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Shadowing practice: English Listening Practice - Grocery Shopping at the Supermarket in Australia

Listen to the line, then say it out loud
Line 1

Full transcript

  1. Hi there!0:00
  2. Today I need to go to the chemist and the supermarket to pick up some groceries.0:01
  3. I'm not visiting a garden today but I hope that you will learn some new English vocabulary that you can use in everyday life.0:07
  4. If you're new to learning English and want to see more about life in Australia, maybe you're planning to travel here, are studying here or are moving here for work,0:16
  5. this video series will help you understand everyday English while exploring real places around Melbourne and Australia.0:27
  6. In this series I've used the 3000 most common English words to help you learn quickly through comprehensible input.0:36
  7. You can speak along with me and use this video for shadowing practice or you can relax and listen along.0:44
  8. Okay let's go for a walk.0:52
  9. Let's walk into the chemist.0:55
  10. This chemist sells many different bathroom products, medicines and toiletries.0:57
  11. This aisle is full of different kinds of makeup and cosmetics.1:04
  12. These eyeliner pencils come in blue, black, purple and white.1:10
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  1. Towards the back of the store I can find the first item that I need.1:18
  2. I'm looking for some moisturizer.1:23
  3. The moisturizer is on this shelf in a white container.1:25
  4. The larger container is on sale which means it's cheaper to buy the bigger size.1:30
  5. It's better value so I'll buy that one.1:36
  6. Because it is spring there is a lot of pollen in the air and the weather has been very windy.1:39
  7. This can cause allergies called hay fever where your eyes get itchy and you sneeze.1:46
  8. I'm going to buy a packet of allergy tablets to prevent hay fever.1:53
  9. Down this aisle is toothpaste, toothbrushes and other things you use to look after your teeth like floss and mouthwash.1:58
  10. I've bought my allergy tablets and moisturizer and now we can head to the supermarket to buy a few groceries for dinner tonight.2:08
  11. The walkway between the chemist and the supermarket is under cover and has fairy lights hanging along the sides.2:17
  12. At night the restaurants here are open and you can sit at these tables to eat.2:25
  13. Out the other side next to a car park is the supermarket.2:31
  14. Before you go inside you can take a trolley to put your items in.2:37
  15. A trolley is a shopping cart with wheels that you push around the store.2:42
  16. These trolleys are linked together so you need to put a coin in here to unlock one.2:47
  17. We're only buying a few items today so I'll take a basket instead.2:54
  18. In we go!2:59
  19. The first section is the fresh produce section where they sell fresh fruits and vegetables.3:01
  20. Mangoes are in season which means that they are growing right now and taste their best so we'll definitely get one.3:07
  21. Behind the mangoes is a set of scales.3:14
  22. Scales measure the weight of the produce so you know how much you're buying.3:18
  23. A lot of fresh produce is charged by weight so this can be helpful.3:23
  24. Next we need some spinach.3:29
  25. I eat a lot of spinach so I usually get this big bag.3:32
  26. I also want some blueberries for my breakfast.3:37
  27. I'll check the bottom of the container to make sure that none of them are squished.3:42
  28. I'm looking for a green chilli.3:47
  29. The red chillies on the left are smaller than the long green chillies on the right.3:50
  30. I'll take this one.3:56
  31. Now I'm looking for a red onion.3:59
  32. These onions here have papery layers on the outside but this one looks smooth.4:02
  33. I'll put it in the basket.4:10
  34. Over here is the deli.4:13
  35. A deli in a supermarket is where they sell cold meats like ham or sliced chicken.4:15
  36. I'm a vegetarian which means I don't eat meat so I don't usually visit the deli but they also have olives, sun -dried tomatoes and different kinds of cheese.4:22
  37. They also sell fresh fish here.4:36
  38. Behind the deli there are loaves of bread.4:41
  39. This one has black sesame seeds on top.4:44
  40. Right over here in the back corner there are little containers you can store your meals in.4:49
  41. This one is quite small.4:56
  42. This is the refrigerated section meaning the temperature of these shelves is kept cold so the food stays fresh.5:00
  43. Here you can find more cheese, tofu and dips.5:08
  44. These are foods that need to be stored in a cold place.5:13
  45. Now we're in the snack aisle.5:18
  46. There are lots of varieties of biscuits.5:21
  47. There are chocolate chip cookies and Tim Tams and there are also bags of lollies or candy.5:24
  48. My partner likes this Kit Kat flavor so we'll buy that today.5:33
  49. It's also half price into the basket.5:38
  50. In and alternative milk or non -dairy milk.5:46
  51. We'll get some oat milk to put in smoothies.5:52
  52. There's also a lot of bottled water on sale.5:56
  53. The tap water in Victoria is some of the best and cleanest in the world so you don't really need to buy plastic bottles of water here.6:00
  54. There's a list at the end of the aisle on a red chain.6:08
  55. The list shows the most common items in the store and where you can find them.6:12
  56. Back in the refrigerated section there are plenty of bottles of milk.6:18
  57. This is dairy milk from cows so it needs to be kept cold too.6:23
  58. Now we're in the pharmacy aisle similar to the chemist.6:30
  59. This is where you can find band -aids, shampoo and other personal items like deodorant or soap but we already bought what we needed earlier at the chemist.6:34
  60. This is the cleaning aisle.6:47
  61. These cleaning products come in spray bottles where you pull the trigger and the product sprays out of the nozzle at the front.6:49
  62. On the shelf below the cleaning product is in tubs.6:57
  63. Bottles are on the bottom shelf.7:03
  64. The scrubbing brushes are up high.7:07
  65. These are for washing your dishes.7:10
  66. At the end of the aisle is some stationery like scissors and notebooks, candles and balloons for a party.7:12
  67. This pack of markers has every color of the rainbow and if you need glue it's just underneath.7:21
  68. I also need some batteries for a microphone I own.7:30
  69. I'll take this large pack so I don't run out for a while.7:35
  70. Christmas is next month so there are Christmas themed items here too.7:39
  71. This toy is very squishy and cute.7:44
  72. We'll go through the self -checkout today because we only have a few items.7:49
  73. We'll put our basket on the side and scan each item at the checkout.7:55
  74. Scanning is when you hold the barcode underneath the light so the machine can read it.8:01
  75. At this self -checkout you placed each scanned item in the bagging area so the machine can check the weight.8:08
  76. For fresh produce you put the item on the scale and tap the screen to select what it is like the red onion or these bananas.8:16
  77. The mangoes aren't purchased by weight so we'll type one on the screen.8:28
  78. We have a rewards card that we can scan and then we'll choose to pay by card which we can do on our phone.8:36
  79. Time for my partner to pack the bag.8:46
  80. He does it very carefully and fits everything in neatly.8:49
  81. Alright we've done our grocery shopping.8:54
  82. Let's head back to the car and unpack everything at home.8:57
  83. Time to put our shopping away.9:01
  84. We've got a big bag of spinach that can go in our refrigerator.9:04
  85. The bananas are quite big and will fit perfectly in the fruit basket under the bench.9:09
  86. The mango can go there too.9:17
  87. Next bag.9:21
  88. Our oat milk and soy milk go next to the coffee machine.9:24
  89. And I'll put the reusable bags away for next time.9:29
  90. Thanks for coming grocery shopping with me today.9:34
  91. If your eyes feel itchy and you sneeze a lot what might you have?9:39
  92. Hey fever or allergies.9:47
  93. What do we call an area that's kept cold so food can stay fresh?9:52
  94. Refrigerated.10:01
  95. What do we call items like pens, scissors and notebooks?10:05
  96. Stationery.10:15
  97. Thanks for joining me today for another walk around Melbourne.10:17
  98. Where would you like to go next?10:21
  99. Or which everyday English topics would you like to learn about?10:23
  100. Please let me know in the comments below.10:27
  101. If you enjoyed this video please give it a like and subscribe for more simple Australian English practice.10:30
  102. See you next time.10:37

A2 English listening practice through an Australian chemist and supermarket

This clip is a single narrator, Lauren, walking you through a real errand run: a chemist stop for a moisturizer and allergy tablets, then a supermarket trip for dinner groceries. There is no dialogue to untangle, just one clear Australian voice describing what she sees and does, which makes it a good entry point for english listening practice before you try clips with several speakers talking over each other.

It sits at A2, and the pace, 169 words per minute, is steadier than most of the catalogue, so the sentences have room to breathe. The narrator even tells you directly what the video is for: "You can speak along with me and use this video for shadowing practice or you can relax and listen along." That line alone makes the case for treating it as english shadowing for beginners rather than a passive watch.

The everyday vocabulary in Lauren's chemist and supermarket walk

The opening lines stay concrete and describe objects in front of the camera, which is easier to shadow than abstract talk because the words map onto things you can picture.

  • "This chemist sells many different bathroom products, medicines and toiletries." Chemist is the Australian word for what a lot of learners know as a pharmacy or drugstore, and the sentence lists three plural nouns in a row, good for practising steady rhythm without a breath between them.
  • "A trolley is a shopping cart with wheels that you push around the store." Trolley is another Australian and British term where American English says cart. Say both lines back to back and you get a small lesson in regional vocabulary for free.
  • "These trolleys are linked together so you need to put a coin in here to unlock one." This one is a small stretch of connected instruction, worth repeating until it comes out as one phrase instead of five separate words.

Working through the chemist and supermarket lines in order

Follow the video's own order rather than skipping around. The clip moves from a short introduction into two clearly separated locations, so practising in sequence keeps the vocabulary grouped the way it was taught.

  • Start with "Hi there!" and "Okay let's go for a walk." Both are short and low pressure, useful for warming up your mouth before longer lines and for basic english speaking practice you can reuse in your own greetings.
  • Shadow line 7, "You can speak along with me and use this video for shadowing practice or you can relax and listen along," once slowly for the words, then again matching Lauren's actual speed.
  • Take the chemist description, "This chemist sells many different bathroom products, medicines and toiletries," and repeat it until the three nouns stop feeling like a list you are reading and start sounding like one sentence.
  • Move to the trolley pair, lines 27 and 28, and say them together. Defining sentences like "A trolley is a shopping cart with wheels that you push around the store" are a pattern worth keeping in your own speaking, not just this clip.
  • Finish by recording yourself on the allergy tablets line, "I'm going to buy a packet of allergy tablets to prevent hay fever," and compare your vowels to Lauren's. It is a natural place to work on your accent since the clip gives you a full, unhurried sentence to copy.
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