Improve your English with a Christmas Story

Here is a nice Christmas story to motivate you

and help you learn English better.

(upbeat music)

Hello, it's Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy

and the YouTube channel, English Speaking Success.

So listen, if you are celebrating Christmas,

happy Christmas.

I wanted to tell you I wanted, that's so polite.

Start again.

I want to tell you an interesting Christmas story

that I hope will motivate you

to study more and hopefully you can learn new language,

vocabulary and idioms to improve your overall English.

Now, you may recognize the story,

but I have adapted it a little bit, especially

for you students of English.

What can you do with a story? You can listen.

You can watch again and repeat some words

or phrases, especially the ones in bold.

You can also download the PDF, right

and review it in your own time.

For now if you are sitting comfortably,

let's begin.

An interesting Christmas story.

That's actually the title I know.

Strange.

Chapter one, the present.

In a small dingy room,

Martin, a university student sits in front of his computer.

So dingy just means gloomy without much light.

He's back home for Christmas and he's playing a video game

and starting to feel (yawns) very tired.

His parents are downstairs talking loudly.

They've been telling him to study hard at university

and think about doing a master's degree,

but their words fall on deaf ears.

Martin doesn't listen to them.

When your words fall on deaf ears,

it means people don't listen to you.

Deaf means you cannot hear. It's an idiom.

That means people don't listen to you,

or at least don't listen to your advice.

Earlier today, his brother had rang encouraging him

to focus more on his studies.

His brother had left school at 16 to work,

but had just been laid off and was feeling sad.

To be laid off means that you have lost your job.

The company has let you go, not because you work badly,

but normally because they can't afford to keep you on.

He had told Martin to keep studying, to stick at it,

to stick like glue to the paper means to keep going.

Don't give up, keep doing what you're doing.

But Martin hadn't really listened. Deaf ears, right?

He was more interested in his game, his video game.

He wanted to forget about school and his family's problems.

So Martin carries on playing his game,

feeling more and more sleepy.

Next, chapter two, the past.

Martin was still playing his game

when something strange happened,

the room suddenly got colder.

One of the characters from his game started

to call out his name.

To call out just means to shout out, Martin. Martin.

Martin saw the character coming toward

him getting bigger and bigger on the screen.

Du du du du du.

Until suddenly it burst outta the computer into his room

in a cloud of smoke.

Martin fell off his seat and gasped.

He was totally taken aback.

If you are taken aback by something,

then you are very surprised by it.

I guess if a video character burst into your room,

you'd be taken aback, right?

What does Martin say? "Who are you?"

"I am here to help." Said the ghost.

"Now what are you doing, Martin?" "Go away.

I don't need your help. I'm playing a game.

I'm fed up to the back teeth of studying,

so I'm playing a game."

To be fed up with something means that you are irritated,

annoyed, you've had enough, right?

You're not happy.

If you are fed up to the back teeth,

teeth at the back, it means you are really fed up, annoyed,

bored, frustrated.

"I'm fed up to the back teeth of studying,

so I'm playing a game.

What's more? I'm going to quit university,

but, hmm, I haven't told my parents yet."

"But if you leave university,

but if you leave university, you'll have to leave

all your friends," said the ghost.

"Not a problem.

I don't have many friends" replied Martin, quietly.

The ghost lowered his head and asked Martin to follow him.

Suddenly another cloud of smoke swirl around them both,

and Martin felt like he was in a dream.

Martin could see himself when he was a little boy.

He saw himself playing pranks in school.

When you play a prank, it means you play a trick on someone

or you are teasing someone, you know, like putting a bucket

of water on the door

and when someone walks in that's playing a prank.

He saw himself playing pranks in school, skipping class

and always forgetting his homework.

Of course, to skip class means not go to class.

Maybe you are going behind the bike shed

or wherever playing truant, skipping class.

He saw the times when he ignored his friends,

never sharing his sweets with them.

"Why are you showing me this?" Martin asked.

The ghost answered.

"These choices brought you to where you are now.

You didn't study, you didn't spend time with friends,

you didn't share."

Martin laughed, "Sure, but kids will be kids, right?

All kids do that."

"Follow me, Martin."

And then out of the blue, more smoke appeared.

Out of the blue means suddenly or unexpectedly.

Chapter three, the future.

Now, Martin saw himself much older,

sitting in a small dull office,

a bit like his dingy study room.

He was stuck in a rut doing some tedious admin work.

So stuck in a rut means

that you are stuck in a boring routine.

Tedious work just means monotonous, boring work.

Admin is administration work, shuffling papers,

things like that.

He was stuck in a rut doing some tedious admin work,

the same boring computer work every day.

He looks disgruntled and tired.

Disgruntled just means unhappy, not satisfied.

He looked disgruntled and tired.

He had been working there for 40 years.

The ghost, told Martin that in the future

he was married to Kate, but they were not happy.

They always argued having a go at each other.

Basically, they drove each other up the wall.

To have a go at each other

or to have a go at someone means to criticize them.

To have a go means to try,

but have a go at someone means to criticize them

and to drive someone up the wall means to make them crazy,

drive them mad,

drive each other up the wall.

"What? No, why did I marry Kate?

I don't even like her," exclaimed Martin.

"I want to go out with Maria."

The ghost explained

that Martin had married Kate late in life

because he couldn't find any other girlfriend

and he was just afraid of being alone.

"And Maria, oh, she married one of your few friends.

Nick, the kind one who always helps you with your studies."

Martin was rattled and sad.

"Is this really my future?" He asked.

To be rattled means to be a little frightened.

Something happens and like you rattle a cage,

you are a little shaken.

You're a little, yes, you are a little shaken.

The ghost nodded.

"It's on the cards if you don't change," it said.

It said? Ghosts are gender neutral, apparently.

It's on the cards.

If something is on the cards, it means it's going to happen.

It's bound to happen. It's very likely to happen.

Oh dear!

Poor Martin, he's a bit rattled, nervous about his future.

Let's carry on.

Chapter four, the new present.

Martin awakes with a start.

When you awake with a start, it means you awake suddenly

with a bit of a shock.

Like when you have a bad dream or a nightmare.

And he looks around his room, it's morning.

He feels different.

He remembers the ghost and what it showed him.

He's sure if it was just a dream,

but he is sure that he has to change

and to make better choices.

First, he goes downstairs

and lends his mom a hand with breakfast.

To lend someone a hand is just to help someone.

Lend your hand.

I want it back.

He feels good helping.

Then he calls one of his friends and invites him for coffee.

He wants to be a better friend.

Later, Martin sat down to study.

It wasn't easy, but he tried his utmost.

To try your utmost is to try your best when doing something.

He wanted to do well in his degree. He stopped complaining.

He started to think about his future.

He wanted it to be good.

He knew he had to study hard now,

in order to reap the rewards in future.

To reap the rewards, to reap is literally

to collect the harvest, the fruit and vegetables.

To reap the reward is to collect the benefit and the reward.

Work hard now get the benefit later.

Months passed, Martin's life was better.

He was closer to his family

and started to make one or two more friends.

He wasn't only getting by at university,

he was actually doing really well.

To get by is to just survive, to scrape through.

He wasn't getting by. He was doing well.

He was really happy he had changed.

Now and then, he remembered the ghost and was thankful.

He wasn't scared anymore. He wasn't rattled.

He knew he could create his own life

and make it a good one.

The end.

So there you have it an interesting Christmas story.

I hope you enjoyed that.

What did you think?

Let me know in the comments below if you liked it or not.

I hope it was an opportunity to learn lots of new language.

Remember, click on the link below.

You can download the PDF

so you can review the language, the idioms.

You can come back and watch this

and practice repeating all of it to help you

learn better English and keep motivated.

Stick at it, remember.

On that note, I have some good news coming.

Well in January, in the middle of January.

Finally, I'm gonna be launching my new course,

"150 Idioms for IEL Speaking."

Coming soon. Keep your eyes peeled.

So you can find me on keithspeakingacademy.com.

I'm on Facebook and Instagram as well. You can see me there.

That's it.

Remember, if you're on YouTube,

then please do remember to subscribe.

Turn on the notifications to find out about upcoming videos.

Again, thank you so much for watching

and happy Christmas, happy holidays

and I will see you in the next video.

Take care, my friend. All the best now.

Bye-Bye.

(upbeat music)