Shadowing Practice: Track 07a - Learn English Speaking with Video

Recording 7a, Speaker 1.

I live in a quaint little village about 300 kilometres from the nearest big city.

Although it's a long way, the drive from the city is well worth the effort because the surrounding countryside is very scenic.

I like living here because it's so peaceful and the air is really fresh, so it's much nicer than in the city.

It's a pretty sleepy village,

but on Sundays there's a huge market and people come from all the neighbouring villages to buy and sell their local produce.

Speaker 2 The most popular part of my hometown is the beach.

We have long stretches of white sand and the water is crystal clear.

The sea can be very calm at times, but the surf can also be spectacular.

Visitors who enjoy water sports are really well catered for, as you can go snorkelling, scuba diving and deep sea fishing.

Soon we're going to get our own airport, but for now people can only get here by ferry.

Speaker 3 My city is famous for its skyscrapers, statues and fountains, but most of all for its shopping.

You can buy anything you want here and we have over 50 large shopping malls.

We get a lot of overseas visitors, so our airport is one of the busiest in the world.

It's a very exciting and cosmopolitan place to live.

Most people don't drive because there are always traffic jams, but the public transport is really well organised.

We have some great attractions nearby for visitors, as well as a huge sports stadium and fantastic theme parks.

I suppose the only downside is that the air can get a little polluted at times.

Speaker 4 My village is 200 metres above sea level, and we overlook the villages and lakes down in the valley below.

It's very picturesque up here, so we get a lot of visitors, especially artists who want to paint the landscape.

They also like our traditional houses.

The air is very crisp up here as well, so a lot of people come up here to escape the heat in the city.

The roads are pretty treacherous because they're very steep and winding, so most people arrive by train.

The scenery on the way up here really is breathtaking.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

The speaker keeps coming back to these words: village, visitors, Speaker, sea. This video has 24 sentences and 375 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:37. The speaker talks at a steady 143 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% 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

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
visitor noun	/ˈvɪzɪtɚ/	Someone who visits someone else; someone staying as a guest.
cosmopolitan adjective	/ˌkɑz.məˈpɑl.ɪ.tən/	Inclusive; affecting the whole world.
excite verb	/ɪkˈsaɪt/	To stir the emotions of; to cause to feel excitement.
kilometre noun	/kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/	An SI unit of length equal to 10³ metres. Symbol: km
picturesque adjective	/ˌpɪkt͡ʃəˈɹɛsk/	Resembling or worthy of a picture or painting; having the qualities of a picture or painting; pleasingly beautiful.
pollute verb	/pəˈluːt/	To make something harmful, especially by the addition of some unwanted product.
skyscraper noun	/ˈskaɪˌskɹeɪpɚ/	A very tall building with a large number of floors.
snorkel noun		A hollow tube, held in the mouth, or mounted on and opening into a diving mask, used by swimmers for breathing underwater.
treacherous adjective	/ˈtɹɛt͡ʃəɹəs/	Exhibiting treachery.
overlook verb	/ˈoʊ.vɚˌlʊk/	To offer a view (of something) from a higher position.
downside noun	/ˈdaʊnˌsaɪd/	A disadvantageous aspect of something that is normally advantageous.
cater verb	/ˈkeɪɾɚ/	To provide, particularly
breathtaking adjective	/ˈbɹɛθˌteɪ.kɪŋ/	stunningly beautiful; amazing
scenic adjective	/ˈsiːnɪk/	having beautiful scenery; picturesque
sleepy adjective	/ˈsliːpi/	Tired; feeling the need for sleep.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
come up verb	To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
have over verb	To host (a visiting guest) at one's house.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 3 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, they're, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

Long words — get the stress right: cosmopolitan /ˌkɑz.məˈpɑl.ɪ.tən/, kilometre /kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/, spectacular /spɛkˈtæk.jə.lɚ/

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 visitor, cosmopolitan, excite.

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: Track 07a - Learn English Speaking with Video

Track 03b

25 Audio Track

35 Audio Track

15 Audio Track

09 Test Practice Track 02

Track 18

Track 16 2

Track 15a

Track 09a

44 Audio Track

38 Audio Track

21 Audio Track

20 Test Practice Track 03

33 Normalisation In Written English

28 Relative Clauses

16 The Noun Phrase

14 ADJectives And Adverbs

10 Countable And Uncountable Nouns

07 Past Tenses 02

Track 20b