oCoder Education - English listening Audios are suitable for learners with different levels of English. Here are some ways to make them easier (if you have a lower level of English) or more difficult (if you have a higher level of English).
You can choose one or two of these suggestions – you don't have to follow all of them!
Making it easier
Read all the exercises before you listen to the audio.
Look up the words in the exercises that you don't know or don't understand in a dictionary.
Play the audio as many times as you need.
Play each part of the audio separately.
Answer all questions in the exercise.
Read the transcript after you have listened to the audio.
Making it harder
Listen to the audio before you read the exercises.
Only play the audio once before answering the questions.
Play the whole audio without a break.
Don't read the transcript.
Now, listen to the audio and do the exercises on the following tabs.
If you do not complete all the question, you can play the audio again.
After that, read the dialog to make sure that you understand all word in the audio.
Why was Yoichi unhappy?
His father died.
His wife was jealous.
He had to pay high taxes.
He had to work hard.
Why did the lord want to give Yoichi a present?
To encourage Yoichi to pay more taxes
To show he felt sorry for Yoichi's father
To reward Yoichi for hard work
To help Yoichi make his wife happy
Why did Yoichi keep looking in the box?
He looked like his father.
He wanted to fool his wife.
He was lazy.
He wanted his wife to see his father.
Why did Yoichi's wife think he was seeing another woman?
She followed him to the shed.
She saw her own face in the mirror.
She thought he was hiding money.
She thought he bought a gift for a woman.
4
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This is a Japanese folk tale.
Um, once upon a time, there was a father called Yasokichi and son Yoichi, and his wife Solmay, lived... in a small village in Japan long long time ago.
And they they were very very hard working, very very conscientious.
So the lord was very very happy... Because they gave the lord lots and lots of food, and um didn't miss any tax payment.
One day, Yoichi's father died.
And he was very very sad.
Yet he worked very hard.
And lord was very happy again.
But lord felt very very_ very very sorry for Yoichi, because he was so um sad about his fathers death.
So one day, the lord called him, called um Yoichi to his palace, or castle.
And um he told um Yoichi "Yoichi, you have been ve- working very hard, and I want to give you some reward, anything you want, I'll give it to you." Yoichi thinks about a bit, and he goes "I want to see my father..." And the lord goes "okay, you'll see you'll see your father..." And lord gave him, a box.
And the lord told uh Yoichi that "yo- you have to put the box_ only you can see it.
Don't show it to any other person." So Yoichi was very very happy, and, he took that and hid it to a shed_ hi- hid that in the shed behind his own house.
And ever since then, Yoichi used to go to the shed... every day, every afternoon, for half hour.
And his wife, Solmay, started to feel strange. "Why is my husband going everyday, to the shed.
And coming back.
Shish I wonder what he is doing." And one day, Solmay decided to follow him and check on him... So when um Yoichi was working out in the field, Solmay secretly went to the shed, and opened the box... And she thought_ she realized what he has been doing. "yes, he was seeing another woman." Because she saw in the box a woman's face.
Of course, what the lord had given Yoichi in the box was something that was a rare treasure at that time... a mirror.