Shadowing Practice: TEST 1. Part 1: Children´s Engineering Workshops. - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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IELTS 16, Part 1.
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You will hear a man phoning to find out about some children's engineering workshops.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 3.
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Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 3.
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Hello, children's engineering workshops.
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Oh, hello.
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I wanted some information about the workshops in the school holidays.
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Sure.
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I have two daughters who are interested.
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The younger one's Lydia.
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She's four.
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Do you take children as young as that?
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Yes.
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Our tiny engineers' workshop is for four to five-year-olds.
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What sorts of activities do they do?
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All sorts.
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For example, they work together to design a special cover that goes round an egg, so that when it's inside,
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they can drop it from a height and it doesn't break.
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Well, sometimes it does break, but that's part of the fun.
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Right.
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And Lydia loves building things.
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Is there any opportunity for her to do that?
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Well, they have a competition to see who can make the highest tower.
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You'd be amazed how high they can go.
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Right.
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But they're learning all the time as well as having fun.
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For example, one thing they do is to design and build a car that's attached to a balloon
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and the force of the air in that actually powers the car and makes it move along.
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They go really fast too.
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OK, well, all this sounds perfect.
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Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 4 to 10.
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Now listen and answer questions 4 to 10.
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Now Carly, that's my older daughter, has just had her seventh birthday.
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So presumably she'd be in a different group?
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Yes, she'd be in the junior engineers.
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That's for children from six to eight.
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And do they do the same sorts of activities?
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Some are the same, but a bit more advanced.
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So they work out how to build model vehicles, things like cars and trucks,
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but also how to construct animals using the same sorts of material and technique.
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And then they learn how they can program them and make them move.
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So they learn a bit of coding?
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They do.
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They pick it up really quickly.
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We're there to help if they need it, but they learn from one another too.
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Right.
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And do they have competitions too yes with the junior engineers it's to use recycled materials like card
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and wood to build a bridge and the longest one gets a prize
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that sounds fun i wouldn't mind doing that myself
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then they have something a bit different
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which is to think up an idea for a five minute movie
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and then film it using special animation software you'd be amazed what they come up with
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and of course that's something they can put on their phone and take home to show all their friends
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exactly and then they also build a robot in the shape of a human
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and they decorate it and program it so
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that it can move its arms and legs perfect so is it the same price as the tiny engineers?
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it's just a bit more, £50 for the five weeks And are the classes on a Monday too?
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There used to be, but we found it didn't give our staff enough time to clear up after the first workshop
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So we moved them to Wednesdays The classes are held in the morning from 10 to 11 OK,
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that's better for me actually And what about the location?
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Where exactly are the workshops held?
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They're in building 10A.
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There's a big sign on the door.
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You can't miss it.
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And that's in Fradston Industrial Estate.
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Sorry?
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Fradston.
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That's F-R-A-D-S-T-O-N-E.
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And that's in Grassford, isn't it?
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Yes, up past the station.
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And will I have any parking problems there?
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No, there's always plenty available.
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So, would you like to enrol Lydia and Carly now?
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OK.
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So, can I have your full name and...
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 75 sentences and 657 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:49. The speaker talks at a steady 136 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

WordPronunciationMeaning
workshop noun/ˈwɝk.ʃɑp/A room, especially one which is not particularly large, used for manufacturing or other light industrial work.
technique noun/tɛkˈniːk/The practical aspects of a given art, occupation etc.; formal requirements.
carefully adverb/ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/With care; attentively, circumspectly.
seventh adjective/ˈsɛvənθ/The ordinal form of the number seven.
robot noun/ˈɹoʊ.bɑt/An intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal.
animation noun/ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/The act of animating, or giving life or spirit.
presumably adverb/pɹɪˈzuːməbli/Able to be sensibly presumed.
construct verb/ˈkɑn.stɹʌkt/To build or form (something) by assembling parts.
balloon noun/bəˈlun/An inflatable buoyant object, often (but not necessarily) round and flexible.
attach verb/əˈtæt͡ʃ/To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
amaze verb/əˈmeɪz/To fill (someone) with surprise and wonder; to astonish, to astound, to surprise.
decorate verb/ˈdɛkəɹeɪt/To furnish with decorations.
enrol verbUK, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, and Canada standard spelling of enroll.
recycle verb/ɹəˈsaɪkəl/To break down and reuse component materials.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordPronunciationMeaning
clear up verb/klɪəˈɹʌp/To clarify, to correct a misconception.
come up with verbTo manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it.
go round verbTo physically swirl or rotate.
move along verbTo continue without being distracted; to keep going.
think up verbTo create in one’s mind; to invent.
work out verb/ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/To calculate.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

StructureIn the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itbe amazed · are held
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a groupthe highest · the longest
Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or predictionwill hear · will I

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 12 contractions and reduced forms, such as she'd, they're, you'd. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

  • The “sh” and “zh” sounds: workshop /ˈwɝk.ʃɑp/, animation /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/
  • Long words — get the stress right: animation /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/, presumably /pɹɪˈzuːməbli/

How to practise with this video

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

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 →