When Charles Dickens was twelve, his father went to prison. Charles left school. He put labels on jars of shoe polish, all day. He never forgot it.
In 1865, Dickens finished a book: "Our Mutual Friend". Bella says she is useless. John answers: "No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for any one else."
The book is full of people the world called useless. Jenny has a bad back. She makes dresses for dolls. A boy reads to an old woman.
Being useful is not about what you make. It is about whose day you make lighter.
Selin listens to her brother for twenty minutes. That is not useless. Whose day did you make lighter today?
Every Journeva story exists at four levels — same plot, same characters, richer language each step. Here is how this one begins at each level.
A2 · ElementaryWhen Charles Dickens was twelve, his father was sent to prison for debt. Charles left school and went to work, sticking labels on jars of shoe polish all day. …
B1 · IntermediateWhen Charles Dickens was twelve, his father was sent to prison for debt. Charles was taken out of school and put to work, sticking labels on jars of shoe polish all day. …
B2 · Upper intermediateWhen Charles Dickens was twelve, his father was sent to prison for debt, and the boy was taken out of school and put to work, sticking labels on jars of shoe polish for ten hours a day. He never forgot it. …
Read the whole story at A2, B1 and B2
In the app you can tap any word for its meaning, listen to the story read aloud with the words lighting up, and save words to practise later. Ten stories are free at every level, and every story is free at A1.
Get Journeva on the App Store
Read it in a language you already know to check your understanding — every Journeva story is written in all five.
Journeva
