Hello guys ! Now I would like to share with you a great resource to improve your listening, the videos made by "Humans of New York", a fantastic way to develop your listening skills with touching stories explained in plain English. I attach you a reading with four of these stories. Hope you find it useful !
Humans of New York
1
“When I was the age of this boy, my father had a stroke. My family used all our savings to take care of him. And after we’d spent everything, my father gave up the ghost. We were left in a desperate situation. There was no money left. There were six of us living in a single room. I was only in 5th grade, but I had to go to work. I carried oranges on my head and sold them in the street. Then one day I met the owner of a print shop. He was a friend of my brother. He fed me every afternoon, and he began to teach me his profession. He told me: ‘Never view yourself as having nothing.’ And he showed me that I could change my life with skills alone. Now I have my own shop. And anyone who has an interest, I will teach them. I’ve taught fourteen boys already. This boy has stopped going to school. But we can’t allow him to be idle. We must keep him busy because there’s criminality all around us. Every day we see drug dealers walk by. I point to them and I ask: ‘Do you want to be like them? Or do you want to be like me?’” (Lagos, Nigeria)
2
“My parents aren’t giving me the freedom to be responsible. Mama’s fine. But Papa is an Egyptian father. He wants me to always be in a safe, cozy home. Recently I wanted to go on an educational trip to Sri Lanka. I begged him. I said, ‘Please, I’ll be living with a family. I’ll call you ten times a day.’ But he wouldn’t listen. I locked myself in my room and cried. I wanted that experience. I wanted to meet beautiful people, and eat beautiful food, and take beautiful photos. I know my dad very well. He just doesn’t trust people. He thinks that I’m naïve. He thinks that everyone who helps you wants something in return. But that’s not why I help people. I love people. I love languages. I can even speak a little Hindi. I want to see every village and every city. I even want to work for NASA one day. I love physics and astronomy. But Papa thinks astronomy is a bad idea. He doesn’t get it. It’s not that he doesn’t understand the stars. He just doesn’t understand me.” (Alexandria, Egypt)
3
“It was my decision to leave. There were too many problems. She hadn’t kissed me in years. We’d argue over every little thing. Our son was grown and I just didn’t see a reason to stay. So I came home from work one day, packed up my things, and left. I’ve been staying with my sister ever since. It’s been a tough two years. I’ve tried to reach out but she isn’t talking to me anymore. My son isn’t speaking to me either. They want nothing to do with me. I biked over here for Father’s Day. I was going to knock on their door but I changed my mind. I decided to just let them be. I wish I’d never left. Even though we were always fighting, it still felt like I had a home.”
4
“I’m doing a review of last year. I’m looking at all the goals I set and whether I managed to achieve them. A big one for me was that I finally managed to get my driver’s license. It’s a little embarrassing because I’m well past that age, but I’ve always been terrified of driving. So I signed up for some lessons. I studied hard. I took extremely meticulous notes. Then I went to the testing center with my driving instructor. They assigned me a real hard faced guy from Eastern Europe. My instructor told me: ‘This guy fails everyone.’ So I started off pretty nervous. I messed up almost immediately and made a rolling stop. I’m pretty sure I stopped completely-- but apparently it was a rolling stop. The test seemed to go on forever. I couldn’t charm the guy. I tried to make conversation but he was silent the entire time. Then after we finished, he made me sit outside his office for an eternity. But finally he came out and told me that I’d passed! It was such a relief! I haven’t driven since.” (Sydney, Australia)