Learn by Listening Level 2

[00:00.20]The Best Teacher|[00:03.17] I have had a lot of teachers.|[00:04.85] Some of them were good,|[00:06.34] and some of them were boring.|[00:08.27] There is one teacher whom I remember very well.|[00:11.32] He is the best teacher that I ever had.|[00:14.06] His name was Mr. Alban.|[00:15.99] He was a history teacher.|[00:17.73] History is not my favorite subject.|[00:21.77] I don't really enjoy history a lot.|[00:23.82] When I was in Mr. Alban's class,|[00:26.25] he made history seem exciting.|[00:28.12] He was more of an actor than a teacher.|[00:30.11] If he was describing a war,|[00:31.85] he would make us feel all the emotions|[00:33.84] that the soldiers and their families would have felt.|[00:36.51] We could almost hear the guns firing|[00:38.69] and the people shouting.|[00:40.19] He would paint a picture in our minds|[00:42.12] that was very vivid.|[00:44.04] When I had a history test in his class,|[00:46.59] I didn't have to study much.|[00:48.52] I would remember every word that he had said.|[00:51.07] I would see him doing the actions|[00:52.87] that went along with his stories.|[00:55.11] He was very animated.|[00:56.86] He would shout out orders as if he was a general,|[00:59.10] or he would speak softly and reverently|[01:01.40] when describing the death of a great hero.|[01:04.57] The most important thing that I learned from Mr. Alban was|[01:07.43] that I did really like history.|[01:09.98] I just thought that I didn't like it|[01:11.79] because most people had made it dull|[01:13.40] by just reading from the textbooks.|[01:15.83] History is not just a series of dates and dull facts.|[01:19.00] History is what really happened.|[01:21.06] History is real life.|[01:22.74] All the historical figures had real families and emotions.|[01:26.84] They weren't just fictional people.|[01:28.64] After I took history from Mr. Alban,|[01:31.07] I realized that I really did have an interest in it.|[01:34.74] He was my favorite teacher,|[01:36.42] and I will always be grateful to him for making me aware|[01:39.41] of just how interesting history really is.