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Enough is enough. Something has to change. I’m sorry everyone, but I can’t do episodes every fortnight anymore.

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

New Vocabulary

Binge – to do a lot of one thing in one go, e.g. to binge a TV show

A leap of faith – a big, scary decision in your life – comment and let me know what leap of faith you’ve been putting off in your life!

Watching paint dry – an expression we use to refer to a very boring activity

On the back burner – when you keep putting off an important project because it’s not urgent

‘That sucks’ – a colloquial way of saying something is bad

Fortnight – two weeks, or fourteen days (UK English)

To kick in – to start taking effect, e.g. when a medicine kicks in

Anodyne – boring, uninspired, unoriginal

Anecdote – a small story from everyday life

A preview – when you get to see/hear part of something before it’s released

Video about North Korean pop culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T-pPPUAppk

00:00 Intro

01:24 New Vocabulary

07:37 How tastes have changed

10:45 Me vs. the other English learning podcasts

14:04 Bored of my own style

16:34 I need more time

18:19 Big plans

19:42 Story preview!

24:27 Vocabulary Recap

25:29 Tell me about your leap of faith!

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I discuss my friend visiting me from the UK, and an emotional holiday in Cambodia. I touch on the heartbreaking topic of the genocide, but also something more fun: eating a giant spider!

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

00:00 Intro

01:07 A visitor

03:16 Two big empires

05:59 Visa-free travel

07:01 Force-fed in a teahouse

08:23 My new spirit animal

11:36 My most important job

13:55 Cambodia

18:00 Yummy spider!

20:13 The challenge of talking about this

25:31 Summer plans

27:01 Outro

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The Stone Forest in Yunnan is a beautiful karst mountain range. But how did it come to be? Learn all about the Sani people and the magical origins of this Chinese nature site in today's episode.

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

Level: Pre-Intermediate.

Genre: Myths & Legends.

Vocabulary: Herd, Bucket, Spirit, Order, Whip, Unfurl, Dam, Rooster, Freeze.

Setting: China.

Word Count: 681.

Author: Chinese Myths.

00:00 Intro

00:52 The Sani people

01:39 My full circle momoent

04:12 Leaving Chinese

06:19 Coming back to Chinese

08:57 Busy busy!

11:14 Stumbling across the origin story

13:30 Vocabulary

17:34 Herding Mountains to Make a Forest

23:31 Outro

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Comedy is hard enough, but doing it in Chinese? Oh, Ariel, you do love a challenge! Hear all about my performance adventures and upcoming travel in this laughs-packed episode.

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

00:00 Intro

01:18 Batching episodes

03:09 Discovering pine cones

05:14 The nightmare of tones

08:33 Trying comedy in Chinese

11:37 This is your host!

13:45 London vs. China

15:48 I've arrived

17:56 Upcoming holidays

19:33 Wicked 2

22:31 Let's gallop!

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The cows and horses have argued with the pigs for too long. It's time to have a peace party and finally settle things. But one very talkative pig has a different view...

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

Level: Pre-Intermediate.

Genre: Myths & Legends.

Vocabulary: Hoarse, Filthy, Greedy, Settle a dispute, Master (leader), Amongst, Farmhand, Favour (verb), Wisdom, Squeal.

Setting: China.

Word Count: 1044.

Author: Mary Hayes David, Chow Leung.

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Living with people isn't easy, and I've had it really hard. The Illuminati, the silent treatment, and deadly narcissists - I've seen it all. If you live alone, this episode will fill you with relief, and if you have housemates, it'll make you think 'Maybe they aren't so bad after all!'

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

Cover art image of dirty dishes by Johan Hansson CC BY 2.0

00:00 Preview

00:39 Intro

03:48 The ethics of this episode

05:50 Living in Bristol

13:46 Moving in with a 'friend'

20:16 Choosing my next housemate

22:36 A brief interlude

23:21 Moving to London

27:27 Down to Eltham

32:20 Finally, up to Walthamstow

38:40 The confrontation

48:58 The actual building

52:11 Would I do it again?

55:07 Outro

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The moon is beautiful, but it wasn't always that way. True love was needed, as well as breaking a mother's heart...

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

Level: Beginner.

Genre: Myths & Legends.

Vocabulary: Astronomy, Poem, Pick (flower), Sharp, Gentle, Ridiculous.

Setting: China.

Word Count: 843.

Author: Ariel Goodbody.

00:00 Intro

01:11 Vocabulary

04:53 How the Moon Became Beautiful

12:58 Transcription problems

16:10 Outro

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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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