Improve Your English Fluency With This Short Story! [Free Lesson PDF]

In this lesson, we're going to read a short story  together so you can improve your English fluency.

Welcome back to JForrest English, of course.

I'm Jennifer.

Now let's read the story.

Our story is called Stella the Star by Siri.

Siri is the digital assistant  if you use an Apple device Now.

I came across the story the other  day and I thought it was so cute.

It was so touching.

I wanted to share it with you and you will  learn lots of great vocabulary along the way.

Notice I said I came across this story.

When you come across something,  I came across this story.

You find it by chance, which  means I wasn't specifically  

looking for a story that I could share with you.

I was just doing something totally different.

And then I came across this story.

Now, it's possible that  you came across this video.

So if this video was shown to you and you  weren't planning on watching a video to  

help you learn English through stories,  but you thought it sounded interesting,  

so you clicked on it, You came across  this video and I am so happy you did.

And if you're happy as well and you're excited to  

learn this story and improve your English  along the way, then put in the comments.

I'm so happy I came across this video.

Of course, came is the past  simple of the verb to come across.

And you came across this video,  so put it in the comments.

Now let's talk about this story.

Stella, the star.

Of course, you see many, many  stars in this picture here.

And notice how some of the  stars are drawn into pictures.

A picture of a boat.

Do you know what this is called?

It's called a constellation,  which is a group of stars.

And generally we try to form an image of them  

and we have a name for them like the  Big Dipper, you may be familiar with.

We call that a constellation.

And do you notice that Stella is  right here in the name Stella?

So that's probably where the name Stella the Star  came from, the fact that this is a constellation.

So that was actually very clever of  Siri or whoever wrote this story.

Now let's get started with the story.

Up above, in outer space, among  all the stars watching over us,  

there was a lonely little star named Stella.

Let's talk about among, because  this is a great preposition.

Among means part of a group.

So we have Stella, one star among all the  stars, so you can understand the meaning here.

One star part of the group of stars.

That's the easier way to use among.

We do use this in more advanced ways  which you can feel comfortable with.

There was a lot of celebrating among the students.

So this is a more advanced way of  saying the students were celebrating,  

the students were celebrating.

Not only is it slightly more advanced,  but it also changes the focus.

Because notice here the sentence started  starts with there was a lot of celebrating.

So in this case it focuses more on the  celebrating the event or the activity  

or the emotion and then this is telling  you who, and it's the group of students.

There was a lot of celebrating among the students.

The students were celebrating.

There was a lot of confusion among the students.

The students were confused.

Again, it just focuses on the confusion more.

So that's a more advanced way that  you can use the preposition among.

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Now let's continue with our lesson.

No one had ever made a wish upon her.

Her of course being Stella remembers.

Stella's a Star and in North  America culture at least,  

you can let me know if this  is the same in your culture.

It probably is, but maybe it's not.

So let me know.

It's very common to look up at the  stars and make a wish on a star.

So that's something that we  do, especially as children.

You'll look up, you'll find a star and  you'll wish upon it you wish upon the star.

Let's talk about a pawn.

This is a more formal way of saying on,  but we use it in very specific situations.

We use it in a more poetic sense and that's why  it's being used in this poem, this short story.

You could say wish on a star  and that would be correct.

Or you could say wish upon  a star and that's correct.

It sounds more formal and it sounds more poetic.

So in most cases for you,  for everyday use, use on.

Because I wouldn't say I have a meeting  upon Monday that sounds awkward.

You would say I have a meeting on Monday.

But there is one time that we  commonly use a pawn and that  

is to mean as or shortly after something happened.

For example, upon talking to the students, I  realized there was a lot of confusion among them.

Now I didn't have to say among them.

I could have just ended.

I realized there was a lot of confusion  because it's obvious the confusion belongs  

to the students because that's  the only subject I have here.

But you can use among them and then you're  practicing what we've already learned.

So here in this case, upon represents as I  talked to the students or after I talked to  

the students, and I'll add shortly after,  shortly after I talked to the students.

But notice here upon talking, you  need that verb in ING because upon  

is a preposition here if you said as I  as I talked because you have a subject.

So you're just going to conjugate your verb as  I talked shortly after I talked to the students.

So this is 1 area where you can use  a pawn and it does sound natural,  

but it sounds slightly more more formal.

I would say let's continue.

No one had ever made a wish upon her.

Oh poor Stella.

In fact, no one on Earth had even looked at  Stella because she was so small and far away.

Let's talk about, in fact, because adding  

transition words to your vocabulary can  really help you sound more advanced.

In fact, this is only used to  emphasize what was previously said.

So previously the story said no  one had ever made a wish upon her.

OK, so now I'm going to emphasize this and make it  

even stronger by saying no  one had even looked at her.

So it makes it even stronger.

The fact that Stella the star is  neglected or lonely is emphasized in fact.

In fact, as a transition where you could  

remove it and the sentence would  still be grammatically correct.

No one on Earth had even looked at Stella, but  it just is there to show emphasis because she  

was so small and far away compared to  the other stars sparkling in the sky.

So notice this preposition compared to.

So compared to the other stars,  Stella was barely a speck.

So we're comparing Stella to the other stars.

Compared to learning Japanese,  learning English is easier or harder.

I have no idea, because I haven't learned English.

It's my native language, and I  haven't learned Japanese either.

You can let me know which one's easier or harder,  so that's how you could use that structure.

Stella was barely a spec,  so let's talk about a spec.

When you describe something as a spec,  it means extremely, extremely small.

So you could say, oh, you have  a speck of dirt on your shirt.

So I know it's just a tiny  amount of dirt on my shirt.

So I might not be too concerned if it's  just a speck because it's very, very small.

Here's another example.

The painters left specks of paint, very very  small amounts of paint all over the floor,  

so you might not even notice them  unless you're looking directly at them.

So, but notice here this is the noun paint.

And then Spec describes the paint, and it's plural  because there's more than one specs of paint.

But in this case, it's  describing Stella as a speck.

Barely a speck.

Barely here makes it even sound smaller,  

because barely represents not even,  not even a speck, barely a speck.

But Stella had just as much  luck to give as any other star.

Because remember, we wish upon stars  because we consider them to be lucky.

Let's talk about luck and lucky  because they're both commonly used.

You can say, oh, you're so  lucky you won the prize.

When you're lucky, it means  good things happen to you.

But by chance, there's nothing  you did to win the prize.

It was completely random.

By chance, you're so lucky, you could  also say you have the best luck.

When someone has the best  luck, it means they're lucky.

So they basically mean the same thing.

But this is the adjective form to be lucky.

And this is the noun form.

And you have luck, You have great luck.

You have bad luck, which means you're unlucky.

If you tell someone oh you have  bad luck, it means you're unlucky.

I'll write that for you.

You have the worst luck,  which means you're unlucky.

So bad things happen to you.

But there's nothing you did  to attract those bad things.

It was random.

It was by chance.

Hopefully you don't think that at all.

You're so lucky.

That's the one you want to remember.

Let's continue.

Being there for someone is what  gives stars their inner glow.

So notice here being there for someone.

This is a gerund sentence.

We're starting the sentence with a gerund verb.

Now all of this in the gerund sentence,  all of this part being there for someone.

This is technically the subject of the sentence,  

and the verb is conjugated  with all of this and it.

All of this as the gerund  is conjugated as it or this.

So that's why you need your third person singular.

This is what gives stars their  inner glow, being there for someone.

That's the subject, and we  use gerund expressions when  

you're making a general statement  that applies in most situations.

Most of the time she wished she  could be the brightest, like Sirius.

Now Sirius is a constellation.

Do you remember what a constellation is?

A constellation is a group  of stars that has a name,  

and generally you can make  some sort of shape out of them.

So to be honest, I don't know  what the constellation Sirius is.

I don't know what shape it forms.

If you do, please share in the comments because  

it probably has a shape and  I'm not sure what that is.

So she wished she could be  the brightest, like Sirius.

So I guess Sirius is the brightest star.

Or perhaps Sirius is a constellation or  maybe Sirius is just one individual star.

That's actually possible too.

So maybe Sirius isn't a  constellation, it's just one star.

So let me know in the comments.

Is Sirius a constellation or just one single star?

OK, you can share that with me.

She wished she could be the brightest, like  Sirius, whom people always turn to for advice.

So notice here, when you  turn to someone for advice,  

it means you you seek advice from that person.

So let's say I always turn  to my father for advice.

It means whenever I need advice, I call my  dad and I say, hey dad, what should I do?

I turn to my dad for advice.

I wrote that here for you.

I always turn to my dad for advice.

Now you can also turn to someone for specific  advice when it comes to learning English.

I hope you turn to me for advice.

You come to me was specifically  advice for learning English.

So if you do put this in the  comments, Jennifer, I turn to you.

I turn to you, which means you seek advice  from me specific to learning English.

Clearly I can't give you advice about the  

stars or constellations 'cause I  don't even know what Sirius is.

So maybe I turn to you for other advice as well.

OK, so that is to turn to someone for advice.

And remember, turn to you for advice  if you included the word advice.

Now let's talk about whom.

I know this confuses students a lot, but  also just know it confuses native speakers.

Native speakers generally replace whom  with who because they're not overly  

confident with using whom, so you'll you  will hear that a lot from native speakers.

If you're wondering why, it's just because  we're more confident using who you need to  

use whom when it's the object of the sentence,  who is the subject and whom is the object.

So in this sentence she wished  she could be the brightest,  

like serious, whom people  always turn to for advice.

So this sentence is saying people  always turn to serious for advice.

I'll write that for you.

So here you can see that people,  

that's the subject and serious is  the object receiving the action.

And that's why we use whom here.

Outside of a formal language exam, just use who,  it's totally fine, Native speakers use it as well.

But if you are taking a formal language exam,  you should know the difference between the two.

Let's continue.

Or in an important spot like Polaris.

So she's still wishing.

Stella is wishing she could be in  an important spot like Polaris.

The North Star.

OK, so now I know Polaris.

That's the North Star.

So it's not a constellation.

It's just one star.

And that star is in an  important spot, the North Star.

Ah again, whom?

Because Polaris is not doing the action.

Polaris is receiving the action.

Whom people looked to for direction.

You could also say turn to for direction  because people are seeking the direction  

from Polaris, so you could use turn to as well.

Now I wrote the same thing here.

Whom is the object?

And the same difference applies.

People look to Polaris for direction, People  subject Polaris object which represents whom.

In the way that this is written,  

sometimes Stella even wished she could be  the star that the world revolved around.

Ah, which star does the world revolve around?

I know this one even before I read it.

The Sun.

The sun is the star that  the world revolves around.

Then everyone could see her.

Let's continue.

Stella wished and wished and wished these  things, but her wishes never worked.

You can also say never came true because  that's what we commonly use for a wish.

Her wishes never came because  that's the past simple of come.

Her wishes never came true.

I wish something but it didn't come true.

I wish something but it didn't work.

Although they use work in the story, it is more  common to use come true, specific with wish.

For example, I hope all your wishes come true.

I wrote this here for you and you could  also say I hope all your dreams come true.

Same thing I wouldn't say I  hope all your dreams work,  

all your wishes come true, your dreams come true.

So I personally prefer that instead of work.

But obviously I understand what that means.

In fact, we already know what this is used for.

It's used to emphasize.

So the next sentence without me reading it I know  

is going to emphasize something  about her wishes not coming true.

So let's read this.

In fact, the more Stella wished,  the more unlucky she felt.

So remember, if someone is unlucky, you can  say that person has what she has bad luck.

Luck is the noun and the verb is have, and  we have to conjugate it with our subject.

The more unlucky she felt, the more  bad luck she had written another way.

Then one night Stella got an idea, Got an  idea is very common in American English.

You could also say had an idea.

It's also very common in American  English, so you could use either one.

Got an idea, Had an idea, What  if she wished upon a person?

Now remember this is a star.

So generally people wish upon stars  because we want our dreams to come true.

So now the story is saying this  star is going to wish upon a person.

That's pretty cute, isn't it?

What if she wished upon a person?

After all, stars and people  are made of the same stuff.

Stuff is another way of saying things.

Things so you can say, oh, I  have a lot of stuff to do today.

I have a lot of things to do today.

But do you notice a difference between them?

I wrote it here so it would be  easier to see the difference.

Stuff is considered uncountable, so we don't  

add an S to it, whereas things is  countable, so you add an S to it.

So stuff represents many different  things, but it is uncountable.

So don't make that mistake.

But both of them are very commonly used.

Oh, another in fact.

So what are we going to emphasize now?

Stars and people are made of the same stuff.

So now something is going, The next  sentence is going to emphasize this.

In fact, some people were  rock stars and film stars.

Oh, that's cute.

Because Stella, the star is saying, oh, this  person is just like me because they're called  

a rock star or a film star because some  people have the title star in their name.

We call celebrities stars, right?

Oh, she's a film star, a celebrity.

And a rock star is a musician.

So a rock star is a musician.

But we also have a common expression in English.

You're a rock star.

I say this a lot in the comment section,  

so maybe I've replied to one of your  comments and I said you're a rock star.

This means you're amazing, you're  amazing, you're a rock star.

It can also mean you're doing a great job as well.

You're doing a great job.

So if you did a lot of stuff at work, a lot  of different things, and your boss sees how  

much you've accomplished, your boss could say  you're a rock star, you're doing a great job.

But also that means you're amazing.

So I want you to put in the comments.

We're all rock stars.

We're all rock stars because we are.

You're a rock star.

I'm a rock star.

We're all rock stars.

We're all amazing.

Put it in the comments.

Let's spread some positivity.

That's what Stella's doing with  this story, spreading positivity.

So let's do the same and put we're  all rock stars in the comments.

So some people were rock stars and film stars.

Surely they would be able to help her, because  remember, they're made of the same stuff.

They're both stars.

This is such a cute story.

But as Stella looked down at all  the billions of people on Earth,  

she realized that maybe there were  people out there just like her.

Finally, Stella knew what to do.

Just one thing here, all the billions of people.

You can say.

All the billions or all of the billions,  both of them are grammatically correct.

It is more common to leave out the of and just say  

all the billions of people instead  of all of the billions of people.

When we're talking in more of a general sense,  you can use of, but when you're talking about a  

more specific group, so for example the people  on earth, then you can just get rid of of.

So ultimately, either one is correct.

Let's continue our last paragraph.

Now, every night, Stella wishes upon  anyone who feels small and unseen, unseen.

This is another word for invisible.

Invisible.

A lot of people in this world  feel like they're invisible.

So Stella is going to wish upon you and remind  you that you're not, that you are a rock star.

So remember, Stella's wishing on you  because she feels small and unseen.

So she wants to wish upon someone who feels the  same, who feels small and unseen, invisible,  

hoping they'll look up and find her and feel the  inner glow of knowing that they're not alone.

So the inner glow of knowing if  you feel like you're not alone,  

that will make you feel warm on the inside.

And sometimes when someone is very happy or  positive, we say, oh wow, they're glowing.

We describe someone who looks extremely happy,  

for example a bride on her  wedding day, as a compliment.

Someone would say you're glowing, you're glowing,  

which is another way of just  saying you look so happy.

And that is what Stella is hoping will  happen for people when she wishes upon them.

And that's the end of the story.

It's hard to really hear the whole story when  we stop every sentence to review the grammar.

So what I'll do now is I'll read  the story from start to finish,  

now that you understand the individual  words and you can focus on my pronunciation,  

but you can also focus on the story because  it truly is a very heartwarming story.

Before I read that, let me  teach you one last thing.

I chose the story because I  thought it was very heartwarming.

Heartwarming is an adjective.

It's just formed from the word  heart and the word warming.

But we say them together.

That was a heartwarming story.

You could also say that was a touching story.

Both of these are adjectives  and they mean the same thing.

When a story is heartwarming or touching, it means  it's a positive story and it makes you feel good.

And that's why I wanted to share it with you.

So now I'll read the story from start to finish.

Stella the star by Siri.

Up above, in outer space, among  all the stars watching over us,  

there was a lonely little star named Stella.

No one had ever made a wish upon her.

In fact, no one on Earth had even looked at  Stella because she was so small and far away.

Compared to the other stars sparkling  in the sky, Stella was barely a speck.

But Stella had just as much  luck to give as any other star.

Being there for someone is what  gives stars their inner glow.

She wished she could be the brightest, like  Sirius, whom people always turn to for advice,  

or in an important spot, like Polaris, the  North Star who people look to for direction.

Sometimes Stella even wished she could be the  star that the world revolved around the sun.

Then everyone could see her.

Stella wished and wished and wished these  things, but her wishes never worked.

In fact, the more Stella wished,  the more unlucky she felt.

Then one night Stella got an idea.

What if she wished upon a person?

After All, Stars and people  are made of the same stuff.

In fact, some people were  rock stars and film stars.

Surely they would be able to help her.

But as Stella looked down at all  the billions of people on Earth,  

she realized that maybe there were  people out there just like her.

Finally, Stella knew what to do.

Now, every night, Stella wishes upon  anyone who feels small and unseen,  

hoping they'll look up and find her and feel the  inner glow of knowing that they're not alone.

Did you enjoy this story?

Would you like me to make more lessons  where we read short stories together?

If you do, then put Stella the star.

Put Stella the star in the comments so I know you  enjoyed this lesson and of course like this video.

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