help delay the onset of dementia.
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It builds what's called cognitive reserve, and culturally it builds empathy.
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When you learn a language, you're not just learning words, you're learning a new way of seeing the world.
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And the example of how we should teach it.
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You can contrast boring grammar drills with immersive learning, using songs, games, and stories.
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It shows you understand how language acquisition actually works.
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So part three is really about having thoughtful opinions and being able to structure them clearly using that PEE model.
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That's the key.
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It's your chance to show the examiner that you're an engaged thinking person.
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Okay, we know what to say.
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Now let's talk about how to say it.
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Segment four, the language toolkit.
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This is all about the tools you use to build your answers.
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The vocabulary and the grammar.
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They're the bricks and mortar.
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Let's start with some key vocabulary.
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School life terms.
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You mentioned curriculum versus syllabus earlier.
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I always get those confused.
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It's a common point of confusion.
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Think of it this way.
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The curriculum is the entire educational program.
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It's the big picture.
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The syllabus is the outline for one specific course within that program.
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Ah, okay.
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So the curriculum is the whole degree.
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The syllabus is for my History 101 class.
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You've got it.
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And other good words are semester, tuition fees, and alumni.
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Alumni for former students.
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Sounds very official.
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It does.
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I'm an alumnus of this university.
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It sounds much better than I used to go to school there.
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Okay, what about learning styles?
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We've already talked about rote learning.
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And remember, rote learning has a negative feel to it.
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You want to contrast it with positive terms like critical thinking, hands -on learning, or blended learning.
530
That's the mix of online and in -person, right?
531
Correct.
532
Very relevant vocabulary for today's world.
533
And for skills, what are some buzzwords that sound good?
534
Analytical skills, time management, and collaboration.
535
These are words that show a professional mindset.
536
Lastly, system terms.
537
Compulsory education.
538
That's the schooling you must have by law.
539
Vocational training is for learning a specific trade, like being an electrician.
540
And a fantastic one from part three is brain drain.
541
Ah, when all the highly educated people leave a country to work somewhere else, that's a great term.
542
It's a perfect term for discussions about economics and education.
543
Now, on to grammar.
544
You don't have to be a grammar professor, but you need to show variety.
545
So let's start with conditionals, the if sentences.
546
They are pure gold for part three.
547
If the government invested more in technology, our schools would be better.
548
That's a second conditional.
549
It's perfect for talking about hypothetical situations.
550
What about the passive voice?
551
It always sounds a bit complicated.
552
It's actually great for talking about policies because it sounds more formal and objective.
553
Instead of they reform the curriculum, you say the curriculum was reformed.
554
It shifts the focus from who did it to what was done.
555
Exactly.
556
Then you have relative clauses, which add detail.
557
So instead of, my teacher was inspiring, she had a PhD.
558
You combine them.
559
My teacher who had a PhD was inspiring.
560
It makes your speech flow much more smoothly.
561
It's more sophisticated.
562
And finally, comparatives.
563
Absolutely essential for all the debates in Part 3.
564
Online learning is more flexible than face -to -face classes.
565
Teachers are far more important than technology.
566
You need them to build your arguments.
567
So it's all about adding layers of complexity to your language.
568
That's it.
569
Simple sentences will get you a Band 5.
570
Using these more complex structures is what pushes you into Band 7, 8, and 9 territory.
571
But with complexity comes the risk of making mistakes.
572
Which brings us to our final segment.
573
Segment five.
574
Mistakes to avoid and how to practice.
575
Let's start with some common pitfalls.
576
First, word choice.
577
A classic one is study versus learn.
578
Oh, I've heard this.
579
Someone might say, my teacher learned me history.
580
And it just makes an examiner cringe.
581
Please don't say that.
582
Teachers teach.
583
Students learn.
584
You can say, I learned a lot from my teacher, but a teacher can never learn you something.
585
What about study versus read?
586
That's a big one.
587
Often a direct translation from other languages.
588
You don't say, I read in class 10.
589
In English, you say, I am in year 10 or I study in year 10.
590
You only read a book or a text.
591
Good to know.
592
What's another common grammar mistake?
593
Education is an uncountable noun.
594
Meaning you can't have educations.
595
You can't.
596
You can have a good education or a lot of education, but never two educations.
597
There's no plural hacks.
598
Okay.
599
What about bad habits like repetition?
600
This is a killer.
601
If you start every single sentence in Part 3 with, I think, the examiner just tunes out.
602
It's so monotonous.
603
So what are some alternatives to mix it up?
604
In my view, from my perspective, it seems to me that, as I see it, I would argue that.
605
Just having a few of these in your back pocket makes you sound so much more dynamic.
606
And the final mistake to avoid.
607
We've mentioned it, but it is so important.
608
It's worth repeating.
609
Do not give short, underdeveloped answers in Part 3.
610
It's a discussion.
611
You have to expand on your ideas.
612
Okay, so we know what not to do.
613
How do we actually practice and get better?
614
Give us some concrete strategies.
615
Strategy one, the mirror technique.
616
Talking to yourself in the mirror, it sounds a bit strange.
617
It feels incredibly awkward at first, I won't lie, but it's so powerful.
618
You get to watch your own body language.
619
Are you smiling?
620
Are you making eye contact with your reflection?
621
It helps you get comfortable with the physical act of speaking.
622
Right, I can see that.
623
What's next?
624
Strategy two, record and review.
625
Oh, this one is painful.
626
I hate listening to my own voice.
627
Everyone does.
628
But it's like how athletes watch game tape.
629
You have to do it.
630
Record yourself answering a question, then listen back.
631
Count how many times you say, um, or like.
632
Notice where your pauses are awkward.
633
It's the only way to diagnose your own weaknesses.
634
That makes sense.
635
Strategy three.
636
The two -minute challenge.
637
This is to build your speaking stamina for part two.
638
talk for two minutes straight.
639
Pick any topic, your favorite food, your hometown, and just talk for two minutes without stopping.
640
If you get stuck and run out of ideas, use the expansion trick, past, others, future.
641
Explain that.
642
Okay, say you're talking about your school and you run out of things to say about yourself.
643
You can switch to talking about what school was like for your parents in the past,
644
or what school is like for your friend in another country that's others, or what you think schools will be like in the future.
645
It's a great way to keep talking fluently.
646
That's a fantastic tip.
647
What's strategy for?
648
Vocabulary notebooks.
649
But do them the right way.
650
Don't just make a list of words.
651
So what's the right way?
652
For every new word, write down its meaning.
653
And then, this is the crucial part, write a sentence using that word that is personal and true for you.
654
So instead of just writing resilience, the ability to recover quickly,
655
I'd write, My English teacher taught me resilience after I got a bad grade on an essay.
656
Exactly.
657
Your brain remembers stories and personal connections far better than it remembers abstract definitions.
658
Okay, two more.
659
Strategy five.
660
Think in English.
661
This is about changing your internal monologue.
662
Try to narrate your day to yourself in English.
663
Okay, now I'm being absent coffee.
664
I'm adding milk.
665
It feels silly, but it starts to eliminate that delay in your brain where you're translating from your native language.
666
It makes your responses faster and more natural.
667
It really does.
668
And finally, strategy six.
669
shadowing.
670
This is where you mimic a native speaker.
671
Yes.
672
Listen to a short clip from a podcast like this one or TED Talk.
673
Pause it and then try to repeat the sentence exactly as you heard it.
674
Try to match the rhythm, the intonation, the stress on certain words.
675
It's like vocal training for fluency.
676
It's exactly that.
677
It helps you sound less like a textbook and more like a real person.
678
Wow.
679
We have covered a huge amount of ground today.
680
From the simple rules of part one all the way to the big philosophical debates of Part 3.
681
It's a lot to take in, but I think the most important final thought is this.
682
The examiner is not your enemy.
683
They're not there to interrogate you or catch you out.
684
They're just a person having a conversation.
685
Exactly.
686
They want to hear what you think.
687
So be yourself.
688
Don't try to be a robot reciting memorized answers.
689
If you make a small grammar mistake, just correct it and move on.
690
That's what native speakers do.
691
So authenticity is key.
692
Authenticity and consistent practice.
693
Even 10 minutes a day is so much better than trying to cram for five hours the day before the test.
694
You can do this.
695
At the end of the day, education is your own story.
696
You've already lived it.
697
All you have to do is tell it.
698
Couldn't have said it better myself.
699
Thank you so much for walking us through all of this today was incredibly helpful.
700
It was my pleasure.
701
And to all of you listening, if you found this deep dive useful, please do us a favor and like,
702
share, and subscribe to this YouTube channel.
703
We've got many more guides coming to help you achieve all your English learning goals.
704
Good luck with your preparation.
705
We'll see you next time.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “IELTS Speaking Topic (Education) |”. This video has 705 sentences and 5680 words to shadow. The speech runs for 30:34. The speaker talks fast, about 186 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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. |
| examiner noun | /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/ | A person who investigates someone or something. |
| practical adjective | /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/ | Relating to, or based on, practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis. |
| explanation noun | /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/ | The act or process of explaining. |
| curriculum noun | /kəˈɹɪk.jə.ləm/ | The set of courses, coursework, and content offered at a school or university. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
| contrast noun | /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹæst/ | The degree of this difference. |
| segment noun | /ˈsɛɡmɛnt/ | A length of some object. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| classroom noun | /ˈklɑːsɹʊm/ | A room, often in a school, where classes take place. |
| abstract noun | /ˈæbˌstɹækt/ | An abridgement or summary of a longer publication. |
| lifelong adjective | /ˈlaɪf.lɔːŋ/ | Extending for the entire duration of life. |
| argue verb | /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/ | To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. | |
| warm up verb | /ˌwɔː(ɹ)m ˈʌp/ | To become warmer. |
| act out verb | /ˌækt ˈaʊ̯t/ | To perform something specific. |
| write down verb | To produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something. | |
| break down verb | To stop functioning. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| cut off verb | /ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf] | To remove by cutting. |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Do you work or are you a student?
- What if you're a professional?
- Do you prefer studying alone or with others?
- What if you hated it?
- You can almost see it, can't you?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | You've been · You've sat · You've had |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | person who sits · person who makes · minute, which is |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being tested · can't be graded · Be balanced |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 112 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thoughtful /ˈθɔːtfəl/, empathy /ˈɛmpəθi/, authenticity /ɑθɛnˈtɪsɪti/, smooth /smuːð/, athlete /ˈæθ.liːt/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, contrast /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹæst/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, crucial /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, curriculum /kəˈɹɪk.jə.ləm/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/
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 vocabulary, examiner, practical.
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.