Shadowing Practice: Sports and exercise – A1 English Listening Test - Learn English Speaking with Video
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39 sentences
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1
At school, I had to play football and volleyball.
2
I wasn't very good, so for a long time I never played team sports.
3
But recently I started playing badminton with a friend.
4
I'm not a great player, but I'm getting better.
5
First, I just played on Wednesdays, but now I play on Saturdays too.
6
It's sociable and fun.
7
I even started jogging because I wanted to be fitter.
8
I don't go far.
9
I just jog around my village for about 20 minutes.
10
I cycle to work now, too.
11
I'm happy because now I am getting enough exercise.
12
Last year, I didn't do any.
13
I have always loved sports.
14
I played volleyball and soccer at school and university, and we were always successful.
15
I always preferred team sports to exercising alone.
16
I liked learning about other people's skills and choosing the best way to play.
17
I never enjoyed running or cycling for miles in the countryside.
18
It's so boring.
19
I only run in the gym.
20
There, I can chat to people.
21
I don't go to the gym now because I just moved to a village and there isn't one here.
22
There are no sports teams either.
23
I hate not getting any exercise.
24
I play badminton with a colleague once a month, but that's all.
25
I always enjoyed exercise.
26
Not team games like football or volleyball, but solo sports like running and cycling.
27
I was a great cyclist when I was younger.
28
I won some big international races but then I had a really bad car accident
29
and after that I couldn't use my legs.
30
For For a while, I got really lazy.
31
I didn't do anything.
32
But finally, I joined a wheelchair sports club.
33
We played games like badminton and volleyball in our wheelchairs.
34
It was quite fun, but I was never a serious player.
35
But there, I met a girl who races in her wheelchair.
36
I tried that and loved it.
37
I'm training for a race next month.
38
Wish me luck.
39
Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This A1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Sports and exercise – A1 English Listening Test”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: sports, volleyball, played, badminton, wheelchair. This video has 39 sentences and 332 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:27. The speaker talks at a steady 136 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 73% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
12 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| volleyball noun | /ˈvɒlibɔ(ː)l/ | A game played on a rectangular court between two teams of two to six players which involves striking a ball back and forth over a net. |
| wheelchair noun | /ˈ(h)wilt͡ʃɛɹ/ | A chair mounted on large wheels for the transportation or use of a sick or disabled person. |
| soccer noun | /ˈsɑk.ɚ/ | Association football. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| lazy adjective | /ˈleɪ̯zi(ː)/ | Unwilling to do work or make an effort; disinclined to exertion. |
| colleague noun | /ˈkɒliːɡ/ | A fellow member of a profession, staff, academic faculty or other organization; an associate, a workmate. |
| bore verb | /boɹ/ | To inspire boredom in somebody. |
| countryside noun | /ˈkʌn.tɹiˌsaɪd/ | An area located outside of towns and cities; an area that is not urban or suburban; a rural area. |
| cyclist noun | /ˈsaɪ.klɪst/ | A person who rides a cycle, especially a bicycle, or who habitually engages in cycling. |
| badminton noun | /ˈbæd.mɪn.tən/ | A racquet sport played indoors on a court by two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs of players (doubles), in which a shuttlecock is volleyed over… |
| jog verb | /d͡ʒɑɡ/ | To push slightly; to move or shake with a push or jerk, as to gain the attention of; to jolt. |
| sociable adjective | /ˈsoʊʃəbəl/ | Tending to socialize or be social. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'm not a great player, but I'm getting better.
- I'm happy because now I am getting enough exercise.
- Last year, I didn't do any.
- I'm training for a race next month.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | started playing · started jogging · enjoyed running |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | I'm getting · am getting · I'm training |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, didn't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
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 volleyball, wheelchair, soccer.
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.