Category: L2 – Pre-Intermediate

How the Platypus Came to Be

Dec 10, 2024

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Genre: Myths & Legends

Setting: Modern

New Vocabulary: Beak, Beaver, Came to be, Can’t be bothered, Dam, Otter, Pester, Platypus, Tail

Word Count: 1040

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

The nose of a duck, the fur of an otter and the tail of a beaver: platypuses are one of the strangest animals in the world! So where did they come from?
Three Kisses

Oct 29, 2024

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Genre: Children’s

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Bathtub, Courage, Dragon, Grief, Ruby, Seagull, Servant, Slave, Smash, Witch

Word Count: 2405

Original Author: Gordon Urquhart

Leah’s mother dies, and her brother leaves home, and Leah is so sad that she cannot speak. Her father plants a rose garden on her balcony, and every day she gives a white rose to a seagull and kisses it three times, sending it to her brother. But dark magic is also travelling across the sea, and soon Leah will find that every rose is not so sweet…
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Cut Off Your Hair

Jul 9, 2024

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Genre: Romance

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Chew, Get caught on, Loom, Nail, Pharmacist, Scalp, Starve, Suit of armour, Sword, Trapped, Treat someone like

Word Count: 3658

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

An old couple wish for a son and instead have a daughter with long, magical hair. They don’t see the value in it, and sell her off to an old man who keeps her in a tower. Every day, he massages the oil from her hair and sells it. But the girl gets tired of this life, and makes a plan to escape…
The Light at the Bottom of the Sea

Jun 11, 2024

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Genre: Myths & Legends

Setting: Malta

New Vocabulary: Basement, Captain, Earthquake, Faithful, Hoofprint, Horizon, Kneel, Portrait, Saint, Tie up, Treasure

Word Count: 979

Original Author: Saviour Pirotta

Żgugina lives on the coast of Malta with her son. When pirates attack, she rushes to the church to pray to St Demetrius. ‘St Demetrius,’ she says, ‘if you save my son I will light a lamp that burns forever!’ What happened next was too much for her to believe…
A Crooked Old House

Apr 16, 2024

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Genre: Horror

Setting: UK

New Vocabulary: Association, Crooked, Drain (noun), Fern, Hook, Moisture, Plumber, Pretend, Roll, Warp (wood), Zip-line

Word Count: 1753

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

An old man lives in an old house. The house is so old that it has changed shape and many things are broken. Every day, the man must climb up a big hill to get to the kitchen. Lots of people tell him he needs to leave the house, but the old man refuses. But one day, the house makes sure he will never leave.
How to Teach a Language

Oct 24, 2023

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Genre: Other

Setting: Other

New Vocabulary: Aid, Build upon, CI, Clip chat, Cognate, Command, Crosstalk, Mime, Physical, Story listening, Target language, Word wall

Word Count: 3061

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

In this episode, I explore methods you can use to teach your language to your friend or partner. It builds upon the information in the previous episode How to Learn a Language, so I highly recommend listening to that episode first.
How to Learn a Language

Aug 29, 2023

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Genre: Other

Setting: Other

New Vocabulary: Abstract, Affective filter, Bibliography, Cognate, Comprehensible input, Conscious, Controversial, Criticise, Data, Figure out, Hypothesis, Innate, Make a deal, Memorise, Monitor, Negative emotions, Output, Panic, Researcher, Second language acquisition, Spark an interest, State (say), Subconscious, Theory

Word Count: 5130

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

In this episode, I explain the theory behind second language acquisition, or the way that we learn languages and how best to study languages. I introduce Stephen Krashen’s Theory of Comprehensible Input and discuss the five hypotheses that make it up, and then explain how I used this theory when creating Easy Stories in English.
The Voice of Reason

Jul 4, 2023

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Genre: Philosophical

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Bandit, Hanging, Hedge, Ignore, Jeweller, Land (verb), Obey, Pitchfork, Property, Reason, Spread, Tame

Word Count: 2303

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

In a small town, the people look after each other. When someone is hungry, the others give them food. But one day, the Voice of Reason comes to town and changes everything.
Eileen

May 9, 2023

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Genre: Horror

Setting: Modern

New Vocabulary: Acid, Bruise, Bully, Climate change, Come up with, Disguise, Disprove, Exponential, Hack, Precocious

Word Count: 1449

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

With every month that passes, Eileen gets cleverer. The kids at school hate her, and her parents are afraid of her. There’s something not… human about this child. This story covers my feelings about AI (artificial intelligence). I talk a lot about an episode of another podcast, Your Undivided Attention, which explains the dangers and possibilities of AI.
Saint George and the Dragon

Apr 25, 2023

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Genre: Myths & Legends

Setting: Fairytale

New Vocabulary: Collar, Desert, Dew, Dragon, Kingdom, Knight, Pass out, Saint, Scratch, Tame, Well (water)

Word Count: 1662

Original Author: Ariel Goodbody

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 pre-intermediate learners. The name of the story is Saint George and the Dragon. […]