Other Listening

selections from Storycorps:

The following are a few selections of very short, often amusing personal stories told by ordinary Americans. Represented are a range of speaking styles and accents (regional and immigrant) that can function as a listening exercise for my XinDa pronunciation & oral English classes. Enjoy.

these and more can be found on the storycorps website. (i’ve posted these here because access to the storycorps website is a bit slow here in Xinjiang)

1. 84-year-old Miriam Kerpen to her daughter, LisaShufro.“I went into Uncle Jake’s room and opened up the dictionary, and in the middle was hidden a magazine…”

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2. Melva Hightower and her nephew, Tyler, interview each other.“What are the most important lessons that you’ve learned thus far in life? Granted, I know you’re only twelve.”

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3. Juliet Jegasothy, who is originally from Sri Lanka, tells her friend Sheena Jacob about adjusting to life in the United States.“I had heard all these horror stories about crooks and gangsters…”

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4. Claudette Colvin remembers her childhood in Alabama.“This little white boy said, ‘Come, let me see your hands.”

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5. Rick Kincaid tells his friend Danny Ray Terry about his career as a bounty hunter.“Some fellers would find out we were chasing them, they’d just go put themselves in jail.”

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6. Edwin Lanier Jr., who is homeless, to his friend David Wright.“There was a lot more to me than you might imagine.”

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7. Omar Leech (R) tells his friend Lenear Pryor about life as a gang member.“And right then it dawned on me — that’s not family, those aren’t friends.”

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8. Judge Joe Pigott tells his wife, Lorraine, about Willie Earl “Pip” Dow, a man he sentenced many times.“He said, ‘Well, Judge, I’m disappointed in you…’”

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9. The Basics of Friendship

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10. 100-year-old Arthur Winston tells his great-grandnephew, Eric Givens, about working for 72 years.“The jobs change; managers change; I still stay there.”

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11. Ralph Tremonte and Donald Weiss, who spent their childhoods together in a psychiatric hospital, reunite after 40 years.“Don’t ever let anybody tell you they can do something to you. You’re free, man. You don’t have to take that.”

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