Shadowing Practice: Shopping at a Craft Store | English Listening Practice - Learn English Speaking with Video
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215 sentences
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Hi there!
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Today we're practicing English while visiting a craft store.
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I was looking for some green paper for a small photo book I was making, but I ended up finding lots of other interesting craft supplies along the way.
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You can speak along with me for shadowing practice or just relax and listen along.
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Patreon members can also get PDF scripts, bonus practice videos and listen to my Aussie English podcast.
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Okay, let's go for a walk.
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I was heading to a craft store because I needed to find something for a craft project I was working on.
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I was making a small photo book and I needed some nice thick textured green paper for the cover.
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Do you have any crafts you like to do?
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I didn't realize it at first, but the first thing they were selling inside the store was bedding and bed linen.
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They had matching sets of covers for your pillows, sheets and your doona cover.
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A doona is what Australians call a duvet or a quilt.
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It's the thick, soft blanket you put on your bed to keep warm.
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They did sell a lot of fabric at this store, so I suppose it made sense to sell bed linen too.
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They had lots of crazy patterns.
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I'd never seen sheets like this before.
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The sheets had a printed photo of two Highland cows on them.
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You must really love Highland cows if you had these on your bed.
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There were also sheets with a galaxy print on them.
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A galaxy is a huge group of stars and planets in outer space.
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If I wanted to have stars on my bed sheets, I think I'd prefer this type of celestial pattern.
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Celestial means relating to the sky, space, stars or planets
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So a celestial pattern might have stars
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or moons on it They had sets of sheets in all
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different colours They also had different textures too This one had strands coming off it
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And this one had a waffle texture What kind of texture would you prefer?
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There were some other homewares here too There were small blue glass bottles and short blue glass cups.
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There were photo frames too.
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A photo frame holds and displays a picture.
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Some of these had a thick frame around where the photo went.
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Down this aisle there were towels.
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I didn't expect the store to have towels either but I suppose they were made from fabric too.
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A towel is a piece of fabric that you use to dry yourself or something after it gets wet.
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I liked this color blue.
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Finally, I'd found the craft supplies.
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Craft supplies are the materials and tools you need to make something.
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So paper, glue, scissors, paint, thread and beads are all craft supplies.
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I looked around to see if I could find the paper I needed.
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In this aisle, there were lots of polystyrene shapes.
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Polystyrene is a very light material that can be made into different shapes.
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It's often used for craft projects because it's easy to cut, paint and decorate.
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These balls were quite small but you could also get larger ones if that's what you needed.
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On the bottom shelf there were mannequin heads and tall cones.
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You might use a mannequin head to store or display a wig.
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Along the back wall there were so many balls of yarn.
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They were arranged by colour.
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A ball of yarn is a long thin strand of material that's been wound into a ball.
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People usually use yarn for knitting or crochet.
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There seem to be lots of different thicknesses and textures.
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Sometimes you can use yarn made from sheep's wool or lamb's wool, and sometimes you can use silk.
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These balls were made of really thin strands of cotton yarn.
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They were much thinner than the other balls.
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These balls had sequins along the yarn, so when you knitted your project together, the sequins would pop out in the finished piece.
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These balls had a fuzzy kind of texture and were made from polyester.
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There were so many different kinds of yarn.
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Do you know how to knit?
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It was a hobby I'd always wanted to try and learn.
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I think I might try it out next winter.
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There was a sample of how the yarn knitted into stitches.
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It was an example of what the stitches would look like once they'd been knitted.
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The colours in the yarn were speckled through the knitting.
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Speckles means covered with lots of small spots or marks of different colours.
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Around the corner was where they sold knitting needles.
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These green ones were very thick and these red ones were much thinner.
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They also sold crochet hooks.
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Crochet is similar to knitting
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but instead of using two knitting needles you normally use one crochet hook to make loops and stitches.
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Near the knitting needles they sold thread for embroidery.
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Embroidery is when you decorate fabric by sewing patterns or pictures into it with thread.
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The embroidery thread was thin and colorful and it came in lots of different shades.
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I actually needed some thread for the book I was making
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but I needed to match the colour to the paper I found.
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I wanted dark green paper.
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This green was nice, but it might have been too vibrant.
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I thought I wanted a darker green, like this.
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Above the thread were pairs of scissors.
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There were some small ones for cutting thread, and some larger ones that looked like they could cut through fabric.
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They also sold packets of needles here to sew with.
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Sewing is joining pieces of fabric together using a needle and thread.
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The needles were sharp and pointy.
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These needles were a bit thicker and longer.
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They might have been better for sewing through thicker fabric.
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On the other side of this aisle were wooden boxes.
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They had a little latch so they could close securely.
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There were also tiny signs with little chalkboards you could write on.
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You might have wanted to paint or decorate the wood around it.
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They also had different shapes cut out of wood.
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They had stars and they also had pegs that you could use to clip things together.
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At the bottom of the shelf there were paddle pop sticks.
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These were just small wooden sticks but in Australia they're known as paddle pop sticks
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because of an ice cream called a paddle pop.
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A paddle pop ice cream comes on this kind of stick.
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You could use the sticks to make things like little houses, picture frames or other small craft projects.
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Around the corner and down the next aisle there were beads.
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These beads were hanging on strings.
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There were lots of little colourful beads in one long string.
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There were rolls of elastic string to thread the beads onto.
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To thread something onto something means to put it through a hole or an opening, usually one at a time.
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You could also get wire to thread them onto, or a thicker string made from leather.
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As well as beads, they had other little charms and hooks for making things with.
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These were little carabiners shaped like hearts.
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A carabiner is a small clip that you can use to attach one thing to another.
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You could use them to attach your keychain to something or to hook it onto your bag.
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There were wooden beads shaped like bear faces and other wooden shapes like elephants.
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There were also small shells you could use as beads.
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If you wanted to make jewellery, you could find plain packs of earrings and make your own designs on top of them.
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These were stud earrings but you could also get small hoops and thread beads onto them.
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There were also chains for necklaces.
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Do you prefer gold or silver jewellery?
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After that I found bags of pom poms.
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Pom poms are small fuzzy round balls.
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They remind me of being in primary school and decorating crazy hats and other school projects.
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There were shelves of felt too.
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Felt is a soft, thick material made by pressing the fibres together.
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It doesn't have the same woven texture as normal fabric.
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On your felt project, you might stick some googly eyes onto it.
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You could get one big googly eye or a bag of small googly eyes.
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I thought that anything could look funny with some googly eyes on it.
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Ok, I'd been getting a bit distracted thinking about all of the craft projects I could make, but I'd finally found the aisle with the coloured paper.
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There were stands full of different colours and patterns of sheets of paper.
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I thought I only needed one sheet of paper, maybe two sheets at most.
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This sheet of paper had a nice texture and had a striped pattern on it.
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It was nice, but it wasn't what I was looking for.
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These were larger sheets of paper, they were A3 size.
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I didn't need a sheet that big.
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These were sheets of textured cardboard.
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I didn't need something that thick.
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I also didn't want something that was reflective.
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Reflective means that a surface sends light back and you can see light or your own image in it.
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This metallic paper was also a bit reflective.
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Metallic means that it looks like metal.
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It often has a shiny surface.
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I'd found something close to what I needed.
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I liked the texture of this paper a lot and it was the right thickness, but it was the wrong colour.
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I needed a dark green colour and this was light blue.
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Unfortunately, I didn't think they had the kind of paper that I was looking for.
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I kept looking around the store just in case I found something somewhere unexpected.
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There were heaps of large canvases against this wall to paint on.
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They also had lots of tubes of paint.
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What colour paint would you choose to paint with.
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They had lots of red paints.
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Each one was a slightly different shade.
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A shade is a particular version of a colour.
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For example, you can have a light shade of red or a dark shade of red.
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There were packets of paintbrushes with thin pointy bristles and ones with thick round bristles.
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The bristles are the small hairs that make up the ends of a paintbrush.
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There were also paint palettes to put your paint on.
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Next was the section with the party supplies.
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Party supplies are things you might need for a party like decorations.
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I thought I might find something here.
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There were rolls of ribbon to wrap gifts with and bows to put on top.
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They had candles for birthday cakes.
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They did have disposable green paper plates but I didn't think that kind of paper would work for me.
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Disposable means something that you use once or only a few times and then you throw it away.
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Then I was in the aisle that sold cake making items.
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There were different colours of food dye to make coloured icing on a cake
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and there were moulds in the shape of hearts.
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There was a wall full of sprinkles too.
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Sprinkles are tiny pieces of coloured sugar that you put on cakes to decorate them.
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There were more disposable plates and cutlery for parties down the next aisle.
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They had green knives and green spoons, but nothing close to the green paper that I wanted, who was tougher than I thought.
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Then I was in the aisle for balloons.
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These balloons were all deflated, which meant that they didn't have any air in them yet.
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You could pump them up yourself using a small hand pump.
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You could also blow them up with your mouth, although that could take you a while if you had a lot of balloons.
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They could also fill them up with helium at this counter.
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Helium is a gas that makes balloons float.
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Then I was in the aisle where they sold sewing machines.
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A sewing machine is a machine that uses a needle and a thread to join pieces of fabric together.
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What would you like to make if you had a sewing machine?
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Around the corner, there was a whole wall of buttons.
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These were sewing buttons you could use to fasten clothes or decorate your sewing project.
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There were lots of different sizes, shapes, and colors.
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When was the last time you had to sew a button back onto your clothes?
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They also had a whole wall of cotton threads that you could sew with.
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There were lots of different colours so you could choose a thread that matched your fabric.
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There were also some zippers you might want to use in your sewing project.
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These had already been zipped up.
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They were ready to be unzipped.
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There were some last little sewing tools like pins and a measuring tape too.
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Then I was in the fabric section.
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I didn't think I was going to find my paper here but I thought I'd have a look at the fabrics anyway.
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These rolls of fabric were patterned.
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I liked these watermelons.
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They had plain coloured fabrics rolled up too.
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You could choose the fabric you liked and cut it to the length that you needed.
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Someone had found some green fabric for their project
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and the shop assistant had unrolled it
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and was about to cut it to the right length for them to take home and sew.
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Have you ever made something from fabric?
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What would you make if you could sew and you could choose any fabric in this store?
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There was a mannequin by the fabrics too.
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A mannequin is a model shaped like a person
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that you can use to display clothes or use to work on sewing projects.
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This type of mannequin could be adjusted, so you could change its size to fit the person you were making clothes for.
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I hadn't had any luck finding my green paper today, but I had a lot of ideas for other things I'd like to make.
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I made my way to the exit through an aisle of fake flowers.
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The flowers were artificial.
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They were made from plastic, but they were designed to look like real flowers.
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Thanks for coming to the craft store with me today.
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What do Australians call the thick, soft blanket you put on your bed to keep warm?
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A doona.
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What do you call the object that holds and displays a picture?
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A photo frame.
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How do you describe a pattern that's covered in lots of small spots or marks of different colors?
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Speckled.
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How do you describe a surface that sends light back or you can see your own image in it?
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Reflective How do you describe something that looks like metal or has a shiny surface?
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Metallic What word can you use to describe different versions of a colour?
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Shades What do you call the tiny colourful pieces of sugar you put on top of a cake to decorate them?
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Sprinkles How do you describe a balloon that doesn't have any air in it?
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Deflated Thanks for joining me today.
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If you'd like a little extra help with your English, Patreon members can get PDF scripts, bonus videos and my Aussie English podcast.
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If you found this video helpful, please subscribe for more everyday Australian English practice.
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See you next time!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 215 sentences and 2574 words to shadow. The speech runs for 17:31. The speaker talks at a steady 147 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 75% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| fabric verb | /ˈfæb.ɹɪk/ | To cover with fabric. |
| thread noun | /ˈθɹɛd/ | A cord formed by spinning or twisting together textile fibers or filaments into one or more continuous strands, typically used in needlework. |
| sheet noun | /ʃit/ | A thin bed cloth used as a covering for a mattress or as a layer over the sleeper. |
| craft noun | /ˈkɹæft/ | Ability, skillfulness, especially skill in making plans and carrying them into execution; dexterity in managing affairs, adroitness, practical cunning… |
| thick adjective | /θɪk/ | Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension. |
| texture noun | /ˈtɛkst͡ʃə(ɹ)/ | The feel or shape of a surface or substance; the smoothness, roughness, softness, etc. of something. |
| aisle noun | /aɪ̯l/ | A wing of a building, notably in a church separated from the nave proper by piers. |
| knit verb | /nɪt/ | To turn thread or yarn into a piece of fabric by forming loops that are pulled through each other. This can be done by hand with needles or by machine. |
| yarn noun | /jɑɹn/ | A twisted strand of fibre used for knitting or weaving. |
| needle noun | /ˈniː.dəl/ | A long, thin, sharp implement usually for piercing as in sewing, embroidery, acupuncture, tattooing, body piercing, medical injections, sutures, etc; or a… |
| thin adjective | /ˈθɪn/ | Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite. |
| shade noun | /ʃeɪd/ | Darkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked. |
| colours noun | Flag denoting the nationality of a vessel, flown from the stern. | |
| balloon noun | /bəˈlun/ | An inflatable buoyant object, often (but not necessarily) round and flexible. |
| string noun | /stɹɪŋ/ | A long, thin and flexible structure made from threads twisted together. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come off verb | To become detached. | |
| cut through verb | To take a shortcut through. | |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| look around verb | To inspect a building or area. | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
| roll up verb | To dominate by accumulating; to become dominant by accumulating. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were made · can be made · were arranged |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | that's been wound · Have you ever made |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was looking · was heading · was making |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might have · might use · might try |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 26 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, I'd, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thread /ˈθɹɛd/, thick /θɪk/, thin /ˈθɪn/, thickness /ˈθɪknəs/, leather /ˈlɛðɚ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: sheet /ʃit/, shade /ʃeɪd/, shelf /ʃɛlf/, sharp /ʃɑɹp/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/
- Long words — get the stress right: artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, unexpected /ʌnɪkˈspɛktɪd/, decoration /ˌdɛkəˈɹeɪʃən/, embroidery /ɪmˈbɹɔɪdəɹi/, carabiner /ˌkæ.ɹəˈbiː.nə/
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 fabric, thread, sheet.
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.