Shadowing Practice: Simplified Speech #93 - Big purchases - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hello, everyone.
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My name is Andrew.
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And I'm Cassie.
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And you are listening to Q-Lips.
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Hey there, everyone.
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Welcome back to Q-Lips.
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You're listening to Simplified Speech,
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which is the Q-Lips series that features totally natural English conversations between native speakers.
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However, they're a little bit different than real-life conversations
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that you'll hear outside on the street because we speak just a little bit slower than we do in our everyday lives.
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And we hope that by listening to this series,
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you can supercharge and boost your English listening skills and become a fluent English listener.
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Now, before we get started with this episode, I just want to let you know that there is a study guide available for all QLips members,
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and we'd recommend that you follow along with the study guide while you listen to us here today.
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So to become a QLips member and to get the study guide, just visit QLips.com.
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Today, I'm joined by my co-host, Cassie.
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Cassie, hey there.
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Could you let our listeners know what the topic of today's episode is? Of course.
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So today's topic is big purchases.
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Big purchases.
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And big does not mean the size.
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It means the price.
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The price.
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So yeah, let's break this down because it's a little bit confusing right from the start.
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Big purchases.
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So big, as you mentioned, refers to an expensive price.
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And a purchase is just something that you buy.
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When we say big purchases, we're just talking about buying expensive things.
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Yeah, such as a computer, a car, a boat.
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I guess how we can define big purchases varies from person
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to person depending on how much money you make right a
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house might be just a regular purchase for a rich person
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but for me that's a very big purchase exactly yes I think also a big purchase is something
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that you you don't buy Impulsively you don't buy as soon as you think about it.
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Like you take your time You shop around you look at different websites or different reviews to make your decision Mmm, that's a good point.
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And that's a really interesting expression you used just there shop around shop around
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And when we pronounce it We kind of connect
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that P sound to the a in around right shop around shop around shop around That's right.
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Yeah.
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So what does it mean to shop around?
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Shop around means to maybe go to different stores
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and look at the different price values at each store or go to different websites.
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You wouldn't just go to one store and pick it, right?
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It might be the most expensive option.
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You would shop around to a bunch of different places.
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yeah like I remember
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when I think it was my brother it may have been
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my sister I can't remember one of my siblings bought a new car
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and we shopped around and went to many different car dealerships that's what we call a store
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that sells cars is a dealership we went to many dealerships
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and test drove many different cars before deciding upon which car to buy.
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Because that's a big purchase, a new car.
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And we wanted to make sure that we could get the best price, the best deal, the best car.
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So we shopped around a lot.
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Did you find the perfect one?
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Yeah, I think in the end we found the perfect one.
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And actually, both my brother and my sister ended up buying Kia cars, Kia cars, which is funny because I live in Korea and you live in Gwangju,
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where Kia cars are manufactured.
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So they've both owned their cars now for like 10 years.
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So they both bought them around the same time.
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That's why I can't remember which one I went with.
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But, yep, they got good, good cars and they're happy with their big purchase.
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That's a great thing, right?
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Because that's one risk about making big purchases, right?
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There's always that chance that you could experience buyer's remorse, this feeling of regret that you bought the wrong thing.
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Yeah.
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I think everybody feels this probably at some point in their life.
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They feel like they wasted their money.
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They regret buying something because after they do, they realize, I just didn't really need that or I don't really use it very often.
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And we call this feeling buyer's remorse.
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Cassie, do you have any examples of buyer's remorse that you've had in your life?
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I have one example.
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Okay.
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So I was buying a smartphone and I decided to,
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you know, splurge, spend a lot more money than I would originally spend
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and get the new model of the most current iPhone model.
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Okay.
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And so I, you know, I put a lot of money into that.
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I got the beautiful glossy red color.
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And I decided I wanted to get a clear, thin phone case to show off that glossy red color of my phone.
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Okay.
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This is where the buyer's remorse came in.
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I think I know where you're going with the story.
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A week after I purchased my new amazing big purchase, I dropped it on the ground
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and my flimsy case did nothing to stop it from shattering the screen into many, many pieces.
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So do you regret buying the expensive phone or do you regret buying the cheap case?
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I regret buying the cheap case.
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Okay.
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Ah, yeah, that sucks.
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I have a similar situation about having some buyer's remorse with some tech.
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The last computer that I owned had a solid state hard drive inside of it.
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And this was a kind of new hard drive that has fewer moving parts in it, I believe, and so is more durable and long lasting.
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Actually, I'm not really sure about the technical aspects of solid state hard drives.
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But anyways, these were new to the market when I bought my laptop.
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And because of that, they were very expensive.
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So I bought a laptop with the biggest solid state hard drive I could afford at the time in the laptop,
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but it turned out to be actually a really small drive.
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It was like 80 gigabytes or something, which is not really too much when you run a podcast
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and you are dealing with tons of audio files on your computer all the time.
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So I was constantly having to manage the files on my computer,
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deleting new files, moving files back and forth between a portable hard drive, and it caused me just a lot of headaches.
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So I regret buying that solid state hard drive.
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I guess it shows that you got to really read the reviews before buying
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and know what you really want out of that purchase before you buy it.
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Right.
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Exactly.
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And that's something that I wanted to talk to you about, Cassie.
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And that is when you make a big purchase, what are the steps that you personally go through?
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I'm sure you don't just go to the store and buy something on impulse, like we said.
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So what do you do?
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Do you talk to your friends to get some advice or do you read reviews?
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What's your process like?
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the tooth methods that i do the most often are reading reviews online
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and asking other people who have made similar purchases okay i
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think word of mouth is the best way to get more accurate information about a product yeah especially
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if it's someone you trust because this is one of the things
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that I always think in the back of my mind when I read a review,
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maybe on Amazon, or if I'm watching a review video on YouTube, it's like, is this an honest review?
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Or is it a sponsorship?
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Is it an employee of the company writing the review on Amazon to make the product look really good?
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I'm always a little bit skeptical about online reviews from strangers.
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That's a good point.
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I tend not to buy something unless it has, you know, over a couple hundred or thousand reviews,
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because then I assume a good chunk of those reviews, a good percentage are, you know, truthful.
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That's a good way to do it.
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Cassie, before we wrap things up here, and I don't want you to share too much personal information, okay?
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Because I know in Western culture, talking about money is kind of taboo, right?
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But we're going to talk about money a little bit.
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And I'm just curious, what is the last big purchase you made?
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You don't have to tell me the amount, just the item.
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I mean, either is okay.
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But the last big purchase I made was a car.
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A car.
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Yeah, that's so cool.
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So could you tell us about the lead up to that purchase?
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Yeah.
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So I have not driven in three years before buying this car.
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And I wasn't a very good driver before that.
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So I was a little nervous to buy a car.
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but I moved to the boonies, the outskirts of the city, and I really needed one.
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So my biggest decision on making this big purchase was pretty much down to two criteria.
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The first was the price.
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I wanted a cheap car that even if I got into an accident or,
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you know, did something horrible to it, I wouldn't regret it.
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The second thing was to make sure I got I was it was a used car.
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So I wanted to get it from a reliable source so I didn't get scammed.
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And were you able to meet those two requirements?
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I was I am so satisfied with my purchase.
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Nice.
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Very good.
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I think the last big purchase that I made was my bicycle.
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For most of my life, I've always ridden cheap used bikes.
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And maybe the most I've ever spent on a bicycle was like $300 or something.
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But the bike that I own now is a lot more than that.
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But I got a good deal on it because I also bought a used one.
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And I did a lot of deliberation.
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I thought a lot before buying this bike.
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I read reviews all the time.
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I checked a community online for buying and selling used bikes almost every day.
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I would constantly refresh it to see if the bike that I wanted would appear.
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Finally, it did.
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And I pulled the trigger on that purchase.
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I made the decision to buy the bike.
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And interestingly, this is something I've never done before.
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But I knew I wanted to buy a bicycle that was decent.
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I knew I wanted to invest in a good bike.
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But I didn't want to spend a lot of money at once.
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So actually, I saved up for this bike little by little every month for almost two years.
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Wow.
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Yeah, I would just take a little bit of my paycheck every month and put it aside.
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So I knew that I wouldn't regret buying it because I had thought very deeply,
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almost for like two years, about making the purchase.
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And then it felt good.
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Like it didn't, I didn't see a big dip in my bank account at all
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because I had put this money aside specifically for that purchase.
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So yeah, if you can be patient when making a big purchase and save a little bit for a long time,
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I think that's the best way to go about it.
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But yeah, I think I'm really similar to you.
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I don't like to waste money.
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So oftentimes, big purchases actually make you so much happier than those cheaper, more impulsive type purchases.
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Yeah, I agree.
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Maybe that's why we don't have great buyers or more stories to tell.
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But I suppose that's a good thing, right?
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I think so.
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Well, Cassie, I think we should wrap things up here.
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That was a fun topic to discuss with you.
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And listeners, just one more time, I want to remind you about the study guide that is on our website.
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It includes the transcript of this conversation, as well as some detailed vocabulary definitions and examples
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and there's also a quiz and a lot of other good stuff in the study guide
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so you can give it a download at QLips.com.
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We're also all over the place on social media.
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We're on YouTube, we're on Twitter, we're on Facebook, we're on Instagram.
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So if you would like to stay up to date with the QLips team and what's happening with us,
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then just follow us on your favorite social media sites and you can find us by searching for the Q-Lips English podcast.
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And if you'd like to get in contact with us, our email address is contact at Q-Lips dot com.
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We will be back soon with another brand new episode and we'll talk to you then.
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Goodbye.
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Catch you later.
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you
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Who Will Love This Video?
If you’re an English learner ready to move beyond basic phrases and dive into real, everyday conversations, this video is for you! It’s perfect for intermediate learners aiming to boost listening skills and practice shadowspeak (repeating native speakers to mimic rhythm and tone). Whether you want to talk about money, shopping, or big life decisions, the dialogue focuses on natural, slow-paced speech that’s easy to follow—ideal for building confidence in understanding how native speakers really talk.
Words & Idioms to Add to Your Toolkit
The conversation is packed with practical phrases you can use today. Here are the standouts:
- Big purchase: Not about size—this means an expensive item, like a car or house. It’s something you don’t buy on a whim!
- Shop around: To compare prices or options at different stores or websites. Example: “I shopped around for a laptop before buying.”
- Dealership: A store that sells specific items, like cars. “We visited three car dealerships to find the best deal.”
- Impulsively: Doing something without thinking. “I never buy big purchases impulsively—I research first!”
Master the Pronunciation: Tips for Shadow Speak
To nail the accent, focus on these key sounds. First, shop around is pronounced with a linked “p” and “a” sound: “shop-uh-round.” Practice saying it quickly to sound natural! Also, notice how “dealership” is stressed on the first syllable: “DEAL-er-ship.” For shadowspeak practice, pause the video after short phrases and repeat them, matching the speed and tone. This helps you get used to natural rhythm—critical for sounding fluent. Remember, the speakers slow down just enough to make learning easy, so take advantage of that to improve your English pronunciation step by step.
Ready to start? Grab your headphones, hit play, and try shadowing the dialogue. You’ll be using these phrases like a pro in no time—happy learning!
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.