Live Mini-Story Text

Ready? Were going? Okay, good. All right, you guys ready? So, this is going to be a
mini-story lesson. So, Csar, you already know about this. Youve been listening to
them, but Marcos you havent, so let me tell you how the mini-story lessons work.

So, first, Im going to maybe go through a little bit of vocabulary, just easy, and then Im
going to tell a story. But I actually dont tell the story I ask the story, which means I give
you a story with a lot of questions. So Ill say, for example, I just do three things, three
simple things. The first thing I do is I might make a statement. So a statement, you
know, is just something with a period, right, not a question. So, for example, there is a
boy. Not a question. Thats a statement.

So when I make a statement you have a job and your jobIll make a statement and
you say Oh! Okay? So with your head youve got to do this, with your arms you can
do this and with this loud voice you must imagine This is so interesting. This is the
most interesting thing youve ever heard in your life, okay? Were going to practice it,
alright? Okay, here we go.

*****

Class, there is a boy.

Oh!

Okay. Thats kind of so-so, so were going to try it again. Remember, this is the most
interesting thing youve ever heard in your whole life. Wow! This is so interesting! Are
you ready? All right, here we go, one more time. Remember, emotion, very strong.
This is important. This is one way we change the psychology so that you begin to feel
stronger and more relaxed when you speak. So, here we go.

Class, there is a boy.

Oh!!

Yeah, wow! Okay good, yeah, very good. So thats a statement, excellent.

Number two: Ill ask you a question you know. You know the answer. When I ask a
question you know you just shout the answer. Now let me show you how to shout the

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answer. When you say the answer you use a strong, loud voice and you use your body.
So youre going to do something like this or youre sitting in your chair so, yeah! You
know, you use your arms, use your head, use your face and a loud voice. Also, when
you answer, one word is okay, two words okay. You dont need a long sentence, okay?
So lets try it again.

There is a boy.

Oh!!

Good job, alright.

Is there a boy?

Yes!

There you go. All right, one more time.

Is there a boy?

Yes!!

Thats it. Yes!!! Shout it strong. One more time.

Is there a boy?

Yes!!

Thats it. Okay, good. All right, finally I will dosee, youre already laughing. Thats
good. Better to laugh than to feel stress. Okay. So, finally, well do three things:

Statement
Question you know

The final thing,

A question you dont know

I will ask a question and you have no idea. You dont know the answer. I didnt tell you
before. If I ask a question you dont know you shout a guess. You just guess. You
dont know anything. You can think. The first thing you think, shout it, okay? It might
be wrong. Its okay. It doesnt matter.

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All right, so lets try it again; first, a statement.

There is a boy.

Oh!!

Good.

Is there a boy?

Yes!

Whats his name?

Thomas.

Joe.

Okay, perfect. His name is Thomas.

Oh?

Another statement, good. So you see how this works? This is all I do. I just do three
things, only three possible things. Everything I say will be a statement or a question you
know or a question you dont know. Thats all. And every time you have a reaction.
You Oh or shout the answer or shout a guess. And, again, one word is okay, two
words okay. It doesnt matter.

One more thing, your goal for all of this, the thing you should be thinking about, number
one, mistakes. Okay. I dont care about mistakes. If you make a mistake with
grammar, if you shout the wrong answer, I dont care. Its not important. One thing is
important for this. For the mini-story lesson theres only one thing thats important and
that is speed. Speed is very important. Fast answers, fast reaction.

What were doing is were teaching you to hear, understand very fast and immediately
react. You immediately say something. This is a normal conversation. Normal
conversations are very fast. As you know, right?

You had this problem Marcos. You said Ah! Someone asked you a question, Where
are you from? And Ah! And then everything stops. Well we dont want that. Thats

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not good. So we want the opposite. Thats why I just want you to shout stuff, okay?
Even if its wrong, I dont care. Its English. Its okay. Okay?

So youre going to just shout things. You go, Oh! Yes! No! John! Youre just going to
be shouting, shouting, shouting and your goal is always speed, speed, speed.
Mistakes, no problem, bad pronunciation, I dont care, but speed is important.

So I dont want you to think were trying to get rid of the thinking part, the nervous part,
the translation part. Speed will get rid of all of that. And not after one day, its not
enough, but after four months, six months, this will become automatic. This is how you
learn to speak very quickly and automatically.

After four months, six months, eight months, suddenly someone says, Where are you
from? You just say Peru. It comes out of your mouth. You never think. You dont
translate it to Spanish and back to English. It just happens, but this is how we do it,
okay? So speed and loud reaction. Lets start with our story.

So, class, here we go. Get ready.

Class, there is

Should we dolet me think. Lets mix some things. Oh! Good timing. Hey, Joe, hey!
So, Joe, okay. Well introduce Joe real quick before we start the class. Okay, this is
Joe from Learn Real English. Yeah!

Nice to meet you. Your name?

My name is Marcos.

Marcos? Nice to meet you.

Cesar.

Cesar? Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Welcome.

Are you guys ready? Im just trying to think. How am I going to do this? Um, yeah,
okay good. So, class

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There is a cat.

Oh!

Is there a dog?

No!

Okay, lets try it again. Now, remember, were going to say no and use your body
when you do it, so

Is there a cat?

No!

Yes!

Oh, yeah, sorry, my mistake. Okay.

Is there a dog?

No!

Is there a cat?

Yes!

Okay, good job, alright.

What is there?

A dog.

A cat.

John.

John. Yes! No. Its alright Cesar. Again, remember, I dont care. Mistakes, no
problem, but speed. He answered very fast. Perfect. Thats right. There is a cat.

Whats the cats name?

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Bill.

Bill. Yeah, I like Bill. All right, good. The cats name is Bill.

Oh!

Is the cats name A.J.?

No!

Is the cats name Marcos?

No!

Whats the cats name?

Bill.

What?

Bill!

Okay, good.

Is Bill a young cat?

No.

No. Thats right. Bills not a young cat. Bills a very old cat.

Awh!

How old is Bill?

Twelve years old.

More.

One hundred-seventeen years old.

Very close, 119.

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Awh!

How old is Bill?

One hundred-nineteen years old.

Thats right. Bill is one hundred and nineteen years old.

Oh!

Who is 119 years old?

Bill.

Bill the dog?

No, the cat.

Bill the cat is 119 years old.

Oh!

Now, Bill has a problem.

Oh.

This is sad, so ooohhhh. Bill is very old, but Bill is bored.

Oh.

Bill is very bored with his life.

Oh.

Is Bill a dog?

No!

Is Bill a monkey?

No!

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What is Bill?

A cat.

Whats his name?

Bill.

How old is he?

One hundred-nineteen years old.

How does he feel?

He feels bored.

Thats right, bored. Hes bored. Oh, very good. Bill feels bored, awh, oh.

Oh.

Bill feels bored because he has done everything in his life. Awh! He has done
everything, almost everything. But starting when he was a young cat until now, 119
years old, he has done many, many, many things, right? He has done many things, aw.
In fact, hes bored because he has nothing to do. Awh.

Why is he bored?

Because he has nothing to do.

Who has nothing to do?

Bill.

Bill the dog has nothing to do?

No, the cat.

Yeah, good. Bill the cat has nothing to do, awe.

So, one thing he has done, Bill has fought. Right. You know fighting, right? Bill
has fought.

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Who has Bill fought?

An alligator.

No, good guess.

Who has Bill fought?

Mike Tyson.

Yes, thats right. Good guess. Yes, Bill has fought Mike Tyson.

How many times has Bill fought Mike Tyson?

Three times.

How many?

Three times.

Three times. Oh, much more than three times, more.

Forty-eight.

More than 48.

One hundred.

One hundred, keep going!

Three hundred.

Three hundred and 72.

Wow!

Ooohhh!

So, when did he fight Mike Tyson the first time?

When he was 18.

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Okay, good. Youre exactly right.

Oh!

When he was 18 he fought Mike Tyson the first time.

Oh!

Since he was 18, starting when he was 18 until now, right? So we have all these times.

How many times has he fought Mike Tyson?

Three hundred-seventy two.

Good.

How many times has he fought Mike Tyson?

Three hundred-seventy two.

Exactly right.

He has fought Mike Tyson 372 times, since when?

He was 18.

Since he was 18 until now, so in this time. All right, so when we have a time passed
and then theres some time range we often say has. Has fought, has done, has been.

So, he has fought who 372 times?

Mike Tyson.

Has he fought Mohammed Ali 372 times?

No!

Who has he fought?

Mike Tyson.

How many times has he fought Mike Tyson?

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Three hundred-seventy two times.

Who has fought Mike Tyson 372 times?

Bill. Bill the cat.

Bill the cat has fought who?

Mike Tyson.

How many times?

Three hundred-seventy two times.

Since when?

He was 18.

Since he was 18.

Oh!

How many times has Bill won? How many times has he beaten Mike Tyson?

Four.

Close.

Six.

No.

Thirty times.

Zero. Zero, never. He never beat Mike Tyson. Oh, poor Bill.

How many times has he lost?

Three hundred-seventy two times.

Exactly. He has lost 372 times.

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Oh!

Who has lost 372 times?

Bill the cat.

Yeah, the cat. Right, Bill the cat.

Who has won 372 times?

Mike Tyson.

Yeah.

Mike Tyson has won 372 times against who?

Bill.

Yeah, thats right.

Against Bill the cat Mike Tyson has won how many times?

Three hundred-seventy two times.

Since when?

Since he was 18.

Since he was 12?

No.

Since he was 20?

No!

Since when?

Since he was 18.

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All right, since he was 18, very nice. Woo! So Bill had an exciting life, right? What
else, what more has Bill done in his life, all his life? Where has Bill been, for example?
Where has he traveled to? Where has Bill been in his life?

Tahiti.

Germany.

He has, but some place much more interesting.

Brazil.

No, more interesting.

Fiji.

Close, keep going. He has been some place super amazing.

New Zealand.

The moon.

Yes. He has been to the moon. Ooohhh!

Ooohhh!

Bill has been to the moon.

Ooohhh!

So, of course, Brazil is very boring for him now. Fiji, very boring. Everywhere here,
boring.

Where has he been?

To the moon.

How many times has he been to the moon?

Thirty times.

Yeah, very close. Thirty-one times, 31 times. Oh! He has been to the moon 31 times.

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Oh!

Where has he been?

To the moon.

To the moon.

Who has been to the moon?

Bill the cat.

Thats right.

Since when? When did he go to the moon the first time?

When he was 50, 50.

Well, let me ask you a different question.

What year did he go to the moon the first time? What year, 1920, 1950, 19?

2000.

Very close, but 19?

97.

Awh, oh!

He went to the moon the first time when?

In 1999.

Yeah, exactly right, in 1999. Oh!

Who went to the moon in 1999?

Bill the cat.

Did Bill the dog go to the moon in 1999?

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No, the cat.

Bill the cat went to the moon in 1999.

Oh!

How many times has he been to the moon?

Thirty-one.

Since when?

1999.

Thats right. So 1999 until now 31 times. Oh!

Has Bill been to the moon 12 times?

No.

Has he been to the moon 20 times?

No.

How many times has he been to the moon?

Thirty-one times.

Good.

Who has been to the moon 31 times?

Bill the cat.

Good.

Why did he go to the moon?

Because he loved cheese.

He loved cheese, good.

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Because he was bored.

He was bored, exactly right. He was bored on earth. Here on earth too boring, so he
went to the moon.

Oh!

So his problem now, hes too old to go to the moon.

Awe!

He cannot go to the moon again.

Awe!

Why not?

Because hes too old.

Hes too old. Thats right. Hes too old to go to the moon now.

Oh!

Who is too old?

Bill the cat.

Is Jim too old?

No.

Am I too old?

No.

Who is too old?

Bill the cat.

How old is Bill the cat?

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One hundred-nineteen.

Yeah, there you go. Yes, I erased it. Good. Hes 119 years old.

Awe!

How many times has he fought Mike Tyson?

Three hundred-seventy two.

How many times has he beaten Mike Tyson?

Zero.

How many times has Mike Tyson beaten him?

Three hundred-seventy two times.

Three hundred-seventy two times.

How many times has he lost to Mike Tyson?

Three hundred-seventy two times.

Yup. See even the native speakers make mistakes. He said zero. Chris said no. No,
you have to go back to Brazil. All right, so, he has lost to Mike Tyson 372 times.

Awe!

How many times has he been to the moon?

Thirty-one times.

Since when?

Since 1999.

Good. Since 1999, good.

When did he fight Mike Tyson the first time?

When he was 18.

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Thats right. When he was 18 he fought Mike Tyson the first time. Oh!

Why cant he go to the moon now?

Because hes too old.

Because hes too old.

Can he go to the moon now?

No.

Who cannot go to the moon now?

Bill the cat.

Good.

So how does he feel now?

Bored.

Why is he bored?

Because he cant go to the moon.

Because he cant go to the moon. Good. Hes bored because he cant go to the moon
now.

Oh! So he has a problem, yes? Oh, no, so Bill is very sad.

Oh!

He thinks and he thinks. He needs to find something new to do.

Oh!

What does he need to find?

Something new.

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Good, something new. Something new to do.

Does he need to do something old, the same?

No.

No. He doesnt want to do the same thing.

Does he want to fight Mike Tyson again?

No.

No, losing 372 times is enough, right? And now hes very old, so

So does he want to fight Mike Tyson again?

No.

Can he go to the moon again?

No.

So, what does he decide to do?

Learn the Samba.

Learn Samba dancing. No.

No.

What does he decide to do next?

Go to Mars.

No, he cant go to space anymore hes too old.

What does he decide to do next?

Rest.

What was that?

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Take a rest.

Take a rest? No, too boring. He doesnt want to rest. No, he wants something exciting,
something different. He decides to scuba dive.

Oh, I was thinking that.

Awe, so Kristen already knew, oh. So he decides to go scuba diving. Do you guys
know scuba? No. Scuba is like under the water. You know you have the air on your
back and then youre breathing and you go in the water and look at the fish. Yeah?

So, awe, what does he want to do?

Go scuba diving.

Go scuba diving.

Awe!

Does he want to samba?

No!

No, maybe later.

Does he want to go to Mars?

No!

No, he cant, too old.

Does he want to fight Mike Tyson again?

No!

Definitely no!

What does he decide to do?

Go scuba diving. Oh!

Where does he go scuba diving? Where?

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In Cancun.

Not in Cancun, no. Good guess.

Hawaii.

Not in Hawaii, no, no.

Where does he go?

Brazil.

Brazil, Brazil, Cancun, too warm. He doesnt like the warm. He decides to go to
Norway. Oh! Do you guys know Norway? Sweden? Yeah, right, next to Sweden.

But where does he go scuba diving?

Norway.

In Norway, exactly. He goes scuba diving in Norway.

Oh!

Who goes scuba diving in Norway?

Bill the cat.

Does he fight Mike Tyson?

No!

Does he go to the moon?

No!

How old is he?

One hundred-nineteen years old.

How many times has he fought Mike Tyson?

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Three hundred-seventy two times.

How many times has he been to the moon?

Thirty-one times.

How many times has he been scuba diving?

Zero.

Never. Thats right, never. This is the first time, the first time.

The first time, where does he go?

Norway.

Does he go to Cancun the first time?

No.

Does he scuba dive in Brazil the first time?

No.

Does he scuba dive in Fiji the first time?

No.

Where does he scuba dive the first time?

Norway!

In Norway.

Is Norway warm?

No!

Is Norway cold?

Yes!

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How cold?

So bad.

Super cold. So cold. Very cold, very, very, very cold.

Awe!

Does Bill the cat like hot weather? Hot. Does he like hot weather, the sun?

No.

No, no.

What does he like?

He likes cold weather.

Yes. Thats right. Bill the cat likes cold weather. Awe.

So where does he go?

Norway.

What does he do in Norway?

Go scuba diving.

Does he swim?

No!

Not really. Under water, right? He goes scuba diving in Norway. Oh!

Does he enjoy scuba diving?

Yes.

Yes, he does, very much.

Awe!

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Does he like it a little or a lot?

A lot.

Yes, he loves scuba diving.

Awe!

Who loves scuba diving?

Bill the cat.

Does Bill the dog love scuba diving?

No.

Does A.J. love scuba diving?

Yes.

Yes, I do, actually. Okay, but Bill the cat loves scuba diving.

Awe!

How old is he?

One hundred-nineteen years old.

Is he bored now? Is he bored?

No.

No, not bored anymore. Awe! After he goes scuba diving hes not bored.

Oh!

He decides to live in Norway.

Awe!

Where does he decide to live?

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Norway.

In Norway because he likes to scuba dive.

Thats right.

Because he likes scuba diving where?

Norway.

Thats right. He likes scuba diving only in Norway.

Awe!

Does he decide to live in Peru?

No!

No.

Why not?

Its too warm.

Its too warm.

Does he decide to live in Brazil?

No!

Why not?

Too hot.

Too hot, yeah.

Where does he decide to live?

In Norway.

In Norway.

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What does he do in Norway every day?

Scuba diving.

Thats right. He goes scuba diving in Norway every day.

Awe!

*****

And thats the end of the story. Yeah! Good job, very nice. All right, so how are we
doing on time? Oh, were good, no problem.

So this is basically how we do the mini-story. In this mini-story I actually mixed the
grammar and this is how with Effortless English you learn grammar. I never tell you this
is the present perfect; although, it is, okay? And I dont tell youoh, you notice
sometimes I was using the present, sometimes we talked about the past, sometimes
present perfect, but you dont need to worry about that. Dont think about it.

When you list to the mini-stories or the point-of-view stories dont think about the
grammar rules or the names of the grammar. I dont think about it. Im sure when you
speak Portuguese youre not thinking okay, now Im going to use the past and, oh, now I
need to change to the progressive, right? Theres no time when youre speaking. No
time to think about that, maybe when youre writing. So, its the same.

So Im asking you questions and in this story I changed it a lot. So sometimes we use
past. We talked about a specific time, the first time he fought Mike Tyson. Thats past,
right, because its just one time in the past. But then I also said has fought Mike Tyson
372 times since, so its a time range from this time to this time. We change and we use
has.

Has.

Well, you know what? Dont even think about it. I mean Im telling you now, but in fact I
really dont want you to think about that. I just want you to listen, listen, listen and my
job is to help you. Im kind of secretly teaching you grammar and hopefully you dont
notice and hopefully you dont realize it and hopefully you dont think about it at all.

But thats why I use a lot of words, like Ill say since he was 18. Thats all I want you to
hear and understand. I just want you to understand that meaning. Since he was 18 he
has fought. And then when you hear this again and again for, you know, four months
you just will automatically start to say that and you wont think about some specific

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grammar term or name or rule. You just know that when you say since this time to this
time you just know has. It will come out automatically, right, you know?

So thats how we teach grammar. We do teach grammar. I say dont study grammar
rules and Im always, you know, saying this very strongly. Some students think that I
mean that grammar is not important. Grammar is important, but how you learn
grammar is also important.

When you study the rules like a textbook then you have the problem you have. You
start thinking about everything before you speak and theres no time.

No.

Right? You know in a normal conversation its too fast.

Too fast.

You cant think about, okay, now Im goingokay, so let me think. Awh, it started in the
past and it continued for a while, so this is the present perfect and while youre thinking
about that I already asked you four more questions, right? Youre, oh, my God, right?
Theres just no time. When you write, maybe, still even writing. You know it can take
you five days to write something if you think about it too much, but with speaking
absolutely no. No time to think about all of that stuff.

So you must learn it, yes, but you need to learn it in this kind of natural way. You know I
say subconscious, this kind ofor sometimes I think secret, you know? The idea is
your brain really is not thinking about it. You understand it and you learn it, but you
dont need to think about it and thats why this is powerful.

And we can teach any grammar with this. This time I was mixing a few of the common
things, but anytime youre listening to natural English and then you use these kind of
mini-stories, the more you do this, it just becomes more natural, like Spanish for you,
like Portuguese for you, like Japanese for Tomoe. So thats why this is powerful. Thats
why Cesar can improve so fast in four months using this method.

So, anyway, I hope you enjoyed the lesson. Now what Im going to do, we recorded
this, so I will get it on my Website and Ill send you a link. So what I want you to do is
Deep learning is also important, so Im not sure how

Like when you listen to one lesson set how long did you repeat it? Like how many
days?

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I do the same time the same thing. Sometimes I listen 10 times, 30 times, 50 times.

I see.

But some lessons all I do is listen 10 times.

So just, youre feeling each one.

Yes. Sometimes I listen five minutes. When I have five minutes I listen. Sometimes I
listen for one hour. My job is (inaudible). Sometimes I listen for three hours a day
(inaudible).

And thats really the best way. Because students always ask me for like a rule. Like
how many times, how many days? I usually say one week minimum is my basic rule,
but in fact the best method is just you know yourself and you have a feeling did I learn it
enough or not.

Some students will do the same lesson, like this, theyll listen to the same one for three
weeks. If they just feel like I still dont know, so they just keep listening. Some will listen
to the same lesson for three days and then they go to the next one. I say, generally,
one week is a nice basic rule, but really you know yourself.

Yes.

Right. So what Ill do is well send you this recording. So what I want you to do is every
day for one week or maybe two weeks even, youre going to listen to this same exact
story again and youre going to shout your answers at home. If youre watching it on an
iPod at work or something then dont shout. But just listening is okay. Sometimes you
cant shout the answers, youre outside somewhere, but its okay. Just listening is still
good.

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