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Everyone an Artist – VIP – Point of View

Hello, this is A. J. and welcome to the Point of View stories for this month’s lessons. Let’s go back to the story Wing Chun. We’re going to tell this story in three of the most common verb points of view, time points of view, and I’ll give you some notes at the end of this lesson about why we’re using this, how we use these and how you should think about the POV lessons.

Let’s go to the past first. When you’re in the past, imagine a little timeline. Imagine there’s a line and you’re right in the middle of the line. There’s a line that goes from your body forward in front of you, out into the distance as far as you can see and then it disappears way, way, way far away in front of you. Everything in front of you on that line is the future.

The line goes through your body and then it goes back, back, back behind you as well. Back, back, back. Of course that line is the past. The farther back behind you it goes, the farther it goes back into the past. We’re going to look at this story now from a time point imagining that it’s on that line behind us. We’re looking at the story as if it’s behind us on that line.

Here we go.

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There was a man. What was the man? Well, he was a chef. Where was he a chef? He was a chef in Hong Kong. Where specifically in Hong Kong? At Amalie Rothschild’s mansion. He worked for Amalie Rothschild. What was his name again? His name was Wing Chun. Why did he work for Rothschild? He worked for Rothschild because he needed to make good money and Rothschild was extremely wealthy.

Why did he need to make good money? For himself so that he could buy expensive things? No, Wing Chun was just a good father. Wing Chun was a good father. He had a daughter in the United States going to the university and it was quite expensive. He needed a good high-paying job, so he worked for Amalie Rothschild and he made a lot of money, but he also heard some bad things about his boss.

He heard that his boss was in fact a gangster, a criminal, but because he needed the money so much because he cared about his daughter, he just put his head in the sand and he pretended not to hear it, pretended it wasn’t true and just ignored all of the rumors. He ignored all of the innuendo.

Well, one day while working at the house, he saw some tough-looking guys unloading boxes of art and pottery, and he saw them unload a pair of nunchucks in a glass case. What was that last item?

The last item was nunchucks, which is sort of the common American maybe a little bit slang pronunciation of that word. I’m not sure. I’d have to look it up. Nunchaku or something like that is probably the correct Japanese pronunciation, but in America we say nunchucks.

So, he saw a pair nunchucks in a glass case. The next day he read in the Hong Kong newspaper that Bruce Lee’s nunchucks were just stolen. Coincidence? Well, he decides that it is a coincidence because he was still in denial. We’re still looking in the past. Why did he decide that it was a coincidence? Because he was still in denial. He was still in denial about what?

About his boss actually being a gangster.

He didn’t want his boss to be a gangster because he needed the job, so he just kidded himself and told himself that the nunchucks were just a coincidence. They were just a coincidence – not the same ones.

Well, finally one day he stumbled upon gangsters beating up a man in the garden, several gangsters around one poor man, beating him up, punching him, beating him up. He stumbled upon this and of course he realized that the rumors were true.

One of the gangsters looked up and saw Wing Chun and said “beat it.” Wing Chun ran away and he was shaken up. He was quite shocked and upset. He was shaken up by this incident. He was shaken up by seeing the men beating up the other man. He was shaken up because he realized that the rumors were all true, that in fact his boss was a notorious gangster.

So, he finally saw the light. He finally saw the truth and he quit his job but then he became very, very stressed. He became stressed because now he needed a new job and he needed money soon to help his daughter.

So, he looked and he looked and he looked, and he searched and he searched and searched, and he got stressed and stressed and stressed. He wondered if he had made the right decision, until finally he found a new job.

He got a job as a chef on a dinner cruise boat in Hong Kong Harbor, and he made enough money so that he could continue to pay his daughter’s tuition. Finally Wing Chun had a reputable, safe job.

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All right, let’s go to our next one. Imagine your timeline again. Let’s do it this way. Let’s imagine that you’ve got your line going behind you. Let’s imagine that this time we look back and we look at that line going behind us to the past, and it starts maybe one foot, one-third of a meter, 30 centimeters behind us on the line.

That’s when the story starts, but then it continues all the way up and it reaches our body.

Imagine on the timeline the story starts behind us but then it actually comes up and it meets us right here where we are now in the present. What would that sound like?

Here we go. Let’s find out.

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Wing Chun has been a chef for many, many years. In fact he has been one of Hong Kong’s top chefs for many years. He has worked for the same man for many, many years. Who has Wing Chun worked for? Well, Wing Chun has worked for the very wealthy, somewhat notorious man, Amalie Rothschild.

Here’s the thing about Rothschild. For a long time there have been rumors about him. There have been a lot of rumors, a lot of innuendo about Rothschild. People have said that he’s a gangster. People have said that he has ordered people to be killed. People have said that he does criminal things and that he has stolen things.

So, there have been these rumors for quite a while, and there have been these rumors during the time that Wing Chun has worked for him, but Wing Chun has decided to ignore the rumors.

He has put his head into the sand and just ignored them all.

Why has he done this? Well, he’s done this because he desperately needs the money. Why has he desperately needed the money? Well, because his daughter is a university student in the United States and it’s quite expensive.

So, he has continued to work for Rothschild and he has made a lot of money, and now he’s still making a lot of money working for Rothschild. Of course during this time he has heard the rumors and he still hears the rumors now. People are still talking about it but he has kept his head in the sand in the past, and now he’s still keeping his head in the sand.

Well, one day while working at the house, he sees some tough-looking men unloading boxes, unloading art, unloading pottery. He sees them take out a glass case and inside the glass case is a pair of nunchucks.

Well, he doesn’t think anything about that really until the next day when he reads an article in the Hong Kong paper. He reads that Bruce Lee’s magic – some say – nunchucks have been stolen. Oh no. Wing Chun doesn’t want to believe the rumors. He’s still in denial, so he just kids himself. He says oh this is just a coincidence, they’re not the same ones, and then he just tries to forget it.

That works for a while until another day he stumbles upon a group of gangsters in the garden and they’re beating up some poor man. Then he sees the light. Finally, Wing Chun sees the light and he realizes oh my God it’s true. My boss really is a gangster.

Well, one of the gangsters looked at him and says “beat it” and he runs back to the kitchen. He’s really shaken up. He’s really upset and he finally decides I can’t work for a gangster. I can’t work for someone who’s hurting other people. So, he quits his job. Then he has a very big problem.

He searches and searches and searches for a new job. He can’t just have any job. He needs a job that pays well so that he can continue paying his daughter’s tuition.

So, he searches and he searches and he searches. He’s about to give up when he finds a new job on a dinner cruise boat in Hong Kong Harbor. He gets a job on the cruise boat as a chef, and he finally has a safe and reputable job.

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That’s the end of our second version. Now the third version is a little strange because in fact in normal conversations we almost never will exclusively use the future tense. In other words, when we talk about the future, usually we just use a couple of sentences.

We’re talking about one specific little thing that we think might happen in the future, or that we’re sure will happen in the future, and we use the future tense for just a short time and then usually we switch back to something else, a different point of view.

It’s quite strange to talk about a whole story in the future. The reason we do it in the Point of View lessons is just to give you more practice, just so you can hear the future versions of the phrases much more often, and you can get more of that repetition so that the future is quite easy for you.

In fact the future is pretty easy anyway but it’s common. We do use it a lot. Just realize that the way we use it in the lessons is designed just to give you lots of repetition. Let’s go. Let’s imagine our timeline.

This time it’s going out in front of you. Imagine the story is a little box or something and now we put that box on the line in front of us, out in front of us maybe two meters in front of us. Throw it out there. Drop it on the line.

Now it’s in the future. We’re looking at that whole story from the present and we’re seeing it in the future. In real life, we’re maybe just imagining what’s going to happen. We’re predicting what’s going to happen. Maybe we had a dream that this will happen in the future – whatever it is.

Now let’s talk about that story out there. The whole thing is in the future, out on that line in front of us.

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Out there on that line a couple meters in front of us, there will be the same man and what’s his name gonna be? Gonna means going to. You VIP members all know that. It’s kind of a casual American way to say going to – gonna. I’ve heard the British don’t necessarily use that so much but Americans use it all the time.

There’s gonna be – going to be – this same man Wing Chun in the future. Yes, he’ll be a chef and yes he’ll work for Amalie Rothschild and he’ll have the same issues. He’ll hear rumors. He’ll hear innuendo about his boss. He’ll hear that in fact his boss is a gangster.

Of course he’s just going to stick his head in the sand. He’s going to stick his head in the sand and ignore the rumors and pretend everything’s okay because of course he’ll need the money.

He will – he’ll – you’ll hear that ‘ll’ sound. Sometimes it’s hard to hear when we’re talking in the future. The ‘ll’ is what makes it the future.

You can of course say he will, but in normal quick conversations we just put them together and we’ll say he’ll. In the future, he’ll put his head in the sand. He’ll ignore the rumors because he’s going to need the money. He’s going to want the money for his daughter’s tuition.

Well, the same thing is gonna happen in the future. He’ll be working at the house and one day he’ll see a tough-looking man unloading boxes of artwork and pottery and he’ll see that same thing. What will he see? You remember – the nunchucks in the glass case.

What will he see in the future? He’ll see the nunchucks. Who will be unloading the nunchucks?

A group of tough-looking men. A group of tough-looking men will be unloading the nunchucks.

At this point, will Wing Chun think they are gangsters? No, no, no. He’s not gonna. He’s not gonna think they’re gangsters at that point. He won’t think anything of it. He won’t think it’s a problem. He won’t really think anything is wrong.

When will he maybe have a little suspicion? Well, the next day. That’s when he’ll read in the Hong Kong newspaper that Bruce Lee’s famous – some say possibly magic – nunchucks were just stolen.

Then he’ll feel a little suspicion but he’ll still be in denial. He’ll still be in denial and he’ll tell himself no, no, no. It’s just a coincidence. He’ll kid himself. He’ll fool himself. He’ll say it’s just a coincidence. No problem. It’s just a coincidence.

That’s what he’s going to say to himself and he’ll convince himself. He’ll stay convinced for a while until another day in the future. What’s going to happen? You already know what’s going to happen, right? We know. We have this magical power to see this future thing. We already know what’s going to happen.

What will he stumble upon? He’ll stumble upon a group of gangsters beating up some poor little helpless man. Oh no. It’s so terrible. One of the gangsters will see Wing Chun and what’s he gonna say to Wing Chun? He’ll say “beat it,” which is also the name of a Michael Jackson song – Beat It. You can do a little Beat It dance right now. Go watch the video on YouTube.

Beat if means go away, get lost, so the gangster will say this to Wing Chun, and Wing Chun of course will beat it. He’ll run back to the kitchen and he’ll be really shaken up. How will he feel?

Shaken up. He’ll be upset.

Why will he be upset? Why will he be shaken up? What will he finally realize? He’ll finally realize that the rumors are true that in fact his boss, Amalie Rothschild, really is a notorious gangster.

In other words, he’ll finally see the light. He’ll finally see the truth. When he sees the light, what will Wing Chun do? Well, he’s a good man, so Wing Chun will in fact quit his job immediately.

Of course that creates another problem for him in the future, so what does he do next? You know. He searches for jobs of course. He searches for jobs, he searches, he searches and he searches. He puts in applications. He goes to interviews, etc. He does all of this stuff.

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You’ll notice right now a quick little note for new people who freak out about the grammar. I’m actually using present tense verbs, but when we understand that a story is in the future or that an event will happen in the future, when we’ve already used the future a little bit and everyone listening understands that this is happening in the future, we can use the present tense too sometimes to talk about the future. It’s interesting. Everything is not just a bunch of hard rules.

It’s more flexible that than.

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What is he going to do? He’s going to go and he’s going to search and get a job interview. He’ll feel kind of stressed out and just when he is ready to give up, what happens? He finds a job.

What kind of job does he find? He finds a job as a chef on a dinner cruise boat, and of course he’s very happy because it pays well and of course he’s going to be thrilled by this, right? We already know this.

He’s going to be thrilled. He’ll be happy. Why will he be happy? He’ll be happy because he has enough money to pay for his daughter’s tuition. He’ll be happy because finally he has a safe, reputable job.

That’s the end of our future version of the story.

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Now just a few quick notes about the Point of View stories and grammar in general, and then you’re done with this for this month. I like this timeline idea, if you imagine the line going in front of you and the line going behind you. The story or the event or the topic – anything you’re talking about – you can imagine as being somewhere on that line.

Here’s the thing. In school and in grammar books – I don’t know why they do this, but somehow they give you the idea that there’s one right answer. Let’s say if something happened last week that we must always talk about it in the past, and it’s simply not true.

It’s actually flexible. We can take that same story that I just told about Wing Chun and we can move it to anywhere on that timeline. We can move it back behind us so that it’s all behind us, and we might use one kind of grammar for that; or we could move it closer to us so that it starts in the past and then it continues up to now on that line, right up through our body.

We could even imagine it going through our body and into the future. We might start talking about it in the past and saying have been, have gone. Then we might switch over to the present, and then we might even switch again to the future for part of it.

Or we could take that whole story and move it on that timeline right out in front of us and now the whole thing is in the future. It’s flexible. That’s why it’s called Point of View stories because the grammar depends on our point of view.

Are we looking at it back as if it’s in the past?

Are we looking into the future at the event that we’re talking about?

Are we looking right down because the event is right there inside our body happening in this moment?

Is there a range?

Does it start a little bit behind us and continue up through us?

We can switch, as I showed you in the future version. Sometimes we can mix things. Even though we know it’s all in the future, we can talk about it in the present with present tense verbs sometimes.

Why would we do that? Because it gives it a little bit different feeling. It feels more exciting. Like I said, you typically don’t say future, future, future for a big long story. What we typically would do is we might start in the future and then switch to the present or something like that.

It just depends on the situation. There are choices. It’s flexible. That’s why I say don’t focus on grammar rules because the rules changes when they’re flexible. Yes, there are some guidelines.

You’ll learn them from listening to these stories again and again and again, and also all this same grammar is in every main lesson, every main video.

I’m just talking naturally. I’m naturally using the correct grammar when I’m doing that. In my Commentaries, it’s the same thing. I’m mixing all kinds of different grammar points just as appropriate, as needed.

The more you listen to all of these real English as well as the Mini Stories and the Point of View stories you’ll get a natural feeling for how to use the grammar flexibly, powerfully and correctly.

Don’t think about rules. Just keep listening, listening and listening every day and every month to the Main Stories, to the Commentary, to the Mini Stories, to the Point of View and everything.

I promise if you ask the members that have been with us for a long time, you’ll get better and better. It just happens automatically. I will see you next month. Have a great day. Bye-bye.