Shadowing Practice: Lesson 5+6(1) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Lesson 1a, Exercises 5 and 6 1 My name's Bilal,
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and I live in Bradford, in the north of England.
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Both sets of my grandparents emigrated from Pakistan in the 1960s, just before my parents were born.
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My dad worked on the buses, and my mum stayed at home and brought up the family.
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Dad would like a change of career, but it's a bit late for him now to change jobs.
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I think he's just looking forward to retiring.
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I've got a sister who's 25.
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She didn't leave home until last summer, when she got married.
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My dad wants me to go to university in Birmingham and study law.
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But I think I'd like to start my own business, creating computer games.
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Tell me a bit about your background, Sandra.
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Well, I grew up in the village where my family has lived for generations.
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My great -great -grandad moved here from Birmingham in the 1930s, looking for work.
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What kind of work did he find?
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He found a job on a farm just outside the village.
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He settled down, married a local girl and started a family.
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They worked incredibly hard and over the years they managed to save quite a bit of money
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and eventually bought a small farmhouse with some land.
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And does your family still own that land?
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Yes, it does.
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My great -great -grandparents had a son.
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When he got married he bought more land and now the farm is quite big.
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I don't have any brothers or sisters, so one day I'll inherit it and keep it running.
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3. My mum met my dad while she was on holiday in France.
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She's British and he's French.
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They fell in love, got engaged after a week, and were married a month later.
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And then I was born.
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They named me Charlotte, as it's both an English and a French name.
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Anyway, Anyway, unfortunately the marriage didn't last.
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They split up when I was just a toddler and got divorced a few months later.
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I was brought up by my mum after she moved back to the UK.
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It was tough for her, being a single parent, but she went to university, got a degree and then became a teacher.
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She met my stepdad at university, and they've been married for about ten years.
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4. My name's Callum.
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My mum's parents were from poor working -class families in Glasgow.
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They left school at 16 and didn't go to university, but they started a successful business and didn't retire until they were in their 70s.
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My mum inherited quite a bit of money when they passed away, but she didn't want to work in the family business and sold it.
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She moved south and settled down in Liverpool.
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She got married and took an office job, but she soon wanted a change of career.
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I think she was fed up with the cold, wet weather too, because she persuaded my dad to emigrate to Australia when I was two.
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I'd love to visit Glasgow and Liverpool

About This Lesson

You're practicing English with "Lesson 5+6(1)" using the Shadowing technique — a method originally developed for professional interpreter training.

Focus on sounding like the speaker — not just repeating words. With 15–30 minutes of daily practice, you'll build real-world speaking confidence.

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 →