So I like to talk about the highly efficient techniques that I adapted during learning my English Which was the shadowing technique The main reason why I started doing this was that I just wanted to move from traditional grammar exercises and focus more on sounding natural and fluently Essentially, this technique involves listening to an native speaker and repeating what they say in real time by completely mimicking their pronunciation, intonation and even rhythm. And they started doing this about six months ago using educational podcasts such as TED TOX Daily or BBC World Service program. Every single day I would spend 15 to 20 minutes completely immersed in this practice. And eventually this activity has helped me tremendously in various ways. First and foremost, it has greatly enhanced my oral fluency and reduced hesitation while speaking. Furthermore, it considerably expanded my passive vocabulary as I effortlessly picked up a wide range of useful collocations and idioms without boring memorization. At first, I must admit that I felt a bit overwhelmed and silly repeating the sentences like an echo. It required a great deal of concentration and mental effort. However, as weeks went by and I started noticing a visible improvement in my speaking confidence, my opinion changed. And overall, doing this practice made me realize that language acquisition is not just about memorizing complicated grammar structures, but also about training your ears and learning the vocal muscles.
Band 8+: Describe a thing you did to learn a language You should say: what language you learned what you did how it helped you how you felt about it
Skyrocket your IELTS band score by 1-2 points in under a month with our premium plan!
Note: Both the topic and the answer were submitted by one of our users.
82%
Accuracy
The overall pronunciation accuracy of your speech, reflecting how well a native speaker can comprehend it.
Polished transcript:
Male
Female
So I like to talk about the highly efficient techniques that I adopted during my learning of English, which was the shadowing technique. The main reason why I started doing this was that I wanted to move from traditional grammar exercises and focus more on sounding natural and fluent. Essentially, this technique involves listening to a native speaker and repeating what they say in real time by completely mimicking their pronunciation, intonation, and even rhythm. I started doing this about six months ago using educational podcasts such as TED Talks Daily or the BBC World Service program. Every single day, I would spend 15 to 20 minutes completely immersed in this practice. Eventually, this activity has helped me tremendously in various ways. First and foremost, it has greatly enhanced my oral fluency and reduced hesitation while speaking. Furthermore, it considerably expanded my passive vocabulary as I effortlessly picked up a wide range of useful collocations and idioms without boring memorization. At first, I must admit that I felt a bit overwhelmed and silly repeating the sentences like an echo. It required a great deal of concentration and mental effort. However, as weeks went by and I started noticing a visible improvement in my speaking confidence, my opinion changed. Overall, doing this practice made me realize that language acquisition is not just about memorizing complicated grammar structures, but also about training your ears and learning the vocal muscles.
Actual audio transcript (What native speakers are likely to hear):
Tips: Click on each word to see feedback.
Speaking Time: 95 seconds