Shadowing for IELTS Speaking

Say a Part 2 opening line now

Say the line after the speaker

The exercise opens on one line from Susan Cain’s talk, at 0:15: “When I was nine years old, I went off to summer camp for the first time.” That is how a Part 2 story starts: when, then what happened. Listen once, say it when she finishes, then open Compare and play your take beside the original. Your recordings stay on your device.

Which IELTS criteria does shadowing help?

• Pronunciation (25%): directly. You copy a clear speaker’s stress, rhythm, intonation and how words link, which is what makes you easy to understand.
• Fluency and Coherence (25%): the fluency half, directly. Saying whole sentences at natural speed trains you to keep going without stopping to find words. Copying how good speakers connect ideas (“the thing is…”, “on top of that…”) helps coherence too.
• Lexical Resource and Grammar (25% each): only indirectly, through phrases you absorb. Shadowing is not a vocabulary or grammar course.

Honest limits: no tool can tell you your band. Sada checks which of your words came across and how far behind the speaker you were; an examiner judges much more than that.

How to practise each part: a question, a real line, then your answer

The test takes 11 to 14 minutes, face to face with an examiner, in three parts. For each part: a question of the kind you may hear (common examples, not official questions), how to build your answer, and a real line from a filmed talk. Press “Practise this line” to hear it and say it after the speaker, then answer the question yourself.

Part 1: questions about you

A question you might hear: Do you work or are you a student?

Short questions about your work or studies, your home and your free time. Answer in two or three sentences: the answer, then a reason or an example. Don’t stop at “yes” or “no”, and don’t give a speech.

“I loved the job, I really did.”

Terri Trespicio · 0:27 · Practise this line →

“I really did” stresses what you just said without repeating the verb: an easy, natural way to make a short answer longer. The stress falls on “loved” and “really”.

“I'm so excited to be in Taiwan. I've always wanted to come to Taiwan.”

Derek Sivers · 0:20 · Practise this line →

An answer to “Do you like travelling?”: put a country you’d like to visit in place of Taiwan. “I’ve always wanted to” is a ready-made phrase whose words run together in one breath.

Your turn: close the video and answer the same question out loud about your own life, using the phrase you just practised.

Part 2: the long turn

A question you might hear: Describe a time when you did something for the first time.

The examiner gives you a card with a topic and one minute to make notes, then you talk alone for up to two minutes. The hardest part is the first sentence: start with when and where, as a story starts, then what happened, then how you felt.

“When I was nine years old, I went off to summer camp for the first time.”

Susan Cain · 0:15 · Practise this line →

A whole story opening in one sentence: “When I was …”, then what happened, in the past. Pause briefly at the comma, and say “went off” as if it were one word.

Your turn: close the video and answer the same question out loud about your own life, using the phrase you just practised.

Part 3: discussion

A question you might hear: Why do some people think they are not creative?

Wider questions on the Part 2 topic, asking for your opinion and why. Give your view, then the reason, then an example. A phrase such as “I think it’s more to do with …” buys you a second to think without going quiet.

“Because when people say they can't draw, I think it's more to do with beliefs rather than talent and ability.”

Graham Shaw · 0:38 · Practise this line →

A long opinion sentence: take a breath after “can’t draw”, then say the rest without stopping. “Rather than” compares two reasons, and fits many Part 3 questions.

“We all need people who will give us feedback.”

Bill Gates · 0:38 · Practise this line →

A general sentence to open your view on work or education, before a reason from your own life. The stress falls on “all”, “need” and “feedback”.

Your turn: close the video and answer the same question out loud about your own life, using the phrase you just practised.

Common IELTS Speaking questions: start your answer out loud

Questions of the kind that come up again and again, on the topics ielts.org names: home, family, work, studies and interests. They are not official questions, and not the questions of a coming test. Each has the start of an answer: finish it out loud about your own life, without writing it down.

Part 1: answer in 20 to 30 seconds

• Do you work or are you a student?

  Start like this:

  I'm a student. I'm studying … at …

  I chose it because …

  Working? Start with your job and where, then why.

• Where do you live?

  Start like this:

  I live in … with my family.

  It's a quiet area, and …

  Then describe the area in one sentence.

• What do you like about your hometown?

  Start like this:

  What I like most about … is …

  Then one example: a place you love there, or something you do there.

• Do you have a large family?

  Start like this:

  Not really. There are … of us.

  Then say who they are, and who you are closest to.

• What do you do in your free time?

  Start like this:

  In my free time, I usually …

  because it helps me …

  The answer, then the reason.

• Do you like reading?

  Start like this:

  I do, but not as much as I'd like to. I mostly read …

  Then when and where you read.

Part 2: one minute to prepare, then two minutes

• Describe a person who has helped you.

  Start like this:

  I'd like to talk about …, who …

  In the minute to prepare, write four words only: who, when, what happened, how you felt.

• Describe a place you would like to visit.

  Start like this:

  One place I've always wanted to visit is …

  Then why that place, who you would go with, and what you would do there.

• Describe a skill you learned.

  Start like this:

  When I was …, I decided to learn …

  Start with the time, as a story starts, like the Part 2 line above.

Part 3: view, reason, example

• Why do people like to learn new skills?

  Start like this:

  I think it's mainly because …

  For example, …

  Your view, then the reason, then an example from your life.

• Is it better to learn from a teacher or alone?

  Start like this:

  It depends on …

  On the one hand …, but on the other hand …

  Give both sides before you choose.

• How has technology changed the way people travel?

  Start like this:

  Compared to the past, …

  Then something that changed in your own travel or your family’s.

Before you answer, open that part’s real line above and say it after the speaker two or three times, then answer and use a phrase from it. Sada compares your voice with the video’s lines only; it does not hear your own answers, so record them on your phone, listen back, and time them.

Shadow real IELTS speaking tests

These are mock tests with high-scoring candidates, recorded by IELTS teachers. Shadow the candidate’s answers — they are exactly the kind of speech the test rewards. Each opens in Sada split into lines:

IELTS Speaking Test — Perfect Band 9IELTS Advantage · 8 min IELTS Speaking Test band score 9 with feedbackRoss IELTS Academy · 12 min · with examiner feedback IELTS Speaking Band 9 Sample TestOxford Online English · 17 min · Parts 1–3

A 15-minute daily routine

1. 5 minutes, Repeat mode: one Part 1 answer, line by line, at 0.75× if needed.
2. 5 minutes, Shadow mode: the same answer with the candidate, at normal speed, until most words turn green.
3. 5 minutes on your own: answer the same question yourself, out loud, and time it. Shadowing gives you the sound; this gives you the practice of building your own answer.

Once a week, do the same with a Part 2 long turn: shadow the candidate’s two minutes, then speak for two minutes on the same cue card. No partner? See how to practise speaking alone. Taking the TOEFL? Its Speaking section includes a Listen and Repeat task: see TOEFL Listen and Repeat practice. Taking PTE Academic? See PTE Repeat Sentence practice. For the Pronunciation criterion alone, what its band descriptors ask for and a real line to copy for each feature: IELTS pronunciation practice.

Sources

IELTS Speaking format (ielts.org), read 4 October 2026, IELTS Speaking band descriptors (ielts.org) and IDP: understanding the Speaking band descriptors. New to shadowing? Read how the technique works.

Practise one line, step by step

1. Open an exercise from this guide. Choose a captioned video for this guide’s topic and a line whose meaning you understand.
2. Listen and read the caption, then say the line after the speaker in Repeat mode.
3. Try saying the line with the speaker in Shadow mode, following the rhythm and pauses.
4. Record a take, then open Compare and play your recording and the original. Review words and timing; Sada does not grade individual sounds.
5. Answer a related question in your own words without following the recording; do not treat word feedback as an IELTS score.