10 Great and Easy English Books You Must Read. Most of the grammar is just past simple and past perfect. All of the sentences are short and there is no confusion in the story. This is a longer book. It’s really easy though, so you’ll finish it quickly. Plot Summary.
by(shelved 3 times as english-stories)
avg rating 4.25 — 2,626,541 ratings — published 1813
by(shelved 2 times as english-stories)
avg rating 3.21 — 19 ratings — published
by(shelved 2 times as english-stories)
avg rating 3.59 — 17,047 ratings — published 1907
by(shelved 2 times as english-stories)
avg rating 3.31 — 173 ratings — published 1898
by(shelved 2 times as english-stories)
avg rating 4.34 — 3,971 ratings — published 1907
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.95 — 8,617 ratings — published 2019
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 1.67 — 6 ratings — published
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 4.04 — 536,706 ratings — published 1843
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.82 — 2,701 ratings — published 1835
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.79 — 55,147 ratings — published 1886
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.54 — 178 ratings — published 1999
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.96 — 27,808 ratings — published 2004
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.96 — 70,181 ratings — published 1910
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 4.07 — 835,666 ratings — published 1890
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 4.13 — 129,809 ratings — published 1854
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.94 — 8,260 ratings — published 1953
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 4.13 — 15,841 ratings — published 2018
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.83 — 361,162 ratings — published 1882
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.67 — 225,908 ratings — published 1719
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 4.26 — 144,008 ratings — published 2017
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 4.07 — 252,146 ratings — published 1844
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.55 — 20 ratings — published 2004
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 4.03 — 67,742 ratings — published 1981
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.74 — 693 ratings — published
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.98 — 16,090 ratings — published 2016
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 4.21 — 2,685 ratings — published 1999
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.84 — 182 ratings — published 2009
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 4.30 — 1,131,358 ratings — published 1943
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 4.17 — 24,942 ratings — published 2014
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.74 — 322 ratings — published 1911
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.62 — 11,451 ratings — published 2005
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.36 — 18,750 ratings — published 2004
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.89 — 124,962 ratings — published 2010
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.76 — 722,489 ratings — published 1952
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.33 — 3 ratings — published
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.71 — 7 ratings — published 1996
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.39 — 23 ratings — published 1984
Simple English Story Books Pdf Free Download
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.50 — 14 ratings — published 1985
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.29 — 7 ratings — published
Simple English Story Books Pdf
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.41 — 182 ratings — published 1891
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.63 — 1,210 ratings — published 1897
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 4.00 — 199 ratings — published 1906
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.29 — 200 ratings — published 2010
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.88 — 17 ratings — published 2011
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 2.05 — 1,128 ratings — published
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.86 — 16,856 ratings — published 1894
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.85 — 1,770 ratings — published 1920
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.29 — 86 ratings — published 1996
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.80 — 47,844 ratings — published 1912
by(shelved 1 time as english-stories)
avg rating 3.83 — 523 ratings — published 1967
1 chapters — updated Sep 20, 2016 04:54AM — 0 people liked it
There are many ways to learn or teach German, but my favorite approach is using storytelling. I can think of a number of reasons why learning German with stories is so effective, but the best one is this: because it’s fun! Learning a language can easily become a chore, so anything that takes your mind off the struggle while keeping you engaged is heaven-sent.
As opposed to the daily grind of conscious effort, by suspending our awareness of the fact that we’re learning a foreign language (which–let’s face it–is rather scary!), we can bypass mental blocks and make the process of acquiring new words so much more efficient and enjoyable. Have you ever had the experience of being so engrossed in a novel or a story that you completely forgot everything around you? That’s exactly what I’m talking about.
There’s only one catch: you have to find a story which is both simple enough to be understandable, i.e. appropriate for your current level, and interesting enough to keep you going. There should be enough new words, but not too many. Finding a story that meets both criteria is often easier said than done, especially at the beginner’s level.
How To Find German Short Stories Which Are Simple But Not Boring
Simple English Story Books For Class 3
Many people’s first idea is to take a look at children’s books, another starting point may be a stwritten in a special simplified German style, but chances are adult students will find these texts boring.
This is why in this article I’ve collected a few short stories which are not just manageable for beginners and intermediate learners but also simply great literature. Most of these short stories were written in the post-war era, because after the horrors of WWII many authors felt that their language, just like their homeland, was in desperate need of new beginnings and had to be freed from the remnants of pathos and ideology. As a consequence, these authors developed a new language which was characterized by simplicity and brevity. Put simply, they expressed themselves using simple words. This is what makes these short stories an excellent way to practice German.
Please note that these short stories, despite being rather accessible for literary texts, were not written for learners, and if you’re looking for German texts with a more guided approach, i.e. including translations of words, exercises, etc. check out our library or skip to the end of this article.
(All direct links found by simple Google searches and posted for educational purposes only)
Die Küchenuhr, by Wolfgang Borchert
This German story is about a young man who has lost his home and family during a bombing. Through a remaining kitchen clock he remembers the care of his mother and understands his lost family life as a blissful state.
“Die Küchenuhr” is probably the most famous short story by Wolfgang Borchert and is often studied in schools in Germany to introduce students to the concept of Trümmerliteratur. It’s a remarkable example of how much can be expressed by using very few words.
Read the short story here (PDF) or here (HTML). Update: here’s another PDF edition of this story, complete with exercises.
Read an English translation of this story here.
Additional material: Quizlet to help you understand new words and practice vocabulary in this story.
Der zufriedene Fischer – Eine Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral, by Heinrich Böll
In this story by literary Nobel laureate Heinrich Böll, a fisherman and a tourist exchange their views about life and “work ethic”. Written in the middle of the German Wirtschaftswunder (economic boom) in 1963, this short story was questioning the new-found prosperity but its content is timeless and more valid now than ever. There may be a couple of difficult words in here, so using a dictionary is recommended.
Read the story in German here.
Read an English translation of this story here (PDF) or here (HTML).
an animated LEGO video, an audio reading (starts at 0:30) via Wattenichsachs, or:
Der große Wildenberg, by Siegfried Lenz
Written in 1958 this short story is about a man who goes to a job interview and gets entangled in the cogwheels of bureaucracy.
Read the story here.
English translation of this short story not available.
an audio reading on Youtube (recommended for help with pronouncing new words)
Skorpion, by Christa Reinig
via dingfest
More a parable than a short story, this story deals with a man who feels excluded from society due to his appearance and tries to convince people to accept him while walking through a city.
Read the story here.
Simple English Story Books For Class 3
English translation of this story not available.
an audio reading of this story on Youtube
Auf der Flucht, by Wolfdietrich Schnurre
Written between 1945 and 1948, this short story by Wolfdietrich Schnurre is about a family fleeing through a barren landscape. Pained by hunger the family is looking for food, and when the father eventually finds a loaf of bred he is forced to evaluate his real motives.
Read the German story here.
English translation of this short story not available.
an audio reading of this story on Youtube
Even More German Short Stories for Beginners
If you’re looking for even more German short stories for beginners, this PDF contains 16 texts (including some of those mentioned above).
Should these texts still be too difficult, you can also take a look at my book Café in Berlin (Kindle / iBooks / ePUB) which is a collection of very shortGerman short stories for beginners written in simplified German and supported by an extended dictionary and comprehension questions. This book is designed as a stepping stone to learning German with authentic literature.
English Story Book Reading
UPDATE: There’s a whole series now called Dino lernt Deutsch (Kindle / iBooks / ePub)
English Story
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