Shadowing Practice: Party experiences – A2 English Listening Test - Learn English Speaking with Video
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32 sentences
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1
The last party I went to was at someone's house.
2
I went with my friend Denise.
3
She knew lots of people there, but I only knew Denise.
4
She'd invited me there, and I accepted simply because I didn't have anything better to do.
5
The party was in the garden, and it was a lovely, warm evening.
6
They had a big table with more food than you can imagine, and it was all delicious.
7
People helped themselves to food and ate it while sitting down on the grass on cushions and blankets.
8
After that, everyone sat and chatted while classical music was playing in the background.
9
I normally hate that kind of music, but it was just right for this occasion.
10
I felt a bit left out at the start of the party, because Denise started chatting to her old friends while I just stood there.
11
But then I started chatting to a guy called Richard, who I got on really well with, and after that, the hours flew by.
12
Before I knew it, nearly everyone had gone, and Richard, Denise, and I were among the last people there.
13
I went to a party at my friend's house.
14
He has a huge open space that combines the kitchen and living room, with doors leading to the yard outside.
15
Even so, the place was packed with people and you could hardly move.
16
But that was partly because there was a band in one corner, which took up quite a lot of space.
17
Everyone was saying how amazing the band was, and true, they played some popular songs, but they were all depressing, and the singer was out of tune, so I didn't think much of them myself.
18
I went to the party with some friends, and there seemed to be quite a few interesting people there.
19
The problem was that when I tried to talk to someone, my friends came along and wanted to talk to me, so I didn't really meet anyone new.
20
There were a few snacks on the table, but you can imagine they didn't last long with that crowd.
21
I was really hungry, so I ordered a pizza delivery, but when it arrived, everyone ate it really fast, so that didn't help.
22
I met a new guy called Sam at work, and we got on quite well.
23
Last week, he said he was having a party on Saturday and invited me to come and meet his friends.
24
I said sure, and so he told me to arrive at about five o 'clock, which I thought was a bit early, but I thought nothing of it.
25
And so I got there and, well, it turned out it was a birthday party for his four -year -old kid.
26
So all these children were running around and shouting over the awful children's party music.
27
There were a few parents who looked really tired.
28
I was the only person without a child, so I felt very uncomfortable, and I didn't talk to any adults because they were all so busy and anyway, they all knew each other.
29
But there was far more pizza, cake and lemonade than the children could eat, so that was good.
30
Later, I started playing games with the kids, which was quite fun.
31
When they all finally went home, Sam invited me to stay for a beer, but his wife wanted him to help tidy up and his kid was crying,
32
so I went home as soon as I could.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Party experiences – A2 English Listening Test”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Denise, knew, invited, kid. This video has 32 sentences and 582 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:09. The speaker talks fast, about 185 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 85% 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:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| invite verb | /ɪnˈvaɪt/ | To ask for the presence or participation of someone or something. |
| pizza noun | /ˈpi.tsə/ | A baked Italian dish of a thinly rolled bread crust typically topped before baking with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients such as meat or vegetables. |
| arrive verb | /əˈɹaɪv/ | To reach; to get to a certain place. |
| bind verb | /ˈbaɪ̯nd/ | To tie; to confine by any ligature. |
| awful adjective | /ˈɔːfʊl/ | Very bad. |
| hungry adjective | /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/ | Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food. |
| clock noun | /klɑk/ | A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day. |
| grass noun | /ɡɹɑːs/ | Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by leaves that arise from nodes in the stem and leaf bases that wrap around the stem, especially those grown as… |
| occasion noun | /əˈkeɪ̯ʒən/ | A favorable opportunity; a convenient or timely chance. |
| delicious adjective | /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/ | Pleasing to the sense of taste; tasty. |
| partly adverb | /ˈpɑɹtli/ | In part, or to some degree, but not completely. |
| tune noun | /tjuːn/ | A melody. |
| classical adjective | /ˈklæs.ɪ.k(ə)l/ | Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. |
| uncomfortable adjective | /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/ | Not comfortable; causing discomfort. |
| combine verb | /kəmˈbaɪn/ | To bring (two or more things or activities) together; to unite. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come along verb | To accompany. |
| run around verb | To be very busy doing many different things. |
| take up verb | To pick up. |
| tidy up verb | To make clean, to make satisfactorily neat. |
| turn out verb | To end up; to result. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was playing · was saying · was having |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | started chatting · started playing |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 7 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, she'd. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: occasion /əˈkeɪ̯ʒən/, delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, shout /ʃaʊt/, cushion /ˈkʊʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like invite, pizza, arrive.
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.