Skills: Memories
Transcript
Speaker 1 Ben As I recall, the trouble started when my little sister was born, and I had
to move into my brother’s bedroom. He hated having to share, and he took it out on
me – although of course, it wasn’t my fault. He used to play all kinds of tricks on me,
particularly when I was in bed – like tipping glasses of water over my pillow, or putting
strange things underneath the blankets to scare me. I complained to my mum and dad
time after time, but either they didn’t believe me, or they felt they couldn’t do anything
about it. With hindsight, I suppose it was all fairly innocent, and he never actually
harmed me, physically – but at the time, I found the whole thing quite traumatic, and
I’m sure it affected my relationship with my brother as we became adults.
Speaker 2 Miranda I’ve always been quite an obsessive sort of person – and fickle
too. I’ll get really into something – or somebody – for a while, and then change my
mind completely. For example, I’m totally fanatical about going to the gym. It’s the
most important thing in my life – for now. But I’m sure I’ll go off it completely very soon.
I was exactly the same as a child. I’d have a favourite dress, for example, and I’d wear
it all the time. There was a denim dress I had when I was four. I can still picture it
clearly – it had flowers embroidered around the hem. I wouldn’t wear anything else –
for weeks! Then suddenly, I decided I hated it. It was the same with videos: I’d watch
the same film a hundred times until it became completely ingrained in my memory.
Then I’d never see it again. My parents always thought I’d change as I grew up but I
haven’t!
Speaker 3 Phil Christmas is a very evocative time for me, I guess because it was so
important to me when I was a child. As that time of year approached, I’d have endless
conversations with my mum and dad about what presents I wanted Father Christmas
to bring me. They always listened carefully, asking questions to make sure that I really
wanted what I said I wanted. And when I opened my presents on Christmas morning,
I usually discovered that I’d got what I’d asked for. It was a great feeling. Of course,
once in a while I was slightly disappointed – for example, one year when I’d asked for
a real, full-sized airplane, I didn’t get it. But generally speaking, Father Christmas was
very kind to me, and I can’t call to mind many disappointments. And I didn’t for a
moment suspect that my parents were buying the presents for me – at least, not until
I was much older.
Speaker 4 Sue It was my very first day at primary school and I was so upset about
leaving my mum that I cried for most of the morning. Anita came up to me at lunchtime
and told me not to worry, that everything would be OK. She smiled, and I felt better. I
still have a clear recollection of that smile. We became friends at once, and we
remained inseparable for years. We sat next to each other in class, we had lunch
together, we shared our secrets, our fears and anxieties, everything. After primary
school, Anita and I went to different secondary schools and saw much less of each
other. We still saw each other at weekends sometimes, but gradually we drifted apart.
In the end, we lost touch with each other completely and I’ve no idea where she is now
or what she’s doing. It’s a shame, really – I still think about her quite often and wish
we could meet up. It would be fun to reminisce about the good old days. Mind you, if
we met up now, we might have absolutely nothing in common! Perhaps it’s better just
to keep the nice memories.
Activity: Reading and Writing Point
Choose one question below and give your points of view.
1. What is your happiest or saddest childhood memory?
2. How is life different today compared to when you were a child?
3. Was learning to read and write a struggle for you?
4. What's something you were afraid of as a child?
5. When you were a child, how did you imagine your adult self?
