Do you know Babybel? It’s that little round cheese wrapped so tightly in vibrant red wax, like peeling a stubborn fruit skin, frustratingly keeping you from the creamy treasure inside. It has two layers just to make you work harder to get to the actual cheese.
Well, thanks to that cheese, I made a fool out of myself and looked as if I came from a country where people are still living in caves.
But let me start right from the beginning.
Once upon a time, a young girl – me – came to work as an au pair for an aristocratic British family. As you can imagine, I was a wide-eyed young adult, fresh out of university, which drills into your head tons of impractical theories and in the end throws you out into the world, graduated but clueless. I was not really well-equipped for life itself, let alone life abroad.
Nevertheless, I was brave enough to embark on this challenge with the view of providing my services to the family in exchange for them teaching me English.
One day, as we sat at the table enjoying lunch and slow-moving conversation, I reached out for a little red circle in the middle of the table.
“What’s this?” I asked
“Cheese”, replied a little girl with a smirk, noticing a puzzled look on my face.
Turning it around curiously, I unwrapped the plastic cover and bit a rather big chunk out of it.
My face must have been a picture because all the family members started to stare at me, including the five dogs that were present in the kitchen.
Nobody moved, nobody said anything. Time had frozen, and my face as well.
Realisation slapped me right in the face. The red thing is not a cheese; it’s just another wax cover. Why does it need so many layers?
On the other hand, have you ever seen a red cheese? Actual cheese? I haven’t, so what made me bite that thing?! I’ll never know.
Damage has been done, now what?
Do I spit it out? Do I eat it and pretend that’s how WE do it? They would not know. I can just make up anything. Seconds, minutes, and what seemed like hours passed in slow motion. I could feel the panic rising in me; my throat tightened as I hesitated. Suddenly, somebody started laughing. The sound broke the tension. The rest of the family joined in. Including me, which made me choke on the cheese that I still didn’t decide whether to spit out or eat.
As a result, I could not breathe and was waving my hands like a cloth doll pulled by strings, desperately trying to ask for help. As I was starting to feel dizzy, the father of the family wrapped his hands around me and pulled me up several times. The cheese fell out, or better say what was left of it, and I took a deep breath.
“Are you ok?” he asked.
“Of course, I am,” I smiled as if nothing had happened.
Since then, they’ve kept asking me some bizarre but I guess understandable questions:
“Do you have kids’ scooters in your country?”
“Do you have LEGO?”
“What cars do you drive there?”
“What flats or houses do you live in?”
After all, I can’t blame them. I attempted to eat cheese in a wrapper.
One lesson I learned: Admit the mistake quickly and don’t procrastinate. Stupidity in combination with indecisiveness can kill or choke you to death.
As for the wretched cheese, it became my favourite, but I no longer try to eat it with the wax cover on. I became a part of the family, although they still think I was living in a cave before.
📘 Phrase Glossary
| Word / Phrase | Meaning / Explanation |
|---|---|
| Babybel | A small round cheese wrapped in red wax |
| Au pair | A young person living with a family abroad, helping with childcare in exchange for food, lodging, and language practice |
| Aristocratic | Related to the nobility or upper-class families |
| Fresh out of university | Recently graduated |
| Clueless | Without knowledge or understanding |
| Smirk | A slight, mocking smile |
| Realisation slapped me right in the face | Idiom meaning “I suddenly understood something strongly” |
| Damage has been done | Expression meaning “It’s too late to change what happened” |
| Wretched | Very bad or unpleasant |
| Procrastinate | Delay doing something |
❓Quiz Time
🎯True or False
🧠 Grammar explained
Past Simple → main action of the story
“I unwrapped it and bit a rather big chunk out of it.”
Past Continuous → background description
“As we sat at the table enjoying lunch…”
Present Perfect → repeated actions continuing until now
“Since then, they’ve kept asking me…”
Conditionals / Hypotheticals
“Do I spit it out? Do I eat it and pretend that’s how WE do it?”
Relative Clauses
“…which drills into your head tons of impractical theories.”
Idioms & Figurative Language
“Realisation slapped me right in the face” (sudden awareness)
🤓 Time for Grammar practice
✍️ Writing Practice
Title: My Own Embarrassing Food Story
A connector (Suddenly, Nevertheless, As a result, Since then)
1, Think of a moment when:
- You didn’t understand food in another country, OR
- You made a mistake at the table, OR
- Imagine a situation where this could happen
2, Write a short story (100–150 words) using these steps:
- Introduction: Where were you? Who were you with?
- The Incident: What food was involved? What mistake did you make?
- Reaction: How did people react? How did you feel?
- Lesson Learned: What did you learn from the experience?
3, Use at least 3 grammar points from the Babybel story:
- Past simple (I tried, they laughed, I dropped)
- Past continuous (I was sitting, they were watching)
- A connector (Suddenly, Nevertheless, As a result, Since then)
Ask your AI to review it using this prompt: Prompt for AI Review
I wrote a short story for a B1 English task about an embarrassing food mistake. Please review my text. Check if I included: an introduction, incident, reaction, and lesson learned. Correct my grammar if needed (especially past simple and past continuous). Tell me if I used connectors like “Suddenly, Nevertheless, As a result, Since then.” Highlight good vocabulary or idioms I used, and suggest 2–3 ways I could improve my story while keeping it at B1 level.
🤖Ask AI for help
I already know the connectors “Nevertheless, Suddenly, As a result, Since then.” Please teach me more connectors at B1–B2 level that I haven’t learned yet.
After I answer, please correct me and explain why.
Explain 6–8 new connectors with simple examples (e.g., Although, Even though, In addition, However, Therefore, Meanwhile).
Give me a short fill-in-the-blank exercise to practise them.
Check out more grammar sessions for Past Simple and learn by reading Graded Stories!