Learn English with a modernized version of The Great Gatsby to improve your listening, vocabulary, and speaking skills.
Key Takeaways
- Modernizing classic literature can make it accessible for English learners at intermediate levels.
- Understanding vocabulary in context helps improve language skills effectively.
- The Great Gatsby’s themes offer rich material for learning English and cultural insights.
- Active engagement with the content (listening, repeating, commenting) enhances learning.
- Supplementary materials like simplified books support deeper comprehension.
What the video covers
- Introduction of a new series teaching English through a rewritten, modernized version of The Great Gatsby.
- The book is adapted to B1-B2 English level for easier comprehension.
- Focus on improving English listening, vocabulary, and speaking skills by following along with the story.
- Explanation of key vocabulary and phrases from the story with examples.
- Character introduction including Nick as the narrator and Gatsby as a key figure.
- Discussion of themes such as impressionability, judgment, privilege, hope, and restlessness.
- Contextual background about Nick’s family, war experience, and move to New York.
- Description of the setting including West Egg and East Egg and their social significance.
- Encouragement to engage with the channel by liking, subscribing, and commenting.
- Mention of additional resources like an easy English version of the book available on Amazon or free for channel members.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to the new series and learning method
- 03:00Advice about judging people and vocabulary explanation
- 05:26Trust, oversharing, and listening skills
- 08:15Gatsby's hope and Nick's family background
- 10:34Nick's war experience and restlessness
- 13:14Moving east and living in West Egg
- 15:54Setting description: West Egg and East Egg
- 18:32Character introductions and social dynamics
- 20:57Themes of infidelity and social appearances
- 23:15Nick’s reflections and closing remarks
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Today, I am announcing a brand new series on this channel. We are going to learn English with The Great Gatsby. Except there's a twist. The language in this book is still a bit outdated. So I have completely rewritten it for a modern
Speaker A
audience. Here's how it works. Here's how to use this video. Simply follow along to improve your English listening, vocabulary, and speaking skills. You can buy my easy English version of the book on Amazon or if you are a channel
Speaker A
member, you can get one for free and follow along at home for best results. Like, subscribe, and comment where you are watching from. Your support means the world to me. And if you want a life update from me,
Speaker A
what I've been doing, why I haven't been posting as often recently, watch till the end. Here we are at chapter 1. Now, I have adjusted the language in the story to be about B1 to B2 level on the
Speaker A
Sephur scale. So, it should be a very comfortable read for this audience. It shouldn't be too difficult. I really, really love this story. Let's go ahead and get started here. Chapter one.
Speaker A
When I was younger, I was more impressionable. That means easily influenced by others. Say that with me. Impressionable. Impressionable. Yeah. Other people can make a big impact on you and change your opinion quite easily. Okay. When he was
Speaker A
younger, he was more impressionable. Maybe he's less impressionable now. My father gave me advice that I never forgot. That I never forgot. Maybe we could say this is memorable advice. Or we could say advice that really stuck.
Speaker A
Stuck. If something sticks, then you don't forget it. All right. It sticks with you. So maybe his father gave him some words of wisdom, some wise words, some advice. Let's see what it was.
Speaker A
He warned me. Oh, gave him a warning not to judge people too quickly.
Speaker A
Don't judge people too quickly. In other words, don't make a decision about whether they are good or bad too fast.
Speaker A
Right? Not everyone had the same—here's a great word—privileges, special benefits or opportunities in life. Okay. So our main character, he is quite privileged.
Speaker A
Privileged. Privileges would be a noun. If you have privileges, then you are privileged. Right?
Speaker A
Okay. So, other people haven't been as lucky. Or maybe we could say haven't been as fortunate.
Speaker A
Just another way to say lucky, right? I took his words seriously. So, when his father was talking, he was really paying attention, really taking the words seriously, right? He wasn't messing around or joking around.
Speaker A
And they shaped the way I saw other people. Okay. Because of my father's advice, I became a good listener. Oo, very nice. That's a good quality to have, right? Being able to sit and listen to others without
Speaker A
wanting to talk yourself. People often told me their private problems. Oo, sounds like they would make almost confessions to our main character, you know, admit the things they had done, maybe the bad things they had
Speaker A
done, right? So people, because our main character is such a good listener, people really trust him. So they find him to be trustworthy.
Speaker A
They find him to be trustworthy or they think he is worthy of their trust, right? And so they tell him all of their deepest, darkest secrets, right?
Speaker A
Sometimes strangers told me things they probably should not have shared. Oo, we have a word for this.
Speaker A
Overshare. Right. If you overshare, you share too much. I usually listened without judging them.
Speaker A
So even if they overshare, he would still listen. I believed everyone had a story behind their behavior or maybe we could say, you know, a reason they were acting that way. Their behavior meaning the things they did, their actions,
Speaker A
right? Their actions. Still, I was not completely without judgment. Okay. So, he was judging them a little bit. After returning from the east, I wanted to forget what I had seen there.
Speaker A
Interesting. I wonder what he saw. This main character, I wanted life to become simpler. I had seen too many people behave badly while pretending everything was fine. There was one person I could not judge in the same way. His name was
Speaker A
J. Gatsby. Gatsby had something unusual in him. He had a powerful ability to hope. Even when his dreams seemed impossible, he continued to believe in them. Looking back, I think this was the most important thing about him.
Speaker A
Okay. So, this quality or we could say characteristic, this characteristic of Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, is very impressive to our main character.
Speaker A
And by the way, our main character's name is Nick. If you get my book, there is a guide to the different characters in the book explaining very simply who they are and what their relationships are. But our main character is Nick.
Speaker A
Okay? And Nick is talking about Gatsby, saying that Gatsby had this amazing quality, this amazing ability, an ability to hope, to not get discouraged.
Speaker A
Discouraged. Like when you lose hope, right? You get discouraged. You lose your hope. My family had been comfortable for several generations.
Speaker A
He's a generation. His parents, that's another generation. His parents' parents, that's a third generation, right? And when he says comfortable here, what do you think he means? He's not talking about, you know, lying down on a cushy sofa on a big fluffy chair.
Speaker A
Not that kind of comfortable. He's talking about money. If you say, "My family is comfortable," what most people will think is you have a good amount of money, right? Maybe you are not filthy rich.
Speaker A
Filthy rich. Maybe you are not incredibly rich, right? But you're comfortable. You have enough, maybe even more than enough, right?
Speaker A
So, he's talking about his family. He says, "We were respected people in a Midwestern city. We call this the Midwest in the United States."
Speaker A
My father had a successful business and I had grown up with many advantages. Great word, many advantages.
Speaker A
So he has certain benefits that other people do not have. That's an advantage, right? When you have something good that other people lack, they lack it or they don't have it, right? That's an advantage. After college, I went to Europe during
Speaker A
the war. Okay, Nick went to Europe during the war. He's talking about World War I.
Speaker A
Okay, maybe that's why he seems so mysterious. And he's talking about wanting to forget all of these horrible things that he's seen.
Speaker A
And he's seen people behave badly, right? Maybe he's talking about soldiers in the war doing horrible things. Seems like he has a kind of a dark past or we could say a mysterious past. Mysterious, right? We want to know more about it.
Speaker A
Okay. So when he returned or came back from the war, he felt discontented. Say that with me. Discontented.
Speaker A
Discontented. Right? Meaning not satisfied with his situation. Maybe we could also say he was feeling restless.
Speaker A
Restless like his current situation is not good enough. Maybe he wants to go somewhere else, do something else, be someone else, right? He's feeling like he can't sit still. He wants to get up and go. We call that restless.
Speaker A
The Midwest no longer seemed like the right place for me. I decided to move east to New York as we will learn and learn about the bond business. So, he's going to move across the country and learn about a new
Speaker A
business, the business of bonds. What are bonds? It's a financial term, a financial word meaning you buy and sell investments.
Speaker A
Okay. So, I planned to work in New York City. That's where he's headed. Instead, I rented a small house in West Egg. West Egg was a community on Long Island close to New York. So originally he had big
Speaker A
city dreams, right? He wanted to live in glamorous New York City. Glamorous. What's that mean? Glamorous. Maybe it seems really fancy, right? It seems like he's going to be living the high life.
Speaker A
That means living a very luxurious lifestyle, living like a rich person, right? But he ends up moving to West Egg instead.
Speaker A
So he's a bit away from
Speaker A
Okay. It was a commuting town. West Egg was, you know, a commuting town. That's a place where people live and travel to work. Maybe the big city's too expensive. You live outside of the big city in a commuting town where you can
Speaker A
make a daily commute to work. Make a daily trip to work. You know, maybe in a car, maybe on the subway, in a taxi, whatever.
Speaker A
My house was small, but I did not mind. I didn't mind. Yeah, he doesn't really care that his house is small. It was much cheaper than the huge homes around me. Oh, okay. All around him are very big homes. So, even though he lives in a
Speaker A
commuting town, maybe he lives in a nice neighborhood, right? My neighborhood had a mansion that looked almost like a palace. Oo, I wonder whose mansion he's talking about. One of the huge homes looks almost like a palace. Of course, a
Speaker A
mansion is a big fancy home, right? A palace is the home of a king. So, this huge home, this mansion is so massive, so colossal.
Speaker A
Colossal, that means really big that it looks fit for a king, right? I bet Gatsby lives there. [snorts] I knew very little about him. I wonder who he's talking about. Probably Gatsby, right? I had only heard his name. Gatsby.
Speaker A
His house was enormous. There's another great word. I'm going to connect those really big. and his property, the land that he owns, including the house, stretched down toward the water, toward the ocean, right?
Speaker A
Stretching. Stretching down. So in this context, stretch means it goes on and on and on. His property stretches on and on.
Speaker A
At night, I could sometimes see lights shining through the trees. Across the bay was East Egg. Okay.
Speaker A
There's a bay, this body of water separating West Egg and East Egg, right? It was home to people from old wealthy families.
Speaker A
Okay. So, old money. Their [snorts] money had often been passed down for generations. So he's talking about East Egg here.
Speaker A
West Egg was different. Okay. So East egg is old money. West Egg, let's hear about that. Many people there had recently become rich. Oh, key word being recently. Recently. So this is new money. West egg is new money.
Speaker A
East egg is old money. Right? New money, old money. The two places were close together, but they felt like different worlds. We could also say there was a world of difference between these two places, right? They felt like different worlds.
Speaker A
There seemed to be a world of difference between them. Just means they're really different, right? My first visit to East Egg happened because of my cousin Daisy Buchanan. Daisy was married to Tom Buchanan. I had known Tom at college
Speaker A
where he had been a powerful football player. That's kind of a funny way to say this. Powerful. I might say talented or maybe gifted football player but maybe he played with a lot of strength, a lot of power [snorts] and yes in that
Speaker A
case we can say powerful right Tom was still a large and strong man. So physically he's quite big. Okay. He had a confident way of speaking. Wow. So Tom is kind of an alpha an alpha male, right? Have you guys ever heard this
Speaker A
term alpha male? Meaning you're a big, confident, strong, manly man. Okay, so Tom, he's kind of an alpha. And Tom is married to our main character's cousin.
Speaker A
Okay, so we have Nick, that's the main character. Daisy is his cousin. And [snorts] then Tom is married to his cousin. Okay, just so we're clear.
Speaker A
[snorts] He often acted as if people should listen to him. H seems a bit arrogant.
Speaker A
Arrogant or maybe we can say superior. Thinks he's better than everyone else. Right. When I arrived at their house, Tom met me outside. Their home was enormous. Another big one. And beautiful. If it's really beautiful, we could call it stunning. A stunning home,
Speaker A
right? Everything [snorts] about it showed their wealth. Ah, great. So, they are really flaunting their wealth. That's a great verb. If a rich person flaunts their wealth, that just means they like to show off or they like to brag. Okay?
Speaker A
They want other people to be jealous of them and their money. So, you know, Tom and Daisy, but especially Tom, I think they're a bit showboaty.
Speaker A
showboat, which means they like to flaunt it, show off brag. Okay. [snorts] Inside their home, I met Daisy and Jordan Baker. Okay. So, we're going to meet somebody else here as well. Daisy was my cousin. She was charming and
Speaker A
friendly, but I noticed sadness behind her smile. Oh, so to Daisy there is more than meets what am I going to write? Do you guys know? Do you know this expression?
Speaker A
There's more than meets the eye. In other words, she has some depth to her.
Speaker A
There are layers to her. She looks happy, right? She looks charming. She can charm people. She's very charismatic. She's good with people.
Speaker A
She's very friendly, very nice. But behind that, there's something deeper. I guess we're going to learn about that later huh?
Speaker A
Jordan was a professional golfer. Okay. She was quiet and confident. We sat together and talked.
Speaker A
Tom soon began speaking about a book he had been reading. Okay, here comes Tom.
Speaker A
He said that civilization was in danger. His ideas were racist. Uh-oh. And I found them disturbing.
Speaker A
What's another way we could say this? Disturbing. Uh maybe our main character, Nick, was very bothered.
Speaker A
very bothered by Tom's ideas. So if Tom is racist, he thinks that some colors of people are worse than other colors of people. Maybe he thinks white people are superior to brown people or something like this. He has some disturbing ideas
Speaker A
that bother our main character. Daisy tried to make fun of him. She did not seem to take him seriously.
Speaker A
It seems like Tom takes himself very seriously. Right. [snorts] But Daisy does not. She does not find him as impressive as he finds himself. Right.
Speaker A
Daisy raised her eyebrows at me. Maybe, you know, she's kind of mocking Tom. Tom has discovered a new danger, she said lightly. Okay, so she's kind of poking fun at Tom. Tom is talking about some racist thing he read in a book.
Speaker A
Daisy's making fun of him. Jordan hid a smile. Okay, so Jordan is kind of secretly laughing along.
Speaker A
Tom didn't notice the joke. He kept talking louder than before. The room was beautiful, but the conversation felt less comfortable with every sentence. So, we have kind of a contrast here. A contrast is a difference between two things. Here's thing one. Here
Speaker A
things here's thing two. And you know, they're not they're not mixing, right? They're not going together well. And the contrast here is uh Nick, Tom, Jordan, and Daisy. They're all sitting around in a beautiful room in a beautiful house,
Speaker A
but the conversation is ugly, right? So, it's like they have these amazing things, but they can't enjoy them because of a personality, right? So, there's a bit of irony here.
Speaker A
It's a bit ironic. Tom continued, "Anyway, even though people are feeling a bit of discomfort or they're feeling uncomfortable." Then the telephone rang. Tom went inside to answer it. He went into a different room to take the call, accept the call.
Speaker A
Right? The mood in the room changed. Maybe we could say there was a vibe shift.
Speaker A
[laughter] The vibe in the room changed. The feeling changed. Right. I did not know who was calling. [clears throat] Soon I understood it was another woman.
Speaker A
Okay, we're getting an idea of what's going on here. Tom snuck off to a different room to take a phone call.
Speaker A
Right, Tom's Oh, here's a great word, you guys. Infidelity. Say that with me. [snorts] Infidelity.
Speaker A
Infidelity. Okay, that's being unfaithful to a partner. In other words, cheating. Cheating on a partner. Okay. His infidelity was now impossible to ignore.
Speaker A
It's kind of the what am I going to say here? Do you know this expression? The elephant in the room, right? Elephant in the room. Impossible to ignore, [snorts] especially socially, right? If you're with a group of people and there's
Speaker A
something that everyone's thinking but no one is saying, we call that the elephant in the room. In this case, Tom is a cheater. Daisy knew about it. Okay.
Speaker A
So, his wife knows. She tried to pretend that everything was normal. So, she's faking it, right? I think we are starting to understand the sadness behind her smile, right? We're starting to understand her layers.
Speaker A
Later, Jordan and I were alone for a moment. She told me that Tom's mistress, ooh, the other woman Tom is seeing, his mistress, lived in New York. Oh, she lives in the city. I was surprised by how openly
Speaker A
people accepted the situation. Ah, this is an interesting part of the story, right? Because Nick can't really believe what he's hearing and how people are behaving.
Speaker A
And remember the beginning of this book, he's trying not to judge them, right? But it's probably difficult not to judge these people, especially Tom, right?
Speaker A
Because he's a bad guy. He's he's doing a a nasty thing, right? But people know about the situation and they openly accept it, even openly speak about it.
Speaker A
Openly here, meaning they're not sneaking around, they're not hiding it, right? It's all out in the open.
Speaker A
Tom was married to Daisy, but he did not seem ashamed. Ooh, he's got no shame.
Speaker A
Daisy knew what he was doing. Yet, she stayed with him. She didn't leave him because of his what? Because of his infidelity.
Speaker A
Because of his cheating behaviors. Right. Uh, after dinner, Daisy and I talked privately. Okay, in private. She seemed unhappy.
Speaker A
She told me that she had been having a rough time. We could also say a tough time or a rough a rough go of it. Have you guys heard that before? Yeah, he's having a pretty rough go of it right
Speaker A
now. That means recently he's been dealing with a a difficult situation. Times are tough.
Speaker A
Times are hard. Right. She also talked about her young daughter. Oh, Daisy said something that surprised me. She hoped her daughter would grow up beautiful and foolish.
Speaker A
Okay, that is surprising, right? Of course, you want your daughter to be beautiful or attractive or good-looking.
Speaker A
But foolish, that's interesting. Foolish meaning, you know, you make [snorts] poor decisions or make bad decisions. I wonder why. Let's keep reading. [gasps] She seemed to believe that women had easier lives when they understood less.
Speaker A
Whoa. So she thinks the less a woman understands the better life she will have.
Speaker A
Interesting theory. Interesting idea there. Uh her words sounded like a joke. So Nick thought she was joking, right?
Speaker A
But I sensed something serious underneath them. So maybe she's only halfway joking. She's only half joking, right? Or partly joking.
Speaker A
[snorts] Daisy had married Tom because he was wealthy and powerful. Okay, influential. He has influence. He has sway. We can also say if someone has sway, then they can sway situations.
Speaker A
Okay? They can turn the tides of events. Okay. In other words, he uh yeah, he's a powerful guy. Yet, she did not seem happy with her life. So, she's got money. She's got a powerful husband, but she seems unhappy.
Speaker A
Could be the infidelity, right? Tom soon returned and the conversation changed. Okay. The topic of conversation, I bet, quickly changed.
Speaker A
Before I left, Tom and Daisy asked about a rumor they had heard. Rumor, maybe we could also say gossip.
Speaker A
Gossip could be true, could be fake, something that someone is spreading around, right? Someone had told them I was engaged to a woman back home.
Speaker A
engaged, meaning you are getting ready to get married. Okay, you have proposed and you are planning to become husband and wife. They're like, "Is this true?
Speaker A
We heard this rumor. Are you really engaged to a woman back home in the Midwest where he's from?" Right? I told them it was not true.
Speaker A
When I drove home, I felt confused about the people I had just visited. They had money, a beautiful house, and every comfort they could want. Yet, this just means but, right? Their marriage was unhappy.
Speaker A
When I reached West Egg, I saw that my neighbor's house was dark. Is this Gatsby's house? [snorts] I walked toward my own house.
Speaker A
Then I noticed someone standing on Gatsby's lawn. The lawn is like the grass outside of your house.
Speaker A
It was the man himself. He saw Gatsby. Ooh, so mysterious. Standing there in the dark at night. I had never spoken to him before. He stood alone and looked across the water. So he is gazing where? Gazing into East Egg I suppose.
Speaker A
Okay. I followed his gaze. So Nick is looking where Gatsby is looking. Right. At the end of a distant dock where you keep your boat.
Speaker A
And distant meaning far away. I could see a small green light. Guys, this is a very famous detail about this story. The green light across the bay. This mysterious light that Gatsby is so interested in, so obsessed with. Gatsby
Speaker A
slowly raised his arms toward it. So, he's like reaching toward the light. [snorts] The bay was almost black and the light looked tiny from my lawn. Gatsby did not move for several seconds. His arms remained stretched toward the water.
Speaker A
Then he lowered them slowly as if the light had moved farther away. Whoa, what a mysterious guy. I thought Nick was mysterious. Gatsby is way more mysterious.
Speaker A
For a moment, he seemed completely focused on that light. What's another way we could say focused?
Speaker A
Maybe tuned into. He's totally tuned into this light. Uh he's totally absorbed in this light.
Speaker A
Totally preoccupied. Preoccupied. really paying attention to that light, right? I thought about calling to him. Hey, neighbor. It's a bad idea. But I decided not to interrupt him.
Speaker A
Not to maybe we could say not to disturb or bother him. Right? So Nick just wants to observe. [snorts] Observe. just wants to watch and see what happens because he's kind of fascinated by this character.
Speaker A
Then Gatsby disappeared into the darkness. I did not understand what he wanted. I did not know why the green light mattered to him. Why did it matter? Why was it important to him?
Speaker A
Right? [snorts] I only knew that something about the scene stayed with me. The scene, the image, the picture, the mental picture of Gatsby reaching for that light, right? It stayed with Nick. It It had an effect on him.
Speaker A
At the time, Gatsby was still a stranger. I knew nothing about his past. I did not know why he lived in such a huge house. I did not know why he held such enormous parties. I did not know
Speaker A
why he spent so much time looking across the water, gazing across the bay. I only knew that he seemed different from the other wealthy people I had met. There was something hopeful about him. Yeah, he's got a lot of hope. Remember, there
Speaker A
was also something lonely. He seems very isolated. That's a great word for you. Isolated, all alone. I went inside my house and thought about the evening. He had a think about it. He molded over.
Speaker A
Yeah, he thought about it. He molded over. Or he pondered. Yeah. kind of thoughtfully, right? Uh everything he had experienced that evening.
Speaker A
I had moved east because I wanted a new life. Maybe we could say a fresh start.
Speaker A
He wanted a clean start. A fresh start, right? [snorts] Instead, I had entered a world full of wealth, money, secrets, and unhappy relationships.
Speaker A
I did not yet know how important Gatsby would become to me, so eventually Gatsby will become quite important to Nick. I only knew that I had seen him reaching toward that green light and somehow I felt that the light was connected to
Speaker A
everything he wanted. So this mysterious green light across the bay, it's really meaningful and it's connected to the things that Gatsby wants. That's the way that Nick feels, right? That's his hunch.
Speaker A
His hunch. What's a hunch? Kind of like a guess. That's his guess, right? In hindsight. Oh, here's a great expression.
Speaker A
In other words, looking back, right? Considering the past with later knowledge. I see a warning in that evening. I had come east looking for work and excitement. instead. I found a beautiful house filled with tension.
Speaker A
Maybe we can say anxiety. It's very tense in there. I found a marriage full of secrets. I also found a stranger reaching into the dark. Yeah, we're almost done with chapter 1, guys.
Speaker A
Keep pushing. We're almost there. The war had made ordinary life feel too quiet. ordinary life, normal life, normal times, right? The excitement in the tumult, [snorts] the tumult, maybe we could say, the chaos of the war. That put everything in
Speaker A
perspective. Now, normal life doesn't feel exciting enough, right? New York promised movement. West Egg promised something new. I liked my small house. It gave me distance from the huge homes around me. Maybe it feels like a little sanctuary.
Speaker A
A sanctuary to Nick. A sanctuary. That's a great word meaning a safe place where you feel protected. Right. I thought I could watch this world without becoming part of it. Ah, so Nick thinks that from the safety of his house, his little
Speaker A
home, he can get that excitement that he's looking for, right? And maybe he won't need to become a part of that excitement, right? He he won't need to get caught up in the gossip involved in the rumors and and all of the, you know,
Speaker A
problems that these people have. That's his plan. That's his idea. But that idea did not last long. Daisy's smile stayed in my mind. So did Tom's hard voice and Jordan's calm eyes.
Speaker A
They all seemed comfortable, but none of them seemed peaceful. Their money made life easier. It did not make them honest. They don't tell the truth.
Speaker A
They're not upright people. If you are an upright person, then you are a moral person, right? You have good morals. You do the right thing.
Speaker A
I had expected the East to feel modern and free. Instead, one dinner had already shown me old power, old money, and new secrets. I was curious enough to keep watching.
Speaker A
Then there was Gatsby. I knew almost nothing about him. Almost nothing. Though we can also say practically I knew practically nothing about him. Or maybe we could say basically nothing.
Speaker A
Virtually nothing. Virtually nothing. Yet the sight of him stayed with me. He had not been drinking or laughing with anyone. He was all alone, all isolated, right? He was alone beside his enormous house, reaching toward one small green
Speaker A
light. Last page, guys. I went inside and closed my door. Shut the door right across the lawn. Gatsby's house disappeared into darkness.
Speaker A
So now, you know, night has really come. Darkness has fallen. across the bay. The green light remained or it stayed. It's still there. I did not know what it meant. I only knew Gatsby wanted something badly, or maybe we could say
Speaker A
desperately. [snorts] He was willing to stand alone and reach for it. The night felt quiet again, but it no longer felt empty.
Speaker A
Somewhere nearby, other lives were already moving toward mine. Ooh, I love that line. That's so poetic and so mysterious.
Speaker A
Other lives were already moving toward mine. So something has begun. Something big is already we can say in motion.
Speaker A
That means it has already started, right? I knew the summer had only begun. I did not know where it would lead. Okay, fantastic.
Speaker A
Now, in this book that I have created, okay, at the end of each chapter, there will be a chapter summary, simple chapter summary to make sure you understand what is going on in this story. There will also be a vocab
Speaker A
breakdown. Let's take a quick look at the summary here. I move to West Egg.
Speaker A
Nick did. And uh I move to West Egg and visit Daisy and Tom in East Egg. I discover Tom's affair. Okay. His infidelity.
Speaker A
Then see my mysterious neighbor Gatsby reaching toward a green light across the bay. Let's take a look at some words, some really good words from this chapter. Okay. Impressionable is a great word. Easily influenced. Here's a great synonym. Okay. Susceptible.
Speaker A
Okay. Uh we could also maybe say gullible. Gullible. An antonym meaning an opposite word maybe uninfluenced.
Speaker A
Okay. So I was impressionable. When I first entered the wealthy world of the east, people had a big impression on me.
Speaker A
you know uh they were able to change my mind very easily I was impressionable discontented let's remember this word not satisfied with your current situation so after the war I felt discontented with ordinary life maybe dissatisfied would be a good synonym
Speaker A
there dissatisfied the opposite would be content right you're happy with how things are talked about infidelity a lot. Tom's infidelity was already damaging his unfaithfulness, right, was damaging to his marriage. It was damaging. It was hurting his marriage. Privileges was another great
Speaker A
word. Uh benefits, right? Uh opportunities not available to everyone. That's a great way to think about it there. Disadvantages would be an antonyym. Okay. So, my family background gave me privileges that others did not have. And last, I'm going to include uh
Speaker A
one expression or idiom in each of the vocab breakdowns as well. So, in this chapter, we have in hindsight. That's a great expression. It means looking back.
Speaker A
Uh we can also say in retrospect. In retrospect, that means looking back, right? In retrospect, in hindsight, I could see warnings I had missed that evening.
Speaker A
[snorts] Guys, if you made it all the way through chapter 1, give yourself a round of applause. Give yourself, can you hear that? A pat on the back. You did a great job. Uh, I feel really good about this book. I think the difficulty
Speaker A
will be just right and I was able to add some fantastic vocabulary words into the story, make the story a bit simpler while still maintaining the pleasure of reading the story because it really is a great book and I really am excited to
Speaker A
keep going with you guys. So, if you want to see chapter 2, make sure you like this video. If the video can get 1,000 likes, I will make chapter 2. Also, if you want a copy of the book,
Speaker A
don't forget to become a channel member. Now, becoming a member, that's only $1 a month. It's the best deal on the internet for learning English. I can guarantee you because not only will you get a copy of this entire book, but you
Speaker A
will also get access to 40 bonus videos. That is countless hours of extra content, extra videos that the public cannot see. And more than all of that, you know, you will be supporting me as your YouTube English teacher. [snorts]
Speaker A
And without my channel members, I mean this, I could not keep going. I need the support of my members in order to make these videos. You know, I'm just one person doing everything. So, to my members, thank you guys so much. I love
Speaker A
you. I love you. And thanks so much for your support. Now, for a quick update about my life, guys. I know I haven't been posting much recently. Uh my last post was members only. That was a couple weeks ago. My last public post was a
Speaker A
month ago. And the reason for that is I've started a new job. I'm working uh in a school as a full-time teacher. So, it's been a lot of work. It's been a big rejustment, meaning I've had to make a lot of
Speaker A
changes in my schedule. You know, I used to have a very specific routine. Things I would do in the morning, afternoon, and night. I can't do those the same way anymore. I have to change things. I have to switch it up.
Speaker A
Switch it up. Yeah. make a change, do something new. So, my plan is to do one video a week. I know I can do at least one video a week, maybe two, but I'm still feeling it out. Feeling it out.
Speaker A
Yeah, I'm still getting a feel for my job and how much free time I have. So, I apologize for not posting more. I miss you guys. I hope you're doing well. How about you let me know down in the
Speaker A
comments what does life look like for you recently? What's something you've been doing? What have you been up to recently? Share with me in the comments.
Speaker A
I would love to connect with you guys. And I will see you next time. Bye-bye.
Topics:Learn EnglishThe Great GatsbyEnglish listening practiceEnglish vocabularyEnglish speaking skillsIntermediate EnglishB1 B2 EnglishEnglish literatureClassic booksEnglish is EZ











