Hey everyone and welcome back to Easy English Stories, the series where I read English stories in simple, clear English to help you improve your listening skills and to learn new vocabulary, new words.
So today's story is called The Talking Oak.
And oak is a type of tree.
So it's really about a talking tree.
So first, as always, I will read the story.
And as we go, I might explain some of the words.
But at the end, we will look at the difficult vocabulary together.
And then you can re-listen to the story.
Let's get started.
The Talking Oak In the small village of Eldamir, people loved to tell stories.
One story was about a magical tree, deep in the forest, a tree that could talk.
The villagers said it was wise and old, but they also said it was hard to find.
Many people believed it was just a legend.
Thomas, a curious 12-year-old boy, loved the idea of magic.
He spent many afternoons reading about faraway lands and mysterious adventures.
When he heard about the talking tree, he wanted to know if it was real.
One sunny morning, Tomás decided to look for the tree.
He packed a bag with bread, cheese, water and his favourite book about forests.
He told his mum, I'm going to explore the woods.
His mum smiled and said, be safe, don't go far.
The forest was quiet at first.
Birds chirped in the trees and the leaves rustled softly in the wind.
Tomás walked on a small path.
But soon the path disappeared.
Now he had to step over roots and push through bushes.
The deeper he went, the cooler and darker it became.
After an hour of walking, Tomas felt tired.
He sat down on a rock and ate some bread and cheese.
Maybe the tree isn't real, he thought.
But then he noticed something strange.
Up ahead, the trees were different.
They were bigger, with thick trunks and twisted branches.
The air felt different too, almost like it was buzzing.
Tomás got up and walked through the strange trees.
Suddenly, he stepped into a clearing, so an area with no trees.
In the middle of the clearing stood an enormous oak tree.
Its trunk was just as wide as a house, and its branches stretched high into the sky.
The tree looked ancient. so very, very old, as if it had been there forever.
Tomas felt a mix of excitement and fear.
Could this be the talking tree?
Slowly, he walked closer.
He reached out and touched the rough bark of the tree.
That's the outside of the tree, the wood.
"'Who is there?' a deep voice rumbled.
Tomás jumped back, his eyes wide.
"'You can talk,' he stammered.
The tree's branches swayed gently, as if nodding.
"'Yes, I can talk.
I am the talking oak.
And who are you?'
"'I'm Tomás,' he said, finding his voice.'
I heard stories about you, but I didn't think that you were real.
The tree chuckled.
A sound like wind moving through the leaves.
Most people don't believe in me anymore.
They have forgotten about magic.
Why have you come here?
I wanted to see if the stories were true, Tomas said, and maybe I wanted to see some magic.
The tree paused, its golden leaves shimmering in the sunlight.
Do you believe in magic, Tomas?
Yes, Tomas said firmly.
Good, said the tree.
Then I will give you something special.
Inside my trunk there is a golden acorn.
Take it to the stream near your village, plant it where the water is strongest, and something magical will happen.
Tomás finds the golden acorn in a small hollow part of the tree.
It was warm and shiny and it felt important.
Thank you, Tomas said.
What will happen when I plant it?
You will see, the tree said.
Tomas ran back through the forest, holding the golden acorn tightly.
When he reached the stream near his village, he found a spot where the water flowed quickly over smooth stones.
He dug a small hole, placed the acorn inside, and covered it with soft dirt.
Then he poured some water over it.
For a moment nothing happened, but then the ground glowed faintly and Tomas thought he saw the earth move slightly.
Is that it? he wondered.
For the next few days, Tomas visited the stream every morning.
On the third day, he saw a tiny sapling growing where he had planted the acorn.
Its leaves sparkled like gold in the sunlight.
Tomás was amazed.
Over the weeks and months, the sapling grew into a beautiful tree.
It wasn't as big as the talking oak, but it was special.
People in the village noticed the tree and began asking Tomás about it.
When he told them the story of the talking oak, they were surprised.
"'Do you think it's real?' one man asked.
"'It must be,' said another woman.
"'Look at this golden tree!'
Soon people started visiting the forest, hoping to find the talking oak themselves."
Some villagers brought gifts like fresh water or flowers to leave by the golden tree as a way to say thank you.
The talking oak was pleased.
One day, when Tomás visited it again, the tree said ''You reminded the people of Eldermere to believe in magic.
Now the forest will grow and thrive.''
You did something wonderful, Tomas.
Tomas felt pride.
He had found magic and shared it with his village.
And every time he passed the golden tree by the stream, he smiled, knowing that he had been part of something truly special.
Wow, what a nice story.
Now let's take a look at some of the difficult words.
Of course there are a lot of words there which are quite difficult, but many of them you can understand from the context of the story and the sentences.
Okay, so in the story it talks about the legend of the talking oak legend.
A legend is a story from the past.
That may or may not be true.
Usually this is a famous story from the past.
So the talking oak is a legend.
It's a story from the past that may or may not be true.
The next one is it talks about sort of the rustling of the leaves.
Rustled.
So rustled is...
And rustling is a soft sound which is like leaves moving in the wind.
And you will hear this sound when you're in the forest on a windy day.
The next word we talked about was clearing.
A clearing.
So the noun.
And Thomas found a clearing in the woods.
And a clearing is an open space in the forest where there are no trees.
So the talking oak stood or was standing in the middle of a clearing.
In the middle of an area. without trees.
The next word is stammered.
In the story, Tomas stammered.
He went, you're real?
And to stammer is to speak with pauses because of fear or surprise.
So if you're surprised, you might go, what?
Out of surprise hollow.
So hollow is an empty space inside of something, for example inside the trunk of the tree.
Thomas found the acorn, which is like a seed, inside of the hollow, the empty space in the tree, And after he planted the acorn it grew into a sapling.
A sapling is a young tree that is just starting to grow.
So a very, very young tree.
And finally, it talks about it.
The forest or the magic beginning to grow and thrive.
Thrive.
And to thrive is to grow and become strong or healthy.
Okay, so lots of new words.
Now I want you to re-listen to the story again and listen for these words and hopefully you will understand even better.
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Thank you for watching and like the video if you enjoyed.
Have a lovely day.
Goodbye.
