Simple Stories in English
Learning English is easier with stories! These simple stories repeat common words and phrases to make English learning effective and enjoyable. You can find transcripts of each episode at smalltownspanishteacher.com.
Episodes
Every four years the FIFA World Cup attracts a world-wide audience. And every FIFA World Cup also attracts controversy. Forty years ago, in 1986, the games in Mexico had their fair share of controversy, as well as amazing moments, surrounding Diego Maradona. Maradona is one of the greatest footballers, or soccer players, of all time. He started playing professionally just before his 16th birthday. He was already a p...
In this third season, I am sharing chapters from my short novel “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. This week is chapter 12! Zunzuncito is reaching the end of his journey. He crossed the grand lake, passed through the land of giants, and arrived at the valley of snails. Now he just needs to suck the nectar and he will be big. Because being big will make him happy, right?
In this third season, I am sharing chapters from my short novel “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. This week is chapter 11! Zunzuncito is getting closer to the magic flower that will grant his wish to be big. He crossed the grand lake and passed through the land of giants. Only one place remains: the valley of snails. Zunzuncito feels so close and yet so far from his goal. He is feeling impatient.
In this third season, I am sharing chapters from my short novel “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. This week is chapter 10! After crossing the grand lake, Zunzuncito and Monty must pass through the land of giants. The land of giants is fascinating, until Zunzuncito sees something horrible: animals in cages. Seeing the animals in cages makes him think of being trapped in the spiderweb. He has to do something...
In this third season, I am sharing chapters from my short novel “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. This week is chapter 9! Zunzuncito and Monty fell into the grand lake. Thankfully, a turtle came to save them. Once they cross the grand lake, they will reach the second leg of their journey: pass through the land of giants. To the tiny hummingbird and frog, though, everything is a giant! Will they find the la...
In this third season, I am sharing chapters from my short novel “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. This week is chapter 8! Zunzuncito and Monty have a three-part journey: cross the grand lake, pass through the land of giants, and arrive in the valley of snails. They have found the grand lake, but now they need to cross it. Zunzuncito can easily fly over the lake, but it is filled with big fish that want to ...
In this third season, I am sharing chapters from my short novel “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. This week is chapter 6! Zunzuncito is on a mission to find the magic flower that will grant his wish to be big. He spoke with the wise snake Majá and now he knows where he must go, but how will he get there? Thankfully, he has a small sidekick, the tiny frog Monty, to help him out.
In this third season, I am sharing chapters from my short novel “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. This week is chapter 6! Zunzuncito is a tiny hummingbird. His friend, Monty, is an even smaller frog. The two animals are searching for a magic flower. Zunzuncito hopes that the magic flower will grant his wish to be big. Majá is a Cuban boa. According to Monty, she knows everything. There is just one problem ...
In this third season, I am sharing chapters from my short novel “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. This week is chapter 5! Zunzuncito is done dealing with the small life. He wants to be big. Luckily, his new frog friend Monty knows about a special magic flower that might be able to grant his wish. He just doesn’t know where it is. So, the hummingbird and frog head to the woods in search of the all-kno...
In this third season, I am sharing chapters from my short novel “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. This week is chapter 4! It’s not easy being the smallest bird in the world. You have to deal with bigger bully birds, bees that don’t want to share and spiders that want to suck your blood. Zunzuncito is tired of being small. Perhaps if he is big and strong he can save himself from these sticky sit...
In this third season, I am sharing chapters from my short novel “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. This week is chapter 3! Zunzuncito, a tiny bee hummingbird, just wants to suck delicious nectar from beautiful flowers. But he is not the only one hunting for food. After being chased away from flowers by a group of bees, Zunzuncito is now trapped in a spiderweb. There are many large spiders in Cuba and some o...
In this third season, I am sharing chapters from my short novel “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. This week is chapter 2! Zunzuncito, one of the tiniest hummingbirds in the world, flits from flower to flower in search of delicious nectar. However, some flowers are occupied. They are occupied by larger hummingbirds and insects. In this second chapter of “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”, our tiny b...
Chapter 1: The Smallest Hummingbird
Zunzuncito is one of the tiniest hummingbirds in the world. Some might think he spends all his time happily sucking nectar from flowers, and they are not wrong. However, sometimes insects and even other hummingbirds get in between Zunzuncito and his dinner.
This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated words and phrases include bird, hummingbird, wings, flies (verb) and flow...
The island nation of Cuba is full of amazing animals. One of the most fascinating is the tiny bee hummingbird, also called the zunzuncito. I was inspired by this little hummingbird and, with some motivation from my students, I wrote a short novel called “Zunzuncito’s Adventure”. For this third season of Simple Stories in English, I will be sharing a chapter from the novel each week.
I love to travel and today I am sharing one of my favorite travel stories. When I went to Ecuador twelve years ago, I had the opportunity to snorkel twice with blowfish, sea turtles and sea lions. The first day was amazing, but the second was a little scary .
Today’s story is mostly in the first-person plural (pronoun “we”) and the past tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: boat, snorke...
Welcome to season 2 of Simple Stories in English! In this season, I will be telling you more about myself. I believe that mental health matters. I usually feel like I have a good grasp of my own mental health, but there are days I want to ignore the world and all my responsibilities in it. I have many activities that help boost my mental health and today I would like to share a few.
Welcome to season 2 of Simple Stories in English! In this season, I will be telling you more about myself. I teach Spanish, but I am not a native Spanish speaker. Learning Spanish was not easy for me. I struggled a lot. But I am very grateful to be bilingual. Today I would like to share my language journey and why I chose to learn Spanish.
This story is in the first person and the past tense. No matter where you are ...
Welcome to season 2 of Simple Stories in English! In this season, I will be telling you more about myself. I love the theater. I love acting and singing and being in front of an audience. I haven’t been on a stage in years, but I have wonderful memories from my time in the theater and I use my experience now to tell stories. Continuing with this season of personal stories, this episode explores my short-lived ...
Welcome to season 2 of Simple Stories in English! In this season, I will be telling you more about myself. I have very fond memories of my childhood. I spent a lot of time outside with my friends and family, no matter the time of year. As a child I played, I ran, I rode bikes, I read, and I just had fun. Continuing with this season of personal stories, this episode explores the question: “what is my family lik...
Welcome to season 2 of Simple Stories in English! In this season, I will be telling you more about myself. I love my family. I have two wonderful sons that I adore. I also have many brothers and sisters who are very important to me, along with my own mom and dad. My extended family also has a special place in my heart. Continuing with this season of personal stories, this episode explores the question: “what i...
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