Shadowing Practice: How To Buy A House Explained with Bananas - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Monkey wants to own home, but how does
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Monkey buy home?
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There are a few options.
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Option one, be rich.
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I really want my own place.
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I don't understand.
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If you want the house, just buy it.
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Oh, okay.
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Your card was declined.
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Option two, inherit
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Monkey's parents' house.
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Monkey's parents have a home, but Monkey's parents are still alive, and taking them out would be financially unwise.
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What?
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I was just kidding.
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Kidding about what, son?
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Nothing.
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Option three, monkey gets a loan from monkey bank.
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This called a mortgage.
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A mortgage is a loan monkey banks give to monkeys to buy house.
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Monkeys then pay back monkey bank in small amounts over time, usually 15 to 30 years.
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So since monkey isn't rich and monkey's parents are still alive, pesky parents, monkey decides to get a mortgage,
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but the monkey bank won't give loans to just any monkey.
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What do you think this is?
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The 1920s?
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They first have to check if monkey can pay back the loan.
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Monkey needs to have a stable job, a good credit score, and enough leaves to put down a deposit.
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A deposit's usually about 10 to 20 % of the total loan.
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It's a show of good faith and that
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Monkey at least has some leaves.
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So if house costs 1 million leaves, Monkey would need to pay at least 100 ,000 leaves as a deposit.
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Then if everything is looking up, Monkey banks will pre -approve
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Monkey for a mortgage.
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Pre -approval means
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Monkey is now able to go house shopping.
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So Monkey takes a look around the jungle housing market.
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Some houses look good, but in bad location.
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Some houses in good location, but look bad
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and some houses just aren't quite right eventually monkey finds house that's perfect banana house rare banana house valuable
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so monkey makes an offer but so do other monkeys sometimes
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if enough monkeys make offers the banana real estate will host an auction
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this is a public meeting for monkeys who all want to
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buy the same house the auctioneer monkey will start with an
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opening price the starting bid is 400 000 leaves do i hear 400 000
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then monkeys will shout out their bid 400 ,000.
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I hear 400.
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400 ,000.
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450 ,000.
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450 ,000.
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475 ,000.
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475 ,000.
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Do you take banana express?
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475. Do I hear 500?
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500. 500.
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500. Do I hear more than 500?
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500, 1 ,000.
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Come on.
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1 million leads.
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Going once.
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Going twice.
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Three times.
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Sold to the monkey in the back.
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Then, when there are no higher bids, the monkey with the highest offer buys the house.
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But in most cases, auctions aren't necessary and Monkees will simply make an offer on the house, which the seller will either accept or decline.
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Would you take 999 ,999 leaves?
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Mmm, deal!
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Then Monkees signs paperwork and gets the keys.
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Now Monkees just has to pay back the leaves he borrowed from Monkees Bank over the next 30 years.
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Monkees will also have to pay the Monkees Bank interest.
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Interest is the cost of borrowing leaves.
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The Monkees Bank will offer Monkees a fixed interest rate or an adjustable interest rate.
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A fixed rate, much like Monkees' love for bananas, will always stay the same.
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an adjustable rate much like monkey riding an elevator goes up and down
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the monkey bank will give monkey a lower interest rate
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if they trust them to pay back the leaves
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and a higher interest rate
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if they're not too sure speaking of trust today's sponsor is
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cape cape is america's privacy first mobile carrier monkey is sick of at &t verizon
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and t -mobile leaking or selling monkeys data cape is the only privacy focused carrier
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that runs its own mobile core which gives more control over account authentication
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and how call logs are collected
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and stored monkey doesn't want someone in the walls listening to all the monkeys conversations
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but cape only takes the minimum possible amount to get
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you set up with their service they don't even ask for monkey's address
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they also don't ask for monkey's name ssn email
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or any other personal information so they couldn't sell monkey's personal data even
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if they wanted to because they don't collect it cape defends against sim swap attacks, signaling hacks, voicemail theft, the works.
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Even new features like identifier rotation, making it far more difficult for anyone to track Monkey's movements.
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Just like Monkey's new house, Monkey is safe with Cape because hackers can't get in.
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And even if Monkey wants to travel abroad, Cape's international roaming uses home routing,
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which means Monkey's calls and texts are sent back through Cape's secure core network, not the local network of the country Monke's visiting.
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You can learn more about Cape with the link in the description below
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and get 33 % off your first six months with promo code PRIMATE33.
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And thanks to Cape for sponsoring this video.
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There's also some fees.
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Funky Kong, give me a beat.
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Oh yeah, Funky Kong, Funky Ken.
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Uh, yeah.
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Application fee.
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First hit of the day.
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Monkey Bank say, pay this just to see if you can pay.
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Appraisal fee.
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Next, gotta check that price.
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Is the house worth the leaves?
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Bank don't roll no dice.
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Inspection fees.
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Yeah, they crawl through the place.
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Looking for termites, trying to eat your space.
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Origination fee.
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That's the bank's little cut.
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For making your loans so your deal don't bust.
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Credit report fee, they digging your past.
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Checking if you pay your bills slow or fast.
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Title search fees.
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They look deep inside.
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Make sure no old owner gonna slide back inside.
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Title insurance.
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Yeah, that legal shield.
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If someone claims your house, they gotta yield.
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Lawyer fees, baby.
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That's contracts and pens.
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Keeping you safe so the deal don't end.
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Recording fees.
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The government has agreed.
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Gotta pay.
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Pay to make your name to go on that deed.
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Transfer tax.
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Yeah, monkey government takes a bite.
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Save your bananas.
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There's no use to fight.
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Mortgage insurance.
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If you deposit too thin, banks say pay this so we feel safe within.
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And finally, closing costs.
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Last minute fees.
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Gotta pay them before you get your keys.
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Yeah, there's more fees than grass in the savannah.
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But it don't matter when your crib is a banana.
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So many fees sprouting like trees on my knees in a wheeze.
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Ain't no ease.
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Please, just want to freeze those fees coming like fleas.
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Like bees.
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Oh, jeez.
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Don't tease.
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Just need those keys.
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Oh, oh, oh, ah!
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Pros and cons of mortgages.
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Mortgages help monkeys get into the banana housing market.
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Monkeys don't need to pay all the leaves up front and instead can pay small amounts over a long time.
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Monkeys can also apply for a mortgage with a partner, friend, cousin, even a complete stranger, as long as they can both pay for it.
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But if monkeys still struggling to pay back leaves, monkey can rent out a room in banana house.
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When monkeys pay their mortgage on time, their credit score goes up and monkey banks trust them more.
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And Monkey's house will likely grow in value over time, which means when it's all paid for,
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Monkey can sell it for more than Monkey bought it.
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But mortgages aren't always easy.
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I mean, the literal translation of the word mortgage is death pledge.
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Monkey will be in debt to Monkey Bank for a long time.
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If Monkey has an adjustable interest rate, leaf payments can rise a lot, quickly and suddenly.
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But even if Monkey has a fixed interest rate, Monkey will still end up paying a lot of leaves to Monkey Bank,
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often more than the original price of Banana House.
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And if Monkey can't pay, the Monkey Bank will take
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Monkey's house back.
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Monkey understands buying a house isn't easy, but it can't be that difficult, can it?
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Let's take a look at the current housing market today.
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Oh my God, what the?
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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 “How To Buy A House Explained with Bananas”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: monkey, bank, fee, leaves, mortgage. This video has 157 sentences and 1305 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:57. The speaker talks fast, about 188 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| monkey noun | /ˈmʌŋki/ | A member of the clade Simiiformes other than those in the clade Hominoidea containing apes, generally (but not universally) distinguished by small size, tails… |
| leaf noun | /lif/ | The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants. |
| mortgage noun | /ˈmoɹ.ɡɪd͡ʒ/ | A legal agreement in which a borrower pledges real property as collateral for a loan used to purchase or refinance that property. |
| banana noun | /bəˈnænə/ | An elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin. |
| cape noun | /keɪp/ | A piece or point of land, extending beyond the adjacent coast into a sea or lake; a promontory; a headland. |
| deposit noun | /dɪˈpɑ.zɪt/ | Sediment or rock that is not native to its present location or is different from the surrounding material. Sometimes refers to ore or gems. |
| adjustable adjective | /əˈd͡ʒʌstəbəl/ | Capable of being adjusted. |
| decline verb | /dɪˈklaɪn/ | To move downwards, to fall, to drop. |
| collect verb | /ˈkɑlɪkt/ | To gather together; amass. |
| privacy noun | /ˈpɹaɪ.və.si/ | The state of being secluded from the presence, sight, or knowledge of others. |
| carrier noun | /ˈkæɹi.ɚ/ | A person or object that carries someone or something else. |
| auction noun | /ˈɔkʃən/ | A public event where goods or property are sold to the highest bidder. |
| sponsor noun | /ˈspɒn.səː/ | A person or organization with some sort of responsibility for another person or organization, especially where the responsibility has a religious, legal, or… |
| stable noun | /ˈsteɪ.bəl/ | A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses. |
| defend verb | /dɪˈfɪnd/ | To ward off attacks against (something or someone). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pay back verb | /peɪ bæk/ | To pay (a debt or the lender) so as to provide the entire amount of money owed. |
| go up verb | To move upwards. | |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| get off verb | To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it. | |
| look around verb | To inspect a building or area. | |
| look up verb | /ˌlʊk ˈʌp/ | To have better prospects. |
| put down verb | To insult, belittle, or demean. | |
| send back verb | To return (something) to its origin. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What do you think this is?
- Do you take banana express?
- For making your loans so your deal don't bust.
- Keeping you safe so the deal don't end.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was declined · are collected · are sent |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | won't give · will pre · will host |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | have to check · needs to have · need to pay |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 28 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, gotta, aren't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thin /ˈθɪn/, theft /θɛft/, authentication /ɔːˌθɛntɪˈkeɪʃn̩/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: auction /ˈɔkʃən/, translation /tɹænzˈleɪʃən/, shield /ˈʃild/, inspection /ɪnˈspɛkʃən/, rotation /ɹoʊˈteɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: adjustable /əˈd͡ʒʌstəbəl/, elevator /ˈɛləˌveɪtɚ/, authentication /ɔːˌθɛntɪˈkeɪʃn̩/
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 monkey, leaf, mortgage.
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.