Learning to Drive - reading practice

Read my story about how I learnt to drive and why I can only drive an automatic car!

Automatic car                                                        Manual car

​In England, you can learn to drive when you are 17 but I had my first lessons when I was 18. I didn't like my first teacher because he was a bit scary! My second teacher was much better but even so, I was a very slow learner. After about 20 lessons one summer, I was still practising the basics. I remember once I was waiting for a traffic light to go green and when it did, stalled the car (= I made the engine stop by mistake). It took me so long to restart it that the light went red again! Roundabouts terrified me and one time, my instructor changed gears for me without me even noticing. In October that year, I started university and stopped the driving lessons. I started them again during the Christmas holiday but I had forgotten everything and it was like starting all over again so I gave up.

Four years later, I had almost finished at university and realised I would need a car for work. I was so so scared about learning to drive that I cried and had an argument with my parents! I thought I would never be able to learn! Eventually I decided to have a lesson in an automatic car. My mum and dad thought it was a bad idea because, in the UK, if you take your driving test in an automatic, you are not allowed to drive a manual car. However, after just one lesson, I knew it was the right thing to do. Suddenly, learning to drive seemed possible again!

​I failed my first test because I made some stupid mistakes. I was too nervous! I bought a car anyway and my mum took me out to practise every day for a month. I was much more confident the second time I took my test and I passed! I can still only drive an automatic car today!


​I hope you enjoyed reading this. Reading is a great way to improve your English. For more reading resources, visit this page.