Prática de Shadowing: Gaming Doesn't Have To Be Expensive. - Aprenda a falar inglês com vídeo

Now, a few weeks ago, I saw this post on Reddit from anyiunique asking

if there's any affordable way to get into gaming left for under $500 for someone who doesn't have anything.

No TV, no previous PC setup, no laptop.

And some of the comments just said, Dude, gaming's not the hobby for you if you only have $500.

Dare I say, that's too disheartening and sad.

What if you're a kid or a teenager?

Then you have even less.

Back in the day, gaming was a lot cheaper.

You could get a whole GameCube and a game for $99 bucks

so i dare to say even in 2026 there is hope

as someone that's been slowly getting into gaming since my kid

is finally old enough to give me back some spare time

i seriously wondered what would be the most affordable way to

go about it even a used budget tv runs about a hundred bucks

and that's already a fifth of the budget don't forget the controllers

and the actual cost of the games

but i really think the best way to go about this specific question would be with a handheld console something

that includes the tv the controllers and the console itself

and you get access to a bunch of new games as

well as a bunch of older ones now at first thought there's an obvious answer

and that's the switch one or the switch lite

which came out in 2017 and 2019 respectively

and i know what you're thinking the prices for these things new is a bit outrageous for something this old

and underpowered but used it's extremely affordable at a bit over a hundred bucks pretty much everyone

and their mom owns one it's one of the best -selling

consoles of all time you won't have a problem finding a good deal off facebook marketplace

or ebay or wherever you buy used stuff

and it's got a huge game library

if you're lucky someone might throw in a few games too plus

if you someday get a huge pay bump

or upgrade to the switch 2 you can still play your games

but there's another huge elephant in the room you have the console

but now you need to add on the price of games

if you're buying fancy triple a and first party nintendo games then

that costs big money i have 50 to 80 dollars a

game that's two games for the same price for the console itself.

Now sure, you could buy used or wait for a sale, and we're going to get into that later.

So while I was contemplating this idea, one of our writers, Tyson, proposed another idea.

One that's potentially better, but maybe not.

What if there's another method that might cost more upfront, but you end up spending less for each individual game as time goes on?

And that's the LCD Steam Deck, which came out in 2022.

They're no longer available from Valve, but they go for about $400 on the used market.

Perhaps even less if you find a really, really good deal.

This way, you can unlock a bigger game library

that also costs less over time with all those big sales

steam is always having throughout the year between the switch one at its super affordable price

but with an expensive game library versus the more affordable lcd steam deck with their entire steam library

which one is better which one makes the most sense to get right now in 2026

so i perused ebay and the facebook marketplace for a couple days contacted a bunch of people

and put in these offers to get these devices at their used prices.

The switch came first and upon opening it, I had no idea if I had just been really lucky

or I got a limited edition style switch or if it was shell swapped.

It has these little characters on the back and on the dock, but there's nothing on the internet that can tell me what switch I got.

Oh well, it looks cool and it turned on.

Now there are a couple scratches everywhere on the screen.

Joy -cons are a little wobbly, but I think that's normal.

It's clearly been used for a long time with love.

The back kickstand can barely hold up its own weight, but looky here, I believe I got really lucky with this.

In my beginner -iness to gaming, I didn't realize the Nintendo Switch only has 32 gigabytes of internal storage that holds like one quarter of a cyberpunk.

Now, I would have to go out and buy myself a microSD card.

Thankfully, my used Switch comes with a 512 gigabyte microSD, which goes for like $100 on Amazon.

What a deal it also comes with a dock so that's nice

but it's not worth all that much in the grand scheme of things maybe 30 bucks

if i bought one

and on the other hand my steam deck lcd 256 gigabytes

cost 400 it looks like brand new there are no scratches

i mean it really looks like it wasn't used all

that often to begin with like it's sat on a shelf it comes with the case

but it's really bulky this one has 256 gigabytes of storage

but i really think you can find a 512 one for 400 if you look hard enough.

Even so, 256 is leagues more than 32.

Now before we start buying games though, let's establish the criteria.

Since this is a value -based experiment, we have to look at the total cost of potential subscriptions, games, and time investment.

Or if you want a little extra finesse, then we need a controller.

Though, we're gaming on the cheap here.

We don't want to spend another 60 to 100 dollars on a nice controller.

That kind of defeats the point.

Fortunately, you don't have to.

With today's sponsor, Mobipad, you can get the C2 Lite, a pro -style controller for the Switch 1 and 2 that costs under $30.

I expected something that felt like $30 controller, but the joysticks actually felt great.

They're hall effects, so they're resistant to stick drift, and Mobipad's glide design keeps the stick from grinding against the outer ring.

The grip feels good, and the battery lasts up to 20 hours, which means I can sit back and game the whole day away.

I can also game the night away too with their quiet membrane buttons.

You won't risk waking up your roommates, family or in my case, a two -year -old toddler.

It works for PC, iOS, and Android too.

Plus, it's customizable with Mobipad's own app.

So if you want to elevate your gaming experience without blowing the budget, check out the Mobipad C2 Lite in the description below.

Listen to these buttons.

So far, we've looked at basic console costs, which here, $150, $250 if you throw in storage, compared to $400 makes it pretty obvious as to which one's more affordable.

As for games to even out the playing field, I'll be buying 10 games on each platform.

Five more modern -y AAA and five indie games.

There's added cost to, which we'll get to, but for now, let's check out some games.

On the Nintendo side, I'm going to categorize AAA as Nintendo exclusive.

I mean, it's only fair.

We'll go with some classics like Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart 8, and Tears of the Kingdom.

I mean, that's like over 500 hours of gameplay.

Easy.

The indie side's a bit harder.

I chose Slay the Spire since Jake loves it piku niku

100

since abby one of our writers recommended it ace attorney since i love it

101

and spyro because my daughter loves it

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and octopath traveler recommended to me for my sister

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that library's looking pretty good right

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but how much does it all cost as i was lamenting on spending money on expensive games i realized

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that like steam nintendo has deals too i found this site called deku deals

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that you can make an account and wish list a bunch of stuff

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and then it'll alert you

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if goes on sale it's pretty cool for my indie games i paid a total of 70 for the five

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and using a combination of used cartridges borrowing games from a co -worker

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and buying digitally i paid a total of 128 for the five nintendo exclusives

111

so cartridges are one of the biggest money savers here you

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make some friends you buy them used you resell them

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when you're done and you can pretty much infinitely play new games

114

so that's 198 total about 20 a game on average

115

if you add 100 for the micro sd card 150 for

116

the console we're at 448 now you can do something crazy like get a used tv for 50 pray

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that it works and use your switch docked for some more firepower

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or you can pay 20 a year for a nintendo switch online

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which unlocks online play plus access to their very limited emulation library

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if you do 50 though you get even more emulation it's not terrible

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but i tested it and it's really limited

122

so the 10 games we got will last a heck of a long time to play them all

123

and many of them have replay value there is one small caveat

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and that's nintendo's return policy there is not basically any digital

125

purchases you make are non -refundable on the other hand steam lets you return games within 14 days

126

if you have less than two hours of gameplay we're getting

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ahead of ourselves let's take a look at the steam game store instead steam is known for deals

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and sales all the time deku deals as well as is

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there any deal .com lets you wish list of the things

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alert you until you're on sale there are super useful

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if you want to check price history

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and just wait until the time is right steam has a top secret weapon here

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that can make it an instant win

134

if you have a friend a family member

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or maybe even a co -worker who trusts you enough they

136

can add you to their steam family now you can essentially

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share the games with them making them all free for you

138

as long as you're both not trying to play the same

139

games at the same time i did this with my husband a

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while back since he has a bigger backlog than i did

141

now he never ever plays through now you can get yourself a tv

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and a dock and a control

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and you can use it with your console with all your extra money multiplayer is also completely free

144

so there's no subscription cost it's also a newer device

145

which means it'll last longer as time goes by this just feels like an instant win right

146

but before we jump to conclusions let's go game shopping here

147

luckily i made this video during the steam summer sale

148

so there were deals galore fret not though

149

because i think steam has sales every quarter look here's a

150

great deal for avatar frontiers of pandora for 18 down from 30

151

but as you scroll down apparently it's not supported on steam deck that's sort of a bummer

152

so instead let's go to the great on deck section

153

and at first glance there are a lot of great deals

154

cyberpunk 2077 for 18 bucks doom the dark ages for 23

155

but look there's games that cost less than five dollars each a binding of isaac rebirth barony

156

and even the witcher 3 for 3 .99 that's crazy even

157

with only a hundred dollars left for games we could seriously stretch that Sure, we're not playing the latest and greatest Forza Horizon 6 or Elden Ring, but eventually those games got a go on sale.

158

So I opted for a couple indie games like Slay the Spire 2.

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This one was a bit of a splurge.

160

Jake really wanted to play it, and since it's a new game that is exclusive to Steam, there were zero sales.

161

It was 24 bucks.

162

I got Hades for 6, LEGO Star Wars for 8, Spyro for 15, and Stardew Valley for 9.

163

These indie games totaled $64.

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Well, I guess I'm begging to get on Tyson's Family Plan, who loves new AAA games, or else I'm stuck with less than $40 for my newish game selection.

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I know, looking at all these sales, it's easy to just want to hoard the games, but I do actually need to go and play them.

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Slay the Spire 2 alone fills up a lot of my gaming time.

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I've accumulated maybe 35 hours on it, but that's a lot for me.

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So despite whatever preconceived notions there might be, both the Switch 1 and the Steam Deck actually have really good selection with good sales on their games.

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One here doesn't obviously beat out the other, unless you fall into the exclusive category.

170

Nintendo has their exclusives that you literally cannot get anywhere else unless you're crafty

171

but steam has advantages too like play the spire 2

172

which is only on steam currently a free multiplayer is a

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huge bonus there are zero subscriptions it also has one more huge advantage up its sleeve

174

and that's emulation

175

because the steam deck is literally a pc you can download

176

emulators it has everything a regular computer does now you have

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expanded your game selection to pretty much every previous console generation

178

you have no subscription no extra costs other than setting it up

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and acquiring your roms thankfully the setting up has been done

180

for you through something called emu deck it's literally a one -click script

181

that you press once

182

and that's it you got psp ps2 gamecube n64 the world is your oyster with some google

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and some troubleshooting you have old games running in no time

184

at all there's a full community source steam deck emulation compatibility

185

list you just check the game you want to play

186

and then you play it it's great i'll link it below add

187

that to having friends that's willing to help you acquire games

188

now you have endless gaming potential not to mention the cool

189

customizable things you can do with something like decky loader you

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can change the home screen look add in cool plugins use

191

custom artwork at this point i really was leaning all the

192

way towards my steam deck it's a more powerful device bigger games library free multiplayer

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and it's open you're not locked to nintendo even though it's

194

more expensive it did make a lot of sense since i'm not in love with nintendo

195

but you know what matters a bit more than the cost

196

of games is actually playing them in terms of usability this

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is where things took a bit of a turn the switch

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one is really lightweight at only 14 ounces that's less than

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a pound compared to the steam deck at one pound seven ounces

200

which is half a pound more and it's chonky

201

so throughout the day it was just easier to pick up

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and play the switch randomly where the steam deck feels more like an investment i may be the exception

203

because i'm one of those filthy casual gamers only game like

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an hour a day after my kid goes to sleep maybe

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you want a more dedicated gaming device with a better processor better display

206

and better everything then the steam deck wins out except

207

if you have small hands the extra width of the Steam Deck that's needed to fit the D -pad, the joystick, and the trackpad makes it a lot bulkier on the sides.

208

They do have the paddles on the back for those ultra intense gamer Dark Souls moments if you're into that.

209

Even carrying around the Switch is easier.

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It's a good three inches shorter, it's thinner, and it's more compact.

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It doesn't fit in my pockets, but it's an easy add to my backpack without weighing it down too much.

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And the fact that the screen is already scratched up makes it so easy for me to be like, I'm putting it anywhere.

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And the best part is you can make it two -player by disconnecting the Joy -Cons and using the kickstand.

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It's a tiny screen, but the possibility is there.

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It's also extremely easy to put in a game, download a game, and just open it up and start playing.

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The experience is very streamlined.

217

Even with all that said, after a couple weeks of playing on both devices though, which one is ultimately the better choice?

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Well, it's not an easy choice.

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Nintendo is Nintendo.

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They have exclusives, family games, and they're really easy to pick up and play.

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And Steam is Steam.

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You do get a lot more in terms of tinkering because you have a PC in your hands.

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In a way, they serve different types of gamers.

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If I had to make a decision, I'd have to go with the Steam Deck.

225

I know, it's a shocker.

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But despite having a super fun time with Super Mario Odyssey and wandering around the world of Breath of the Wild, I think I'm just more of a social gamer

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and there's not much that beats playing Slay the Spire 2 with my husband.

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Honestly, both devices are great choices to have.

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They don't overlap all that much, surprisingly.

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So if you do have a little bit more money, you technically could have both but that's not money saving, that's money spending.

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If you don't want any of those and just want to go the retro handheld route, check out our video on the AYN Thor here.

232

It's got two screens, it's ultra portable and it can run a ton of games for under 400 bucks.

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Vocabulário e dicas de fala para esta lição

Esta aula de conversação usa o vídeo “Gaming Doesn't Have To Be Expensive”. As palavras que mais se repetem: steam, switch, deck, cost, nintendo. Este vídeo tem 232 frases e 2940 palavras para praticar shadowing. A fala dura 13:39. O falante fala rápido, cerca de 215 palavras por minuto, então espere sons ligados e reduzidos. Apenas 81% das palavras estão entre as 3.000 mais comuns do inglês, por isso o vocabulário é exigente.

Vocabulário principal deste vídeo

15 palavras do vídeo que vale a pena aprender, com pronúncia e significado:

Palavra	Pronúncia	Significado
deck substantivo	/ˈdɛk/	convés, deque
buck substantivo	/ˈbʌk/	macho, gamo
affordable adjetivo	/əˈfɔɹ.də.bəl/	acessível
controller substantivo	/kənˈtɹoʊlɚ/	auditor, tesoureiro
subscription substantivo	/səbˈskɹɪpʃən/	subscrição, assinatura
dock substantivo	/dɑk/	doca
scratch verbo	/skɹæt͡ʃ/	coçar, rascar
multiplayer adjetivo	/ˌmʌl.tiˈpleɪ.əɹ/	multijogador, multijogadora
worker substantivo	/ˈwɝ.kɚ/	trabalhador
instant substantivo	/ˈɪnstənt/	instante, momento
alert adjetivo	/əˈlɝt/	alerta
dare verbo	/dɛ(ə)ɹ/	ousar, atrever-se a
acquire verbo	/əˈkwaɪɚ/	adquirir
gameplay substantivo	/ˈɡeɪmˌpleɪ/	experiência de jogo, jogabilidade
unlock verbo	/ʌnˈlɑk/	destrancar

Phrasal verbs que você vai ouvir

Palavra	Pronúncia	Significado
check out verbo		verificar, sacar só
pick up verbo		pegar
end up verbo		terminar, acabar
fill up verbo		encher
go out verbo		sair
set up verbo	/ˌsɛt ˈʌp/	preparar
wake up verbo	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	acordar, despertar

Frases que vale a pena repetir

Frases curtas e completas do vídeo que você pode usar na conversa do dia a dia:

Dare I say, that's too disheartening and sad.
What if you're a kid or a teenager?
Though, we're gaming on the cheap here.
Fortunately, you don't have to.
I mean, it's only fair.

Gramática neste vídeo

As estruturas que o falante mais usa, com as palavras exatas do vídeo:

Estrutura	No vídeo
Present perfect have/has + particípio passado — uma ação passada que ainda importa agora	we've looked · I've accumulated · has been done
Voz passiva be + particípio passado — o foco está no que acontece, não em quem faz	is known · has been done · is already scratched
Orações relativas who / which + oração — informação extra sobre uma pessoa ou coisa	someone who doesn · hours, which means
Superlativos the -est / the most … — o maior ou o menor de um grupo	the most affordable · the best · the most sense

Pronúncia para ficar de olho

O falante usa 47 contrações e formas reduzidas, como you're, I'm, don't. Diga-as na forma curta, do jeito que você ouve.

Os sons de “th”: thin /ˈθɪn/, width /ˈwɪtθ/, filthy /ˈfɪlθi/, rebirth /ɹiːˈbɜːθ/
Os sons de “sh” e “zh”: subscription /səbˈskɹɪpʃən/, establish /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/
Palavras longas — acerte a sílaba tônica: affordable /əˈfɔɹ.də.bəl/, multiplayer /ˌmʌl.tiˈpleɪ.əɹ/, respectively /ɹɪˈspɛktɪvli/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/

Sons difíceis para falantes de português:

Consoante final — sem acrescentar um “i” depois: deck /ˈdɛk/, buck /ˈbʌk/, dock /dɑk/, pound /ˈpaʊ̯nd/, lite /laɪt/
/l/ final — a língua toca o céu da boca, não vira “u”: console /ˈkɑn.soʊl/, affordable /əˈfɔɹ.də.bəl/, shell /ʃɛl/, triple /ˈtɹɪp.əl/, casual /ˈkæʒ(u)əl/
/h/ — um sopro suave, diferente do “r”: wherever /(h)wɛɹˈɛvɚ/, heck /hɛk/, hobby /ˈhɑ.bi/, dishearten /dɪsˈhɑɹ.tən/

Como praticar com este vídeo

Ouça o vídeo inteiro uma vez sem falar e anote as palavras que você não conhece.
Comece na velocidade 0,75×, faça shadowing frase por frase e volte à velocidade normal quando ficar fácil.
Grave a sua voz e compare com o original, prestando atenção a palavras como deck, buck, affordable.

O que é a Técnica de Shadowing?

Shadowing é uma técnica de aprendizado de idiomas com base científica, originalmente desenvolvida para o treinamento de intérpretes profissionais. O método é simples, mas poderoso: você ouve áudio em inglês nativo e repete imediatamente em voz alta — como uma sombra seguindo o falante com 1-2 segundos de atraso. Pesquisas mostram melhora significativa na precisão da pronúncia, entonação, ritmo, sons conectados, compreensão auditiva e fluência na fala.

Técnica de shadowing: leia o guia completo passo a passo →

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