A2 · Getting started
Longer stories about daily life, past and future.
- Het dier dat blokjes maakt Wombats make cube shaped poop, and now we know why. Audio
- Deze vogel slaapt tijdens het vliegen Frigatebirds fly for many days and sleep only a little. Audio
- De lunch die een heel land eet In the Dominican Republic, everyone eats the same lunch at the same time. Audio
- Diner gekookt door een vulkaan In the Azores, people cook food inside a hot volcano. Audio
- De laatste trein Tomas misses the last train in Tokyo and sleeps in a tiny room. Audio
- Het lege kopje On his first day, Pedro drinks from a cup that is not his. Audio
- Nummer zevenenveertig Carla waits a long time at the clinic for a small cut. Audio
- Verdwaald in Lissabon Sofía gets lost in Lisbon and a woman helps her with a map. Audio
- De kamer met een balkon Marcos gets a hotel room with a nice balcony. Audio
- Een tafel voor één Mia eats alone in a small restaurant, and the waiter helps her choose. Audio
- De specerij die ooit evenveel kostte als goud Saffron comes from tiny flower threads picked by hand, and for most of history a pound of it cost about the... Audio
- Het meer dat elke zomer verdwijnt In Slovenia, a huge lake fills a valley in winter and then vanishes underground every summer, leaving... Audio
- Het park naast mijn huis A squirrel describes the small park next to its tree: the pigeons by the benches, Mr. Badger and his bread,... Audio
- De stad die goud op ijs doet Kanazawa in Japan makes almost all of the country's gold leaf, and wraps whole sheets of it around soft ice... Audio
- De vlucht die negentig seconden duurt A tiny plane hops between two Orkney islands in Scotland on the shortest scheduled flight in the world. Audio
- Roep, of je mist je halte A shared minibus with no bell and no screen, where the only way off is to say so out loud, early and twice. Audio
- Slurp hard, dat hoort zo In Japan, slurping your noodles loudly is not rude, it is a sign that you are enjoying the meal. Audio
- De waterval die omhoog valt On very windy days, strong gusts can blow a Norwegian waterfall's spray back up into the sky. Audio
- De cirkel en de ochtendboot The Ring of Brodgar at dusk, then the small practical business of leaving an island, done in four sentences... Audio
- Het graan van negentig dagen In a bar in Kirkwall, a flat dark bannock turns out to be the reason the islands were farmable at all. Audio
- De verzameling op de klippen Grey seals are hauling out on the low rocks before the pupping season, and the questions Polly has been... Audio
- Gebouwd van wat ze hadden On Lamb Holm, two army huts hold a chapel that prisoners of war made out of scrap, and the only honest... Audio
- Het dorp onder de storm At the Bay of Skaill, a guide with a carrying voice explains a village that a storm returned to the light... Audio
- De stoel bij het vuur A guesthouse above the harbour, an argument about what counts as a quiet room, and a chair whose whole... Audio
- De boot komt binnen Polly lands at Stromness off the morning boat and works out, one question at a time, how a place with no... Audio
- Roze bestaat niet Pink has no wavelength of its own; it is a color the brain invents when the eyes see red and blue light... Audio
- Je gloeit op dit moment The human body constantly emits an extremely faint light, invisible to the eye but detectable with a... Audio
- De mist sluit zich achter haar On her last afternoon, Polly flies high over the island before fog rolls in and hides it behind her. Audio
- Een dorp aangesloten op een vulkaan Polly learns that the same volcano heat that cooked lunch also warms a big public pool and heats homes in... Audio
- Avondeten, bij zonsopgang begraven Polly watches a cook bury pots of food in the ground, where the volcano's heat cooks dinner with no fire. Audio
- Eén krater, twee kleuren Polly finds a huge old crater with two lakes, one blue and one green, joined together under a strip of land. Audio
- De vogel die twee keer verdwenen leek Polly looks for the priolo, a tiny grey and pink bird that lives only in one forest and was once thought to... Audio
- De laatste twee tuinen van Europa Polly finds one of the only two tea farms left in Europe, started after the island's orange trees died. Audio
- Negen eilanden, drie platen Polly arrives over São Miguel, the biggest of the nine Azores islands, made of black rock, green fields,... Audio
- Spider Rock Polly finds a tall tower of red rock at the end of the canyon. She looks at it, but she does not land on it. Audio
- De enige weg naar beneden A guide brings visitors into the canyon on horses. Polly learns that people live here. Audio
- Regen op de rand A big storm makes waterfalls on the canyon walls, and the dry sand fills with water. Audio
- De paarden van de bedding Polly hears thunder, but the sky is blue. It is horses running on the sand. Audio
- De huizen in de wand Polly finds old stone rooms high in the cliff. A squirrel says people lived here for thousands of years. Audio
- Waar de wanden overeind komen The canyon walls get very tall. Polly sees dark lines made by water and rides the warm air. Audio
- De lage muur Polly lands at a canyon in Arizona. The walls are small, but a raven says the canyon grows. Audio
- Dag, roze stadje Polly says goodbye and follows the river away. Audio
- De schapen bij de poort Polly walks with the sheep to the mountain. Audio
- Een dag bij de rivier Polly rests by the river and sees a fox. Audio
- De geschilderde dieren Polly sees very old animal paintings on red rocks. Audio
- De oude muur Polly flies to the old watchtower on the mountain. Audio
- Het scheve huis A stone marten shows Polly a famous crooked house. Audio
- Het roze stadje Polly finds a small pink town inside a river loop. Audio
- Waar koffie vandaan komt Coffee begins as a red fruit on a green plant and travels far before it fills a cup. Audio
- Slapen in een nachttrein Night trains in Europe carry travelers between cities while they sleep in cozy beds. Audio
- Hoe bijen honing maken Honeybees turn sweet flower nectar into golden honey through hard teamwork in the hive. Audio
- De lange weg van zijde The Silk Road was a famous trade route that linked China with Europe for many centuries. Audio
- De Amazone, de grootste rivier The Amazon is the river that carries the most water in the world. Audio
- De octopus en zijn drie harten The octopus is a clever sea animal with three hearts and blue blood. Audio
- De kabels onder de zee Long cables under the ocean carry almost all of the information that travels between countries. Audio
- De lange wedstrijd die marathon heet The marathon is a very long running race with a curious and surprising history. Audio
- Het vogeltje in de klok In Germany's Black Forest, carved wooden cuckoo clocks call out every hour while children wait and laugh. Audio
- Het stadje waar sterven verboden was When a small Italian town ran out of space in its cemetery, the mayor signed an order telling people not to... Audio
- De vis die watervallen beklimt In Hawaii, a fish smaller than your finger climbs up waterfalls taller than buildings, using its mouth as a... Audio
- Een klein koud lab in de ruimte NASA improved a small science lab on the space station that makes some of the coldest matter in the universe. Audio
- Canada wint zijn eerste WK-wedstrijd Canada celebrates its first ever men's World Cup victory with a big win at home in Vancouver. Audio
- De lunch die nooit eindigt In Spain, the best part of lunch starts when the food is finished. It even has its own name. Audio
- Bestel nooit een latte in Italië In Italy, the word latte does not mean coffee. One small word can bring you a big surprise. Audio
- Het eerste licht in het dorp While the whole village sleeps, one window glows: the baker lights the oven so fresh bread will be ready by... Audio
- De kat die de bus neemt Every morning a cat climbs onto the same city bus, watches the streets go by, and gets off at his own stop. Audio
- Stoom en kleine bordjes A first night at a Taipei night market, where pointing, smiling, and one brave question buy a very good... Audio
- Polly neemt de bus Polly's first bus ride: does this bus go downtown, one ticket, how much, where do I get off, next stop,... Audio
- Polly vraagt de weg Polly is lost on the way to the library and asks an owl for directions: excuse me, where is it, is it far,... Audio
- Polly bestelt een koffie Polly's first cafe order: good afternoon, a coffee with milk, do you have churros, the check please, how... Audio
- Polly op de markt Berta takes Polly to the market. Polly buys fruit for the first time: what is this, two apples, how much, a... Audio
- Polly ontmoet iemand Polly moves to a new street and meets Berta the bear. First greetings: hello, your name, nice to meet you,... Audio
- Klimmen in de Droogste Plek Polly arrives at a big observatory in the Atacama, the driest desert in the world. Audio
- Vladivostok Polly arrives in Vladivostok and flies off over the Pacific Ocean. Audio
- De Amoer Polly reaches the Amur River and meets a rare crane on the sixth day of the Trans-Siberian. Audio
- Het Baikalmeer Polly spends a day on the train along Lake Baikal, the deepest and oldest lake on Earth. Audio
- Tijdzones Polly explores the dining car and learns that the train uses one time zone across all of Russia. Audio
- De Oeral Oversteken Polly crosses the Ural Mountains, the line between Europe and Asia, on the Trans-Siberian train. Audio
- De Berkenbossen Polly watches Russian birch forests from the Trans-Siberian train and learns that forty percent of Russia... Audio
- Station Jaroslavski Polly boards the Trans-Siberian train at Moscow and begins her seven-day journey to Vladivostok. Audio
- Afscheid van Pasta Polly says goodbye to Pasta the octopus and flies out of Naples. Audio
- De Redacteur van Zichzelf Polly learns that octopuses can change their own nervous systems by editing RNA in real time. Audio
- Pizza en de Lange Lunch Polly has lunch with Chiara at a Neapolitan pizzeria and learns about traditional Neapolitan pizza. Audio
- De Huid Die Ziet Polly learns that octopus skin can sense colours even though octopus eyes cannot. Audio
- Het Lichaam dat Denkt Polly watches an octopus solve a maze with two arms working independently. Audio
- De Pot Polly watches an octopus open a jar to catch a crab and learns how short an octopus's life is. Audio
- De Baai van Napels Polly arrives in Naples and meets a giant Pacific octopus at the world's oldest marine biology institute. Audio
- Het Dal Verlaten Polly says goodbye to Ranger Tomas and flies west out of Yosemite. Audio
- De Melkweg Boven Glacier Point Polly watches the Milky Way at Glacier Point and looks through a telescope at the centre of our galaxy. Audio
- Half Dome Polly flies up Half Dome on warm air with a flock of swifts, sees the summit, then glides back down. Audio
- De Duikende Valk Polly tries to copy a peregrine falcon's dive, learning what makes the falcon the fastest animal in the world. Audio
- De Sequoia Polly visits a giant sequoia nearly 3,000 years old and learns about its fireproof bark. Audio
- Met Ranger Tomas Op Pad Polly spends the morning in Ranger Tomas's truck, learning about bear feeding and peregrine falcon nests. Audio
- Boven de Vallei Polly flies into Yosemite Valley, watches climbers on El Capitan, and rides the shuttle bus at dusk. Audio
- De geur van kaneel A new neighbor leaves a small surprise outside her door. Audio
- Twee kilo geduld A first trip to the local market with a vendor who refuses to let her leave with the wrong tomatoes. Audio
- Een Vreemde Kaart Polly, a curious parrot, arrives in Venice and notices a young woman named Isabella, who holds a mysterious... Audio