How to Tell a Story in English - Using Past Tense Wie man eine Geschichte auf Englisch erzählt - Verwendung der Vergangenheitsform How to Tell a Story in English - Using Past Tense Cómo contar una historia en inglés - Uso del tiempo pasado Comment raconter une histoire en anglais - en utilisant le passé Come raccontare una storia in inglese - Usare il past tense Een verhaal vertellen in het Engels - Verleden tijd gebruiken Jak opowiedzieć historię po angielsku - czas przeszły Como contar uma história em inglês - Usando o pretérito perfeito Как рассказать историю на английском - использование прошедшего времени İngilizce Hikaye Nasıl Anlatılır - Geçmiş Zaman Kullanılır Як розповісти історію англійською мовою - використовуючи минулий час 如何用英语讲故事 - 使用过去时 如何用英語講故事 - 使用過去式

Hi, I'm Gina. Merhaba, ben Gina.

Welcome to Oxford Online English! Oxford Online English'e hoş geldiniz!

In this lesson, you can learn how to tell a story in English. Bu derste, İngilizce bir hikayeyi nasıl anlatacağınızı öğrenebilirsiniz.

Stories are powerful. Hikayeler güçlüdür.

When you meet someone new, go to a job interview or take a speaking exam like IELTS, you need Wenn Sie jemanden neu kennenlernen, zu einem Vorstellungsgespräch gehen oder eine mündliche Prüfung wie IELTS ablegen, brauchen Sie

to tell stories, whether you realise that's what you're doing or not. Geschichten zu erzählen, ob Sie sich dessen bewusst sind oder nicht.

Becoming a better storyteller will make you a more convincing speaker. |||рассказчиком||||||убедительным| |||||||||説得力のある| |||contador de histórias||||||convincente| |||讲故事的人||||||有说服力的| Wenn Sie ein besserer Geschichtenerzähler werden, werden Sie zu einem überzeugenderen Redner.

People are attracted to good stories—it's a fundamental part of being human. 人|||||||||||| ||惹かれる|||||||||| Menschen fühlen sich von guten Geschichten angezogen – das ist ein grundlegender Teil des Menschseins.

Learning how to tell better stories can help you become a more effective English speaker, |||||||||||更||| Zu lernen, wie man bessere Geschichten erzählt, kann Ihnen helfen, ein effektiverer Englischsprecher zu werden.

and a better communicator generally. ||||通常 |||e um comunicador melhor geralmente.|

In this class, you'll learn how to build a story, step by step. In diesem Kurs lernen Sie Schritt für Schritt, wie Sie eine Geschichte aufbauen.

You'll see three different stories, and you'll see how you can use the same simple Sie werden drei verschiedene Geschichten sehen und sehen, wie Sie dieselben einfach verwenden können

ideas in almost any story.

If you want to read the stories before the lesson, make sure you're watching this on Wenn Sie die Geschichten vor dem Unterricht lesen möchten, stellen Sie sicher, dass Sie diese einschalten

our website: Oxford Online English dot com.

If you're watching on YouTube, you can find a link in the video description.

There, you can read the three stories in full. Dort können Sie die drei Geschichten vollständig lesen.

We want you to take part in this lesson. 我们|||||||| Wir möchten, dass Sie an dieser Lektion teilnehmen.

Think of a story you want to tell.

As you go through the lesson, you'll hear our stories, but you should also be building

your own story.

So, think of something funny, scary, interesting or weird that happened to you. ||||||||estranho||||

Do you have an idea for a story?

Then let's begin!

A clear story needs to start with some background. ||||||||antecedentes

Think about basic wh- questions: who, when, where, what? Denken Sie über grundlegende W-Fragen nach: wer, wann, wo, was?

Start your story with one sentence which gives some of this information.

For example:

It was summer, and I went with some friends to a beach in Crimea which you could only |||||||||||||克里米亚|||| Es war Sommer, und ich ging mit ein paar Freunden an einen Strand auf der Krim, an dem man nur konnte

get to by boat. mit dem Boot anreisen.

I was travelling in Kyrgyzstan, and I decided to go hiking in the mountains. ||||吉尔吉斯斯坦|||||||||

At university, I shared a flat with three other guys. |||||アパート|||| An der Universität teilte ich mir eine Wohnung mit drei anderen Typen.

Keep it simple at the beginning: who, when, where, what? Halten Sie es am Anfang einfach: wer, wann, wo, was?

Next, add one or two more sentences to give more background details.

You need a balance here: you want to give enough background details to make your story

feel real, but you also need to get to the heart of your story quickly. sich echt anfühlen, aber Sie müssen auch schnell zum Kern Ihrer Geschichte vordringen.

People will lose interest if you don't get to the point.

Let's see how you can do this.

Look at our first example:

It was summer, and I went with some friends to a beach in Crimea which you could only Yaz mevsimiydi ve birkaç arkadaşımla birlikte Kırım'da bir plaja gitmiştik.

get to by boat. tekneyle gidilebilir.

Think: if you heard this, what questions could you ask to get more details?

You might ask things like:

Who were your friends? Wer waren deine Freunde?

Why did you go to this beach?

What was the place like? Wie war der Ort?

Were there any other people there? Waren noch andere Leute da?

Answering these questions gives you details you can add after your opening sentence. Wenn Sie diese Fragen beantworten, erhalten Sie Details, die Sie nach Ihrem Eröffnungssatz hinzufügen können.

For example:

People had been going there for years, and there were benches and tables, places to camp, ||||||||||скамейки|||||кемпинг ||||||||||bancos||||| ||||||||||长椅||||| Die Leute gingen seit Jahren dorthin, und es gab Bänke und Tische, Lagerplätze,

fire places and so on.

It was kind of a hippy place, with everyone walking around naked and doing whatever they |||||хиппи|||||||||| |||||ヒッピー|||||||||| |||||hippie||||||nus|||| |||||嬉皮||||||裸体|||| Es war eine Art Hippie-Ort, wo alle nackt herumliefen und taten, was sie wollten

felt like. fühlt sich an wie.

Here, we're focusing on one thing—the place—because it's the most interesting

and unusual detail.

For a different story, you might focus on different details: ||別の||||||| Für eine andere Geschichte könnten Sie sich auf andere Details konzentrieren:

We were all good friends, but like lots of guys in that situation, we played a lot of pranks on each other. ||||||||||||||||||шутки||| ||||||||||||||||||いたずら||| ||||||||||||||||||brincadeiras||| ||||||||||||||||||恶作剧||| Wir waren alle gute Freunde, aber wie viele Typen in dieser Situation spielten wir uns gegenseitig viele Streiche.

In this story, the people are more important, so you would give more details about them. In dieser Geschichte sind die Personen wichtiger, also würden Sie mehr Details über sie angeben.

Okay: your turn!

You need to start your story. Sie müssen Ihre Geschichte beginnen.

Make an opening sentence.

Remember: who, when, where, what?

Then, add 1-2 sentences giving more background details.

Focus on the most important elements in your story.

Pause the video and do it now!

Write it down if you want.

What's next?

Big question: what makes a story a story? ||什么||||| Große Frage: Was macht eine Geschichte zu einer Geschichte?

If I tell you that I went to the shop to buy some bread, and then I came home and ate the

bread, is that a story?

Not really.

If it is, it's not a good one. Wenn ja, ist es nicht gut.

So, think about it: what makes a story a story?

A story needs two things.

One: there needs to be a goal. |那里||||| Erstens: Es muss ein Ziel geben.

The person or people in the story should want something. Die Person oder Personen in der Geschichte sollten etwas wollen.

Two: there needs to be tension. |这里|||| |||||napetost

That means the goal can't be too easy to reach. Das bedeutet, dass das Ziel nicht zu leicht zu erreichen sein kann.

In this section, let's look at putting a goal in your story. 在(1)||||||||||| In diesem Abschnitt sehen wir uns an, wie Sie ein Ziel in Ihre Geschichte einfügen.

Here's the question: what do the people in your story want?

They must want something. Sie müssen etwas wollen.

This is the heart of your story. |||coração|||

If the people in your story don't want anything, then you don't have a story. Wenn die Leute in deiner Geschichte nichts wollen, dann hast du keine Geschichte.

Let's do an example together: On the last day, we had to catch a train in Machen wir gemeinsam ein Beispiel: Am letzten Tag mussten wir einen Zug erwischen

the evening.

Pause the video if you need extra time to read.

Here we have a simple goal: we needed to catch our train. Hier haben wir ein einfaches Ziel: Wir mussten unseren Zug erwischen.

Let's do one more: To reach Issyk-Kul lake, which was the end ||||||Иссык|Иссык-Куль||||| ||||||伊塞克|伊塞克湖||||| Machen wir noch eins: Um den Issyk-Kul-See zu erreichen, was das Ende war

of my journey, I had to cross a mountain pass, almost 4,000m high. |||我|||||山|口子||| meiner Reise musste ich einen Bergpass überqueren, fast 4.000 m hoch.

What's the goal here? Was ist hier das Ziel?

The goal is getting across the mountain pass to the lake.

The goal in your story can be something big or something small.

You can see in these two examples that we have something very easy and simple—catching

a train—and something bigger and more difficult—crossing a 4,000-metre mountain pass on foot. ||||||||||米||||

What about your story?

What's the goal?

What do the people in your story want?

Keep this simple.

Just add one sentence to your story, setting a goal for you or the other people in your Fügen Sie Ihrer Geschichte einfach einen Satz hinzu und setzen Sie sich oder den anderen Personen in Ihrer ein Ziel

story.

Pause the video, write your sentence, then we'll move on to the next part.

Ready?

Ok, remember that we said there are two things every story needs.

What's the second?

Every story needs tension.

What does that mean?

Simply, it means that your goal shouldn't be too easy to reach. Einfach bedeutet es, dass Ihr Ziel nicht zu leicht zu erreichen sein sollte.

Here's a story:

There was a monster which liked to eat people. |||monstro||||| Es gab ein Monster, das gerne Menschen aß.

A hero killed the monster. |herói|||

Everyone was safe.

The end.

Good story?

Obviously not!

If the goal in your story is too easy, then your story will be very short and boring.

There needs to be tension.

As they listen to you, people should be thinking: what's going to happen next?

Will everything be ok?

How are they going to get out of this problem? Wie werden sie aus diesem Problem herauskommen?

The goal needs to be difficult. Das Ziel muss schwierig sein.

There need to be problems. Es muss Probleme geben.

People need to doubt whether you're going to succeed or fail. ||||||||成功||失败 ||||||||||neuspeh Die Leute müssen zweifeln, ob Sie Erfolg haben oder scheitern werden.

This is tension.

For example: On the third day, I had to cross a mountain

pass, almost 4,000m high.

It was so hard, because the air is thin up there and I was carrying a very heavy pack. Es war so schwer, weil die Luft dort oben dünn ist und ich einen sehr schweren Rucksack getragen habe.

It seemed to take forever, but finally I got close to the top… and then a storm boiled |||||||||||||||||沸騰した |||||||||||||||||se formou |||||||||||||||||se je razbesnela Es schien ewig zu dauern, aber schließlich kam ich dem Gipfel nahe … und dann kochte ein Sturm auf

over the ridge and landed right on my head. ||хребте|||||| ||||||頭の上に|| ||sobre a crista|||||| ||山脊||落在||||

There was lightning all around me, even below me! Überall um mich herum blitzte es, sogar unter mir!

The noise was unbelievable. Der Lärm war unglaublich.

First, you hear how difficult it was, even before the storm hit. |||||||||||atingiu

Then, the storm arrives. Dann kommt der Sturm.

What's going to happen? Was wird passieren?

Did I make it over the pass? 我|||||| Sem||||čez||prelaz Habe ich es über den Pass geschafft?

Did I get hurt? Habe ich mich verletzt?

Let's look at one more example: One weekend, I was going home to visit my ||||||||||||||我

parents.

I said bye to my flatmates, and told them not to do anything to my room. |||||соседи по квартире|||||||||| |||||ルームメイト|||||||||| Ich verabschiedete mich von meinen Mitbewohnern und sagte ihnen, dass sie nichts mit meinem Zimmer machen sollten.

“Don't worry, we won't. „Keine Sorge, das werden wir nicht.

Have a good weekend,” they said.

I knew they were going to do something, but I couldn't believe what they actually did: Ich wusste, dass sie etwas tun würden, aber ich konnte nicht glauben, was sie tatsächlich taten:

This is a very different kind of story, but the structure is the same.

I have a goal, which is to visit my parents and come back without my friends doing anything |||||||||||||没有||||

to my room.

You also have some tension.

You hear sentences like this:

I told them not to do anything to my room. Ich sagte ihnen, sie sollten nichts mit meinem Zimmer machen.

I knew they were going to do something. Ich wusste, dass sie etwas tun würden.

When you hear these, you know they're going to do something to my room, but you don't

know what.

This is called foreshadowing. |||предвосхищение |||预示 |||伏線 |||o presságio |||To se imenuje slutnja.

You know something bad is going to happen, but you aren't sure exactly what.

That's where the tension comes from.

What did they actually do?

Hopefully, you want to know what happened next. 希望|||||||

Now, think about your story.

How can you add some tension? Wie können Sie etwas Spannung hinzufügen?

One way is to add problems or difficulties: things that get between you and your goal.

Another way is to use foreshadowing, like our story above. Eine andere Möglichkeit besteht darin, Vorahnungen zu verwenden, wie in unserer obigen Geschichte.

Pause the video and add tension to your story.

This is an important part of your story, so think about it carefully. Dies ist ein wichtiger Teil Ihrer Geschichte, also denken Sie sorgfältig darüber nach.

Aim to write 2-3 sentences, and start again when you're done. objetivo||||||||| Versuchen Sie, zwei bis drei Sätze zu schreiben, und beginnen Sie erneut, wenn Sie fertig sind.

Okay?

Now, you're ready to think about the end of your story.

To finish your story, you need to resolve the tension. |||||||解决|| Um deine Geschichte zu beenden, musst du die Spannung lösen.

At this point, the people listening to your story should want to know what comes next. 在|||||||||||||||

You've created some tension.

They aren't sure what's going to happen, but they want to know. Sie sind sich nicht sicher, was passieren wird, aber sie wollen es wissen.

So, finishing your story is simple: explain what happened in the end, and whether you |||||||||||||se|

(or whoever) reached your goal or not. |quem quer que|atingiu||||

Let's finish the three stories you've seen in this lesson:

Remember that you can pause if you need more time to read or review the story. Denken Sie daran, dass Sie pausieren können, wenn Sie mehr Zeit zum Lesen oder Überprüfen der Geschichte benötigen.

Let's read the end together.

We loaded our stuff onto a kayak and swam almost a kilometre around the cliffs. |||||||||||километр||| ||||上||皮艇||游泳|差不多|||||悬崖 |積みました||||||||||||| |||equipamento|||caiaque||nadamos|||quilômetro|||penhascos |naložili smo||||||||||||| Wir luden unsere Sachen auf ein Kajak und schwammen fast einen Kilometer um die Klippen herum.

A naked hippy paddled the kayak, which was piled high with our things and looked like |||划着|||||堆得||||||| |||漕いだ|||||||||||| |nua|um hippie nu remava o caiaque, que estava empilhado com nossas coisas e parecia|remava|||||empilhado||||||| |||гребла|||||нагружен||||||| Ein nackter Hippie paddelte mit dem Kajak, das mit unseren Sachen hoch gestapelt war und so aussah

it could sink at any minute. ||потонуть|||

We made it to land, and after several hours of hitchhiking and walking, we caught our 我们||||||||||搭便车||||| |行った|||||||||||||| ||||||||||carona||||| Wir schafften es an Land und nach mehreren Stunden Trampen und Gehen fingen wir unsere

train. Zug.

It was stressful at the time, but looking back now it makes a good story! Damals war es stressig, aber wenn man jetzt zurückblickt, ist es eine gute Geschichte!

You can see that the ending does two things.

In this story, we have tension: there's a mine in the harbour and we can't leave ||||||有||矿|||港口|||| ||||||||地雷||||||| |||||||||||porto|||| |||||||||||порту||||

by boat.

How did we solve it? Wie haben wir es gelöst?

By swimming for a kilometre, with a naked hippy transporting our stuff in an overloaded |||||||||运输|||||超载的 ||||||||||||||過積載の ||||||||||||||sobrecarregado ||||||||||||||перегруженный Indem wir einen Kilometer schwimmen, mit einem nackten Hippie, der unsere Sachen in einem überladenen transportiert

kayak.

Secondly, the ending explains whether we reached our goal or not.

In this case, happily, we caught the train! |||||乗れた|| |||alegremente||||

What about our second story?

I forgot how tired I was and ran down the slopes to get to safety. ||||||||||坡道|||| |||||||走った||||||| ||||||||||encostas|||| ||||||||||pobočja|||| Ich vergaß, wie müde ich war, und rannte die Hänge hinunter, um mich in Sicherheit zu bringen. Elfelejtettem, mennyire fáradt vagyok, és rohantam lefelé a lejtőn, hogy biztonságba kerüljek.

I stayed the night lower down and tried again the next day. ||||低下||||||| ||||少し||||||| Ich blieb die Nacht weiter unten und versuchte es am nächsten Tag erneut.

I made it over the pass, but it was a very frightening experience. |通った|||その|峠||||||| Ich habe es über den Pass geschafft, aber es war eine sehr beängstigende Erfahrung.

Again, the ending resolves the tension—I ran below the storm and tried again the next |||解决|||||||||||| |||разрешает|||||||||||| Wieder löst das Ende die Spannung auf – ich rannte unter dem Sturm hindurch und versuchte es beim nächsten erneut A befejezés ismét feloldja a feszültséget - a vihar alatt futottam, és a következő alkalommal újra megpróbáltam.

day—and also explains whether I reached my goal or not. Tag – und erklärt auch, ob ich mein Ziel erreicht habe oder nicht.

Finally, what did happen to my room at university? Végül, mi történt a szobámmal az egyetemen?

They made my room into a jungle! ||||||丛林 Sie haben mein Zimmer in einen Dschungel verwandelt! Dzsungellé változtatták a szobámat!

I'm not kidding: there were flowers, plants, three whole trees, jungle animals made from Ich mache keine Witze: Es wurden Blumen, Pflanzen, drei ganze Bäume, Dschungeltiere gemacht

paper, and a ‘sounds of the forest' mix playing on my stereo. |||||||||||立体声 |||||||||||aparelho de som Papier, und ein 'Waldgeräusche'-Mix, der auf meiner Stereoanlage läuft. papír, és az "erdő hangjai" mix a hifimben.

It took me three hours to clean up, and also I have hay fever—an allergy to pollen—so ||||||||||||сено|аллергия||аллергия||пыльца| |||||||||||||||アレルギー||花粉| |||||||||||||||||pólen| ||||||||||||花|||过敏症||花粉| Ich habe drei Stunden gebraucht, um aufzuräumen, und außerdem habe ich Heuschnupfen – eine Allergie gegen Pollen – so Három órába telt, mire feltakarítottam, és szénanáthám is van - pollenallergiám -, úgyhogy...

I was sneezing and blowing my nose the whole time. ||кашлял||сопел||||| ||espirrando||assoando||||| ||打喷嚏||擤||||| Ich habe die ganze Zeit niesen und mir die Nase putzen müssen.

For my flatmates, that just made it funnier… |||||||смешнее Für meine Mitbewohner machte es das nur noch lustiger…

It's the same pattern: we resolve the tension by answering the question: what did my flatmates Ugyanaz a minta: a feszültséget úgy oldjuk fel, hogy válaszolunk a kérdésre: mit csináltak a lakótársaim?

do to my room? a szobámmal?

We also find out whether I reached my goal or not (I didn't). Wir finden auch heraus, ob ich mein Ziel erreicht habe oder nicht (ich habe es nicht). Azt is megtudjuk, hogy elértem-e a célomat vagy sem (nem értem el).

Now you've seen the three stories; can you see what each one has right at the end? Jetzt haben Sie die drei Geschichten gesehen; Kannst du sehen, was jeder am Ende hat? Most, hogy láttad a három történetet, meg tudod nézni, mi van mindegyiknek a végén?

Each story ends with a retrospective comment. |||||回顾性| |||||振り返り| |||||retrospectivo| |||||ретроспективный| Jede Geschichte endet mit einem rückblickenden Kommentar.

Retrospective means ‘looking back'. Retrospektiva pomeni 'pogled nazaj'.|||

A retrospective comment tells people how you feel now about the story, or how other people

felt.

For example:

It was stressful at the time, but looking back now it makes a good story! Akkoriban stresszes volt, de most visszagondolva jó sztori lett belőle!

It was a very frightening experience. ||||aterrorizante| Nagyon ijesztő élmény volt.

For my flatmates, that just made it funnier… A lakótársaim számára ez csak még viccesebbé tette a dolgot...

You don't have to put a retrospective comment at the end of your story, but it's a good Nem kell visszatekintő megjegyzést tenned a történeted végére, de ez egy jó

way to finish.

Most of all, a retrospective comment sounds like an ending. Leginkább egy visszatekintő megjegyzés hangzik el, mint egy befejezés.

That's useful, especially if you're speaking, because it shows your listener that you've Ez hasznos, különösen, ha beszélsz, mert megmutatja a hallgatóságnak, hogy te már

finished speaking. fertig gesprochen.

Now, you need to finish your story.

Pause the video and write an ending.

Remember that you need to do two things: resolve the tension, and explain whether or not you Ne feledje, hogy két dolgot kell tennie: feloldani a feszültséget, és megmagyarázni, hogy vajon

reached your goals.

Let's review: to tell a good story, you need to: Lassen Sie uns noch einmal Revue passieren: Um eine gute Geschichte zu erzählen, müssen Sie:

- Set the scene and give some background information. defina||cenário||||| - Állítsa be a helyszínt, és adjon némi háttérinformációt.

- Establish a goal for the person or people in your story. 设定|||||||||| - Legen Sie ein Ziel für die Person oder Personen in Ihrer Geschichte fest.

- Add some tension, so that people aren't sure what will happen in the end. - Adj hozzá némi feszültséget, hogy az emberek ne legyenek biztosak abban, mi fog történni a végén.

- Finish the story and add a retrospective comment.

Of course, there are other things which are important in a story.

Adding interesting details and descriptions can make your story more lifelike. ||||||||||生动 ||||||||||リアルな ||||||||||realista Érdekes részletek és leírások hozzáadásával élethűbbé teheti a történetet.

Adding jokes and humour can improve many stories. A viccek és a humor hozzáadása sok történetet javíthat.

Giving some background on the people and their personalities can bring the people in your ||||||||||让|||| Ha némi háttérinformációt adsz az emberekről és a személyiségükről, akkor az embereket a te

stories to life. 故事||生活 történetek életre keltése.

But, nothing is more important than structure, and that's what you've seen in this lesson. Aber nichts ist wichtiger als Struktur, und das haben Sie in dieser Lektion gesehen. De semmi sem fontosabb a struktúránál, és ezt láthattad ebben a leckében.

A story without good structure isn't really a story.

Get the structure right first.

Maybe you're thinking, “I don't have the vocabulary to tell stories like that.”

Not true: I've heard very powerful stories from students who spoke very basic English.

Vocabulary doesn't make a good story.

Structure and emotion make a good story.

Focus on structure and practise what you've learned in this lesson.

You can tell great stories in English, too!

Do you have a story you'd like to share?

Please post it in the comments.

You can see the sample stories we used in this lesson in the full lesson on our website:

Oxford Online English dot com.

We also have many other free English lessons which you can watch and study from.

That's all for this lesson.

Thanks for watching!

See you next time!