This is an All-Ears English Podcast episode 2243.
Three ways to open a story in English.
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Should you use the expression once upon a time when you were starting a story?
Today, learn if Lindsay is a good storyteller and get interesting and modern ways to kick off your stories in English.
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See you there. Hello, Michelle.
How are you today? I'm good, Lindsay.
How are you? Very good, very good.
Do you want to start off with a question today?
I do. So my question for you is, are you a good storyteller, do you think?
Well, I would say average it best.
To be honest. Five out of ten.
Five out of ten. Even though it's a great story.
It's a five out of ten chance that I'll tell it well.
I could be better at this.
I could be better. I'm not terrible, but I'm really not good.
You know what I mean? Well, what even, what makes a good storyteller do you think?
Like when you say you're not good at it, what is it?
I think it's something about the word you use that bring people in.
They make people present at the right time.
It really is about the word you use.
Interesting. Well, we're going to be talking about this today because we had a great question from a listener about starting stories.
So we're going to do that.
But guys, before we get into it, a couple of things.
Number one, if you haven't already, please hit the follow button wherever you are listening to the All-Ears English podcast so that you never miss anything from us.
Yes. And guys, go back and check out our previous episode, episode 2214.
Hit the jackpot with these lucky freezes.
Now we also, in that episode, another reason to go check it out, especially in Spotify, is we did a poll, Michelle.
Yeah. Right? Yeah. We're having so much fun with these Spotify polls.
And so the question that day was, did you hit the jackpot with your neighbors?
So, Lindy, what are the listeners say?
Yeah. So we had yes 42% and no 58%.
But just to clarify, in case we didn't hear that episode, do we mean did they go in together on a lottery ticket and did they win?
No. So to hit the jackpot is to get lucky, right?
So sometimes you have neighbors who you become best friends with.
Sometimes you have neighbors you don't talk with.
Sometimes you really don't do well with your neighbors for whatever reason.
So we're basically asking people, do you have good neighbors?
Exactly. And so we have no 58%.
Oh my gosh, that's kind of high, Michelle.
Yeah. Yeah. Wow. So another episode on how to handle difficult neighbors.
That is not an easy, I don't even know if I know how to do that.
But I will. Yeah. But that would be cool.
That would be cool. And even if you're not living in the US, you're going to learn how to do this in English.
And then back translate it back into your language.
That would be an interesting practice for learning English.
Yeah. Right? Definitely.
Absolutely. So, Lindy, would you like to read the question that our listeners sent in?
I would love to. This is from Taís, Silva.
And they said, I love this episode, girls, but I have one question to complete these tips.
What is the better way to start a story?
Once upon a time or something else, my name is Taís from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Ooh, I want to go to Rio. I really do.
Same. Same. I would love to go there.
I know. I've heard great things.
So I'd love to go there too.
So thank you for that question.
So this must have been tied to another episode.
I didn't have it in the sheet, which one was tied to.
But so we're kind of taking this as a separate question.
Yes. But this is a really good one we wanted to take it and answer it for you, Taís.
Because I'm sure a lot of people could are wondering how to be a good storyteller as well.
So, I took this. Taís could have been asking maybe about a fairy tale story.
Or about a story that happened in real life.
So this question, this episode is going to answer the question either way, just about storytelling.
So Lindsay, so once a time, actually we would say once upon a time, right?
Yeah. And when I read Taís this question, I actually fixed that mistake.
So that is a mistake. So once a time is wrong, once upon a time is actually how we say it, however, how do you feel about this in your day-to-day storytelling once upon a time?
How do I feel about it? Yeah.
Do you like to use it? Do you use it?
Yeah. Yeah. So I wouldn't say that I use this in my day-to-day storytelling.
What about you, Lindsay?
No, that's a big no. I just hear it when I open up a Disney book or something.
That would be when I would see this word written.
This is not really about real current daily life stories, Michelle.
Right. Yes, yes, yes, exactly.
So we don't really, unless you're being sarcastic or funny, but I don't really use this.
But how do we start a story?
We're going to talk about a few ways that you can do it using the word, well, using the idea of time.
So let's go through it. So Lindsay, what is the first phrase you can use to start your story?
Okay. So is it going to a while back or a blank ago?
A blank ago, a blank ago or a blank back.
So for example, a while ago or a while back or six months ago or two years ago or ten years ago.
Okay. This is just giving us a time marker.
Right. So this is the idea of once upon a time, but it's more realistic.
It's more adult like because you are also giving the time markers so people can visualize when something was.
Yeah. Yeah. Lindsay, do you have, I know that recently you went on a trip to Panama.
Can you tell me a story that happened maybe in Panama and try and use this expression to start?
Okay. Well, Michelle, a few months back, we took a trip to Panama and we were super excited to go see the Panama Canal, but I had no idea that there were incredible howler monkeys in the biodiversity in the jungle near the Panama Canal.
So the first time I heard a howler monkey, I was astounded.
If they say that their, their, their howl is louder than a jet engine.
Now that could have been a rumor, but it felt like it was louder than a jet engine.
Really? So they do certain things to get these monkeys to howl and then they howl and it's like, oh, it's this really loud howl.
And it kind of like makes you jump.
So I jumped and I almost fell asleep.
Oh, really? No, that's a lie.
I didn't know. Oh, you're trying to spice that story up, Lindsay.
I needed a little something more.
A little, I'm telling you average it best.
Average it best. No, I think you're good.
So okay, great. So you said a few months back.
So perfect. So another one you could say is when I was, right?
Yes. So when I was an age, when I was in a place, right?
So for example, maybe when I was six, when I was in college, when I lived in London.
So for example, I'll do one for this one.
Okay. When I was a baby, well, actually not a baby, but I guess when I was two, if you count that as baby, I don't know.
My parents tell the story that we were on vacation and I wanted to be very independent.
And I, and there was a gift chop.
Yeah, there was a gift chop down the street.
And I just stood up and I looked at my parents and I just said, be right back.
And I just started walking in the other direction towards the gift shop.
So cute. Oh my God. That is adorable because you're mimicking your parents what you've seen.
Right. And you have this independent streak already showing up at two years old.
I love it. Yes. And so we even still, we always go be right back.
But I remember Lindsey, when you were a kid, did you want to be an adult?
Do you remember having that feeling?
Yeah. I remember thinking because my parents would say, when you're an adult, you can make that decision.
Yeah. And you can do that.
And it seemed like this exclusive.
Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm a street star with my dad or my mom, I would try and walk far away from them because I wanted to think people, I wanted people to think I was just a grown up that I even though I was like, how old again, like three years old or something.
I don't know about that old, but maybe maybe six, eight, I don't know.
I remember having this feeling of, oh, maybe if people don't see me with my parents, they'll think I'm a grown up.
Right. I'm a pretty teen, I guess.
Yes. Wow. So yeah, this is when I was something.
So that's another really good way to start a story.
All right. So write these down, right?
A while back, a few months back, six months ago, or when I was something.
I love it. Okay. Yes. Okay.
Let's talk about another way to start a story and what would it be, Michelle?
What would it be? Okay. So this is a simple one.
So we just like in blank.
So in a year, in a month, in a place.
So in the 90s, in 2008, in January, in my last apartment, whatever it was, Lindsay, we didn't talk about this beforehand.
Do you want to tell me a story about something that maybe happened to you when you were living in Boston and can you use in blank?
Absolutely. So well, the first thing that comes to my head and I'm just going to go with it because this is not rehearsed.
This was in 2013. This is not necessarily a good story.
But in 2013, I remember the Boston Marathon bombings and I remember there was a manhunt out for the person they thought had done this and we all locked down in our houses.
We could not leave our houses for like a full day.
It was wild. And I remember just thinking they said, don't answer your doors.
I've never seen anything even to this day.
I've never seen a lockdown like that.
Even COVID wasn't like that.
This was ghost town. So that's what happened in Boston.
Yeah. No, I don't think we've ever spoken about your experience with that.
But I remember I was not in Boston, but I remember watching the news.
We were all glued to the news.
And I'm still on the East Coast.
So of course, you don't know where this person was.
And I remember when they found in the boat.
Yeah. It was incredible.
It was incredible. So I mean, sometimes we are telling stories about deeper things.
I have actually told this story to friends in the last month or so because it came up for some reason.
And we talked about, oh, yeah, you were in Boston at that time.
What was that like? It's not always just like funny, happy stories.
We do have to talk about deeper things sometimes.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. And you know, remembering where you were during historical events.
Yeah. Of course. And people were, people always remember where were you in 9-11?
I mean, or even when, okay, for example, I remember what I was doing when Michael Jackson died when that news came out.
You know, so we have these and that's a huge way to connect.
So that would be a really good one to talk more about.
Yeah. I think we should definitely do an episode on Allers English about that, Michelle.
Let's plan that one. Guys, hit follow because it's such a human thing to want to relate your own life to this big event that happened.
And it is exactly what people do, right?
When JFK was shot 9-11. Yeah.
These big moments in life when we found out about COVID-19.
Yeah. The day before the lockdown started.
Yes. That would be a great episode.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
All right. So, okay, look out for that one, guys.
All right. So these are some ways that you can really start out a story that deal with explaining the time or the place or just really just getting right into it.
That's a more adult way than starting with the ones upon a time.
So should we do a role play, Lindsay?
We're going to use a couple of these.
All right. Let's jump into it, Michelle.
Here we go. So we are friends and we're talking about our messy food experiences.
Here we go. Cool. Okay. Okay.
When I was living in Paris, I used to get a crepe almost every day.
One day, though, I dropped in a telecrap all over my white shirt.
I thought we were going to talk about it.
I guess you're all over our clothes.
Oh no. I've done stuff like that.
A while back, I opened a yogurt in the staff room and one of the schools where I work and it splattered everywhere.
That's true. That's true.
That's true. So it's also a common, you know, common, commonality of stories that, you know, I would compliment your story with my story, right?
So this, we're not necessarily sitting down and saying, let's share our food experiences but it happens organically.
Yeah. And so being able to mirror a story with another story is also a language scale.
Another good topic idea.
Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Yeah.
So, okay. So first, you said when I was and you said when I was living in Paris, Lindsay, did you have crepes a lot when you lived in Paris?
Of course. Of course. I had crepes, croissants, cork maceur, all these good things.
Oh my gosh. So I think everybody thinks of the Nutella crepe with strawberries and things like that.
But one of my favorite ones is lemon.
What is it? Lemon sugar, sugar lemon.
Lemon. Yeah. That's really good too.
Yeah. For sure. I know what you're talking about.
It's great going out food.
So after you go to a club, you know, getting a crepe in the morning.
Yeah. Really good. Oh. So, okay.
And then I said, what did I say?
So you said, oh no, I've done stuff like that.
Yeah, this is truly linking your story to another one.
So we're coming back to this skill.
But oh no, I've done stuff like that a while back, opened a yogurt in the staff room, you know, where I work and it splattered everywhere.
And we talked a few weeks ago about the verbs splatter and splash.
So go back and find that in our past, our back catalog.
Excellent. But yes, that did happen.
Um, the yogurt. So I remember that quite clearly.
So that can happen. Yeah.
Yeah. That's not a fun one.
So anyway, Lindsay, what's the takeaway for today?
We've really had fun with this and this is more than just, oh, cute story openers.
We really went deeper with this skill and what it does for a connection.
Yeah. First of all, I mean, don't feel pressure to be an amazing storyteller, but there are certain things we can add to our language and certain things we can take away.
Old things we've learned, like once upon a time, throw that one out the window, guys, unless you're reading a Disney story to your kids.
In that case, it's fine.
Right. Then these are real ones.
And remember, stories don't always have to be something people are dying of laughter.
Sometimes it's profound and deep.
And that's okay too, right?
Right. Yeah. Absolutely.
So the, the important thing is to tell the story, right?
Don't be, don't be silent.
And even if, oh, you don't have necessarily the greatest story or you're not 100% confident, go for it.
And tell the story because that's going to be how you lead to the next piece in the conversation.
I think also when you tell stories, maybe we need to do a course on storytelling.
And I need to take it first of all, but leaning into details, I would imagine is something that good storytellers do, like the color of the walls, wherever you are.
You know, that's what good writers do.
So I imagine that would be a way to quickly make your story better.
But for today, we'll go with these constructions.
It's a good start. Awesome.
All right. Well, thank you to our listener for that question.
That was a really good one.
And we will continue talking about storytelling in the future.
So again, hit follow wherever you're listening.
Sounds good, Michelle.
See you soon. All right.
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