A2 Spanish Story Collection

These 30 stories are built in a specific order. Each one introduces new vocabulary and grammar patterns through the narrative and every story builds on what you learned in the ones before it.

Each story also includes flashcards and multiple challenges that build all four language skills: reading, listening, writing and speaking.

The collection is split into four phases and each phase has a clear purpose.

We recommend going through the stories in order since they build on each other, but feel free to explore however works best for you.

Your 30-story roadmap

Phase 1: Stepping into the Past (Stories 1–8)

This is where you start talking about the past.

These first eight stories give you the tools that you’ll use in almost every conversation at this level. You’ll learn to talk about what you’ve done in your life, what happened yesterday or last year and what’s happening right now. You’ll also learn to use object pronouns so you stop repeating the same words over and over. And you’ll finally figure out por and para (the two little words that confuse almost everyone).

By the end of Phase 1, you’ll be able to talk about your weekend, share your life experiences, say who you gave something to and explain why you did something. Your Spanish isn’t stuck in the present anymore... suddenly you have a lot more to say.

1. La promesa cumplida: Pretérito perfecto (what you’ve done)
2. El reloj más caro del mundo: Direct object pronouns + personal a
3. Un secreto de más: Pretérito indefinido (regular verbs)
4. La mujer de la mesa cuatro: ESTAR + gerund (what’s happening right now)
5. El hombre invisible: Pretérito indefinido (irregular verbs)
6. La cadena invisible: Indirect object pronouns + TRAER vs LLEVAR
7. Éramos amigas, ¿recuerdas?: Pretérito perfecto vs indefinido
8. El amor no conoce distancias: POR vs PARA

Phase 2: The Full Past and Functional Expansion (Stories 9–16)

Now you learn to tell a real story.

Phase 2 completes the past. You’ll learn to describe what life used to be like, what the weather was like and what people were doing when something happened. Then you’ll mix both past tenses together, which is exactly how stories are told in Spanish. This is the trickiest part of A2 for most learners, so it keeps coming back in later stories. Give it time... at some point you’ll be reading and realize that you’re not even thinking about which tense it is anymore.

You’ll also learn to say what worries you and what matters to you, explain how things are done, describe people with longer sentences and use two pronouns together (se lo, me la).

By the end of Phase 2, you’ll be able to tell a full story about something that happened to you, talk about your childhood and give your opinion. This is where a lot of learners start to feel the difference. Someone asks how your trip was and you can actually tell them.

9. El sueño de Valentina: Pretérito imperfecto (how things used to be)
10. El gruñón y el niño: Verb phrases (SOLER, ACABAR DE, DEJAR DE...)
11. El rescate de Dani: Pretérito indefinido vs imperfecto
12. Buscando a Luna: Indefinites and negatives (alguien, nadie, nada)
13. Un hijo inesperado: GUSTAR-type verbs + tonic pronouns
14. El cocinero de Caracas: Impersonal SE + HAY QUE
15. La otra madre de Adrián: Relative clauses (que, donde, lo que)
16. El collar robado: Combined object pronouns (se lo, me la)

Phase 3: Complex Structures (Stories 17–24)

Now your sentences start getting longer and you can already tell stories and talk about your life.

Phase 3 gives you the tools to connect your ideas. You’ll explain why something happened and what happened next, put events in order, say how long you’ve been doing something and talk about what happens if something else happens. You’ll also learn to ask for things politely, give advice and tell someone what not to do.

This is the phase where your Spanish starts to flow... you stop speaking in short, separate sentences and start explaining yourself the way you would in your own language.

17. La nueva vida de Victoria: SER vs ESTAR in depth + PONERSE
18. Las excusas de Javier: Cause and consequence (porque, como, es que, así que)
19. El retrato de Rosario: Temporal clauses (antes de, después de, al + infinitive)
20. El pianista secreto: Polite conditional (me gustaría, podría, deberías)
21. El sueño de Alejandra: Duration expressions (LLEVAR, HACE...QUE, DESDE)
22. Bailando a escondidas: Long past narration + neuter LO
23. La chica de la sombrilla: Real conditionals (SI + present)
24. Un día con Vicente: Negative commands + commands with pronouns

Phase 4: Mastery & Integration (Stories 25–30)

This is where everything comes together!

The last six stories add the final pieces and are the most fun in the whole collection. You’ll learn to react the way Spanish speakers actually do (¡Qué guapo! ¡Qué suerte!), sound warmer with little words like un poquito, say something is the best, the worst or just too much and correct someone when they say something wrong.

Then Story 28 puts all three past tenses together in one long story... and Story 30 challenges you to use everything you’ve learned across the entire collection!

By the end, you’ll be able to tell long stories about your past, explain your reasons, ask for things politely and react naturally in a conversation. That’s A2... not bad for thirty stories!

25. Bienvenido a la familia: Exclamations + diminutives
26. La chica de los bolsos: Quantifiers + superlatives (-ísimo)
27. Tres alarmas y dos cafés: PERO vs SINO + connectors
28. Amigos y nada más: All three past tenses together
29. El mundo de Victoria: Possessive pronouns (mío, tuyo, suyo)
30. El amor sí existe: Complete A2 synthesis