One small street in Cairo, and the ordinary people who live on it, can hold the whole world inside it.
This is a talking lesson, not a reading one. So before a single fact, the floor is yours.
Look at the title of this lesson: a writer from "one small street in Cairo". What is the name of the street or area where you grew up? Tell me one thing that happened there. Can a small place hold a big story? Just talk.
A few short facts. After each one, you do the talking.
Naguib Mahfouz was born in 1911 in Gamaliya, an old district of Cairo. He grew up in narrow streets, near old houses, small shops and busy cafes. These streets stayed in his heart all his life, and later they filled his books.
For many years he worked in an office for the government. He was not rich. He wrote his stories early in the morning or late at night, in his free time. Writing was his real life, even when his job paid the bills.
In 1988 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature — the first writer in Arabic ever to win it, and Egypt was very proud of him. His most famous work is the "Cairo Trilogy": three books that follow one family across three generations, from grandparents to grandchildren.
Mahfouz had one big, simple idea. I will give it to you in small pieces. After each piece, you talk — I will mostly listen.
Most people think you need a big subject to write a big book — a king, a war, a great hero. Mahfouz did the opposite. He looked at one small street in Cairo, and at the ordinary families who lived there: a father, a mother, their children, the shopkeeper, the neighbours.
He believed that everything important about life was already there, in that one small street. Love, money, fights, dreams, growing old, change — you could find all of it between a few simple houses. You did not need to look anywhere else.
His books also show a country that is changing. The older people love the old ways and traditions. The younger people want new, modern things. This quiet battle between tradition and change happens inside one family, in one house — but it is really the story of the whole of Egypt.
Look closely at one ordinary street, Mahfouz seemed to say, and you will see the whole of Egypt — and the whole of human life — living inside it.
Imagine you are Mahfouz. Choose one street you know well and describe it as if it were the setting for a book. Who lives there? What happens between the houses? Make me see it.
Eight words and phrases for talking about people, places and stories. Tap a card to see the meaning and an example.
Pick any four of these words and say four full sentences about your own street, family or childhood — out loud, right now. Don't move on until all four are used.
This lesson is mostly you talking. These phrases will help you give your opinion, describe people and places, and tell your own story.
I will ask you, "What was your neighbourhood like when you were a child?" Answer me using at least one phrase from each box above: first give your opinion, then describe the place, then tell me one thing you remember.
To tell stories like Mahfouz, you need to describe people and places. We use small words — who, which, that, where — to add more information. "A man who sold bread." "A street where everyone knew each other." These are called relative clauses, and they make your speaking richer and more natural.
A relative clause adds extra information to a noun (a person, a thing or a place). We join the two ideas with a small word instead of starting a new sentence.
| Word | Use it for… | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who | people | A writer who loved his city. |
| which | things | A book which tells the truth. |
| that | people or things | A house that is very old. |
| where | places | A street where children play. |
Tip 1: For people you can use who or that. For things you can use which or that. ("a man who/that…", "a book which/that…")
Tip 2: Use where only for places, NOT "which": say "a city where I lived" — not "a city which I lived".
The relative clause goes right after the noun it describes: "the woman who lives next door is very kind."
1. Mahfouz was a writer ____ grew up in Cairo.
2. He wrote books ____ describe ordinary families.
3. Gamaliya is the old district ____ he was born.
4. I have a friend ____ reads a book every week.
5. This is the cafe ____ we always meet.
1. who (or that) — a person
2. which (or that) — things
3. where — a place
4. who (or that) — a person
5. where — a place
1. I know a man. He sells fruit on my street. → I know a man ____ ____ fruit on my street.
2. This is the house. My grandmother lived here. → This is the house ____ my grandmother ____.
3. She wrote a story. It made me cry. → She wrote a story ____ ____ me cry.
4. That is the school. I learned English there. → That is the school ____ I ____ English.
1. I know a man who sells fruit on my street.
2. This is the house where my grandmother lived.
3. She wrote a story which/that made me cry.
4. That is the school where I learned English.
Finish each sentence so it is true about your own life. There are no "answers" here — just speak, and use a relative clause.
Describe a real place or person from your own life — your favourite cafe, your old school, a neighbour you remember. Use who, which and where as you go: "It's a place where…", "There was a man who…", "It had a window which…". Keep talking until you have used all three.
Three speaking tasks, all about your own world. Take your time — the timer is just there to help you keep going, not to rush you. Try to use relative clauses (who, which, that, where) and the phrases from the earlier tabs.
Describe a street or neighbourhood you know well — maybe where you live now, or where you grew up.
Tell me about the people on it: "There is a man who…", "It's a place where…". What does it look like? What happens there every day?
Think of one place that was important when you were young — a house, a school, a shop, a park.
Why was it special? Use sentences like "It's the place where…" and "It's a house that…". What do you remember most?
Tell me about a person who was important in your childhood — a family member, a neighbour, a teacher, a friend.
Describe them: "She is the kind of person who…", "He is someone that…". What did they teach you, or how did they help you?
"I come from a place where…, and the people who live there…"