A2 · Getting started
Longer stories about daily life, past and future.
- Krokotiilit suolavedessä There are hundreds of crocodiles in the salty lake, and the lake once grew and covered farms and roads. Audio
- Järvi meren alla Polly finds a big salty lake in a dry valley, with old coral in the rocks around it. Audio
- Kivi tuli jokea pitkin Polly learns that the blue stone came down from the mountains, and that it has a name. Audio
- Sininen kivi rannalla Polly flies along a coast between mountains and the sea, and finds a strange blue stone. Audio
- Ranta, jossa ei ole mitään Polly finds a long empty beach in a national park, and then she flies home. Audio
- Punainen majakka Polly lands on a red lighthouse in Nazaré, and an old albatross says giant waves are coming. Audio
- Ritari ja peura Polly hears the old story of a rider and a deer at the cliff edge. Audio
- Ratsastajat saapuvat The riders arrive with jet skis and long boards, ready for the giant waves. Audio
- Jättiläinen The giant waves arrive, and a tiny rider flies down a wave as tall as a building. Audio
- Eläin, joka tekee kuutioita Wombats make cube shaped poop, and now we know why. Audio
- Tämä lintu nukkuu lentäessään Frigatebirds fly for many days and sleep only a little. Audio
- Lounas, jonka koko maa syö In the Dominican Republic, everyone eats the same lunch at the same time. Audio
- Tulivuoren keittämä illallinen In the Azores, people cook food inside a hot volcano. Audio
- Viimeinen juna Tomas misses the last train in Tokyo and sleeps in a tiny room. Audio
- Tyhjä kuppi On his first day, Pedro drinks from a cup that is not his. Audio
- Numero neljäkymmentäseitsemän Carla waits a long time at the clinic for a small cut. Audio
- Eksyksissä Lissabonissa Sofía gets lost in Lisbon and a woman helps her with a map. Audio
- Huone, jossa on parveke Marcos gets a hotel room with a nice balcony. Audio
- Pöytä yhdelle Mia eats alone in a small restaurant, and the waiter helps her choose. Audio
- Mauste, joka maksoi joskus yhtä paljon kuin kulta Saffron comes from tiny flower threads picked by hand, and for most of history a pound of it cost about the... Audio
- Järvi, joka katoaa joka kesä In Slovenia, a huge lake fills a valley in winter and then vanishes underground every summer, leaving... Audio
- Puisto talon vieressä A squirrel describes the small park next to its tree: the pigeons by the benches, Mr. Badger and his bread,... Audio
- Kaupunki, joka laittaa kultaa jäätelön päälle Kanazawa in Japan makes almost all of the country's gold leaf, and wraps whole sheets of it around soft ice... Audio
- Lento, joka kestää yhdeksänkymmentä sekuntia A tiny plane hops between two Orkney islands in Scotland on the shortest scheduled flight in the world. Audio
- Huuda, tai jäät jälkeen pysäkiltä A shared minibus with no bell and no screen, where the only way off is to say so out loud, early and twice. Audio
- Lounas, joka ei koskaan lopu In Spain, the best part of lunch starts when the food is finished. It even has its own name. Audio
- Älä koskaan tilaa lattea Italiassa In Italy, the word latte does not mean coffee. One small word can bring you a big surprise. Audio
- Ryystä äänekkäästi, se on kohteliasta In Japan, slurping your noodles loudly is not rude, it is a sign that you are enjoying the meal. Audio
- Vesiputous joka putoaa ylöspäin On very windy days, strong gusts can blow a Norwegian waterfall's spray back up into the sky. Audio
- Kehä ja aamulaiva The Ring of Brodgar at dusk, then the small practical business of leaving an island, done in four sentences... Audio
- Yhdeksänkymmenen päivän vilja In a bar in Kirkwall, a flat dark bannock turns out to be the reason the islands were farmable at all. Audio
- Kokoontuminen luodoilla Grey seals are hauling out on the low rocks before the pupping season, and the questions Polly has been... Audio
- Rakennettu siitä mitä oli On Lamb Holm, two army huts hold a chapel that prisoners of war made out of scrap, and the only honest... Audio
- Kylä myrskyn alla At the Bay of Skaill, a guide with a carrying voice explains a village that a storm returned to the light... Audio
- Tuoli takan ääressä A guesthouse above the harbour, an argument about what counts as a quiet room, and a chair whose whole... Audio
- Laiva saapuu satamaan Polly lands at Stromness off the morning boat and works out, one question at a time, how a place with no... Audio
- Vaaleanpunaista ei ole olemassa Pink has no wavelength of its own; it is a color the brain invents when the eyes see red and blue light... Audio
- Sinä hehkut juuri nyt The human body constantly emits an extremely faint light, invisible to the eye but detectable with a... Audio
- Usva sulkeutuu hänen jälkeensä On her last afternoon, Polly flies high over the island before fog rolls in and hides it behind her. Audio
- Kylä, joka on kytketty tulivuoreen Polly learns that the same volcano heat that cooked lunch also warms a big public pool and heats homes in... Audio
- Aamulla haudattu illallinen Polly watches a cook bury pots of food in the ground, where the volcano's heat cooks dinner with no fire. Audio
- Yksi kraatteri, kaksi väriä Polly finds a huge old crater with two lakes, one blue and one green, joined together under a strip of land. Audio
- Lintu, joka menetettiin kahdesti Polly looks for the priolo, a tiny grey and pink bird that lives only in one forest and was once thought to... Audio
- Euroopan kaksi viimeistä puutarhaa Polly finds one of the only two tea farms left in Europe, started after the island's orange trees died. Audio
- Yhdeksän saarta, kolme laattaa Polly arrives over São Miguel, the biggest of the nine Azores islands, made of black rock, green fields,... Audio
- Kiipeäminen takaisin ylös Polly climbs back up and leaves. Audio
- Kukaan ei ole samaa mieltä A fox measures the steps. Nobody knows how many there are. Audio
- Näkemiin, vaaleanpunainen kaupunki Polly says goodbye and follows the river away. Audio
- Lampaat portilla Polly walks with the sheep to the mountain. Audio
- Päivä joella Polly rests by the river and sees a fox. Audio
- Maalatut eläimet Polly sees very old animal paintings on red rocks. Audio
- Vanha muuri Polly flies to the old watchtower on the mountain. Audio
- Vino talo A stone marten shows Polly a famous crooked house. Audio
- Vaaleanpunainen kaupunki Polly finds a small pink town inside a river loop. Audio
- Missä seinät nousevat pystyyn The canyon walls get very tall. Polly sees dark lines made by water and rides the warm air. Audio
- Matala muuri Polly lands at a canyon in Arizona. The walls are small, but a raven says the canyon grows. Audio
- Polly menee bussilla Polly's first bus ride: does this bus go downtown, one ticket, how much, where do I get off, next stop,... Audio
- Polly kysyy tietä 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 tilaa kahvin Polly's first cafe order: good afternoon, a coffee with milk, do you have churros, the check please, how... Audio
- Polly torilla Berta takes Polly to the market. Polly buys fruit for the first time: what is this, two apples, how much, a... Audio
- Polly tapaa jonkun Polly moves to a new street and meets Berta the bear. First greetings: hello, your name, nice to meet you,... Audio
- Ruusu ja punainen On the fifth morning, the balloon drifted over valleys of pink and red stone. Audio
- Vettä autiomaassa Polly rested beside the little water channel. Audio
- Kallion värit At midday, the sun reached down into the canyon. Audio
- Kiviset Kamelit Polly hopped along the wall beside the little channel. Audio
- Veistetty luola Polly flew down to the sea. Audio
- Taivaan metsästäjät Polly climbed to the edge of the mountain. Audio
- Norsuvuori Polly flew in at dawn over a calm blue sea. Audio
- Mustekala ja sen kolme sydäntä The octopus is a clever sea animal with three hearts and blue blood. Audio
- Merikaapelit meren pohjassa Long cables under the ocean carry almost all of the information that travels between countries. Audio
- Pitkä juoksukilpailu nimeltä maraton The marathon is a very long running race with a curious and surprising history. Audio
- Mistä kahvi tulee Coffee begins as a red fruit on a green plant and travels far before it fills a cup. Audio
- Yöjunassa nukkuminen Night trains in Europe carry travelers between cities while they sleep in cozy beds. Audio
- Amazoni, maailman suurin joki The Amazon is the river that carries the most water in the world. Audio
- Kuinka mehiläiset tekevät hunajaa Honeybees turn sweet flower nectar into golden honey through hard teamwork in the hive. Audio
- Silkkitien pitkä matka The Silk Road was a famous trade route that linked China with Europe for many centuries. Audio
- Pieni kylmä laboratorio avaruudessa NASA improved a small science lab on the space station that makes some of the coldest matter in the universe. Audio
- Kanada voittaa ensimmäisen MM-kisojen ottelunsa Canada celebrates its first ever men's World Cup victory with a big win at home in Vancouver. Audio
- Pikku Lintu Kellossa In Germany's Black Forest, carved wooden cuckoo clocks call out every hour while children wait and laugh. Audio
- Kala, joka kiipeää vesiputousten yli In Hawaii, a fish smaller than your finger climbs up waterfalls taller than buildings, using its mouth as a... Audio
- Kaupunki, jossa kuoleminen oli kielletty When a small Italian town ran out of space in its cemetery, the mayor signed an order telling people not to... Audio
- Kissa, joka ottaa bussin Every morning a cat climbs onto the same city bus, watches the streets go by, and gets off at his own stop. Audio
- Kylän ensimmäinen valo While the whole village sleeps, one window glows: the baker lights the oven so fresh bread will be ready by... Audio
- Höyryä ja pieniä annoksia A first night at a Taipei night market, where pointing, smiling, and one brave question buy a very good... Audio
- Vladivostok Polly arrives in Vladivostok and flies off over the Pacific Ocean. Audio
- Amur-joki Polly reaches the Amur River and meets a rare crane on the sixth day of the Trans-Siberian. Audio
- Baikaljärvi Polly spends a day on the train along Lake Baikal, the deepest and oldest lake on Earth. Audio
- Aikavyöhykkeet Polly explores the dining car and learns that the train uses one time zone across all of Russia. Audio
- Uralien ylitys Polly crosses the Ural Mountains, the line between Europe and Asia, on the Trans-Siberian train. Audio
- Koivumetsät Polly watches Russian birch forests from the Trans-Siberian train and learns that forty percent of Russia... Audio
- Jaroslavlin asema Polly boards the Trans-Siberian train at Moscow and begins her seven-day journey to Vladivostok. Audio
- Hyvästi Pastalle Polly says goodbye to Pasta the octopus and flies out of Naples. Audio
- Itseään Muokkaava Polly learns that octopuses can change their own nervous systems by editing RNA in real time. Audio
- Pizza ja pitkä lounas Polly has lunch with Chiara at a Neapolitan pizzeria and learns about traditional Neapolitan pizza. Audio
- Iho, joka näkee Polly learns that octopus skin can sense colours even though octopus eyes cannot. Audio
- Ajatteleva keho Polly watches an octopus solve a maze with two arms working independently. Audio
- Purkin arvoitus Polly watches an octopus open a jar to catch a crab and learns how short an octopus's life is. Audio
- Napolinlahti Polly arrives in Naples and meets a giant Pacific octopus at the world's oldest marine biology institute. Audio
- Lähtö Laaksosta Polly says goodbye to Ranger Tomas and flies west out of Yosemite. Audio
- Linnunrata Glacier Pointilta Polly watches the Milky Way at Glacier Point and looks through a telescope at the centre of our galaxy. Audio
- Puolikupoli Polly flies up Half Dome on warm air with a flock of swifts, sees the summit, then glides back down. Audio
- Sukeltava Jalohaukka Polly tries to copy a peregrine falcon's dive, learning what makes the falcon the fastest animal in the world. Audio
- Sequoia Polly visits a giant sequoia nearly 3,000 years old and learns about its fireproof bark. Audio
- Ratsastus Vartija Tomaksen Kanssa Polly spends the morning in Ranger Tomas's truck, learning about bear feeding and peregrine falcon nests. Audio
- Laakson Yllä Polly flies into Yosemite Valley, watches climbers on El Capitan, and rides the shuttle bus at dusk. Audio
- Kanelin tuoksu A new neighbor leaves a small surprise outside her door. Audio
- Kaksi kiloa kärsivällisyyttä A first trip to the local market with a vendor who refuses to let her leave with the wrong tomatoes. Audio
- Kilpa-aarteen perässä Polly, Leila, and Omar team up to find the treasure, racing through Marrakech as obstacles arise, including... Audio