Shadowing Practice: INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH STORY 👪Part of a Community👪 B1 - B2 | Level 4 - 5 | British English Accent - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
B2
Hello and welcome to Lovely English Stories.
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Hello and welcome to Lovely English Stories.
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Thank you for stopping by.
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This story is written for intermediate English learners.
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Ready?
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Let's get started.
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B1, B2 English Story.
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Part of a community.
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Sabrina lived in a large university city in England.
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She had just finished studying an MA in nutrition and healthcare.
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She wanted to stay in England and was looking for a job.
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She had a two-year post-study working visa and wanted to make the most of it.
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She liked living in England.
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It was different to her home country,
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but she liked the challenge and it was starting to feel like a home away from home.
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After several months of searching,
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she found the perfect job and applied to be a trainee graduate nutritionalist for the NHS.
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She got some help from a careers advisor at her university and was confident with her application.
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The only problem was that if she were successful in the role,
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she would have to move to a rural part of the country.
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She had only ever lived in big cities and wasn't sure if the quiet life would be for her.
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She applied for other roles while she waited for the closing date
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But her heart wasn't in them She wanted to work for
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the NHS She was starting to run out of money
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And really needed to start earning soon As she was almost
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out of savings She had applied for two administration jobs at the university where she studied
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and for a job in a shop.
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She would accept whatever she got offered,
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but ideally she wanted a job in the sector in which she had studied.
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That was, after all, the whole point of her studying the master's degree.
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She had loved her time studying and had learnt a lot about English culture.
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She was now a huge fan of the local pub and she had joined a local climbing club just for women.
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She had met some great people.
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Most of her friends from her course had moved back to their hometowns or abroad.
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Only a handful were left in the city
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so if she moved she wouldn't have too many people to miss and they all promised that they would visit her.
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She weighed up the pros and cons of moving to a quieter part of the country.
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The pros were that it was cheaper to live there,
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she could enjoy the outdoors and she would be able to afford her own flat.
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If she stayed in the city,
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she would have to stay in her noisy house share,
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but the city had so much to offer in comparison to the quiet rural village.
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She was worried she might get bored.
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Sabrina was successful in gaining an interview and travelled to the hospital where the job would be based.
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It took her a long time to get there as the train connections weren't great.
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But once she arrived, she felt like she was in a fairy tale.
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The countryside was beautiful.
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She realised she would need to invest in a car if she moved there.
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She arrived at the hospital,
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signed in and waited to be called for her interview.
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She felt a little intimidated,
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but she knew she had the skills and experience needed for the role.
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Her interview went smoothly and she was proud of herself.
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Her first proper job interview in England.
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It was quite formal, but the staff seemed friendly.
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They gave her a tour of the officers
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and they also gave her some tips on what there was to see and do in the surrounding area.
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She had an hour before her train was due to depart so she took the opportunity to walk around the village.
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It was bigger than she initially thought.
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Everyone was friendly and said hello when she walked past.
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She wasn't used to friendliness after living in a big city.
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She came across a village hall and read the notice board,
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which had lots of posters for clubs and societies.
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There were yoga and aerobics classes,
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weekly walking groups, craft sessions,
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children's groups, an amateur dramatic society, a choir and more.
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There seemed to be a lot going on in this little community
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If Sabrina was successful and took the job She wanted to integrate,
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make friends
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and also be part of the community On her walk back
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to the train station She strolled down a lovely little high street that had a florist,
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a butcher's, a bakery, a fish and chip shop,
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a hardware store, a gift and card shop and three different restaurants.
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There was an Italian, an Indian and a Thai.
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They all looked delicious.
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Then, close to the train station were two pubs and a bar As it was a sunny day,
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their beer gardens and outdoor tables were quickly filling up.
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Sabrina wished she could stay a little longer and try a cocktail,
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but her train was about to depart.
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The interviewers told her she would know if she was successful by the end of the week.
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Now she had to be patient and wait.
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That night, Sabrina googled the village.
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She looked into the community groups and activities and searched for accommodation should she be successful.
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She found a lovely little one-bedroomed cottage.
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It was small, but it had a lovely little garden and was within walking distance of the hospital.
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She found an arts and crafts group she'd like to join and the timetable for the yoga classes.
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She also found that there was a community clean-up group that met once a month to litter pick across the village.
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The village and its surrounding areas attracted a lot of tourists in the summer months and with tourists comes litter.
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That was something Sabrina would want to get involved with and it could be a wonderful way for her to make friends.
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The more Sabrina read about the village,
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the more she wanted to be part of the community.
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She missed those aspects of her life back home where neighbours talked to each other and friends attended regular groups.
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She was from a big city but with a village community.
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As Sabrina pondered village life and what she would do if she weren't successful in the position,
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her phone began to ring.
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It was an unknown number.
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Normally she didn't answer them,
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but on this occasion she decided to take the risk.
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It wasn't a spam number.
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It was the team leader who had interviewed her.
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She had got the job.
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She couldn't believe it.
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They gave her some feedback on her interview and explained the terms and conditions of the role.
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She would start in six weeks.
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Sabrina had enough time to hand in her notice at her house share,
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find new accommodation and contact some groups in her new village.
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She couldn't wait to make the move and finally be part of a community again.
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Let's go through some of the vocabulary from this story.
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Integrate.
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Integrate.
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To integrate is to mix with a group of people often changing to suit their way of life and customs.
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Nutrition is the process of taking food into the body,
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so eating or drinking, and absorbing the nutrients.
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Spam can be unwanted calls, emails or letters.
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choir, choir.
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A choir is a group of people who sing together.
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community, community.
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A community is people who live in one area or people who are considered as a unit because of their interests,
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social group or nationality.
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Comparison.
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Comparison.
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A comparison is the act of comparing two or more things or people.
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Feedback.
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Feedback.
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Feedback is comments about how well or how badly someone is doing something.
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Ideally, ideally This is what you would like to happen if everything that you wanted were possible.
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Initially, initially This is at the beginning of a process.
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Litter This is small pieces of rubbish that have been left in public places.
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To take a risk This means to do something although you know that something bad could happen.
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Rural Rural is anything in or from the countryside.
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Afford To afford something, you have to have enough money to buy something.
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Confident If you're confident, you believe in your or other people's abilities, ideas or plans.
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Delicious Delicious If something is delicious,
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then it has a very nice taste or smell.
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Notice board.
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Notice board.
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A notice board is a board that is usually in a public place and has announcements and other information on it.
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Opportunity.
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Opportunity.
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An opportunity is a chance to do or say something.
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Proud.
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Proud.
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If you are proud, you feel happy and satisfied because you or people connected with you have done something good.
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Realise.
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To realise.
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To realise is to become aware of or to understand a situation.
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Society.
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Society.
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In the story, society is an organisation to which people who share similar interests can belong or join.
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Society can also mean to be part of a large group of people who live together,
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or people in a country or in several similar countries can also be referred to as a society.
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We hope you enjoyed this lovely English story and the vocabulary explanations.
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Get productive with your language learning and check out our language learning productivity packs on Etsy.
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Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to like, subscribe and share.
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See you soon!
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Thank you.
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About This Lesson
This lesson is designed for intermediate English learners, specifically at the B1-B2 level. Through the engaging story of Sabrina, a university graduate seeking her place in a new community, learners will practice understanding various English contexts, including job searching, adapting to new environments, and reflecting on personal choices. This narrative not only enhances listening comprehension but also fosters speaking skills as learners relate their own experiences to Sabrina's journey. Practicing with this content will aid in improving fluency and confidence in English speaking practice.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Post-study working visa - A visa that allows international students to work after completing their studies.
- Trainee graduate nutritionalist - A trainee role focused on nutrition and health.
- Rural - Areas that are countryside or non-urban; often quieter and less populated.
- House share - Sharing a house with roommates to reduce living costs.
- Weigh up the pros and cons - To consider the positive and negative aspects of a decision.
- Intimidated - Feeling nervous or apprehensive, especially in new situations.
- Fairy tale - A story or situation that seems magical or perfect.
- Climbing club - A group dedicated to rock climbing or hiking activities.
Practice Tips
To get the most out of your English speaking practice, consider shadowing the story of Sabrina. Shadowing is an effective technique that involves listening to the audio and simultaneously repeating what you hear. In this lesson, focus on the slow and deliberate tone of the story. Here are some tailored tips:
- Start Slowly: Play the video at a reduced speed, allowing you to grasp pronunciation and intonation more effectively.
- Shadow Speech: Repeat phrases right after hearing them. This will enhance your fluency, as you match the rhythm and pacing of the native speaker.
- Pause and Reflect: After listening to a segment, pause the video and summarize what you retained. This practice will deepen your understanding.
- Record Yourself: Try recording your shadow speak. Playback can help you identify areas for improvement in pronunciation and confidence.
- Engage with the Content: Think of similar experiences in your life, such as moving or job searching. This will encourage natural speaking and help solidify vocabulary retention.
By applying these shadowing techniques while engaging with this video, you'll improve your shadowspeaks abilities and elevate your overall English proficiency.
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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