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Mind Maps – Mini Story Lesson

Hello Effortless English members. Here is the mini-story lesson for the Mind Maps article. Let’s get started. First the vocabulary we will practice today.

Radially, radially mean arranged in a circle or circular or done in a circular way, it’s the actual way we use it.

Portions, portions means parts or pieces.

Diagram, a diagram is a drawing or a sketch or a graph. Something visual to plan or show some information. Diagrams, they’re not just pictures. If I draw a picture of a person, That’s not a diagram. A diagram is a picture that shows information, some kind of information.

Okay, we have the word intuitively or initiative is the adjective, right? Intuitively is the adverb. Intuitively means naturally. It means… it actually means, the direct meaning, you don’t think with your conscious mind. It’s kind of your instinct, institutionally or naturally.

Okay, non-linear. Linear means line, in a straight line. So, non-linear means not in a straight line.

To collaborate, to collaborate means to work together. So, two or more people working together, we call that collaborating or to collaborate.

Okay, to generate, to generate means to make or to create, it’s generate.

And finally, the word semantics. Semantics means meaning actually, meaning, and we use this… often meaning of words, it often refers to the meaning of words, semantics.

Okay, let’s get started with the story. First the story at normal speed.

Quinn the Eskimo needed to build a house. But he didn’t want to build a house from ice, like every other Eskimo. He decided to make a giant circular house out of bananas.

First, he arranged bananas radially in a big circle. Then, he stacked portions of bananas to make walls. He didn’t draw a diagram for the house. He made it intuitively. The entire house was non-linear. There were no straight lines in the house. Every wall was curved.

Of course, Quinn didn’t make his house alone. Quinn collaborated with 50 monkeys, very small monkeys. While they worked, the monkeys generated a lot of noise. They were always Wah Wah Wah, making a lot of noise.

They also ate a lot of the bananas. “Stop eating the bananas” yelled Quinn. “You said we could eat while we worked” yelled one of the monkeys. “But I didn’t say you could eat my house while you built it. You should bring your own food” said Quinn.

“Well, that’s a matter of semantics. You said we could eat while we worked. So we’re gonna eat and we’re gonna work” said the monkey. And so, every time a wall was built, it would soon get eaten by other monkeys. Thus Quinn never did finish his house.

Okay, let’s go back to the beginning and let’s do the story again. This time, I’m gonna do questions. You can try to quickly answer the questions, but you don’t need to repeat yet. The third time you’ll repeat. This time, I’m just gonna ask questions to get more repetition. Just kinda think the answers. you can say them out loud quickly if you can. But don’t worry if you can’t.

Okay, Quinn the Eskimo needed to build a house. He decided to make a giant house, a giant circular house out of bananas.

What did he make his house from? Did he make his house out of ice?

No, he didn’t make his house out of ice. He made it out of bananas. First, he arranged bananas radially in a big circle.

Did he arrange cucumbers radially?

No, he didn’t arrange cucumbers radially.

Did he arrange Kimchi, Korean Kimchi radially?

No, he didn’t arrange Kimchi radially.

What did he arrange radially?

Well, he arranged bananas radially.

Did he arrange the bananas in a square?

No, no, he arranged them radially. He arranged them in a big circle.

Did he arrange bottles in a radial way?

No, he did not arrange bottles radially. He arranged bananas radially in a big circle. Then he stacked portions of bananas to make walls.

Did he stack portions of grapes, pieces of grapes?

No, no, no, he didn’t stack portions of grapes. He stacked portions of bananas.

Did he stack portions of rocks?

No, no, no, he didn’t stacked portions of rocks. He stacked portions of bananas.

Did he stack whole bananas, the entire banana?

No, no, no, no, He stacked only pieces of bananas. He stacked portions of bananas. He cut them first then he would put them on top of each other. He would stack them to make walls. He stacked portions, pieces of bananas. He didn’t draw diagram for the house. He made it intuitively.

Did he make a plan, did he draw a house plan first?

No, no, he did not make a diagram for the house. He didn’t draw the house plan first and then make it. There was no diagram at all.

Did he draw any kind of plan?

No, he did not. He made the house intuitively.

Did he think about making the house first?

No, he made the house intuitively. He… just quickly, he would think of something and he would do it immediately. He thought intuitively with his instinct, with his natural gut feeling. So, he made the house intuitively. There was no diagram, no plan no drawing. The entire house was also non-linear.

Were there straight lines in the house?

No, no straight lines. The entire house was non-linear.

Was the driveway non-linear?

Well, I don’t know. We didn’t talk about a driveway. Was the driveway non-linear? Oh, maybe not. Maybe the driveway was curvy also. Maybe the driveway also did not have straight lines.

But we do know the entire house was non-linear. No straight lines in the house. The house was non-linear. Every wall was curved. Of course, Quinn didn’t make his house alone. Quinn collaborated with 50 monkeys.

Did he collaborate with 10 monkeys?

No, no, no, he collaborated with 50 monkeys.

Did he collaborate with 50 dogs?

No, he didn’t collaborate with 50 dogs.

Did he collaborate with 50 cats?

No, no, no, he worked together with 50 monkeys. He collaborated with 50 monkeys.

Was he the big boss or was he working together with them?

Well, he was kind of the boss; but, he also worked together with them. He collaborated with them. He worked together with them. With 50 monkeys. While they worked, the monkeys generated a lot of noise.

Did they make a lot of noise? Wah Wah Wah Wah Wah Wah

Yes, they did of course they did. They generated a lot of noise.

Did they generate a lot of heat?

No, no, no, they didn’t make a lot of heat. They made a lot of noise. They generated a lot of noise.

Did they generate a lot of money?

No, definitely not. They did not make money while they were building. They generated a lot of noise. They made a lot of noise while they made the house.

There was another problem. They ate a lot of the bananas. He’s making the house out of the bananas; but, they’re eating the bananas. So, Quinn got angry he yelled “Stop eating the bananas”. But one of the monkeys yelled back. “You said we could eat while we worked” yelled one of the monkeys.

Quinn yelled back again “But I didn’t say you could eat my house while you built it. You should bring your own food”. But the monkey wasn’t convinced. The monkey said: “Well that’s a matter of semantics. You said we could eat while we worked, so we’re gonna eat while we work”.

So, did the monkey agree? Did they agree on the meaning of what Quinn said? Quinn said “You can eat while you work”. Did they agree what that sentence meant?

No, they did not agree on it. Quinn thought that meant bring your own food; but the monkeys thought that meant we can eat the house while we build it. We can eat the bananas that are here. It was a matter of semantics. It was a matter of meaning.

Did they agree on the semantics?

No, they did not agree on the meaning at all. The semantics of Quinn’s sentence was not the same for Quinn as it was for the monkeys. They had a different idea of the semantics, a different idea of the meaning of the words. They did not agree. And so, the monkeys kept eating. Every time a wall was built, it would soon get eaten. Thus, Quinn never did finish his house.

Alright, good. Let’s do it one more time with this silly story and practice some of the vocabulary. I’ll Start reading some of the sentences. When I come to a sentence with a new vocabulary word, I will repeat it a couple times and you repeat after me, say the whole sentence. I’ll pause, and then copy my pronunciation. Let’s go.

Quinn the Eskimo needed to build a house. He decided to make a giant circular house out of bananas. First, he arranged the bananas radially. First, he arranged the bananas radially. (pause) Okay, good. First, he arranged the bananas radially. (pause)

Good. He put them in a big circle. Then he stacked portions of bananas to make walls. He stacked portions of bananas to make walls. (pause) He stacked portions of bananas to make walls. (pause) He stacked portions of bananas to make walls. Very good.

He didn’t draw a diagram. (pause) He didn’t draw a diagram. (pause) Good. He made it intuitively. (pause) He made it intuitively. (pause) The house was non-linear. (pause) The house was non-linear. (pause)

Quinn collaborated with 50 monkeys. (pause) Quinn collaborated with 50 monkeys. (pause) They generated a lot of noise. (pause) They generated a lot of noise. (pause) The monkey did not agree with what Quinn said, so the monkey said: “That’s a matter of semantics”. (pause) That’s a matter of semantics. (pause) Good. That’s a matter of semantics. (pause)

Very nice. Listen again one more time or three more times or 100 more times, whatever, and then pause, stop and try to tell all of the story yourself, from the beginning to the end. You don’t need to remember every word or every sentence. Remember the general ideas. Try to use the vocabulary.

Okay, good job. See you next time, Bye-bye.