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Category: L2 – Pre-Intermediate
Giving Up Sugar for Lent
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Genre: ConversationNew Vocabulary: Abstain, Crave, Daylight savings, Flashcards, Give something up, Hojicha, Hold someone accountable, Lent, Ramadan, Spring (verb), Taste buds, VainWord Count: 3773Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter. Traditionally, during Lent, Christians fast or give something up. In today’s episode, I talk about giving up sugar, plus give some tips on how best to use flashcards to learn vocabulary.
The Dragon of Kraków
A dragon is terrorising the city of Kraków, but one man has a way to defeat it. It won’t take strength, though, but wisdom.
Three Balls of Wool
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Genre: Children’sSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Dot, Fig, Gaze, Her curiosity got the better of her, Itch, Reflection, Rotten, Scar, Scratch, Wart, WitchWord Count: 3099Original Author: A. M. JaliliOne day, Leila finds a strange butterfly with three dots and fine lines on its wings. When she tries to touch the butterfly, it turns into a witch and drags her to her castle! For seven years Leila works for the witch, trying to find a way to escape. Then, one day, the witch says she is going travelling…
How the Platypus Came to Be
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
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
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Genre: RomanceSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Chew, Get caught on, Loom, Nail, Pharmacist, Scalp, Starve, Suit of armour, Sword, Trapped, Treat someone likeWord Count: 3658Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyAn 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
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Genre: Myths & LegendsSetting: MaltaNew Vocabulary: Basement, Captain, Earthquake, Faithful, Hoofprint, Horizon, Kneel, Portrait, Saint, Tie up, TreasureWord Count: 979Original Author: Saviour PirottaÅ»gugina 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
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Genre: HorrorSetting: UKNew Vocabulary: Association, Crooked, Drain (noun), Fern, Hook, Moisture, Plumber, Pretend, Roll, Warp (wood), Zip-lineWord Count: 1753Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyAn 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
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Genre: OtherSetting: OtherNew Vocabulary: Aid, Build upon, CI, Clip chat, Cognate, Command, Crosstalk, Mime, Physical, Story listening, Target language, Word wallWord Count: 3061Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyIn 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
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Genre: OtherSetting: OtherNew 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, TheoryWord Count: 5130Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyIn 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.