About ESL News Stories

Students can benefit from making connections to real-world events through the language they are learning.

We take interesting stories from around the world and reproduce them here in our own words and with fewer English language challenges. Additionally, we create activities to help students learn the vocabulary, appreciate the meaning of the text better, and practice speaking.

Read more about how students or teachers can use ESL News Stories.

Understanding Our Levels

We use a simple 1-6 level system to help you find articles that match your English ability. Browse articles by level. Each level roughly corresponds to the internationally recognized CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) standards.

Level 1

(CEFR A1) - Beginner: For students just starting to learn English. Can understand basic phrases and simple sentences about familiar topics like family, shopping, and local geography.

Level 2

(CEFR A2) - Elementary: For students who can handle simple conversations about immediate needs. Can describe their background, living situation, and basic personal information.

Level 3

(CEFR B1) - Intermediate: For students who can understand the main points of clear texts on familiar subjects. Can handle most travel situations and describe experiences, dreams, and future plans.

Level 4

(CEFR B2) - Upper-Intermediate: For students who can understand complex texts and interact fluently with native speakers. Can write detailed texts on a wide range of subjects and explain viewpoints.

Level 5

(CEFR C1) - Advanced: For students who can understand demanding, longer texts and recognize implied meanings. Can express ideas fluently and spontaneously without obvious searching for expressions.

Level 6

(CEFR C2) - Mastery: For students who can understand virtually everything they hear or read. Can summarize information from different sources and reconstruct arguments coherently.

For Students

Which Level Should You Choose? If you're not sure which level is right for you, try starting with Level 3, then adjust up or down based on how comfortable you feel with the vocabulary and grammar. You can browse all articles by level here. Otherwise, consider doing an online test to find your CEFR level. Cambridge has one here.

You can study each article on the webpage or, if you prefer, use the 'print' button to get a paper version. For best printing results, use Chrome, Firefox, or Edge instead of Safari.

Study suggestions:

  1. Look at the headline and image only. Try to predict what the article might be about.
  2. Listen to the article audio first without reading. Try to catch the main ideas and any words you recognize.
  3. Try the Listen and Fill Gaps section to focus your listening skills and build curiosity about the content.
  4. Now read the article. You should find it easier to understand after listening first. Don't worry about unknown words initially.
  5. Answer the comprehension questions and check your answers.
  6. Study the vocabulary section and match words to definitions. Use a dictionary if needed.
  7. Listen and read again to reinforce your understanding — possibly after a day or two. This listening-first approach helps train your ear for natural English rhythm and pronunciation.
  1. Read the headline and look at the image. Think about what the article might discuss.
  2. Read the article completely. Focus on understanding the main ideas first. If you encounter unknown words, try to guess their meaning from context before looking them up.
  3. Check the vocabulary section for any words you didn't understand and match them to their definitions.
  4. Answer the comprehension questions and check your answers to confirm your understanding.
  5. Now try the listening activities — the Listen and Fill Gaps section will help reinforce what you've read.
  6. Listen to the audio while following along with the text. This helps connect the written words with their spoken form.
  7. Review the article again after a day or two. This reading-first approach builds strong text comprehension skills and vocabulary recognition.
  1. Read the headline and look at the image. Discuss your guesses about the article with your partner(s).
  2. Discuss the warm-up questions.
  3. To focus your listening skills, play the audio and complete the Listen and Fill Gaps section.
  4. Take turns reading lines from the article. If you don't understand a few words, try to finish the article anyway. If there are many words you don't know, study the vocabulary section first. Then return to the article.
  5. After reading, discuss your answers to the comprehension questions.
  6. If you haven't already, match the vocabulary to the definitions. Work together with your partner(s) to get the correct answers. If this activity is difficult, it's okay to search for the meaning online or in a dictionary.
  7. Have a conversation based on the Discussion Questions. Try to give reasons for your opinions. Ask your partner(s) more questions about their answers (follow-up questions).
  8. Finally, consider reading or listening again. You might find that you understand the meaning better now. This step can also be done a day or two later by yourself. Returning to the article after some time can help you remember the new language better.

For Teachers

An ESL News Story article should easily provide enough material for a fifty-minute class, especially if enough time is taken at each stage. For talkative classes, the webpage content might suffice. Less advanced groups, however, could benefit from the more robust printout and extra activities.

A complete lesson can be built around some of the following activities:

  • Have students predict the article's content from the headline and image.
  • Use the image to elicit vocabulary and activate knowledge of the topic area.
  • Encourage students to discuss the warm-up questions, preferably in pairs to maximize student comfort and speaking time.
  • If using the printed version or worksheet, control the audio while students try the listening gap-fill activity - before or after reading.
  • Have students read the article silently and highlight challenging vocabulary to be worked through as a group.
  • Have students read aloud and identify ways they can improve their pronunciation.
  • After the article, use the activities to re-enforce comprehension and new language.
  • Finally, encourage students to use the discussion questions to have natural conversations.
  • At the end of the lesson, the teacher can offer correction, go over newly acquired information, or suggest related homework such as writing on the topic or returning to the text after a few days to review.

The more recent articles are available on the More Stories page. See all the news stories arranged by category or by difficulty level, or see them by year at these links: 2021, 2022, and 2023.


Unless stated otherwise, all the articles on this site have been written and edited by me, Aron. Topic suggestions and feedback on the site are welcome. Please send an email to eslnewsstories@gmail.com or contact me through the ESL News Stories Facebook page.

Finally, if you are looking for general discussion questions or questions that target specific grammar, please visit Print Discuss.