Story English
Reading great literature is one of the best ways to learn English. But it is more than that. Short stories teach you about human behavior, history, psychology, and life. Every lesson with Pete goes deeper than language.
‘Story English’ also includes learning English through the discussion of movies, series, documentaries, webtoons and just about any type of story form you choose.
One of the best ways for you to get speaking time in class is to just tell a story: A story from your day or your week from your job or your homelife.
Pete has curated over 50 classic short stories for English learners. Here is how a Story English lesson works.
Step 01
You listen to the story and explore the supporting materials. Each story comes with free audio, supporting links, author information, and a full study guide prepared by Pete.
Step 02
You and Pete discuss the story for about 30 minutes. You analyze the characters, the themes, and what the author is really saying. The discussion is where the real learning happens.
Step 03
You keep the study guide. Re-read the story, explore the links, or join Pete’s Books & Movies WhatsApp group to keep the conversation going with other students.
You choose your level. You choose how deep you want to go.
Level 1 — Beginner
Read the story and understand the basic idea. What happens? Who are the characters?
Level 2 — Intermediate
Read more carefully. Notice the characters’ names, the symbols, and the themes. What is the story really about?
Level 3 — Advanced
Discuss the story with Pete. Explore characters, themes, and symbols—and maybe discover something about yourself.
Level 4 — Masterclass
Longer discussions, deeper research into the author, plus supporting materials, quizzes, and richer insights.
“Remember: in a great short story, what is NOT said is often the most important thing.”
Who is this for?
This is a special program for Level B1 to C2 and native level English speakers! Many of Pete’s students discover a love of literature for the first time.
If the story is difficult, there are videos and supporting materials to help you understand. You choose your level. You choose how deep you want to go.
Six things that will change how you use English
Ready to start?
Pick a story. Read it before class. Then talk about it with Pete for 30 minutes. That’s it.
STORY ENGLISH: MOVIES, SERIES AND MORE! Story English is not just about books and short stories.
A story can be anything:
How it works with movies and series:
Just like with audio short stories — we discuss, we analyze. What happened? Why did the character do that? What does this scene tell us about human nature? What vocabulary did you notice?
The best conversations happen when the story matters to YOU. Bring Pete your favorite movie, series or show — and we’ll turn it into an English lesson.
Join the Conversation
Pete has a WhatsApp community group called Pete’s Books / Movies / Series / Music a place to share songs, discover new music, and practice English through the music you love.
Access to this group is available to Pete’s students.
📙 THIS WEEK I AM READING: ‘In Watermelon Sugar’ a very weird dystopia-utopia book from 1968. The book has been a fun challenge so far and maybe the best part about reading it in the summer: It’s only 144 pages! (Not recommended for ESL students in English. Buuut: possibly in your native language? Maybe not 😉 )
SUMMER READING: It’s summer. For the third summer in a row, the short story reading program has definitely slowed down. No surprise. 🙁 However, consistency is key and I personally read one small book per week, even in the summer. (Even I missed reading last week though. Lol) Some good news!: A student that has continued reading this summer has now reached 26 books since last October!
Remember, this week’s book, EPICAC is always available!