Shadowing Practice: Listening B2, FCE 1 (2015), Test 3, Part 2 - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

90 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

Now turn to part two.

You will hear a man called Henry Lee giving a talk about the first time he went skydiving.

For questions 9 to 18, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.

You now have 45 seconds to look at part two.

Hello, my name is Henry Lee and I've been skydiving for several years now.

But I'm here today to tell you about my first experience.

The idea of skydiving is that you jump out of a plane wearing a parachute, But the parachute doesn't open immediately.

I'd always wanted to learn to skydive, And when I was twenty, a friend bought me a skydiving lesson for my birthday.

Now, my birthday is in December, when the weather isn't right for this type of sport, so I decided to wait a bit until the weather improved around March.

Anyway, as it turned out, it wasn't until May that I finally got round to it.

I arrived at the skydiving club for my lesson and found

that there were around seven other people who were jumping that day.

We all had to sign a number of forms

and we looked at a short video about basic technique before having a presentation about safety.

Then I was introduced to David, my instructor.

As I was a beginner, I wouldn't be jumping out of the plane alone.

I would be attached to David, and he would be in total control of the jump.

David gave me most of the stuff I would need to wear.

Some overalls to wear over my clothes, and a pair of goggles, and, crucially, a helmet.

I didn't need to have a parachute, as David would wear one.

There were thirteen of us on the plane.

Four of us were beginners with our instructors and three solo jumpers

and two cameramen who would film the dive for the club.

It was an old cargo plane, without windows, and interestingly there were no seats, just some metal boxes which were normally used for luggage,

so it was quite uncomfortable.

The plane trip was fine, and during it I asked David how long he'd been skydiving,

He said he'd started about three years ago and had 700 jumps to his name.

Other guys on the plane, though, had done over a thousand.

When we were a few minutes away from jumping, I attached myself to David, who was wearing a system of belts called a harness.

I also put on a pair of gloves which I'd been told to bring with me.

I'd been very excited when we took off, and I thought I would feel absolutely terrified when the plane door was opened, But actually, I was completely calm.

Once we reached the right height above the ground, the pilot cried out, Door!

and the more advanced divers just jumped out of the plane.

When I reached the door, I sat down in it and looked out over the ground below.

I could see farmers' fields and a large house.

What caught my eye was a river which looked silver rather than bright blue or dark grey, winding its way across the countryside,

David and I were the last people out of the plane.

We jumped with me facing downwards attached to David's body.

There were about forty or fifty seconds until he opened the parachute.

The landing was a bit different from what I thought it would be.

I thought you'd hit the ground hard and fast and have to try hard not to break a leg.

My landing was actually more like a feather falling to earth, and I didn't realise I was on the ground until I saw the parachute all around me.

Everyone who completes the jump successfully is given a bag which contains a certificate, a discount voucher, and a photograph of their jump.

Only when I got home did I realize there was a t -shirt at the bottom of the bag.

That was a nice surprise.

I put my name down on the club notice board to have more lessons.

My first skydiving experience was one that I'll never forget, And I'd recommend the sport to anyone.

Now you'll hear part two again.

Hello, my name is Henry Lee and I've been skydiving for several years now.

But I'm here today to tell you about my first experience.

The idea of skydiving is that you jump out of a plane wearing a parachute, But the parachute doesn't open immediately.

I'd always wanted to learn to skydive, and when I was twenty, a friend bought me a skydiving lesson for my birthday.

Now, my birthday is in December, when the weather isn't right for this type of sport, so I decided to wait a bit until the weather improved around March.

Anyway, as it turned out, it wasn't until May that I finally got round to it.

I arrived at the skydiving club for my lesson and found

that there were around seven other people who were jumping that day.

We all had to sign a number of forms, and we looked at a short video about basic technique before having a presentation about safety.

Then I was introduced to David, my instructor.

As I was a beginner, I wouldn't be jumping out of the plane alone.

I would be attached to David, and he would be in total control of the jump.

David gave me most of the stuff I would need to wear.

Some overalls to wear over my clothes, and a pair of goggles, and, crucially, a helmet.

I didn't need to have a parachute, as David would wear one.

There were thirteen of us on the plane.

Four of us were beginners with our instructors, and three solo jumpers, and two cameramen who would film the dive for the club.

It was an old cargo plane, without windows, and interestingly there were no seats, just some metal boxes which were normally used for luggage,

so it was quite uncomfortable.

The plane trip was fine, and during it I asked David how long he'd been skydiving,

He said he'd started about three years ago and had 700 jumps to his name.

Other guys on the plane, though, had done over a thousand.

When we were a few minutes away from jumping, I attached myself to David, who was wearing a system of belts called a harness.

I also put on a pair of gloves which I'd been told to bring with me.

I'd been very excited when we took off, and I thought I would feel absolutely terrified when the plane door was opened, But actually, I was completely calm.

Once we reached the right height above the ground, the pilot cried out, Door!

and the more advanced divers just jumped out of the plane.

When I reached the door, I sat down in it and looked out over the ground below.

I could see farmers' fields and a large house.

What caught my eye was a river which looked silver rather than bright blue or dark grey.

winding its way across the countryside, David and I were the last people out of the plane.

We jumped with me facing downwards attached to David's body.

There were about forty or fifty seconds until he opened the parachute.

The landing was a bit different from what I thought it would be.

I thought you'd hit the ground hard and fast and have to try hard not to break a leg.

My landing was actually more like a feather falling to earth, and I didn't realize I was on the ground until I saw the parachute all around me.

Everyone who completes the jump successfully is given a bag which contains a certificate, a discount voucher, and a photograph of their jump.

Only when I got home did I realize there was a t -shirt at the bottom of the bag.

That was a nice surprise.

I put my name down on the club notice board to have more lessons.

My first skydiving experience was one that I'll never forget, And I'd recommend the sport to anyone.

That is the end of part two.

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Boost Your English Speaking Practice with This Skydiving Story

What You'll Learn

This video is a goldmine for building real-world speaking skills! You'll practice narrating personal experiences—a key skill for conversations, interviews, or sharing stories. Listen closely to how Henry structures his first skydiving memory: setting the scene, describing emotions, and highlighting surprises. You'll also master talking about past events with natural tense usage (past simple, past perfect) and using descriptive language (e.g., "a river which looked silver rather than bright blue"). These are quick wins that make your speech sound more fluent and engaging.

Listen For These Sounds

Native speakers often link words or reduce sounds—catch these to improve your listening and speaking! Notice how "got round to it" becomes "got round t'it" (linking "to" to "it"). Henry also shortens "I would" to "I'd" and "I had" to "I'd"—pay attention to context to tell them apart. Another example: "a pair of gloves" sounds like "a pair uh gloves" (reducing "of" to "uh"). These small details make a big difference in how natural your speech sounds, especially for shadow speech practice.

Say It Like a Native

To mirror Henry's rhythm, focus on stress and pauses. He stresses key words like "terrified," "calm," and "silver" to emphasize emotions and details—copy that to make your speech more expressive. Pause slightly before important moments, like when he says, "But actually, I was completely calm"—this builds tension and keeps listeners engaged. Try shadowing the dialogue: repeat each sentence right after Henry, matching his pace and tone. Use a shadowing site to practice, and you'll notice your fluency improve in no time. Remember, shadowspeak isn't just about repetition—it's about capturing the music of English!

Ready to level up? This video is perfect for english speaking practice—whether you're a beginner or refining your skills. Grab your headphones, hit play, and start shadowing today. You'll be telling your own stories with confidence in no time!

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	I've been skydiving
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was introduced · would be attached · been told
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	people who were · boxes which were · Everyone who completes

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: Listening B2, FCE 1 (2015), Test 3, Part 2 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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