Versant Repeat practice
In the Versant English tests you hear a sentence and repeat it word for word, and the sentences get longer and more complex as you go. You can practise the same skill free in Sada with real sentences from recorded talks, said after the speaker, recorded and played beside the original. Sada shows which of your words it recognised and compares your timing; it does not grade individual sounds and its result is not a Versant score.
Practise one sentence now
The exercise opens on one line from Terri Trespicio’s talk at 0:27: “I loved the job, I really did.” Listen to the whole sentence once, then say it back as soon as it ends. Record your take and open Compare to play it beside the original. No account is needed, and recordings stay on your device.
Seven sentences about work, short to long
Listen for meaning before repeating. Group each work sentence into phrases rather than isolated words. In Compare, listen for rhythm and pauses across each phrase, then check the final word. Retry one phrase without adding a pause inside it.
These are practice excerpts from talks, not a complete test or official test questions. Word recognition is not an exam score. Listen to your take before deciding a word was missing.
After Compare, retry the same line with one change. Return to this page with your browser’s Back button (from Compare, go back until this guide returns), then choose the next sentence. The numbers show the practice order, not saved progress or exam difficulty levels.
Practice line 1 of 7
Short work statements
1.8 seconds of source audio
“I loved the job, I really did.”
Terri Trespicio · 0:27 · Practise this line →
Seven words in two parts. Link “loved the” and stress “really”; the D at the end of “did” must be heard.
Repeat again without looking at the caption: keep the ending “I really did.” in order. In Compare, listen for it in your recording before deciding what to retry.
Next sentence — line 2: When the work came back, I calculated grades.
Practice line 2 of 7
Short work statements
2.7 seconds of source audio
“When the work came back, I calculated grades.”
Angela Lee Duckworth · 0:33 · Practise this line →
Eight words with a pause at the comma. “Calculated” has four syllables and ends in -ed: say it.
Repeat again without looking at the caption: keep the ending “I calculated grades.” in order. In Compare, listen for it in your recording before deciding what to retry.
Next sentence — line 3: And we're constantly told to lean in to work, to push harder
Practice line 3 of 7
Work and career changes
6.7 seconds of source audio
“And we're constantly told to lean in to work, to push harder”
Robert Waldinger · 0:52 · Practise this line →
Twelve words. “Lean in to work” and “push harder” carry the stress; the small words between them are quick but must stay.
Repeat again without looking at the caption: keep the ending “to push harder” in order. In Compare, listen for it in your recording before deciding what to retry.
Next sentence — line 4: Older adults work hard to lose what middle-aged adults worked hard to gain.
Practice line 4 of 7
Work and career changes
5.3 seconds of source audio
“Older adults work hard to lose what middle-aged adults worked hard to gain.”
Dan Gilbert · 0:35 · Practise this line →
Thirteen words that mirror each other: “work hard to lose” and “worked hard to gain”. Keep the -ed on the second “worked”.
Repeat again without looking at the caption: keep the ending “hard to gain.” in order. In Compare, listen for it in your recording before deciding what to retry.
Next sentence — line 5: The day I got laid off from my job at Martha Stewart, I was relieved.
Practice line 5 of 7
Work and career changes
4.5 seconds of source audio
“The day I got laid off from my job at Martha Stewart, I was relieved.”
Terri Trespicio · 0:21 · Practise this line →
Fifteen words, a short story. “Laid off” is one unit, and the sentence turns on the last word, “relieved”.
Repeat again without looking at the caption: keep the ending “I was relieved.” in order. In Compare, listen for it in your recording before deciding what to retry.
Practice line 6 of 7
Hold the longer contrast
5.0 seconds of source audio
“And I knew that that would keep me interested for my whole career, which it has.”
Robert Waldinger · 0:15 · Practise this line →
Sixteen words. “That that” is easy to shorten to one; say both. End on “which it has” without dropping it.
Repeat again without looking at the caption: keep the ending “which it has.” in order. In Compare, listen for it in your recording before deciding what to retry.
Practice line 7 of 7
Hold the longer contrast
7.1 seconds of source audio
“I left a very demanding job in management consulting for a job that was even more demanding: teaching.”
Angela Lee Duckworth · 0:14 · Practise this line →
Eighteen words, the longest here. Three chunks: “I left a very demanding job”, “in management consulting”, “for a job that was even more demanding: teaching”.
Repeat again without looking at the caption: keep the ending “more demanding: teaching.” in order. In Compare, listen for it in your recording before deciding what to retry.
End of this set. Try the first line again and listen for the one thing you changed. Play your first take and your newest take in Compare’s “First try vs now”.
Key facts
- Any captioned YouTube video
- No extension, works on phone and computer
- No account needed to practise; a free, optional account keeps your history on every device
- Free, no paid plan
- Recordings stay on your device
- Repeat and Shadow modes
- Word recognition and timing feedback (not per-sound grading)
How the task works
According to Pearson’s official guide to the Versant by Pearson English Speaking and Listening Test and its description of the Versant English Test, checked on 11 October 2026:
| Part of the test | What Pearson says |
|---|---|
| The test | About 17 minutes, taken online in a phone app or a web browser, and scored automatically |
| Its tasks | Six item types: Repeat the sentence, give a short answer, answer questions about a conversation and about a passage, retell a passage, and give your opinion |
| What you do in Repeat | Listen to a sentence and say it back word for word |
| How it gets harder | The sentences grow longer and more complex |
| What it shows | Whether you can hold a sentence as phrases rather than single words, with a sample of your fluency and pronunciation in continuous speech |
Organisations use Versant to test the English of new or existing students and staff, so a company may ask you to take it before an interview. Sada is not connected with Pearson. Its lines are not test items, and the words it recognised are not a Versant score and do not predict one. For the real format, use Pearson’s official guide and practice materials.
What Sada can and cannot tell you
After each take, Compare marks the words it recognised and the ones it missed, so you can see at once which word you dropped, even when you did not hear yourself drop it. In After the speaker mode it also gives your pace against the speaker’s, for example “20% slower than the speaker”, so you can tell whether you stopped in the middle of the sentence.
It does not grade individual sounds, stress or intonation, so it does not measure the pronunciation and fluency parts of a score. A missed word can come from noise or a distant microphone, so play your take before judging it.
How to practise each sentence
- Listen once, without reading. Look away from the caption: in the test you only hear the sentence.
- Start as soon as it ends. Say it back straight away, before the words fade.
- Record and compare. Play your take beside the original and look at the words Sada did not recognise.
- Copy the speaker’s chunks. Pearson describes the task as organising speech into phrases: say the line again in the same groups of words, with the same pauses.
- Move to a longer line. When a long line is hard to remember, hold it as three or four chunks of meaning, not as single words.
For a short session, try two or three lines, each followed by listening to your take and retrying one phrase. Then play your first take and your newest one in Compare’s “First try vs now”.
Keep going
More real lines to repeat, from short to long: listen and repeat practice. Preparing for the interview itself? See English job interview practice. Taking PTE Academic instead? See PTE Repeat Sentence practice. If you grew up speaking an Indian language, the sounds and rhythms that can change a word are in English pronunciation for Indian speakers. To understand Compare in detail, read about the pronunciation checker. Which other tests have a repeat or read-aloud task, and which have none: speaking tests with a repeat task.
Questions people ask
What is the Versant Repeat task?
You hear a sentence and say it back word for word. Pearson describes the sentences as growing longer and more complex, and the task as showing whether you can hold speech as phrases, with a sample of your fluency and pronunciation.
How long is the Versant English Speaking and Listening Test?
Pearson’s official guide gives about 17 minutes, with six item types, taken online in a phone app or a web browser and scored automatically.
How can I practise Versant Repeat for free?
Repeat real English sentences out loud, from short to long, and record yourself so you can hear what you dropped. In Sada each line on this page opens in After the speaker mode, and Compare shows which of your words were recognised. It is free and needs no account.
Does Sada give me a Versant score?
No. Sada is not connected with Pearson, its lines are not test items, and its result is not a Versant score and does not predict one. It shows which words it recognised and your timing against the speaker.
What if I forget the end of the sentence?
Hold it as a few chunks of meaning rather than single words, and copy the speaker’s pauses. Start with the shorter lines on this page and move up one line at a time.
Is it free?
Yes. Sada is free, with no account and no paid plan, and works in the browser on a phone or a computer. Recordings stay on your device.
Practise again tomorrow? Get one short sentence a day, ready to record in one tap.
You don't need to speak fast.
A slow line to begin with: listen to how “don’t need to” runs together, then say it at the speaker’s pace.
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