Shadowing Practice: Life changes – A2 English Listening Test - Learn English Speaking with Video

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I used to work such long hours that I didn't have any time to enjoy life.
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I was like a robot – get up, go to work, go back home, sleep.
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I had no personal life and I started to feel really miserable.
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I decided that I wanted to have more free time,
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so I told my boss that I was going through some personal issues and that I needed to work part-time.
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She agreed.
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Now I have time to do everything I want.
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I don't have as much money, but I'm much, much happier.
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Jasmine is three weeks old today.
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I remember a month or so ago thinking that I would go back to work within two or three months.
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Now I know that's not going to happen.
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I just can't imagine leaving her with someone else.
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I'll miss my colleagues, of course, but work will pay me an allowance for a year, so I've decided to take that.
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I worked as a singing teacher for ten years and I've had some really good success stories,
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But I felt that I had gone as far as I could go in that career and I wanted a change.
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I didn't just want to do a different job in music.
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I wanted to do something completely different.
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That's why I applied to do this engineering course.
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It's challenging definitely, but I really love it.
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For the last nine years, I've done the responsible thing.
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I got a well-paid job close to home so that my wife didn't have to work, and I could be home by half past four to spend time with the kids.
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It's worked, but I really began to hate work.
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Now the kids are older, so after some discussion, my wife agreed I could get a job I loved, even though I will be home much later and earn less.
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I started last week.
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It's great.
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My wife and I both had really good jobs, which we really enjoyed.
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But we rarely saw our kids, and they started to have difficulties at school.
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We began to think we were being selfish.
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Together, we were earning far more money than we needed.
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So we decided that I would give up work and teach the children myself at home.
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it's not easy but now we spend a lot more time together and it's good for all of us

About This Lesson

You're practicing English with "Life changes – A2 English Listening Test" 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 →