English as a foreign language

[New graded reader] I’m Late!

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Our new Level 3 graded reader “I’m Late!” is now available!

Five short stories about ordinary people who risk being late for important events.

  A gymnastics team is on its way to a competition, but things go wrong. Will the team arrive on time? And will the girls be able to compete?

  Damian has an important exam, but he makes a mistake on the way to the testing centre. Can he get there on time? There is only one way to get there, but it is very expensive.

  Bevan is forgetful and always late. His wife tells him not to be late for her sister’s wedding, but Bevan cannot change his character easily. Can he get to the wedding on time? Or will he miss it and make his wife angry?

  Enjoy these and two more stories!

By I Talk You Talk Press – Easy English Reading

[Short Story Video] The Umbrella

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Here is a video of our short story The Umbrella. We hope you enjoy it!

Sally walked out of the hair salon. She was very happy. Her new, expensive hairstyle was very nice. She started to walk down the busy street. She was five minutes away from the car park. She looked at the sky.

Oh no! she thought. It’s going to rain! And I don’t have my umbrella!

Suddenly, large rain drops started to fall. She started to run. She was wearing high heels, so she could not run very fast. It started to rain harder. She decided to go into a shop and wait for the rain to stop. She stood in the entrance to a bookshop and waited. And waited. She looked at her watch.

Oh no! It’s 3:30! I have a very important meeting at 4:00! What am I going to do? I can’t wait here! she thought.

She looked for a taxi, but there were no taxis. She looked for a bus, but there were no buses.

And the buses don’t go to the car park, she thought. She looked at the sky again. It was very grey. She decided to run.

She stepped out of the shop entrance and into the street. She started to run. After 30 seconds, her shoes, her skirt and her coat were very wet. And her hair was very wet, too. She ran faster.

Then, she heard someone behind her.

“Excuse me! Excuse me!”

It was a man. She felt a little frightened. She did not stop. She continued to run.

“Stop! Please wait!”

Sally ran faster. The man was very close to her now.

“Please! Stop!”

She ran faster.

“Stop! Stop!”

She stopped and turned around.

“What is it? What do you want?” she shouted.

The man was around 40 years old. He was wearing a suit, and he was carrying a briefcase. He was a businessman. Sally was not happy. She felt angry, and she wanted to get to her car. The man did not say anything. He passed his umbrella to her.

Sally was very surprised. She took the umbrella.

“Thank you!” she said. But the man did not hear her. He just ran away.

Sally watched him. Then, she walked to her car under the umbrella. Sally got to the car park and found her car. She got in her car and closed the door. In the car, she brushed her hair. She looked in the mirror and carefully styled her hair again.

Sally drove out of the car park and onto the main road.

 Who was that man? she thought. And why did he give me his umbrella? He was so kind. I want to say ‘thank you’, but I can’t.

She looked at the sky. She could see the sun behind the clouds. And in front of her, there was a rainbow. Sally looked at the rainbow and smiled and said “Thank you!”

Across town, the man was walking back to his office. He looked at the sky and saw a rainbow. He smiled and said “You’re welcome!”

[Short Story Video] Marcus and the Boss

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Here is a video of our short story Marcus and the Boss. We hope you enjoy it!

It’s Friday afternoon. Marcus is sitting in the airport lounge. He is waiting for his girlfriend to arrive from Sydney. Marcus feels bad. He works in a department store. Fridays are always very busy. But he wanted to be at the airport when his girlfriend arrived.

On Friday morning, Marcus said to his boss, “I have a terrible toothache. I must go to the dentist.”

His boss was angry. “But it’s Friday! We are always very busy on Fridays. And today is very difficult. My grandmother died. I cannot be here this afternoon!”

Marcus said, “But I cannot talk to customers. The pain is very bad. I must go.”

Marcus wants to meet his girlfriend, but he feels very bad. I said something that was not true, he thinks. I don’t have a toothache. It will be very difficult for my co-workers this afternoon. I am not at work. My boss is not at work. His grandmother is dead. My boss must be very sad.  I am not a nice person.

Then Marcus sees his boss! His boss looks very happy. His boss is wearing vacation clothes! He is wearing shorts. He is wearing a shirt with a pattern of pink flamingos and palm trees. He is walking towards the counter that has a sign ‘Wonderful weekend vacations on a beach in the Pacific’.

Oh, thinks Marcus. My boss does not have a dead grandmother! He is having a three- day weekend vacation!

Marcus does not feel so bad. I did a bad thing, he thinks. I said my tooth was very painful. But my boss said his grandmother died. On Monday, I will say to my Boss, ’I like your flamingo shirt!’ He can never say anything to me because I will tell our co-workers that his grandmother did not die! Maybe I can have many more free days. My girlfriend will be very pleased.