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The Election – Mini-Story Lesson

Hi, I’m Joe Weiss and I’m one of the teachers and directors of Learn Real English and I’d like to welcome you to this mini-story lesson. Okay, I’m going to start the lesson by telling you about some of the idioms that you will hear me use in the story, so let’s start.

Okay, first is just a word and I guess it’s not really an idiom but I just want to make sure you understand what it means because you’re going to hear it in the story. So the word is “grumpy.” So if a person is grumpy it means that person is dissatisfied and angry, okay? They’re not happy, that’s for sure. Let me give you an example. When John was younger, he was happy and satisfied with life. But when he became older, he became grumpy. Okay, so what I’m saying is when John was younger, he was happy and he was satisfied with life. But as he became older, he became dissatisfied and angry, okay? He became grumpy.

Okay, so next is to “look down on someone.” So if you look down on someone it means that you think you’re better than that person, okay? You don’t respect that person. Let me give you an example. After John became rich, he looked down on poor people. Okay, so what I’m saying is after John became rich, he thought he was better than poor people. Okay, he didn’t respect them.

Okay, so next is if you “can’t stand someone.” So if you can’t stand someone it means that you really dislike that person. Here’s an example. Many people can’t stand the president. Okay, so what I’m saying is many people really dislike, they strongly dislike the president.

Okay, so next is to “rig something.” So if you rig something it means that you change the result of that thing by doing something that’s against the rules or illegal. And a lot of time when you hear this, you’ll hear people say something like an election was rigged or someone rigged an election. So that’s the example I’m going to give you now actually. John did not believe he had enough votes to become president so he rigged the election. Okay, so what I’m saying is John did not think he had enough votes to become president so he changed the result of the election by doing something that was against the rules. Okay, maybe he changed some people’s votes or something like that. He rigged the election. He did something to change the outcome of the election and what he did was not within the rules, okay? It was not fair.

Okay, so I have one more for you and this one is to “lose your temper.” So if you lose your temper it means that you become angry, okay, very angry and usually that happens suddenly but really it just means you become very angry. Alright, here’s an example. When John was a boy, he often disobeyed his mother and when he disobeyed his mother, his mother lost her temper. Okay, so what I’m saying is

when John was a little boy, he disobeyed his mother a lot and when he disobeyed his mother, his mother got angry. She got very angry. She lost her temper, okay?

Alright, so now I’m going to tell you a story and I’m going to ask you a lot of questions as I tell you the story. So when I ask you the question, I want you to answer that question quickly by just telling me the first thing that you think of, okay? Just tell me whatever you think the answer is. And don’t worry about making mistakes.

Y’know, mistakes are okay as long as you learn from them. So if you make a mistake when you answer one of the questions, just try and learn from it so you don’t make the same mistake next time. And whenever you speak, I want you to speak loudly and confidently. Okay, well it’s time for our story then, so let’s begin.

There was an old man and his name was Ronald Dump and Ronald Dump was always grumpy.

Okay, time for some questions. Was there a man or was there a woman?

There was a man, of course, right? There was a man.

And was he a young man or was he an old man?

Oh, he was old, he was an old man.

Okay, so tell me. What was the man’s name?

Ronald Dump, his name was Ronald Dump.

And was Ronald Dump always grumpy?

Yes, yes, he was, he was always grumpy.

Who was always grumpy?

Ronald Dump was, Ronald Dump was always grumpy.

And was Ronald Dump grumpy just some of the time?

No, no, Ronald Dump was always grumpy. He wasn’t grumpy just some of the time.

So tell me this. Was Ronald Dump satisfied and happy?

No, no, Ronald Dump was grumpy. He was always grumpy so that means he was dissatisfied and he was angry, okay?

Let’s continue with the story now.

Ronald Dump was rich. Yes, he was rich and he looked down upon people who were not rich like him. And Ronald Dump lived in Beachville, and guess what? He wanted to be mayor of Beachville so he spent a lot of money trying to become mayor.

Okay, so tell me this. Who was rich?

Ronald Dump was, of course, Ronald Dump was rich.

And did Ronald Dump look down on people who weren’t rich?

He did, yes, Ronald Dump looked down on people who weren’t rich.

Who looked down on people who weren’t rich?

Ronald Dump did, Ronald Dump looked down on people who weren’t rich.

And who did Ronald Dump look down on?

Well, he looked down on people who weren’t rich like him.

So did Ronald Dump, did he think he was better than people who weren’t rich like him?

Yes, yes, he did, he looked down on people who weren’t rich like him so that means he thought he was better than those people. Okay, if you look down on someone it means you think you’re better than that person. You don’t respect that person.

Well, tell me this. Where did Ronald Dump live?

Beachville, he lived in Beachville.

Who lived in Beachville? Did Kristin live in Beachville?

No, no, Kristin didn’t live in Beachville.

Who lived in Beachville?

Ronald Dump did, Ronald Dump lived in Beachville.

And did Ronald Dump want to be mayor of Beachville?

Yes, yes, he did, Ronald Dump wanted to be mayor of Beachville.

So tell me this. Did Ronald Dump or AJ want to be mayor of Beachville?

Ronald Dump did, Ronald Dump wanted to be mayor of Beachville.

And what did Ronald Dump want to be mayor of? Did he want to be mayor of New York?

No, no, Ronald Dump didn’t want to be mayor of New York.

What did Ronald Dump want to be mayor of?

Beachville, he wanted to be mayor of Beachville. That was where he lived. And that’s why he spent a lot of money trying to become the mayor of Beachville.

Well, before the election the people of Beachville believed that Jill Minton was going to be the mayor of Beachville. See, one reason they believed this is because the people of Beachville couldn’t stand Ronald Dump. But guess what happened? Ronald Dump became mayor of Beachville. He became mayor of Beachville because his friends rigged the election.

Okay, time for some more questions. Before the election, who did the people of Beachville believe was going to be mayor?

Jill Minton, the people of Beachville believed that Jill Minton was going to be mayor of Beachville.

And tell me this. Who could not stand Ronald Dump?

The people of Beachville, the people of Beachville could not stand Ronald Dump.

So did the people of Beachville really like Ronald Dump?

No, no, the people of Beachville couldn’t stand Ronald Dump so that means the people of Beachville did not like Ronald Dump. They strongly disliked Ronald Dump.

So tell me this. Who became the mayor of Beachville? Did Jill Minton become the mayor of Beachville?

No, no, Jill Minton didn’t become the mayor of Beachville.

Who became the mayor of Beachville?

Ronald Dump did, Ronald Dump became the mayor of Beachville.

And did Ronald Dump become the mayor of New York or Beachville?

Beachville, Ronald Dump became the mayor of Beachville.

So tell me this. Did Ronald Dump’s friends rig the election?

They did, yes, Ronald Dump’s friends rigged the election.

Who rigged the election?

Ronald Dump’s friends did, Ronald Dump’s friends rigged the election.

And what did Ronald Dump’s friends rig?

The election, right? They rigged the election.

So did Ronald Dump’s friends do something that was unfair or against the rules in order to change the results of the election?

Yes, yes, they did, they rigged the election so that means they did something that was unfair or was against the rules and it changed the result of the election. They rigged the election.

Well, I have something else to tell you about Ronald Dump. Just one week after he became mayor of Beachville, he created a terrible law and after that the people of Mountain City were not allowed to come to Beachville. They were not allowed to enter Beachville. Well, the people of Beachville absolutely hated this new law. So guess what they did? They protested. The people of Beachville protested in front of Ronald Dump’s house.

Okay, so tell me this. One week after he became mayor, did Ronald Dump create a terrible law?

Yes, yes, he did, he created a terrible law.

Who created a terrible law?

Ronald Dump did, Ronald Dump created a terrible law.

Okay, but tell me this. When did he do it? When did he create a terrible law?

Well, he did it one week after he became mayor of Beachville. One week after he became mayor of Beachville, he created a terrible law.

So tell me this. Were the people of Mountain City allowed to enter Beachville?

No, no, they were not, they were not allowed to enter Beachville.

Who was not allowed to enter Beachville?

The people of Mountain City, the people of Mountain City were not allowed to enter Beachville.

And where were the people of Mountain City not allowed to enter?

Beachville, they were not allowed to enter Beachville.

So did the people of Beachville like this law?

No, no, they people of Beachville hated this law.

So tell me this. Did the people of Beachville protest in front of Ronald Dump’s house?

Yes, yes, they did, they protested in front of Ronald Dump’s house.

Who protested in front of Ronald Dump’s house?

The people of Beachville did, the people of Beachville protested in front of Ronald Dump’s house.

And tell me this. Where did they protest? Did they protest in front of the church?

No, no, they didn’t protest in front of the church.

Where did the people of Beachville protest?

In front of Ronald Dump’s house, they protested in front of Ronald Dump’s house.

Well, guess what happened? When Ronald Dump saw the protestors, he lost his temper. Yes, and then he threw eggs at the protestors. And guess what happened then? The police arrested Ronald Dump. They arrested Ronald Dump for throwing eggs at the protestors.

Okay, so tell me this. Did Ronald Dump lose his temper when he saw the protestors?

Yes, yes, he did, Ronald Dump lost his temper when he saw the protestors.

Who lost his temper?

Ronald Dump did, Ronald Dump lost his temper.

And tell me this. When did it happen? When did Ronald Dump lose his temper?

When he saw the protestors, Ronald Dump lost his temper when he saw the protestors.

So was Ronald Dump really happy when he saw the protestors?

No, no, he lost his temper, Ronald Dump lost his temper so that means he was very angry when he saw the protestors. He lost his temper when he saw the protestors. He was very angry when he saw them.

Okay, so tell me this. Did Ronald Dump throw eggs at the protestors?

Yes, yes, he did, Ronald Dump threw eggs at the protestors.

Who threw eggs at the protestors?

Ronald Dump did, Ronald Dump threw eggs at the protestors.

Did Jill Minton throw eggs at the protestors?

No, no, Jill Minton didn’t throw eggs at the protestors, Ronald Dump did.

So tell me this. Did Ronald Dump throw flowers or eggs at the protestors?

Eggs, he threw eggs at the protestors, he didn’t throw flowers at them.

So tell me this. Did the police arrest Ronald Dump?

Yes, yes, they did, the police arrested Ronald Dump.

Who arrested Ronald Dump?

The police, of course, the police arrested Ronald Dump.

And who did the police arrest?

Ronald Dump, they arrested Ronald Dump.

Okay, but why? Why did the police arrest Ronald Dump?

Well, they arrested him because he threw eggs at the protestors.

Well, guess what happened next? The people of Beachville agreed to let Ronald Dump out of jail if he agreed not to be mayor of Beachville anymore. Well, Ronald Dump did not want to be in jail anymore so he resigned as the mayor of Beachville. And after that, the people of Beachville lived happily ever after.

Okay, well I hope you enjoyed this story because we’ve now arrived at the end of the story and now it’s your turn to tell the story. I want you to tell the story to someone who you know. It can be anyone who you know. And if you really don’t have someone to tell the story to, I want you to tell the story out loud in front of a mirror, okay? Just make sure that you don’t just think about it in your head though because I want you to practice speaking, alright?

And it’s really important that you learn this material, all the idioms I taught you, that is, very well. I want you to learn it deeply. So I want you to listen to this lesson every day for at least one week.

Alright, then. That’s the end of this mini-story lesson. I’ll see you next time.