Shadowing Practice: Realistic Day Working in Tech | London (office vlog) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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71 sentences

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Let's go.

I'm going to cook it.

Good morning.

I've just jumped into a meeting room because I have a doctor's appointment in a couple of minutes.

I figured I'd just take it from work, save to me the trip of going in, and also I don't have to wait around in a doctor's meeting room, which is always a plus.

It's actually a beautiful Friday morning, as you may have seen on my commute in.

I realized the hack with winters here is you just have to be well prepared.

Do you have the right thermals?

Do you have the right gloves?

My favorite hack is having these pocket warmers.

They're these nifty little electrical hand warmers.

You just turn them on.

They have three settings.

They've literally gotten me through negative 12 degrees in Korea, negative 5 degrees in Norway,

and I swear by them and they can get me through a one degree morning in London.

Mornings are so cozy especially when the sun's coming in the UV is like virtually zero

and you can soak up the sun guilt-free and everyone's all rugged up and cozy so I love it.

It's shaping up to be a pretty good Friday so I'll take you along.

If you're new here I'm Elasha and I moved from Australia to London a little over two years ago.

I work in cloud growth and sales at Microsoft and this is typically what a Friday my life looks like.

Fridays in the office are usually pretty quiet.

During the week meeting rooms can be impossible to get

but I had lots of choices today given a very quiet office

and I I managed to slip into one this morning for

a quick virtual doctor's appointment before jumping straight into my morning meetings.

Following lunch, I settled into a solid work block.

I work as a conduit between Microsoft and Microsoft Azure reseller organisations, who each have a number of customers at various points across their cloud journey.

So a big part of my role is helping enable them to grow more.

I've been out and about a lot over the past couple of weeks just out visiting clients.

So this work block was really to tie up any loose ends to make sure I can start Monday strong.

Fridays are also when we have our pod or team syncs.

And it's a great chance to catch up with my direct team, share updates and fill each other in on what we've been working on.

I'm

going to

go to the next video.

Oh, my God so

it's terrible lighting in here

but this is going to be my favorite spot in the office to watch the sunset

or lack thereof for sunset because I think the sun has already set the days are

so short now it's basically sunset by mid-afternoon fridays are the time to wrap up any loose ends

and action any actions that slip through the cracks during the week and I feel like

I've done a pretty good job at getting some emails out

that have been sitting in my inbox and also doing my expenses Which is extremely boring to do, but it's got to be done I also keep getting this notification for some training

that I have due at the end of this month So i'm thinking now that i've made myself a tea.

I might get to that training.

It's actually really funny We have this global standard training

that we have to do Whoever's created it from a microsoft education standpoint kudos to them

because it's honestly so funny The training itself is in the form of a TV show.

So there are different seasons for every year.

There are the same characters that reappear in the seasons that are following their own character arc.

I was going to say customer journey.

That's not it.

It's so funny because I've been doing this training for a few years now.

And the characters have evolved as I've evolved.

And some of the conversations they talk about have evolved.

Like, you know, when I joined, AI probably wasn't as big of a deal as it is now.

So now there's a bigger focus on security and compliance.

It's really interesting and I'm actually quite looking forward to it.

It's definitely not one of those trainings that I just skipped through.

Because let's be honest, there's always some of those.

Microsoft runs on trust and our success depends on each of us taking action okay i hope this isn't confidential

oh no no no this isn't good oh no oh no

bang on This is the most dramatic thing I've ever seen.

I'm hooked.

This is where I'll be for the next half an hour.

By the time I'm sending out these last couple of messages, the sun is already long gone.

There's something

so satisfying about closing all my tabs on a Friday evening

it just feels symbolic like I'm officially wrapping up the work week.

Just a few final touches and then I'm off to dinner with friends,

which in my books feels like the perfect way to end a work week. so

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 71 sentences and 869 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:48. The speaker talks at a steady 111 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
sunset noun	/ˈsʌnˌsɛt/	The moment each evening when the sun disappears below the western horizon.
evolve verb	/ɪˈvɑlv/	To move (something) in regular procession through a system.
cloud noun	/ˈklaʊ̯d/	A visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air.
slip verb	/ˈslɪp/	To lose one’s traction on a slippery surface; to slide due to a lack of friction.
wrap verb	/ɹæp/	To enclose (an object) completely in any flexible, thin material such as fabric or paper.
warmer noun	/ˈwɔɹmɚ/	Something that warms (something else) by providing some small amount of heat, such as a hot water bottle or a soup.
pocket noun	/ˈpɑ.kɪt/	A bag stitched to an item of clothing, used for carrying small items.
electrical adjective	/ɪˈlɛktɹɪkəl/	Related to electricity (or electronics)
crack noun	/kɹæk/	A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.
dramatic adjective	/dɹəˈmætɪk/	Of or relating to the drama.
hook noun	/hʊk/	A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment.
settle verb	/ˈsɛtəl/	To determine (something which was exposed to doubt or question); to resolve conclusively; to set or fix (a time, an order of succession, etc).
organisation noun	/ˈɔː.ɡə.naɪˌzeɪ.ʃən/	Non-Oxford British English and Australian standard spelling of organization.
bang noun	/ˈbæŋ/	A sudden percussive noise.
virtual adjective	/ˈvɜɹt͡ʃuəl/	In effect or essence, rather than in fact or reality; also, imitated, simulated.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
wrap up verb	To cover or enclose (something) by folding and securing a covering entirely around it.
look forward to verb	To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.
send out verb	To issue, dispatch or transmit.
tie up verb	To secure with rope, string, etc.

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	we've been working · have been sitting · I've been doing
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've just jumped · I've been · has already set
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	room, which is · expenses Which is

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 27 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, I've, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: organisation /ˈɔː.ɡə.naɪˌzeɪ.ʃən/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/, confidential /ˌkɔn.fɪˈdɛn.ʃəl/
Long words — get the stress right: electrical /ɪˈlɛktɹɪkəl/, organisation /ˈɔː.ɡə.naɪˌzeɪ.ʃən/, virtually /ˈvɚ.t͡ʃə.wə.li/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/, confidential /ˌkɔn.fɪˈdɛn.ʃəl/

How to practise with this video

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

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: Realistic Day Working in Tech | London (office vlog) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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