Okay, our next we have the word to examine. Its a verb. You can see this word in the following sentence, «Many scientists examined him». Here to examine means to look at someone or something carefully as doctors do. They look at your body to check if you are healthy, right? In other words, they study you. Thats what many scientists do to Harry. They look at him carefully in order to find out the reason why he cannot fall asleep. Many scientists study him. Many scientists examine him.
Next we have the word to liberate. Actually, it is a verb. To liberate means to give someone freedom to do what they want. In other words, to liberate means to make someone free or to become free. As you remember from the story the woman says to Harry to liberate himself from the cage. In other words, she says to Harry, Go and become a free hamster She actually says, You must liberate yourself from that cage. Go and live like a free hamster. Be free. Do what you want to do and if you do this, if you become free, if you liberate yourself from that cage, then and only then you will you get what you want. You will have beautiful, fantastic and vivid dreams.
In this vocabulary lesson we also have one of my favourite expressions in English and what is it? It is smell the flowers, of course. What do people mean when they say to you «Smell the flowers»?
It actually means dont worry about your future, stop it now, wake up. Wake up and look around and enjoy the moment. Smell the flowers. It is when you work really hard, a lot and you are stressed. You have to stop doing it. You have to take a break and enjoy life. Enjoy life as it is or smell the flowers. Dont worry about the future. The future will take care of itself.
Oaky, our next expression is without a trace. Usually we use this expression with the verb to disappear. We often say, «She disappears without a trace or he disappears without a trace» It is when someone or something is gone completely, and you cannot see him or her or it. So the woman disappears completely and the hamster cannot see her. Shes gone. She disappears without a trace.
This is a very short vocabulary lesson. And that is why our final expression for today is to be in seventh heaven. When you are in seventh heaven it means you feel extremely happy. So Harry the hamster feels extremely happy. He is extremely happy because now he has fantastic, beautiful and vivid dreams. Harry is in seventh heaven.
This is the end of the vocabulary lesson for «Harry the Hamster». The vocabulary gives you a quick little lesson about some of the words and phrases you may not know. And it also liberates you from the story as I like to say. It certainly gives you that freedom you need to express yourself better and to feel more confident every time when you need to speak English. Moreover, it surely helps you to get automatic respect from people every time when you need to speak English.
Okay, Ill see you in the mini-story lesson. Bye for now!
Story 1 The mini-story lesson
Hi! This is Alex. Welcome to the mini-story for «Harry the Hamster». You know what I am going to do, right? Yes, Im going to ask the story. I want you to answer the questions fast and automatically. I want you to train your brain, teach your brain to answer very quickly. I dont want you to translate from your language to English or from English to your language. Of course, you can answer with one or two words. Its okay. Short answers are fine. Lets go!
Harry was a small, smart and significant hamster.
What kind of hamster was Harry?
Right! Harry was small, smart and significant.
Where did Harry the hamster live?
Yes, you are absolutely right. He lived in a spacious, gorgeous and very comfortable cage.
Why was Harry significant?
The reason he was significant was that Harry never slept in his life. He couldnt sleep. He never had dreams. No dreams for Harry.
What? Oh, my Lord! He never slept in his life. He never had dreams. No dreams for Harry. Poor Harry.
Did Harry the hamster want to have dreams?
Of course, he did. Harry the hamster wanted to have dreams.
He often said, «How much I want to have colorful, fantastic and vivid dreams! But I cannot sleep.»
What did he often say?
He often said, «How much I want to have colorful, fantastic and vivid dreams! But I cannot sleep.»
Did Harry the hamster want to have colorful, fantastic and vivid dreams a lot or a little?
A lot, very much. He often said, «How much I want to have colorful, fantastic and vivid dreams!»
Every day hundreds of people came to see him. Every day many reporters interviewed him. And every day a lot of scientists examined him.
Why did hundreds of people come to see him?
They did it, because Harry the hamster was significant. He was not like other, any other hamster in the world. He never ever slept in his life.
What about reporters? Did reporters interview him?
Yes, sure, they did. Many reporters interviewed him.
Why did many reporters interview Harry?
They did it, because they wanted to know more about Harry as an individual.
They wanted to know how it felt not to sleep at all.
Did many reporters study Harry? Did they examine Harry?
No, they didnt study him. They didnt examine him. Many reporters talked to him. They interview him.
Who examined Harry the Hamster?
Scientists did. A lot of scientists looked at Harry the Hamster. A lot of scientists examined him.
What did a lot of scientists do with or to Harry the hamster?
Right you are. They examined him. They looked at him carefully. They studied him.
Did a lot of scientists want to know why he couldnt sleep?
Yes, exactly. A lot of scientists examined Harry the hamster because they wanted to know the reason why he couldnt sleep.
Did the scientists find out the reason why Harry couldnt sleep?
No, they didnt. The scientists didnt find out the reason why he couldnt fall asleep. They didnt find out the reason why Harry still couldnt sleep. They didnt find out the reason why Harry still couldnt have vivid dreams.
And how did Harry the hamster feel?
Of course, he felt frustrated, depressed and unhappy.
Why did Harry the hamster feel that way? I mean frustrated, depressed and unhappy?
Its obvious. He felt frustrated, depressed and unhappy because no one could help him to fall asleep. Nobody could help him to have vivid fantastic and beautiful dreams.
But one day you know there is always a day that turns your life around, the day that changes everything.
The day when a woman appeared out of nowhere and she said, «You want to have vivid dreams, dont you Harry?»
«Yes, I do. I really really want to have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams. But I cannot sleep. I cannot fall asleep, so I cannot have dreams. No one can help me.»
«I can», the woman said. «I am here to help you, Harry. I can help you. I do can solve your problem.»
Harry the hamster got very much excited. He couldnt believe his ears.
How did Harry the hamster feel?
Of course, he felt very much excited. He felt very happy. He really really wanted to have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams. That is why he got very much excited.
And the woman said, «Your problem is that you live in the cage. You must liberate yourself from that cage. Go and live like a free hamster. Smell the flowers. Then and only then you will have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams.» As soon as the woman finished speaking, she disappeared without a trace.
What was Harrys problem?
His problem was that he lived in the cage.
What did the woman say Harry to do in order to have vivid dreams?
She said to him that he must liberate himself from the cage.
It means he must leave his spacious, gorgeous and very comfortable cage, right?
Yes, thats what it means. The woman said to Harry to leave the cage. She said to him that he must liberate himself to become a free hamster.
Why must Harry the hamster liberate himself from the cage?
To start having vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams, of course.
The woman said «Your problem is that you live in the cage. You must liberate yourself from that cage. Go and live like a free hamster. Smell the flowers. Then and only then you will have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams.»
Smell the flowers? What did the woman mean when she said «smell the flowers»?
Well, she actually meant enjoy life and dont worry about your future.
Oh, I see. And what would Harry have if he went to the woods and if he smelled the flowers?
If Harry went to the woods, if he smelled the flowers he would have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams.
Only when he liberates himself, right?
Yes, thats right. Only when Harry the hamster liberates himself from the cage he will have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams.
As soon as the woman finished speaking she did what?
Correct. She disappeared without a trace.
Was the woman gone as soon as she finished speaking?
Yes, she was. The woman was gone. She disappeared without a trace.
Could Harry the hamster see the woman?
No, he couldnt see her. She disappeared without a trace. She was gone.
Why couldnt he see the woman?
Ive just said, because she was gone. He couldnt see her because she disappeared without a trace.
What do you think Harry the hamster did next?
Next of course, he immediately left his spacious, gorgeous and very comfortable cage. He went to the woods. He became a free hamster.
Where did Harry go when he left his cage?
He went to the woods.
He went to the woods why? Yes, why?
He went to the woods to become a free hamster.
What was Harry the hamster doing the whole day in the woods?
The whole day Harry the hamster was running and jumping. He met different animals. He smelled the flowers.
What happened by the end of the day?
By the end of the day Harry the hamster felt exhausted and without knowing how he fell asleep.
Did Harry the hamster realize how he fell asleep?
No, he didnt realize that. He didnt realize how he fell asleep. He fell asleep without knowing how.
Why did Harry fall asleep?
He fell asleep because he felt exhausted.
Was Harry the hamster super tired by the end of the day?
Yes, exactly. By the end of the day he was super tired. He felt exhausted. And because of that he fell asleep by the end of the day without knowing how.
What happened while he was sleeping?
And of course, while he was sleeping, he had vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams. When Harry the hamster woke up, he was in seventh heaven.
He was in seventh heaven. What do you mean by saying he was in seventh heaven? What is that?
I mean he was very happy.
Where was Harry when he woke up?
He was in seventh heaven. When Harry the hamster woke up, he was in seventh heaven. He was very happy.
Why was Harry in seventh heaven?
It is obvious. He was very happy. He was in seventh heaven because he fell asleep and he had vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams.
And this is the end of the mini-story for «Harry the Hamster». You know what to do, right? Listen and answer the questions. Feel confident and be in seventh heaven when you speak English. This is the best way to start speaking English the way you never did before. Okay, Ill see you next time.
Story 1 The POV lesson
Hi, this is Alex again and now it is time for our new kind of lesson which I called Point of view stories. These stories are designed to teach you grammar intuitively. It is very important. I mean not to think about grammar rules. And of course, you remember why? Because the stories are interesting, the stories are compelling that is why, grammar takes care of itself.
So the point of view stories are designed to teach you the way a native speaker learns grammar. And we all learn grammar by listening, by understanding meaning, by understanding the message. So when you listen to these stories, heres the good news.
Just listen. Feel great. Dont think about rules, none of that. Just relax and enjoy the story. Notice the patterns. You can notice the changes in vocabulary because in each story what Im going to do is Im going to tell this exact same story from the mini-story. But dont focus on grammar too much. It will take care of itself simply because you understand the message.
So in this story youre going to hear the same story about Harry wanting to have dreams. But Im going to tell it from a different point of view. It means from a different time. So, for example, I might tell that story but from the future point of view. I might say that I have an idea for a movie and the movie will happen in ten years, ten years from now. In ten years there will be a hamster by the name of Harry and hell have a problem. And his problem will be that Harry the Hamster will never ever sleep in his life.
And Ill tell the whole story from the point of view of the future. Of course, Ill change some of the vocabulary, especially the verbs, in order to tell it from the future.
And now all you have to do is just listen to it. Just say «Okay, this is the future» and just notice. All you have to do is just listen, notice some of the words change. Ill be using will, for example, and you know that thats the future tense. But forget this idea of the future tense. Forget your grammar books. Just notice the changes in vocabulary. Sometimes I might change the word order. Sometimes the structure might change a little bit. Just notice it. Not because grammar is not important. No, I am not saying that. I am just saying that grammar is difficult, grammar is very difficult.
Thats all you have to do. Listen carefully. Dont think about it. Dont analyze grammar. Dont write down rules, none of that. Listen and notice, listen, listen, listen and listen, thats all you need to do.
So than in the point of view stories Im going to use two basic points of view. One is the future, which Ive just mentioned, and the other I call the present perfect and there is actually a few of them. But dont think about that, oh my God, oh, my Lord! Grammar, grammar, grammar term. No, forget it! All you need to know is Ill start most of those stories with something like Since he was young or Since 2002 It means something started in the past and is continuing up until now.
So thats one of the points of view Ill use and the other one will be the future. The main story, you may have noticed, most of the regular mini-stories are from the past.
I said, «Harry wanted to have dreams». So I did that by design. I did it on purpose. Because most people need a lot of help, a lot of practice, a lot of listening for the past, the past, the past, the past. So thats why mini-stories, the main mini-stories are almost usually told from the past point of view. Alright, enough talking, lets get to it. Are you ready? Lets start with the first one.
* * *Since his childhood Harry the hamster has always been a small, smart and significant hamster. All his life Harry the hamster has lived in a spacious, gorgeous and very comfortable cage. The reason he has been significant is that Harry has never ever slept in his life. He has never been able to sleep. As a result, he has never had dreams. No dreams for Harry.
Has Harry always been a small, smart and significant hamster? Yes, I have a question.
And the answer is yes, he has. Harry has always been a small, smart and significant hamster.
Since what time has Harry been a small, smart and significant hamster?
Since his childhood. Since Harry the hamster was a child, he has always been small, smart and significant.
Where has he lived all his life in a house?
No, he hasnt. Harry the hamster has never lived in a house.
Where has lived all his life then?
In a cage. All his life Harry the hamster has lived in a cage.