The Guesthouse on Rua das Flores

Why I wrote this book

I'm learning Thai, and reading in Thai has helped me learn much faster. One of my biggest problems is that I don't know how a native speaker says a word I read. You have to know how to say the words you learn, and I couldn't find a good source in Thai. So I built one in English for you.

This is a mystery for women learning English at B1 level and above. You read the story, and you hear me read every sentence.

How you learn with it

• Read a short part and listen to me read it.Follow the words while you hear them. Then say the sentences out loud with me.
• Tap any word you don't know.You get a simple meaning and an example, and you stay in the story.
• Answer the interactive questions.They help you remember what happened, understand what people really mean, and guess what comes next.
• Do the chapter's practice page.The key words come back in a new short story, and you test yourself.

Why reading a story helps you learn English

• You learn words inside real sentences.When a word comes with a story around it, you understand how it is used, and you remember it better. Studies show that words you read inside a meaningful story are easier to recall later.
• You see the same words again and again.Learners remember the words they see most often. The more times a word comes back, the more likely it is to stay.
• You pick up grammar without a grammar lesson.Studies of learners who read story books found gains in vocabulary, spelling, and grammar, including grammar nobody taught them.
• Reading while you listen works.In one study of intermediate students, those who read while they listened learned as many new words as those who only read, and most said they liked it best. Listening alone did much worse.
• You build speed and confidence.Reading a lot of English you enjoy makes you faster, and it makes English feel less stressful. You go at your own speed, and nobody is waiting for your answer.

Why a mystery helps you learn more than a textbook

• You care what happens next.Studies show that people reading a story in a second language get as absorbed in it as native speakers do. When you can't wait to find out the answer, you keep reading, and the reading is the practice.
• The story keeps coming back to its clues.A mystery returns to the same questions and the same clues again and again. That means the language around them returns too, in new sentences and new situations. Language you meet again and again is language you remember.
• You read closely.To solve a mystery, you notice small details and think back to what you read before. That means you read each part with real attention, not just to get to the end.
• You think in English.When you guess who locked the door or what the notebook means, you are using English to think and decide. That is much closer to real life than answering a list of questions. It also trains a skill you use everywhere else: making decisions, solving problems, and explaining your opinion in English at work, at the doctor, and with your friends.
• You learn what people mean, not only what they say.In a mystery, people hide things. They stay quiet, change the subject, or say less than they know. Learning to notice that helps you in real conversations.
• You remember the words with the story.It is easier to remember a word when it belongs to a moment you remember, like the night Carol found the notebook.

What's inside

• You hear how every word sounds.I read every sentence to you, and it's really me, not a computer voice. When you read a word, you can hear how a native speaker says it. Then you say the sentence with me. You copy where I pause, where my voice goes up, and which words I say louder and longer. That is how you learn the rhythm of English, so you can speak on instinct instead of translating first.
• You understand every word without a dictionary.Researchers say you can follow a story on your own when you already know about 98 of every 100 words. Tap any word you don't know, and you get a short, simple meaning and an example. Then you are right back in the story. There are more than a thousand words in the book's dictionary.
• You learn the phrases native speakers really use.An idiom is a phrase that native speakers use that doesn't translate word for word. "Out of the blue" means something happened suddenly, with no warning, and you can't guess that from the words. Idioms also carry a culture inside them. They show what people find funny, what they worry about, and how they see the world. When you know them, you understand people better, and you can say what you mean in a way that native speakers relate to. The orange phrases in the story are idioms, and I explain every one. There are about 50 in the book.
• You learn in small pieces.Every chapter is broken into three short parts, so you never have to read a whole chapter at once. Research on spaced learning shows that people remember more when they study a little at a time and return to it later than when they try to learn everything at once. A short part is also easy to start, so it is easy to keep going.
• Interactive questions help you remember and think in English.After each part, the questions help you remember what you read, understand what people really mean when they don't say it directly, and guess what happens next. Answering questions about a text helps you keep it. In one famous experiment, students who answered questions remembered 61% of a passage a week later, and students who only read it again remembered 40%.
• Every chapter has a practice page.It brings back the chapter's most important words in a new short story, and then lets you test yourself. If you see a new word only one or two times, you will probably forget it. When you see it many times in different places, it stays, and you can use it when you speak.
• A mystery you won't want to put down.Carol planned to sign the papers, sell her aunt's guesthouse in Lisbon, and fly home in two weeks. Then she found a notebook written in code, a locked office with the key on the wrong side of the door, and a guest who never leaves before dark. A stranger wants to buy the house for more money than it's worth, and Carol needs to know why. Studies show that people reading a story in a second language get as absorbed in it as native speakers do. When you can't stop wondering what happens next, you keep reading, and the reading is the practice.
• Nothing to download.It works in the browser on your phone or computer. You pay once, and the book is yours.

One book won't make you fluent, and I won't promise that. It will give you a story you want to finish, a way to hear every word, and 11,000 words of real English to learn from.

Try Chapter One first

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