Welcome to Easy Stories in English, the podcast that will take your English from OK to Good, and from Good to Great!
Learning a language is hard. With Easy Stories in English, you can learn English the natural way, without studying lists of vocabulary or complicated grammar rules. Every week, Ariel Goodbody, author and language teacher, will present a story adapted to your level of English. The stories will be hilarious, dramatic, and entertaining, but never too difficult. If you’re learning English and are tired of boring textbooks, then this is the podcast for you.
- All levels
- L1 - Beginner
- L2 - Pre-Intermediate
- L3 - Intermediate
- L4 - Advanced
Dear Heart Chapter 1
And there it was: PING! Attraction. Here’s the thing. When I told you that I don’t wear makeup and lift weights, you probably assumed I only liked women. And you wouldn’t be wrong, 99% of the time. But that 1% of the time, I see men who just have something...
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Cacica Gaitana, an Indigenous Hero
Pedro de Añasco was a coward. He didn’t know how he had gotten here, in the hills of South America, almost 5000 miles from his home in Spain, but here he was, standing outside the perfectly-white house of Sebastián de Belalcázar.
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New Year, New Me
Diana was surprised. ‘You don’t make resolutions? But you’re the most serious person I know! You go to the gym, and cook healthy food, and read books… How do you do all that without New Year’s resolutions?’ Minerva drank some wine. ‘Let me ask you something. How much are you...
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Nasreddin the Wise Man
So today’s story is actually a collection of six short folk tales and they’re all about a funny character called Nasreddin. So, Nasreddin is a character who appears in folk tales in many parts of the world. He mainly appears in stories in the Middle East and Europe, mainly Eastern...
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Open Sesame
He gasped. The mountain was full of treasures! There was gold and silver and thousands of jewels. They sat in piles, like piles of seeds, but these treasures were so much better than seeds. The poor man did not know what to take. He did not want the thieves...
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Mother Death
‘You wicked boy!’ they spat. ‘I raised you, I gave you everything you needed, and you disobeyed me!’ ‘I did not,’ said Mortimer, smiling wickedly. ‘You stood at the head of his bed, and so the King was supposed to survive.’ Death raised a bony finger at Mortimer. ‘If you ever...
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[100th episode celebration!] The Wind in Her Hand
Once upon a time, there was a land where the sun never set. Every hour of every day, it shone bright and hot. The people of this land lived in huge cities, where everyone who walked down the street held a parasol. All the parasols pressed together and formed...
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The Land of Youth
Niamh’s father was afraid of many things. He thought that someone might try to kill him so that they could be king. He thought that someone would run faster than him in the next game. But he had a druid who could see the future, so he asked him...
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Stalking is For Girls, Too
CLANG! The gate to the car park closed behind Bella. She was trapped. Uh-oh. She had gone past the apartment building on her day off work. She had had one date with the man, but she was impatient. She just wanted to look at him through the window, because she couldn’t...
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You Can’t Please Everyone
‘Why do you have a donkey, but you don’t ride it? Donkeys should be ridden.’ So the man said to his son, ‘Get on the donkey and ride it.’ They kept on going. A few hours later, a group of old women walked past. ‘Look at that lazy young boy,’ said one...
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Why the Sea is Salty
Once there were two brothers. One brother was a poor farmer. He worked in the fields, and when the weather was bad, he had no food. But he was kind and worked a lot. The other brother was a rich man who worked on a ship. He was not...
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The Crying Woman
Once, there was a woman called Inmaculada. Her friends called her Inma. She lived in a village in Mexico. Inmaculada was indigenous, and her mother and father died when she was very young. She was poor, and she washed clothes for other people in the village. She wanted to...
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The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Once there was a young boy called Lyman. He worked in the field and looked after the sheep. He was a shepherd. His father was a shepherd, and his grandfather was a shepherd and his grandfather’s father was a shepherd. Everyone told Lyman, ‘One day, you will be a...
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Stone Soup
Once, a man was travelling across the country. He was very poor. One day he arrived in a town, and he had no more food. He asked the people for food, but nobody wanted to talk to him. So he went into the centre of town with a big cooking...
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Hold On, Little Pot!
Once, there was a builder. He worked very hard, but he was happy. He had a good home and a beautiful wife. One day, the King came to him and said, ‘Dear builder! I have heard that you are the best builder in the country. I want to see your...
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The Wolf and the Fox
Once, there were a wolf and a fox. The fox worked for the wolf, and he hated him. The wolf was very bad, and made the fox do everything for him. The wolf was ugly and greedy, but he was stronger than the fox, so the fox had to...
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Put the Lid Back On!
Once, a poor man was coming home at night. All he had was a gun and a single silver coin. He was riding a horse, but both he and the horse were very tired. They saw a graveyard, and the grass there was very long. So they stopped, the...
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Billy and Dim Chapters 2 & 3
‘Tell me your name, dog,’ spat the Big Bad Wolf. ‘Or I’ll break your pretty little neck.’ A deep, dark part of Demetrius’ mind thought, “Maybe I’d like that,” a thought which he quickly silenced.
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Billy and Dim Chapter 1
Little Red Riding Hood wasn’t so little anymore. In fact, she was a full-grown woman, and not only that, but a powerful sorceress, too. The only remains of her past were the red riding hood she always wore, whatever the weather, and her nickname: Red. Billy, for his part, had...
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The Adventures of Lucky the Elephant
One sunny day Lucky the Elephant was born. He was a beautiful little elephant, and he quickly became the favourite of the herd. He was cute and funny, and he could even make the saddest elephant laugh. His mother, Madeleine, always gave him what he wanted, and his grandmother,...
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The Three Feathers
Once there was an old king. He knew that he would die soon, and he had to decide who to give his kingdom to. He had three sons. The older two sons were tall, clever and strong, and the youngest son, Stu, was short and stupid. They all called...
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To Be a Hero Chapter 3
When we last saw our heroes, and I do use that term lightly, they were hiding in the bushes, waiting outside the lair of the dragon, the ground covered in smelly snake guts designed to wake the monster’s rage. They spent many long, tedious, hours waiting. Norm looked around and...
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To Be a Hero Chapter 2
When we last saw our hero-in-training, Norm, and his ghostly teacher, Elric, they were walking at a sensible pace through the forest to recover the King’s lost pegasus. After several hours of walking, filled with Elric insisting they (quietly) play a variety of childish word games, they arrived at...
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To Be a Hero Chapter 1
Once there was a boy called Norm who lived with his stepmother. Like all stepmothers, she was wicked, and she spent all day shouting at Norm. ‘It’s freezing in here! Where’s the firewood? Oh, if only Sabrina were here!’ Sabrina was her own daughter, who had died the day Norm was...
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Three Dragons
Once upon a time, there lived three dragons on three mountains. They were brothers, and each ruled over their own mountain. One was black, called Ba, one was red, called Ra, and one was green, called Ga. In the middle of the three mountains lay a small kingdom, ruled...
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Luck and Reason
Once upon a time, Luck met with Reason. ‘Get down on your knees!’ said Luck. ‘Why?’ ‘Because you must respect me!’ Reason was still young, and didn’t understand what Luck was saying. ‘Why should I get on my knees? You aren’t any better than me.’
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Puss in Boots
Once there was a young man called Jack. He lived on a farm with his two older brothers and his father. His father made all the decisions on the farm, and as he got older, the farm got smaller. The boys did not like to work, and so many...
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The Musical Forest
Once upon a time, there was a forest far away from the rest of humankind. In this forest, there lived mice, birds, rabbits and so on, but this was no ordinary forest. The King of the Forest was a stag, who had wandered there after being thrown out from his...
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Golden Horses
Today I will tell you the tale of a time when the world lived in harmony and justice, when the gods rarely interfered in human affairs. In the faraway, endless steppe to the east of the Danube lived many warring tribes. Among these, the most powerful was the royal family...
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The Musicians of Bremen
Once there was a donkey who lived with a farmer. The donkey was very old. Before, he had worked every day in the fields and carried many heavy things. Now he was old, and he found it hard to carry heavy things. One day, the donkey was carrying a...
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The Red Mountain
Once, there was a horrible king. He loved killing people. If someone bothered him, he said, ‘Fight me!’ and made the person fight him. He always won the fight, and the floors of the castle always had blood on them. Everyone was afraid of him. His family was afraid...
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The Curse of the Clock
Today in Prague there is the astronomical clock, a great and mysterious clock. It brings in tourists from around the world. But many do not know that the clock has a dark history. It happened over 500 years ago…
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The Cello That Spoke
Once upon a time, there was a talented cello player. She loved her cello like a son, and practised on it for hours every day. Sometimes, she concentrated so hard that she could practically see the notes floating in the air around her. But one day, as she sat down...
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The Paper Man
Once there was a man made of paper. He was called the Paper Man. He lived in a town called Dull. In Dull, the people hated anyone strange. They hated clowns, they hated magic people and they hated anyone who didn’t do what they did. Of course, they hated...
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The Mirror of Misurina
Once upon a time there was a father and his daughter. The father was called Sorapis, while his daughter’s name was Misurina. Misurina’s parents were the King and Queen of the land, and they were both giants. Misurina, however, was a tiny little girl. She could comfortably sit in...
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The Other Mermaid
You have probably heard of a certain mermaid, who came from Denmark and fell in love with a human prince. She made a deal with a witch, turned into a human and tried to win his heart, but she was unable to. So she turned into sea water and...
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Rumplestiltskin
Molly had always been a clever girl. As a child, whenever her mother asked her to do work, she always found some way to get out of it. Either she got someone else to do the work for her, or she made it look like she had done it...
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The Elephant and the Hare
Once there was a group of elephants. They were going to visit their family, and they wanted to bring them honey. So they went and collected honey, and started walking. On the road, they came across a hare. The hare wanted to go across a river, but the water was...
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The Singing Bone
Once there were two brothers. The older brother, Brian, was very clever, but also very proud. The younger brother, Frederick, was not so clever, but he was kind, and everyone liked him. The brothers lived in peace in the countryside, but one day, a villager ran into town. He...
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Towards the City
Once upon a time, in Ancient Greece, there was a man called Byzas. Byzas was the son of Nisos, the King of Megara, a city in Greece. ‘My son,’ said King Nisos one day. ‘It is time for you to go out and make your way in the world. Find...
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