Why are stories so helpful?

Reading stories gives you a chance to have a LOT of input (contact with the language). And reading stories is much better than simply reading a list of vocabulary words or grammar rules. Stories have sentences that grow into paragraphs to create meaning in context. That means you can use what you know in the story to understand what's happening. You also have a reason to keep reading and to remember what you've already read.

As you read, you're flooding your brain with lots and lots of grammatically-correct, natural English sentences. If you get enough input, words and phrases will start popping into your head automatically. Have you ever had a popular song get stuck in your head? English expressions will do that too – just waiting for you to use them!

In fact, reading provides you with so much natural input that you can learn vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and writing BETTER from freely reading than from direct teaching in those skills. (Stephen Krashen, 2004, “The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research”)

Think about why you're learning English. You want to be able to use the language to do something – that is, to understand and share information, whether that's talking to someone or reading something. As you continue learning English, you will become more and more confident that you will understand the language you come into contact with.

Reading the stories on this website will prepare you for using English in a meaningful way. While you're reading, you have a goal in mind – to understand the story. When you find something you really love to read, you will be reading it simply because you want to. You will be learning English and having a lot of fun at the same time.

You can read these stories as many times as you want. Each time you read them, you will reinforce the words and expressions you learn, so that they will seem natural to you and not like a “foreign” language at all. You don't have to study lists of vocab. As you read the story, you will remember the new words because they make sense in the story. And all it takes is reading!

What about grammar?

Beginning Stories

Intermediate Stories

Advanced Stories

Facebook Twitter email

Starting Off

Fun Extras

More Info

Teachers' Lounge

"You live a new life for every new language you speak."

- Czech Proverb

Do you want to help translate these stories into other languages? Visit our Story Translation Project