Shadowing Practice: Buying My First Car: New or Second-Hand? - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
31 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Dad, look at this! It's brand new, and it's gorgeous.
2
Wow, it's nice. How much is it, though?
3
Well... about thirty-two thousand dollars.
4
Thirty-two thousand? For your first car?
5
I know, but I've got a steady job now.
6
Okay, let's think about it carefully, honey.
7
Are you planning to pay for it with a loan?
8
Yeah, the dealer offered me a five-year loan.
9
And what's the interest rate?
10
Um, I didn't actually ask...
11
Ugh, that's the first thing you should ask!
12
A new car loses value the moment you drive it away.
13
Really? Even if it's brand new?
14
Especially then. It can lose twenty percent in a year.
15
Okay, this one's only three years old.
16
Let's check the mileage first.
17
It says forty-five thousand miles. Is that a lot?
18
Not bad at all, actually. About fifteen thousand a year.
19
But we need to see the service history.
20
The salesman said it's never been in an accident.
21
Go on, take it for a test drive.
22
Wow, it drives really smoothly!
23
Wait, did you hear that noise when you braked?
24
Oh no... is that a bad sign?
25
Maybe it just needs new brake pads.
26
We'll ask them to fix it before you sign anything.
27
So they'll replace the brakes and knock off five hundred dollars!
28
See? That's how you negotiate.
29
And it's half the price of the new one!
30
I'm proud of you, kiddo. You made a smart choice.
31
Thanks, Dad. But you're paying for the first tank of gas!
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
A1911
Can You Swim? What Can You Do?
American AccentBritish AccentKidsDaily Conversation
A2951
What's in Your School Bag?
American AccentBritish AccentKidsTeensDaily Conversation
B1424
Discipline Beats Motivation
American AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B1388
Calling In Sick: I Can't Come to Work Today
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A1268
Lunch Break: What Do You Want to Eat?
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B1424
IELTS Speaking Part 1: Food, Shopping and the Weather
American AccentBritish AccentIELTS PrepDaily ConversationUniversity Students
A1130
A Day in My Life 1: Getting Up
American AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2115
Why a Song Gets Stuck in Your Head
American AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
A21,427
Taking the Bus to the City Centre
British AccentTravel EnglishDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B1104
Back from Japan: Telling a Friend About My Trip
American AccentBritish AccentTravel EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
A2805
Finding Things at the Supermarket
British AccentTravel EnglishDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A2131
Lunch in the School Canteen
American AccentKidsTeensDaily Conversation
B21,297
My First Month Living Abroad
American AccentTravel EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
A274
Speaking Challenge: A Family Holiday I Remember
British AccentIELTS PrepDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A2410
What's Your Phone Number? Meeting a New Classmate
American AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1117
IELTS Speaking Part 3: Health, Fast Food and Exercise
American AccentBritish AccentIELTS PrepUniversity Students
A2592
A Rainy Night at the Corner Shop
American AccentTravel EnglishDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A1190
At the Aquarium: One, Two, Many
American AccentKidsDaily Conversation
A135
Fast and Slow: The Big Race
American AccentBritish AccentKidsDaily Conversation
A197
What's in My Lunchbox?
British AccentKidsDaily Conversation
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B127 sentences
A Minor Car Accident: Swapping Insurance Details
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B18
25 sentences
First Day Nerves at the Café
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A12,233
56 sentences
A1 English Listening Practice - Money
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
12 sentences
Car Dealership Insider Tips: What to Know Before Visiting a Dealership
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
535 sentences
I BOUGHT A $250,000 MERCEDES MAYBACH!
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B12
180 sentences
Car Vocabulary
American AccentTravel EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B11
152 sentences
How to Sell Things Online in English | Buying and Selling Secondhand
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
84 sentences
Basic English Conversation Practice | Simple English for Daily Life
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B128 sentences
وقع بفخهم .. | Small Time 2014
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
51 sentences
Daily conversations B1-B1 3
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
232 sentences
Don't Buy a Car Until You Watch THIS Video | How to Negotiate in 2026
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
114 sentences
How To Learn To Fix Cars (Beginner’s Guide)
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Buying My First Car: New or Second-Hand?”. This video has 31 sentences and 252 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:40. The speaker talks at a natural 151 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 11 of its 31 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| thirty noun | /ˈθɝti/ | A commercial lasting 30 seconds. |
| brake noun | /bɹeɪk/ | A device used to slow or stop the motion of a wheel, or of a vehicle, usually by friction (although other resistive forces, such as electromagnetic fields or… |
| carefully adverb | /ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/ | With care; attentively, circumspectly. |
| honey noun | /ˈhʌni/ | A sweet, viscous, gold-colored fluid produced from plant nectar by bees, and often consumed by humans. |
| gorgeous adjective | /ˈɡoɹd͡ʒəs/ | Sumptuously dressed. |
| knock verb | /nɑk/ | To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood. |
| steady adjective | /ˈstɪdi/ | Firm in standing or position; not tottering or shaking; fixed; firm. |
| forty adjective | /ˈfoɹti/ | Resembling or characteristic of a fort. |
| dealer noun | /ˈdiːlə(ɹ)/ | One who deals in goods, especially automobiles; a middleman. |
| fifteen noun | /ˈfɪf.tiːn/ | An Irish traybake made with crushed digestive biscuits, marshmallows and glacé cherries combined with condensed milk and desiccated coconut. |
| pad noun | /pæd/ | A flattened mass of anything soft, to sit or lie on. |
| negotiate verb | /nəˈɡəʊ.ʃi.eɪt/ | To confer with others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement. |
| smoothly adverb | /ˈsmuːðli/ | in a smooth manner; smooth |
| mileage noun | /ˈmaɪləd͡ʒ/ | The total distance travelled in miles or in air miles. |
| salesman noun | A man whose job it is to sell things, either in a shop / store or elsewhere. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- For your first car?
- I know, but I've got a steady job now.
- Are you planning to pay for it with a loan?
- Ugh, that's the first thing you should ask!
- Wait, did you hear that noise when you braked?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | Are you planning · you're paying |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | We'll ask · they'll replace |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 6 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, I'm, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thirty /ˈθɝti/, smoothly /ˈsmuːðli/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like thirty, brake, carefully.
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.