How short story can help the learners learn English

Before I continue writing about the next English material, let me tell you about something that I think it can help you learn English. It is about how short story can help you improve your ability in English. This is also about my experience when my teachers taught me the English subject in an English course.

When I took an English course in Pare-Kediri, East Java, my teacher, Mr.Kalen O., told me that memorizing short stories was really good to improve your English. It could improve your English in speaking, listening, reading and writing grammatically and then it could improve your vocabulary. To make it stronger, he told the story of a man who studied at Gontor, one of Islamic Boarding School in Java, for a long time but the man could not speak Arabic at all. He was really different from his friends there. His friends could speak Arabic well but he didn’t. However, someday came into his mind to memorize short stories in Arabic. He memorized a lot of stories in Arabic and finally he was able to speak Arabic better than his friends. It was really surprising. The short stories that he memorized could make him able to master the Arabic language.

My teacher, Mr. Kalen O, was one of the students at Gontor but he stopped studying there because of money. He could not afford for his fee there. However, he is not a man who is easy to give up. He went to Pare to study English language to his teacher. After he got English, he taught it to his students. Therefore, the main method that my teachers used when I took English course there was memorizing. The method that he taught was like when he got the Arabic lesson when he was at Gontor. Moreover, he used memorizing technique to teach the basic students to let his students get used to practicing speaking English.

For me, he was very good at English he could teach English well. A lot of his students could teach English subject, open English courses and even get scholarship to study abroad. When I took an English course there, he and some other English teachers there asked me to memorize the short story taken from New Concept English. Therefore, in three months I had to memorize 15 stories that were retold in front of class. Not only this, but those stories were required to continue to higher class. Then, the next class I had to memorize 15 stories more but it was different. It was not exactly memorizing but we retold by using our own words about those stories.

Although those stories spoiled my day, I was really happy to know I could say something in English. What my teacher said about the man who got English from his memorizing short stories was true. I am used to writing in English and I can speak English even not so good until now. If I have time, I will go there to many thanks to all my teachers.

You might be wondering what New Concept English looks like. Here I will write those stories below. There are many advantages that we can get from those stories below. First, we will be able to improve our vocabulary. The best thing to memorize is not word by word but sentence by sentence. Second, those stories were made by native writers. I thought they are not just English but they are English teachers, because each story contains of understanding the English grammar that you can find below each story. Third, there is a listening cassette that we can hear. We will know how it is said correctly. Forth, it can train us to read as fast as possible. When we are memorizing those stories, we of course read them for several times. That makes us get used to reading and you know how if we always read the English words. We will be great at reading English. Finally, when we are teaching next, we can use these stories to tell to our students and ask them to retell what we have told. And not only this, but we also are able to make questions for our students. By blanking some words in the middle of the sentences and then let them hear the cassette. It will help the English students listen the native speakers and improve their ability in listening to English.  

The following short stories are stories from New Concept English. I just write 15 of many other stories in it. If you need more stories you can tell me, I will give you the other ones. However, it is not my own stories, so let’s say many thanks to the writers.

Good luck the great students!

A private conversation

Last week I went to the theatre. I had a very good seat. The play was very interesting. I did not enjoy it. A young man and a young woman were sitting behind me. They were talking loudly. I got very angry. I could not hear the actors. I turned round. I looked at the man and the woman angrily. They did not pay any attention. In the end, I could not bear it. I turned round again.

‘I can’t hear a word” I said angrily.

‘It’s none of your business,’ the young man said rudely.

‘This is a private conversation!’

Breakfast or lunch?

It was Sunday. I never get up early on Sundays. I sometimes stay in bed until lunchtime. Last Sunday I got up very late. 1 looked out of the window. It was dark outside. ‘What a day!’ I thought. ‘It’s raining again.’ Just then, the telephone rang. It was my aunt, Lucy.

‘I’ve just arrived by train,’ she said. ‘I’m coming to see you.

‘But I’m still having breakfast.’ 1 said.

‘What are you doing?’ she asked.

‘I’m having breakfast.’ I repeated.

‘Dear me,’ she said. ‘Do you always get up so late? It’s one o’clock!’

Please send me a card

Postcards always spoil my holidays. Last summer, I went to Italy. I visited museums and sat in public gardens. A friendly waiter taught me a few words of Italian. Then he lent me a book. I read a few lines, but I did not understand a word. Every day I thought about postcards. My holidays passed quickly, but I did not send cards to my friends. On the last day I made a big decision. I got up early and bought thirty-seven cards. I spent the whole day in my room, but I did not write a single card!

An exciting trip

I have just received a letter from my brother, Tim. He is in Australia. He has been there for six months. Tim is an engineer. He is working for a big firm and he has already visited a great number of different places in Australia. He has just bought an Australian car and has
gone to Alice Springs, a small town in the centre of Australia. He will soon visit Darwin. From there, he will fly to Perth. My brother has never been abroad before, so he is finding this trip very exciting.

No wrong numbers

Mr. James Scott has a garage in Silbury and now he has just bought another garage in Pinhurst. Pinhurst is only five miles from Silbury, but Mr. Scott cannot get a telephone for his new garage. So he has just bought twelve pigeons. Yesterday, a pigeon carried the first message from Pinhurst to Silbury. The bird covered the distance in three minutes. Up to now. Mr. Scott has sent a great many requests for spare parts and other urgent messages from one garage to the other. In this way, he has begun his own private ‘telephone’ service.

Percy Buttons

I have just moved to a house in Bridge Street. Yesterday a beggar knocked at my door. He asked me for a meal and a glass of beer. In return for this, the beggar stood on his head and sang songs. I gave him a meal. He ate the food and drank the beer. Then he put a piece of cheese in his pocket and went away. Later a neighbor told me about him. Everybody knows him. His name is Percy Buttons. He calls at every house in the Street once a month and always asks for a meal and a glass of beer.

Too late

The plane was late and detectives were waiting at the airport all morning. They were expecting a valuable parcel of diamonds from South Africa. A few hours earlier, someone had told the police that thieves would try to steal the diamonds. When the plane arrived, some of the detectives were waiting inside the main building while others were waiting on the airfield. Two men took the parcel off the plane and carried it into the Customs House. While two detectives were keeping guard at the door, two others opened the parcel. To their surprise, the precious parcel was full of stones and sand!

The best and the worst

Joe Sanders has the most beautiful garden in our town. Nearly everybody enters for The Nicest Garden Competition’ each year, but Joe wins every time. Bill Frith’s garden is larger than Joe’s. Bill works harder than Joe and grows more flowers and vegetables, but Joe’s garden is more interesting. He has made neat paths and has built a wooden bridge over a pool. I like gardens too, but I do not like hard work. Every year I enter for the garden competition too, and I always win a little prize for the worst garden in the town!

A cold welcome

On Wednesday evening, we went to the Town Hall. It was the last day of the year and a large crowd of people had gathered under the Town Hall clock. It would strike twelve in twenty minutes’ time. Fifteen minutes passed and then, at five to twelve, the clock stopped. The big minute hand did not move. We waited and waited, but nothing happened. Suddenly someone shouted, ‘It’s two minutes past twelve! The clock has stopped” I looked at my watch. It was true. The big clock refused to welcome the New Year. At that moment, everybody began to laugh and sing.

Not for jazz

We have an old musical instrument. It is called a clavichord. It was made in Germany in 1681. Our clavichord is kept in the living room. It has belonged to our family for a long time. The instrument was bought by my grandfather many years ago. Recently it was damaged by a visitor. She tried to play jazz on it! She struck the keys too hard and two of the strings were broken. My father was shocked. Now we are not allowed to touch it. It is being repaired by a friend of my father’s.

One good turn deserves another

I was having dinner at a restaurant when Tony Steele came in. Tony worked in a lawyer’s office years ago, but he is now working at a bank. He gets a good salary, but he always borrows money from his friends and never pays it back. Tony saw me and came and sat at the
same table. He has never borrowed money from me. While he was eating, I asked him to lend me twenty pounds. To my surprise, he gave me the money immediately.

‘I have never borrowed any money from you,’ Tony said. ‘So now you can pay for my dinner!’

Goodbye and good luck

Our neighbour, Captain Charles Alison, will sail from Portsmouth tomorrow. We’ll meet him at the harbour early in the morning. He will be in his small boat, Topsail. Topsail is a famous little boat. It has sailed across the Atlantic many times. Captain Alison will set out at eight o’clock, so we’ll have plenty of time. We’ll see his boat and then we’ll say goodbye to him. He will be away for two months. We are very proud of him. He will take part in an important race across the Atlantic.

The Greenwood Boys

The Greenwood Boys arc a group of pop singers. At present, they are visiting all parts of the country. They will be arriving here tomorrow. They will be coming by train and most of the young people in the town will be meeting them at the station. Tomorrow evening they will be singing at the Workers’ Club. The Greenwood Boys will be staying for five days. During this time, they will give five performances. As usual, the police will have a difficult time.
They will be trying to keep order. It is always the same on these occasions.

Do you speak English?

I had an amusing experience last year. After I had left a small village in the south of France, I drove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved to me. I stopped and he asked me for a lift. As soon as he had got into the car, I said good morning to him in French and he replied in the same language. Apart from a few words, I do not know any French at all. Neither of us spoke during the journey. 1 had nearly reached the town, when the young man suddenly said, very slowly.

Do you speak English?’

As I soon learnt, he was English himself!

Good news

The secretary told me that Mr. Harrnsworth would see me. I felt very nervous when I went into his office. He did not look up from his desk when I entered. After I had sat down, he said that business was very bad. He told me that the firm could not afford to pay such large salaries. Twenty people had already left. I knew that my turn had come. Mr. Harmsworth,’ I said in a weak voice. Don’t interrupt,’ he said. Then he smiled and told me I would receive an extra thousand pounds a year!

 Thanks for reading!