Ideas

The Seven Habits Made Easy

A3-Beginner++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Public Step 2 Stories February 20, 2020

Max is running late. He hurries out the door of his apartment, holding a cup of coffee. Then he sees his bus. “It’s leaving!” he cries. Max starts to run, but he trips over a rock and falls. His coffee flies out of his hands and spills all over... Read more

Story Power

A3-Beginner++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Ideas Movies Step 2B Public Step 2 Stories February 20, 2020

Dorothy looked up into the sky. And she started to sing. Her soft voice rose up gently in the air. Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high There’s a land that I’ve heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue And the dreams that... Read more

Sticky Communication

A2-Beginner+BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Public Step 2 Stories February 20, 2020 1

The bell rang. Jim’s things were already in his red book bag, which looked brown under the white lights of the classroom. Zip! Zip! He closed the bag. He stood up and let out a sigh, “Ahhhh.” It was loud enough that other students and the teacher noticed. Jim... Read more

The Love of a Patriot

B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Listen!Protected Step 2 Stories February 19, 2020 3

ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) Hope filled the air on that famous day in August 1963. Over 200,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Abraham Lincoln's giant statue looked down quietly on the great crowd as Dr. Martin Luther King walked up to the... Read more

Why Philosophy? (Step 1)

A3-Beginner++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Listen!Protected Step 1 Stories February 18, 2020 3

By Phillip WiseReadOasis Step 1 Philosophy is a way of thinking about the world, the universe, and people. Philosophy is abstract. It’s about ideas and thoughts, such as love, beauty, or truth. But philosophy also deals with the real world. Ethics is a part of philosophy, dealing with good and... Read more

The Golden Rule

B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Listen!Protected Step 2 Stories February 17, 2020 0

ReadOasis Step 2 What is the Golden Rule? Some people say, "If you have the gold, you make the rules!" But seriously, the Golden Rule is a guide for behavior that we find in almost all cultures, religions, and moral systems. This rule has two basic forms. A negative... Read more

Sincerely, Socrates

B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Protected Step 3 Stories February 5, 2020 0

By Cana Short ReadOasis Step 3 Now, you might be wondering, “How can this be a letter from Socrates, if Socrates never wrote anything?” It is true that I do not write much, at least not for others. But I am having my student Plato write this letter for... Read more

Culture of Innovation (Step 2)

B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Ideas Invention Step 2A Protected Step 2 Stories February 4, 2020

ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) It was a warm summer evening. The sun had already set, and the city lights were shining. In a busy part of Tokyo, people were leaving work. Some were going home. Others were going out to enjoy the evening. It was an ordinary night.... Read more

The Blind Men and the Elephant (Step 2)

A2-Beginner+BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Protected Step 2 Stories January 28, 2020 0

ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) Print by Hanabusa Itchō (1652–1724) Once upon a time, a long time ago, there were six blind men who stood by the roadside every day. Day after day, at the same place, they begged for food and money from the people who passed by.... Read more

How to Acquire Language (Step 2)

A3-Beginner++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Listen!Public Step 2 Stories January 27, 2020 0

ReadOasis Step 2 How do humans acquire languages? The answer is surprisingly simple. All people everywhere acquire languages in the same way. “We acquire languages by understanding messages.” This is called the “comprehension hypothesis,” and it was made by the linguist Dr. Stephen Krashen. I give this idea an... Read more

Beauty, Goodness, and Truth

B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Protected Step 2 Stories January 9, 2020 1

ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) The buildings are rich in color and history. The trees are tall and stately. And the wind blows with the quiet whispers of the great people who have walked these paths. Eight American presidents have studied here. Some fifty Nobel Prize winners have been... Read more

The Last Lecture

B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Listen!Protected Step 3 Stories January 9, 2020 2

ReadOasis Step 3 If you were going to die, what would your final message be? This question inspired the tradition called "The Last Lecture." In a Last Lecture, professors imagine that they are going to die. Then they give a talk about their most important thoughts and ideas. The... Read more

Why is Christmas on December 25th?

A3-Beginner++Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Public Step 2 Stories December 26, 2019 1

ReadOasis Step 2 Would you celebrate someone’s birthday even if no one knew the day when he or she was born? That is what happens around the world every year on December 25th, when most Christians remember Jesus’ birthday. We know a lot about Jesus. But we don’t know... Read more

How to Read a Texbook: SQ3R

A3-Beginner++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Protected Step 3 Stories December 25, 2019 0

Reading a textbook isn't the same as reading a novel. Many people find it more difficult. They also find it less interesting. This is probably because they don't have a good reading system. Do you have a good system for reading textbooks? If not, SQ3R is a simple, five-step... Read more

Nice and Easy Quotes About Reading

A2-Beginner+BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Public Step 1 Stories December 23, 2019 2

ReadOasis Step 1 To inspire us read more, it always helps to have a good role model. When I was a boy, my father read to me before I went to bed. I can still remember the books he read to me! In this way, my father showed me... Read more

Nice and Easy Quotes About Reading

A3-Beginner++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Public Step 3 Stories December 21, 2019 0

ReadOasis Step 3 To inspire us to read more, it always helps to have a good role model. When I was a boy, my father read to me before I went to bed. I can still remember the books he read to me! In this way, my father showed... Read more

Life as Story (Step 2)

B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Listen!Protected Step 2 Stories December 19, 2019 0

ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) In the eyes of the world, Donald Miller was a big success. He had written a book about his life, Blue Like Jazz, and it became a New York Times bestseller. Movie producers approached him. They wanted to make a movie about his life.... Read more

Expressing Thanks

B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Protected Step 2 Stories December 18, 2019 0

Dr. Randall Short ReadOasis Step 2 What do you mean when you say “thank you”? What are you thinking and feeling when you thank someone for something? Think about times you said “thank you” recently, and consider your non-verbal language – your eyes, your smile, your voice, the way... Read more

The Best Way to Learn Language

A3-Beginner++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Public Step 2 Stories December 2, 2019 3

ReadOasis Step 2 What’s the best way to learn a foreign language? As a linguist, I hear this question all the time. My students are in Japan, and many of them want to learn English. So they often ask me, “What’s the best way to improve my English?” Students... Read more

Meaning to Live (Step 2)

B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Protected Step 2 Stories December 2, 2019 1

ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) Viktor had just married Tilly. She was the love of his life. He was a young doctor in Vienna, Austria. And Viktor and Tilly should have expected a bright future together. But Nazi Germany was in control of Austria, and Viktor and Tilly were... Read more