Pablo learns to listen
In this gentle English listening episode Pablo is still by the ocean
He has remembered one word from his dream
The word is listen
Now he begins to remember why that word matters
FULL STORY / TRANSCRIPT
Pablo stood quietly by the beach
He felt that somehow writing the word down could help him remember
It could be on paper or in the sand in the dirt or even on a wall
He stood still and the feeling from the dream came back
Then the word came back too
With his big toe on his right foot he wrote the first letters in the sand
L I S T E N
That was it
That was the word from the dream
Listen
Pablo looked back at the word listen
The story was about observation he could remember
Sitting quietly often in nature and letting things return to you
Sometimes nature helps you remember things the old man had said
Things you had forgotten
You might remember something you were going to do
A dream you once had
Or an idea that you had not yet brought into the world
Sometimes you might simply remember a story
Pablo felt that it was easier in nature
Even in a city park
Than on a busy city street
It was not something you could really do with your phone
You had to be sitting
Listening
Watching
And relaxed
Early morning was good for this
Especially when you were still inside time
And a little groggy
Sometimes it could happen in the afternoon too
After Pablo would wake from his nap
Just then Pablo felt the wind change direction
A cooler breeze touched his back
As the wind turned from the north towards the west
He looked out at the water
The waves kept moving
The sky kept changing
And the word in the sand sat quietly near his feet
Listen
ENDING
Pablo did not need to understand everything at once
For now it was enough to stand by the ocean
To feel the wind change
And to listen
GENTLE ENGLISH NOTES
Useful phrase
listen carefully
Meaning
To give your full attention to a sound a person or the world around you
Useful word
observation
Meaning
Watching and noticing something carefully
Useful phrase
the wind changed direction
Meaning
The wind started coming from a different place
Practice sentence
Pablo listened carefully to the waves and noticed the wind changing
LISTENER QUESTION
What is something you notice when you slow down and listen
