Shadowing Practice: IELTS Speaking Vocabulary - Talking about the weather - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hello, it's teacher Neil again and today we will be learning about weather

and all kinds of vocabulary and phrases and sentences that can help you for the speaking section of your IELTS test.

Now, please follow me and practice so that when you get asked questions such as, what kind of weather do you like?

Or, what is the weather like in your country?

Then, you can describe your feelings with perfect vocabulary to truly describe what you really want to express.

Right, let's get started, shall we?

First, we will be looking at hot weather.

Now anyone can say, oh I like hot weather or I don't like hot weather,

but there are many different ways to say hot.

Let's take a look.

These words are words that express very, very hot kinds of weather.

You can say, in my country it is boiling hot.

Now boil, just think about water that gets very hot and starts to bubble.

And we say it is boiling water.

So boiling hot means super hot.

Just remember that.

Sweltering is another way to say extremely hot.

But sweltering is a very British kind of word.

If you use the word, in my country, the weather is sweltering hot,

then a lot of Americans might not understand what you are talking about.

It is a very, very British expression.

Another word we can use, and this is now a noun, just remember that.

These are adjectives, a sweltering day or a boiling hot day.

A scorcher is a noun.

So we can say, oh today was a scorcher.

A scorcher of course means super super hot.

Another word you can use is a sizzler.

Now sizzler is also a British word.

So sizzler is also a noun.

So like the Americans can say, ah today has been a scorcher of a day.

The British people will say, oh oh today has been a sizzler of a day.

Just remember if you don't understand the word sizzle just think about a pan.

If you're going to put a beef patty inside of the pan it will make a sound like and that means sizzle.

So we can say and use as a noun.

Oh, today has been a sizzler.

Moving on.

The next word we have is mild.

Mild is not so hot.

Mild is a lot more medium.

So let's just write here medium.

Mild is not so hot but a little bit hot.

So we'll just say a little hot.

So we can say, oh the weather has been very mild today.

Oh the weather is so mild.

Next word we have is humid.

Now what humid means, humid means wet heat.

Wet heat.

So what that means is when you go outside it will be hot

but it is not from the sun that comes down on you.

It is actually just the water in the air that makes it more hot.

So even in humid weather

if you sit outside under a tree you will still get hot and the sweat will come out.

So we can say humid weather is very sweaty weather.

So a sentence you can use is, oh today has been so humid or I do not like humid weather at all.

I am sweating so much.

I am sweating from the humidity.

Humidity of course is the noun, humid is the adjective.

Another word we can use is warm.

Warm is very similar to the word mild, so let's just put them together like that.

Warm means not so hot.

So we can say, oh today was very warm or it is warm but it is not boiling hot.

Or we can say it was not a scorcher today but it has been warm outside.

Next up we have a heat wave.

Now what a heat wave is, just remember

when you look at the word wave it means like in the ocean the waves will come up

and go over your body.

So a heat wave means that there is a lot of heat

that is not common and it doesn't come so often

but in the weather it will show

that a heat wave a big source of heat is coming into your country for one day

or two days and now it is much more hot than usual

so you can say oh a heat wave has hit my country

and now it is boiling hot all right next moving on we have sunny spells spells

if you're not sure what that means spells is the same as the word periods and that means short time.

So sunny spells means it has been sunny a little bit.

A little bit here, a little bit here.

So a good sentence that we can use is it has been raining for a whole week

but there has been a lot of sunny spells,

meaning that there have been periods or short times of the Sun coming out.

So in conclusion, when using the heat and hot vocabulary words,

when someone asks you, what is the weather like in your country,

you can say well sometimes it is boiling hot sometimes a

day can be a scorcher of a day sometimes you can say oh well sometimes it's very hot

but sometimes it is very mild although it is mild it is still very humid so

if you walk outside a lot you will sweat another one

we can say is what is the weather like in your country.

It is warm but sometimes there can be an occasional heat wave

and then it will be boiling hot

and sometimes you can say well it rains a lot but there are always sunny spells.

Right now moving on we will go to cold weather

and vocabulary that can express our feeling and go deeper into detail about how cold it really is.

You can say, oh it's cold in my country, but there are different levels of cold.

Let's take a look.

First we have the word chilly.

Chilly means a little bit cold.

Not very cold.

Maybe we can say, oh it is chilly in the winter in my country but usually it's hot.

So, chilly just means a little bit just like just a little bit chilly.

Moving on.

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Freezing.

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Now, you all know the word freeze.

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Freeze means it will turn into ice.

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So, that means of course that it is very very super cold.

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So let's just write here super cold.

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So we can say oh in Europe it can be freezing cold in the winter.

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Oh it is so freezing cold I thought I was going to die.

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So just remember freezing means it is very very super extremely cold.

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Just remember that.

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Moving over we have frosty.

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Now once again take a look.

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FR FR.

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It still means the same thing.

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Freeze and frost.

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So frost is usually when water turns to ice

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and the word frosty is a lot more British it is a lot more of a British word

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so British people will say oh it has been a frosty morning.

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It was a little bit chilly but it was not frosty.

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Alright, so frosty also means very cold, extremely cold.

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When you wake up in the morning and you look outside there is frost on the grass.

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So freezing and frosty is super cold.

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Moving on, let's go to number four.

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See your, let me fix that up, see your or see my breath.

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Now, I'm sure you can understand what that means.

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If it is very cold and you breathe and steam comes out.

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So of course, see my breath is steam.

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Steam, of course, comes from hot water.

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So, see your breath means it is so cold that when your breath, which is hot, comes out in a very cold area,

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you can see your breath coming out.

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So usually, see my breath will be used in a very cold place.

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You can say, this morning it has been so cold that I could see my breath even in my room.

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My room was so chilly.

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Going over to number five, we can look at the word bundle up.

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Now bundle up once again is a very British word and bundle up means look at my body,

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it is to bring your body together to make it more warm.

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So we can say bundle up is wrap body

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and you can use your arms or you can use a blanket

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or you can use clothes but it just means to wrap your body to be more hot because it is so cold.

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A good example of a sentence that we can use for that is, oh it was freezing in my room today

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so I bundled up all of my blankets

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and I bundled up all my clothes together so that I would not be so cold.

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Alright, in conclusion when using the cold weather vocabulary we can say, what is the weather like in your country?

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Or another good sentence would be, what is the weather like in your country during the winter?

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Then you can say, oh in my country the winter can be a little bit chilly

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but it is not freezing cold it is not frosty in the morning but sometimes

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when it is really cold I can see my breath right

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now we will be describing snowy weather a lot of useful phrases

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and vocabulary that you can use to fully express how the weather is.

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We'll start with the word blizzard.

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Now what a blizzard is, a blizzard is a big snowstorm.

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So we'll just write here snow storm.

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So almost think of a big rainy storm

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but instead of rain it is snow

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so you can use the expression for example oh there was a big blizzard

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and now the airports are all closed next we have the

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word flurry flurry means a lot of snow very quickly

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so flurry let's just say a lot very quickly

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so we can say yesterday there was a flurry of snow

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and now the roads are closed because of all the snow speaking about snow let's look at the word hail.

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Now hail is not snow.

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Hail is frozen water.

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So sometimes in some places it will rain but the weather is

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so cold that the water will freeze and the hail can sometimes be very hard and hit your head.

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Sometimes the hail can be very big or it can be very small.

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So we could use the sentence,

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there was a big hailstorm today and a big hail drop hit my car and now I am upset.

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Moving on, we have the word sleet.

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Now what sleet is, sleet is partially partial,

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partial means a little bit partially melted snow

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so sleet is almost like wet snow so sometimes

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when the weather gets a little warmer the snow will melt a little bit

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and we will say it is sleet

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so we can use the sentence oh there is a lot of sleet on the road.

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So be careful before it freezes or it can be very slippery.

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Moving on we have the word frost.

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Frost means it is frozen water.

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And usually frost will occur on a window or on the grass.

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So I'll write here window frost, F for frost, or grass frost.

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So we can use the sentence, it was so chilly this morning that there was frost all over my window.

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Right, moving on we have the word slush.

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Now slush is a a very interesting word because sometimes you can at movie theaters in America drink a slushy drink.

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A slushy drink means it is wet or water with a lot of ice inside.

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So it is more melted than sleet.

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So slush is like water with some ice inside.

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So usually people will use that word for the drink.

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Oh, the ice has melted and now it is just a lot of slush.

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Or, I like to drink slush drinks when I go to the movie theater.

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Moving on is the word icicle.

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Right, now icicle, I'll I'll draw a picture for you so you can understand.

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An icicle is a piece of ice that looks like this.

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Sometimes an icicle can be very dangerous, but icicles are usually water drops that drop,

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drop, drop, and over time has started to freeze like this.

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So you could say, Oh, it was snowing so much last night, but today it's a little warmer,

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So, on my roof there are a lot of icicles.

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Alright.

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So, when the examinator asks you, what is the weather like in your country, you can use sentences like,

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oh, sometimes in my country we can have big snow blizzards and a flurry of snow can come.

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We can also use the sentence like, sometimes in my country it can hail a lot.

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sometimes in my country there is frost on the windows, sleet on the roads and slush on the sidewalks.

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And we can also say in my country it can get so cold that sometimes bicycles hang from the roofs.

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Now we will be looking at vocabulary that can describe cloudy and windy weather.

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Now let's first start with the word overcast.

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Overcast means that the sky is very dark.

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So let's use the word dark and no light and usually that will come from the clouds.

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So you can use the sentence when someone asks you what is the weather like in your country?

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Oh sometimes it can be very overcast and you can't see the sky.

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Moving on we have word clear weather.

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Clear weather means there are no clouds.

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Let's write here no clouds and that the sky is very blue.

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So clear usually means very good and also we can see clearly.

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All right moving on we have the word gloomy.

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Now gloomy is also a British word and gloomy usually means very dark.

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That's right here dark and also very sad.

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So that means when you use the word gloomy, sometimes the weather in England can be so gloomy.

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That means that there is no sun and it is very depressing.

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All right, moving on we have the word breeze.

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Breeze is used to describe the wind and a breeze usually is not a strong wind,

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it is a light wind.

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So usually a breeze is very nice or we can say it is very pleasant.

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You can use the sentence,

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it was very hot today but there was a nice little breeze and that made it so much better.

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Moving on we have a gale.

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Now a gale is a very very big wind,

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very big wind your hair is flying everywhere so we can say super strong wind

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oh today there was a huge gale my clothes my umbrella my things were flying everywhere

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and of course we have windy windy means well let's just say between a breeze and a gale,

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windy is medium or in the middle.

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So let's just say medium wind.

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Alright, so ways we can use cloudy and windy weather.

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Let's use the sentence for example, what is your favorite kind of weather?

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You could say, well I like a little breeze

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when it is hot but I don't like windy weather and I hate big gales.

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You can also say oh in my country it's very hot

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but sometimes it is overcast and I like that

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but I do not like gloomy weather because it is very sad and very depressing.

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Now we will be talking about rainy weather.

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When someone asks you a question like, do you like rainy weather?

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Or does it rain a lot in your country?

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We can use these words to express how we really feel.

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Let's look at the first word gentle or light rain.

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So as the word suggests it is very little.

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Let us write here little gentle light rain you can say I like a bit of light rain

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or the rain was very gentle today

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so it did not bother me moving on we have the word drizzle

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or spit these words will describe let's say more medium amounts of rainfall.

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So we can here write medium rain.

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And you can use it in a sentence.

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For example, today there was a little drizzle.

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So drizzle, remember, is a noun.

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Or you can use it as a verb and say it drizzled a little bit today.

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So drizzle, remember is medium.

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Moving on we have the word thunder

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and thunder means there is a lot of big noise you know it is dark clouds and also boom.

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Let's just write here a boom sound.

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Just remember thunder is the sound and when you see this it is lightning.

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So you can say I don't like thunder.

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It can scare me so much, but I like a little drizzle.

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Moving on we have the word downpour.

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So just think of the word pour.

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Pour is like water.

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You pour down.

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So a downpour or we can say it is pouring down today means a lot of rainfall.

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So we can just say a lot of rain fall.

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So you can say today there was a big downpour and I am so soaked.

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Soaked means something is very wet.

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So we can just write here very wet and we can say my hair is soaked or my clothes are soaked.

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So I'll just write here a hair and also clothes.

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So if someone asked you do you like rainy weather you can say I like gentle light rain.

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I don't like thunder and downpours of rain because I will get so soaked.

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But a little drizzle is not so bad for me.

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And that is the end of today's lesson.

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So if your examiner during the test asks you questions like what kind of weather do you like,

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then you can use these sentences and these phrases to really express how you feel.

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And if you want to learn more or practice more you can go to bestmytest.com for a lot more videos.

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And if you like it maybe leave a comment.

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I'm teacher Neil.

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Thank you very much.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “IELTS Speaking Vocabulary - Talking about the weather”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: word, weather, hot, cold, moving. This video has 276 sentences and 3055 words to shadow. The speech runs for 25:51. The speaker talks at a steady 118 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
freeze verb	/ˈfɹiːz/	Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature.
frost noun	/fɹɔst/	A cover of minute ice crystals on objects that are exposed to the air. Frost is formed by the same process as dew, except that the temperature of the frosted…
humid adjective	/ˈhjuːmɪd/	Containing perceptible moisture (usually describing air or atmosphere); damp; moist; somewhat wet or watery.
chili noun	/ˈt͡ʃɪli/	The pungent, spicy fresh or dried fruit of any of several cultivated varieties of capsicum peppers, used in cooking.
boil verb	/bɔɪ(ə)l/	To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.
mild adjective	/ˈmaɪld/	Gentle and not easily angered
breathe verb	/bɹiːð/	To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.
sleet noun	/sliːt/	Pellets of ice made of mostly-frozen raindrops or refrozen melted snowflakes.
drizzle noun	/ˈdɹɪzəl/	Light rain.
frosty adjective	/ˈfɹɔsti/	Cold, chilly; icy.
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.
breeze noun	/bɹiːz/	A light, gentle wind.
hail noun	/heɪl/	Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.
gloomy adjective	/ˈɡlumi/	Not very illuminated; dim because of darkness, especially when appearing depressing or frightening.
icicle noun	/ˈʌɪsəkəl/	A drooping, tapering shape of ice.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.
come down on verb		To punish or criticize (someone).
come out in verb		to be afflicted by (a visible disruption of the body)
come up verb		To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
go over verb		To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze.
move over verb		To move (oneself, or someone/something else) so as to free up space.

Sentences worth repeating

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

Right, let's get started, shall we?
Moving on, let's go to number four.
We'll start with the word blizzard.
When someone asks you a question like, do you like rainy weather?
Let's just write here a boom sound.

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	has been · has hit · have been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are closed · is frozen · is soaked
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	was snowing · were flying
Comparatives -er than / more … than — comparing two things	more hot than · more melted than

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 18 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'll, we'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, cloth /klɒθ/, thunder /ˈθʌndɚ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: slush /slʌʃ/, slushy /ˈslʌʃi/, partial /ˈpɑɹʃəl/, partially /ˈpɑɹʃəli/, occasional /əˈkeɪʒ(ə)nəl/
Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, humidity /hjuːˈmɪd.ə.ti/, examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/, occasional /əˈkeɪʒ(ə)nəl/

How to practise with this video

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

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 →

Shadowing Practice: IELTS Speaking Vocabulary - Talking about the weather - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?