Learn English With Mini-Stories - Level 1 - "Surprise Birthday, " "Chocolate Chip Cookies"

1. Introduction: Hi. Welcome to the Learn English With Mini- Stories lesson series. I'm Brandon, a certified English teacher from the United States, and in this lesson series, we'll be learning common English idioms through mini-stories, which are very short stories. Each story will contain idioms from a particular category, such as Food/Drink, Animals, and Art/Craft. Each story will also contain extras, which include phrasal verbs, slang, and vocabulary and grammar. For each lesson in this series, we'll begin with a story video, in which I will read you the story. After that, we will have a lesson video, in which we will learn the meanings of all the idioms and extras used in the story, as well as hear some example sentences for each one. I will also include a downloadable PDF file for each lesson that includes all of the idioms and extras from the lesson, as well as transcripts for both the story and lesson videos so that you can read them later if you'd like. In this part of the series, we will have two lessons. The first story is called "Surprise Birthday," and we will use it to learn seven idioms in the Animal category. We will also learn one extra. The second story is called "Chocolate Chip Cookies," and it will contain seven idioms from the Animal category and two extras. Now we will begin with the first story. See you there. 2. "Surprise Birthday" - Animal Idioms - Story: I'm planning a surprise birthday party for my friend Jake this weekend, and although it's only Wednesday, I'm already at the supermarket doing my normal shopping, so I decide to *kill two birds with one stone* and look for a birthday cake. As I'm *taking a gander* at the cakes, I see Jake's reflection in the glass. I *freeze* and immediately *get goose bumps*. "Why are you looking at cakes?" Asks Jake. I just stand there *like a deer in headlights*, afraid I will *let the cat out of the bag* if I speak. "What's wrong?" asks Jake. "*Cat got your tongue?*" I just want to fall to the floor and *play possum* until he goes away. But then I think of something to say. "Oh, I was just checking my hair in the reflection." “Oh, okay,” says Jake. "See you later." 3. "Surprise Birthday" - Animal Idioms - Lesson: At the beginning of the story, the narrator decides to kill two birds with one stone by looking for a cake for his friend Jake's surprise birthday party while doing his normal shopping. To kill two birds with one stone means to achieve two different goals at one time or with one action. For example, "I kill two birds with one stone by listening to audiobooks while exercising," or "Joe washes his clothes while taking a shower, killing two birds with one stone." While taking a gander at the cakes, the narrator sees Jake's reflection. A gander is a male goose, which has a long neck that allows him to look around easily. Similarly, the idiom to take/have a gander (at sth.), with the "at sth." part being optional, means to look at something briefly. For example, "I'll just go into the shop and have a gander. I'll be out soon." When the narrator sees Jake's reflection, he freezes and gets goose bumps. When something that is moving freezes, it suddenly stops moving and stays very still, often because of fear. For example, "The deer froze when it saw the car coming." Police officers will also yell "freeze!" at a criminal to tell him to stop moving. The idiom goose bumps/pimples/flesh refers to the little bumps you get on your skin when you are cold, excited, or frightened. There are called this because they resemble the bumps on the skin of a goose. This is commonly used in the expressions to have/get goose bumps/pimples/flesh, which means to be/become cold, excited, or frightened, and to give sb. goose bumps/pimples/flesh, which means to cause someone to become cold, excited, or frightened. Some examples are: "It's freezing out here. I'm getting goose pimples." "He had gooseflesh after seeing a shadow moving in the hallway." "The excitement of finding out what happens in the next episode is giving me goosebumps." When Jake asks him a question, the narrator just stands there like a deer in headlights. The full idiom is like a deer/rabbit (caught) in (the) headlights, but it's common to leave out the words "caught" and "the." It means to be so surprised or frightened that you can't move or think, the way a deer or rabbit just stands (or freezes) in the road, watching a car come towards it. An example sentence is: "When the teacher called on Mike to answer the question, he just sat there like a rabbit caught in the headlights." You can also use this idiom in the adjective form, deer-in-headlights. For example, "The girl's little brother had a deer-in-headlights look when she asked him why he was sneaking around in her room." The narrator is afraid to speak because he doesn't want to let the cat out of the bag. The idiom to let the cat out of the bag means to reveal a secret, usually without intending to. For example, "The movie director let the cat out of the bag by accidentally telling us what happens at the end of his movie." You will also often hear someone say "the cat's out of the bag" after a secret has been exposed. For example, "The president was secretly working with terrorists, but now the cat's out of the bag." Next, Jake says to the narrator, "Cat got your tongue?" The idiom (has the) cat got your tongue?, with the words "has the" being optional, is used to ask someone why he or she isn't talking. For example, "You've been unusually quiet all day. Has the cat got your tongue?" Finally, the narrator says he wants to fall to the floor and play possum. An opossum—often shortened to possum—is an animal in the Americas that pretends to be dead when a predator is nearby. Similarly, the idiom to play possum means to pretend to be dead or asleep so someone won't attack or bother you. For example, "When my annoying little brother came into my room, I played possum so he would leave me alone." 4. "Chocolate Chip Cookies" - Animal Idioms - Story: My brother, Chris, and I are walking home from school when it starts to *rain cats and dogs*. We *hole up* under a large tree and *watch the sky like a hawk*, waiting for it to *clear up*. After about two minutes, I say, “I'm tired of waiting.” “*Hold your horses*,” Chris says. “The rain will stop soon.” “But Mom is making chocolate chip cookies today,” I say. “I wanna eat them while they're still hot.” I then run home *like a bat out of hell*. As I walk into the house, Mom yells, “Stop right there! You *look like something the cat dragged in*. Go take a shower, then you can have cookies.” After I finish taking a shower, I see Chris standing in the kitchen, clean and dry. He's eating a cookie and *smiling like the cat that ate the canary*. It seems I have *made an ass of myself*. 5. "Chocolate Chip Cookies" - Animal Idioms - Lesson: At the start of the story, the narrator and his brother, Chris, are walking home from school when it starts to rain cats and dogs. The idiom to rain cats and dogs means to rain very hard. There seems to be more than one possible explanation for the origin of this idiom, but one plausible explanation is that back in 16th-century Europe, poor people lived in houses with roofs made of straw, and when it rained, pets would often hide in these roofs. If the rain was really heavy, the animals would sometimes be washed out and fall from the roofs— so it would appear to be raining cats and dogs. Anyway, this idiom is often used as an exclamation. For example, "You're crazy if you go out right now. It's raining cats and dogs!" The brothers get out of the rain by holing up under a tree. To hole (oneself) up smw., with the "oneself" part being optional, is a phrasal verb that means to stay in a safe place in order to avoid something or hide from someone. For example, "In order to avoid distraction, the author holed up in a cabin in the woods while writing her book," or "The killer holed himself up in the alleyway while waiting for a victim to walk by." While hiding under the tree, the brothers watch the sky like a hawk, waiting for it to clear up. A hawk is a bird with very good eyes, so to watch sth./sb. like a hawk means to watch something or someone very carefully. For example, "The cat was watching the mouse like a hawk, waiting for a chance to snatch it," or "During the exam, the teacher watched Eric like a hawk, because she thought he was trying to cheat." When talking about a situation or condition, such as weather, illness, or traffic, the phrasal verb to clear up means to get better or disappear. For example, "After eating some hot soup, her cold symptoms cleared up," or "When the traffic jam finally cleared up, we had already missed our flight." Next, the narrator says he is tired of waiting, and Chris says, “Hold your horses. The rain will stop soon." The idiom to hold one's horses means to wait a moment, or to be patient. It's most commonly used to tell another person to stop rushing. Some examples are: "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Hold your horses." "The girl told her dad to hold his horses and stop rushing her." The narrator then says he wants to eat their mom's chocolate chip cookies while they're still hot, so he runs home like a bat out of hell. To do something like a bat out of hell means to do it very quickly, and often wildly. For example, "He was driving like a bat of hell to get to the store before it closed," or "She has been writing like a bat out of hell, trying to finish the report before it's due." When the narrator goes inside the house, his mom tells him to take a shower because he looks like something the cat dragged in. Cats often bring dead animals and other dirty things into the house, so if you look/feel like something the cat dragged/brought/drug in, you look/feel very dirty or messy. For example, "After playing in the backyard all day, the kids looked like something the cat brought in," or "After a long day at work, I felt like something the cat drug in. I just wanted to shower and go to sleep." After taking a shower, the narrator sees Chris in the kitchen eating a cookie and smiling like the cat that ate the canary. To look/smile/grin like the cat that ate/got/swallowed the canary is an idiom that is used to say that someone appears to be very proud or pleased with something he or she did. In this story, Chris is pleased with himself for not foolishly running home in the rain like his brother did. Some more examples are: "After making a goal from across the field, the soccer player looked like the cat that swallowed the canary." When asked how he managed to escape the police for so long, the criminal just grinned like the cat that got the canary." Finally, the narrator says it seems he has made an ass of himself. An ass is another word for a donkey, an animal which can often be stubborn and do foolish things, so the idiom to make an ass (out) of oneself/sb., with the word "out" being optional, means to make yourself or someone else look foolish or stupid. For example, "Joe drank too much alcohol and made an ass out of himself, dancing around the bar and yelling out stupid things," or "The mother told her young son not to make an ass of her by running around the supermarket." 6. Project: Hi there. I hope you enjoyed the lessons. And if you have any questions about anything we learned, please don't hesitate to ask. For the project of this part, I would like you to choose two of the idioms or extras from each of the two stories and create an example sentence for each one. So, four sentences in total. You can then post your sentences if you'd like, and I will read them and make any corrections or suggestions, if necessary. I'm very excited to read your sentences, and I hope to see you soon in the next part of the series. Thank you for watching.