Shadowing Practice: Singapore 2026 Travel Guide - by a LOCAL! - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello Venture!
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If you're planning to visit Singapore, then this video is for you.
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I'm your local Singaporean and in this ultimate Singapore travel guide, we'll cover the best places to stay,
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how to get around, how to pay for things
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and a lot more so that you feel right at home in your visit to my beloved city.
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Let's begin.
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Welcome to Singapore.
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We're the smallest country in Asia with the biggest personality.
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6 million of us share this small country so it can get very crowded at times.
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You might have heard of us being the garden city, fine city, or the food paradise.
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It's all true and you'll see why.
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Let's start with language.
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Singapore is the easiest Asian country to travel to because we're the highest ranks in Asia for English proficiency.
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In fact, globally, we are number two.
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So if you speak English, you are set.
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But even if you don't speak any English...
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Wait, how are you watching this?
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Most of our public signs are multilingual, reflecting our multicultural roots.
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So you'll easily find
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Mandarin, Tamil and Malay translations alongside the English signs.
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And it's not just the signs.
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Most Singaporeans also speak a second language because we're forced to learn in school.
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So we have this subject called the mother tongue
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that everybody has to learn the language of their parents
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and many of us like myself are naturalized immigrants so we still speak our native language
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Now about money in Singapore we use the Singapore dollars I love
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that the most commonly used notes are made of plastic so they're very durable and they're also waterproof
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which makes it easy for money
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Most modern shops and restaurants are credit card friendly
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But if you want to eat the most delicious and the most affordable local food in Singapore You'll need some cash
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If you're not sure how much to bring
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Just carry some spare notes
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Because we have quite a few money changes here
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That you can convert more
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Sing dollars By the way, you don't have to tip in Singapore Usually, prices are as stated
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But some restaurants may charge you GST and 10 % service charge
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On top of the final bill drying my notes
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now about general safety singapore is the most dangerous country for drug traffickers just 500 grams of wheat will grant
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you the capital punishment
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so unless you're planning for this to be your last trip don't bring any word of caution even
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if the drug is in your system
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it's still considered trafficking the safest way is to not consume
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any before coming here for everybody else singapore might be the safest country in the world
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you want to get a snack at midnight as a woman come to singapore
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we have a very low crime rate
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and a very efficient law enforcement however low crime doesn't mean no crime
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so you must still take care of yourself
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so in summary generally singapore is very safe now about singapore being a fine city other than how
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It's such a fine city.
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We also get a name because there's so many sites around
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that warn you not to do certain things that will end up in a fine.
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For example, no littering, no smoking, no durian.
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Yeah, you actually cannot bring durian into the buses and trains here
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because it's very smelly and once it stinks up a place, it will stay there for very long.
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Now, on to the best way to get around the city.
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Singapore has the best public transportation network in the world
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Not only that it's super user -friendly, it's also the most affordable way to get around the city For example,
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if you're to take a train from the Changi Airport to the Merlion Park It'll take you about one hour
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and cost you slightly over $2 So let's learn how to ride the bus and the train
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Do you have a credit card?
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The super basic way to pay here is to just use your credit card directly
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All train and bus payment in Singapore picks
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Visa and MasterCard You can even use Apple Pay Otherwise, you can also get a cash card that's known as the EZ -Link card
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You can get them at any bus interchange or train station counter
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You will need to top up the card using these machines
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Just put your EZ -Link card on the reader then insert money or tap your card to top it up
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Beware that you need at least $3 Otherwise, you'll get an error beep beep beep beep at the gantry then the door won't open
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and the bus driver might kick you out each person will need to have one card with him do note
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that your credit card provider will charge a daily admin fee for every day
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that you are using the card for public transport in Singapore honestly
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it's still gonna be cheaper than having money stuck in your cash card your last day in Singapore.
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For super basic navigation, I recommend getting a device with internet access and let Google Maps do most of the work.
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It works 90 % of the time.
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Let's start with how to navigate when taking the bus.
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First, get to the bus stop that Google Maps tells you about.
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And make sure you're at the right bus stop.
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Just look out for this pole with a lot of numbers.
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These are the bus numbers that comes to this bus stop.
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So you want to make sure the bus number you're waiting for exists on that pole there.
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Also make sure you're going in the right direction.
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Look out for this info boards where you can see the bus and where they're going.
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You can see all the stations that a bus will stop at.
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Cross check if your destination is in the list.
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Another super helpful feature here is this icon.
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This indicates if a train station is very near to that stop.
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The color indicates which train line it is.
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It's super helpful when you're trying to get to a train station.
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Once all is good, wait for the bus.
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The bus doesn't follow a specific schedule.
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On average, waiting time is about 10 to 15 minutes.
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When your bus arrives, give the driver a friendly wave.
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Pay attention to this especially if you're the only one at the bus stop because if you don't wave, the bus might just drive by
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and skip your stop next get onto the bus tap your card at the reader
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and greet the captain look out for this yellow red stop button
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that you can find all around the bus
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when you're one stop away from your intended stop press it a bell will ring
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and the bus stopping sign will light up remember to tap your card at the exit gantry else
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you'll be charged the maximum fare most of the time
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you must enter the bus from the front door one time I saw someone entered from the back
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and he got scolded
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because the bus captain thought he was trying to dodge the fare
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I hope you managed to get off the right stop now let's touch on trains
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The trains in Singapore are also locally known as the MRT.
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It's a large network of train lines that could look very intimidating the first time you see it.
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But don't be afraid, I'll teach you how to read this train map.
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After learning how to read this, you can go anywhere on the MRT line.
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Each of these coloured lines represents a train service, and each label along it is a station, Where the lines intersect with a label,
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there's a station that will allow you to transfer from one line to another.
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I'll cover that in a bit.
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Once you get to your train station, tap your card to enter through the gantry.
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Then, find the right train platform to get to your destination.
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The train platform will have signs to tell you which direction it is going.
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It will display the name of the station at the end of the line.
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For example, on this green line,
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you'll see the direction towards Tuas Link and in the opposite platform towards Pasiris or towards Changi Airport.
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There's always this line map on the platform for you to check
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which station you're at and which stations the train will go.
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The train does not run on a schedule, the average waiting time is around 3 to 10 minutes.
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Once you arrive at your destination, get off the train
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Then tap up the gantry and look out for the super useful locality map.
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Here you can find out about all the station exits and the places of interest around the area.
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I usually look at this to find out
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which exit to get out from so that I will be nearer to my destination.
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Now back on the topic of transferring, sometimes you need to change bus or change train to get to your final destination.
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for changing bus it's very simple just get off the bus station where you can take your next bus at
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when you are changing train you need to make sure you stop at the train station
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that has a connecting line for example
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if you're in kent ridge going to chinatown
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you'll need to get on to the yellow line to harbor front
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then change to purple line to get to chinatown
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when transferring between train lines you don't have to get out of the station
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you just have to get off the train onto the platform
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and then follow the signboards
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that will lead you to your next train line there's one exception
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if you're taking the dark blue downtown line
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you might still need to get out of the train station
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to get to the next platform where you can take your next train
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the best part about transfer is that your fare is calculated by the distance travelled
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so you don't have to pay extra if you change from bus to train and vice versa
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congratulations you can now go anywhere in Singapore via the public transport
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If you want something more comfortable or you want to reach your destination faster, there's also taxi services available across the whole island.
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And the easiest way to get these taxis is to call them via these ride -hailing apps called Grab, TADA, or Zik.
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Download at least one of the apps and create an account before your departure
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so that you can use it the moment that you need it.
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For comparison, if you were to take a taxi from Changi Airport to Merlion Park,
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it would have taken you 20 minutes and it would cost you anywhere about $20 to $25 Singapore dollars.
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And don't bother trying to rent a car in Singapore not only
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that it's gonna be super expensive you also gonna waste a lot of time trying to find parking
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if you find this video helpful so far please leave a like so
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that more people can find
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it thank you very much next the most important question where
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is the best place to book your accommodations are you looking for a hotel
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that's nearby to tourist attractions within walking distance to amazing food places at an affordable price
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I'm gonna show you a map of the city where we are right now is the Morlion park.
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I've marked the major tourist attractions on this map to give you a good gauge of where things are.
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Most of the tourist attractions are around this little area near the marina bay
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so you might think oh is that the best place to stay
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but no they are way overpriced because not only they are in a very grand and prime location
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These hotels, Fullerton and MBS, are 5 -star luxury hotels.
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You do get an amazing view of the city.
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But unless you want to be poor after Singapore, I'm going to share with you places where you can get better value for your money.
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For comparison, the price per person per night at a budget accommodation is around $30 to $100.
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For mid -range hotels, $100 to $200 and anything above is higher end.
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Staying nearby the tourist attractions is very good.
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But what's even better is having good accessibility to our public transportation network
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Which is considered the best in the world
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Our buses and trains are very user -friendly
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And they are the most affordable way to get around the city For example,
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a trip from the Changi Airport to Merlion Will only take you one hour
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and cost you slightly over $2 The best way to utilise the public transportation network is to pick a hotel
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that's within walking distance to a major train station or a major road with many bus services.
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Of course you still don't want to spend too much time in transit every day
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so I don't recommend staying outside of this area.
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To visualize our public transportation network let's add another layer to our map.
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Each of these are the train stations
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and those stations with more than one colors are interchange stations that gives you access to multiple train lines, giving you an even better accessibility.
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Now, let's look into the best areas to spend the night.
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At number four, we have Little India.
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This is a very vibrant neighborhood.
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You can easily spend the whole day just walking around this area.
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The streets are full of F &B options, many of them offering Indian cuisine.
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And if you're vegetarian, you'll have a lot more options in this area.
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This hawker center called the Teka Center is a must go.
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There are also iconic cultural points of interest such as the Sri Virama Kaliaman Hindu Temple,
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former Tantengnya Pranakan House and the Indian Heritage Center.
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Little India train station serves the blue line and the purple line which gives you direct access to MBS via Bayfront,
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Sentosa via Harbourfront and Chinatown.
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Looking at the accommodations available in this area you get quite a few budget hostels
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and mid -range hotels to choose from which are very suitable for budget travellers.
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So Little India is a pretty good place but a better place to stay at is the Ultram Park.
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There isn't much in the immediate vicinity but you get excellent accessibility.
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The Ultram Park train station sits on three lines
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you have a direct train line to chinatown to the merlion park via raffles place santosa via harbor front
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and the gardens by the bay also kampung glam via bugis
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the local gem in the area is the kyeongsik route
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this is where you can find a lot of nice restaurants however
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there are only mid -range to high -end hotels
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that available for booking here so this is not the most suitable for budget option
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At number 2, the second best place to stay is at Bugis It's also a very lively area
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You can have a lot of fun browsing the Bugis Street where there are lots of street fashion shops
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For modern amenities, there's the Bugis Junction and the Bugis Plus shopping malls
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Food option is very good here
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There's Albert Center, Hawker Center within walking distance and Liangxia street that has nice restaurants
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and actually all around the area there are dozens of eateries
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that you can choose from You'll also be within walking distance to a major attraction
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which is the Kampung Glam where you can explore the Sultan Mosque, Haji Lane and Arab Street If you walk the other way,
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there's the National Library Accessibility in Bugis is also very good
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The road along Victoria Street has many bus services that connect you to Chinatown and Harbourfront to get to Sentosa
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and boogie station serves the green line and the blue line
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which gives you very convenient access to little india merlion park via raffles place mbs via bay front
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and many of our famous architectures at city hall
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now looking at the accommodation options in this area there's lots of budget mid -range
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and some luxury options so very easy to find one that fits your bill
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And the best place to spend the night in Singapore is Chinatown
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This is a very vibrant neighbourhood with lots of things to see and do in the area
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There's the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, Sri Mariaman Temple And generally lots of shops along the streets
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For more modern amenities, there's also a big shopping mall called the Chinatown Point The accessibility is the best here
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because the Uthongsen Street and the New Bridge Road has lots of buses that brings you everywhere.
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You can easily get to Kamponglang via bus.
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On top of that, the Chinatown Station serves the blue line and the proper line, giving you easy access to Sentosa via harbourfront,
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MBS via bayfront and Little India.
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And just a short walk to Maxwell Station, you get access to the brown line that brings you straight to Gardens by the Bay.
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You will also never go hungry in Chinatown because this is the place with the most number of hawker centers.
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You can find the Honglim Hawker, Chinatown Complex, Maxwell Food Center and People's Park Hawker.
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You also get the best range of hotel options at very competitive price.
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There are many budget hostels, decent mid -range hotels and even luxury high -end ones for you to choose from.
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So you'll definitely find one that fits your comfort
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and budget level before i get to the places
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that i don't recommend staying at
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if you find this video helpful please leave a like
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and use my affiliate link when booking a hotel so
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that i get a small commission
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which helps me make more video guides like this thank you very much
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and here are the areas that you should not stay at
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and why number one orchard road
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you'll be within walking distance to many many very nice shopping malls offering very high -end luxury products
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it's not a hard no but i feel
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that it's not worth your money to stay here in terms of accessibility it's not too bad
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because the red line gives you direct access to the mullion park via raffles place
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and the brown line can get you to chinatown via maxwell
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and gardens by the bay to me the biggest downside is the whole area is very grand very nice
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but i feel that i will miss the charming vibe
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and the liveliness of the shop houses small eateries
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and the hawker centers also there are mostly just high -end hotels
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and maybe one or two mid -range options here
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so it's not very budget friendly anyway you're not gonna spend much time in the hotel right
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so i rather you spend that money elsewhere actually
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if your objective coming to singapore is to do a lot of shopping
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this is the perfect place for you to stay in but
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if you want to explore things that are more uniquely singapore then you might want to stay elsewhere
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The second no no no is Sentosa Island.
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I'll just start with the prices okay.
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Similarly most of them are high -end hotels but this time not only
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that it's not worth your money it's also a waste of your time because of the terrible accessibility of the Sentosa Island.
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The only affordable way to get in and out is via the monorail or walking down the boardwalk.
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There's also very limited public transportation all around the island so
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if you plan to explore anything outside of Sentosa
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you're gonna spend at least 15 minutes just getting out of
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the island the monorail is also notorious for being overloaded especially on the weekends
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because it's much smaller than the normal trains by peak periods
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you might have to wait a long time for the monorail the only scenario
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that I'll recommend staying here is if you booked at least two to three full day activities that are all within Sentosa.
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For example, day 1 USS, day 2 Adventure Cove, day 3
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Sea Aquarium, then maybe it will be worthwhile.
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Especially for families with children because I know after a long day, it's nice to walk back to your hotel without fussing with transport.
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And the third area to avoid is Clark Key.
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Actually Clark Key is right beside Chinatown so it has a very similar level of accessibility.
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You'll also be staying within walking distance to many restaurants
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and bar along the singapore river but that's the problem those restaurants
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and bars open late into the night
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and they can get very loud personally i also don't like to stay in areas
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that serves a lot of alcohol
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because i prefer not to encounter drunk strangers on the street the only scenario
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that i can recommend staying at clark key is
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if you are actually planning to experience the nightlife in singapore
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it's very convenient to be able to walk back to your
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hotel at 2 3 a .m after partying for the whole night
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but if you prefer to have a good night's sleep then i suggest staying elsewhere
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We've covered the basic things, but there's so much more, like the top things to do,
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best food to try, how to eat at the hawker centres.
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So to cover all that, watch this Ultimate Singapore Guide playlist next, and I'll see you there.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Singapore 2026 Travel Guide - by a LOCAL!”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: train, bus, singapore, station, hotel. This video has 281 sentences and 3571 words to shadow. The speech runs for 20:48. The speaker talks at a natural 172 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.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| accessibility noun | /əkˌsɛs.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/ | The quality of being accessible, or of admitting approach; receptiveness. |
| destination noun | /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/ | The place set for the end of a journey or to which something is sent; place or point aimed at. |
| affordable adjective | /əˈfɔɹ.də.bəl/ | Able to be afforded; inexpensive or reasonably priced. |
| attraction noun | /əˈtɹækʃn̩/ | The tendency to attract. |
| helpful adjective | /ˈhɛlp.fl̩/ | Furnishing help; giving aid; useful. |
| luxury noun | /ˈlʌk.ʃə.ɹi/ | Very wealthy and comfortable surroundings; the state of being that they create. |
| accommodation noun | /əˌkɒm.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/ | Lodging in a dwelling or similar living quarters afforded to travellers in hotels or on cruise ships, or students, etc. |
| elsewhere adverb | /ˈɛlsˌʍɛɹ/ | Synonym of somewhere else: in, at, or to some other place. |
| exit noun | /ˈɛɡzət/ | An act of going out or going away, or leaving; a departure. |
| explore verb | /ɪkˈsploɹ/ | To examine or investigate something systematically. |
| mall noun | /mɔːl/ | A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct. |
| taxi noun | /ˈtæksi/ | A vehicle that may be hired for single journeys by members of the public, particularly one with an automated meter to calculate the fare. |
| clerk noun | /klɝk/ | One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker. |
| fare noun | /ˈfɛə/ | Money paid for a transport ticket. |
| maxwell noun | A unit of magnetic flux that produces one abvolt per turn per second. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| get around verb | To move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path. |
| get off verb | To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it. |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| get on to verb | To contact (someone) in order to raise or discuss a certain matter. |
| light up verb | To illuminate, to bring light to something, to brighten. |
| walk around verb | To walk with no planned destination; to meander. |
| walk down verb | To continually advance (on an opponent) and punch (the opponent) in order to control the fight and dominate the opponent, while shrugging off the opponent's… |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- It's all true and you'll see why.
- Wait, how are you watching this?
- Do you have a credit card?
- Also make sure you're going in the right direction.
- I'll cover that in a bit.
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 | are set · are naturalized · are made |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've marked · We've covered |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the best · the smallest · the easiest |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might have · may charge · might be |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 68 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, you'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: bother /ˈbɑðɚ/, worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/, attraction /əˈtɹækʃn̩/, luxury /ˈlʌk.ʃə.ɹi/, accommodation /əˌkɒm.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/, efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/
- Long words — get the stress right: accessibility /əkˌsɛs.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/, destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/, affordable /əˈfɔɹ.də.bəl/, accommodation /əˌkɒm.əˈdeɪ.ʃən/, amenities /əˈmɛn.ə.tiːz/
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 accessibility, destination, affordable.
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.