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🇬🇧 English · Life Lessons · A1–B2

A Ball Made from a Sock

In the 1940s a poor boy in Brazil kicked a sock full of newspaper around the street; at seventeen he scored twice in a World Cup final.

Level A1 · Beginner

It is the 1940s. Edson is a boy in Bauru, in Brazil. His family is poor. He has no ball.

He fills a sock with old paper. This is his ball. He kicks it in the street every day.

He also works in tea shops. At fifteen he is in a big club. At sixteen he is in Brazil's team.

It is 1958. Edson is seventeen. In the World Cup final he scores twice. The world knows his name: Pelé.

The same story, one level up

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 · Elementary

Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born in Brazil on 23 October 1940. He grew up in Bauru. …

B1 · Intermediate

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, whom the world knows as Pelé, was born on 23 October 1940 and grew up in Bauru, Brazil. …

B2 · Upper intermediate

The ball was a sock. In the 1940s, in the streets of Bauru, Brazil, a boy called Edson Arantes do Nascimento stuffed it with newspaper, since his family could not afford a real one. …

Read the whole story at A2, B1 and B2

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