Shadowing Practice: Shopping at an Asian Supermarket in Australia | English Listening Practice - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hi there!
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Hi there!
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Today I'm visiting an Asian supermarket in Melbourne and looking at snacks,
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drinks, groceries and ingredients from different countries.
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Asian supermarkets in Australia often sell groceries from places like South Korea,
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Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and India.
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This supermarket is only a small taste of some of these places,
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but thankfully these kinds of stores are somewhat common in Melbourne.
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If you notice something that you eat regularly,
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let me know in the comments what it's called in your country.
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Maybe you'll even spot one of your favourite snacks or ingredients while we shop together.
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You can speak along with me and use this video for shadowing practice,
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or just relax and listen along.
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If you're learning English and want to understand how people really speak in Australia,
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then you're in the right place.
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These videos will help you understand everyday English through comprehensible input while exploring real places around Melbourne and Australia.
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Members of the channel can download PDF scripts and get extra listening
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and speaking practice videos each month about my life in Australia.
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Okay, let's go for a walk.
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Melbourne is a very multicultural city.
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That means people from many different countries and cultures live here.
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Because of that, there are lots of different kinds of supermarkets that sell ingredients,
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snacks, and drinks from around the world.
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I visit an Asian supermarket almost every week
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because there are certain ingredients I can't easily find at a regular Australian supermarket
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and I enjoy cooking dishes from different cultures at home.
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I'll grab a basket from the front of the supermarket to carry my groceries in.
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I'll start on the left side of the store and slowly work my way around.
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This is the snack aisle.
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An aisle is the long space between shelves in a supermarket.
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Today, the aisle is partly blocked by cardboard boxes.
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The staff must be restocking the shelves.
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Restocking means putting new products back onto the shelves after people have bought them.
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There are lots of salty snacks here.
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There are crunchy and crispy snacks like potato chips and crackers.
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Crunchy and crispy foods make a cracking or a crunching sound when you bite into them.
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Crunchy snacks are often a little harder,
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while crispy foods are usually lighter and thinner.
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There are sweet biscuits here too.
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I found one of my favourite Korean snacks.
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They're tiny, crispy salt breads.
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They look like miniature croissants, but they're crunchier.
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They taste sweet and salty at the same time.
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Let me know if these are actually popular in Korea,
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but when I visited Seoul,
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I used to take these with me on hikes because they were easy to carry around.
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I'll put them in my basket.
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OK, it's time to squeeze past these boxes and into the next aisle.
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Asian specialty supermarkets are a little smaller than regular supermarkets.
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A specialty supermarket focuses on certain kinds of food or products.
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In this case, the supermarket specialises in foods and ingredients from Asian countries,
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but there are some supermarkets for European ingredients too.
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There are freezers against the back wall of the store.
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They're packed with frozen food.
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There are bags of lotus roots that are already sliced and are ready to cook.
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Next to them are frozen noodles and thin slices of rolled meat for hot pot.
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Frozen food is really convenient.
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Convenient means something is easy and saves you time or effort.
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A lot of frozen food is already cut or prepared for cooking.
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That means that dinner can be much quicker to make after a busy day.
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In the back corner of the store there are bowls and kitchen items that you can buy.
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The chopsticks are made from shiny metal and some of the spoons are made from smooth plastic.
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They're also selling a wok.
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A wok is a deep,
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round pan often used for stir frying food over a high heat.
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Along the back wall are large bottles of tea.
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These drinks are sitting at room temperature.
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That means they're not cold and not hot.
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They're just being stored normally on the shelf.
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It's not so common to find these in an Australian supermarket,
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but I know that this is a staple in a lot of different countries in Asia.
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A staple is something people use or eat regularly in everyday life.
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aisle stocks all kinds of drinks.
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There are more varieties of tea in plastic bottles.
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There's green, oolong and jasmine tea.
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Some are just tea flavoured and some have other flavours added to it like plum,
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peach or lemon.
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Some of these drinks aren't tea but are very sweet and taste like fruit.
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They're not fruit juice, but they have a fruit flavour and are made with sugar.
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These drinks are in cans.
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These cans have a soy milk drink in them.
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Usually in Australia, drinks in cans are fizzy drinks like soft drink or sparkling water.
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Fizzy or sparkling means that the drink has bubbles in it.
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I'm not sure what this kind of packaging is called,
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but I think most Australians would call it a juice box.
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It looks like the little boxes of juice you'd have at school when you were a kid.
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Further down the drinks aisle,
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there are tins of loose leaf tea.
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Loose leaf tea is tea that's not inside a tea bag.
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Instead, the tea leaves are loose and need to be placed in a strainer or a teapot.
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I prefer to buy loose leaf tea because there's less waste.
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My favourite tea is this Japanese tea with roasted rice.
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It smells warm and toasty and the flavour is slightly savoury.
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Now I'm looking at condiments.
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Condiments are sauces, pastes or seasonings that add flavour to food.
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There are large tubs of Korean chilli paste called gochujang.
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It has a deep red colour and can be quite spicy.
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You can buy it in a tube that you squeeze or in a big tub that you scoop the paste out of.
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I have a huge tub of this at home already so I don't need to buy any more today.
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I also have mirin at home in this yellow plastic bottle.
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It adds a slightly sweet flavour.
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Next to the sauces are packets of dry noodles.
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The noodles are hard and stiff now,
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but they soften when you boil them in water.
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Some noodle packets are bundled into small portions.
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Each bundle is usually enough for one person.
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I'm looking for a soup base that I really like.
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A soup base is the flavoured liquid or seasoning used to make soup.
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The packets feel soft and squishy because there's liquid inside them.
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Excuse me, I'm looking for the soup that's vegetarian,
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that doesn't have any fish in it.
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Do you have any of those left?
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They'd sold out of the soup base that I wanted.
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I was devastated.
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Actually, I was only a little disappointed.
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Sometimes Australians exaggerate how we feel when we speak casually.
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We might say we're devastated,
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even when we don't really mean it,
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and the problem is pretty small.
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The next shelf stocks miso paste.
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A paste is often thick but smooth and easy to scoop.
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Behind the miso there's a fridge full of mushrooms and kimchi.
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There are packs of all different kinds of mushrooms
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but I'm cooking something that requires these white pearl mushrooms so I'll add them to my basket.
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Now I'm in the fresh produce section.
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The shelves are refrigerated to help keep the vegetables fresh and crisp.
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There are huge bags of bean shoots and garlic that have already been peeled for you.
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On the lower shelves there are lots of leafy greens like bok choy and spinach.
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The vegetables look fresh and colourful.
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Next to the vegetables they have meat.
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I don't eat meat so I don't know how different this is to an Australian grocery store
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but I can see chicken feet here which would be pretty hard to find in an Australian supermarket.
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Beneath the meat there are dumpling wrappers.
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If you'd like to wrap your own dumplings at home.
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Next to the meat is the tofu section.
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I eat tofu all the time so I always need to buy more.
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There's firm tofu and silken tofu.
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Firm tofu keeps its shape while you cook it,
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whereas silken tofu is much softer and smoother.
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It feels creamy.
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Today I need silken tofu so I'll grab one of these boxes and add it to my basket.
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I didn't realize but the entire next fridge is full of tofu and soy products.
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There's large cartons of soy milk along the top shelves.
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The green cartons of soy milk have pandan flavoring in them.
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It looks interesting.
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There are plenty of frozen dumplings in the freezers next to the fridge.
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Some of these frozen foods have been imported.
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Imported means that the products were brought into Australia from another country.
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Usually you can see where the product comes from written somewhere on the packaging.
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There are Thai, Vietnamese and Malaysian sauces all along this side of the supermarket.
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There's a lot of spicy sauces and pastes.
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I'm going to pick up some curry paste.
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Should I choose green curry paste or yellow curry paste today?
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These bottles contain chilli oil.
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The oil is bright red and you can see through the clear liquid in the bottle.
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Whereas these jars have chopped chilli.
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You can see the chunks of red chili and the chili seeds inside.
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Here are packets of spices.
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This bag contains whole peppercorns.
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Peppercorns are the small dried balls that pepper comes from.
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Ground pepper is when they've been crushed into a fine powder.
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This aisle smells amazing because of all of the spices.
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The air smells fragrant.
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Fragrant means something has a strong, pleasant smell.
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I already have fresh mushrooms,
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but there are dried mushrooms here too.
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They're handy to have at home if you've run out of other ingredients.
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I also love crispy fried shallots as a garnish,
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so I'll grab a container of them.
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A garnish is a small extra ingredient added on top of food for flavour or for decoration.
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Over here are some baskets of fruit.
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They look very colourful and fresh.
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The bright pink skin of the dragon fruit looks amazing.
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These big Korean pears look juicy.
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It's autumn in Australia now,
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so that means they're in season here.
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These pears and apples have a soft foam netting around them them.
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It's to protect the fruit from becoming damaged or bruised.
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At the front of the store there are shelves filled with instant noodles.
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Instant noodles are noodles that can cook in just a few minutes with some hot water.
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I think these are popular all over the world.
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I love looking at the packaging here.
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A lot of the packets are colorful and playful.
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Some even have cartoon characters or or celebrities printed on them.
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In Australia, we rarely have cute designs on our packaging like this.
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We also don't have celebrities on our food products, unless they're an athlete.
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Maybe it's because there aren't a lot of Australian celebrities.
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I love the colorful packaging and these cute little characters.
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Even the shape of the package itself is a little unusual.
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It's cut around the character, not just a square.
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There's some spring onions and potatoes in baskets on the way to the checkout.
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It's time to buy my groceries.
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I only bought a few items today,
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but visiting these kinds of supermarkets is a big part of my weekly routine.
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Did you recognize any items that you buy in your local supermarket?
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Thanks for coming grocery shopping with me today.
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How do you describe food that is hard and makes a cracking sound when you bite into it?
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Crunchy.
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What do you call sauces or seasonings that you add to food for extra flavour?
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Condiments.
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What word means products that are brought into a country from another country?
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Imported.
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How do you describe something that has a strong and pleasant smell?
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It's fragrant.
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What do you call food or a product that people use regularly in everyday life?
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A staple What do you call a small extra ingredient that you add on top of food for flavour or decoration?
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A garnish garnish.
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Thanks for joining me today and thanks so much to the members of my channel.
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If you'd like a little extra support with your English,
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members can download PDF scripts and watch extra listening and speaking practice videos about life here in Australia.
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If you enjoyed this video please subscribe for more real-life Australian English practice.
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See you next time!
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Why practice speaking with this video?
This video offers an engaging way to enhance your English speaking practice through real-life contexts. By exploring an Asian supermarket in Melbourne, you’ll learn practical vocabulary not commonly found in textbooks. The setting allows you to acquire language related to shopping, food, and cultural diversity, which is essential for everyday conversations. Utilizing the shadowing technique while watching this video encourages you to mimic the speaker’s pronunciation and intonation, which is crucial for improving fluency. As you shop alongside the presenter, you can even pay attention to specific products, making the experience more relatable and enjoyable. Engaging with such content will help you develop the confidence to speak naturally in various situations.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In this video, the speaker uses several key grammatical structures and expressions that are beneficial for learners:
- Descriptive adjectives: Words such as "tiny," "crunchy," and "crispy" provide vivid imagery and enhance your descriptive skills, useful in both speaking and writing.
- Present continuous tense: Phrases like "are selling" and "are restocking" highlight ongoing actions. This tense is often used in everyday conversations to describe what is happening in the moment, making it relevant for IELTS speaking practice.
- Imperatives: Commands, such as "squeeze past" or "let me know," are common in English for giving directions or asking for feedback. Mastering these can help you sound more natural in conversations.
- Comparative structures: The speaker contrasts "specialty supermarkets" with "regular supermarkets," which helps articulate differences clearly, an essential skill for detailed discussions.
Common Pronunciation Traps
When watching the video, pay close attention to these potentially tricky words and accents:
- Aisle: This word may be pronounced poorly if the 's' and 'l' sounds aren't distinctly articulated. It's important to practice its pronunciation to avoid confusion.
- Restocking: The speaker emphasizes the " stocking" part, which may blend into the surrounding words. Practicing this word in various sentences can help solidify your understanding and clarity.
- Convenient: This word can often be mispronounced due to syllable stress. Ensure you place emphasis on the second syllable to sound natural.
Applying these guidelines will not only help you improve English pronunciation but also increase your overall speaking proficiency. Try repeating sentences after the speaker, incorporating the shadow speak method to maximize your learning experience.
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.
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