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Shady Character – 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 want to start the lesson by telling you about some of the idioms that you’re going to hear me use in the story, so let’s start there.

Okay, first is to be “out of work.” So if you are out of work it means that you do not have a job, alright? Let me give you an example. When John moved from New York to London, he was out of work for four months. Okay, so what I’m saying is when John moved from New York to London, he did not have a job for four months.

Okay, so next is “shady character.” So a shady character is a person who is not trustworthy, okay, or put in another way, it’s a person who cannot be trusted. Here’s an example for you. I didn’t want Jeff to be my accountant because Jeff was a shady character. I didn’t want Jeff to be my accountant because Jeff could not be trusted. He was untrustworthy, or he was a shady character.

Okay, so next is to “pick up the bill for something.” So if you pick up the bill for something, it means that you pay for that thing. And a lot of the times when you hear this idiom being used, someone will use it when talking about going to a restaurant and paying for a meal or maybe going to a bar and paying for the drinks. Okay, you’d say you’d pick up the bill for dinner or you’d pick up the bill for the drinks, okay? Let me give you an example and it will help you understand this one even better. I picked up the bill for dinner at the restaurant because it was Marie’s birthday. Okay, so what I’m saying is I paid for dinner at the restaurant because it was Marie’s birthday. I picked up the bill. I paid for dinner.

Okay, so next is a “doggie bag.” So when you go to a restaurant, if you order more food than you can eat but you want to take that food home, the restaurant usually puts the food in a bag or in a container and that’s what we call a doggie bag. Okay, it’s a bag or a container that the leftover food at a restaurant is put into for you to take home. Okay? Alright, here’s an example for you. I went to a restaurant with my father and he was unable to eat all of his food so he got a doggie bag to take home with him. I went to a restaurant with my father and he was unable to eat all of his food so he had a bag or a container with the leftover food to take home with him. He had a doggie bag to take home with him.

Okay, I have one more for you. This one is to “fly the coop,” to fly the coop. And I really like this one because it reminds me of my grandmother because when I was younger she used to say this a lot. But anyway, let me tell you what it means. To fly the coop means to leave in a hurry, okay? To fly the coop means to leave in a hurry or to quickly leave, you could say. Here’s an example for you. John ate dinner at the restaurant but he didn’t have any money to pay for the meal so after he finished eating, he flew the coop before he had to pay. Okay, so what I’m saying is John ate dinner at a restaurant and he didn’t

have any money to pay for dinner so after he finished eating, he quickly left before he had to pay. He flew the coop.

Okay, so now I’m going to tell you a story but as I tell you the story, I’m going to ask you a lot of questions. So your job is to answer those questions, okay? Just quickly tell me whatever you think of when I ask you the question. Don’t worry about making a mistake. Y’know, you’re going to listen to this lesson many times so if you make a mistake this time when you listen to this lesson, you probably will not make the same mistake the next time you listen to this lesson. So if you make a mistake, just try and learn from it. And when you speak, I want you to speak loudly and confidently. Alright, well then I think it’s time for our story, so let’s begin.

There was a man and his name was John and John lived in Los Angeles. And John was married and his wife was named Marie. And unfortunately, John and Marie had a problem. They were both out of work.

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

No, no, the man’s name wasn’t Alan.

What was the man’s name?

John, it was John.

And did John live in Paris?

No, no, John didn’t live in Paris.

Where did John live?

Los Angeles, John lived in Los Angeles.

And was John married or was he single?

He was married, John was married.

And tell me this. What was John’s wife’s name?

Marie, John’s wife’s name was Marie.

So who was Marie married to?

John, she was married to John.

And was John married to Sara or Marie?

Marie, John was married to Marie and Marie was married to John.

So tell me this. Were both John and Marie out of work?

Yes, yes, they were, both John and Marie were out of work.

Who was out of work?

Well, John was out of work and Marie was out of work. They were both out of work.

So was only John out of work?

No, no, both John and Marie were out of work.

So tell me this. Did John and Marie have jobs?

No, no, they didn’t, they were out of work so that means that they did not have jobs. If you are out of work that means you do not have a job and they were both out of work.

Well, let me tell you a little more about John. John had a brother and his name was Peter and unfortunately Marie did not like Peter, no. She did not like Peter because Peter was a shady character.

Okay, so tell me this. Who had a brother? Did Marie have a brother?

No, Marie didn’t have a brother.

Who had a brother?

John, John had a brother.

And tell me this. Did John have a sister or a brother?

A brother, John had a brother.

And what was John’s brother’s name?

Peter, his name was Peter.

So tell me this. Did Marie like Peter?

No, no, she did not like Peter.

Who didn’t like Peter?

Marie, Marie didn’t like Peter.

And tell me this. Was Peter a shady character?

He was, yes, Peter was a shady character.

Who was a shady character?

Peter was, Peter was a shady character.

So was Peter someone who could be trusted?

No, no, Peter was a shady character so that meant he could not be trusted. He was untrustworthy.

Okay, so one more question before we continue. Why didn’t Marie like Peter?

Well, she didn’t like Peter because Peter was a shady character.

Well, one day Peter invited John to have lunch with him at an Italian restaurant. And John didn’t want to go to the restaurant. He didn’t want to go to the restaurant because he had no money but Peter offered to pick up the bill for lunch, so John agreed to meet Peter for lunch at the restaurant.

Okay, so tell me this. Did Peter invite John to have lunch with him at an Italian restaurant?

He did, yes, Peter invited John to have lunch with him. He invited him to have lunch with him at an Italian restaurant.

Who invited John to have lunch with him?

Peter did, Peter invited John to have lunch with him.

And did Peter invite John or Marie to have lunch with him?

John, he invited John to have lunch with him.

And tell me this. What did Peter invite John to have with him?

Lunch, he invited John to have lunch with him.

Did he invite John to have lunch at an Indian restaurant or an Italian restaurant?

An Italian restaurant, Peter invited John to have lunch with him at an Italian restaurant.

So tell me this. Did John want to go to the restaurant?

No, no, John didn’t want to go to the restaurant.

Who didn’t want to go to the restaurant?

John, John didn’t want to go to the restaurant.

And tell me this. Where didn’t John want to go?

The restaurant, he didn’t want to go to the restaurant.

Okay, why not? Why didn’t John want to go to the restaurant?

Well, he had no money, John didn’t want to go to the restaurant because he had no money.

So tell me this. Did Peter offer to pick up the bill for lunch?

Yes, yes, he did, Peter offered to pick up the bill for lunch.

Who offered to pick up the bill for lunch?

Peter did, Peter offered to pick up the bill for lunch.

And what did Peter offer to pick up the bill for, lunch or dinner?

Lunch, he offered to pick up the bill for lunch.

So tell me this. Did Peter offer to pay for lunch?

Yes, yes, he did, he offered to pick up the bill for lunch so that means he offered to pay for lunch. If you offer to pick up the bill for something, that means you offer to pay for that thing, okay?

So tell me this now. Did John agree to meet Peter at the restaurant?

He did, yes, John agreed to meet Peter at the restaurant because Peter offered to pick up the bill for lunch.

Well, guess what? John did meet Peter at the restaurant and the food at the restaurant was excellent. Peter ate a pizza for lunch and John ate spaghetti. And there was a lot of spaghetti so John was unable to eat all of the spaghetti so he got a doggie bag to take the spaghetti, the leftovers home with, right? He got a doggie bag to take home with him.

Alright, so tell me this. Who did John meet at the restaurant? Did he meet Marie or Peter?

Peter, he met Peter at the restaurant.

And what kind of restaurant did he meet Peter at?

An Italian restaurant, he met him at an Italian restaurant.

So what did Peter eat for lunch?

Pizza, he ate pizza for lunch.

How about John? Did John also eat pizza for lunch?

No, John didn’t eat pizza for lunch.

What did John eat for lunch?

Spaghetti, John ate spaghetti for lunch.

And tell me this. Did John get a doggie bag to take home?

Yes, yes, he did, John got a doggie bag to take home.

Who got a doggie bag?

John did, John got a doggie bag.

How about Peter? Did Peter get a doggie bag?

No, no, Peter didn’t get a doggie bag, he ate all of his food. John did though, John got a doggie bag.

So did John get a bag or container with the food he was unable to eat at the restaurant?

He did, yes, John got a doggie bag so that means he got a bag or some sort of container with the food he was unable to eat at the restaurant. He got a doggie bag.

Well, John really enjoyed having lunch with his brother, Peter. And they had a great conversation about their family while they were eating lunch. But unfortunately, then there was a problem. Yes, you see, after Peter finished eating lunch, he flew the coop. Yes, Peter flew the coop

because he didn’t want to pick up the bill for lunch. So guess what? John had to pick up the bill for lunch but John didn’t have any money so John had to work in the kitchen at the restaurant all night long. He had to work in the kitchen at the restaurant all night long because he didn’t have any money to pay for lunch. Poor John.

Alright, tell me this. Did Peter fly the coop after he finished eating lunch?

Yes, yes, he did, unfortunately, he flew the coop after he finished eating lunch.

Who flew the coop?

Peter did, of course, Peter flew the coop.

How about John? Did John fly the coop?

No, John didn’t fly the coop, only Peter did.

And tell me this. When did Peter fly the coop?

He flew the coop after he finished eating lunch.

So did Peter quickly leave after he finished eating lunch or did he slowly and casually leave the restaurant?

Oh, he quickly left the restaurant, he flew the coop so if you fly the coop that means you quickly leave. Peter flew the coop. He quickly left after he finished eating his lunch.

So tell me this. Why did he do it? Why did Peter fly the coop? Did he fly the coop because he was sick or did he fly the coop because he didn’t want to pick up the bill for lunch?

Oh, he flew the coop because he didn’t want to pick up the bill for lunch.

Who didn’t want to pick up the bill for lunch?

Peter, Peter didn’t want to pick up the bill for lunch.

So tell me this. Did Peter want to pay for lunch?

No, no, no, no, he didn’t want to pick up the bill for lunch so that means he did not want to pay for lunch.

So tell me this. Was John able to pick up the bill for lunch? Did he have enough money?

No, no, John did not have enough money to pick up the bill for lunch which means he did not have enough money to pay for lunch. Remember, John didn’t have any money.

So who had to work in the kitchen all night long?

John, John had to work in the kitchen all night long.

And tell me this. Why? Why did John have to work in the kitchen all night long?

Because he didn’t have any money to pay for lunch, John had to work in the kitchen all night long because he didn’t have any money to pay for lunch.

Well, I forgot to tell you something about John. John was an amazing cook so that night at the restaurant, he cooked all of the food. And the owner of the restaurant loved the food so much that he hired him to be the head chef at the restaurant. So John was no longer out of work.

Okay, well that’s the end of our story and I hope you enjoyed it because now I want you to tell the story. I want you to tell the story to someone who you know. It can really be anybody who you know. And if you really have no one who you can tell the story to, just tell the story to yourself and you can even look in the mirror if you want to pretend you’re telling it to someone.

But there’s just one thing I want you to remember. Don’t just say the story in your mind, okay? I want you to say it out loud. I want you to practice speaking. And I want you to listen to this lesson every day for at least seven days because I want you to learn this material deeply.

Alright, well that’s all for this mini-story lesson. I’ll see you next time.