Category: L3 – Intermediate

The Monkey’s Heart

Jul 8, 2025

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Genre: Philosophical

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Fig, Graceful, Halfway, Indifferent, Nap, Nimble, Ordeal, Send someone your wishes, Toss, X and Y don’t mix

Word Count: 1686

Original Author: Fairy Tales

A monkey shares his figs with a shark, and for a while they are friends, but when the shark invites the monkey to his home under the sea, the monkey suspects that something may be wrong…
Who is Middle Class?

Jun 24, 2025

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New Vocabulary: Chav, Nouveau riche, Parvenu, Posh, Processed food, Received Pronunciation, Social bubble

Word Count: 5444

Download as a PDF Watch on YouTube Attributions Hello and welcome to Easy Stories in English, the podcast that will take your English from Okay to Good and from Good to Great! I am Ariel Goodbody, your host for this show. Today’s episode is a conversation about class. This is one of the most particular […]
Have You Met Elaine?

May 27, 2025

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Genre: Horror

Setting: Modern

New Vocabulary: Cuppa, Defrost, Egging, Fertiliser, Hoarder, Infer, Intermittent fasting, Parish council, Ragamuffin, Six pack, Spot (skin), Vandalise

Word Count: 1728

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

Have you met Elaine? Elaine is very giving, but not very nice. Oh, she loves everyone, but she shows her love through action, not smiles.
Return to the Sea

May 13, 2025

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Genre: Philosophical

Setting: Modern

New Vocabulary: Barnacle, Broom, Excretion, Fishing rod, Froth, Frown, Kelp, Moustache, Wrath

Word Count: 1220

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

An old fisherman sits fishing by the sea. He has seen the world change hugely through his life. But today, something monstrous is waiting in the water.
Doing Evil Part 2

Aug 20, 2024

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Genre: Philosophical

Setting: Modern

New Vocabulary: ‘Even if I die trying’, A-level, Brush yourself off, Detention, Do-gooder, Frame someone for something, Indoctrination, Oxbridge, PE, Practically vibrating, Put your head down, Ripple, Theology, Wet the bed

Word Count: 4021

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

Tobias arrives at St Gummarus’ School for Nasty Children. At first, he thinks his parents might have made a mistake, because all the kids here are badly behaved and nasty. But he soon realises that deep down, they are good, and they’re threatening his mission to do evil. So Tobias decides to use goodness as a weapon…
Doing Evil Part 1

Aug 13, 2024

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Genre: Philosophical

Setting: Modern

New Vocabulary: A cross to bear, Atheist, Boarding school, Bullying, Chapel, Evil, Host (Christianity), Hypocrisy, Lord, Mass, Rota, Satan, Seven deadly sins, Spit, Tabernacle, Test the waters

Word Count: 3625

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

When Tobias’s parents ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he says, ‘Evil.’ There’s just one problem: his parents are devoted Christians! As Tobias does more and more bad things, his parents try to find ways to make him good, until finally there is only one option left…
A Visitor from Chilly Bottom

May 14, 2024

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Genre: Comedy

Setting: UK

New Vocabulary: Bonkers, Butler, Captive, Chilly, Colony, Crumbs, Furrow your brow, Poo, Press release, Regurgitate, Royal seal, Spit, Tailcoat, Waddle, Worship

Word Count: 3272

Original Author: Alastair Budge, Ariel Goodbody

A man who has lived in Antarctica all his life visits the UK for the first time. Technically, he is a British citizen, as he grew up on British Antarctic Territory. And he has an important message for the king! It’s just that, the king has no idea who this man is…
How the Narwhal Got Its Tusk

Dec 19, 2023

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Greenland

New Vocabulary: Bolt of lightning, Exile, Flesh, Grumble, Harpoon, Igloo, Keen (ear), Migrate (illness), Narwhal, Raven, Rot, Tusk, Whittle, Yank

Word Count: 2831

Original Author: Howard Norman

A blind boy lives in Greenland with his parents and his aunt. The aunt is always complaining, so the boy’s mother sends her away, but one night, there is a storm and the boy hears his aunt being struck by lightning. The aunt goes mad, and only the blind boy can save her, but he’ll have to travel far from home to do so…
The Water Monster

Nov 21, 2023

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Genre: Horror

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Bend someone’s will, Brine, Flesh and blood, Froth, Make to do something, Mild, Seaweed, String of pearls, Swirl, Tea (food)

Word Count: 753

Original Author: Karel Jaromír Erben

Download this episode as a PDF. Transcript Welcome to Easy Stories in English, the podcast that will take your English from OK to Good, and from Good to Great. I am Ariel Goodbody, your host for this show. Today’s story is for intermediate learners. The name of the story is The Water Monster. You can […]
The Path of Pins and Needles

Oct 10, 2023

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Genre: Horror

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Get the better of you, Intestines, Pins and needles, Sense (verb), Sneak, Stray from, Tickle, Wet yourself, Wolf down

Word Count: 2024

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

Red loves playing tricks on the adults in her village, so one day her mother sends her to bring bread and milk to her grandmother. On the way, Red meets a strange man, Wolf, who suggests they play a game: he’ll walk the path of pins, she’ll walk the path of needles, and they’ll see who gets to Grandmother’s house first. But when Red arrives, she finds something very different to what she expected.