Wounderous Stories

I have two learners, one lives near me, the other one lives far far far away. Both are great women, learners who are not afraid of making mistakes, therefore, they take the risks they need in order to go further and improve not just their English, but their awareness of the world around them.

This week, the learner who lives abroad asked me further details regarding a word I wrote in a text called "enchantment". She got interested in it and she wanted to know how she could " enchant" somebody just by using her voice. The other one asked me about the meanings of the word "wonder". This chronicle was made to answer their questions and at the same time, to tell you, my learner and reader, about the wonder of telling a story. Let's start, shall we?

First of all, let me tell you about the word "wonder":

A) It can be a noun or an adjective to describe something that is marvelous.
Ex: The Corcovado is one of the seven wonders of the modern world - She is as stronger as the Wonder Woman.

B) It can be used as a verb to describe the act of thinking further about something
Ex: I wonder why she did it

In both cases, wonder shows that it is a kind of word that put a smile on your face or makes you meditate about something you saw or heard.

A story can be wonderous (be told in a wonder way). When you are telling a wounderous story, you have to do it in a way that can make people wonder about it and if people are paying attention to you, they become sort of enchanted, which leads us to the other question: how can we enchant people?

Enchantment is another beautiful word in English. It somehow reminds us about the fairy tales and all the magic within it. The verb "To Enchant" means fill someone with great delight, almost as a which or a wizard has put somebody under a spell. This is exactly what happens when somebody is telling a story full of wonder (wonderful) and that is exactly how people feel when they are listening to it.

To enchant people through your conversation is to believe in your own words and articulate it in a way that people would not just pay attention to you, but get involved because they are eager to know the story until its end. Forget about the content; it is not about what you say, but about how you tell it.

· Enchanting is the language of publicity - create slogans or catchy phrases that people will never forget.


· Enchanting is the language of lovers - saying the right thing with the proper intonation to keep their loved one by their side.


· Enchanting is - most of all - the language of the passionate people, those ones who study something by their joints, by the hearts e finally by the mind.


So if you are talking in English, don't just talk, enchant people; fascinate them, put them under your spell. Say the things in a way that people will be wondering about it. So, this is the main role of a story to be told and the secret of this ancient art called: storytelling.

Professor Frank