The Panama Canal plays a critical role in today’s global commerce, but it almost didn’t happen. A group of French engineers led by Charles De Lesseps spent nine years in Panama excavating earth to no avail. Later, Theodore Roosevelt took up the canal dream. Another 10 years of hard labor resulted in the engineering feat that is the Panama Canal.

This story is told in the third person and the past tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “obreros” (workers), “esclusa” (canal lock), “tratado” (treaty) and a lot of numbers like “mil” (thousand) and “cientos” (hundreds).

No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2023/12/06/simple-stories-in-spanish-el-canal-de-panama/ 

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