Shadowing Practice: Learn English Through Story Level 2 ⭐ Graded Reader | Easy English Story for Beginners - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
A2
Rhiannon lived in the days of King Arthur and his knights in the part of Britain,
239 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Rhiannon lived in the days of King Arthur and his knights in the part of Britain,
2
which is now England.
3
She was twelve years old and had long red hair and green eyes.
4
She lived with her mother and father in a small village near Sir Brangwyn's castle.
5
Sir Brangwyn was the lord of the castle and the village,
6
and everyone was afraid of him.
7
He was a big, fat man with black hair and cold, black eyes.
8
He was bad and greedy.
9
He always wanted more taxes from the poor people of the village.
10
Simon Grimstone was Rhiannon's father,
11
and he was brave and kind.
12
He was a tall, thin man with blonde hair and kind brown eyes.
13
The people of the village liked Simon because he always helped them.
14
He was not afraid of Sir Brangwyn.
15
One day, Sir Brangwen and his knights rode to the village and stopped in front of Simon's house.
16
Simon Grimstone, cried Sir Brangwen,
17
you killed a deer in my forest.
18
No one can go into my forest.
19
My men are taking you to prison.
20
That's not true, said Simon.
21
I didn't go into your forest,
22
and I didn't kill a deer.
23
Take him to prison, said Sir Brangwen to his men.
24
You want to put me in prison because I'm not afraid of you, said Simon.
25
You're a greedy man.
26
The people of this village are hungry because you take all their money.
27
Be quiet, cried Sir Brangwen angrily.
28
You'll be quiet in prison, Simon Grimstone.
29
Simon's wife, Marianne, was standing behind her husband and started crying.
30
Take his wife too, said Sir Brangwen.
31
She can work in the castle kitchen and pay for the food her husband eats.
32
Oh, please don't take me away from my daughter, said Marianne, crying.
33
There's no one who can look after her.
34
She'll be alone.
35
Please don't take my mother away, cried Rhiannon.
36
But the Lord's Men didn't listen to Rhiannon and took her parents away.
37
When can I see my parents again? she asked, crying.
38
The Lord's men laughed and rode away.
39
The villagers were angry, but they could do nothing.
40
After that day, they called Rhiannon Sir Brangwyn's Orphan.
41
Rhiannon went inside her house and sat by the small fire in the cold room.
42
She was very sad and lonely.
43
What will I do without my parents? she thought.
44
I must find a job.
45
Sir Brangwyn liked eating all kinds of food,
46
but truffles were his favourite.
47
It was very hard to find them because they grew under the ground,
48
on the roots of trees.
49
Rhiannon decided to look for truffles for Ser Brangwyn.
50
Now she had a job.
51
Every morning, Rhiannon went to the forest with a big basket.
52
She looked for truffles all day long.
53
At the end of the day,
54
she looked in her basket,
55
but she saw very few truffles.
56
I only found three truffles today, she thought sadly.
57
And Ser Brangwen wants lots of them for his dinners.
58
He'll be angry.
59
How can I find more truffles?
60
At night, she always thought about her poor father and mother.
61
Sir Brangwyn liked hunting in the forest with his knights.
62
He often rode through the forest when Rhiannon was looking for truffles.
63
He and his men always made a lot of noise and scared the animals.
64
The villagers said there were strange animals in Sir Brangwyn's forest,
65
like unicorns and dragons.
66
Ellen continued looking for truffles in the forest every day for a year.
67
One afternoon she heard a noise behind her.
68
She turned around and...what did she see?
69
A beautiful little horse.
70
It was white and it had a lovely mane and tail.
71
One of the villagers saw the beautiful little horse that evening,
72
and he told his friends.
73
I saw a young white horse in the forest,
74
and it was following Rhiannon, he said.
75
It was a very beautiful animal.
76
Perhaps we can catch it and give it to Sir Brangman.
77
And pay less taxes, said a young man.
78
That's a good idea, said an old woman.
79
The next day, the men from the village tried to catch the little white horse,
80
but it ran away into the dark forest.
81
That evening, Rhiannon came home with a basket full of big truffles.
82
Where did you find those big truffles? asked one of the men of the village.
83
A friendly little horse helped me find them, said Rhiannon happily.
84
Did you hear that, Richard? said the man to his friend.
85
The little horse helped her find the truffles.
86
The next morning, everyone in the village went to the forest to look for it.
87
If we find lots of truffles,
88
we can use them to pay our taxes to Sir Brangwen,
89
said a young man.
90
Yes, and we'll have money to buy food,
91
said a thin young woman with two hungry children.
92
They looked everywhere in the forest,
93
but they could not find the beautiful little horse.
94
It was hiding in a secret place.
95
When they went back to the village,
96
the little horse came to see Rhiannon.
97
She followed him and found a lot of truffles for her basket.
98
The beautiful little horse liked Rhiannon and wanted to help her.
99
Day after day, Rhiannon's basket was always full of truffles for Sir Brangwyn.
100
Soon, the servants at the castle started talking about the baskets of truffles and the strange little horse.
101
One of Sir Brangwen's knights heard them and decided to follow Rhiannon into the forest.
102
He hid behind a big tree and waited for the little white horse.
103
That evening he returned to the castle and talked to Sir Brangwen.
104
Now I know why Rhiannon finds lots of truffles, said the knight happily.
105
Oh, really, said Sir Brangwen.
106
Tell me.
107
I was in the forest today and hid behind a big tree," said the knight.
108
Then suddenly I saw...
109
What did you see? said Sir Brangwen.
110
Tell me, quickly.
111
There's a strange little horse that lives in the forest,
112
and Rhiannon follows him.
113
Then he stops and smells the ground.
114
That's where Rhiannon looks for truffles.
115
And she finds them.
116
What?
117
Said Sir Brangwen, surprised.
118
A little horse that finds truffles?
119
Yes, said the knight.
120
And when the girl's basket is full,
121
she sits under a tree and rests.
122
The little horse sits next to her,
123
and she sings sweet songs to him.
124
But there's one strange thing about him.
125
What? asked Sir Brangwyn.
126
He has a lump between his eyes, said the knight.
127
A lump.
128
Then it's a young unicorn, cried Sir Brangwen.
129
Soon that lump will grow and become a horn.
130
It's a unicorn, a magic creature.
131
A unicorn, said the knight, surprised.
132
I didn't know there were unicorns in the forest.
133
Sir Brangwen called the best hunters in the village to his castle.
134
You are the best hunters in the village, said Sir Brangwen.
135
Now, listen carefully.
136
You must go to the forest and find the little white horse, said Sir Brangwen.
137
Then bring him to me.
138
There's a prize for the hunter who finds him.
139
A big prize.
140
Now go.
141
The hunters went to the forest and looked for the beautiful white unicorn.
142
They looked for days, but no one could find him.
143
Sir Brangwen was angry, and the hunters were afraid of him.
144
One afternoon, an old knight who lived in the castle went to see Sir Brangwen.
145
Do you want to find the unicorn, sir? asked the old knight.
146
Of course I do, said Sir Brangwen.
147
Then you must send the young girl into the forest alone,
148
said the old knight.
149
Alone?
150
But why? asked Sir Brangwen.
151
When the unicorn sees her,
152
he'll go and sit next to her.
153
She'll sing to him and he'll fall asleep.
154
Then the hunters can catch it.
155
That's a very good idea, said Sir Brangwen.
156
He called his knights and said,
157
Go to the village and get Rhiannon.
158
I want to see her immediately.
159
The knights went to the village and looked for Rhiannon everywhere.
160
When she saw them, she was afraid.
161
What do they want? she thought.
162
You must come with us to the castle immediately,
163
said one of the knights.
164
Why must I come with you? asked Rhiannon.
165
Sir Brangwyn wants to talk to you, said another knight.
166
Get on this horse, quickly.
167
Rhiannon got on the horse and went to the castle with the knights.
168
The knights took Rhiannon to the castle.
169
Sir Brangwyn was sitting at a long table with his friends.
170
They were laughing and eating all kinds of food.
171
"'Young Rhiannon,' he said, smiling,
172
"'you must help me catch the beautiful white unicorn of the forest.' "'The white unicorn?' asked Rhiannon, surprised.
173
"'Yes.
174
That little white horse is a young unicorn,' said Sir Brangwen.
175
Then it's a magic creature, said Rhiannon.
176
When you are in the forest,
177
you must call him, said Sir Brangwen.
178
He will come to you.
179
Oh, no, said Rhiannon.
180
The little unicorn is my friend.
181
He loves me.
182
I can't do what you ask.
183
You must do what I ask, cried Sir Brangwen.
184
I'm your lord.
185
If you don't listen to me,
186
I'll kill your father and mother.
187
Rhiannon started crying and couldn't stop.
188
What could she do?
189
She felt terrible.
190
Tomorrow morning we're going to the forest to catch the unicorn,
191
said Sir Brangwyn angrily.
192
He looked at one of his knights and said, Take this girl away.
193
She can sleep in the hall.
194
I want to finish my meal now.
195
Bring in the roast chicken and the truffles.
196
Quickly!
197
Poor Rhiannon did not sleep all night.
198
Early the next morning, Sir Brangwyn and his knights took her to the forest.
199
Sir Brangwyn and his men hid behind some trees,
200
and Rhiannon sat on the grass.
201
They waited all day and all night.
202
When the moon was high in the sky,
203
the young unicorn came and sat next to Rhiannon.
204
He looked at her with his big eyes and put his nose next to her cheek.
205
He was happy when he was with his friend.
206
But Rhiannon could not sing,
207
because she was afraid and unhappy.
208
Suddenly, Ser Brangwen came riding through the forest on his big black horse.
209
Brangwyn jumped onto the unicorn,
210
put her arms around his neck, and quickly rode away.
211
Ser Brangwyn followed them.
212
The knights and the hunters waited for their lord to return with the unicorn.
213
It was very dark in the forest,
214
and they couldn't see anything.
215
But they heard the sound of horses,
216
and then a loud cry.
217
They waited a long time,
218
but their lord did not return.
219
Very early the next morning,
220
the knights and hunters started looking for Sir Brangwyn.
221
After many hours, they found him in the forest.
222
There was blood everywhere.
223
The blood came from his heart.
224
He's dead, said one knight.
225
But who killed him? asked another knight.
226
I don't know, said a young hunter.
227
Everyone looked at Sir Brangwen's body,
228
but no one was sad.
229
His son, Sir Ivor, was the new lord.
230
He was a kind, friendly young man, and everyone liked him.
231
He helped the villagers, and the men in prison were all free.
232
Rhiannon's parents finally went back to their home,
233
and she was very happy.
234
Rhiannon, her father asked, who killed Sir Brangwen?
235
You were in the forest that night.
236
"'It's a secret, Father.
237
It's my secret,' said Rhiannon, smiling.
238
"'All I can say is this.
239
Unicorns have parents, too.'
Download App
AI scoring for every sentence you speak
TRENDING
Popular
Context & Background
This story is set in the time of King Arthur and features Rhiannon, a twelve-year-old girl living in a small village in England. Her family comes into conflict with the greedy lord of the village, Sir Brangwyn, who unjustly punishes her father, Simon Grimstone. The tale unfolds as Rhiannon faces immense challenges, losing her parents and becoming an orphan. Faced with loneliness and the need for survival, she decides to seek a job—leading her to search for truffles, an expensive delicacy favored by Sir Brangwyn. This rich narrative provides a backdrop for learners to engage with historical context and emotional storytelling, enhancing vocabulary and comprehension skills.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- "I didn't go into your forest." - A phrase that demonstrates asserting one's innocence and standing up against accusations.
- "You're a greedy man." - A direct expression of disapproval that can be useful in discussions about fairness and justice.
- "Please don't take me away from my daughter." - A heartfelt plea emphasizing the importance of family.
- "What will I do without my parents?" - A common expression of concern that reflects vulnerability.
- "I must find a job." - A practical statement demonstrating initiative and responsibility.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
If you're looking to improve your English speaking skills through shadowing, consider using this video as a practice resource. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you effectively engage with the material:
- Watch the video once without subtitles. Get a feel for the story and the characters' emotions.
- Rewatch the video with subtitles. This will help you connect spoken words with written text.
- Pause after each sentence. Repeat the line aloud, mimicking the speaker's intonation and pronunciation. This is where a shadowing app can come in handy for guided practice.
- Focus on the top phrases listed above. Practice these frequently used phrases until you feel confident in using them in different contexts.
- Record yourself. Use an audio recording tool to capture your voice as you shadow the speaker. Compare it to the original to identify areas for improvement.
- Incorporate new phrases into daily conversations. Whether you're practicing with a partner or during IELTS speaking practice, find opportunities to use your new vocabulary.
By using this method, you can effectively learn English through engaging stories and improve your speaking skills, making the process both enjoyable and educational. So, dive into this story and let shadowspeaks guide your journey to becoming a more confident English speaker.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
☕ Buy us a coffee
ShadowingEnglish remains 100% free thanks to your support. Server and AI costs are high — your coffee keeps us going! 🙏