TingMate · English Learning

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...

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...

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...

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 i...

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...

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...

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 Tin...

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 p...

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 pr...

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 bu...

Day 40 · Champions Tonight could be the night. Game 5. New York leads the series three to one. None of us got a ticket. They were way too expensive. So we squeeze in front of one screen. For most of the game, New York is down. At one point, down by sixteen. It looks over. Then Brunson takes over! Thirteen points in a row! We can't believe it! We are all on the edge of our seats. The final minu...

Day 45 · Out of the Blue This past Sunday, I got a text from a friend out of the blue. He said he's landing in the Bay Area on Tuesday. He flew from China to New York for an NBA game. I promised to show him around Silicon Valley. I've been really busy lately. It totally slipped my mind. But he's coming all the way from China. I have to keep my word. So I opened the Workday app. And I p...

A slow English story about Back to work after the visit, meetings, a backlog, and just directing my AI assistant. 14 simple sentences. Word by word. About 14 minutes. 📝 Today's sentences ① Yesterday I saw my friend off. He flew back to China. ② I wanted to go back to China too. But as an adult, it's time to go back to work. ③ Because of my three days off, my work piled up. Now I've go...

A slow English story about Touring my friend around Google, Apple, and Stanford in one packed day. 13 simple sentences. Word by word. About 17 minutes. 📝 Today's sentences ① We had a lot planned today. After picking him up, we went straight to Google. ② We had the employee breakfast, then rode the colorful bikes to Google headquarters. ③ We saw work areas themed like dinosaurs, forests, and o...

A slow English story about Picking up an old friend at the airport and showing him around San Francisco. 15 simple sentences. Word by word. About 17 minutes. 📝 Today's sentences ① Texas is two hours ahead of California. This morning I almost overslept. ② My friend texted me. He landed. I jumped out of bed. ③ Good thing I live close to the airport. I washed my face and drove straight there. ④...

A slow English story about A close call at the airport, traffic, a long line, and barely making my flight. 14 simple sentences. Word by word. About 14 minutes. 📝 Today's sentences ① Today I flew to San Francisco to see my friend. ② I took a cab to the airport. I thought I had plenty of time. ③ But we got stuck in traffic. There were a few accidents. ④ The driver's GPS messed up and took u...

A slow English story about A friend texts out of the blue, and I scramble to book a last-minute flight. 14 simple sentences. Word by word. About 14 minutes. 📝 Today's sentences ① This past Sunday, I got a text from a friend out of the blue. ② He said he's landing in the Bay Area on Tuesday. ③ He flew from China to New York for an NBA game. ④ I promised to show him around Silicon Valley. ⑤...

Day 35 · The Call Before Gaokao Listen, my nephew called me this weekend. He told me his gaokao starts tomorrow morning. And he wanted me to give him a pep talk. Honestly, I was kind of touched. He thought of me at a moment like this. But I didn't really know what to say. I mean, it's the gaokao. I just wanted him to take it easy. So I said, I'm so glad you called me. You've really...

Day 40 · Champions Tonight could be the night. Game 5. New York leads the series three to one. None of us got a ticket. They were way too expensive. So we squeeze in front of one screen. For most of the game, New York is down. At one point, down by sixteen. It looks over. Then Brunson takes over! Thirteen points in a row! We can't believe it! We are all on the edge of our seats. The final minu...

A slow English story about Wrapping zongzi for Dragon Boat Festival, and missing the red bean paste from my childhood. 11 simple sentences. Word by word. About 12 minutes. 📝 Today's sentences ① Dragon Boat Festival is almost here. So today I left work early and went to a friend's place. ② She had everything ready. And we tried wrapping zongzi. ③ And honestly? It's so much harder than...

A slow English story about Last day of the 618 sale, and I can't figure out if I actually saved anything. 12 simple sentences. Word by word. About 12 minutes. 📝 Today's sentences ① Hey, do you guys know what day it is? Today's the last day of the 618 mid-year sale. ② I just paid the balance on my pre-order. ③ And honestly, I was scared I'd messed up the math. ④ These days, you jus...

A slow English story about My AC stopped cooling at night, and the neighbor group chat fixed it together. 14 simple sentences. Word by word. About 16 minutes. 📝 Today's sentences ① I got home around 6:30 today. And man, it was hot. ② The house hit 84 degrees Fahrenheit. So I turned on the AC right away. ③ I grabbed a drink from the fridge and sank into my rocking chair. ④ But five minutes lat...

A slow English story about Craving crawfish at the supermarket, I made a deal with myself — and ended up eating it online. 13 simple sentences. Word by word. About ? minutes. 📝 Today's sentences ① My friends, I have a question for you. Is it crawfish season back in China right now? ② I've been in Austin, Texas lately. The most famous local supermarket here is H-E-B. ③ There's one almo...

A slow English story about We couldn't afford a ticket, so we crowded around one screen — and watched the Knicks win it all. 11 simple sentences. Word by word. About ? minutes. 📝 Today's sentences ① Tonight could be the night. Game 5. New York leads the series three to one. ② None of us got a ticket. They were way too expensive. So we squeeze in front of one screen. ③ For most of the game...

Day 30 · Cheers to Right Now This weekend, I went to my friend's housewarming party. Here's the thing. She didn't buy the place. She rented it. But it's still a big deal. Ten years in the US. This is her first time living in a house. Honestly, international student life isn't all that fancy. You're moving abroad, learning English, finding a job, then the H1B lottery. She ke...