Simple Stories in English

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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-knowing Majá. On the way, Zunzuncito learns a few things about his small amphibious friend.

This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated words and phrases include frog, forest, trees, ground, jump and fly. 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/2026/02/23/simple-stories-in-english-zunzuncitos-adventure-chapter-5/ 

Thank you for listening, and a HUGE thank you for your support. I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. If you would like to help me in that endeavor, consider donating to @Small Town Spanish Teacher on Venmo, PayPal, or Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SpanishTeacher .

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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 situations. After all, the animal that saved him from the spiderweb must be big and strong, right?

This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated words and phrases include bird, small, trapped, big, and small. 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/2026/02/16/simple-stories-in-english-zunzuncitos-adventure-chapter-4/ 

Thank you for listening, and a HUGE thank you for your support. I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. If you would like to help me in that endeavor, consider donating to @Small Town Spanish Teacher on Venmo, PayPal, or Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SpanishTeacher .

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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 of them do suck the blood of little birds caught in their webs. How will Zunzuncito escape?

This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated words and phrases include bird, spiderweb, spider, cries, scared, and stuck.

Zunzuncito’s Adventure is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats : https://a.co/d/jlljj4V 

You can find a transcript of the introduction and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2026/01/14/zunzuncitos-adventure/ 

You can find a transcript of Chapter 1 and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2026/01/22/simple-stories-in-english-zunzuncitos-adventure-chapter-1/ 

You can find a transcript of Chapter 2 and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2026/01/28/simple-stories-in-english-zunzuncitos-adventure-chapter-2/ 

You can find a transcript of this episode (Chapter 3) and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2026/02/09/simple-stories-in-english-zunzuncitos-adventure-chapter-3/ 

Thank you for listening, and a HUGE thank you for your support. I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. If you would like to help me in that endeavor, consider donating to @Small Town Spanish Teacher on Venmo, PayPal, or Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SpanishTeacher .

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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 bee hummingbird finds himself in a battle with his namesake bees.

This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated words and phrases include bird, hummingbird, wings, flies (verb), flowers, bees, and stingers.

Zunzuncito’s Adventure is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats : https://a.co/d/jlljj4V 

You can find a transcript of the introduction and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2026/01/14/zunzuncitos-adventure/ 

You can find a transcript of Chapter 1 and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2026/01/22/simple-stories-in-english-zunzuncitos-adventure-chapter-1/ 

You can find a transcript of this episode (Chapter 2) and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2026/01/28/simple-stories-in-english-zunzuncitos-adventure-chapter-2/ 

Thank you for listening, and a HUGE thank you for your support. I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. If you would like to help me in that endeavor, consider donating to @Small Town Spanish Teacher on Venmo, PayPal, or Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SpanishTeacher .

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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 flowers.

Zunzuncito’s Adventure is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats : https://a.co/d/jlljj4V 

You can find a transcript of the introduction and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2026/01/14/zunzuncitos-adventure/ 

You can find a transcript of this episode (Chapter 1) and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2026/01/22/simple-stories-in-english-zunzuncitos-adventure-chapter-1/ 

Thank you for listening, and a HUGE thank you for your support. I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. If you would like to help me in that endeavor, consider donating to @Small Town Spanish Teacher on Venmo, PayPal, or Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SpanishTeacher .

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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.

This story is told in the the present tense. Repeated words and phrases include bird, hummingbird, frog, and flower. 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/2026/01/14/zunzuncitos-adventure/ 

Zunzuncito’s Adventure is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats : https://a.co/d/jlljj4V 

Thank you for listening, and a HUGE thank you for your support. I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. If you would like to help me in that endeavor, consider donating to @Small Town Spanish Teacher on Venmo, PayPal, or Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SpanishTeacher .

Send us Fan Mail

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, snorkel, tortoise/turtle, shark, and sea lion. No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2025/11/24/simple-stories-in-english-my-trip-to-the-galapagos-islands/ 

Thank you for listening, and a HUGE thank you for your support! I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. If you would like to help me in that endeavor, consider buying me a taco at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SpanishTeacher or donating to Small Town Spanish Teacher on Venmo or PayPal.

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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.

This story is in the first person and mostly the present tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: I feel, health, lift weights, and happiness. No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2025/10/26/simple-stories-in-english-my-mental-health/ 

Thank you for listening, and a HUGE thank you for your support! I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. If you would like to help me in that endeavor, consider buying me a taco at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SpanishTeacher or donating to Small Town Spanish Teacher on Venmo or PayPal.

Send us Fan Mail

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 in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2025/10/13/simple-stories-in-english-my-language-journey/ 

Thank you for listening, and a HUGE thank you for your support! I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. If you would like to help me in that endeavor, consider buying me a taco at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SpanishTeacher or donating to Small Town Spanish Teacher on Venmo or PayPal.

Send us Fan Mail

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 life on stage.

This story is in the first person and the past tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: skit, play, stage, and theater. No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2025/09/18/simple-stories-in-english-life-on-stage/ 

Thank you for listening, and a HUGE thank you for your support! I really enjoy creating and sharing simple, comprehensible stories. If you would like to help me in that endeavor, consider buying me a taco at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SpanishTeacher or donating to Small Town Spanish Teacher on Venmo or PayPal.