① I just booked my flight back to Austin.

② I've been in the Bay Area for three weeks now.

③ I've had three weeks of nothing but beautiful sunshine.

④ Now it's time to head back to Texas.

⑤ And the weather there is just brutal.

⑥ I haven't even started packing, and I already feel awful.

⑦ When I got this job, I thought it was my dream company.

⑧ Moving to a new city was no big deal to me.

⑨ I told myself I'd move to Mars for it.

⑩ But it's only been five months, and I feel like I can't keep going.

⑪ I guess people are right.

⑫ Life comes first, and work is just part of life.

⑬ Or maybe I'm just being a little greedy.

⑭ I mean, every time I reach a goal, I just want more.

⑮ Once I get something, I stop appreciating it.

🔑 Vocabulary

• booked /bʊkt/

• nothing but /ˈnʌθɪŋ bʌt/

• head back /hed bæk/

• brutal /ˈbruːtl/

• dream company /driːm ˈkʌmpəni/

• no big deal /noʊ bɪɡ diːl/

• keep going /kiːp ˈɡoʊɪŋ/

• comes first /kʌmz fɜːrst/

• I mean /aɪ miːn/

• stop appreciating /stɑːp əˈpriːʃieɪtɪŋ/

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A slow English story about An annual checkup, a pain level of eight, and a big mix-up over the American pain scale. 16 simple sentences. Word by word. About 17 minutes.

📝 Today's sentences

① This trip back, I also saw my family doctor for my annual checkup.

② My stomach has been bothering me lately. I wake up with a stomachache every morning.

③ The doctor asked, on a scale of one to ten, how bad is it?

④ I thought about it and said, probably an eight.

⑤ She was shocked and said, you should have come in way sooner.

⑥ She ordered a CT scan and blood work, all marked stat.

⑦ That freaked me out a little.

⑧ I said, I've been like this for years. Maybe Texas just made it worse.

⑨ She said, either way, go get the tests done first.

⑩ I had no idea what those medical terms meant. So I took a photo and asked ChatGPT.

⑪ ChatGPT said, an eight means severe pain, like you'd be rolling on the floor.

⑫ That's when it hit me.

⑬ She meant the standard pain scale doctors use. I was rating how miserable I felt.

⑭ What was I even thinking?

⑮ Fine, I'll still get the tests done.

⑯ But I'll tell them, it's not stat. Don't charge me for that.

🔑 Vocabulary

• annual checkup /ˈænjuəl ˈtʃekʌp/

• bothering me /ˈbɑːðərɪŋ miː/

• on a scale of one to ten /ɑːn ə skeɪl əv wʌn tə ten/

• blood work /blʌd wɜːrk/

• stat /stæt/

• freaked me out /friːkt miː aʊt/

• either way /ˈiːðər weɪ/

• severe /sɪˈvɪr/

• it hit me /ɪt hɪt miː/

• miserable /ˈmɪzərəbl/

• charge me /tʃɑːrdʒ miː/

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① California sunshine is a love-hate thing for me.

② I love it, but it's rough on my skin.

③ This time, I forgot to bring my sunscreen.

④ And I'm pretty stubborn about it.

⑤ I only use one brand. It's this Chinese brand you can only buy back home.

⑥ So these days, I go out with a hat and sunglasses.

⑦ I keep putting off going to Sephora. And it's literally a five-minute drive.

⑧ I know I really should buy a new one.

⑨ I feel like my sunspots are coming back.

⑩ By the end of the year, I'm flying back to China.

⑪ I'll probably stop in Korea on the way.

⑫ I want to get laser treatment for these spots.

🔑 Vocabulary

• love-hate /ˌlʌv ˈheɪt/

• sunscreen /ˈsʌnskriːn/

• stubborn /ˈstʌbərn/

• putting off /ˈpʊtɪŋ ɔːf/

• literally /ˈlɪtərəli/

• sunspots /ˈsʌnspɒts/

• on the way /ɒn ðə weɪ/

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A slow English story about A restaurant taxed the tip before the tax, so I got the bill fixed. 13 simple sentences. Word by word. About 13 minutes.

📝 Today's sentences

① Today I went out for dinner with a friend.

② The food was great, and so was the service.

③ When the bill came, I was about to leave a 20% tip.

④ But then I noticed something was off.

⑤ Normally, you only pay tax on the food itself.

⑥ And the tip just gets added on top. It shouldn't be taxed.

⑦ But this restaurant added the tip before the tax.

⑧ So my tip got taxed too, and that's definitely not right.

⑨ You know I'm good with numbers, especially when it comes to money.

⑩ My friend told me to just tip 15% and let it go.

⑪ But I didn't want to. So I asked the manager if there was a mistake.

⑫ In the end, they fixed the bill, and I still left an 18% tip.

⑬ I guess I can be really particular about these things.

🔑 Vocabulary

• tip /tɪp/

• something was off /ˈsʌmθɪŋ wəz ɔːf/

• on top /ɒn tɒp/

• got taxed /ɡɒt tækst/

• when it comes to money /wen ɪt kʌmz tə ˈmʌni/

• let it go /let ɪt ɡoʊ/

• particular /pərˈtɪkjələr/

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A slow English story about A lazy weekend, a farmers market across the street, and a little businessman at one stand. 14 simple sentences. Word by word. About 13 minutes.

📝 Today's sentences

① This weekend, I slept in really late.

② I skipped breakfast and went out for some porridge.

③ Then I noticed a lively crowd across the street.

④ I love a good crowd, so I went over to check it out.

⑤ It turned out to be a farmers market, and I absolutely loved it.

⑥ Local farmers were selling homegrown veggies and homemade food.

⑦ I bought tomatoes in all kinds of colors.

⑧ I also got some yellow cherries called Rainier.

⑨ At one stand, a Mexican boy was translating for his dad.

⑩ He counted out my change, but he didn't seem very good at math.

⑪ His dad did the math in his head really fast.

⑫ Then he told his son in Spanish, and the boy told me in English.

⑬ I wanted to say, I already did the math myself.

⑭ But I just told him, Good job, businessman!

🔑 Vocabulary

• slept in /slept ɪn/

• skipped breakfast /skɪpt ˈbrekfəst/

• across the street /əˈkrɔːs ðə striːt/

• check it out /tʃek ɪt aʊt/

• turned out /tɜːrnd aʊt/

• homemade /ˌhoʊmˈmeɪd/

• all kinds of /ɔːl kaɪndz əv/

• change /tʃeɪndʒ/

• good at math /ɡʊd ət mæθ/

• did the math /dɪd ðə mæθ/

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A slow English story about An indie developer says a much bigger company grabbed his trademark, and I hope it ends fairly. 13 simple sentences. Word by word. About 12 minutes.

📝 Today's sentences

① Yesterday, someone using our app told me about something.

② There's an indie developer who shared his story online.

③ He says a much bigger company grabbed his trademark first.

④ It was a small developer up against a much bigger company.

⑤ That kind of gap really got to me.

⑥ So I reached out to him to hear what happened.

⑦ He explained everything to me, and reminded me to protect my own work too.

⑧ I also went through the evidence he shared publicly.

⑨ Honestly, I haven't had time to verify every detail.

⑩ But he's put so much public info out there, and I tend to believe him.

⑪ Still, I don't want to jump to conclusions yet.

⑫ I just really hope more people pay attention to this.

⑬ And I hope it ends with a fair outcome for everyone.

🔑 Vocabulary

• indie developer /ˈɪndi dɪˈveləpər/

• trademark /ˈtreɪdmɑːrk/

• up against /ʌp əˈɡenst/

• jump to conclusions /dʒʌmp tə kənˈkluːʒənz/

• pay attention to /peɪ əˈtenʃən tə/

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A slow English story about Halfway through 2026 already, looking back at the year's goals and the one unexpected win. 15 simple sentences. Word by word. About 17 minutes.

📝 Today's sentences

① Someone left a comment on my latest podcast episode today.

② She wrote, "Wow, half of 2026 is already gone, just like that."

③ Quick note for the folks using my app: I also have a podcast.

④ It's called TingMate too, on the Xiaoyuzhou app and the Apple Podcasts app.

⑤ Long story short, that comment really made me stop and think.

⑥ Time flies, so I looked back at my goals for this year.

⑦ Land an offer from a dream company? I actually got it. Nice!

⑧ Work out twice a week, sleep before midnight? Almost never.

⑨ Read a book a month, take a trip abroad? Nope, neither.

⑩ And honestly, a bunch of other plans never happened either.

⑪ But there was one surprise win: my TingMate app and podcast.

⑫ And that one win honestly makes up for all the misses.

⑬ Thanks for all your support. It really means a lot to me.

⑭ I know I'm pretty good at complimenting myself! Hope you are too.

⑮ I've still got half the year to catch up. I'm a driven person, after all.

🔑 Vocabulary

• episode /ˈepɪˌsoʊd/

• left a comment /left ə ˈkɑːment/

• long story short /ˌlɔːŋ ˈstɔːri ʃɔːrt/

• stop and think /stɑːp ən θɪŋk/

• makes up for /meɪks ʌp fɔːr/

• means a lot /miːnz ə ˈlɑːt/

• complimenting myself /ˈkɑːmplɪmentɪŋ maɪˈself/

• catch up /kætʃ ʌp/

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A slow English story about A week of working from home, so free but so much less productive, and that's OK. 14 simple sentences. Word by word. About 11 minutes.

📝 Today's sentences

① This week, I'm doing remote work.

② It just means I don't have to go into the office. I can work from anywhere.

③ We only get four weeks of it a year.

④ I was saving it for my Christmas holiday.

⑤ I planned to fly back to China then.

⑥ But this time, I was in San Francisco. I didn't want to go back to Austin.

⑦ So I applied for remote work instead.

⑧ It feels so free to work from home.

⑨ But honestly, I'm less productive.

⑩ I don't even eat at regular times anymore.

⑪ I was basically lying in bed all day.

⑫ And that's OK. I don't need to be productive all the time.

⑬ People say a little rest helps you go further.

⑭ And I'm telling myself that, too.

🔑 Vocabulary

• remote work /rɪˈmoʊt wɜːrk/

• saving it for /ˈseɪvɪŋ ɪt fɔːr/

• applied for /əˈplaɪd fɔːr/

• work from home /wɜːrk frəm hoʊm/

• productive /prəˈdʌktɪv/

• lying in bed /ˈlaɪɪŋ ɪn bed/

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A slow English story about Apple raised Mac prices across the board, and the increase alone could buy a whole laptop. 10 simple sentences. Word by word. About 9 minutes.

📝 Today's sentences

① Lately, I've seen a lot of posts about Apple raising prices.

② Macs went up across the board.

③ Someone online said they hesitated for a long time about buying one.

④ Before they could decide, the price jumped.

⑤ So I checked Apple's website. It was up a full three thousand yuan.

⑥ I was surprised. It's not 300. It's 3,000.

⑦ My first computer in college cost about that much.

⑧ Out of curiosity, I opened Amazon.

⑨ There are still laptops for under three thousand yuan.

⑩ I know the quality isn't the same. I'm just saying.

🔑 Vocabulary

• raising prices /ˈreɪzɪŋ ˈpraɪsɪz/

• across the board /əˌkrɒs ðə ˈbɔːrd/

• hesitated /ˈhezɪteɪtɪd/

• out of curiosity /aʊt əv ˌkjʊriˈɒsəti/

• I'm just saying /aɪm dʒʌst ˈseɪɪŋ/

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A slow English story about Half a year after leaving the Bay Area, the old hiking group gets back together. 12 simple sentences. Word by word. About 12 minutes.

📝 Today's sentences

① I left the Bay Area about half a year ago.

② Now that I'm back, I reached out to my friends right away.

③ We used to have a hiking group. We hiked every week for almost a year.

④ After I left, everyone got busy. The group went quiet.

⑤ This time I posted in the group chat, and everyone showed up.

⑥ We hiked Mission Peak, a famous spot in the Bay Area.

⑦ On the way up, we caught up on everything.

⑧ One friend, a postdoc, finally published his paper.

⑨ Another got laid off but landed a new job. And one broke up with his girlfriend.

⑩ We looked back on the last time we were here together.

⑪ I feel like, whether we come or not, the mountain and nature are always here.

⑫ You know what I mean? I guess you do.

🔑 Vocabulary

• reached out /riːtʃt aʊt/

• group chat /ɡruːp tʃæt/

• showed up /ʃoʊd ʌp/

• caught up /kɔːt ʌp/

• got laid off /ɡɒt leɪd ɔːf/

• broke up /broʊk ʌp/

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