English Audio Request

Sophie started skating when she was three years old, on the pond behind her house. Now Sophie is eight years old. She dreams of becoming a professional ice skater, but she knows there will be many years of hard work ahead.
Sophie watches ice skating on television, but most of all she likes going to ice skating showes. There she gets to see the skating up close. She claps hard for performers and can't wait for the day when the applause is for her.
Sophie takes lessons five mornings and three afternoons a week. Her morning class begins at five o'clock! When she arrives, some of her friends are already warming up. She says hello to Mr.Simon, the coach.
Everyone is dressed warmly. The ice rink can be very cold, so the skaters wear layers of clothing that they take off as they warm up. Skaters choose clothes that are easy to move in but still fit close to the body.
Sophie's skates are already broken in. When they were new, they felt stiff and hurt her feet. She had to put guards over the blades and walk around her house to soften the leather.
Sophie can lace up her skates quickly. But when she was first learning, it took a long time to do it correctly.
Mr.Simon begins the morning class with the basics. Young skaters do these skills over and over again. Learning to get up from a fall gracefully is always important.
Basics include different ways to stop as well as different ways to move. Some basics are practiced both forward and backward, or with just the right foot and just the left foot.
After basics, Sophie's class practices figures. Figures are difficult, but they help the students learn to glide with control. Everyone takes turns skating on the ice, using all four edges.
Then they do basic eights, which are skated in two circles that make the shape of an eight. "It's good we skate eights, and not fours," Pamela says and they all laugh, even Mr. Simon.At seven A.M., class is over and everyone leaves for school.
After school, Sophie returns to the rink for a private lesson in free skating. She does her jumps, spins, and footwork over and over again.
As her musles get stronger, she will jump higher, spin faster, and move with more control.
Sophie wants every move to be perfect. But she's been skating long enough to know that sometimes she will fall. When it happens, she tries not to be hard on herself.
Sophie takes ballet lessons two afternoons a week. Some of her friends from ice skating class are in her ballet class are in her ballet classs, too!
Ballet helps them be more flexible and graceful on the ice.
Competiting is Sophie's favorite part of ice skating. A big competition is coming up in three weeks. In her afternoon class, Sophie runs through her short program with Ms.Wilkinm the choreographer.
She tries on her costumes and decides on the purple one. "This brought me good luck last competition," she says, and does a super jump.
Sophie is exicited to skate her long program. She agrees with Ms.Wilkin on the bright green costume. It matches the happy music. "I won't have to remember to smile," Sophie says. "This program is so much fun!"
It is time to go home. Before they leave the stadium,Sophie and her mom stop and watch Nick lift his partner high in the air. Sophie applauds. Suddenly Nick skates over and scoops up Sophie and lifts her high in the air, too. "I'm flying!" she shouts.
After dinner, Sophie cleans and dries her skates. She sits with her dog, Henry, and does her homewok. It's nice to be home after a long day.
"Get your skates, Sophie!" Let's go out to the pond!" her brother calls a little later. But Sophie is already asleep.