Listen to the story many times. Listen and remember that it was ten years ago. It was in the past. Don’t think about these grammar rules. Just listen and enjoy. The next lesson is the mini-story lesson. See you there.
The Mini-Story Lesson
Hello, my superstar student. This is Alex – your English teacher. Welcome to our mini-story lesson for “A Secret”. Let’s get started immediately.
There was a fish. Her name was Nancy.
What was her name?
Nancy. Her name was Nancy.
What was Nancy? A crocodile?
A fish. Nancy was a fish. And she had a secret.
Who had a secret?
Nancy. Nancy the fish had a secret.
Did Nancy the fish have a car?
No, she didn’t have a car. Nancy the fish had a secret.
What did Nancy have?
A secret. Nancy the fish had a secret.
A piece of information she keeps from everyone.
Remember? All the fishes wanted to know the secret.
They often said, “Nancy, what is your secret?
Nancy, tell us your secret, please.
Nancy, you are a nice girl. Share your secret with us.
We love you so much. We are one, big, friendly family.
Please, tell us your secret”.
What did all the fishes want to know?
Of course, the secret.
All the fishes wanted to know the secret.
Whose secret did all the fishes want to know?
Nancy’s secret.
All the fishes wanted to know Nancy’s secret.
Did Nancy reveal the secret to them?
No, she didn’t. Nancy didn’t reveal the secret to them.
What didn’t Nancy reveal to them?
The secret. Nancy the fish didn’t reveal the secret to them.
That’s why one day all the fishes decided not to talk to
Nancy any more.
One day what did all the fishes decide to do?
They decided not to talk to Nancy any more.
Who did all the fishes decide not to talk to?
To Nancy the fish. All the fishes decided not to talk to
Nancy any more.
Did Nancy want to talk to all the fishes?
Yes, she did. Nancy wanted to talk to them,
but they refused.
Did the fishes want to talk to Nancy?
No, they didn’t. They refused to talk to her.
Who refused to talk to Nancy?
All the fishes. All the fishes refused to talk to Nancy.
Who did all the fishes refuse to talk to?
To Nancy. Right! They refused to talk to Nancy.
Why did the fishes refuse to talk to her?
Because she didn’t reveal her secret to them.
The fishes refused to talk to Nancy, because she didn’t
reveal the secret to them. She didn’t tell the secret to
them. She didn’t show the secret to them.
Did the fishes pretend not to see her?
Yes, they did. They pretended not to see her.
Though it was not true, of course.
Why did they pretend not to see her?
Because Nancy didn’t reveal the secret to them.
She didn’t tell them the secret.
She didn’t show them the secret. The fishes pretended not
to see her because she didn’t reveal the secret to them.
Did Nancy get upset about that? Did she cry?
No, not Nancy. Nancy didn’t get upset. Nancy didn’t cry.
Nancy said, “I don’t care. I can do well without you,
you and you. Bye-bye” and she swam away.
What did Nancy say?
Nancy said “I don’t care.
I can do well without you. Bye-bye”.
Could Nancy do well without other fishes?
Yes, she could. She said, “I don’t care. I can do well
without you.” And she swam away.
Who swam away?
Nancy the fish did. Nancy the fish swam away.
Why? Why did Nancy swim away?
Well, first: She swam away because all the fishes
decided not to talk to her any more. Second:
She swam away because she could live without
other fishes. I see. Three weeks later Nancy was
swimming towards a big coral reef.
Was Nancy swimming towards a big, beautiful and
fantastic coral reef or a small, ugly and terrible
coral reef?
A big, of course, a beautiful and fantastic coral reef.
Nancy was swimming towards a big, beautiful and
fantastic coral reef.
What kind of reef was Nancy swimming towards?
Remember? I bet you do.
Right! She was swimming towards a big, beautiful and
fantastic coral reef.
Had Nancy ever been there before?
No, she had never been there before.
Who had never been on the reef before?
Nancy. Nancy had never ever been on that big,
beautiful and fantastic coral reef before.
Actually, it was her first time there.
As Nancy swam up to the big, beautiful and fantastic coral
reef, she saw something.
What did she see?
She saw a lot of fishes of different kinds.
As Nancy swam up to the reef, she saw a lot of fishes of
different kinds.
Did Nancy see many fishes of different sorts?
Yes, she did. Nancy saw many fishes of different sorts.
She saw a lot of fishes of different kinds.
Were