The hip-hop preacher who turned his life around

ESL Lessons: True Stories

A printable worksheet for story-based English conversation classes.

Difficulty: Intermediate B1

PDF: The hip-hop preacher who turned his life around

Warm-up

Have you ever listened to a motivational speaker?

Vocabulary Match

pastor •• speaker
succeed •• left
quote •• live
dropped •• win
survive •• priest
preacher •• saying

Vocabulary Answers

pastorpriest
succeedwin
quotesaying
droppedleft
survivelive
preacherspeaker

True Story

Listen and fill in the blanks with words from above.

Eric Thomas, known as the "hip-hop ________," had a very hard life. He ________ out of high school at 17 after fighting with his family. He had no home and lived on the streets of Detroit for two years. He slept in empty buildings, ate from rubbish bins, and did small jobs to ________.

Later, a ________ helped him go back to school. He studied education and worked hard, even though it took him 12 years to finish university. He later got a PhD and became a famous speaker. His most famous ________ is, "When you want to ________ as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful." His story gives hope to many.

Eric Thomas, known as the "hip-hop preacher," had a very hard life. He dropped out of high school at 17 after fighting with his family. He had no home and lived on the streets of Detroit for two years. He slept in empty buildings, ate from rubbish bins, and did small jobs to survive.

Later, a pastor helped him go back to school. He studied education and worked hard, even though it took him 12 years to finish university. He later got a PhD and became a famous speaker. His most famous quote is, "When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful." His story gives hope to many.

Quiz

  1. What nickname is Eric Thomas known by?
  2. How long did Eric live on the streets?
  3. Who helped Eric go back to school?
  4. What is Eric Thomas's most famous quote?

Quiz Answers (examples)

  1. The "hip-hop preacher."
  2. Two years.
  3. A pastor.
  4. "When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful."

True or False

  1. Eric Thomas dropped out of university. T F
  2. Eric Thomas lived in Detroit. T F
  3. Eric Thomas is a famous rapper now. T F

True or False Answers

  1. False
  2. True
  3. False

Conversation

A:Did you read about Eric Thomas, the hip-hop preacher?
B:Yeah, I can't believe he lived on the streets for two years.
A:He even ate from trash cans to survive.
B:That shows how desperate his life was back then.
A:And he still went back to school and got a PhD!
B:Yeah, his story is really inspiring.

Discussion

  1. Do you know anyone who has overcome a big challenge?
  2. What do you think makes someone successful?
  3. Would you like to be a motivational speaker? Why or why not?
  4. What would you do if you had to live on the streets?

Further Reading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Thomas_(motivational_speaker)

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