Real Conversation in English | Car Problems | 42
Listen to a real conversation in English as Emma and Luke talk about the car problems they’ve had recently.
This episode is good for practicing how to complain in English, and how to continue a conversation with phrases like ‘Uh oh’ and ‘That’s not good.’ when talking about an unfortunate or annoying event with someone. See the ‘Vocabulary’ tab below for more words and phrases from this conversation.
To listen, press play in the audio player.
Emma 0:02
You're listening to a real conversation in English with Dialogue Frog. So I have something to complain about today.
Luke 0:09
Uh oh. What's that?
Emma 0:11
My car broke.
Luke 0:12
Yikes.
Emma 0:13
Yikes. Yeah. So, the other day I was trying to leave, so I got in my car-
Luke 0:19
Mm hm.
Emma 0:19
-and then when you turn on the car and then you put your foot on the brake, right?
Luke 0:22
Right.
Emma 0:24
Except the brake pedal didn't work.
Uh oh.
It just, it just went to the floor.
Luke 0:30
Yeah.
Emma 0:30
Um, so, yeah, my my brake's broken.
Luke 0:35
That's not good.
Emma 0:36
No. Yeah. Now I don't have a car.
Luke 0:40
Do you have a truck? Or an SUV? Or a helicopter?
Emma 0:44
I've been meaning to rent one of those. But yeah, they-they were out.
Luke 0:49
Yeah, that's sad.
Emma 0:52
So, I'm gonna take my car to the repair shop. Um, but it's probably going to be a couple of weeks.
Luke 0:58
Mm.
Emma 0:59
A lot of people I guess right now are having car problems.
Luke 1:01
Yeah.
Emma 1:03
Well, you just had your- a car problem too, right?
Luke 1:05
Yeah. Well, the problem was my car's not a helicopter, so.
Emma 1:09
Well, that's problem number one.
Luke 1:10
That's problem number one, and then, um, yeah, uh, I couldn't get in because the door handle's broken, and I also couldn't get out.
Emma 1:23
That's a bad situation.
Luke 1:26
It-It really was, um, but then it was fixed.
Emma 1:35
And you did the repair yourself. That's pretty cool.
Luke 1:38
Yep. I, uh, I kept thinking, you know, this will be really good practice for when I have a helicopter.
Emma 1:46
Except it wasn't a helicopter.
Luke 1:47
No.
Emma 1:48
No. Well, this has been another great real conversation in English with Dialogue Frog.
complain
I have something to complain about.
Uh oh
car
broke
yikes
yeah
trying to
leave
got in
turn on
put
foot
break
,right?
except
pedal
didn't
work
just
went to
floor
broken
That's not good.
truck
SUV (sports utility vehicle)
helicopter
I've been meaning to...
rent
They were out.
That's sad.
gonna
take
repair shop
probably
going to be
couple
car problems
number one
door handle
also
get out
situation
That's a bad situation.
fixed
repair
cool
That's pretty cool.
kept
thinking
you know
practice
this will be good practice for...
except
People who do car and engine repair are called mechanics. Mechanics work at repair shops, repair services, auto shops, or auto repair services. Although these places can have different and similar names, it is where you take your car for repair if something breaks or you are in an car accident.
If you don’t know much about cars and engines, it can be difficult and stressful to talk to a mechanic about your car problems even in your native language. This video below is by the American Automobile Association, commonly known as AAA. This video gives advice on how to talk to a mechanic about your car problems if you do not know much about cars. It has a lot of great vocabulary that is useful if you need to talk to a mechanic in the U.S.
