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854. The Invitation (Learn English with a Short Story)

Luke's English Podcast・54 minutes read

The protagonist mistakenly visits the wrong house for a family dinner party, spending the evening with strangers posing as relatives, leading to a mysterious and eerie encounter. The story highlights the confusion and escape of the protagonist, emphasizing practical vocabulary and phrasal verbs in a detailed account of the mistaken visit.

Insights

  • The narrator receives an unexpected dinner party invitation from a cousin they have never met in person.
  • Despite challenges in locating the remote house due to poor phone reception and lack of road signs, the narrator uses a paper map to find the address.
  • Mistakenly entering what he believes is his cousin's house, the narrator is warmly welcomed by strangers posing as his aunt and uncle.
  • The hosts exhibit odd behavior, urging the narrator to stay the night even as the cousin fails to arrive.
  • Feeling uneasy, the narrator abruptly leaves, driving back through the night, only to realize later that they likely visited the wrong house.
  • The story emphasizes the eerie experience of unknowingly interacting with strangers who convincingly impersonate familiar relatives, leading to a revelation of mistaken identity.

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Recent questions

  • What is the story about?

    The story revolves around a protagonist receiving an invitation to a dinner party at a cousin's house, where they end up mistakenly visiting the wrong house and spending the evening with strangers pretending to be their family.

  • Who welcomed the protagonist?

    The protagonist was warmly welcomed by people they assumed were their aunt and uncle when they arrived at the house.

  • What did the protagonist notice about the hosts?

    The protagonist noticed odd behavior from the hosts, including strange excitement and eagerness for them to stay the night.

  • How did the protagonist leave?

    Feeling uneasy, the protagonist left abruptly when the hosts went to get bed sheets and pillows, deciding to drive back through the night to find their way home.

  • What did the protagonist's mother reveal?

    Upon returning home, the protagonist's mother was surprised as she had not received any calls from the aunt about the visit, leading to the realization that the protagonist had likely gone to the wrong house.

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Summary

00:00

"Wrong House: Dinner with Impostors"

  • The story is about receiving an invitation to a dinner party at a cousin's house, whom the narrator had never met in person.
  • The address was in a remote location, challenging to find due to poor phone reception and lack of road signs, forcing the use of a paper map.
  • Upon reaching what he thought was the right house, the narrator was warmly welcomed by people he assumed were his aunt and uncle.
  • The narrator spent time with them, discussing family and enjoying a meal, but noticed odd behavior from the hosts.
  • As night fell and the cousin didn't arrive, the narrator decided to leave, despite the hosts insisting he stay the night.
  • Feeling uneasy, the narrator left abruptly, driving back through the night to find his way home.
  • Upon returning home, the narrator's mother was surprised as she had not received any calls from the aunt about his visit.
  • The twist in the story reveals that the narrator had likely gone to the wrong house, spending the evening with strangers pretending to be his family.
  • The hosts' strange behavior, eagerness for him to stay, and the absence of his actual family members hint at the mistaken identity.
  • The story highlights the eerie experience of unknowingly interacting with strangers who convincingly pose as familiar relatives.

17:04

Grammar Essentials: Past and Present Tenses

  • them or if someone comes to your house you would open the door and greet them so to greet someone is just to say hello to them to welcome them so my aunt and uncle came out to greet me they came out to say hello to me to welcome me okay so that's the end of the vocabulary section let's move on to the grammar section now okay so the first slide here is about the past simple and the past continuous so the past simple is used to describe completed actions in the past for example I drove for quite a long time trying to locate the address I had marked on the map so drove is the past simple of drive right I drove for quite a long time trying to locate the address so that's a completed action in the past and then the past continuous is used to describe actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past for example as I was driving I started to notice how far I'd traveled into the countryside so as I was driving that's the past continuous it's describing an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past okay so the past simple and the past continuous are often used together to describe a sequence of events in the past so in this case I drove for quite a long time trying to locate the address I had marked on the map as I was driving I started to notice how far I'd traveled into the countryside so you've got the past simple and the past continuous used together to describe a sequence of events in the past okay moving on to the next slide we've got the present perfect and the past simple so the present perfect is used to describe actions that happened at an unspecified time in the past or actions that have a connection to the present for example I'd never ventured out so far in that direction before so I'd never ventured out that's the present perfect it's describing an action that happened at an unspecified time in the past or an action that has a connection to the present and then the past simple is used to describe completed actions in the past for example I saw trees farms and fields passing by so saw is the past simple of see it's describing a completed action in the past so the present perfect and the past simple are often used together to describe a sequence of events in the past so in this case I'd never ventured out so far in that direction before I saw trees farms and fields passing by so you've got the present perfect and the past simple used together to describe a sequence of events in the past okay moving on to the next slide we've got the past perfect so the past perfect is used to describe actions that happened before a specific time in the past for example I just had to try to match the layout of the streets to the layout I could see on the map so had tried is the past perfect it's describing an action that happened before a specific time in the past so the past perfect is often used to describe actions that happened before another action in the past for example I just had to try to match the layout of the streets to the layout I could see on the map before I set off in my car so you've got the past perfect used to describe an action that happened before another action in the past okay moving on to the next slide we've got the past simple passive so the past simple passive is used to describe actions that were done to the subject for example the house was completely covered in leaves branches and overgrown trees so was covered is the past simple passive it's describing an action that was done to the subject the house in this case so the past simple passive is often used to describe actions that were done to the subject without mentioning who did them for example the house was completely covered in leaves branches and overgrown trees so you've got the past simple passive used to describe an action that was done to the subject without mentioning who did it okay moving on to the next slide we've got the past simple and the past perfect so the past simple is used to describe completed actions in the past for example I just wanted to highlight the use of the hell in that question where the hell am I going so wanted is the past simple of want it's describing a completed action in the past and then the past perfect is used to describe actions that happened before a specific time in the past for example I'd never ventured out so far in that direction before so had ventured is the past perfect it's describing an action that happened before a specific time in the past so the past simple and the past perfect are often used together to describe a sequence of events in the past for example I just wanted to highlight the use of the hell in that question where the hell am I going I'd never ventured out so far in that direction before so you've got the past simple and the past perfect used together to describe a sequence of events in the past okay moving on to the next slide we've got the past simple and the past continuous so the past simple is used to describe completed actions in the past for example I drove for quite a long time trying to locate the address I had marked on the map so drove is the past simple of drive it's describing a completed action in the past and then the past continuous is used to describe actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past for example as I was driving I started to notice how far I'd traveled into the countryside so as I was driving that's the past continuous it's describing an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past so the past simple and the past continuous are often used together to describe a sequence of events in the past for example I drove for quite a long time trying to locate the address I had marked on the map as I was driving I started to notice how far I'd traveled into the countryside so you've got the past simple and the past continuous used together to describe a sequence of events in the past okay moving on to the next slide we've got the present perfect and the past simple so the present perfect is used to describe actions that happened at an unspecified time in the past or actions that have a connection to the present for example I'd never ventured out so far in that direction before so I'd never ventured out that's the present perfect it's describing an action that happened at an unspecified time in the past or an action that has a connection to the present and then the past simple is used to describe completed actions in the past for example I saw trees farms and fields passing by so saw is the past simple of see it's describing a completed action in the past so the present perfect and the past simple are often used together to describe a sequence of events in the past for example I'd never ventured out so far in that direction before I saw trees farms and fields passing by so you've got the present perfect and the past simple used together to describe a sequence of events in the past okay moving on to the next slide we've got the past perfect so the past perfect is used to describe actions that happened before a specific time in the past for example I just had to try to match the layout of the streets to the layout I could see on the map so had tried is the past perfect it's describing an action that happened before a specific time in the past so the past perfect is often used to describe actions that happened before another action in the past for example I just had to try to match the layout of the streets to the layout I could see on the map before I set off in my car so you've got the past perfect used to describe an action that happened before another action in the past okay moving on to the next slide we've got the past simple passive so the past simple passive is used to describe actions that were done to the subject for example the house was completely covered in leaves branches and overgrown trees so was covered is the past simple passive it's describing an action that was done to the subject the house in this case so the past simple passive is often used to describe actions that were done to the subject without mentioning who did them for example the house was completely covered in leaves branches and overgrown trees so you've got the past simple passive used to describe an action that was done to the subject without mentioning who did it okay moving on to the next slide we've got the past simple and the past perfect so the past simple is used to describe completed actions in the past for example I just wanted to highlight the use of the hell in that question where the hell am I going so wanted is the past simple of want it's describing a completed action in the past and then the past perfect is used to describe actions that happened before a specific time in the past for example I'd never ventured out so far in that direction before so had ventured is the past perfect it's describing an action that happened before a specific time in the past so the past simple and the past perfect are often used together to describe a sequence of events in the past for example I just wanted to highlight the use of the hell in that question where the hell am I going I'd never ventured out so far in that direction before so you've got the past simple and the past perfect used together to describe a sequence of events in the past okay that's the end of the grammar section let's move on to the pronunciation section now okay so the first slide here is about connected speech so connected speech is when we link words together in a sentence to make it flow more naturally for example I just had to try to match the layout of the streets to the layout I could see on the map so in this sentence we've got some examples of connected speech so for example the word had in I just had to is pronounced as /d/ because it's followed by the word to so we link the two words together and pronounce it as /d/ I just had to try to match the layout of the streets so had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had to had

33:29

Luke's Warm Welcome and Overnight Stay

  • Luke is asked to greet guests in reception
  • Guests are welcomed warmly and excitedly
  • The guests beckon Luke inside, explaining the gesture of beckoning
  • Luke inquires about his cousin, who is out running errands
  • A homemade pot roast is prepared by Luke's aunt
  • Luke finishes the pot roast quickly, emphasizing it was completely finished
  • The group plays an enduring game of Uno after dinner
  • Luke's cousin is still absent as it gets dark
  • Luke seeks the most efficient way to reach the highway
  • Luke is advised to stay the night, becoming insistent and serious

49:19

Confusion and Escape: A Vocabulary Lesson

  • The protagonist noticed strange excitement between two individuals, defining "ecstatic" as extreme happiness.
  • The protagonist left hastily when the two individuals left the room to get bed sheets and pillows.
  • "Pull away" was explained as leaving in a car quickly without careful thought, contrasting with "pull over" which means stopping by the side of the road.
  • Feeling compelled to escape quickly, the protagonist found their way back to the main Highway, wondering why their cousin never turned up.
  • Climbing over a fence and entering the back door, the protagonist found the kitchen lights on, where their impatient mother awaited.
  • The mother questioned the protagonist's whereabouts, leading to the realization that the protagonist had visited the wrong house.
  • "To this day" was defined as since then and until now, highlighting the ongoing mystery of the mistaken visit.
  • Vocabulary recap included phrases like "to be ecstatic," "to be annoyed," "to stay the night," and "to assume something."
  • The protagonist's escape, confusion, and mistaken visit were detailed, with a focus on practical vocabulary and phrasal verbs.
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