Get episodes without adverts + bonus episodes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your support is appreciated!

In the last week before moving to China, I recount awkward goodbyes, the British tradition of caterpillar-shaped cakes, my sneaky strategy to avoid jet lag, and my super secret language study hacks. Keep listening to learn English!

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

Vocabulary: Bubbly (drink), Caterpillar, Irish goodbye, Fly long-haul, Maglev, Jet lag

00:00 Intro

01:36 Audio chat

04:42 A week of lasts

05:46 A British icon

10:54 My travel itinerary

13:05 Avoiding jet lag

16:18 Dodging earthquakes

17:39 How I'm studying Chinese

21:51 Finding love at the worst time

24:13 Bathed in love

27:20 Outro

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get episodes without adverts + bonus episodes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your support is appreciated!

A horrible pirate called the Denschman terrorises a small Scottish island. But when a storm leaves the Denschman trapped in a cave, will the people of the island be cruel enough to leave him to die?

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

Level: Beginner.

Genre: Myths & Legends.

Vocabulary: Raid, Eagle, Hide, Sink, Pray, Crash, Sword, Gift, Kind-hearted.

Setting: Scotland.

Word Count: 1992.

Author: Tom Muir.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get episodes without adverts + bonus episodes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your support is appreciated!

So I recently went to my cousin’s wedding in Edinburgh, which turned out to be much colder than expected, ESPECIALLY since I was camping! Fortunately, the beauty of the Quaker wedding ceremony more than made up for it.

I couldn't stick around for long, though, as I had to whiz back to London on the train to take the highest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Sounds boring, but in fact it allowed me to process old failures, reconnect with academia, and set me up on a good mental path for my move to China. Learn all this more in this episode of Easy Stories in English!

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

Vocabulary: Camper van, RV, Quaker, Ceilidh, Pass rate, Emotional breakdown, Close the loop, Peter Pan syndrome, Puer aeternus, Heart rate variability, 'It hits different', Shibboleth

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get episodes without adverts + bonus episodes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your support is appreciated!

Yes, that's right, I was kicked out of a public building... Not only that, I went to a wild party in Cambridge, and I'm setting the house on fire with incense. Sort of.

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

Vocabulary: Hay fever, Incense, Ball (party), Checkmate, Gen Z, Shisha, Bumper cars, Helter skelter, Middle of the road, Joie de vivre

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get episodes without adverts + bonus episodes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠⁠⁠⁠. Your support is appreciated!

A monkey shares his figs with a shark, and for a while they are friends, but when the shark invites the monkey to his home under the sea, the monkey suspects that something may be wrong...

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

Level: Intermediate.

Genre: Philosophical.

Vocabulary: Fig, Nimble, Toss, X and Y don't mix, Halfway, Graceful, Indifferent, Ordeal, Nap, Send someone your wishes.

Setting: Fairytale.

Word Count: 1686.

Author: Fairy Tales.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get episodes without adverts + bonus episodes at ⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠⁠⁠. Your support is appreciated!

British people are obsessed with class, but what does it mean to be middle class? From accents to animatronic tigers, come with me for a whirlwind tour of class markers in British society.

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

Vocabulary: Social bubble, Parvenu, Nouveau riche, Processed food, Received Pronunciation, Posh, Chav

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Book a class in June and July and get 50% off! ⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Classes⁠⁠

Tony cannot say no. So he eats food he doesn't like, does a job he hates, and goes on holidays where he almost dies. But when his friend asks him to marry her, will he still say yes?

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

Get episodes without adverts + bonus episodes at ⁠⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠⁠⁠. Your support is appreciated!

Level: Pre-Intermediate.

Genre: Comedy.

Vocabulary: Salmon, Give a speech, Allergy, Spot (body), Squeamish, Faint (verb), Bowling, Health condition, Terrible, Horse-riding, Unable.

Setting: Modern.

Word Count: 2308.

Author: Ariel Goodbody.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Book a class in June and July and get 50% off! ⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Classes

I do a tarot reading, and I draw THE DEVIL!! Dun dun dun... Will I survive, or is my future all going up in flames?

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

Get episodes without adverts + bonus episodes at ⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠⁠. Your support is appreciated!

Vocabulary: Tarot, Woo woo, Esoteric, Vibrate at a certain frequency, Quantum physics, ASMR, Shuffle, The Devil, Temptation, Hedonism, Uncoil, Disintegrate, Generosity, Get a lot of mileage out of something

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Book a class in June and July and get 50% off! ⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Classes⁠

Have you met Elaine? Elaine is very giving, but not very nice. Oh, she loves everyone, but she shows her love through action, not smiles. And Elaine has a secret, which only I know about...

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

Get episodes without adverts + bonus episodes at ⁠⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠⁠. Your support is appreciated!

Level: Intermediate.

Genre: Horror.

Vocabulary: Cuppa, Hoarder, Ragamuffin, Vandalise, Parish council, Egging, Spot (skin), Fertiliser, Infer, Defrost, Intermittent fasting, Six pack.

Setting: Modern.

Word Count: 1728.

Author: Ariel Goodbody.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Book a class in June and July and get 50% off! ⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Classes

I discuss six things I wish I'd done sooner in life, tell you about my 32nd birthday and discuss some books and films I've enjoyed recently.

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

List of books:

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

Film: The Tribulations of Balthazar Kober

Get episodes without adverts + bonus episodes at ⁠EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Support⁠. Your support is appreciated!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices