Shadowing Practice: Volunteer work application form: Grace Brown: IELTS LISTENING Vol 5 Test 6 Section 1 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Part 1 You will hear a man who runs a volunteer
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agency interviewing a woman called Grace who is applying to do volunteer work.
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First you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5.
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Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.
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Hello, Grace.
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I'm William.
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Thanks for coming in for this interview.
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It's very important for us to meet our volunteers in person.
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I understand.
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It's no problem at all.
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OK.
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Let's get started.
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What's the best phone number to contact you on?
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My mobile phone's probably best.
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The number's 021 636 7189.
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But I can't always answer it during the day.
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I'll give you my email address as well.
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I check it frequently.
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OK.
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I'll make a note that email's a good way to contact you.
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What's the address?
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It's graceb .travel .co .nz.
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I chose it when I was younger, and I just haven't changed it since.
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It's easy to remember.
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Now, do you have any particular qualifications, Grace?
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I'm a housewife now, but I used to be in teaching.
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I trained for that and got my diploma, although I haven't done it for years.
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Before having children, I worked as a bank teller.
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Alright.
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I need to find out when you'll be available during the week.
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You said you have children.
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Are they at school?
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Yes, both of them are.
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So I can't start work before 8 .15 in the morning or work past 3 o 'clock in the afternoon.
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So you'd be looking for about four or five hours a day, say 9 .15am to 2pm?
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That gives you time to get to and from school to work.
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That's perfect.
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It's important for me to be there for my children. Of course.
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And are you looking to work Monday to Friday?
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Yes.
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If it gets to be too much, I can rethink it later.
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Now, Grace, you obviously have a lot of work experience, but have you done any volunteer work before?
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Um, during the Rugby World Cup, there were many visitors who didn't know their way around or what they should see and do in Auckland City.
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So I worked as a guide to help introduce the city to tourists.
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I really enjoyed it.
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OK, good.
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Have you done anything else?
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Perhaps when you were at school or university?
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Did you do any volunteer work there?
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When I was at university, the manager of a netball team asked me to be the coach and I did that.
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Great.
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It sounds like you like your sports.
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I used to, but not so much nowadays.
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OK.
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Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10.
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Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10.
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If not sports, do you have any other interests?
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Oh, yes.
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I love to get out in my garden and I grow most of my own vegetables.
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I love flowers and flower arranging.
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But I don't suppose there's much volunteer work associated with those kinds of things.
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You'd be surprised.
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Any other hobbies?
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Like most people, I guess, I like music.
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Actually, I can play the guitar, but I haven't done much for a while, so I'm a bit rusty.
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One day I'd like to have a go at the flute.
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OK.
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That gives me a good idea of the type of work you might be interested in.
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Ideally, it'd be something that combines your experience and your hobbies.
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If you're interested in something outdoors, I have a position helping out on a farm.
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That's just for a month.
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It's not too physically demanding, though it does require you to be on your feet all day.
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And it'd be nice as long as the weather is fine, but I imagine it could be uncomfortable in the rain or the heat.
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In the past we've had many positions working in community centres.
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They've been working with the disabled or teens.
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The position we have available now is with elderly men and women.
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They have activities like flower arranging, music lessons, sing -alongs, things like that.
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Both of those sound great.
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I'm really open to anything.
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That's nice to know.
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Just a couple more questions.
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Why do you want to do volunteer work?
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Well, now that both my children are in school, I'd like to make some friends as I've got the time on my hands.
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Also, I like the idea of helping others.
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And last question.
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How did you find our agency?
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We aren't in the phone book.
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Did a friend tell you about us?
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No, I was on my way to school the other day and I saw your advertisement at the supermarket.
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It's good to know someone sees those ads.
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Thank you again for coming...
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That is the end of Part 1.
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You now have one minute to check your answers to Part 1.
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Thank you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Volunteer work application form: Grace Brown: IELTS LISTENING Vol 5 Test 6 Section 1”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: volunteer, Grace, answer, flower, position. This video has 94 sentences and 799 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:29. The speaker talks at a steady 123 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 15 of its 94 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

WordPronunciationMeaning
volunteer noun/ˌvɑlənˈtɪɹ/One who enters into, or offers themselves for, any service of their own free will, especially when done without pay.
flower noun/ˈfloʊɚ/A reproductive structure in angiosperms (flowering plants), often conspicuously colourful and typically including sepals, petals, and either or both stamens…
arrange verb/əˈɹeɪnd͡ʒ/To set up; to organize; to put into an orderly sequence or arrangement.
hobby noun/ˈhɑ.bi/An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.
guitar noun/ɡɪˈtɑɹ/A stringed musical instrument, of European origin, usually with a fretted fingerboard and six strings, played with the fingers or a plectrum (guitar pick).
lesson noun/ˈlɛs.ən/A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
carefully adverb/ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/With care; attentively, circumspectly.
clock noun/klɑk/A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
associate noun/əˈsoʊʃi.ət/A person united with another or others in an act, enterprise, or business; a partner or employee.
introduce verb/ˌɪntɹəˈdus/To cause (someone) to be acquainted (with someone else).
physically adverb/ˈfɪz.ɪ.kli/In a physical manner.
outdoor adjective/aʊtˈdɔː/Situated in, designed to be used in, or carried on in the open air.
uncomfortable adjective/ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/Not comfortable; causing discomfort.
elderly adjective/ˈɛldɚli/old; having lived for relatively many years.
combine verb/kəmˈbaɪn/To bring (two or more things or activities) together; to unite.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordMeaning
come in for verbTo be subjected to.
find out verbTo discover, as by asking or investigating.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

  • What's the best phone number to contact you on?
  • Have you done anything else?
  • Perhaps when you were at school or university?
  • Did you do any volunteer work there?
  • If not sports, do you have any other interests?

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 25 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, haven't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

  • The “sh” and “zh” sounds: associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, qualification /ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
  • Long words — get the stress right: associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, qualification /ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, advertisement /ˈædvɚˌtaɪzmənt/, supermarket /ˌsupɚˈmɑɹkət/

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 volunteer, flower, arrange.

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 →