Shadowing Practice: My last holiday – A1 English Listening Test - Learn English Speaking with Video

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29 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
"Well, I plan to go to Egypt." Usually, I just go on holiday in Britain.
2
But last year, I decided to do something special.
3
I saved money for a long time, And finally, I had enough money.
4
I was really excited when I booked the trip.
5
Well, I hope to go with a friend.
6
I didn't want to travel alone.
7
I asked lots of people to come with me.
8
But they didn't have enough money or they wanted to go somewhere else.
9
So I went on my own.
10
I didn't have enough money for a nice hotel, so I stayed in guest houses.
11
Actually, I think the guest houses were nicer than the hotels.
12
They were comfortable and they were in interesting parts of the city.
13
The owners were very kind.
14
They gave me information about places to visit and helped me get around.
15
Well, the owners at the guest house told me to get food from the market.
16
They said the local dishes there are delicious.
17
But my guidebook said that local food can make you sick.
18
And I was worried about that.
19
I didn't want to get sick on holiday.
20
So on the first night, I ate in a European restaurant.
21
I thought it was safer than the market.
22
But I got sick anyway.
23
No, luckily just for a day.
24
I just stayed in bed and drank water and ate a little rice.
25
I felt better the day after.
26
"Well, the historic sites were wonderful, of course." But they were very busy.
27
Actually, I preferred taking boat trips on the River Nile.
28
It was peaceful there.
29
And the sunsets were great.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This A1 speaking lesson is built on the video “My last holiday – A1 English Listening Test”. This video has 29 sentences and 273 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:11. The speaker talks at a steady 125 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
delicious adjective/dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/Pleasing to the sense of taste; tasty.
dish noun/dɪʃ/A vessel such as a plate for holding or serving food, often flat with a depressed region in the middle.
sunset noun/ˈsʌnˌsɛt/The moment each evening when the sun disappears below the western horizon.
luckily adverb/ˈlʌk.ɪ.li/In a lucky manner; by good fortune; fortunately.
guest noun/ɡɛst/A recipient of hospitality, especially someone staying by invitation at the house of another.
holiday noun/ˈhɑləˌdeɪ/A day on which a religious event or secular celebration is traditionally observed.
restaurant noun/ˈɹɛst(ə)ˌɹɑnt/An eating establishment in which diners are served food, usually by waiters at their tables but sometimes (as in a fast food restaurant) at a counter.
comfortable adjective/ˈkʌm(p)f.tə.bəl/Providing physical comfort and ease; agreeable.
prefer verb[pɹɪˈfɝ]To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.
historic adjective/hɪˈstoɹɪk/Very important; noteworthy: having importance or significance in history.
sick adjective/ˈsɪk/In poor health; ill.
hotel noun/həʊˈtɛl/An establishment that provides accommodation and other services for paying guests; normally larger than a guesthouse, and often one of a chain.
trip noun/tɹɪp/A journey; an excursion or jaunt.
owner noun/ˈoʊnɚ/One who owns something.
travel verb/ˈtɹævəl/To be on a journey, often for pleasure or business and with luggage; to go from one place to another.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordMeaning
get around verbTo move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

  • The “sh” and “zh” sounds: delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, dish /dɪʃ/

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like delicious, dish, sunset.

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 →