Taylor Swift

Elementary / preliminary level English 

 

Taylor Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania, in the USA. Today, she is one of the most famous and popular singers in the world. Many people think she has changed music in a big way.

Taylor’s parents always believed in her. They were her first fans. Her mother worked in marketing, and her father worked in finance. They saw that Taylor had lots of talent, and they helped her right from the start.

As a young girl, Taylor loved writing stories and singing songs. She was a fan of Shania Twain, a Canadian singer who mixed country and pop music. Then, when she was 11, Taylor began to write her own songs and sing in public.

Because Taylor wanted to be a singer, her family moved to Henderson, near Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville is known as the capital of country music. Taylor went to high school there for two years, then studied at home to have more time for music.

At age 15, Taylor signed a contract with Big Machine Records, and soon brought out her first album. Her second album, Fearless, came out in 2008 and made her very famous. Songs like “Love Story” and “You Belong with Me” won her four Grammy awards.

In 2010, her next album, Speak Now, showed she could also write all her songs by herself. Fans liked her music because it was honest and told real-life stories.

In 2014, with the album 1989, Taylor changed her style from country to pop. The song “Shake It Off” became a number-one hit in many countries, and Taylor became a global pop star.

Being famous was not always easy. In 2016, she had problems with other stars and in the media. Her next album, Reputation, talked about these problems and how she stayed strong.

In 2019, she released Lover, a happier album with love songs. It also included songs about women’s rights and other important topics.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Taylor made two soft, quiet albums: Folklore and Evermore. These albums were different from her pop songs, but fans and critics loved them.

Taylor also fought for her rights. When a record company took control of her old music, she decided to record her old songs again, like Fearless and Red. Many people saw this as a smart and brave choice. Now she has made copies of all her old albums, and the new copies are better than the old ones.

Taylor Swift has won many awards. But most of all, she is loved because her songs are real and emotional. She has fans of all ages , from children to grandparents.

As 12-year-old Marianne says, “I just love Taylor Swift!” And Marianne's Aunt Kay even flew from Canada to London to see Taylor Swift live at Wembley Stadium!


Difficult words:
famous: well-known, popular - fans: supporters, people who love her music - country music: music that is popular in rural America - move: find a new house to live in - contract:  a legal agreement, a legal document - award: prize - honest: truthful, real -  global: worldwide, international - to stay: to remain, to continue to be - release: bring out, publish - rights: what people are (or should be) allowed to do - topic: subject - fought: past tense of to fight - smart: clever, intelligent - choice: decision, idea - won: past tense of to win - emotional: full of feelings, passionate.

Note: dates.  There are two different ways of saying years like 2015 - either twenty-fifteen, or two thousand (and) fifteen. Since 2020, the normal way to express years has been to use the twenty-twenty form.

►For a longer and more difficult (C1 level) version of this text see Taylor Swift - sensation of a generation



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Student worksheet

1. Interactive exercise - use on screen or on paper: Missing words
Twenty words have been omitted from this copy of part of the text. Try to put them back by memory. Take care with spelling!  .

 

2. True or False Quiz

Read each statement below and write True or False next to it.

    Taylor Swift changed her music style from pop to country in 2014.

    The song “Shake It Off” was a number-one hit in many countries.

    Taylor's album Reputation focused on her early life as a country music singer.

    The album Lover included songs about love and women's rights.

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor released two loud hard rock albums.

    Taylor re-recorded her old songs because a record company took control of her original music.

    Taylor Swift is only popular with teenagers.

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Teachers:

This text is a simple and clear example of past narrative. Most of the verbs are in the simple past tense (preterite). There are also some examples of the present perfect, at the start of the article and near the end. For example She has changed music in a big way.  This sentence does not describe a past event, but the consquence of past actions. In British English we need a present perfect to express this, though in American English, a preterite form might be used instead.  
The text contains several verbs with irregular past tenses.

With the missing words exercise, note the cases where the missing word is as.  "As" could also be used in box 8, instead of because, as both words can imply cause. However because could not be used in box 1, where as has the meaning "when she was", not "because".

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