Books by level / English books
The Californian’s Tale: reading level, length and free edition
The Californian’s Tale by Mark Twain is a short story adapted for learners in English. Our team rates it A2. It runs to 1,448 words with 481 different word forms, about 7–14 min of reading at 200 to 100 words per minute, and it is free from VOA Learning English.
- Author
- Mark Twain
- Language
- English
- Level
- A2
- Form
- short story, adapted
- Words
- 1,448
- Different word forms
- 481
- Forms for 95% / 98%
- 409 / 453
- Reading time
- 7–14 min
- Free edition
- VOA Learning English
Is The Californian’s Tale right for your level?
To recognise 95% of the running words in The Californian’s Tale, you need its 409 most frequent word forms; for 98%, the share at which most readers manage a novel without a dictionary, 453. The median English A2 book in our table needs 415 forms for 95%, so by this measure the book is typical for its level: number 29 of 60, easiest first.
A word form is any spelling that appears in the text, so “walk” and “walked” count twice, and names count too. These numbers are a guide to how much vocabulary the book asks for, not a test. The level itself was set by hand by our team. Before you commit, read one page of the free edition and count the words you do not know: the one-page test takes two minutes.
How does it begin?
When I was young, I went looking for gold in California. I never found enough to make me rich. But I did discover a beautiful part of the country. It was called “the Stanislau. The Stanislau was like Heaven on Earth. It had bright green hills and deep forests where soft winds touched the trees.
From the VOA Learning English edition, which is in the public domain. If this paragraph already feels slow, try a book one level lower.
How long does it take to read?
| Words | 100 wpm | 150 wpm | 200 wpm | 250 wpm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,448 | under 1 h | under 1 h | under 1 h | under 1 h |
Learners reading a book at their level often manage 100 to 150 words per minute, and readers in their first language 200 to 250. Where these speeds come from, and a calculator for your own: How long does it take to read a book?
Where can you read it for free?
This is not the original text but an adaptation for learners of English by VOA Learning English (Voice of America), from its American Stories series: shorter sentences, a limited vocabulary and an audio recording read at a slower speed. Text and audio are free on the VOA site. Material produced by the Voice of America, a U.S. government broadcaster, is in the public domain.
To read it with a translation over every word you tap, open it in Readlang Mobile on iPhone or iPad.
What to read next at A2
English books at the same level that ask for a similar amount of vocabulary:
- A White Heron, Sarah Orne Jewett: 1,436 words, 410 forms for 95%
- A Municipal Report, O. Henry: 1,438 words, 407 forms for 95%
- The Ambitious Guest, Nathaniel Hawthorne: 1,326 words, 405 forms for 95%
- Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen, O. Henry: 1,669 words, 405 forms for 95%
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving: 1,417 words, 404 forms for 95%
- The Lady in Black, Eleanor H. Porter: 1,543 words, 403 forms for 95%
See also all English books by level and books at A2 in all five languages.