Learning English

(Photo: Getty).

_____________________________________

Follow the Learning English Stories podcast

Learn more about Christmas

_____________________________________

Beth and Neil share their real stories about Christmas. Beth tries to start a new Christmas tradition and Neil has some trouble with his car on Christmas Eve.

Transcript

Pippa
Hello and welcome to the Learning English Stories podcast. This festive season, we're sharing some of our own stories from this time of year. So, get cosy by the fire, grab a mug of hot chocolate and get ready for some wintry tales.

Hello. I'm Pippa and welcome to Christmas Stories. In this series, we tell real stories about Christmas, New Year and the festive season. Today, our stories come from Beth.

Beth
Hello.

Pippa
And Neil.

Neil
Hi.

Pippa
So Beth and Neil, can you tell us about your story in three words?

Beth
Ooh. Ouch, skating, embarrassing.

Neil
Wrong tool and failure.

Pippa
OK, I am intrigued. Let's start with you, Beth. Can you tell us your Christmas story, please?

Beth
OK, so my best friend and I went ice skating. We decided that we were going to have a Christmas tradition and we thought, yeah, why not make it ice skating?

So we were really bad at the beginning, we were like clinging onto the sides, feeling quite nervous. But then towards the end, we were getting quite good. And in fact, I thought, yeah, I'm really good, I can go fast. A bit of showing off.

And my friend decided to get her phone out to film how great we were doing at ice skating. So, yeah, I was going quite fast. I thought I looked really cool. And then I looked at the camera and I tripped and I smashed both of my knees onto the ice.

So first aid people came over. I was put in a wheelchair, taken off the ice and I had to go to A&E. And everyone was asking me what happened, but my friend had been recording me. So she was telling everyone, “I have the video. Do you want to see?” And everybody really wanted to watch and they all found it quite funny.

So I was in pain. They were looking at my legs and they thought that I had broken both of my knees, but they were all quite enjoying this video.

Anyway, got to A&E, and all of the people in the waiting room were shown this video by my friend of me falling over on the ice. I went in to get an X-ray and when I came out of the X-ray, I saw the nurses and they were gathered round my friend, laughing, watching this video of me falling over.

And in the end. It was OK. I didn't break my knees. I was on crutches for about two or three weeks, including over Christmas. So, ice skating has definitely not become our tradition.

Pippa
Oh no, Beth! That’s a really sad story. Can you laugh at the video now? Do you find it funny?

Beth
I can, but I also don't find it that funny that everyone was laughing at this video of me because I really hurt myself, but it is quite funny. And when my friend talks about it she still laughs a lot because she still finds the whole thing quite funny.

Neil
Can we get this video on our website, please?

Beth
Yes. I definitely, I have a copy of it and I'll show you all. And maybe we can get it on the website.

Pippa
OK, I enjoyed your story, Beth. Thank you very much. Neil, I think it's time to hear your Christmas story, please.

Neil
Yes, OK. Are you ready?

It was just a few days before Christmas. I had just one day of work left and I was planning to go to spend Christmas with my parents in the west of England. But, unfortunately, that morning, I discovered that the battery in my car had gone flat, stopped working.

So, I’d just bought all of my Christmas presents for everyone in the family and so I didn't really have any money and so I didn't want to spend money on a replacement battery.

I told one of my colleagues what had happened and she said to me, “Oh, that's OK. You don't need to buy a new battery. I've got a charger, a battery charger for a car, and I will bring that in. You can borrow it.”

And I thought, fantastic. So she brought in this big piece of electrical equipment in a plastic bag and handed it over and I bought her a drink to say thank you after work and I went home and I put the bag down by the front door. And I didn't look at it or anything.

And I just started packing my bags for my trip on Christmas Eve, the next day. And I didn't really get up early or I wasn't in a rush at all. In fact, I was quite relaxed. And later on, I regretted that very much.

So, after my nice sort of leisurely breakfast, I thought I'd better start charging this battery so that the car works for me to drive down that afternoon. So I picked up the bag with the charger in it, I went outside.

I opened up the car bonnet and then I took out the charger from the bag. And it didn't look like any kind of charger for a battery that I've never seen before. In fact, it looked really like a power saw. And as I looked at it more and more closely, I realised that that's because it was not a battery charger, it was in fact, a power saw.

But in that moment, I could see that my Christmas was going to be a complete disaster because I wouldn't be able to drive down to visit my parents and so I had a little bit of hope that this power saw would work as a battery charger and I even sort of held it against the battery to see if it would work, but obviously it didn't.

I didn't have the right kind of insurance for somebody to come and fix my car at my house and things were closing because it was Christmas Eve. So my only chance was to go and buy a battery from a shop and there was a shop quite far away.

I kind of ran down there to get to the shop on time, which I did. And then I realised that car batteries are very, very heavy and I waited ages for a bus and then I couldn't get on the bus because it was so full.

So I had to walk home carrying this enormous, really heavy battery, sweating. And then I got back and I opened the car bonnet again. I realised at that stage that I had absolutely no idea how to change a car battery. And that also the one that was in the car at that time was so old and rusted, that it kind of needed to be forcibly removed.

I kind of worked it out but t was very unstable and I was convinced that all the way on this journey that my car was about to explode at any moment.

But I did get there. I did get to my parents’ house late on Christmas Eve and when I got in, I sent a lovely text message to my friend saying, “Thanks for the battery charger. You saved my Christmas.”

Pippa
Did you ever tell her? Did you ever tell her that she'd given you a power saw and not a charger? Did they ever come out that she'sd ruined your Christmas, not saved it?

Neil
I did eventually, yes. She thought it was very funny and I thought it was very funny soon afterwards. But at the time I thought this was the most ridiculous thing.

Beth
But it seems completely crazy that you actually kind of managed to fit it. And you drove the car, like, without it breaking down. Like, did you have to take it to the garage to get it fitted properly? Or was it just OK?

Neil
Interestingly, I sold that car to a colleague and they took it for a service. And they said, “Who put this battery in?!”

Pippa
Well, Neil, I'm glad you made it to your parents’ house and it's kind of a couple of Christmas disaster stories there, really. So I hope that those listening don't have any Christmas disasters this year.

That's it for this episode, but next week, we'll be hearing two more Christmas stories. Find all our stories and dramas on our website: bbclearningenglish.com

Bye for now.

Beth
Bye.

Neil
Bye.