Full transcript
0:00hello and welcome to lovely English
0:04stories thank you for stopping by this
0:08story is for Upper Intermediate English
0:11Learners ready well let's get
0:15started B2 English story a fresh
0:22start Emma sat at her kitchen table
0:25staring at the letter in her hands the
0:28words turn termination of employment
0:32seemed to shout at her from the page
0:35after six years at the company she had
0:39been let go due to budget cuts At first
0:43she felt shocked then anger and finally
0:47a wave of panic what would she do
0:50without a steady wage how would she pay
0:53her bills let alone rebuild her
0:56life for a week Emma wallowed self-pity
1:01she binged television shows ignored her
1:04emails and avoided talking to her
1:07friends but deep down she knew this
1:10wasn't sustainable she had to take
1:13control of the
1:15situation one Saturday morning she
1:18grabbed a notebook and began planning
1:21her next
1:23steps the first thing Emma did was
1:27assess her finances she listed all her
1:30expenses rent utilities groceries and
1:34other
1:35Essentials she realized she had been
1:38spending a lot on non-essentials like
1:41takeaway food streaming subscriptions
1:44and impulsive online shopping she
1:48decided to cut back on these and create
1:50a strict
1:52budget with her savings she estimated
1:55she could survive for three months if
1:59she was
2:01careful next Emma thought about her
2:04skills and passions she had always
2:07enjoyed cooking often experimenting with
2:10recipes in her free
2:12time what if she could turn her hobby
2:16into a source of income the idea excited
2:19her and she began researching ways to
2:22start a small business from home on the
2:26small amount of spare cash she had
2:30Emma decided to try selling homemade
2:33meals in her local area she created a
2:37basic menu offering hearty soups fresh
2:40salads and baked goods using social
2:44media she advertised her services to
2:47neighbors and local groups to her
2:49surprise the response was positive
2:52within a week she had her first few
2:55orders she realized that busy working
2:58families and pension were her target
3:02audience as the weeks went by Emma found
3:06joy in her new routine she woke up early
3:09prepared meals in her tiny kitchen and
3:12delivered them with a friendly smile it
3:15wasn't easy and there were days when she
3:18felt
3:19exhausted some weeks were slower than
3:22others but she felt a sense of purpose
3:26she hadn't experienced in years
3:31One Challenge Emma faced was sticking to
3:34her budget running a business required
3:37investment in ingredients and packaging
3:41so she had to be meticulous about her
3:44spending she tracked every penny made
3:47shopping lists and took advantage of
3:50discounts and sales over time her
3:53discipline paid off and she began saving
3:56small amounts again
4:00by the third month Emma's confidence
4:02grew she expanded her menu and even
4:06started a Blog and a simple YouTube
4:09channel to share her recipes and cooking
4:11tips more orders came in and she
4:14realized she had created something
4:19sustainable looking back losing her job
4:22had been
4:24terrifying but it had also been a
4:27turning point it forced to evaluate her
4:31life take risks and discover strengths
4:34she didn't know she had she learned the
4:38importance of budgeting adaptability and
4:42perseverance as she delivered a box of
4:44freshly baked muffins to a loyal
4:47customer Emma smiled starting over had
4:51been hard but it had also been the
4:55beginning of a new and fulfilling
4:57chapter in her life
5:00now let's go through some of the upper
5:03intermediates and advanced vocabulary in
5:06this story
5:09termination termination is the act of
5:11ending something Emma was shocked by the
5:14termination of her employment the ending
5:18of her employment
5:20employment and now employment so what is
5:23that well it's the state of having a
5:25paid job usually by another organization
5:29or a company
5:31after losing her employment Emma had to
5:33find a new source of income panic panic
5:38is a sudden feeling of fear or anxiety
5:41to feel or act with sudden fear Emma
5:44felt a wave of panic when she read the
5:46letter about losing her job about the
5:49termination of her
5:51employment
5:53sustainable if something is sustainable
5:56it is able to continue for a long time
5:59without without causing harm or running
6:01out of resources she knew that avoiding
6:04her problems wasn't a sustainable
6:08solution
6:09assess assess means to evaluate or
6:13examine something carefully Emma decided
6:16to assess her
6:19finances
6:21expenses expenses are the money spent on
6:24something she wrote down all her monthly
6:27expenses
6:30utilities utilities are basic services
6:33like water electricity and gas that are
6:36needed for daily life Emma had to pay
6:40her rent and
6:42utilities Essentials Essentials are
6:45basic or necessary things so she made
6:48sure to budget for Essentials like food
6:51and Bills
6:52first impulsive means acting without
6:56thinking carefully are you impulsive
7:00Emma realized she had been making too
7:03many impulsive purchases
7:07online
7:08strict strict means following the rules
7:11or limitations very carefully she
7:15created a strict budget what's a budget
7:19well it's a plan for how money will be
7:21spent or to plan how money will be spent
7:26Emma made a budget to control her
7:28spending
7:30savings savings are money that is kept
7:34and not spent she was relieved to have
7:38some
7:40savings passions passions are strong
7:43interests or desires Emma decided to
7:47turn her passion for cooking into a
7:50business source source is the place
7:54where something comes from she needed a
7:57new source of income
8:00what's income well income is money
8:03earned from work or other means starting
8:06a business helps Emma to earn a new
8:09exciting
8:11income
8:12advertising advertising is the activity
8:15of promoting products or Services Emma
8:18used social media for advertising her
8:21homemade
8:23meals routine routine is a regular way
8:27of doing things her new business gave
8:29her a daily routine and a sense of
8:32purpose routine is probably a lower
8:34level word but still good to
8:38revise exhausted if you are exhausted
8:42you are very tired some days Emma felt
8:46exhausted from cooking and delivering
8:49orders challenge a challenge is a
8:53difficult task or problem managing her
8:56budget was a big challenge but she
8:59stayed
9:02disciplined
9:03investment investment is money time or
9:07effort that you put into something to
9:09get benefits from in the future for
9:13example she had to make a small
9:16investment in ingredients and
9:19packaging
9:20meticulous meticulous means to be very
9:24careful and detailed Emma was meticulous
9:27about tracking her expens
9:30answers
9:31sustainable sustainable means able to
9:34continue without major problems she
9:38wanted to make her new business
9:42sustainable if something is
9:44unsustainable then it is of course the
9:47opposite of
9:49sustainable confidence confidence is a
9:52feeling of trust in your own abilities
9:56after 3 months Emma's confidence in her
9:58new business
10:00grew
10:01adaptability adaptability is the ability
10:05to adjust to new
10:07situations losing her job forced Emma to
10:10develop
10:12adaptability
10:14perseverance perseverance is the ability
10:17to continue working through difficulties
10:20Emma's perseverance helped her succeed
10:23despite the challenges and for those of
10:26you that are regular listeners you'll
10:29know that really been trying to
10:32persevere with the microphone issues um
10:36but we're here and here's a new story we
10:39hope you have enjoyed it and thank you
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