Narrating Stories (Intermediate-Advanced)

Practice on Your Own

Practice telling stories of things that happened in the past. Stories can be told with varying levels of detail and complication. Try to include as much detail as you can, according to your current ability in the language.

• Think about the ways you have learned to connect different sentences and ideas. Make a list of different words and phrases: first, second, after, after that, before, before that, then, but, and, therefore, despite…
• Think about what you did yesterday. Imagine you are telling others the story of your life yesterday.
  • I got up at 8:30. First I took a shower. Then I made coffee, but before that I turned my laptop on. While I ate my breakfast, I watched the news on TV…
• Think of a movie scene. Imagine you are narrating it for your friends.
  • Do you remember when the female character (mention the name) told the other character, “You should not tell your father”? I think she was wrong because…
• Think of a memory you would like to share with others. It could be a short story of a trip, a party, etc. Include as much detail as your language ability allows.

Practice in Conversation Session

• Warm up by asking your conversation partner about what they did yesterday. Try to ask them some questions to get more detail, especially about the order of the events. Then it’s your turn to tell a story of one day of your life in some detail.
• Now tell your conversation partner the memory you have already prepared. Answer your conversation partner’s questions asking for more detail.
• Show your conversation partner the list of connecting words and phrases that you have prepared. What other ones does your conversation partner suggest should be added to the list?
• Narrate a movie scene, ideally one that your conversation partner has also seen.