Learn 33 Daily Words With An English Short Story | Learn English Through Story

Today you're going to learn English through story.

This is the incredible true  life story of Colonel Sanders.

This story is called Colonel  Sanders Recipe for Success.

And as we review the story, you're  going to learn phrasal verbs,  

idioms and expressions, advanced  grammar and correct pronunciation.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

Harlan David Sanders, better known as Colonel  

Sanders, encountered many setbacks and obstacles  before he became the success we know today.

Of course, notice that  pronunciation of Colonel Colonel.

It sounds nothing like the spelling.

Repeat after me, Colonel Colonel, Colonel Sanders  And notice here encounter setbacks and obstacles.

So you can use encounter as the verb  to go with setbacks and obstacles.

A set back is a noun.

It's a delay or problem that prevents progress  or it makes it difficult to achieve a goal.

For example, the business faced a significant set  back when their main supplier increased prices.

Notice I used faced.

That is also a colocation.

So you can say encountered or more casually faced.

Don't worry about taking these notes because  I summarize everything in a free lesson PDF.

You can find the link in the description.

Now an obstacle.

Repeat after me.

Obstacle.

This is a noun.

It's also something that blocks or  hinders programs or achievement.

For example, one obstacle  for many English learners,  

Maybe you is understanding  natives in the real world.

Is that an obstacle you face?

And maybe you're thinking, well, Jennifer's  lessons will help me overcome this obstacle.

So you encounter or face an obstacle  and you overcome an obstacle.

So what do you think?

Do you think my lessons will  help you overcome this obstacle?

If you do, put that's right, that's  right, put that's right in the comments.

Now let's continue the story.

Born in 1890, Sanders worked various odd jobs  throughout his life to make ends meet, including  

farming, working as a Steamboat fireman and  running a service station in Corbin, KY.

Notice that preposition?

He was born in 1890.

If you have a specific calendar date,  you need to change the preposition.

He was born on September 9th, 1890.

Now, do you know what an odd job is?

This is a noun, and it's a small  temporary or informal task or work,  

and it often requires little skill or training.

For example, while studying, he took  on several odd jobs to support himself.

Now notice to support himself, I could also say  to make ends meet, which we have in our story.

This is an idiom, and it means to earn just  enough money to cover your basic living expenses.

For example, after his company closed, he  struggled to make ends meet by working odd jobs.

Let's continue in the service station.

He served meals and his fried chicken  became popular with customers.

Notice here to become popular, we  use the verb become and conjugated.

In the past, simple became to talk about  the transition from not popular to popular.

So, you might ask, how did  Colonel Sanders become famous?

Well, that's what we're learning right  now, so let's continue the story.

However, when a new highway was built,  

fewer customers stopped by and  he had to close his restaurant.

Now, notice the use of.

However, this is an adverb, and  it's used to introduce a contrast.

For example, she's studied hard for her exam.

That's positive.

She didn't pass.

That's negative.

We can connect them together by  saying however she didn't pass,  

but you can reverse the order of the contrast.

You can say she didn't study for  the exam, which is a negative.

She passed, which is a positive.

However, she passed.

Now let's talk about to stop by.

This is a useful phrasal verb  to have in your vocabulary.

It means to visit briefly or for a  short period of time, often informally.

For example, she stopped by my office to  drop off the documents before her meeting.

So maybe she didn't have an appointment.

So that's informally, or it was  a very brief, very fast visit.

Let's continue.

Sanders had tried and failed  at several other ventures,  

including selling insurance and  operating a failed restaurant.

Do you know what a venture is?

This is a noun, and it's a business  or activity that involves taking risks  

in the hope of making a profit  or simply achieving something.

We often use this in the business world.

Starting a tech company is a risky venture.

A risky venture.

It's a now, but it can also be very rewarding,  

but is the casual everyday form of however,  so notice it's also used for that contrast.

Risky rewarding.

That's the contrast We can combine them  together with but or however, let's keep going.

Despite his financial struggles  and constant disappointments,  

he refused to give up on his dream,  just like you refused to give up, right?

Let's talk about despite.

This is a preposition, and it's used  to introduce a fact or situation that  

contrast with or makes the following  statement surprising or unexpected.

For example, despite the rain,  the event was a huge success.

So there's a contrast there because you think  the rain would negatively impact the success.

So that's the surprise.

Despite the rain, the event was a huge success.

Let's keep going.

At 65 years old, notice  years with an S and then old.

You can say at 65 or at 65 years old.

At 65 years old, with only a small pension, he  gave it another shot to give something a shot.

This is a very useful idiom.

Natives use it a lot, and  it means to try something.

You should give learning phrasal verbs a shot.

Try learning phrasal verbs now.

To give something another shot means to try again,  

but you try again because  there was a failed attempt.

So you give it a shot, you fail, and you give  it another shot, which means you try again.

Let's keep going.

He traveled across the country  cooking for restaurant owners  

and offering them his secret recipe.

He made a deal.

They could use his recipe, and in return he  would get a small percentage of their sales.

Let's talk about in return.

You can also say in exchange.

This is a phrase and it means that you  give something in order to get something.

For example, she stayed late on Wednesday, so  she gave her time, but what did she receive?

So you can say and in return or and  in exchange she left early on Friday.

So she gave her time on Wednesday,  

but then she received time back  on Friday in return in exchange.

Let's keep going.

He faced rejection after rejection.

Notice that Co location you face rejection.

He faced rejection after rejection with  exactly 1009 people turning him down.

Can you believe that 1009 people turning  him down South to turn someone down,  

that means to reject someone.

And the hymn was Colonel Sanders.

So it's saying 1009 people  rejected Colonel Sanders.

Now let's use despite you can say despite  being rejected, you need the gerund verb.

After despite despite being rejected 1009  times, Colonel Sanders gave it another shot.

He tried again, even though he failed 1009 times.

That's pretty amazing, isn't it?

Let's continue.

Finally, Sanders got a yes.

What followed was nothing short of extraordinary.

I like this phrase.

Nothing short of and then you  can have a positive adjective.

This is used to emphasize that something  is completely or entirely remarkable or  

impressive or whatever positive adjective.

You can say the team's effort was  nothing short of extraordinary.

So you're saying it was extremely remarkable,  impressive, incredible, astonishing.

Those are all synonyms that you  can use instead of extraordinary.

Let's continue.

Sanders built up a massive empire with KFC,  

a globally recognized brand  that is still famous today.

Notice that phrasal verb to build up.

This means to develop or increase  something, but gradually overtime.

So it didn't happen overnight.

It built up gradually over time.

So you could say she worked hard to build  up her vocabulary with phrasal verbs,  

idioms and expressions, which is  exactly what you're doing right now.

Let's continue.

By the way, Sanders wasn't a real Colonel.

The title came from a Kentucky governor who made  

him an honorary Colonel in recognition of  his contribution to Kentucky's cuisine.

Sanders embraced the title and  became known as Colonel Sanders.

Did you know that?

Did you know that he wasn't a real Colonel?

Notice how this paragraph started with by the way.

By the way, this is an idiom.

It's used to introduce a new subject  or to give further information.

So let's talk about a new subject.

Maybe you're talking to your  colleague or coworker and you  

say once you update the report,  please send it to the client.

Now you want to say something not related to that.

You can say, by the way, I'm working from home  tomorrow or anything else that isn't related.

By the way, did you notice  the silent H in honorary?

First of all, notice how I use, by the way,  

because I just transitioned away  from the last point to a new point.

But did you notice that honorary  honorary the same thing for honor?

Because honorary comes from the word  honor, no age and also our power.

Those are very common.

Silent HS.

Let's continue.

Through every challenge, Colonel Sanders proved  

that perseverance and self belief are  the true secret recipe for success.

Do you appreciate the last line in this story?

I appreciate it because it  is a clever use of language.

We call this A a play on words.

A play on words.

Do you know why this is a clever use of language?

Well, you may know that KFC has a secret recipe.

It's part of the reason it's popular.

It became popular because of the secret  recipe, which contains 11 herbs and spices.

But here they're using Secret  Recipe in a different way.

They're using it to refer to the traits  and qualities that made him successful.

That's the recipe for his success.

So it's a clever use of language.

Now I'll read the story in  full from start to finish.

Harlan David Sanders, better  known as Colonel Sanders,  

encountered many setbacks and obstacles  before he became the success we know today.

Born in 1890, Sanders worked various odd  jobs throughout his life to make ends meet,  

including farming, working as a Steamboat fireman,  and running a service station in Corbin, KY.

In the service station, he served meals and his  fried chicken became popular with customers.

However, when a new highway was built,  

fewer customers stopped by and  he had to close his restaurant.

Sanders had tried and failed  at several other ventures,  

including selling insurance and  operating a failed restaurant.

Despite his financial struggles  and constant disappointments,  

he refused to give up on his dream.

At 65 years old, with only a small  pension, he gave it another shot.

He traveled across the country  cooking for restaurant owners  

and offering them his secret recipe.

He made a deal.

They could use his recipe and in return he  would get a small percentage of their sales.

He faced rejection after rejection, with  exactly 1009 people turning him down.

He weathered endless disappointment  but refused to let it deter him.

Finally, after all the  rejections, Sanders got a yes.

What followed was nothing short of extraordinary.

Sanders built up a massive empire with KFC,  

a globally recognized brand  that is still famous today.

By the way, Sanders wasn't a real Colonel.

The title came from a Kentucky governor  who made him an honorary Colonel.

In recognition of his contribution to Kentucky's  

cuisine, Sanders embraced the title  and became known as Colonel Sanders.

Through every challenge, Colonel Sanders proved  

that perseverance and self belief are  the true secret recipe for success.

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