Category: L2 – Pre-Intermediate
-
Taken by the Fairies
—
Genre: RomanceSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Bald patch, Chest, Fairy, Hair clippers, Keep a promise, Make sense, Ponytail, Sadness/sadly, Sweat, Sword, Whatever happens, Whisper, WoundWord Count: 1978Original Author: Fairy Tales’Will you marry me?’ The beautiful man laughed. ‘You don’t even know my name.’ ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jasper.’ Harold sighed. ‘A wonderful name. So, Jasper, will you marry me?’
-
Dear Heart Chapter 5
—
Genre: RomanceSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: App, Best man, Burst into applause, Comfort (verb), Corridor, Land (verb), Seek, Shove, Straight (sexuality), Swear (bad language), Undo (clothes), Voice catchWord Count: 3814Original Author: Ariel Goodbody‘Fergus.’ She took my chin and pulled my face towards hers. ‘There’s a simple way to get around all this. I don’t want to fire Cassandra, of course.’ She was moving closer. Her breath smelt of whisky and cigarettes. My heart screamed at me to get out. ‘So just do what I say…’ ‘No.’ She…
-
Dear Heart Chapter 4
—
Genre: RomanceSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Beat up, Dump (relationships), Dwell on, Eyebrow, Idiot, Needle, Pretend, Reflection, Smash, Squish, Steering wheel, Tear through/apart/off, Threaten, WaistcoatWord Count: 3237Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyOur classes are over. Clearly, you’re doing fine without me, and I’ll just break your ‘nice pen’ if you try to help me. We’re colleagues, anyway. Let’s keep it that way. The handwriting was completely different, back to being a drunken spider, and it only got messier as my tears fell on the page.
-
Dear Heart Chapter 3
—
Genre: RomanceSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Bully, Delicate, Gender Binary, Grin, Masculine/masculinity, Melt, Non-binary, Prompt, Rusty, Spiel, Suffocate, Take control of, Transgender, TypewriterWord Count: 2734Original Author: Ariel Goodbody‘Now,’ she said, pulling off her gloves. ‘You still have to teach me about poetry. I really don’t know very much. Do we write with a pen, or our bodies?’ I grinned. ‘We can use both.’ And we did.
-
Dear Heart Chapter 2
—
Genre: RomanceSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Basically, Clear up, Drunk, Flirt/flirtation/flirty, Lean, Make it up to someone, Rhyme, Shut up, Slam, Take a deep breath, WinkWord Count: 2651Original Author: Ariel Goodbody‘You have such soft hands,’ she said. ‘You like that?’ ‘Yes.’ She moved her thumb over the back of my hand, but she continued to look in my eyes. ‘And your lips are, too…’ I leant forward, ready to kiss her. And then the door to her apartment flew open.
-
Dear Heart Chapter 1
—
Genre: RomanceSetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Assume, Attracted to someone, Bowtie, Chopsticks, Crafts, Cross out, Fire (job), Freak, Glitter, Tell off, Unicorn, WeightsWord Count: 2553Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyAnd 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 in their eyes. Like a…
-
Nasreddin the Wise Man
—
Genre: ComedySetting: MedievalNew Vocabulary: Basketful, Equally, In that case, No reason, Precious, Stroke, Sunlight, Train (animal), Truly, Vineyard, WiseWord Count: 941Original Author: Middle Eastern MythsSo 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 Europe, and he’s known by…
-
Stalking is For Girls, Too
—
Genre: ComedySetting: ModernNew Vocabulary: Fate, Get down on one knee, Hold your breath, Impatient, Lean, Make something up, Might as well, Sneak, Stalk, Trapped, Twist, Vent (complain)Word Count: 730Original Author: Ariel GoodbodyCLANG! 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 stop thinking about him.…
-
The Adventures of Lucky the Elephant
—
Genre: Children’sSetting: AfricanNew Vocabulary: Bathe, Buzz, Herd, Nod, Pat, Rhino(ceros), Savannah, Separate (verb), Smile bitterly, Swamp, TrunkWord Count: 1898One 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, Sophia, was the proud and strong…
-
Luck and Reason
—
Genre: PhilosophicalSetting: FairytaleNew Vocabulary: Carver, Chop off, Commoner, Execute, Gardener, Get down on your knees, Reason, Royal, Sword, TailorWord Count: 1120Original Author: Katherine from the Czech RepublicOnce 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.’