A2 · Getting started
Longer stories about daily life, past and future.
- Крокодилы в солёной воде There are hundreds of crocodiles in the salty lake, and the lake once grew and covered farms and roads. Audio
- Озеро ниже моря Polly finds a big salty lake in a dry valley, with old coral in the rocks around it. Audio
- Холм, полный ям Men dig the blue stone out of the hill by hand, because machines would break it. Audio
- Вода, которая стала твёрдой Inside the grey rock there is blue stone, and it comes from only one place in the world. Audio
- Камень спустился по реке Polly learns that the blue stone came down from the mountains, and that it has a name. Audio
- Синий камень на пляже Polly flies along a coast between mountains and the sea, and finds a strange blue stone. Audio
- Пляж, на котором ничего нет Polly finds a long empty beach in a national park, and then she flies home. Audio
- Рыцарь и олень Polly hears the old story of a rider and a deer at the cliff edge. Audio
- Семь юбок и серебряные рыбки Polly goes down to town and sees gull ladies in seven skirts drying fish in the sun. Audio
- Колесо ждёт весны Polly ends her week at a quiet Coney Island, past a giant steel wheel from nineteen twenty and an old hot... Audio
- Животное, которое делает кубики Wombats make cube shaped poop, and now we know why. Audio
- Эта птица спит на лету Frigatebirds fly for many days and sleep only a little. Audio
- Обед, который ест вся страна In the Dominican Republic, everyone eats the same lunch at the same time. Audio
- Ужин, приготовленный вулканом In the Azores, people cook food inside a hot volcano. Audio
- Последний поезд Tomas misses the last train in Tokyo and sleeps in a tiny room. Audio
- Пустая чашка On his first day, Pedro drinks from a cup that is not his. Audio
- Номер сорок семь Carla waits a long time at the clinic for a small cut. Audio
- Заблудилась в Лиссабоне Sofía gets lost in Lisbon and a woman helps her with a map. Audio
- Номер с балконом Marcos gets a hotel room with a nice balcony. Audio
- Столик на одного Mia eats alone in a small restaurant, and the waiter helps her choose. Audio
- Специя, которая когда-то стоила как золото Saffron comes from tiny flower threads picked by hand, and for most of history a pound of it cost about the... Audio
- Озеро, которое исчезает каждое лето In Slovenia, a huge lake fills a valley in winter and then vanishes underground every summer, leaving... Audio
- Парк рядом с моим домом A squirrel describes the small park next to its tree: the pigeons by the benches, Mr. Badger and his bread,... Audio
- Обед, который никогда не заканчивается In Spain, the best part of lunch starts when the food is finished. It even has its own name. Audio
- Никогда не заказывай латте в Италии In Italy, the word latte does not mean coffee. One small word can bring you a big surprise. Audio
- Откуда берется кофе Coffee begins as a red fruit on a green plant and travels far before it fills a cup. Audio
- Сон в ночном поезде Night trains in Europe carry travelers between cities while they sleep in cozy beds. Audio
- Как пчелы делают мед Honeybees turn sweet flower nectar into golden honey through hard teamwork in the hive. Audio
- Длинная дорога шелка The Silk Road was a famous trade route that linked China with Europe for many centuries. Audio
- Амазонка, самая большая река The Amazon is the river that carries the most water in the world. Audio
- Осьминог и его три сердца The octopus is a clever sea animal with three hearts and blue blood. Audio
- Кабели под морем Long cables under the ocean carry almost all of the information that travels between countries. Audio
- Долгая гонка под названием марафон The marathon is a very long running race with a curious and surprising history. Audio
- Первый свет в деревне While the whole village sleeps, one window glows: the baker lights the oven so fresh bread will be ready by... Audio
- Маленькая птица в часах In Germany's Black Forest, carved wooden cuckoo clocks call out every hour while children wait and laugh. Audio
- Город, где было запрещено умирать When a small Italian town ran out of space in its cemetery, the mayor signed an order telling people not to... Audio
- Кот, который ездит на автобусе Every morning a cat climbs onto the same city bus, watches the streets go by, and gets off at his own stop. Audio
- Рыба, которая взбирается на водопады In Hawaii, a fish smaller than your finger climbs up waterfalls taller than buildings, using its mouth as a... Audio
- Пар и маленькие тарелки A first night at a Taipei night market, where pointing, smiling, and one brave question buy a very good... Audio
- Город, который кладёт золото на мороженое Kanazawa in Japan makes almost all of the country's gold leaf, and wraps whole sheets of it around soft ice... Audio
- Полёт длиной в девяносто секунд A tiny plane hops between two Orkney islands in Scotland on the shortest scheduled flight in the world. Audio
- То, что не забрал огонь Polly looks at Kanazawa one last time, waits out the rain, and flies away over the sea. Audio
- Фонари на рабочей улице Polly walks a lantern-lit street of old wooden teahouses that still works today, and finds ice cream... Audio
- Кухня на рассвете Before sunrise, Polly visits Omicho market, three hundred years old, where crabs are sold in winter. Audio
- Куют, пока оно почти не исчезнет Polly visits a gold leaf workshop, where a piece of gold the size of a coin becomes a sheet as big as a table. Audio
- Шесть качеств настоящего сада In Kenrokuen garden, Polly sees koi in a big pond and ropes that keep snow off the pine trees. Audio
- Белые крыши и длинные стены At Kanazawa Castle, Polly finds long stone walls and roofs made of lead that look white. Audio
- Город, который уцелел Polly arrives in Kanazawa, an old city between the sea and the mountains that was never bombed in the war. Audio
- Розового цвета не существует Pink has no wavelength of its own; it is a color the brain invents when the eyes see red and blue light... Audio
- Ты светишься прямо сейчас The human body constantly emits an extremely faint light, invisible to the eye but detectable with a... Audio
- Громко хлюпать - это вежливо In Japan, slurping your noodles loudly is not rude, it is a sign that you are enjoying the meal. Audio
- Водопад, который падает вверх On very windy days, strong gusts can blow a Norwegian waterfall's spray back up into the sky. Audio
- Круг и утренний пароход On her last evening, Polly finds an old stone circle and sits quietly at its edge as the sun goes down. Audio
- Зерно девяноста дней Polly visits an old mill and learns how a fast-growing old grain became Orkney's bread and its whisky. Audio
- Сбор на шхерах Polly visits a chapel built by prisoners of war from two metal huts and hears how it was made from almost... Audio
- Построено из того, что было Polly finds a huge group of grey seals gathering on Orkney's rocks just before baby seals are born. Audio
- Деревня под штормом Polly watches a straw-backed Orkney chair get made, a design that comes from having no trees. Audio
- Кресло у огня A storm uncovers a stone village older than Stonehenge and the pyramids. Audio
- Утренний пароход приходит Polly flies over windy islands with no trees and learns their fields hide thousands of old, buried sites. Audio
- Туман закрывается за ней On her last afternoon, Polly flies high over the island before fog rolls in and hides it behind her. Audio
- Деревня, подключённая к вулкану Polly learns that the same volcano heat that cooked lunch also warms a big public pool and heats homes in... Audio
- Ужин, закопанный на рассвете Polly watches a cook bury pots of food in the ground, where the volcano's heat cooks dinner with no fire. Audio
- Один кратер, два цвета Polly finds a huge old crater with two lakes, one blue and one green, joined together under a strip of land. Audio
- Птица, которую дважды считали потерянной Polly looks for the priolo, a tiny grey and pink bird that lives only in one forest and was once thought to... Audio
- Последние два сада Европы Polly finds one of the only two tea farms left in Europe, started after the island's orange trees died. Audio
- Девять островов, три плиты Polly arrives over São Miguel, the biggest of the nine Azores islands, made of black rock, green fields,... Audio
- В Корнуолле разгуливает сбежавший валлаби A small Australian kangaroo has been hopping around an English market town for days, and nobody knows where... Audio
- Крикни, или пропустишь остановку A shared minibus with no bell and no screen, where the only way off is to say so out loud, early and twice. Audio
- Скала над ней Polly finds the cliff hanging over her head and watches birds dive. Audio
- Старая история Polly starts down the steps and hears a story about them. Audio
- Кривой домик A stone marten shows Polly a famous crooked house. Audio
- Розовый город Polly finds a small pink town inside a river loop. Audio
- Город на скале Polly finds a town on a high cliff, and steps cut into the rock. Audio
- Полли едет на автобусе Polly's first bus ride: does this bus go downtown, one ticket, how much, where do I get off, next stop,... Audio
- Полли спрашивает дорогу Polly is lost on the way to the library and asks an owl for directions: excuse me, where is it, is it far,... Audio
- Полли заказывает кофе Polly's first cafe order: good afternoon, a coffee with milk, do you have churros, the check please, how... Audio
- Полли на рынке Berta takes Polly to the market. Polly buys fruit for the first time: what is this, two apples, how much, a... Audio
- Полли знакомится с соседкой Polly moves to a new street and meets Berta the bear. First greetings: hello, your name, nice to meet you,... Audio
- Восхождение в Самое Сухое Место Polly arrives at a big observatory in the Atacama, the driest desert in the world. Audio
- Владивосток Polly arrives in Vladivostok and flies off over the Pacific Ocean. Audio
- Амур Polly reaches the Amur River and meets a rare crane on the sixth day of the Trans-Siberian. Audio
- Озеро Байкал Polly spends a day on the train along Lake Baikal, the deepest and oldest lake on Earth. Audio
- Часовые пояса Polly explores the dining car and learns that the train uses one time zone across all of Russia. Audio
- Пересечение Урала Polly crosses the Ural Mountains, the line between Europe and Asia, on the Trans-Siberian train. Audio
- Берёзовые леса Polly watches Russian birch forests from the Trans-Siberian train and learns that forty percent of Russia... Audio
- Ярославский вокзал Polly boards the Trans-Siberian train at Moscow and begins her seven-day journey to Vladivostok. Audio
- Прощай, Паста Polly says goodbye to Pasta the octopus and flies out of Naples. Audio
- Редактор самого себя Polly learns that octopuses can change their own nervous systems by editing RNA in real time. Audio
- Пицца и длинный обед Polly has lunch with Chiara at a Neapolitan pizzeria and learns about traditional Neapolitan pizza. Audio
- Кожа, которая видит Polly learns that octopus skin can sense colours even though octopus eyes cannot. Audio
- Тело, которое думает Polly watches an octopus solve a maze with two arms working independently. Audio
- Банка Polly watches an octopus open a jar to catch a crab and learns how short an octopus's life is. Audio
- Неаполитанский залив Polly arrives in Naples and meets a giant Pacific octopus at the world's oldest marine biology institute. Audio
- Покидая долину Polly says goodbye to Ranger Tomas and flies west out of Yosemite. Audio
- Млечный Путь над Глейшер-Пойнт Polly watches the Milky Way at Glacier Point and looks through a telescope at the centre of our galaxy. Audio
- Полудом Polly flies up Half Dome on warm air with a flock of swifts, sees the summit, then glides back down. Audio
- Соколиный полет Polly tries to copy a peregrine falcon's dive, learning what makes the falcon the fastest animal in the world. Audio
- Секвойя Polly visits a giant sequoia nearly 3,000 years old and learns about its fireproof bark. Audio
- Поездка с рейнджером Томасом Polly spends the morning in Ranger Tomas's truck, learning about bear feeding and peregrine falcon nests. Audio
- Над долиной Polly flies into Yosemite Valley, watches climbers on El Capitan, and rides the shuttle bus at dusk. Audio
- Запах корицы A new neighbor leaves a small surprise outside her door. Audio
- Два килограмма терпения A first trip to the local market with a vendor who refuses to let her leave with the wrong tomatoes. Audio
B1 · Finding your flow
Polly's weekly adventures and real-world stories.
- Озеро, которое лежит ниже моря Polly finds the largest lake in the Caribbean, saltier than the ocean, lying in a valley lower than the sea. Audio
- Иди вверх по течению, и ты найдёшь его The blue stone came down the river, not out of the sea. Polly follows it up into the mountains. Audio
- Восемь километров, на которых ничего нет Polly finds an empty protected bay at the far corner of the country, then flies home over the coffee... Audio
- Дорога, которой не хватает места Polly arrives in the southwest of the Dominican Republic, where the mountains meet the sea, and finds one... Audio
- Прибытие райдеров The riders arrive with jet skis and special boards, and everyone watches a sea that says tomorrow. Audio
- Семь юбок и серебряная рыба Polly rides the funicular down to town and meets gull ladies in seven skirts who dry fish in the sun. Audio
- Гонка, в которой всегда побеждает сыр Once a year in England, people chase a wheel of cheese down a dangerously steep hill, and the cheese almost... Audio
- Два совершенно новых животных размером с ноготь Scientists in Montenegro just described two snail species new to science, found on limestone cliffs in a... Audio
- День, когда настоящий жук сломал компьютер In nineteen forty-seven, engineers found an actual moth stuck inside a giant computer, taped it into their... Audio
- Креветка с солнцем внутри клешни A small ocean shrimp snaps its claw so fast that it creates a flash of heat nearly as hot as the surface of... Audio
- Дом, разделенный между двумя странами In a small town on the Belgian-Dutch border, some houses sit in two countries at once, and the front door... Audio
- Одно кафе, две страны In one small town, the border between Belgium and the Netherlands runs straight through streets, houses and... Audio
- Пляж, который светится синим по ночам On some warm coasts, the sea lights up electric blue when you touch it. The light comes from billions of... Audio
- Твои сообщения путешествуют под водой Almost everything you send across an ocean travels through cables lying on the sea floor, not through... Audio
- Отель, который движется, пока ты спишь On a European night train, you fall asleep in one country and wake up in another, with the Alps outside... Audio
- Город, который открыл реку заново For fifty years, Seoul hid a river under an elevated highway. Then the city tore the highway down, and the... Audio
- Обед, приготовленный вулканом On a green island in the Azores, cooks lower a pot into a hot hole in the ground and let the earth slowly... Audio
- Прогулка по дну моря Twice a day the North Sea pulls back for kilometres, and people walk barefoot across the bare seabed before... Audio
- Древние люди процветали в тропических лесах Scientists once thought ancient humans avoided rainforests. New evidence from West Africa says they thrived... Audio
- Почему телефон садится на морозе Your phone shows forty percent battery, then dies in the snow. The battery is not empty. It is cold, and... Audio
- Почему мёд, которому 3000 лет, всё ещё можно есть Honey jars from Egyptian tombs three thousand years old are still edible. The chemistry behind a food that... Audio
- Теннисный матч, который длился три дня The longest tennis match ever played: Isner vs. Mahut, Wimbledon 2010, eleven hours, three days, a final... Audio
- Осьминог, который взломал замок An octopus called Inky escaped his aquarium tank at night through a drain pipe, and what it reveals about... Audio
- Замок, в котором король почти не жил A Bavarian king built a fairy-tale castle on an alpine crag, slept there only a handful of nights, and left... Audio
- Десять километров вверх Passenger planes cruise about ten kilometres above the ground. That number is not random: it is where the... Audio
- Армия, которая проиграла птицам In nineteen thirty-two the Australian military was sent against emus eating the wheat crop in Western... Audio
- У шимпанзе есть акценты A new study of more than eleven thousand recorded calls found that young chimpanzees in different parts of... Audio
- Интернет лежит под водой Almost all international internet traffic travels along cables lying on the sea floor, which break... Audio
- Зверь, который делает кубики Wombats are the only known animal to produce cube shaped droppings, and the corners are formed by uneven... Audio
- Городок, который живёт в одном доме Almost every resident of Whittier, Alaska lives inside a single fourteen storey building reached through a... Audio
- Десять тысяч спортсменов, один вечер открытия The 2026 Asian Games, hosted jointly by Aichi and Nagoya, Japan, bring together roughly ten thousand... Audio
- Банк, который принимает только сыр An Italian bank keeps a vault holding more than half a million wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano, accepted as... Audio
- Этот процент батареи это догадка A phone's battery percentage is not a direct measurement, but an estimate calculated from voltage and... Audio
- Этот пляж сделан из мусора A sparkling beach in Northern California is made entirely of old dumped glass, smoothed into colorful... Audio
- В этом здании нет четвёртого этажа In much of East Asia, elevators skip the number four entirely, because it sounds exactly like the word for... Audio
- Рука, которая умеет пробовать на вкус Octopus suckers contain special receptors that let an arm taste whatever it touches, even in total darkness. Audio
- Самая большая зарплата в истории лёгкой атлетики A brand new athletics championship this month paid its winners more than the sport has ever offered before. Audio
- Учим компьютер говорить по-китовьи Researchers are using artificial intelligence to search for real structure inside the clicking patterns of... Audio
- Медленное сердцебиение деревьев Laser scans at night revealed that trees pulse gently every few hours, possibly pumping water through their... Audio
- Цветы в три часа ночи At three in the morning, Bangkok's biggest flower market is more awake than midday, and it never really... Audio
- Обед, который ест целая страна In the Dominican Republic the main meal lands at midday, it is almost always the same three things, and the... Audio
- К обеду ваша карта была бы неверной Satellite clocks tick faster than clocks on the ground, and if nobody corrected for it your phone would... Audio
- Вы светитесь. Никто этого не видит. Human skin gives off a faint light all day long, and a Japanese team photographed it in a sealed dark room. Audio
- Эта синева существует только в одном месте A stony beach in the Dominican southwest, one pebble that is blue all the way through, and the single... Audio
- Полкупол Polly rides thermals up the 1,500-metre north face of Half Dome with a flock of swifts, reaches the summit,... Audio
- Воскресная паэлья An adult granddaughter visits home and finds her grandfather hasn't forgotten anything yet. Audio
- Пустая кружка First day at a new office, a small lesson about asking before assuming. Audio
- Поезд в Гранаду An overheard phone call on the train turns a long trip into a kind of company. Audio
- Не тот книжный магазин A simple coffee order leads to a strange conversation about a bookshop that doesn't exist anymore. Audio
- В номере 304 есть вид A late check-in turns into a small gift when the hotel runs out of rooms on the lower floors. Audio
- Столик для одной A traveler eats alone in Madrid and discovers the waiter is the real star of the meal. Audio
C1 · Stretch yourself
Rich, natural texts about places, history and ideas.
- Два неназванных вида, найденных на отвесной скале Scientists in Montenegro have described two snail species new to science, found on limestone cliffs in a... Audio
- Война, которую Австралия проиграла эму In nineteen thirty-two the Australian military was deployed against emus devastating the wheat crop in... Audio
- Оказывается, у шимпанзе есть акценты A new study of more than eleven thousand recorded calls finds that young chimpanzees in different parts of... Audio
- Банк, который выдаёт кредиты под залог сыра An Italian bank stores and ages more than half a million wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano, accepted as... Audio
- Почему твоя карта ошибалась бы уже к обеду Satellites tick at a different rate than clocks on the ground, and without a deliberate correction your... Audio
- Свечение, которое твоя кожа никогда не перестаёт излучать Human skin gives off a faint light around the clock, invisible to the eye, as a Japanese team confirmed by... Audio
- Что на самом деле несёт твои слова через океан Almost everything sent between continents travels not through satellites but through cables lying on the... Audio
- Отель, который пересекает границы, пока ты спишь On a European night train, a traveller falls asleep in one country and wakes in another, with the Alps... Audio
- Река, которую Сеул полвека прятал от всех Seoul spent decades entombing a river beneath a highway, then reversed course and dug it back into the... Audio
- Чего до сих пор требует воскресенье An adult granddaughter returns home for Sunday paella and discovers that her octogenarian grandfather's... Audio
- Город, который живёт в одном здании Almost the entire population of Whittier, Alaska lives inside a single fourteen storey building, reached... Audio
- Замок, который его король почти не успел увидеть Bavaria's King Ludwig the Second poured a fortune into a fairy tale castle he would inhabit for barely a... Audio
- Твой телефон не разрядился. Ему просто холодно. A phone that shows forty percent battery and then dies the moment you step into the cold has not run out of... Audio
- Десять километров над землёй Passenger jets cruise about ten kilometres up not for the view but because that is where thin air starts... Audio
- Мёд, переживший империи Honey sealed inside Egyptian tombs thousands of years ago remains perfectly edible today, and the reason... Audio
- Осьминог, который сбежал из-под замка An octopus named Inky vanished from a New Zealand aquarium overnight, and the ingenious route he took to... Audio
- Кит, проплывший пятнадцать тысяч километров Polly learns about two humpback whales who swam 14,000+ km from Australia to Brazil, breaking the world... Audio
- Пересекая Урал Polly crosses the Ural Mountains, the geographic boundary between Europe and Asia, on the third day of the... Audio
- Прощание с Пастой Polly says goodbye to Pasta the octopus, who presses one arm against the glass exactly opposite where... Audio
- Полукупольная вершина Polly climbs the 1,500-metre north face of Half Dome on rising thermals with a flock of white-throated... Audio
- Соколиный Пикирование Polly tries to copy a peregrine falcon's dive after seeing one launch from El Capitan, learning about the... Audio