Learning English

Mariam
Hello, I'm Mariam. Today's story is a very well-known fairy tale involving ugly sisters, glass slippers, a very big party and a girl called… Yeah, you’ve guessed it, it's Cinderella.

Cinderella – as you may know – has a tough life.  Her mother died and her father remarried and now she lives in a big house with her step-mother and her two ugly daughters. Cinders does all the cooking, cleaning and washing up, while her step-sisters pamper themselves, eat cake and go shopping.

One day a postman delivers some invitations to a ball – a sort of posh party that’s being held by the King of the land. Sounds good – but things go downhill.When the ugly sisters get hold of the invites they rip up the one for Cinders telling her that she's ''too common'', she hasn't any fashionable clothes to wear – and anyway, she has far too much housework to do. It goes without saying: her step-sisters are very cruel. And Cinders is obviously very, very upset.

The day of the party arrives and Cinders' step-sisters, step-mother and her father – he's been very quiet, hasn't he? – head off to the party, leaving her all alone. So there she is sitting alone, crying by the fire, when out of the blue appears a woman claiming to be her fairy Godmother. She says, ''Don't cry Cinderella: you shall go to the ball.'' I won't go into detail but she turns a pumpkin into a fancy carriage, she turns a rat into a coachman, two mice into footmen and four grasshoppers into white horses – impressive!

Then she points her wand at Cinderella's dress and changes it into a beautiful ball gown, and her old shoes become a glittering pair of glass slippers which shine like diamonds. She tells Cinders to get moving and have a great time but remember one thing – the fairy magic ends at midnight: she must leave the party by then…

Does she remember this important instruction or will she be revealed as plain old Cinderella? You'll have to wait ‘til part 2 to find out. Join us then.