872. The Birthday Party (Learn English with a Short Story)
Summary
TLDRIn this episode of Luke's English podcast, the host narrates a poignant short story titled 'The Birthday Party' by Katherine Brush, set in a restaurant where a wife attempts to surprise her husband on his birthday. Despite her efforts, the husband reacts with embarrassment and anger, leading to a heartbreaking scene of the wife's silent, tearful despair. The story serves as a lesson in observing human behavior and relationships, and is followed by a detailed breakdown of vocabulary and phrases used in the narrative, aiming to enhance the listener's English language skills.
Takeaways
- 🎙️ The podcast episode features a story called 'The Birthday Party' by Katherine Brook, used as a tool for English learning.
- 📖 The story is about a married couple in their late 30s having dinner in a restaurant on the husband's birthday.
- 🎂 The wife plans a surprise for her husband with a small birthday cake, but her efforts lead to embarrassment and a negative reaction.
- 😔 The husband's reaction reveals a complex dynamic in their marriage, with the wife feeling heartbroken and hopeless.
- 👀 The podcast host encourages listeners to engage in people watching and consider the stories of those around them.
- 📚 The episode is divided into three parts: storytelling, explanation of the story, and vocabulary breakdown.
- 🌟 The story, despite being written in 1946, still feels fresh and relevant, showcasing the power of good writing.
- 📝 The vocabulary section focuses on phrases like 'unmistakably married', 'self-satisfied', and 'fading pretty' to understand character descriptions.
- 📊 The narrative explores themes of loneliness, the facade of appearances, and the potential sadness within a marriage.
- 🗣️ Podcast listeners are encouraged to practice English by repeating the story, retelling it in their own words, and engaging with vocabulary.
- 🎧 The host also mentions the availability of premium podcast episodes for further English learning opportunities.
Q & A
What is the main theme of the story 'The Birthday Party'?
-The main theme of the story is the exploration of a strained relationship, particularly focusing on the emotional disconnect and loneliness that can exist within a marriage.
How does the author, Luke, introduce the couple in the story?
-Luke introduces the couple as being in their late 30s and unmistakably married, sitting in a narrow restaurant. He describes the man as having a round, self-satisfied face with glasses and the woman as fading pretty in a big hat.
What surprise does the wife plan for her husband's birthday?
-The wife plans a surprise for her husband's birthday by arranging for a small, glossy birthday cake with a single pink candle to be brought to their table, accompanied by the violin and piano orchestra playing 'Happy Birthday'.
How does the husband react to the surprise?
-Contrary to the wife's expectation, the husband is not pleased with the surprise. He becomes hotly embarrassed and indignant, reacting negatively to the public attention and the gesture from his wife.
What is the significance of the wife's hat in the story?
-The wife's hat symbolizes the contrast between her outward appearance and her inner emotional state. While the hat is described as 'gay' and 'big', suggesting happiness and exuberance, the wife is actually heartbroken and crying underneath it.
What does the narrator notice after the birthday celebration ends?
-The narrator notices that the husband says something punishing, quick, curt, and unkind to his wife under his breath after the celebration ends, which leads to the wife crying quietly and heartbrokenly.
How does the story illustrate the concept of 'people watching'?
-The story illustrates 'people watching' through the narrator's observation of the couple's interaction and emotions. It highlights the idea that one can observe others' behaviors and interactions in public spaces and imagine their personal lives and relationships.
What writing technique does the author use to convey the husband's negative reaction?
-The author uses detailed descriptions of the husband's emotions and actions, such as 'hotly embarrassed' and 'indignant', along with the narrator's internal thoughts and observations to effectively convey his negative reaction to the surprise.
What is the significance of the story's setting in a narrow restaurant?
-The setting in a narrow restaurant contributes to the intimate and somewhat claustrophobic atmosphere of the story. It emphasizes the husband's embarrassment and the wife's isolation, as their emotional drama unfolds in a close-knit space with few other people.
How does the story end, and what emotions does it leave the reader with?
-The story ends with the wife crying quietly and hopelessly under her hat, leaving the reader with feelings of sadness and empathy for her situation, and a sense of frustration towards the husband's unkindness.
Outlines
🎤 Introduction to the Podcast Episode
The speaker introduces the podcast episode, explaining that it will feature a story followed by an analysis and vocabulary breakdown. The story, titled 'The Birthday Party' by Katherine Brook, is discussed in three sections: a straightforward telling, an explanation of the story, and a detailed line-by-line analysis with vocabulary explanations. The speaker also poses a question about 'people watching' to the listeners, setting the stage for the narrative to follow.
🎂 The Story of 'The Birthday Party'
The speaker recounts the story 'The Birthday Party,' focusing on a couple in their late 30s dining in a restaurant. The wife surprises her husband with a birthday cake, but his reaction is not one of joy. Instead, he is embarrassed and angry, leading to a tense situation. The story is set in 1946 but its themes remain relevant today. The speaker emphasizes the emotional impact of the story and the sadness it conveys about the state of the couple's relationship.
👫 Analysis of the Couple's Interaction
The speaker analyzes the interaction between the couple, highlighting the husband's negative reaction to the birthday surprise. The wife's efforts are met with hostility, and she ends up crying quietly. The speaker discusses the implications of the husband's behavior, suggesting it reveals his self-importance and lack of empathy. The story's setting in a narrow restaurant adds to the intimacy and尴尬 of the situation, and the speaker reflects on the loneliness that can exist within a marriage.
📚 Vocabulary Breakdown and Learning
The speaker transitions from the story to a vocabulary lesson, focusing on phrases and words used in the narrative. Terms like 'unmistakably married,' 'self-satisfied,' and 'fading pretty' are discussed, with the speaker providing context and alternative uses for these expressions. The speaker encourages listeners to practice pronunciation by repeating lines from the story and to retell the story in their own words as a way to reinforce learning.
🎭 Reflecting on the Story's Impact
The speaker reflects on the emotional impact of the story, emphasizing the sadness and heartbreak it conveys. The story's exploration of loneliness within a marriage and the hidden sorrow behind a facade of happiness is highlighted. The speaker also discusses the effectiveness of the writing, noting how the story conveys deep emotions in a concise manner. Listeners are invited to share their thoughts and experiences related to the story's themes.
📱 Podcast and Premium Content Promotion
The speaker promotes the podcast's premium content, inviting listeners to subscribe for access to additional story episodes and language learning resources. The premium subscription includes true stories from the speaker's life, vocabulary and grammar exercises, and pronunciation practice episodes. Instructions on how to access the premium content and the benefits of subscribing are provided.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡People Watching
💡Birthday Surprise
💡Embarrassment
💡Shy Pride
💡Heartbroken
💡Self-satisfied
💡Fading Pretty
💡Narrative
💡Vocabulary
💡Emotional Detachment
Highlights
The podcast episode begins with an introduction to a storytelling method for English learning.
The story 'The Birthday Party' by Katherine Brook is selected for language learning purposes.
The story is brief, at about 300 words, making it suitable for a listening exercise.
The narrator sets a scene of people-watching in public places, like a restaurant, as a预热 (warm-up) activity.
The couple in the story is described as unmistakably married, with the wife planning a birthday surprise.
The surprise is a small birthday cake with a single pink candle, causing a mixed reaction from the husband.
The husband's negative reaction to the surprise, showing embarrassment and anger, is detailed.
The wife's emotional response to her husband's reaction is described as heartbroken and hopeless.
The story is used as a tool to teach English vocabulary and phrases related to the narrative.
The phrase 'unmistakably married' is discussed for its implications on the couple's relationship.
The use of 'past perfect' tense in the story is explained to show the sequence of events.
The story's setting in a narrow restaurant is highlighted to emphasize the intimacy and subsequent humiliation.
The language used to describe the wife's crying, such as 'quietly', 'heartbroken', and 'hopelessly', is analyzed.
The contrast between the wife's emotional state and her外在 appearance, particularly her hat, is discussed.
The episode concludes with suggestions for further English practice, including repeating and retelling the story.
The podcast host invites listeners to engage with premium content for more language learning opportunities.
The host's sign-off encourages listeners to continue their English learning journey and look forward to future episodes.
Transcripts
hello welcome back to Luke's English
podcast in this episode I'm going to
tell you a story and then use it to help
you learn English okay and I'm going to
do this in three sections first I'll
just tell the story to you and you can
use that as a sort of little listening
exercise or listening test see if you
understand everything in the story and
especially things like how the
characters feel and exactly what
happened um it's a fairly short story
this one I mean it's a very short story
really it's 300 words about 300 words
long so it'll just take a couple of
minutes for for me to read the story to
you and then after that I will just
explain what happened in the story in my
own words and then I'll go through the
story again line by line and I'll
explain vocabulary for you so you can
learn uh various little phrases words
and other descriptive language from this
story okay so the story that we're
looking at here is called the birthday
party and it was written by Katherine
Brook
who was an American newspaper columnist
a short story writer a
novelist um this particular story was
published in
1946 uh but like all good writing it
Still Remains fresh today it feels like
it could have been written yesterday
really so although it was written a few
decades ago it still feels really sort
of fresh and new so I'm going to start
in just a second but first of all just
one question for you to consider before
you listen to this okay my my question
is about people watching do you know
what people watching is this is when
you're in a public place for example in
a restaurant and you kind of watch the
other people around you and sort of I
don't know imagine what their lives are
like observing other people I mean it's
a bit nosy right to do this to look at
other people and sort of spy on them but
I think we all do this so do you ever
people watch okay um when you're in a
public place like a restaurant or in a
queue for something so observing people
watching their behavior watching their
interactions with each other and then
imagining what kinds of people they are
what their lives are like what their
relationships are like it might also
include eavesdropping which means
actually listening to other people's
conversations but not necessarily so
people watching just watching people
watching strangers that you might see in
public places do you ever do this if
you're out in public do you ever
discreetly watch the other people around
you and try to imagine what their lives
are like for example if you're in a
restaurant do you subtly while you're
eating your food do you subtly without
being noticed have a look at the other
people on the other tables try to
imagine who they are what's going on in
their lives um and have you ever
observed something amusing or something
that made you feel a little
uncomfortable or embarrassed like maybe
you got an insight into someone's
personal
relationship um or family life and it
actually made you feel even a little bit
uncomfortable or embarrassed or awkward
or even sad so do you ever people watch
and have you ever noticed anything sort
of interesting uh when doing that that's
just something to think about before we
start the story um and in fact let's now
start the story all you need to do here
is just listen first just listen and try
and follow the main events how do the
characters feel okay I'll explain in my
own words in a moment and then we'll go
through all the vocabulary and stuff and
see what we can learn okay so here we go
this is the birthday party by Catherine
brush they were a couple in their late
30s and they looked unmistakably
married they sat on the bonquet opposite
us in a little narrow restaurant having
dinner the man had a round
self-satisfied face with glasses on it
the woman was fading pretty in a big
hat there was nothing conspicuous about
them nothing particularly
noticeable until the end of their meal
when it suddenly became obvious that
this was an
occasion in fact it was the husband's
birthday
and the wife had planned a little
surprise for
him it arrived in the form of a small
but glossy birthday cake with one pink
candle burning in the
center the head waiter brought it in and
placed it before the husband and
meanwhile the violin and piano Orchestra
played happy birthday to
you and the wife beamed with shy Pride
over her little surprise and such few
people as there were in the restaurant
tried to help out with a pattering of
Applause it became clear at once that
help was needed because the husband was
not
pleased instead he was hotly embarrassed
and indignant at his wife for
embarrassing
him you looked at him and you saw this
and you thought thought oh now don't be
like
that but he was like that and as soon as
the little cake had been deposited on
the table and the orchestra had finished
the birthday piece and the general
attention had shifted from the man and
the
woman I saw him say something to her
under his breath some punishing thing
quick and Curt and unkind
I couldn't bear to look at the woman
then so I stared at my plate and waited
for quite a long
time not long enough though she was
still crying when I finally glanced over
there
again crying quietly and heartbroken and
hopelessly all to herself under the gay
big bridge
of her best
hat so that's the
story I I think that's very good writing
I think that's really really well
written little story a perfect little
portrait of these two people and a
little interaction which seems to tell
you so much about what's going on
between them and it's sad is definitely
sad it's it's almost heartbreaking
really really good writing though
um but what
happened okay so the Story begins um
it's in a restaurant okay um the the
writer says that she saw this couple
they were probably in their late
30s um and they were definitely married
she could tell just by looking at them
and they were sitting on the they were
sitting just on the other side of the
restaurant just opposite them at a table
having dinner she described the two of
them she said that the man
um had a round face glasses and he had a
sort of self-satisfied look on his face
the woman uh was was fading pretty like
she kind of used to be pretty or she's
sort of her her beauty is fading or
maybe um getting less you know um as she
gets older maybe
um and um they just look like an
ordinary couple really they weren't
bringing too much attention to them to
themselves except for the the fact that
the woman was wearing a a nice uh big
hat with a wide brim and the the
narrator of the story realizes that this
is not just an ordinary dinner but in
fact it's a special occasion in fact
it's the husband's birthday and the wife
has planned a special little surprise
for him and she she seems to be kind of
a bit shy about it and and quite proud
of the fact that she's organized this
little special thing for his birthday
and what is the special thing it's a
little birthday cake a cute little
birthday cake a red glossy cake with a
single pink candle in the middle of it
and she's obviously asked uh the head
waiter of the restaurant to bring the
cake over and the orchestra uh just like
a couple of instruments playing in the
corner of the restaurant they start
playing Happy Birthday the staff come
over they're probably singing happy
birthday and the the cake is brought
down the wife seems very sort of um
proud of of this moment um and the
people in the restaurant all give a
little clap they all
applaud and um it seems like a very
sweet moment but um what the narrator
notices is that when all the people have
gone away and the no one when no one's
looking at them she notices that the
husband is not happy with this at all
now why why would you not be happy with
that situation it's not really clear I
don't know either really uh cuz I'd be
delighted if you know my wife had
organized a sweet little thing like that
um in a in a nice little restaurant but
this man is not happy about it in fact
he's very
embarrassed which seems to tell you
something about him like he's probably
you got quite a high opinion of himself
he probably takes himself very seriously
and the idea that like a little cake and
people in the restaurant singing happy
birthday to him and everyone looking at
him is actually very uh something that
he's ashamed of and something that made
him feel very embarrassed and he's
unhappy and in fact he's angry about it
and he try you know they're trying not
to show this to everyone in the
restaurant but he's really unhappy with
her and when no one's looking except for
the the narrator of the story who
notices this the husband said something
to his wife and it's really something
very nasty uh he says it quietly so
other people can't hear it but he says a
nasty comment to her which is really
sad and she's obviously very very
upset um and she's heart she's
heartbroken the the the writer of the
story can't really bear to watch so she
looks at her her plate and stuff for
quite a long time but when she does have
a little look again she sees that the
the woman is still
crying and you know under the under the
brim of her lovely happy big hat
uh she's still crying so this it's a
really sad little story and a story
about observing a relationship observing
a marriage
which perhaps is not that happy not the
happiest marriage or at least I don't
know it's a sensitive situation or at
least the woman you know she's obviously
crying because uh the her husband's
unhappy but also probably I imagine in a
situation like that when you've planned
something and goes so wrong it probably
makes not only makes you feel happy in
that unhappy in that moment but I
imagine she's feeling very sad and
depressed and it makes you wonder about
the state of their marriage and whether
this woman is you know trapped in in a
sort of a Loveless marriage despite the
fact that she's trying her best you know
she's she's m making efforts
um and it's also quite heartbreaking
because it makes you realize that you
know a broken heart or happiness um
loneliness sometimes these things can be
hidden you know they're not obvious they
can be hidden
behind appearances which could otherwise
be very glamorous or very sort of um
smart um in this case a lovely hat and a
nice special occasion in a nice
restaurant but behind this this facade
there's a sort of a a deep loneliness
and the sense that people in
marriages can actually be very lonely it
can be one of the loneliest things not
alwayss of course often marriage is a
beautiful and happy situation but you
know in some cases it can be actually a
very sad
situation um and loneliness is something
that is often most deeply felt when
you're in the company of other people
especially when you feel trapped in that
situation and when you're having to hide
your feelings because other people can
see you and this story like perfectly
captures all of those things in a in a
in an efficient way only in about 300
words so it's really really well written
now let's go through the story again and
this time I'm going to look at um
specific uh words and phrases right this
is where I'm going to teach you some
some vocabulary by using the story so
here we go again the birthday party by
Katherine brush uh vocabulary and I've
highlighted some vocab here for us to
look at okay if you're listening to the
audio version of this episode you can
find um you can find the script for this
I'll put a link to it on the episode
page so you can actually check the text
and stuff like that if you're looking at
the video version you'll be able to see
the text on the screen another thing
actually to mention is pronunciation so
just earlier there in this episode I
read through the story line by line now
what you could do if you want to
practice your pronunciation you could
actually try to repeat those lines after
me okay try to repeat the story after me
with exactly the same
delivery so just try and copy the way I
do it and then maybe practice it again
on your own practice trying to deliver
the story with the right pausing the
right emphasis and so on okay and
another exercise you could do would be
to try to retell the story in your own
words right try to um try to you know
tell the story again but sort of
spontaneously in your own words without
actually reading it uh from the uh from
the text so all all of those things can
be good uh ways to practice but anyway
let's have a look now at some vocabulary
so the first
line they were a couple in their late
30s and they looked unmistakably married
so the first thing is just this phrase
in their late 30s so you know you can
can be in your you're in your 30s which
means you're either 30 you're between
the ages of 30 and 39 so you can be in
your in your teens that's when you're a
teenager you can be in your 20s in your
30s in your 40s in your 50s and so on
but also you can say you could be in
your early 30s or your mid-30s or your
late 30s okay in this case the couple
were in their late 30s okay and they
looked unmistakably married so it's
fairly easy to understand they looked
married it looked like they were married
so they looked married but they looked
unmistakably married okay they they were
obviously married you couldn't mistake
them for anything else right um so if
something is unmistakable it just means
it's it's really not easily confused for
something else like when you see it you
immediately identify it as that thing
there's no mistaking the fact that these
people were married they were
unmistakably married
right so unmistakable is the adjective
unmistakably in this case is the adverb
So unmistakably Married um you know we
we use you know you can use that for
other things as well if if something's
obvious for example
um you smell as you walk past the bakery
you you you can smell the unmistakable
smell of fresh bread right that's using
the word as an adjective
unmistakable um other things in instead
of saying they looked unmistakably
married it could be other things right
for example they they looked
unmistakably English right I don't know
what what would they look like if they
looked unmistakably English just like
typical English people or they looked
unmistakably
French okay um handwriting handwriting
you know um stuff that's written by hand
handwriting you could say for example
this is unmistakably his
handwriting Okay so unmistakably
in this case unmistakably married
um
so a question about the writing or just
the thought why are they unmistakably
married what does the writer mean here I
think she's probably alluding to subtle
Behavior right which it's interesting
that she chose this phrase because it it
does tell us something about this
couple so what did she mean when she
said they were unmistakably married
she's probably referring to certain
Behavior now when a couple are are new
when they've just got together right
when they're in the early stages of a
relationship often you can tell that
they're a brand new couple because they
sort of their body language tells you
everything you need to know like they
can't stop looking at each other they
can't stop touching each other they're
still enjoying sort of exploring each
other exploring each other's personal
space they get lost in a love Bubble you
know the rest of the world disappears
but when a couple has been together for
a long time if they're married they're
in their late 30s they've been married
for 10 15 years or something like that
um their body language might show this
and maybe they we also know that they
were sitting on the on the bench right
so they're not sitting opposite each
other they're sitting next to each other
and well what kind of body language do
you imagine could be seen here maybe
they just weren't really there wasn't a
lot of interaction going on maybe maybe
little moments of interaction showed
that they were very close and they
obviously spent a lot of time together
but maybe it was obvious that there
wasn't Maybe there wasn't a lot of love
between
them right and you know that sense of
mystery or attraction maybe wasn't there
or maybe there was a sense of
familiarity and closeness I don't know
but it's good writing because it does
sort of it does tell you so
much next line they sat on the bonquet
opposite us in a little narrow
restaurant having dinner so a bonquet is
just a long like a long seat which could
be fitted uh to the wall for example
typical in restaurants so a long kind of
bench that's probably attached to the
wall in some way that's the bonquet um
they sat opposite us in a little narrow
restaurant having dinner so narrow is
just the it's the opposite of wide so
that this tells us that the restaurant
was quite long but narrow so you imagine
a long um restaurant but where the walls
on either side are actually very close
because the restaurant is narrow a bit
like a corridor or something and this is
interesting because we get that sense of
intimate space right the the writer and
this married couple are actually
probably quite close to each other
everyone's probably fairly close in this
restaurant which for me
emphasizes the the kind of the
humiliation which happens later the the
man's humiliation but also the wife's
sadness is emphasized by the the
intimacy of this restaurant that they're
sitting in this narrow place um with
probably tables quite close together
right um okay so next the man had a
round self-satisfied face with glasses
on it the woman was fading pretty in a
big hat so the man had a round face I
mean just round sort of
circular self-satisfied is interesting
now generally if you describe someone as
being self-satisfied it's a negative
phrase so if someone is self-satisfied
it means they're rather satisfied with
themselves you know someone who thinks
that they're someone who has a high
opinion of themsel someone who's rather
satisfied with them with themselves so
you can imagine he's got a sort of
a rather a sort of a smug look on his
face or an arrogant look on his face you
know a self-important self-satisfied
look on his face in any case it's not
very Charming um she does the writer
doesn't paint a very Charming attractive
picture of this
man um right it he seems smug and not
that attractive whereas the woman was
fading pretty in a big hat so fading
fading pretty fading L is the adverb
fading would be the adjective and if
something is fading it means it's
gradually becoming less clear less
bright
less colorful so her prettiness her
attractiveness was fading as she was
getting older which um you know is often
a kind of a sad thing for many people um
it doesn't have to be but it it can be
and it also tells you something as well
doesn't it there you know
there's just a a certain sadness here
okay fading L pretty so she's still
pretty but the her prettiness is fading
now that doesn't happen to to every
everyone some people are pretty when
they're young and they stay pretty when
they're old they grow old gracefully but
I don't know again I'm speculating about
this relationship but maybe there's
something not quite right in the
relationship and the sadness that she
feels is starting to show you know on
her face and it's actually affecting her
beauty in a in a way so she was fading
pretty her her prettiness was
fading there was nothing conspicuous
about them nothing particularly
noticeable so those two lines they
basically mean the same thing because uh
conspicuous if something is conspicuous
it means it's noticeable easy to notice
eye-catching okay I mean the the fact
that she she was wearing a big hat is
fairly noticeable but maybe in those
days in what I assume is like New York
in a nice restaurant in New York in the
in the 1940s a woman dressed nicely and
wearing a big hat was probably not
uncommon right but other than that it
seems that there wasn't anything
particularly noticeable about these this
couple there was nothing conspicuous so
conspicuous noticeable easy to notice
eye-catching right those are all
synonyms um nothing particularly
noticable so they were just a fairly
ordinary couple I suppose for this kind
of
restaurant and nothing obvious about
them nothing noticeable until the end of
their meal when it suddenly became
obvious that this was an occasion so an
occasion could be a special occasion
like a particular event a birthday an
anniversary a reason to celebrate so
that was that's an occasion so it became
obvious that this was an occasion it was
actually a special moment in fact it was
the husband's birthday and the wife had
planned a little surprise for him so I
just wanted to highlight the use of past
perfect here the wife had planned a
little surprise for him so past past
perfect had planned that's used because
it shows that the wife planned this
before the other events of the story
right okay it just shows us that the
planning part happened before all the
rest of the events so past perfect is
there to you is used there to just to to
show us that the planning happened
before um now if we didn't if if the
writer hadn't used past perfect if she'd
said it was the husband's birthday and
the wife planned a little surprise for
him now that could mean that she planned
the surprise right there at the table
right it was the husband's birthday and
the wife planned a surprise that could
mean that she planned it there you see
but uh we want to show that the the
planning happened before those events in
the restaurant so that's why past
perfect is
used and um so the surprise it arrived
in the form of a small but glossy
birthday cake with one pink candle
burning in the center so the it arrived
uh in this case the surprise arrived in
the form of a cake so in the form of
here um this means that this is how the
surprise was actually this is how the
surprise happened this is how the
surprise manifested I mean what was the
surprise how did the surprise take shape
it it arrived in the form of this
birthday cake so the birthday cake was
the surprise right um quite a nice nice
phrase like you know you could use that
in different situations uh the gift came
in the form of a beautifully wrapped
package for example uh their
support the the support from my friends
came in the form of encouraging words
the solution to the problem arrived in
the form of innovative new technology
help arrived in the form of my wife who
came to rescue me from an awkward
conversation okay in this case the
surprise arrived in the form of a
birthday cake a small but glossy
birthday cake so the birthday cake is
small but glossy so glossy this
adjective just means shiny and
smooth so that for example the light
reflects off the top of it so this means
it's one of those
quite smart quite fancy cakes that you
see in sort of good quality cake shops
so it's got a a a kind of cover of I
don't know what the cover would be like
a glazed cover on the top of the cake
which means it's shiny right a glossy
cake so it's a fairly fancy cake even
though it's small and it's got one pink
candle I mean the pink candle is a
detail an interesting detail um is this
part of the reason why the the husband
seems to be embarrassed is it because of
the the the way the cake looks it's a
little bit ridiculous or a little bit
funny or even a little bit sad just one
single birthday one single candle in the
middle of this small
cake I mean the little pink candle might
make him feel a bit ridiculous
especially if he is full of himself and
self-satisfied and smug and arrogant and
he thinks he's very important
person you know
and then I'm an important person in in
you know in society and then this cake
arrives this little cake with one pink
candle I mean it's a lovely sweet
gesture and you know um we just want him
to be touched by this but in fact no
he's that's not the way he this guy
works instead he's embarrassed by this
what we want is for him to I mean he
could feel embarrassed like he that's
okay but you'd want him to feel
embarrassed and then to kind of blush
you know to go red in the face and then
maybe to to kiss his wife and say thank
you to her and tell her how much he
loves her you know because she made the
effort to get this cake for him but he
doesn't do that he doesn't instead he's
just angry and embarrassed by it which
is just really
sad the head waiter brought it in and
placed it before the husband and
meanwhile the violin and piano Orchestra
played happy birthday to you so the head
waiter this is like the the most
important waiter in the restaurant the
person who's in charge of all the other
waiters so this probably this means that
the wife probably asked the restaurant
to make a special effort here which
again shows us how much care she put
into this that she actually spoke to the
Head waiter and everything and uh it was
the head waiter who brought the cake so
they're taking it you know fairly
seriously he placed it before the
husband he placed it so this is a sort
of thing a good waiter would do waiters
don't just put the plate on the table
they place it meaning they put it down
very carefully exactly in the right spot
so the waiter the head waiter came in
and he placed the cake down in front of
him and meanwhile the the the Orchestra
played happy
birthday right so meanwhile just means
at the same time okay you could replace
the word meanwhile with the phrase at
the same time so the head waiter brought
the cake and at the same time the
Orchestra played happy
birthday happy birthday to you oh
god um and the wife beamed with shy
Pride over her little
surprise she beamed with pride so to
beam in this case this means that her
her face glowed her face sort of uh
glowed with with pride right now to beam
means that light comes out for example
um a torch if you've got a torch which
you use to you know to see in the dark
you turn the torch on a flashlight they
call it in American English uh a
torch um uh when the light comes out the
end of the torch it beams out similarly
the headlights of your car the light
beams out of your headlights a
lighthouse the light beams out so in
this case her face
beamed uh with pride right with shy
Pride okay Pride to feel proud she's
happy she's satisfied with what she's
done she's put a lot of effort into this
she's hoping this is going to go well uh
she's really trying hard and when the
cake comes in her face beamed with shy
Pride I mentioned a torch and a
flashlight torch in British English and
flashlight in American English there is
a there's only a couple of moments in
this story where it's obviously American
English for example the spelling of the
word Center uh the birthday cake with
one pink candle burning in the center c
n t r in American English c n t r e in
British English but it's otherwise it's
this is just an example of how for the
most part this story just shows how
American English and British English are
just like identical because there aren't
really many other differences that I can
notice um so
the the wife beamed with shy Pride over
her little surprise and such few people
as there were in the restaurant meaning
you know the the even the small number
of people in the restaurant tried to
help out with a pattering of Applause so
Applause
is when people clap right at the end of
a theater play or at the end of a a
music concert people applaud and there
is applaud
[Music]
right a pattering of Applause means like
a little bit of Applause like just a few
people kind of clapping a little bit in
the background okay right the sound of a
few people
clapping it became clear at once that
help was needed because the husband was
not pleased so it became clear meaning
it became obvious it became clear at
once at once meaning
immediately so it became obvious
immediately it it became clear at once
that help was needed it's interesting
that the writer has used was needed
which is passive voice because needed by
who
right she doesn't actually say it
directly but we know that we're talking
about the wife that the wife needed
help and you know the the writer is the
narrator obviously sees that the woman
is helpless in this situation she's in
trouble but nobody can help her without
making it
worse it became clear that help was
needed by not mentioning by not saying
it directly it somehow makes it a bit
more powerful it became clear at once
that the wife needed help it's a bit too
direct but saying it became clear at
once that help was
needed um somehow is a bit more discret
by not putting the wife right into the
middle of the
sentence you know it makes it a little
bit more
impersonal anyway it became clear at
once that help was needed by the wife
because the husband was not pleased
instead he was hotly
embarrassed so we know embarrassed but
hotly embarrassed now that's not a very
common collocation we don't often say
hotly embarrassed but it's good use of
language because it does tell us about
how the husband felt and he wasn't just
embarrassed but he was angry Ang and
embarrassed right and embarrassed and
angry and you can imagine that his face
was bright red and uh you know we
associate heat in Emotion we associate
heat and being hot with anger and strong
emotions so he was hotly embarrassed
suggests that he was like really
embarrassed and also angry and he was
indignant so indignant means angry
annoyed
frustrated which is a pity that that was
his
reaction um you looked at him and you
saw this and you thought oh now don't be
like that don't be like that don't be
that way okay don't be don't be angry
don't be like
that but he was like that and as soon as
the little cake had been deposited on
the
table and the orchestra had finished the
birthday piece and the general attention
had shifted from the man and the woman
so as soon as the birthday cake had been
deposited so uh deposited it's fairly it
just means uh put on the table it's
slightly formal slightly impersonal
language right just deposited on the
table it
sounds I don't know it just sounds
slightly transactional language like you
know normally we'd say money is
deposited into a bank account right so
it's kind of slightly cold transactional
language as soon as the cake had been
deposited on the table
we start to get a sort of sense
of an emotional Detachment or something
maybe I'm reading too much into it but
it was interesting the the use of the
word deposited just means put on the
table delivered and the orchestra had
finished the birthday piece and the
general attention had shifted from the
man and the woman so attention shifted
it had
shifted as soon as right as soon as and
then passed perfect meaning as soon as
when all these things had been completed
the man said something so once all th he
waited for all those things to be
done right so once they were done and
finished that's when he chose to say
what he said so the general attention
had shifted from the man and the woman
shifted just means moved right moved
away so everyone was looking at the
couple when the cake arrived but then
people's attention shifted away from
them it moved away from them and when
all of those things had happened I saw
him say something to her under his
breath some punishing thing quick and
Curt and unkind so I saw him say
something to her under his breath so
under to say something under your breath
means to say something in a very quiet
voice in a whisper so that other people
can't hear
[Music]
like you say something under your breath
if you're trying to whisper uh so other
people can't hear
you
right so to whisper to say something
under your breath um some punishing
thing punishing so a comment that was
designed to punish her to make her feel
bad because in his mind the thing that
she'd done was not good and so he says
something nasty to her as a sort of
punishment a punishing
comment a comment that's going to make
her feel bad
we don't know what it is right we don't
know what he said to her we can only
imagine what he said to
her right but I mean it's probably
something like you know how dare you
embarrass me like this in public you
know some stupid cake or something
that's you know going to really
hurt some punishing thing quick and Curt
and unkind so quick meaning just a few
words Kurt Kurt this adjectives mean
this adjective means
brief right with a few only like a short
thing to say but rudely brief right rude
because it's so
short and unkind unkind meaning cruel so
it would be something like how dare you
or how stupid of you something like
that and then the writer continues I
couldn't bear to look at the woman then
so I stared at my plate and waited for
quite a long time I couldn't bear to
look right can't bear couldn't bear now
if you can't bear to do something it
just means you you can't stand doing it
you just can't it's too painful too
uncomfortable to do it for example
looking at the the couple because the
this poor woman is so upset and the man
is so angry and so unreasonable and mean
and it's just she couldn't bear to
look so we say can't bear to do
something
we say can't stand doing something and
we also can say can't bring myself to do
something I just couldn't I couldn't
bear to look I couldn't bring myself to
look I can't stand seeing things like
that um and the story continues not long
enough though so she because she looked
at her plate and waited for quite a long
time but not long enough
though no is the the use of the word
though at the end I've mentioned this
before but um though at the end like
that it's like saying
but right but we normally put but in
between two contrasting things so I I
looked at my plate for a long time but
not long
enough but we can use though at the end
right I looked at my plate for a long
time not long enough though so it does
the same job as saying but in the middle
but we just put it at the end it's very
common in spoken English so not long
enough though because she was still
crying when I finally glanced over there
again so when I
glanced uh to glance is just to look
quickly so she was looking at her plate
and
she had a quick look so just glanced
looked
quickly cuz she was still crying when
she glanced over at
them crying quietly and heartbroken and
Hope l ly alter herself under the gay
big brim of her best hat so this is
really heartbreaking like the really
heartbreaking
part right it does tell you the way in
which she's crying that she just feels
so sad and lonely at this point and it's
from a language point of view there's
adverbs here right how was she crying
she was crying quietly she was crying
heartbroken she was crying hopelessly
she was crying all to herself and she
was crying under the gay big brim of her
best hat so crying quietly I think we
understand that crying heart brokenly
because she felt
heartbroken because of the behavior the
actions the the the reaction of this
husband this horrible
husband cry crying
hopelessly
where yeah I suppose even when she's
tried really hard hard to do something
cute and special on his birthday the way
he reacted was just like so far away
from what she hoped that that kind of
couldn't break someone's hope right so
she's crying with a deep sense of
hopelessness all to
herself so she was doing it all by
herself meaning on her own but also
crying to
herself not crying to anyone else so you
got crying all by herself which means
she was crying on her own but crying all
to herself means that she was the only
audience of her crying like the husband
didn't even really care or wasn't even
giving her attention to the fact giving
attention to the fact that she was
crying so she was just all on her own
crying to herself she was the only
witness the only audience to her
crying right the husband apparently
doesn't
care and doing this under the gay big
brim of her best hat
so this is a particularly sad image
because of the contrast between this
lovely otherwise um exuberant uh
hat and the actual feeling of the woman
underneath it uh it should have been a
happy Carefree occasion but she's just
heartbroken so that emphasizes the
sadness the the contrast between the two
things but the gay big brim of her hat
so the brim the brim is the part the the
bit that goes around the edge of the Hat
the widest part that's the edge of the
Hat the brim of the Hat okay if it's a
baseball cap the baseball cap has a brim
at the front and you can slide it around
the back if you want you can bend the
brim of the hat if it's a you know
another type of hat the brim goes all
the way around in this case it was a big
brim um and the gay big brim of her hat
so I mean this this shows I guess the
age of the story because we don't
normally use the word g like that these
days because it used to just mean happy
Carefree happy uh these days obviously
it means something else but in those
days it just meant carefree and happy so
that's why that's why the word gay is
being used here her her happy uh
Carefree um exuberant hat that she was
wearing uh she was crying all by herself
uh all to herself underneath the the
brim of this of this of this hat um and
that's the end of the story
okay H what do you think of that I'd
like to know your comments uh feel free
to leave your comments in the comments
section what do you think of the
situation um so you know what do you
think the husband said any idea what he
might have said uh how do you think the
woman uh felt in that moment the wife
have you ever witnessed something you
know when when people
watching um what did you think of the
story um
other things remember you could practice
repeating that story after me just go
back to the beginning of the episode to
the moment where I told the story line
by line you could just practice reading
through it again and again um and as I
said before you should try perhaps
retelling the story in your own words
too and another exercise you could do
another little speaking challenge that
you could do would be to um remember a
time when you saw some people doing
something when you people watched and
you saw something happen could you
describe that do you think you could
make that into a story it would be a
good exercise for your English practice
practice practice practice practice
practice the five PS okay that's the end
of this episode if you like uh my story
episodes obviously I've done a few of
these now which you can find in my
episode archive um learn English with a
short story but I've got others as well
I've done uh about 10 story episodes in
my premium podcast
and so you can subscribe to the premium
podcast you can add all the premium
episodes to a podcast app on your phone
uh and when you do that you can listen
to the episodes you can also access
links in the show notes for each episode
links for PDFs and video versions and
I've done yeah about 10 story episodes
most of those stories in the premium
section are true stories about my own
life that I've written myself including
stories of my childhood like stuff that
sort of funny stuff that happened to me
uh and I I do a similar thing to what I
do in these uh learn English with a
short story episodes tell you the story
and then break it down for vocabulary
and then give you various of grammar
vocabulary practice exercises um memory
exercises to help you remember the
vocabulary and then dedicated
pronunciation episodes to help you
practice repeating after me that's what
you can find in those Story Time
episodes in uh my premium
subscription yeah okay the way it works
is you sign up and when you've signed up
you can just really easily add your
premium subscription to a podcast app on
your phone and then it gives you the
full list of all of my episodes all of
my free episodes with no advertising and
also all my premium episodes in there
too and then you can just listen to the
normal episodes listen to the premium
episodes and then find the notes uh in
the the show notes that's where you find
links for video versions and PDFs okay
so if you want to do that you can just
you know be my gu guest of course
teacher luke.
co.uk premium info or just click the
link in the description uh to find out
about Luke's English podcast premium
okay great have a lovely day afternoon
morning evening night wherever you are
in the world whatever you're doing I
hope that you are having a nice time out
there in podcast land thank you for
listening to this episode I will speak
to you again soon uh in the next one but
for now it's just time to say goodbye
bye bye boy boy boy
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