Hear all about my time in the bars of Osaka and Fukuoka at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your support is appreciated!

Christmas in Japan isn't like Christmas in the UK. For one thing, it includes humiliation. It also includes very strange food. And don't forget the hot springs!

Vocabulary: Elephant in the room, Onsen, Thatched house, Bullet train, Purikura, Chazuke

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Japan for the full transcript.

00:00 Preview

00:31 Intro

01:34 The elephant in the room

03:23 New Year's resolutions

07:03 A spicy train journey

12:25 The hotel tricked me!

14:19 A smooth flight

15:57 The little things

18:32 Public behaviour

20:38 The wonderful resort

23:26 My first onsen experience

27:41 Let's go to the murder village!

34:13 The panda has left the building

36:14 Meeting the locals

39:15 Pew pew trains

40:51 Bright lights, big city

42:25 Ariel, you tease!

43:58 Welcome to the New World

46:54 The magical disappearing hangover

49:09 Onwards to Fukuoka!

50:51 Embarrassing ourselves at the Pretty Club

52:54 Crooning like robots

53:59 Exploring Fukuoka

57:23 But what about Christmas?

59:34 Culture shock-ish

01:02:35 Outro

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What if the witch in Hansel and Gretel was Chinese? Well, then things would be very different. In this twisted version of the classic fairy tale, the two young children run away from the house of sweets and end up somewhere far more exotic...

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Hansel for the full transcript.

Level: Pre-intermediate.

Genre: Horror.

Vocabulary: Woodcutter, Sweet tooth, Twig, Abandon, Breadcrumbs, Quitter, Betrayal, Witch, Belly, Prison bars.

Setting: Fairytale.

Word Count: 2357.

Author: Ariel Goodbody.

00:00 Intro

10:55 Hansel and Gretel

29:52 Outro

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Have you ever eaten bone marrow? You know, the fat inside of animal bones? Have you ever wondered whether ancient humans sucked out the marrow like a tube of yoghurt? Yeah, that's the kind of stuff I've been doing recently. Have a listen.

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Ramble for the full transcript.

00:00 Intro

00:48 Friday dreams vs Saturday realities

02:57 Dreaming of any colour Christmas

05:06 Whammageddon

06:42 Yummy bones

09:56 Style change!

12:22 Japan for Christmas

17:06 Osaka is Daban, apparently

23:52 No more faffing about with thumbnails!

30:34 Me, Myself and AI

34:03 Outro

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Three goats live happily in a field eating grass. But one day, there's no more grass. They decide to cross a bridge to another field. But when they try to cross, a monster jumps out, and he wants to eat them!

Go to ⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/ThreeGoats⁠ for the full transcript.

Level: Beginner.

Genre: Children's.

Vocabulary: Goat, Eldest, Middle child, Greedy, Flow, Silly, Drown, Narrow, One by one, Troll, Annoying.

Setting: Fairytale.

Word Count: 1232.

Author: Fairy Tales.

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This episode has come out very late because of my appendicectomy. Apologies! I have recovered now and we should be back to our regular schedule soon enough.

'Above there is heaven, and below there is Hangzhou.' So it must be a pretty great city, right? I sure thought so! In today's episode, I tell you all about my visit to this ancient Chinese city, with its lovely lake, temples and food.

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Hangzhou⁠⁠ for the full transcript.

00:00 Intro

00:53 A rite of passage

02:54 A new view

06:03 Hali Bote

09:57 Hang Joe! Do it!

11:36 Bustling with history

13:30 A mouldy hotel

14:24 That West Lake vibe

16:59 Soaking up the temples

19:22 Amazing noodles

21:37 Back on the bike!

25:44 An unfortunate incident

28:07 New frames

29:18 Where's this cafe??

31:13 The results of my Japanese exam

34:07 Random China things

37:49 The best tissues in the world

40:22 Stay in the light?

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Would you go fishing on Halloween night? That's when demons walk the Earth, and nobody is truly safe... But Murdo McTaggart doesn't believe in superstitions like that, and he heads out to catch fish while the other villagers go to church. He'll come to regret that mistake as the Devil - Auld Clootie himself - comes to him in the form of 13 tone-deaf cats.

Have a spooky time with today's Scottish folk tale! Apologies for the changes to the usual schedule - I'm recovering from an appendicectomy (having my appendix removed) so I've had to move things around a bit.

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/DemonCats⁠ for the full transcript.

Level: Beginner

Genre: Horror.

Vocabulary: Demon, Fisherman, Superstition, Fur, Disappear, Bone, Stab, Scratch, Bite, Priest, Holy water.

Setting: Scotland.

Word Count: 1423.

Author: Ariel Goodbody.

00:00 Intro

01:09 Pumpkin Day?

02:28 Vocabulary descriptions

02:32 Demon

03:12 Fisherman

03:30 Superstition

04:10 Fur

04:24 Disappear

04:47 Bone

05:09 Stab

05:35 Scratch and bite

06:01 Priest

06:16 Holy water

06:52 The Demon Cats

08:02 Murdo ignores the warnings

09:14 Something dark is coming...

10:13 The cats sing a cumha

11:48 The first gift

12:32 Another 'song'

13:20 Another offering

13:54 More singing?!

14:57 A clever trick

16:11 A fight to the death?

17:07 A cry for help

18:01 Just in time!

19:32 Outro

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It's Kitty's birthday! And how better to celebrate than by baking a cake? Just one problem: how do you do it? Well, if you add five delicious things, it will be five times as delicious, and if you add a hundred delicious things...

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/CakeL2 for the full transcript.

Level: Pre-Intermediate.

Genre: Children's.

Vocabulary: Sandpit, Nuts, Eggshell, Divine, Pretend, Wag, Naughty, Stomach rumbles, Mud.

Setting: Fairytale.

Word Count: 1947.

Author: Ariel Goodbody.

0:00 Intro

0:52 You can see me!

2:31 Relevelling

6:26 Vocabulary

11:03 Doggo and Kitty Bake a Cake

26:10 Outro

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Listen to me articulate and enunciate every word as I discuss unusual beverages, insane apps, doing Pilates in Chinese, and how I'm feeding you all worms.

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Slow⁠ for the full transcript.

Vocabulary: Latte, Beetroot, Pistachio, Red envelope, Massage, Pilates, Monologue, Worm, Nest

0:00 Intro

01:41 How slow can I go?

05:33 A mysterious drink

08:10 Crazy Chinese apps

13:00 Inappropriate videos

17:20 Pilates à la Chinoise

19:15 Levelling up abroad

20:59 Autumn, anyone?

22:00 Where to find my funky food pics

24:20 My upcoming travels

27:08 Let's speed things up a bit

32:23 Mother has arrived

33:19 Outro

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Skin as white as snow and eyes as red as blood. Some would call it beautiful, but to Nicholas's parents, he is a demon child. But when Nicholas discovers that his 'mother' is not his real mother, his whole world starts to change.

Today's story has themes of child abuse, cannibalism and violence. It is not appropriate for children.

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Juniper⁠⁠ for the full transcript.

Level: Advanced.

Genre: Horror

Vocabulary: Juniper berry, Torment, Console, Demon, Witch, Chest (box), Padlock, Millstone.

Setting: Fairytale.

Word Count: 4623.

Author: Ariel Goodbody.

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What I do every morning, in excruciating detail. When do I floss, how do I know when to put on deodorant, and what do I eat for breakfast? All these fascinating questions, and more, answered for you.

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Routine for the full transcript.

Vocabulary: Night owl, Equator, Dental floss, Mouthwash, Yoga block, Yoga strap, Cork, Bar soap, Shower gel, Deodorant, “He could talk for England”, Grind, Muesli

00:00 Intro

00:50 Throwback to French class

02:59 Are you a morning person or a night owl?

06:22 Brushing and flossing

10:41 Adventures in Listerine

11:55 Yoga time!

16:11 Getting clean

18:27 Deodorant tactics

22:40 Talking for England

23:32 A coffee fiend

26:40 What's for breakfast?

31:21 Eating isn't enough!

35:03 Dumping rubbish

37:43 Easy like Sunday morning

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