A Summer Evening in the Garden — Calm English Listening

Transcript

Introduction

A: Hello, and welcome.

A: This is slow, calm B1 English for a quiet summer evening.

A: Tonight you’ll hear two gentle garden stories at the end of a warm day.

A: Then we’ll review ten phrases, practice quietly, and take one slower final pass.

A: Listen for six phrases: the sun is going down, warm air, and to sit in the garden.

A: The smell of cut grass, to listen to the birds, and to stay outside a little longer.

A: If a word goes past you, let it go. Another one will come.

A: You can practice the phrases in Recursio another day. The link is in the description.

A: For now, just listen.

The garden in the evening

A: Marta closes her laptop at six ten.

A: The room is warm. The window has been open all afternoon.

A: She sits for a moment without moving.

A: Then she stands up, and she goes downstairs to the kitchen.

A: She fills a glass with water and drinks it slowly, standing by the sink.

A: Outside the kitchen window, the garden is very green.

A: It’s a small garden. A patch of grass. A wooden table. Two chairs.

A: A tomato plant in a pot, growing sideways.

A: Marta opens the back door.

A: The warm air comes in. It touches her face and her arms.

A: Inside, the house is still. Outside, the evening is just beginning.

A: She steps out onto the grass in her socks.

A: Then she goes back for her shoes, and smiles at herself.

A: Somebody cut the grass today. She can tell without looking.

A: The smell of cut grass is everywhere. Green and sharp and sweet.

A: It’s the smell of every summer she can remember.

A: Marta sits down at the wooden table.

A: It’s warm under her hands. It has been in the sun all day.

A: She likes to sit in the garden at this hour.

A: Not in the middle of the day, when the sun is strong.

A: In the evening, when the light turns yellow and soft.

A: The hours go by, and she doesn’t move much.

A: By nine, the sun is going down behind the houses at the end of the gardens.

A: She can’t see it now. She can only see what it leaves behind.

A: The top windows of the houses are orange. The rest are gray.

A: A line of gold along the top of the wall.

A: Marta had a list for this evening.

A: Wash the kitchen floor. Answer two messages. Find the box with the winter coats.

A: The list is upstairs, on the desk, next to the laptop.

A: It can stay there.

A: This evening she is going to do nothing in particular.

A: She’s not sleeping. She’s not reading. She’s not waiting for anyone.

A: She’s just sitting, in a small garden, at the end of a hot day.

A: Somewhere behind the houses, a door opens and closes.

A: A car goes past, slowly, and then the street is quiet again.

A: And in the tree at the end of the garden, the birds are busy.

A: Marta leans back in the chair and listens to the birds.

A: There are two of them, she thinks. Maybe three.

A: One of them makes the same three notes, again and again, and waits.

A: Then, far away, another bird answers.

A: The light is changing quickly now.

A: The gold on the wall moves up, and then it’s gone.

A: The garden turns blue and soft.

A: But the air stays warm. The ground stays warm. The table stays warm.

A: This is what she loves about July.

A: A long evening. Not one short hour before dark, but three hours. Sometimes four.

A: Where Marta lives, the day ends around four in December, and then it’s dark for a long time.

A: In July, the light goes slowly, like someone leaving a room without hurrying.

A: Her neighbor comes out with a watering can. Marta can hear the water on the leaves.

A: The neighbor sees her through the low fence, lifts a hand, and says that it’s still warm.

A: Marta says yes, it’s still warm, and that she doesn’t want to go in yet.

A: The neighbor says something about tomatoes, and about rain on Thursday, and goes back inside.

A: Marta stays where she is.

A: A moth comes to look at the kitchen window, and then changes its mind.

A: The first star is over the roof, small and hard to see.

A: She thinks: I’ll stay outside a little longer.

A: Ten more minutes. Then the floor, and the messages, and the box with the coats.

A: Or tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.

A: The birds have stopped now. The street is quiet.

A: There’s still a little light in the sky over the houses. Not much. The last of the light.

A: Marta sits in the warm blue dark, in a small garden, doing nothing in particular.

A: And it’s enough.

Phrase review

A: Now let’s go through the phrases, slowly. Nothing to write down. Just listen.

A: The sun is going down.

A: It means the sun is going lower in the sky, and the day is ending.

A: “The sun is going down. Let’s walk back.”

A: Warm air.

A: Air that feels pleasantly warm on your skin, but not too hot.

A: “She opened the door, and the warm air came in.”

A: To sit in the garden.

A: To spend time in a garden, resting on a chair or on the grass.

A: “In the summer we sit in the garden until it gets dark.”

A: The smell of cut grass.

A: The green smell in the air after somebody has cut the grass.

A: “I love the smell of cut grass in June.”

A: To listen to the birds.

A: To stop and pay attention to the sounds the birds are making.

A: “Sit down for a minute and listen to the birds.”

A: A long evening.

A: An evening that seems to last for many hours, often with summer light in the sky.

A: “It was a long evening, and nobody wanted to go home.”

A: To do nothing in particular.

A: To have no special plan or activity.

A: Somebody asks about your Sunday, and you say, “We did nothing in particular.”

A: To stay outside a little longer.

A: To spend a little more time outdoors instead of going inside.

A: “It’s such a nice evening. Let’s stay outside a little longer.”

A: It’s still warm.

A: You say this when the air continues to feel warm later in the day.

A: “It’s nine o’clock, and it’s still warm.”

A: And the last one. The last of the light.

A: The small amount of daylight that remains before it gets dark.

A: “We finished the work in the last of the light.”

A: That’s all ten. You don’t need to remember them tonight.

A: You’ll hear them again, in a moment, without any explanations.

The gardens behind the building

A: Now a second story. A different garden, on the same evening.

A: Behind an apartment building on the edge of town, there are eight small gardens in a row.

A: One for each apartment on the ground floor. Low fences between them. No gates.

A: Pavel gets home at seven thirty, with bread and a bag of ice.

A: The kitchen is warmer than the hallway, and the open window brings in the evening air.

A: He puts most of the ice in the freezer and drops three small pieces into a glass of water.

A: Then he stands still for a moment, with one hand on the counter.

A: It’s the first quiet minute of his day.

A: He has no plan for dinner. He looks at the bread, and then at the open window.

A: A few minutes later, he carries a chair into the garden and puts it near the tomatoes.

A: He goes back for the bread, a small piece of cheese, a plate, and the cold water.

A: An old wooden box becomes his table.

A: Pavel sits in the garden and tears off a piece of bread.

A: The warm air is full of the smell of cut grass. Somebody in the row cut theirs this afternoon.

A: Probably the family in number four. They cut it every Wednesday.

A: In garden number four, Elena is watering her plants.

A: She sees Pavel’s simple supper and holds up a bowl of tomatoes.

A: She has more than she can eat, so she passes two tomatoes over the low fence.

A: Pavel cuts one into slices on his plate and adds a little salt.

A: He offers Elena some bread. She takes a small piece and thanks him.

A: There was no invitation and no plan. The food simply moved from one garden to another.

A: They talk for a minute about the dry ground and the rain that may come tomorrow.

A: Then Elena returns to her watering, and Pavel returns to his supper.

A: He eats slowly. The bread is soft, the tomato is sweet, and the ice makes quiet sounds in the glass.

A: It isn’t a special meal, but it feels right for this warm evening.

A: An hour goes by. The sun is going down behind the trees at the end of the field.

A: The sun is still on the top windows of the building, one line of them, up high.

A: Pavel waters the tomatoes. It takes four minutes.

A: Then he sits down in the chair, and there is nothing else that has to happen.

A: In the garden two doors down, a small radio is playing quietly.

A: Not music, exactly. A voice, and then some music, and then a voice again.

A: Somebody is turning the pages of a newspaper.

A: A child on a bicycle goes past on the path behind the fences, twice, and then a third time.

A: On the third trip, the child slows down beside Pavel’s garden.

A: She points to the tomato plants and asks if any of them are ready.

A: Pavel bends closer and finds one small red tomato under a leaf.

A: He had planned to leave it there until tomorrow.

A: Instead, he picks it, wipes it gently on his shirt, and holds it over the fence.

A: The child takes it carefully, says thank you, and rides away.

A: Pavel looks at the empty place on the plant. He doesn’t mind.

A: The first tomato of the summer has gone to someone who was happy to find it.

A: Pavel closes his eyes and listens to the birds in the field.

A: He had thought about calling his brother tonight.

A: He’ll call him tomorrow. There’s nothing urgent to discuss.

A: But he takes a picture of the tomato plants and sends it to his brother.

A: He writes, “The first one was ready today.”

A: A minute later, his brother replies, “Save the next one for me. Call me tomorrow.”

A: Pavel smiles and places the phone face down beside his plate.

A: This evening he is doing nothing in particular, and that is the whole plan.

A: It’s a long evening. That’s the best thing about the middle of summer.

A: At nine o’clock there is still light in the sky.

A: At nine thirty there is still enough to see the tomatoes.

A: The lights in the building’s windows come on, one by one.

A: A kitchen. A blue television. A lamp behind a curtain.

A: Somebody three gardens away says that it’s still warm.

A: Somebody else agrees.

A: The radio goes off. The newspaper pages stop turning.

A: One by one, the neighbors go inside, and the gardens empty.

A: Pavel decides to stay outside a little longer.

A: The chair is comfortable. The ground is still warm from the sun.

A: Over the field, in the last of the light, the sky looks pale green, then gray, then dark.

A: When he finally goes in, the kitchen feels cool, and a little strange.

A: After so long outside, the room feels unfamiliar for a moment.

A: He leaves the door open behind him for another minute.

Quiet repetition

A: A little practice now. Very gentle.

A: I’ll say something, and you can answer in your mind.

A: Or, if you feel sleepy, just listen. The phrases will still be here tomorrow.

A: How would you say that the sun is going lower in the sky?

A: The sun is going down.

A: How would you describe air that feels pleasant on your skin, at the end of a hot day?

A: Warm air.

A: How would you say that you are resting outside among plants and flowers?

A: To sit in the garden.

A: What do you call the green smell in the air after someone cuts the grass?

A: The smell of cut grass.

A: How would you say that you are paying attention to the sounds in the trees?

A: To listen to the birds.

A: What do you call an evening that seems to last for many hours?

A: A long evening.

A: How would you say that you had no special plans or activities?

A: I did nothing in particular.

A: How would you say that the day is ending, but the heat has stayed?

A: It’s still warm.

A: How would you say that you don’t want to go inside yet?

A: I’ll stay outside a little longer.

A: And the small amount of daylight left in the sky before it gets dark?

A: The last of the light.

A: That’s enough practice. Now there is nothing to answer.

The same evening, more slowly

A: Let’s go back to the garden one more time. Slowly.

A: You don’t have to follow every word now.

A: It’s the end of the day.

A: You open a door, and you step outside.

A: The warm air is waiting for you.

A: Somebody cut the grass today.

A: You can smell it. The smell of cut grass.

A: You sit in the garden, at a wooden table, and the table is warm.

A: The sun is going down behind the houses.

A: You can’t see it. You can only see the gold it leaves along the top of the wall.

A: There are birds in the tree at the end of the garden.

A: You listen to the birds.

A: Three notes. A pause. And then an answer, far away.

A: There is a list of things somewhere inside the house.

A: It can wait.

A: Tonight you are doing nothing in particular.

A: The light changes. The garden turns blue.

A: But the ground keeps the heat of the day.

A: It’s still warm.

A: It’s a long evening. It stays light much later than it does in winter.

A: The light goes slowly.

A: A neighbor comes out, and goes in again.

A: A car passes, somewhere.

A: The first star appears over the roof.

A: You decide to stay outside a little longer.

A: Ten more minutes.

A: Or twenty.

A: Over the houses, there is a little brightness left. The last of the light.

A: And then the garden is dark, and warm, and quiet.

Final phrases and goodbye

A: Here are the phrases one last time. Slowly.

A: The sun is going down.

A: Warm air.

A: To sit in the garden.

A: The smell of cut grass.

A: To listen to the birds.

A: A long evening.

A: To do nothing in particular.

A: To stay outside a little longer.

A: It’s still warm.

A: The last of the light.

A: That’s all for this evening.

A: If you’d like to practice these phrases tomorrow, the link is below.

A: For now, you can simply rest.

A: Thank you for listening. I hope the rest of your evening feels calm.

A: Take care, and I’ll see you next time.