What graded readers are, how to choose your level, and our 25 original graded readers and short stories, A1 to B2+, to listen and read. Prices from $0.99.
Short stories for English learners are the easiest way to read in English every day, especially for beginners. A short story takes ten to fifteen minutes, so you can finish it in one sitting, on the bus or before bed, and you get the satisfaction of reaching the end. That feeling is what keeps you reading.
Here are our easy short stories in English for beginners at A2 (elementary) level: six short love stories, six short mysteries and five ghost stories. They are written for adults, not children, and they are all original stories with audio, narrated in British English, with the text on screen as you listen. Prices start at $0.99. If you want longer books, see our graded readers for English learners, from A1 to B2.
Jump to: Short love stories · Short mysteries · Ghost stories · How to read a short story · FAQ
Passport Hearts is our series of love stories about young people starting a new life in another country. The series has two kinds of book: six short stories at A2, and three full-length novels at B1 (see longer stories for intermediate learners below).
Here are the six A2 short stories. Each one is set somewhere different, from fireworks night in London to flat-hunting in Melbourne, takes about 13 minutes, and practises one grammar point; the ebook adds two pages of grammar practice taken from the story. Read them in any order.
Merrowby is a small town by the sea, and nothing big happens there. But a necklace disappears from a hotel room, a bag waits under a seat on the last bus, and a light comes on every night in a flat where nobody lives. Six short mysteries, about ten minutes each, and every one has a surprise at the end. A good choice if you like puzzles: try to solve each one before the last page.
In many countries there are nights when the dead come home. In a small hotel in Marrakech, a light comes on every night in a room nobody uses. On the last train in Tokyo, an old woman never gets off. On a mountain road in Mexico, a girl asks for a lift home. Five quiet ghost stories from five countries, about fifteen minutes each: spooky, not scary. Like all our short stories for English learners, every story has audio and the text on screen.
Reading lots of easy, enjoyable text is what teachers call extensive reading, and the Extensive Reading Foundation recommends it for every level. Short stories for English learners make it easy to start:
This routine works for any short stories for English learners. Fifteen minutes a day, five days a week, and you’ll finish all six Passport Hearts short stories in under two weeks.
All the short stories for English learners on this page are written for beginners at A2 (elementary, “false beginner”), the second of the six CEFR levels: you understand everyday sentences about family, shopping, travel and work. Not sure of your level? Use our quick guide to English levels.
Finished the short love stories? The Passport Hearts series also has three full-length novels at B1, each about two hours, with the English Learning Guide in the ebook. Each novel is a complete story, so you don’t need to read the short stories first.
Prefer classics? Our lists of free audiobooks for English learners and free ebooks for English learners show which classic novels suit which level.
Digitalbook has three collections of short stories for English learners at A2: the six short love stories from the Passport Hearts series, It Was Here a Minute Ago (six short mysteries) and The Seat Was Still Warm (five short ghost stories). They are original stories, written at the level from the first page, not shortened classics.
They are written for adults and young adults: grown-up characters, jobs, flat-hunting, travel and love, in simple English. They are not children’s stories.
Yes. Every story is an audiobook narrated in British English, and you can follow the text on screen as you listen. You can also buy the ebook on its own.
They are written for beginners at A2 (elementary) level. If they feel too hard, start with Nobody Saw the Cake (A1). If they feel too easy, try the three B1 novels in the Passport Hearts series: Diwali in the Rain, Only Until September and Two Names on the Door.
The Passport Hearts short stories are about 13 minutes each. The mysteries in It Was Here a Minute Ago are about ten minutes each, and the ghost stories in The Seat Was Still Warm about fifteen minutes each.
Each Passport Hearts short story is $0.99 as an audiobook with read-along text, or $0.49 as an ebook with grammar practice. The mystery and ghost story collections are $1.99 as audiobooks and $0.99 as ebooks.
Yes. Every book page has a free sample you can listen to, and The Blue Suitcase, an A2 novel, is completely free as an audiobook and ebook.
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