Hi there, my name is Lisa Biskup.
I am an English teacher with over 20 years of experience working with children and adults from around the world.
Many of you are interested in purchasing the Success with Stories audio program in order to improve your listening comprehension skills and your English speaking skills.
Therefore, I have created this sample audio lesson to give you the feel for the program.
In the Success with Stories Volume 1 program, there are 20 lesson sets.
Each lesson set has four audio lessons.
The entire lesson set can be anywhere from 40 minutes to 90 minutes in total time.
Each lesson set begins with an original story.
The story is full of great vocabulary and while it is a bit silly at times, that is what helps make it interesting and memorable.
Written transcripts are provided so that if necessary, in the beginning, you can read along.
Here's an excerpt from story number one titled Cats in Love.
Hello, this is Lisa, and I want to welcome you to the Success with Stories lesson number one.
The title of this story is Cats in Love.
You can practice English whenever and wherever you want.
Just listen to our short stories and answer the easy question out loud.
You will improve your listening and speaking skills fast.
Now remember, when you are listening to the stories, all you need to do is sit back, relax, and listen.
Enjoy the story.
Listen to the language.
Don't worry about it if you don't understand something.
Relax and enjoy the story.
Toby is my cat.
He's 15 years old.
That's pretty old for a cat.
But he acts like a teenager.
He has jet black fur that is soft and silky.
And green eyes that shine brightly in the night.
He is slim and sleek.
He only eats mice and raw meat that I give him in a special silver cat food bowl suited to the prince that he is.
Toby is also feisty, curious, and very independent.
He doesn't like to be told what to do.
He likes to live life on his own terms.
He spends most of the day outside chasing mice,
bringing his kill onto the front porch to enjoy eating the poor little mouse slowly and deliberately.
I prefer not to watch.
In the evenings, he jumps onto my lap when I am sitting on the couch.
Hello.
Are you enjoying the story?
Please give us a like.
Thank you.
He loves when I pet him, purring loudly as he pushes his head into my hand so that I will stroke his head.
Toby spends the evening napping lazily on the couch, resting up for his late night rendezvous with Susie.
Okay, that's just a short excerpt from the story, but it gives you an idea of the language and the pace.
Next up is an excerpt from the vocabulary lesson for the same story, Cats in Love.
Hello, this is Lisa.
Welcome to Success with Stories lesson number 1, Vocabulary.
The title of this story is Cats in Love.
I am going to be re-reading the story again and this time I am going to be going over the vocabulary.
So this is a way for you to increase your understanding of the story by learning the meanings of these words and these expressions.
It's a great way to improve your vocabulary and your comprehension.
So let's begin.
Toby is my cat.
He's 15 years old.
That's pretty old for a cat, but he acts like a teenager.
Pretty.
The word pretty in this case does not mean beautiful or handsome or gorgeous like you might think or know already.
It means quite or very.
So 15 years old, that's pretty old or quite old for a cat.
He has jet black fur that is soft and silky, and green eyes that shine brightly in the night.
Silky.
Very smooth, like silk.
So his fur is very soft and silky.
Very soft and smooth.
Silk is very smooth.
If you have seen Japanese kimonos, they are made of silk and they are very nice to touch.
They're very soft and smooth.
And green eyes that shine brightly.
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Thanks for watching.
To shine means to reflect light or to glisten.
So if something shines brightly in the night, then that means you can see them very well.
So his eyes are green and they shine brightly in the night.
He is slim and sleek.
Sleek means well-groomed, very neat.
So he is slim and very sleek.
He looks nice.
He only eats mice and raw meat that I give him in a special silver cat food bowl suited to the prince that he is.
suited to meet the requirements of or to fit.
So the bowl that she gives him is a special cat food bowl.
It's not your everyday, regular, normal, boring cat food bowl.
It's a very fancy cat food bowl and it is suited to him because he is a prince.
So it fits him just perfectly.
Toby is also feisty, curious, and very independent.
Feisty, full of spirit, frisky, or spunky.
He has a lot of energy.
He's very feisty.
Curious eager to learn more or inquisitive.
He's curious.
He likes to go figure things out What's this over there?
And oh, what is that?
Oh, I want to check that out He's curious children are often very curious.
They ask a lot of questions Why is he doing that?
Why are you going there?
What are we doing now?
that is somebody who is curious always wanting to learn more and to know more and
He doesn't like to be told what to do.
He likes to live life on his own terms.
To live life on your own terms means that you want to do it your way.
You want to do your own thing.
He doesn't want to be told what to do.
If you are a very independent person and you like to do things your way, this means you like to live life on your own terms.
Doing it your way.
He spends most of the day outside chasing mice.
Chasing.
To chase is the verb and it means to run after, to go after, to hunt.
In this case, he is a cat and so he is chasing mice around, hunting them, trying to catch them.
Bringing his kill onto the front porch to enjoy eating the poor little mouse slowly and deliberately.
The porch is a covered area in front of your house.
So here in the United States, oftentimes we have single story homes and for the front door, the area around the front door, we have a porch and it's often covered so you can sit there if it's raining, for example.
A lot of times you might see a person puts a couple of chairs out on the porch so people can
sit down, take off your shoes before going into the house.
That is the porch.
Deliberately means to do something with intention and attention.
So you have a reason why you're doing it and you know what you're doing and you are giving it attention.
You're paying attention to what you are doing.
If you are doing something deliberately to be deliberate about something means to have
a strong intention of doing it and to pay attention, to focus.
In the evenings, he jumps onto my lap when I am sitting on the couch.
He loves when I pet him, purring loudly as he pushes his head into my hand so that I will stroke his head.
purring.
Cats purr.
So to purr is to make the sound that cats make.
Like that.
When they're happy they usually purr.
Stroke to stroke.
It's the verb to stroke means to pet or to touch So if you stroke somebody's head, that means you are placing your hand on their head and moving it up and down you are petting that cat so the cat likes to be stroked or petted on his head and
Toby spends the evening napping lazily on the couch, resting up for his late night rendezvous with Susie.
He likes to spend time napping on the couch.
Napping is sleeping.
a nap is usually a short time of sleeping so you maybe nap for 20 minutes or 30 minutes maybe an hour but it's usually just a short amount of time that you fall asleep usually cats and dogs they take naps
throughout the day people We usually like to take a nap in the afternoon for a little while Maybe we woke up early in the morning and by three or four o'clock.
We're tired We need to take a little nap so that we have energy for later To rest up for something means to take a nap or to rest take a rest in order to be able to do something later on so in this case Toby
is taking a nap so that he can rest up for his late night rendezvous, so his meeting.
A rendezvous is a French word that means a meeting, so he and Suzy will be getting together later in the evening, much later, so he needs to rest so he'll be able to go there, otherwise he might fall asleep and miss it.
Okay, so during the vocabulary lesson, you can see that I am not necessarily speaking with a super slow pace.
I want to help you train your ear to hear normal speech.
Next is a sample of the question and answer lesson for the story Cats in Love.
Hello and welcome to the question and answer lesson for story number one, Cats in Love.
Before we get started, I want to remind you how this lesson will work.
In this lesson, I am going to read the story once again, but this time I am going to stop and ask you questions.
This is your time to speak.
This is the most powerful lesson for speaking in this Success with Stories program.
Your job is to answer the questions, preferably out loud and preferably with a lot of energy.
Okay, let's do this.
Toby is my cat.
He's 15 years old.
How old is Toby?
He's 15 years old.
Toby is 15 years old.
Is Toby 25 years old?
No, Toby is not 25 years old.
He is 15 years old.
That's pretty old for a cat, but he acts like a teenager.
Is 15 pretty old for a cat?
Yes, it is.
15 years old is pretty old for a cat.
Does Toby act like a baby?
No, no, Toby does not act like a baby.
What does he act like?
He acts like a teenager.
Toby acts like a teenager.
He has jet black fur that is soft and silky and green eyes that shine brightly in the night.
He is slim and sleek.
He only eats mice and raw meat
that I give him in a special silver cat food bowl suited to the prince that he is.
What color fur does Toby have?
Black.
Toby has black fur.
Is his fur soft and silky?
Yes.
Yes, it is.
Toby's fur is soft and silky.
Is Toby fat?
Is he a fat cat?
No, Toby is not a fat cat.
He is not fat.
He is slim.
Toby is slim and sleek.
What does Toby eat?
Toby eats mice and raw meat.
Does Toby eat cooked meat?
No.
Toby does not eat cooked meat.
He eats raw meat.
Toby eats raw meat.
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Toby is also feisty, curious, and very independent.
He doesn't like to be told what to do.
Is Toby a curious cat?
Yes, Toby is a curious cat.
Toby is very curious.
Does Toby like to be told what to do?
No, he doesn't.
Toby doesn't like to be told what to do.
He likes to do his own thing.
He likes to be very independent.
He likes to live life on his own terms.
Does he like to do what other people tell him to do or want him to do?
No way.
Toby likes to do things on his own terms.
He likes to do things his own way.
He is independent.
He spends most of the day outside chasing mice, bringing his kill onto the front porch to enjoy eating the poor little mouse slowly and deliberately.
I prefer not to watch.
Where does Toby spend most of the day?
Outside.
Toby spends most of the day outside.
What does he do outside?
He chases mice.
He likes to chase mice outside.
Where does he bring the mice?
He brings the mice to the front porch.
How does Toby eat the mice?
Yeah, he eats them slowly and deliberately.
Does his owner like to watch him eating the dead mice?
No, she doesn't like it at all.
She prefers not to watch.
In the evenings, he jumps onto my lap when I am sitting on the couch.
He loves when I pet him, purring loudly as he pushes his head into my hand so that I will stroke his head.
What does Toby like?
Toby likes to be petted.
He likes when she pets his head.
Does Toby like to be kicked around the house?
No, no way.
He likes to be petted.
Does he bite his owner?
No, Toby doesn't bite his owner.
Is Toby a mean cat?
No, Toby's not a mean cat.
He's a nice cat.
Toby spends the evening napping lazily on the couch, resting up for his late night rendezvous with Susie.
Where does Toby nap?
On the couch.
Toby naps on the couch.
Why does he nap on the couch in the evening?
To rest up for his late night rendezvous with Susie.
He naps on the couch in the evening to rest up for his late night rendezvous with Susie.
Does Toby meet with Susie early in the morning?
No, he does not meet with Susie early in the morning.
Does Toby meet with Susie late at night?
Yes, Toby meets with Susie late at night.
That's all for the excerpt from the question and answer lesson.
Even though the questions may seem simple, the goal is not complexity and difficulty, but rather ease and flow.
The purpose of the question and answer lesson is to train you to speak automatically, without thinking.
Next is the point of view story which is the final part of lesson set number one for the story Cats in Love.
The purpose of the point of view story is to give you a familiar context and create a new way of talking about it from a different perspective.
Just listen to the story over and over.
Look up words you don't understand or use context clues to help you figure out the meanings of the words.
You will pick up the grammar without even analyzing it.
Okay, here we go.
Hello and welcome to success with stories lesson number one.
This is the point of view story for cats in love.
Two years ago, my girlfriend Susie and I were totally in love.
We spent lots of time walking around the neighborhood together and we met every night for a midnight stroll.
We had a lot of fun together and enjoyed each other's company very much.
My owner, a nice young woman named Amy, took really good care of me.
She loved me so much.
She always gave me delicious raw meat and let me bring the mice I killed onto the porch, where I took my time eating my dinner.
She didn't mind at all.
Susie's owner was a cool Italian guy who loved classical music.
He probably thought that his neighbors did too because he blasted the music through a big stack of speakers in his living room.
His name was Frankie and he took good care of Susie too.
One day I saw a new tomcat in the area.
I met him once late at night as I was on my way to meet Susie for our midnight stroll.
He seemed like a nice enough fellow.
He said his name was Jazz.
I didn't pay much attention to him though, because he was busy doing his own thing.
At one point, Susie met him and it seemed that they liked each other, but I wasn't worried about it.
I wasn't a possessive type of cat, so I didn't care if Susie talked with other guys.
Well, there you go, that's a sample of the program Success with Stories Volume 1.
As you can see, there is a lot of high quality material here which, if you master, will ensure that you obtain a rather high level of ease and fluency with English.