Shadowing Practice: THAT Smart We've All Been Waiting for - smart #2 Static Review - Learn English Speaking with Video
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185 sentences
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Hello and welcome to The Telescope.
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Every week we bring you a fresh insight from the biggest car market in the world.
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Welcome to the fully electric Smart 2.
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I'm very fortunate to be in this hall where the three previous generation smarts are right alongside me.
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You can see from the overall size, proportion, stance
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and design this is a true smart just as uncompromising as
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all of the previous generation smart this is the smart we've
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all been waiting for from this angle you can see the
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front overhand is just as extreme as all of the previous
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generation smart this car measures at 2 .7 meters long
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and it looks quite wide because it's
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that short it's still less than 1 .7 meters wide
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and about 1 .55 meters tall this is a true electric smart they have not enlarged this just
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because it's an electric smart one thing i need to say at this point is
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that there is no frunk
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because once i open this you will see it's quite tightly
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packed it's ridiculous to ask for a frunk on a car
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this small the majority of this car storage is towards the
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back similar to what the previous generation smart has done
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and we're going to go there now the rear glass can be opened separately
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and i think this is a genius move this is makes ingress
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and egress of taking luggage in and out so much easier
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and you open the bottom half by pulling a lever here
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and you can sit here quite comfortably you know this is
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a still a very nice touch in terms of luggage space
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because this car is rear motor rear wheel drive the floor is quite high
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but this is similar to previous generation smart they are also rear wheel drive
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so luggage space is okay if not spectacular
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and i need to point one thing out
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because this is a telescope review is
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that there is a rear wiper it's just hidden here this
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car is currently in a kind of a showroom mode
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so i cannot show you the rear wiper in motion
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but this car has a rear wiper of course it does
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because we have the previous generation smart to compare the tire has gone bigger
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and wider this is now 185 at the front
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and 205 at the rear significantly bigger than previous generation smart
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this car is rear motor rear wheel drive power comes from here it's rated at 60 kilowatts
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and this car is rated at 1 .1 tons this is gonna feel
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so much more linear
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so much more refined to drive than the previous petrol powered
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smart well let's just say the gearbox on the previous petrol
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powered smart are not the best from the side normal size door mirror
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and completely conventional mechanical door handle this does not have those nonsense tesla flash manual door handles
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and styled by mercedes we go inside now on the inside i will start with the positive big door handles
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and very intuitive to open and close the door
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and you can see here this must be the top spec
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has the sennheiser sound system the steering wheel i could be wrong
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but this could be the standard smart steering wheel from the big those bigger smarts
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and you have an instrument display here air conditioning control are mainly in the screen
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but you can manually adjust the direction
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and also the fan speed of these vents
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and i need to point one thing out it's nicely dampened it's not those very floppy
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very cheap plasticky air conditioning vents i don't know if you can hear that click at either end
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it's someone's put some effort into this that is the positive the negative
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the overall material quality
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if you come you're coming from previous generation smart i think you should be happy with this
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because you feel nicely built
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and also i can see here there's a quarter inch mount
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here you must be able to mount some kind of a phone mount here that's very popular
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if you've watched my reviews on the Xiaomi Su7,
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some Chinese EVs have started providing quarter inch phone mounts with wireless connection without a cable, you know, the perfect phone mount.
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This should also have that.
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The negative is because the smart has a very obvious rival in China, and that's the Firefly.
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To better prepare for this review, I drove my wife's Firefly to the airport before sitting in this
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and i have to say firefly's interior feels much more premium
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than this both from material and from design
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and also i'll just point out one thing this car has a capsule like a very rounded off instrument display
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but this screen is totally rectangular by
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that i mean the angle is precisely 90 degrees it's not
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like your iphone this is the picture of my Firefly you
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can see iPhone screens are rounded off at the same curvature
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but this is a bit incoherent the instrument display is sort of a capsule like
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but this infotainment display is totally rectangular this screen feels like
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an off -the -shelf screen from someone else you know this does not feel like a custom screen
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just for smart another thing is
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if you're like me who like to sit very low in
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a copy sit as low as possible then i'm about even
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sitting bolt upright the top of the screens kind of eats
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into your front visibility it's above the lower threshold of this windscreen
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if you like to sit taller like i'm raising this the
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seat now roughly to about this position then the screen is lower than the front windscreen
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but i would think
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that this screen should be sized in relation to everything else to the front visibility
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but currently at the default position at my default driving position
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the top of the screen eats into the um front windscreen's visibility and i think for europe
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this might be a weird thing to say you know people
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always say chinese people like the always like the biggest screens
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but I think this car for Europe you could have gone one size smaller
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and you will not offend anyone you know this car is
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small this screen feels slightly too big for this cabin here
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at the center controls you have the has a light on
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and off air conditioning switch and the window control is here at the center
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so oh just so you know this is frameless door.
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Cabin storage is okay.
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You have one cup holder.
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There is a bit of a storage here.
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This center armrest could be flicked up and you have even more storage here.
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Wireless charging phone mount here.
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A USB -C and A port here.
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And you have a bit of a storage here on the door.
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This glove box is marginally sized but at least you have a glove box.
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This light is fairly well done for a car this small
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you know it's quite wide it's a fairly big light source in car lighting is quite good
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and rear visibility
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because this is a two -seater of course is as fantastic
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as you can get sun visor let me just check this
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it cannot i think smart you should make this sun visor extendable you know right now
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if i flick it towards this side the side of my face is completely exposed to the sunlight.
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And I don't think being as smart, you should be able to do this.
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I will quickly check in previous generation smart to see if you can do this, but I would like to see this sun visor to be extendable.
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You have a fixed panoramic glass and you also have a manually operated sun blind.
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That's fine.
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This doesn't need to be electrified.
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A manually operated sun blind is even faster and easier to operate.
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Overall, I must say I'm slightly underwhelmed.
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I thought this could challenge the Firefly, especially on the interior, but it doesn't.
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And that's a bit of a shame.
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Cabin ergonomics, I would suggest the driver and the passenger to offset a little bit because this car is that narrow.
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I'm someone who likes to sit quite tight towards the steering wheel.
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So if you can see, I've positioned the front passengers to be slightly offset so
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that my elbow could be here and the front passenger's elbow could be here in
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that case if you arrange the seat like this
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it's not awkward at all i'm five foot eleven my cameraman is about five foot seven we
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and he's bulkier than me and we can comfortably sit inside this is more spacious
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and we've tested in previous generation smarts both of us sitting
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in this feels more airy more spacious than previous generation smart the only negative is
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that because this car needs to comply with the safety regulation of 2026
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and not previous year's safety regulations all of the pillars feel slightly thicker
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but I think that's inevitable the infotainment system is I think
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the standard Geely Flyme Auto system with a smart designed theme
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on top of it overall design why it feels snappy enough
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but overall design wise this does not feel custom made to the same degree
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that the Firefly's infotainment is to that car you know
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that car's infotainment is surprisingly unique and custom made just for
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that particular car this i can sense that underneath this is a geely system
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but with a top layer from smart
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if you haven't experienced the firefly you should be happy enough with this
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because it feels snappy it's got car play but
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because i just came out of a firefly i'll still say
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the fireflies infotainment feels nicer better designed more polished than this
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there's no other way of putting this this might be the
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most important electric vehicle this year coming out of china especially
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for the european market the streets of paris rome these kind
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of mega the European cities finally will have a true electric
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smart with an acceptable range this car is fitted currently with
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a 35 .8 kilowatt hour battery giving it a range i
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can see on the dashboard 400 kilometer cltc for the double tp they are aiming 300 kilometers
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and charging from about 10 to 80 percent is about 20 minutes
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which means it's fast enough this is a true electric smart
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unless you are the kind of people who drive the previous
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petrol powered smart across european continent in a pinch you can really do
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that in previous generation smart i understand with the fully electric smart with the current infrastructure level of continental europe
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that might be more difficult
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but for what most people use this car for you will be
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so much more happier with the fully electric smart than the previous generation smart
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because it's going to be that much quieter that much refined
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that much linear you don't need to change gear
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and i think the fully electric powertrain suits the smart product better than the
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underpowered unrefined petrol powertrain and especially the clunky gearbox those are from eu customers point of view
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if you haven't seen the firefly if you don't have access to
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that car then i think you should be totally happy with
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this however i had thought smart by launching later than the
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firefly this could overwhelm the firefly in every possible way
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but it hasn't in terms of size this has agility also
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the smaller the better this car curb to curb is less
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than seven meters this is comfortably more agile than the firefly
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but the interior is a bit of a letdown for me firefly is a much more premium interior than this
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and i'm also curious about this car's mainland china pricing
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because for european customers you have no other choice
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but for chinese customers you have the firefly
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and it's not as easy of a choice as i thought
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it was going to be you know i thought this is
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going to move the game on in terms of the ultra compact electric vehicle segment
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but it doesn't
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but overall on a high level i'm still very happy the
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smart has finally done what it's always supposed to do in
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the first place in my opinion this should be the first smart to come out
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and not the smart one is okay it's still quite a compact car
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but the smart three and five
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and six those are not real smart for me this is in every possible way
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and also looking at all of this previous generation smarts here this is a real smart
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if you've been waiting for this this is going to be worth your wait
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that is all from the telescope today
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if you enjoyed this video keep watching keep subscribing more videos coming along very soon
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “THAT Smart We've All Been Waiting for - smart Static Review”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: smart, previous, generation, firefly, screen. This video has 185 sentences and 2148 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:36. The speaker talks at a natural 170 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 82% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| mount verb | /maʊnt/ | To get upon; to ascend; to climb. |
| meter noun | /ˈmitəɹ/ | A device that measures things. |
| visibility noun | /ˌvɪz.əˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/ | The condition of being visible. |
| petrol noun | /ˈpɛt.ɹəl/ | A fluid consisting of a mixture of refined petroleum hydrocarbons, primarily consisting of octane, commonly used as a motor fuel. |
| custom noun | /ˈkʌstəm/ | Frequent repetition of the same behavior; way of behavior common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; method of doing, living or behaving. |
| instrument noun | /ˈɪnstɹəmənt/ | A device used to produce music. |
| cabin noun | /ˈkæbɪn/ | A small dwelling characteristic of the frontier, especially when built from logs with simple tools and not constructed by professional builders, but by those… |
| luggage noun | /ˈlʌɡ.ɪdʒ/ | The bags and other containers that hold a traveller's belongings. |
| telescope noun | /ˈtɛl.əˌskoʊp/ | A monocular optical instrument that magnifies distant objects, especially in astronomy. |
| comfortably adverb | /ˈkʌmftɚbli/ | In a comfortable manner. |
| steer verb | /stɪɹ/ | To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel). |
| manually adverb | /ˈmænj(u)əliː/ | By hand. |
| angle noun | /ˈæŋ.ɡəl/ | A figure formed by two rays which start from a common point (a plane angle) or by three planes that intersect (a solid angle). |
| passenger noun | /ˈpæs.ɪn.d͡ʒɚ/ | One who rides or travels in a vehicle, but who does not operate it and is not a member of the crew. |
| premium noun | /ˈpɹiː.miː.əm/ | A prize or award. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come along verb | To accompany. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| point out verb | To identify among a group of similar subjects, or in a scene where the subject might not be readily seen or noticed, with a gesture of the body. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have not enlarged · has done · has gone |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | can be opened · is rated · are rounded |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | someone who likes · people who drive |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 29 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thick /θɪk/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/, threshold /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: flash /flæʃ/, regulation /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/, relation /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/, polish /ˈpɑ.lɪʃ/, conventional /kənˈvɛnʃənl̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: visibility /ˌvɪz.əˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/, manually /ˈmænj(u)əliː/, rectangular /ɹɛkˈtæŋɡjəlɚ/, infrastructure /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/, ridiculous /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/
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 mount, meter, visibility.
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.