Shadowing Practice: Intermediate English Conversation | Improve your English Listening and Speaking | - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hello everyone, it is a beautiful day to practice and improve your English.
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Hello everyone, it is a beautiful day to practice and improve your English.
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So let's just get started in improving your English.
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In today's video, I am going to teach you and inform you about Ireland and the United Kingdom.
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Because a lot of people who are not from here get mixed up on the difference.
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in the comments I get a lot of questions are you British are you American are you from the UK
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and no I'm not British I'm not American there are other English speaking countries in the world
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and I am Irish I am from Ireland
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so I'm going to educate you on the difference because if you are not from here then maybe you don't know.
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Let me know if you do already know the difference in Ireland and the UK.
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It would be interesting to know.
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If you came to Ireland and you thought it was Britain
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or England or the United Kingdom people would get very offended by this.
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Irish people do not like to be called British or English.
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They get very offended.
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There's my dog.
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So you do need to know the difference.
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So this is a map of Europe.
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This is Europe and as you can see Ireland and the United Kingdom are two different countries.
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Ireland is a smaller island and the UK is a longer country.
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Now Ireland is against the Atlantic Ocean,
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so a huge ocean and the nearest country is America.
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So we have America over here, Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe.
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Within this map there are actually five different countries.
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Five countries on two bits of land.
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Five countries within two So,
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there's a lot of history to this.
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There is the United Kingdom and Ireland.
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The United Kingdom has four countries.
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England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland.
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And then Ireland is a different country.
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It's nothing to do with the UK or Britain.
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It's separate country.
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Now there is a lot of history,
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it's too complicated to get into right now,
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but Ireland and Northern Ireland got split and the United Kingdom owns Northern Ireland.
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It is part of the UK and Ireland,
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the Republic of Ireland, is a different country.
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So the United Kingdom colonised Ireland and kept a little bit called Northern Ireland.
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Deep history with this topic.
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Not going to get into the details right now.
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It's caused a lot of drama in the past.
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So first of all I'm going to talk about the United Kingdom.
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Now I lived in the UK for five years.
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I lived in Scotland for five years.
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I studied to become a teacher in Scotland.
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So I'm going to talk about the four countries with it.
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So at the bottom we have England.
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England is the main country that you think of when you think of the United Kingdom.
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Then we have the small country beside England which is called Wales.
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And then in the north,
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the top of the UK, we have Scotland.
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Then the top of Ireland, you have Northern Ireland.
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and then below Northern Ireland we have the Republic of Ireland.
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So different stereotypes in each country.
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We'll start with England.
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So England is where the royal family live.
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The royal family live in England.
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So we have London which has Buckingham Palace and Big Ben and London Eye,
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all of the British things.
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So England is very British where you different stereotypes.
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When you think of drinking tea and having afternoon tea
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that is a very English thing or having fish and chips that's very English.
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Then you go over to Wales and Welsh people they are known for being farmers
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and having a lot of sheep and they speak Welsh so they speak two languages English and Welsh.
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Wales are known for their rugby they love rugby
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and their dragon their country has a dragon that represents it a red dragon so that is very Welsh.
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Then you go up north up to Scotland
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and Scotland is known for the highlands or all of the mountains
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so Scotland has beautiful mountain ranges all over the north
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and the central belt as well and Scotland is very cold
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if the weather is a lot worse than England it's cold wet windy
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and dark yeah but I love Scotland I lived there for five years and it's known for its castles.
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It has Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle,
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loads of castles and they wear kilts so they're known for wearing kilts and playing the bagpipes.
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Scotland also has the most islands so it has lots of islands and rural areas as well.
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now we jump over to Northern Ireland Northern Ireland is the smallest country of all
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and honestly there is too much to talk about with Northern Ireland
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so it's too complicated to talk about right now then we go to Ireland
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that is where I'm from we are Irish we are a drinking beer.
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Also people say leprechauns but no Irish person ever talks about leprechauns or thinks about leprechauns.
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Leprechauns are not real, and I don't know why they are associated with Ireland,
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because it's very green, I suppose.
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Like, we love the greenery.
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Also, a lot of farmers in Ireland,
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people farm a lot of cows,
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milk, milking cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, horses.
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lots of farming backgrounds in Ireland.
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People are known for being very musical in Ireland.
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We have Irish dancing, like river dance and also Irish music like the fiddle,
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accordion, byron, lots of different Irish music.
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So if you go into an Irish pub you are definitely going to hear Irish music
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and everyone is going to be dancing,
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drinking, having a good time.
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So Irish pubs are the best,
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they are so much fun and that is the most Irish experience
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that you can have is in an Irish pub with Irish music and Irish dancing.
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There's a lot of history,
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let me know if you learnt anything new about Ireland or the UK that you did not know before.
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Let me know if you have any questions i will answer the questions in the comments
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or even i could make another video
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if you want to know more information on this complicated topic
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and this the reason that there's different countries is all in history
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and colonization and you know um what's the word settlements so
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if you want to know more then go on to google
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and search the history of why all these countries are different
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and separate so just to finish the video i am irish i am not british i'm not from the uk
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i lived in the uk
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but it's different countries completely we have different money in ireland we have euro
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which is the european um currency and in the uk they have pounds
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and sterling so a with different currency and which does make it complicated
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so completely different laws different everything so i'll see you later bye

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice and enhance your English listening and speaking skills by delving into the distinctions between Ireland and the United Kingdom. Understanding these differences not only enriches your knowledge of geography and history but also helps you improve your English communication skills. Through focused listening and speaking exercises, you will engage with relevant content that will aid in enhancing your IELTS speaking practice and overall confidence in English conversations.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • British - relating to Great Britain or its inhabitants.
  • Irish - relating to Ireland or its inhabitants.
  • United Kingdom - a sovereign country made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
  • Colony - a territory under the political control of another country.
  • Atlantic Ocean - the ocean that separates the Americas from Europe and Africa.
  • Culture - the social behavior and norms found in human societies.
  • History - the study of past events, particularly in human affairs.

Practice Tips

To maximize your learning from this lesson, consider using the shadowing technique. This method involves listening to the video and simultaneously repeating what you hear. Start by playing the video at a slower speed to catch each word and phrase accurately. Pay attention to the speaker's intonation and rhythm, as these elements are crucial for improving English pronunciation.

As you get comfortable, gradually increase the playback speed to match the natural pace of the speaker. By doing this, you will not only practice articulating sentences but also enhance your listening skills. Engage with the content through shadow speak, where you mimic the speaker's pronunciation and inflection, allowing you to learn new vocabulary in context. Don’t hesitate to pause after complex sentences, replaying them as necessary to ensure you grasp the material fully.

Remember to practice consistently and make notes of any phrases or accents that challenge you. By frequently utilizing these techniques, you will be well on your way to mastering intermediate conversation skills and boosting your confidence in English speaking scenarios.

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.

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