Say the idea like a native would // Tell a story to make it memorable

Peace Steemians,

Two days ago I went to see my friend Drew at his place. As I arrived some people were walking in the house. It happens that a friend of mine that I have not meet for years came too at Drew's House. we discussed diverse topics. Then,

My friend asked Drew this:

"How can I say "someone who was poor but became rich" like a native?"

When Drew get questions like this, which he does very often, he does two things...

1. Say the idea like a native would.

2. Tell a story to make it memorable.

Here, a native would say that someone went from "rags to riches," like they went from old, torn clothing to wealth and luxury. (The phrase describes clothing, but really means nice cars, nice homes, etc.)

Here's one of Drew favorite, true stories describing this:

My friend told me about a guy he knew years ago…

This guy was a janitor working for the same company my friend was back then. (My friend worked in the office.)

This janitor was very friendly, and one day when my friend was speaking with him, the janitor said he’d just bought a home.

My friend was surprised since he knew the janitor didn’t make much money, so he asked him how he did it.

The guy replied that he couldn’t afford much, so he bought a very small place in a cheap neighborhood.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s a start,” the guy said.

Well, a few years after that, my friend ran into (phrasal verb meaning to accidentally meet) the guy again, and when my friend asked him how he was doing he said he now had 14 homes!

My friend was astounded! “How you do THAT?!”

The guy was good at fixing things, so he improved that first house he bought, and quickly sold it for a profit (a native would call this "flipping" a home).

Then he did that a few more times, earning a bit more on each new home, and eventually had a bunch of homes he kept and rented to other people.

From that very simple beginning, this man had grown his income and really transformed his life!

Now THAT'S a rags to riches story! :)

Like today's two steps for learning vocabulary like a native, there are many simple yet powerful ways to transform the way you speak almost instantly.

When you learn like a native you will speak like one!