Telling a story in English

 English conversations: Telling a story in English

How often do you tell stories?
Stories are useful in conversations. They can help you communicate messages or make the conversation more interesting.
Telling stories in English is a very important skill to learn.
But how can you become a good storyteller? One of the best ways is to listen to other people telling stories.
In these short video clips, you’ll hear some different people telling stories – stories about what they’re doing now, what they do in general, or what they did in the past!Can you answer the questions?

Level: Pre-Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate (A2-B2)

Video activity

You’re going to watch some video. Watch the video and try to answer the questions that appear at the start of each clip.
CLICK HERE BELOW TO WATCH THE VIDEO CLIPS

Here are the questions for you to answer. [answers below]

1. Which group did the man see play in concert?

2. What question does the woman on the right ask the actress?

3. Where are the coffee beans processed?

4. Why are the two men against the airport expansion?

Watch & read!

After you’ve finished, watch the video and read the script at the same time. This is great for developing your listening skills as you can see the relationship between the spoken and written words.

Video script
Clip 1

Becky: OK, so, I heard you went to a concert?

Jack: Oh, it was incredible. (Yes?) Best atmosphere I’ve ever experienced.

Becky: Ah, that’s so cool. OK, remind me, who did you go see?

Jack: It was the Artic Monkey (Oh!) Yeah, yeah, I’m a massive fan.

Becky: OK, how are they live?

Jack: They are incredible. Better than I thought they would be.

Clip 2

Host: Welcome back to the show. We have a very special guest, today. We have Calissa Tigerton, who is in her first breakout film since leaving the adult film industry.

Calissa: Hi everyone!

Host: I’m so happy you can be here, I’m so happy you can be here. OK, so, first of all, I want to start out with, what was the audition like for you?

Calissa: Well, it was a bit different for me because I’m used to something slightly more awkward, but…

Clip 3

Man: So, guys, you’ve seen the factory, now what? Do you have any questions?

Ali: Yes, we do. Er, first, where are the beans processed?

Man: Mmm… good question. So, all of our beans are processed here, right here in the factory. We sort them, and we wash them, and we get rid of any low-quality beans to make sure they are the highest quality.

Zoe: Are the coffee cherries handpicked or…?

 

Clip 4

Men: Don’t be mean, just go green! Don’t be mean, just go green!

Reporter: Hey, guys, guys, guys, fellas! How’s it going?

Men: Good!

Reporter: Great. My name’s Bob, and I’m from WNYU, and I’m doing interviews about the protest today. (Wow.) Fantastic, so can you tell me a bit about your protest today?

Billy: Yeah, you can see they’re trying to build another expansions on the airport, and we don’t think it’s OK!

Reporter: OK, and why are you against the airport expansion?

Joe: Well, it’s the noise, the pollution, they’re gonna cut down trees as well!

Reporter: OK, and so what do you plan to do in your protest today?

Billy: We’re gonna do…