UPPER-INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH STORY | A Fresh Start B2 | Level 5-6 | English Listening Practice

hello and welcome to lovely English stories thank you for stopping by this story is for Upper Intermediate English Learners ready well let's get started B2 English story a fresh start Emma sat at her kitchen table staring at the letter in her hands the words turn termination of employment seemed to shout at her from the page

after six years at the company she had been let go due to budget cuts At first she felt shocked then anger and finally a wave of panic what would she do without a steady wage how would she pay her bills let alone rebuild her life for a week Emma wallowed self-pity she binged television shows ignored her

emails and avoided talking to her friends but deep down she knew this wasn't sustainable she had to take control of the situation one Saturday morning she grabbed a notebook and began planning her next steps the first thing Emma did was assess her finances she listed all her expenses rent utilities groceries and other

Essentials she realized she had been spending a lot on non-essentials like takeaway food streaming subscriptions and impulsive online shopping she decided to cut back on these and create a strict budget with her savings she estimated she could survive for three months if she was careful next Emma thought about her skills and passions she had always

enjoyed cooking often experimenting with recipes in her free time what if she could turn her hobby into a source of income the idea excited her and she began researching ways to start a small business from home on the small amount of spare cash she had Emma decided to try selling homemade meals in her local area she created a