Shadowing Practice: π Reading | IELTS Speaking Part 1 | Model Answers and Vocabulary (2026) - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hello, lovely.
243 sentences
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Hello, lovely.
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I'm Maria.
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My name is Rory, and we're the hosts of the IELTS Speaking for Success podcast.
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The podcast that aims to help you improve your speaking skills,
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as well as your listening skills along the way.
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We've started this podcast to give you super grammar and fabulous vocabulary for your high IELTS school.
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Your band 9th school.
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Rory, so who are you today?
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Today, I'm a starship captain.
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Why not?
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Starship captain.
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So starship, dear listener, a ship that goes up into space.
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A starship captain.
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So Rory was a dancer.
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Then he was a chewing gum tester.
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And now he is a starship captain.
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Why is Rory doing this?
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Because he's bored.
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And every time he says hello,
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he decides to take up a new profession.
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Are you enjoying this?
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And Maria's like, are you enjoying this?
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Please say no so that Rory will stop lying.
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Feel free to make suggestions in the comments.
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I have like five left,
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but I can always hear more.
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Yeah, but Rory, like you've got another profession.
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Aren't you a writer?
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Yes, I am.
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I have written five books, six, I don't know.
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Rory has actually written five or six books, and that's the truth.
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and today we're gonna be talking about reading interesting
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do you like reading i love it actually i've always got at least one
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or two books on the go throughout the year even
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when i'm busy it's uh it's great finding out new ways or to do things or
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being entertained by a new story or an old one if I'm rereading something that I've already worked my way through.
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How often do you read books?
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Oh, all the time, at least once a day,
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or I try to anyway,
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unless I'm feeling really tired and I can't quite manage it.
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When do you usually read books?
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These days it's before I go to sleep,
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so just after I get into bed I'll sit
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or lie for a bit and try and read at least a chapter a night.
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When I have more free time,
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sometimes I read in the afternoon too.
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Do you prefer to read on paper or on a screen?
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Oh, definitely on paper.
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Looking at a screen for hours on end isn't ideal for me.
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And I think I read somewhere that it hurts your eyes or at least damages your sleep in some way.
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I understand an e-reader or a phone is more portable,
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but they're the last things I want to look at when I'm trying to focus.
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Are your reading habits now different from the past?
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Well, while I read a lot of books as a child,
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I definitely read more now,
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even though I have less free time.
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I think it's because I'm better with time management,
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or at least that aspect of it.
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Before, I'd read a lot,
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but it was pretty haphazard,
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so I'd get through loads of chapters in one go and then leave the book for a bit.
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I'm much more consistent so I can read two books a month and that's fine.
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As you know, we now release all of our premium content for free and it's available for one month.
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After one month, it goes into our super secret archive.
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To sign up for the archive,
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click the link in the description below.
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See you soon.
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Yay, reading.
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Dear listener, are you a book person?
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Are you into reading?
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A reader.
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A reader.
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Are you an avid reader, an enthusiastic reader?
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Hmm?
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you can be you know you can listen to books like
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audio books kind of it also counts as reading like i
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listen to audio books why not you can say i love
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reading i hate it i love it i enjoy it i'm
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a big fan of books i'm a big fan of sci-fi novels poetry you know what what do you like
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I always have one or two books on the go throughout the year.
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So kind of I read one or two books.
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So I pick one I read, then another.
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So I read two books at the same time.
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It's great finding out new things.
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So I love reading because I enjoy being entertained by a new story.
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I like to be in the know.
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In the know of new things,
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yeah oh i like having fun with new stories sometimes i
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reread books i read books the same book again that's an
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interesting word to say though reread reread yeah like re-listen reread
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i read once a day i read every day often sometimes
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like twice a week right i try to read every day but like if I'm feeling tired,
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I don't usually read, or I enjoy listening to books,
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I prefer audio books to paper books.
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So we say kind of traditional books,
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paper books, or printed books,
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online books, e-books on a computer, yeah, or audio books.
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Me, for example, I listen to audio books more often than I read paper books.
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Rory, what was the last book you read?
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Oh, it's going to be something about science, something space.
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It's not.
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It's, um, hold on a minute.
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I've got them behind me.
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Because Rory usually reads something really sophisticated.
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I read a book called,
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I just looked there at my bookcase.
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It's a book called Fierce Medicine.
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It's by a lady called Anna Forrest,
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who created a system of yoga.
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And so I was reading about her life and her thoughts on various yoga practices.
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There we go.
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You seem very sophisticated.
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No, some of the language in there is not sophisticated.
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Anna Forrest is a very plain-spoken woman.
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She tells it how it is,
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and she swears a lot.
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Okay.
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Swears like she uses a bad language.
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Yes, she says words like...
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And Rory, what do you call books?
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You read them and they can help you develop certain skills.
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Oh, well, I suppose that could just be reference books,
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but maybe self-help books if it's skills for life.
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Self-help.
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Yeah, like skills for life,
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communication skills, and self-help books are very popular these days.
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Like how to get rid of depression or I don't know.
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Whether that works or not is up for discussion.
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How to be this or that.
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How to be depression-free.
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That's up for discussion.
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I prefer reading on paper or I prefer e-books.
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I don't enjoy looking at a screen for hours.
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I don't enjoy e-books.
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Like I prefer traditional books, printed books.
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Or you can say that I usually download books on my phone.
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I read from my phone.
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It's quite portable portable, like you can carry it everywhere, right?
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Some books are really heavy.
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And you can say that I have an e-reader.
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So if you have a special device,
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I don't know how many people these days have an e-reader,
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a special device only for books.
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As a child, I used to read a lot.
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Or as a child, I didn't use to read much.
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But now I read much more.
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I read almost every day.
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Or I'm better with my time management,
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I can manage my time more effectively.
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I get through a lot of chapters,
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like a book has a chapter,
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like maybe 10 chapters, like 10 parts.
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It's called a chapter, a part,
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one part of a book.
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And you can read two chapters in the evening
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or get through two chapters in one go at once in one go at once for example
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if i read a detective novel i get through many chapters in one go
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so i read like 10 chapters 10 parts
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and then i can leave the book for a bit
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so kind of you just stop reading uh what you call a book
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that is impossible to put down you're like you keep reading
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and reading page turner so
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if it's a page turner i can spend my whole evening reading one book
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and i can read two books a month for example
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and dear listener like you can say i dislike reading i
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don't read a lot i don't read much i'm not an avid reader
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so kind of i used to read a lot of books at school
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but these days i just use social media you know tiktok instagram
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that that's enough reading for me i read news
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or like journals right magazines scientific articles perhaps news stories that's
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also reading posts on instagram that's reading yeah well maybe why not um it is
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but it's probably not very in-depth reading is it like do you think uh people these days read a lot
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because of all this social media it depends on how you
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define a lot doesn't it i mean people read more than they did maybe a hundred years ago
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because they have more free time to read and there are more jobs
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that require reading but are they reading in the same depth
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and volume as before because the messages are usually shorter for example so it's up for discussion i think
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I want to believe that people are reading more and
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that we are more intelligent but
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if you turn on the news you will understand why some people are skeptical about this
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yeah and like audiobooks are becoming really popular yeah
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and audiobooks count as reading but they're not as popular as paper books
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oh I don't know that's the thing because there are a lot of bookstores still
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yeah also there are like reading clubs
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right have you ever visited a reading club you read the book and then you discuss it with people Yeah,
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and like lots of people say that,
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okay, just read for at least 10 minutes a day,
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just to get you going.
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Like 10 minutes a day, that's your reading time.
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Not the time, read a chapter,
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like a complete unit of reading and then call it a day.
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Yeah, and reading is a kind of meditation practice.
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right we are ready for a wrap-up joke about reading right
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so the joke is i wrote a book about falling down the stairs it's a step-by-step guide
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oh god obviously stairs have steps
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and a step-by-step guide tells you how to do things one step at a time
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or one part of the procedure at a time
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so that's the overlap
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and i have just died on the inside explaining this joke right there is
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that so i wrote a book about falling down the stairs you know like you go up the stairs
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and if you go down the stairs you can just fall over
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so i wrote a book about falling down the stairs it's a step-by-step guide yes stairs have steps.
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So it's a step-by-step guide.
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Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
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Thank you very much for listening, you know.
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We love you.
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We hug you.
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Stay with us and we'll get back to you in our next episode.
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Bye.
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Bye.
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I'm not joking, by the way.
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I do literally have five other jobs written down here ready to go.
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do you like reading i love it actually i've always got at least one
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or two books on the go throughout the year even
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when i'm busy it's uh it's great finding out new ways
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or to do things or being entertained by a new story
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or an old one if i'm rereading something that i've already worked my way through.
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How often do you read books?
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Oh, all the time, at least once a day,
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or I try to anyway,
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unless I'm feeling really tired and I can't quite manage it.
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When do you usually read books?
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These days it's before I go to sleep,
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so just after I get into bed I'll sit
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or lie for a bit and try and read at least a chapter a night.
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When I have more free time,
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sometimes I read in the afternoon too.
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Do you prefer to read on paper or on a screen?
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Oh definitely on paper.
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Looking at a screen for hours on end isn't ideal for me
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and I think I read somewhere that it hurts your eyes or at least damages your sleep in some way.
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I understand an e-reader or a phone is more portable
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but they're the last things I want to look at when I'm trying to focus.
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Are your reading habits now different from the past?
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Well, I read a lot of books as a child.
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I definitely read more now,
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even though I have less free time.
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I think it's because I'm better with time management,
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or at least that aspect of it.
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Before, I'd read a lot,
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but it was pretty haphazard.
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So I'd get through loads of chapters in one go and then leave the book for a bit.
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Now I'm much more consistent so I can read two books a month and that's fine.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will focus on enhancing your English speaking skills through effective practice techniques. Drawing inspiration from the engaging conversation between the podcast hosts, you will explore topics related to reading, personal interests, and daily habits. This lesson aims to improve your fluency and vocabulary as you engage in speaking practice that mirrors authentic dialogue. By participating in this english speaking practice, you'll gain confidence in expressing your opinions and preferences, specifically about reading habits and leisure activities.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Starship captain - A fictional space traveler responsible for navigating a starship.
- Bored - A feeling of having no interest in current activities.
- Profession - A paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and formal qualifications.
- Reread - To read a book or text again for deeper understanding or enjoyment.
- Improve - To make or become better in a specific area.
- Prefer - To like one thing more than another.
- Free time - Time spent away from work and responsibilities where one can relax or engage in leisure activities.
- Paper vs. screen - A discussion on reading formats, highlighting personal preferences and their effects on health.
Practice Tips
To make the most of this lesson, consider utilizing a shadowing app or shadowing site to enhance your practice. Here are some effective strategies to implement while shadowing:
- Listen carefully to the transcript audio that corresponds to the conversational style of the podcast. Pay attention to tone, pace, and emotional cues.
- Match the speed of the speakers by repeating phrases immediately after you hear them. This will help improve your english pronunciation and fluency in conversation.
- Focus on intonation and stress patterns as this podcast features a lively interaction. Mimicking these aspects will make your speech more engaging.
- Record yourself as you practice. This allows you to review your speaking style and identify areas for improvement.
- Engage in conversation with a language partner or through online speaking clubs. Discuss the topics mentioned in the podcast and share your own opinions on reading habits.
By regularly practicing with these tips, you'll find that your ability to communicate effectively in English, particularly on topics related to personal interests like reading, will improve significantly.
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 β like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1β2 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 β making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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