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Becoming VIP – Mini Story

Hello my special VIP member. Welcome to the mini story for this month’s lesson. Let’s get started.

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There was a guy named Warren, Warren and Warren used to be extremely rich. He was wealthy.

Now, how rich was Warren?

He was wealthy. Very, very rich.

Was Warren a little bit rich or was Warren wealthy?

Well, he was wealthy, of course. He was very wealthy. Warren was a very wealthy man.

Who was wealthy?

Warren.

Warren was very wealthy. However, at the age of 60, Warren lost all his money.

When did he lose all of his money?

At the age of 60.

Did he lose all of his money at the age of 58?

No, he did not.

Did he lose all of money at the age of 37?

No, he did not.

How old was he when he lost all of his money?

He was 60. Warren was 60 when he lost all of his money.

How? How did he lose all of his money? Did he lose all of his money in the stock market?

No. he didn’t lose all of his money in the stock market.

Did he lose all of his money from business?

No, no, no, he didn’t lose all of his money in business, from business.

So how did he lose all of his money?

Gambling. Gambling. Warren lost all of his money gambling.

What kind of gambling did Warren do?

Well, Warren gambled on turtle racing. Warren loved to go to turtle races and he always bet on the turtles. Unfortunately, Warren’s turtle always lost.

So what did Warren bet on?

He bet on turtle racing.

Did he bet on dog racing?

No.

Did he bet on horse racing?

No.

What kind of racing did he bet on?

Turtle racing. He bet on turtle racing.

And how did he do?

Well, he lost. He always lost. He did very badly.

Did he do well or did he do badly betting on turtle racing?

He did badly. He did very badly.

And who did very badly betting on turtle racing?

Warren, of course. Warren did very badly betting on turtle racing.

Now what was Warren’s last name? Maybe you can guess, because he’s famous.

That’s right.

Buffett, Warren Buffett.

Did you know that Warren Buffett liked to bet on turtle racing? It’s true. Warren Buffett loved to bet on turtle racing. And how did he do?

He did not do well. He did badly. He always lost when he bet on turtles.

Did he do well or did he do badly?

He did badly.

When?

When he bet on turtle racing.

And, so, how much of his money did he lose?

All of it, every penny. He lost all of his money.

How?

Betting on, gambling on turtle racing.

Warren Buffett lost all of his money betting on turtle racing and so he was impoverished. “Impoverished” means super, super, super poor; totally without money, impoverished. Warren Buffett was impoverished.

How was he impoverished?

He was impoverished. He was made very poor by losing on betting. He was impoverished from losing when he gambled.

So who was impoverished?

Warren Buffett was impoverished, completely without money.

So, obviously, he needed a job and so he got a job at Wal-Mart.

Where did he get a job?

At Wal-Mart.

Who got a job at Wal-Mart?

Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett got a job at Wal-Mart.

What did he get at Wal-Mart?

A job. He got a job at Wal-Mart.

What kind of job did he get at Wal-Mart?

He got a greeter’s job, a greeter.

A greeter is a person who stands at the entrance to the store and greets customers as they come in. They say “Hello, welcome to Wal-Mart.” So they greet customers at the front door, a greeter.

Where was he a greeter at?

At Wal-Mart. Warren became a greeter at Wal-Mart.

Was it a great job?

No, it was a horrific job.

“Horrific” means terrible, awful, super bad, horrible.

What kind of job was it?

It was a horrific job.

Why was it a horrific job?

Well, because he worked 80 hours a week and he only made .10¢ per hour.

How many hours a week did he work?

Eighty. He worked 80 hours a week.

Where did he work 80 hours a week at?

At Wal-Mart. He worked 80 hours a week at Wal-Mart.

Doing what?

Greeting. He was a greeter, remember? Warren was a greeter at Wal-Mart. He worked 80 hours a week as a greeter at Wal-Mart.

Did Warren work 80 hours a week as an accountant at Wal-Mart?

No, not as an accountant. He did not work 80 hours a week as an accountant at WalMart.

What did he do?

He worked 80 hours a week as a greeter at Wal-Mart.

And how much did he make?

He only made .10¢ per hour.

Did he make .10¢ per hour when he was rich?

No, of course, not. When he was rich, he made $10,000 per hour.

But at Wal-Mart, how much did he make?

Ten cents per hour. Poor Warren, he only made .10¢ per hour working as a greeter at Wal-Mart.

But it was even worse than that, his situation, because he spent all of his money on new clothes and new DVDs.

What did he do with his money from Wal-Mart? He spent it all on what?

New clothes and new DVDs. Every time he got a paycheck, he spent all of it on new clothes and new DVDs.

Did he save any money?

No.

Did he invest any money?

No.

What did he spend all of his money on?

He spent all of his money on new clothes and new DVDs.

Who spent all of his paycheck on new clothes and new DVDs?

Warren, of course. Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett spent all of his paycheck on new clothes and new DVDs. He never saved his money. He never invested his money.

Now after 11 ½ months working at Wal-Mart, he was still impoverished and he was exhausted.

Why was he exhausted?

He was exhausted, because he was working 80 hours every week and he could never rest.

How did he feel? Did he have a lot of energy?

No. He did not have a lot of energy. The opposite, he was totally exhausted. After 11 ½ months working at Wal-Mart, he was totally exhausted because he worked 80 every week.

And so he quit the job at Wal-Mart and he found a cheap apartment and he got a welfare check from the government. A welfare check is a check from the government. It’s money from the government to help people who are very, very poor.

So what kind of check, what kind of payment did Warren get after he quit his job?

Welfare. He got a welfare check.

Who got a welfare check?

Warren. Warren got a welfare check every month from the government, a welfare payment every month from the government.

What kind of apartment did he get?

Ooh, a very, very small and a very, very cheap one. It had only one room.

The problem was that Warren could barely pay for the rent and his food with the small welfare check.

Could he pay for the rent and his food every month?

Yes, he could. He could, but just barely, just barely. He could just do it. He had no extra money after he paid for rent and bought food. No extra money after that. He only could barely pay for his rent and food every month.

Could he easily pay for his rent and food every month?

No, not easily. He could not easily pay for his rent and food. He could barely, he could just, pay for his rent and food. He could barely pay for his rent and food every month, because his government check, his government payment was so small.

So who could just barely pay for his rent and food every month?

Well, of course, Warren. Warren Buffett could just barely pay for his rent and food every month.

How do you think he felt?

Well, obviously, he was miserable. Warren was totally and completely miserable.

Why was he miserable?

Well, because he used to be super rich and then he became impoverished; super poor.

He used to be wealthy then he became impoverished.

Was he happy about being impoverished?

No, he was not.

He was how? How did he feel?

Miserable. He felt totally and completely miserable; extremely unhappy about being impoverished.

Well, eventually, he was so miserable he knew he had to change and so he finally got a much better job. He went to work at an Apple Computer Store. He got a job at an Apple Computer Store.

Now, was this a good job?

In fact, it was. It was a very good job.

Did he like working at the Apple Computer Store?

Yes, he did, of course. He actually enjoyed it quite a bit; a lot.

What did he enjoy?

Well, he enjoyed working at the Apple Computer Store. He loved talking to people. He loved learning about the computers. It was a very good job for Warren.

Did Warren make good money at the Apple Computer Store?

Yes, they paid him very well. They paid him $42 an hour.

How much money did they pay him?

Forty-two dollars an hour.

What was Warren’s wage at the Apple Computer Store?

Well, his wage was $42 an hour. That was his wage. That’s the amount they paid him.

His wage was $42 an hour where?

At the Apple Computer Store. He made $42 an hour at the Apple Computer Store.

And how did he feel about that?

Well, he was very happy.

Why was he so happy?

Well, because before that he was totally impoverished, only getting a small government check, then he got a much better job at the Apple Computer Store.

And he started to make how much?

Forty-two dollars an hour. Warren made $42 an hour at the Apple Computer Store.

Now did he immediately buy more clothes?

No, he did not. He bought no new clothes.

Did he immediately buy a lot of new DVDs to celebrate?

No, he did not. He learned. He did not buy any new DVDs.

Did he move to a nice, big, expensive apartment?

No, he did not. He stayed in his tiny, cheap, one-room apartment.

Why did he do these things? Why didn’t he buy clothes? Why didn’t he buy DVDs? Why didn’t he move to a better apartment?

Because he wanted to save and invest his extra money.

What did he want to do with his extra money?

He wanted to save and invest it.

How did he want to use his extra money?

Well, he wanted to save and invest it.

He wanted to save and invest what?

The extra money he made at the Apple Computer Store.

And who wanted to save and invest his extra money?

Our good friend Warren, of course, Warren Buffett. And so every month he got a paycheck, he paid for his rent, he paid for his food and all the extra money he saved and then invested.

So what did he do with that extra money every single month?

Saved and invested it. Saved and invested it.

Month after month after month he saved and invested. Saved and invested and five years later his investments grew and, eventually, Warren was able to quit his job at the Apple Computer Store. He was rich and wealthy again. He had plenty of money and plenty of time.

How long did it take for his investments to grow?

Five years.

What took five years?

Well, it took five years for his investments to grow.

It took five years for whose investments to grow?

Warren Buffett’s. It took five years for Warren Buffett’s investments to grow.

What was his financial situation after five years?

Well, he was wealthy again; very, very rich again. That was his financial situation. After five years, he became wealthy again.

What did he do after five years?

Well, he quit his job at the Apple Store.

Why did he quit his Apple Store job?

Well, because he had plenty of money and time again. He was wealthy again, so he didn’t need the job anymore, so after he quit his job he had plenty of money and plenty of time to enjoy his life.

So how did he enjoy his life after he became wealthy again?

Well, he moved to Florida, to sunny, warm Florida.

Why did he move to Florida?

Well, because, obviously, he wanted to play golf every day and it’s always warm in Florida.

And so Warren played golf every single day and had a happy wonderful life.

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And that is the end of our mini story for this month.

Now, you need to listen to this mini story one time or more than one time every single day. Make it a game. For the first few days, just listen. You don’t need to talk. You don’t need to answer. Just listen.

Once you can understand more and its easy then, pause and answer the questions.

Shout them with strong emotion and do that for several days. Try to answer faster and faster and faster. It should get easier because you’ll know the story very well.

Eventually, try to answer, shout your answers, without pausing. Answer them so fast you don’t need to pause and, usually, one or two words is enough when you answer.

Now after that’s easy, what you might do is listen to just one sentence, pause and then say the sentence out loud. Try to copy my pronunciation. Try to copy my emotion. Try to copy my intonation. Copy my pronunciation exactly. Then play again one more sentence and pause and, again, copy me exactly.

You want to try to sound exactly like me. In this way, you will improve your pronunciation a lot. Just make all of this a game. Don’t get too serious about it, just laugh. If you make a mistake, just laugh about it and continue.

Now in this month’s mini story it’s a good way to practice. It’s a good one for practicing pronunciation. I’m focusing mostly on the past tense in this one, because it’s the most common tense and I know that even though you know it, I also know that you need to always be practicing it and improving it, because it’s so common in regular conversation in English.

So have a great month and I will see you again, bye-bye.