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    Easy Stories in English for Advanced Learners: Easy Stories in English, #4
    Easy Stories in English for Advanced Learners: Easy Stories in English, #4
    Easy Stories in English for Advanced Learners: Easy Stories in English, #4
    Ebook159 pages2 hoursEasy Stories in English

    Easy Stories in English for Advanced Learners: Easy Stories in English, #4

    By Ariel Goodbody

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    About this ebook

    Once upon a time, there was a student who wanted to learn English…

     

    He did everything. He did grammar exercises, he looked at lists of vocabulary, he even tried reading books for native speakers. But nothing worked, and he couldn't progress.

     

    Then, one day, he found a book just for him. It was full of fun, easy stories that made him laugh and cry, and he understood them perfectly. He flew through the stories, and his English grew with him. He had fun, and so he learned.

     

    You can find your happy ending, too. All you need to do is open this book.


    Easy Stories in English is a collection of 10 heartwarming fairy tales that will make you fall in love with reading. Get lost in familiar stories like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, with pictures and explanations of difficult vocabulary. With a scientifically-proven method and a variety of levels to suit every learner, this book will take your English from OK to Good and from Good to Great!

     

    Cover design by Geoffrey Bunting. Illustration by Lizzie Knott.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAriel Goodbody
    Release dateJul 19, 2021
    ISBN9798201318079
    Easy Stories in English for Advanced Learners: Easy Stories in English, #4
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      Book preview

      Easy Stories in English for Advanced Learners - Ariel Goodbody

      Easy Stories in English for Advanced Learners

      10 Fairy Tales to Take Your English From OK to Good and From Good to Great

      Ariel Goodbody

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      Copyright © 2021 by Ariel Goodbody

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form on by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

      Cover design by Geoffrey Bunting

      Print ISBN 978-1-914968-03-7

      Some of these stories were originally released at EasyStoriesInEnglish.com

      Contents

      Why You Must Read

      The North Wind and the Sun

      Strange Friends

      The Very Hungry Dragon

      Doggo and Kitty Do Their Laundry

      Doggo and Kitty Tear Their Trousers

      Doggo and Kitty Bake a Cake

      Sleeping Beauty

      One-Eyed, Two-Eyed, Three-Eyed

      The Boy Who Knew No Fear

      Cinderella

      Author’s Note

      Vocabulary Explanations and References

      Image Attributions

      Why You Must Read

      ‘Why do I need to read in English?’

      I get this question a lot from students. They argue that, as long as they’re going to classes, doing their homework and watching films in English, there’s no need to sit down with something as boring and old-fashioned as a book.

      Well, to put it bluntly ¹, they’re wrong. In fact, reading is the best thing you can do to learn English, and I’m here to tell you why.

      Firstly, reading skills are more important than ever, whether that be in English or your native language. In 2006, only 1 in 100 people went to university. Now, it’s 7 in 100 ². All jobs, from office workers to mechanics, require far more reading and writing than a century ago ³. The competition is higher, and readers win.

      Secondly, reading is the best way to improve proficiency ⁴ in English overall. Yes, you heard me right. Reading will improve your speaking, writing, vocabulary and grammar far more efficiently than any other method. It won’t improve your listening skills, but it will give you the vocabulary necessary to train your ear ⁵ quickly.

      But it’s not just any reading we’re talking about. In school, you probably read lots in English. Boring textbooks and dry ⁶ stories with exercises at the end.

      No, we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about reading for pleasure.

      That means reading a book you enjoy because you enjoy it. Not because your teacher told you to. Not because it’s what you’re ‘supposed’ to read to improve your English. No questions, no book reports. Just pure, unfiltered ⁷ pleasure.

      ‘Yeah, right!’ you’re probably thinking. ‘That’s too good to be true.’

      Let me show you.

      In 1965, an experiment was carried out in juvenile delinquent reform centres ⁸ in America ⁹. One group of the students were given free books. They made sure they were exciting books that would appeal to young boys, such as James Bond. But unlike most reading programmes, they were not required to read the books. They were simply given them. They could throw the books away, give them back, or draw on the pages, and nobody would punish them for it.

      But the boys did read them. They read a lot of them. Some of them read a book every two days.

      At the end of two years, they tested the students. Not only did their reading and writing greatly improve, so did their attitude towards school. But the students who were not on this programme stayed the same. In fact, some of them got worse over the two years.

      This isn’t just for native speakers, either. A study of English as a Second Language (ESL) students in the Fiji islands ¹⁰ looked at three methods: traditional English teaching, sustained silent reading ¹¹, and a more conventional reading programme, where the teachers read aloud to the students ¹².

      By the end of the first year, students taught with the two reading methods had a 15 month advantage in English ability, compared to the 6.5 months of the traditional method. When the study was replicated ¹³ in Singapore, the students who did only sustained silent reading did better on grammar tests than the students who had taken only grammar classes!

      When we do grammar exercises, we try to memorise ¹⁴ the rules of the language. When we read, we absorb them.

      But I know what you’re thinking: ‘That’s all well and good, but when I pick up a book in English, it’s too hard for me! I get bored of looking up words, and I give up after a few minutes.’

      That’s why I wrote this book. It is designed to make you fall in love with reading, by providing fun, familiar stories that are easy to understand.

      The stories gradually increase in difficulty and length, so that you can feel a sense of progression and success at the end. Most of them were originally released on my podcast ¹⁵, Easy Stories in English, but they have been rewritten and improved for this book, as well as having a version for each language level. They are a mix of classic and less popular fairy tales ¹⁶, as well as one that I wrote myself.

      Again, I know what you’re thinking: ‘Fairy tales? But those are for kids! I need useful vocabulary, about business and science and technology. There’s no way to make that fun!’

      The thing with language is, there isn’t such a big difference between Important Language and Fun Language ¹⁷. We use a wide range of words when talking about technical topics as well as chatting with our friends.

      A study by McQuillan ¹⁸ examined vocabulary in 22 novels and found that they included 85% of words on academic word lists. Rolls and Rogers ¹⁹ found that, if a student read a million words of science fiction, they would acquire many of the technical words required for a science degree.

      So yes, reading fairy tales will help your English in all areas, even for academic purposes. As an English teacher, I’ve seen time and time again ²⁰ that the students who do the best are those who read the most. For IELTS, for university, for business or just for travel, reading is the factor that predicts success.

      But I understand if you’re still unsure. When I learned about all this, I was, too. Thankfully, I like to experiment, and I have a passion for learning languages.

      So in 2017, I decided to put this theory to the test ²¹. I had wanted to learn Spanish for a long time, but aside from struggling with Duolingo ²² and not really learning anything, I hadn’t made a serious attempt. I set myself a goal: I would read a million words in Spanish and see what my level was afterwards. A million words is roughly equivalent to twenty standard-length novels, so it was a huge task to undertake.

      I started with very easy resources, like transcripts ²³ of podcasts for learners, but I avoided anything that felt too much like work. Once I’d built up a solid foundation, I started reading translations of books that I knew in English, such as Harry Potter and A Song of Ice and Fire (you might know it as Game of Thrones).

      Finally, I was ready to move onto completely new books, and I fell in love with Latin American ²⁴ authors such as Isabel Allende, Luis Jorge Borges and Manuel Puig. Alongside the reading, I also listened to podcasts, but I always read the transcripts and counted the words as part of my reading.

      After I hit my goal, I tested myself by writing and talking to native speakers, and found I was at a decent intermediate level. I could understand almost everything I read, understand clear speech, and converse ²⁵ at a comfortable level, even though I had barely spoken the language since I started learning.

      I had been learning for about a year, and I had made more progress than most students make in five years.

      I didn’t memorise ²⁶ the vocabulary and grammar rules. I absorbed them.

      By this point, you’re either thinking, ‘This is all complete nonsense!’ or you’re super excited, ready to dive into ²⁷ books and read for hours a day.

      But the next thing I’m going to say is of utmost importance: you must read books that are easy. You must read books that are fun ²⁸. If a book is too difficult or too boring, put it down and find another one.

      Stephen Krashen, an expert in the field of second language acquisition ²⁹, says, ‘Read only material in the second language that is genuinely fun and interesting, material that is so easy that you probably feel guilty reading it in your primary language. This is your excuse to read comics, magazines, detective stories, romances, etc. There is no shame in reading translations.’ ³⁰

      Ideally, you want to be reading a book so easy that, when you see a word you don’t know, you can understand the meaning from context. Research has shown that in order for this to happen, the text needs to be at least 98% known words ³¹.

      ‘98%? That’s so high!’

      I know, dear reader. But let me show you an example. Here’s a text where I’ve replaced 10% of the words with nonsense words—that is, it’s 90% comprehensible ³².

      Jerry FLURGED out of bed and threw open the curtains. It was a beautiful day! He BIMPED to himself as he went about his daily routine, pouring coffee and buttering ³³ POFFER. But then his phone rang, and the TORNGLER was so unexpected that he dropped his VINKY on the floor.

      Is that easy to understand? Could you read a whole book of that?

      Here’s the same text, but 98% comprehensible:

      Jerry jumped out of bed and threw open the curtains. It was a beautiful day! He sang to himself as he went about his daily routine, pouring coffee and buttering toast. But then his phone rang, and the caller ³⁴ was so unexpected that he dropped his VINKY on the floor. ³⁵

      How was that? ³⁶ Even if you couldn’t understand everything, I bet it was far more enjoyable to read than the first text. And that’s the magic of reading for pleasure: even if you didn’t understand everything, you got enough to follow the story and keep going, without having to pick up a dictionary!

      So if you find that this book is too hard, put it down and read the level below. If you find it boring, go read something else. Yes, I’m giving you permission to stop reading my book. I know my writing isn’t to everyone’s taste, and that’s OK. Find what works for you.

      As you read, focus on the meaning of the stories, and don’t sweat it ³⁷ if you don’t understand every single word. Just relax, and try to get lost in the pages. Believe it or not, when we have fun, we learn far better.

      The levels of these volumes are based on

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