Reading a personal story aloud
Reading a personal story aloud: My life in the UK
Reading aloud is shown to improve confidence and understanding. These activities have been
designed to help you practise your reading and speaking skills in an authentic way.
Take a few minutes to think about the following questions:
When did you move to the UK?
Why did you move to the UK?
Have you ever told the story of your life in the UK to anyone?
Jogita has written about her life in the UK – maybe she has had similar experiences to you, or maybe
your stories are very different.
Practise reading Jogita’s story aloud which you will find on the next page. If you would like more
practice to improve how you read aloud, try activities 1-6.
© British Council 2012
Reading a personal story aloud
Jogita’s story.
I moved to England last year in March because my mum wanted a better life for the family. My mum
had already been living in England for three months when she went back for my brother, my sister
and me. We were waiting for her while she prepared a new home for us in England.
When I arrived in England I was excited and happy, because this was my first time in the country, but,
at the same time, I was very sad. On the outside I was happy, but inside I was not, because I didn’t
want to leave all my friends. I wanted to cry but I tried to stay calm for my mum because she wanted
to see me happy.
I liked everything I saw when I came to England – the buildings, the parks and the houses. I thought
the people were friendly and always polite and smiling. People I didn’t even know smiled and said,
“Hi, is everything okay?” I really loved it here in England.
I found people my age a bit rude. I thought that teenagers felt that they were the best because they
were British and had already lived here a long time. But, I decided to stay positive and, after a while,
everything was fine.
The difference between England and Latvia is huge. England is much bigger and there are more
beautiful places than in my country, although, of course, in Latvia we have beautiful places as well.
English people are more considerate about other people, and this is why so many people move here
from other countries.
Now, I feel very good about living here. I’m used to it and I feel at home here. I like going back to visit
Latvia and see old friends, but I don’t want to live there.
I see my future in England. Now I live in a town, but one day I might like to move to a bigger city. Like
lots of my friends, I want to be a policewoman. But I will see what happens – this is just how I feel
now.
© British Council 2012
Reading a personal story aloud
Activity 1
In this activity, you will focus on vocabulary taken from Jogita’s story.
A synonym is a word which means the same as another word.
e.g. A synonym of ‘sad’ is ‘unhappy’
Match the synonyms in the box below to the words in the table.
There are two synonyms for each word).
tranquil
thoughtful
optimistic
relaxed
set up
enormous
youths
thrilled
word from Jogita’s story
1. calm
adolescents
attractive
gorgeous
exhilarated
upbeat
polite
organised
disrespectful
bad-mannered
massive
synonyms
tranquil
2. rude
3. excited
4. considerate
5. huge
6. prepared
7. positive
8. teenagers
9. beautiful
© British Council 2012
Reading a personal story aloud
Activity 2
Next, you will focus on words from Jogita’s story which have an –ed ending.
-ed endings are pronounced /d/, /t/ or /Id/, depending on the sound that comes before them.
/d/
e.g. The –ed ending in ‘turned’ is pronounced /d/
/t/
The –ed ending in ‘helped’ is pronounced /t/
/Id/
The –ed ending in ‘shouted’ is pronounced
Put the words in the box below into the table under the correct heading, according to the
pronunciation of their –ed ending.
wanted
loved
moved
smiled
ending pronounced /d/
lived
worked
excited
prepared
ending pronounced /t/
liked
arrived
decided
ending pronounced /Id/
© British Council 2012
Reading a personal story aloud
Activity 3
In natural spoken English, we don’t pronounce each syllable with the same emphasis (word stress).
For example, the word ‘student’ has two syllables, and the stress pattern is:
student
The word ‘studying’ has three syllables, and the stress pattern is:
studying
Below are some words taken from the recipe. Put them in the correct column in the table, according to
their stress pattern.
already
teenagers
future
policewoman
beautiful
because
everything
brother
although
England
excited
difference
family
decided
considerate
positive
© British Council 2012
Reading a personal story aloud
Activity 4
In spoken English, we often add extra sounds between words to link our words together. As a result,
when you listen to a continuous stream of sound of English, It is can be very difficult to identify the
individual words.
These extra linking sounds are:
/r/
e.g. Where/r/are you?
/j/ e.g. My/j/eyes are blue.
/w/
e.g. I'm going to/w/Africa.
In this activity, identify the linking sounds between individual words. The first one has been done for
you.
Cooking instruction
1. Which sound can you hear between: 'to ... England' ?
/r/
/w/

/j/
"I moved to England last year in March..."
2. Which sound can you hear between: 'year ... in' ?
"I moved to England last year in March..."
3. Which sound can you hear between: 'here ... in' ?
"My mum had already lived and worked here in England..."
4. Which sound can you hear between: 'sister ... and' ?
"...when she came back for my brother, my sister and me."
5. Which sound can you hear between: 'I ... arrived' ?
"When I arrived in England..."
6. Which sound can you hear between: 'the ... outside' ?
"On the outside, I was happy..."
7. Which sound can you hear between: 'my ... age' ?
"I found people my age a bit rude."
8. Which sound can you hear between: 'after ... a' ?
"...after a while..."
9. Which sound can you hear between:
"...there are more beautiful places..."
10. Which sound can you hear between:
'there ... are' ?
'to ... a' ?
"...one day I might like to move to a bigger city..."
11. Which sound can you hear between:
'be ... a' ?
"...I want to be a policewoman."
12. Which sound can you hear between:
'how ... I ?
"...this is just how I feel now."
© British Council 2012
Reading a personal story aloud
Activity 5
In this activity, you will put words in the right order to make phrases and sentences from the story.
Practise saying the phrases and sentences aloud at the same time.
1. moved/ I/ to England/ year…/ last
2. wanted/ better/ …my/ a/ life…/ mum
3. home/ prepared/ …she/ new/ for/ us…/ a
4. here/ I/ loved/ really/ it/ England./ in
5. rude./ I/ people/ age/ a/ found/ my/ bit
6. positive…/ I/ to/ stay/ decided
7. was/ a/ everything/ …after/ while,/ fine.
8.
I / used to it/ and/ feel/ home…/ I’m/ at
9. to/ day/ …one/ I/ like/ move…/ might
10. now./ …this/ is/ how/ just/ I/ feel
© British Council 2012
Reading a personal story aloud
Activity 6
In this activity, you will match the paragraphs from Jogita’s story to the correct headings. Try to read
each paragraph aloud as you go, paying particular attention to word stress and linking sounds.
Paragraph headings
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Why I moved to the UK
How I felt at the beginning
What I liked about England
What I found difficult
The difference between England and my country
How I feel now
The future
Paragraphs
a. When I arrived in England I was excited and happy, because this was my first time in the
country, but, at the same time, I was very sad. On the outside I was happy, but inside I was
not, because I didn’t want to leave all my friends. I wanted to cry but I tried to stay calm for my
mum because she wanted to see me happy.
b. I see my future in England. Now I live in a town, but one day I might like to move to a bigger
city. Like lots of my friends, I want to be a policewoman. But I will see what happens – this is
just how I feel now.
c. The difference between England and Latvia is huge. England is much bigger and there are
more beautiful places than in my country, although, of course, in Latvia we have beautiful
places as well. English people are more considerate about other people, and this is why so
many people move here from other countries.
d. I moved to England last year in March because my mum wanted a better life for the family. My
mum had already been living in England for three months when she went back for my brother,
my sister and me. We were waiting for her while she prepared a new home for us in England.
e. I liked everything I saw when I came to England – the buildings, the parks and the houses. I
thought the people were friendly and always polite and smiling. People I didn’t even know
smiled and said, “Hi, is everything okay?” I really loved it here in England.
f.
I found people my age a bit rude. I thought that teenagers felt that they were the best because
they were British and had already lived here a long time. But, I decided to stay positive and,
after a while, everything was fine.
g. Now, I feel very good about living here. I’m used to it and I feel at home here. I like going back
to visit Latvia and see old friends, but I don’t want to live there.
© British Council 2012
Reading a personal story aloud
Over to you:
How about writing your own story about moving to the UK. You can use the headings in Task 6 to
help you.
You could then read your story to someone you know.
You may also want to record and listen to yourself reading the stories aloud. This is a great way to
improve your speaking because you can re-record yourself as many times as you want until you are
happy with what you say.
When you are ready, email your recording to yourself or to a friend to listen to.
To record yourself speaking, visit: www.vocaroo.com
© British Council 2012
Reading a personal story aloud
Answers
Activity 1
1. calm: tranquil; relaxed
2. rude: disrespectful; bad-mannered
3. excited: thrilled; exhilarated
4. considerate: polite; thoughtful
5. huge: massive; enormous
6. prepared: set up; organized
7. positive: optimistic; upbeat
8. teenager: youths; adolescents
9. beautiful: attractive; gorgeous
Activity 2
ending pronounced /d/: moved; lived; arrived;
loved; smiled; prepared
ending pronounced /t/: liked; worked
ending pronounced /Id/: wanted; excited;
decided
Activity 3
brother
England
difference
future
because
although
beautiful
family
everything
teenagers
positive
already
excited
decided
Activity 4
1. /w/
2. /r/
3. /r/
4. /r/
5. /j/
6. /j/
7. /j/
8. /r/
9. /r/
10. /w/
11. /j/
12. /w/
Activity 5
1. I moved to England last year…
2. …my mum wanted a better life…
3. …she prepared a new home for us…
4. I really loved it here in England.
5. I found people my age a bit rude.
6. I decided to stay positive…
7. …after a while, everything was fine.
8. I’m used to it and I feel at home…
9. …one day I might like to move…
10. …this is just how I feel now.
Activity 6
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
d
a
e
f
c
g
b
considerate
policewoman
© British Council 2012