A25-POV-Tokyo Wedding Hello , I’m Joe Weiss, and I’m one of the teachers

1. A25-POV-Tokyo Wedding Hello, I’m Joe Weiss, and I’m one of the teachers and directors of Learn Real English. And today we’re going to do a point of view lesson. So first, I wanted to tell you the story from our mini-story as if it is happening right now, in the present. So let’s start.

2. There is a man and his name is Steve. And Steve has a girlfriend and her name is Yoko. And Steve and Yoko live in New York. Now Steve is from New York but Yoko is not from New York. She is from Tokyo. So Steve loves Yoko very much. So one day he asks Yoko to marry him. And Yoko also loves Steve, so she says yes. She wants to marry him. But Yoko does not want to get married in New York. She wants to get married in Tokyo.

3. So Steve and Yoko decide to get married at the Tokyo Temple in Tokyo. So two months before the wedding, Yoko catches the flight from New York to Tokyo. And her brother is a dressmaker. So the reason that she goes to Tokyo two months before the wedding is because she wants her brother to make her a dress for the wedding.

4. Well, Steve also has to go to Tokyo for the wedding, of course. So Steve buys the ticket to fly from New York to Tokyo. And he pays $1,119 for the ticket. And on the day of his flight, Steve’s cousin drives him to the airport. But Steve loses his passport before they arrive at the airport. So Steve is unable to catch the flight to Tokyo. Steve misses the flight to Tokyo because he loses his passport.

5. Well, the next week Steve gets a new passport and he buys a new plane ticket to fly from New York to Tokyo. And on the day of his flight Steve goes to the airport. And after he arrives at the airport, Steve boards the plane. But there’s a problem. Steve boards the wrong plane. Steve boards a plane that is going to Bangkok. He does not board the plane that is going to Tokyo.

6. So Steve misses the flight to Tokyo again. Instead, he catches a flight to Bangkok. Well, after he arrives in Bangkok, Steve wants to buy a ticket to fly from Bangkok to Tokyo. But Steve is unable to purchase the ticket because he’s broke. So Steve does not know what to do. But he’s a little hungry so Steve goes to a restaurant. And guess who he sees at the restaurant? Guess who he runs into?

7. He runs into Barack Obama. Yeah, BarackObama is at the restaurant with his wife, Michelle Obama. So Steve tells BarackObama that he needs to go to Tokyo but that he’s broke. So BarackObama tells Steve to swim to Tokyo. And Barack Obama gives Steve his swim suit to wear. He gives him his bathing suit, excuse me, to wear. So Steve puts on the bathing suit and then he gets in the water and he swims all the way to Tokyo. It takes him just two days.

8. And after he arrives in Tokyo, Steve is exhausted. But Steve gets out of the water and then he gets into a taxi. And he tells the taxi driver to take him to the Tokyo Temple. Remember, that’s where he is to be married. But the taxi driver does not speak English. So the taxi driver takes Steve to the Tokyo Zoo instead. So Steve gets out of the taxi and guess who he runs into at the Tokyo Zoo? His friend, Brad Pitt! Yeah, he runs into Brad Pitt at the Tokyo Zoo. Brad Pitt is at the Tokyo Zoo with his children. Well, Brad Pitt speaks fluent Japanese.

9. So Brad Pitt tells the taxi driver to take Steve to the Tokyo Temple. And then that night Steve and Yoko got married, get married, excuse me. Okay, so that’s the end of our story as I tell you the story in the present, as if it’s happening right now.

10. So next I want to tell you the story as if it’s happening sometime in the future, okay? So let’s say 15 years from now. Let’s start. 15 years from now there’s going to be a man and his name is going to be Steve. And Steve’s going to have a girlfriend and her name is going to be Yoko. And Yoko and Steve are going to live together in New York. Steve is going to be from New York but Yoko is going to be from Tokyo.

11. Well, Steve is going to love Yoko very much. So one day Steve’s going to ask Yoko to marry him. And Yoko also is going to love Steve, so Yoko is going to say yes. She’s going to want to marry him. So Steve’s going to be very happy, of course. But Yoko’s not going to want to get married in New York, no. She’s going to want to get married in Tokyo. So Steve and Yoko are going to decide to get married at the Tokyo Temple in Tokyo.

12. So two months before the wedding, Yoko’s going to catch a flight from New York to Tokyo. And Yoko’s brother is going to be a dressmaker. And he’s going to be a very good dressmaker. So the reason that Yoko is going to go to Tokyo two months before the wedding is because she’s going to want her brother to make her a dress for the wedding. Well, Steve also is going to have to go to Tokyo. So he’s going to buy a plane ticket to fly from New York to Tokyo.

13. And he’s going to pay $1,119 for the ticket. And on the day of his flight, Steve’s going to…Steve’s cousin, actually I should say, Steve’s cousin is going to drive him to the airport. But there’s going to be a problem. Steve’s going to lose his passport before getting to the airport. So Steve’s not going to catch the flight to Tokyo.

14. Steve’s going to miss the flight to Tokyo because he’s going to lose his passport, and he’s going to need his passport to fly to another country, of course. Well, the next week Steve’s going to get a new passport. And he’s going to buy a new plane ticket to fly from New York to Tokyo. And on the day of the flight, Steve’s going to go to the airport And he will arrive at the airport and then he’s going to board the plane.

15. But he’s going to board the wrong plane. Steve’s going to board a plane that is going to Bangkok. He’s not going to board the plane that is going to Tokyo. So Steve’s going to miss the flight to Tokyo a second time. Instead, he’s going to catch a flight to Bangkok. Well, Steve’s going to arrive in Bangkok and he’s going to want to purchase a ticket to fly from Bangkok to Tokyo. But Steve is going to be unable to purchase the ticket because he’s going to be broke. So Steve isn’t going to know what to do.

16. But he’s going to go to a restaurant because he’s going to be hungry. And guess who he’s going to run into at the restaurant? Barack Obama! Yeah, Barack Obama’s going to be at the restaurant with his wife, Michelle Obama. So Steve is going to tell BarackObama that he needs to go to Tokyo. But he’s going to tell Barack Obama that he’s broke. So Barack Obama’s going to tell Steve to swim to Tokyo. So Barack Obama then is going to give Steve his bathing suit to wear.

17. So Steve’s going to put the bathing suit on and then he’s going to get in the water and he’s going to swim. He’s going to swim very fast all the way to Tokyo. It’s only going to take him two days to swim to Tokyo. And he’s going to be exhausted after arriving in Tokyo. But he’s going to get out of the water and he’s going to get into a taxi. And he’s going to tell the taxi driver to take him to the Tokyo Temple, because that’s where he’s going to get married. Well, the taxi driver isn’t going to speak English.

18. So the taxi driver’s going to take him to the Tokyo Zoo. Well, Steve’s not going to want to go to the Tokyo Zoo but he’s going to get out of the car. And then guess who he’s going to run into? His friend, Brad Pitt. Yeah, Brad Pitt is going to be at the Tokyo Zoo with his children. So I have some other information for you. Brad Pitt is going to speak excellent Japanese. He’s going to speak fluent Japanese. So Brad Pitt is going to tell the taxi driver to take Steve to the Tokyo Temple.

19. And then that night Steve and Yoko are going to get married. Okay, so that’s the story as it is being told in the future. So we’re acting as if the story happens sometime in the future, 15 years in the future.

20. Now I want to change the point of view again. I want to tell you the story as if I am Steve, okay? So you have to pretend I’m Steve now. Let’s start the story. Hello, I am Steve and I have a story I want to tell you about my wife, Yoko, and I. Now at the time of this story, though, Yoko was not my wife. Yoko was my girlfriend and we lived together in New York. And I am from New York but Yoko is from Tokyo. Well, I really loved Yoko. So one day I asked Yoko to marry me.

21. And Yoko really loved me, too. So she said yes. She wanted to marry me. So Yoko did not want to get married in New York. She wanted to get married in Tokyo. So we decided to get married at the Tokyo Temple in Tokyo. Well, two months before the wedding, Yoko caught a flight from New York to Tokyo. And you may be wondering why she went to Tokyo two months before the wedding. Well, I’ll tell you why. Yoko’s brother was an excellent dressmaker.

22. So Yoko went to Tokyo two months before the wedding because she wanted her brother to make a dress for her for the wedding. Well, I also needed to go to Tokyo for the wedding, of course. So I purchased a plane ticket to fly from New York to Tokyo. And I paid $1,119 for the ticket. And on the day of my flight, on the day of the flight, my cousin took me to the airport, he drove me to the airport. But there was a problem. I had lost my passport. So I was unable to catch the flight to Tokyo.

23. I missed the flight to Tokyo because I had lost my passport and you have to have a passport to fly to another country. Well, the next week I got a new passport. And I bought a new plane ticket to fly from New York to Tokyo. And on the day of the flight, I went to the airport and after I arrived at the airport, I boarded the plane. But there was a problem.

24. I boarded a plane that was going to Bangkok. I did not board the plane that was going to Tokyo. So I boarded the wrong plane. So I did not catch the flight to Tokyo. Instead, I caught the flight to Bangkok. Well, I arrived in Bangkok and I wanted to buy a ticket to fly from Bangkok to Tokyo. But I was unable to purchase the ticket because I was broke. Yeah, I was broke. So I didn’t know what to do. I was very upset.

25. But I was also hungry so I went to a restaurant. And guess who I ran into at the restaurant? BarackObama! Yeah, BarackObama was at the restaurant with his wife, Michelle Obama. So I told BarackObama that I had to go to Tokyo but that I was broke. So Barack Obama told me to swim all the way to Tokyo. And Barack Obama gave me his bathing suit. So I put the bathing suit on and then I got in the water and I swam. I swam very fast.

26. I swam all the way to Tokyo in just two days. And I was exhausted when I arrived in Tokyo because I had just swam for two days. But I got out of the water and I got into a taxi. And I told the taxi driver to take me to the Tokyo Temple, because that’s where I was going to get married. But the taxi driver did not speak English. So he took me to the Tokyo Zoo. Well, I didn’t want to go to the Tokyo Zoo but I got out of the taxi, and then guess who I ran into at the Tokyo Zoo?

27. Brad Pitt! Brad Pitt was at the Tokyo Zoo with his children. Well, Brad Pitt spoke fluent Japanese. So he told the taxi driver to take me to the Tokyo Temple. And then that night Yoko and I got married. Okay, so that’s the end of our story being told from Steve’s point of view. Remember, I told you to pretend I was Steve.

28. So that story was told from Steve’s point of view. So that’s the third story that we’re going to hear today. And that means that we’re at the end of the point of view lesson. So I want you to listen to this lesson every day for at least one week. And I want you to not think about the grammar.

29. I just want you to listen to how each story changes and to remember when the story is taking place. You’ll hear how the story changes and then, this is a really powerful way for you to learn grammar. Okay, well that’s all for this point of view lesson. I’ll see you next time.