you will have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams.» As soon as the woman finished speaking, she disappeared without a trace.
What was Harry’s problem?
His problem was that he lived in the cage.
What did the woman say Harry to do in order to have vivid dreams?
She said to him that he must liberate himself from the cage.
It means he must leave his spacious, gorgeous and very comfortable cage, right?
Yes, that’s what it means. The woman said to Harry to leave the cage. She said to him that he must liberate himself to become a free hamster.
Why must Harry the hamster liberate himself from the cage?
To start having vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams, of course.
The woman said «Your problem is that you live in the cage. You must liberate yourself from that cage. Go and live like a free hamster. Smell the flowers. Then and only then you will have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams.»
Smell the flowers? What did the woman mean when she said «smell the flowers»?
Well, she actually meant enjoy life and don’t worry about your future.
Oh, I see. And what would Harry have if he went to the woods and if he smelled the flowers?
If Harry went to the woods, if he smelled the flowers he would have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams.
Only when he liberates himself, right?
Yes, that’s right. Only when Harry the hamster liberates himself from the cage he will have vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams.
As soon as the woman finished speaking she did what?
Correct. She disappeared without a trace.
Was the woman gone as soon as she finished speaking?
Yes, she was. The woman was gone. She disappeared without a trace.
Could Harry the hamster see the woman?
No, he couldn’t see her. She disappeared without a trace. She was gone.
Why couldn’t he see the woman?
I’ve just said, because she was gone. He couldn’t see her because she disappeared without a trace.
What do you think Harry the hamster did next?
Next of course, he immediately left his spacious, gorgeous and very comfortable cage. He went to the woods. He became a free hamster.
Where did Harry go when he left his cage?
He went to the woods.
He went to the woods why? Yes, why?
He went to the woods to become a free hamster.
What was Harry the hamster doing the whole day in the woods?
The whole day Harry the hamster was running and jumping. He met different animals. He smelled the flowers.
What happened by the end of the day?
By the end of the day Harry the hamster felt exhausted and without knowing how he fell asleep.
Did Harry the hamster realize how he fell asleep?
No, he didn’t realize that. He didn’t realize how he fell asleep. He fell asleep without knowing how.
Why did Harry fall asleep?
He fell asleep because he felt exhausted.
Was Harry the hamster super tired by the end of the day?
Yes, exactly. By the end of the day he was super tired. He felt exhausted. And because of that he fell asleep by the end of the day without knowing how.
What happened while he was sleeping?
And of course, while he was sleeping, he had vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams. When Harry the hamster woke up, he was in seventh heaven.
He was in seventh heaven. What do you mean by saying he was in seventh heaven? What is that?
I mean he was very happy.
Where was Harry when he woke up?
He was in seventh heaven. When Harry the hamster woke up, he was in seventh heaven. He was very happy.
Why was Harry in seventh heaven?
It is obvious. He was very happy. He was in seventh heaven because he fell asleep and he had vivid, fantastic and beautiful dreams.
And this is the end of the mini-story for «Harry the Hamster». You know what to do, right? Listen and answer the questions. Feel confident and be in seventh heaven when you speak English. This is the best way to start speaking English the way you never did before. Okay, I’ll see you next time.
Story 1 The POV lesson
Hi, this is Alex again and now it is time for our new kind of lesson which I called Point of view stories. These stories are designed to teach you grammar intuitively. It is very important. I mean not to think about grammar rules. And of course, you remember why? Because the stories are interesting, the stories are compelling that is why, grammar takes care of itself.
So the point of view stories are designed to teach you the way a native speaker learns grammar. And we all learn grammar by listening, by understanding meaning, by understanding the message. So when you listen to these stories, here’s the good news.
Just listen. Feel great. Don’t think about rules, none of that. Just relax and enjoy the story. Notice the patterns. You can notice the changes in vocabulary because in each story what I’m going to do is I’m going to tell this exact same story from the mini-story. But don’t focus on grammar too much. It will take care of itself simply because you understand the message.
So in this story you’re going to hear the same story about Harry wanting to have dreams. But I’m going to tell it from a different point of view. It means from a different time. So, for example, I might tell that story but from the future point of view. I might say that I have an idea for a movie and the movie will happen in ten years, ten years from now. In ten years there will be a hamster by the name of Harry and he’ll have a problem. And his problem will be that Harry the Hamster will never ever sleep in his life.
And I’ll tell the whole story from the point of view of the future. Of course, I’ll change some of the vocabulary, especially the verbs, in order to tell it from the future.
And now all you have to do is just listen to it. Just say «Okay, this is the future» and just notice. All you have to do is just listen, notice some of the words change. I’ll be using will, for example, and you know that that’s the future tense. But forget this idea of the future tense. Forget your grammar books. Just notice the changes in vocabulary. Sometimes I might change the word order. Sometimes the structure might change a little bit. Just notice it. Not because grammar is not important. No, I am not saying that. I am just saying that grammar is difficult, grammar is very difficult.
That’s all you have to do. Listen carefully. Don’t think about it. Don’t analyze grammar. Don’t write down rules, none of that. Listen and notice, listen, listen, listen and listen, that’s all you need to do.
So than in the point of view stories I’m going to use two basic points of view. One is the future, which I’ve just mentioned, and the other I call the present perfect and there is actually a few of them. But don’t think about that, oh my God, oh, my Lord! Grammar, grammar, grammar term. No, forget it!