Story Valley
A1 to A2
For parents and kids
For parents and kids
Simple English stories to share with your child. I'm recording toward 365 of them, one for every night of the year.
creator
English isn't my first language either.
I'm Pieter Borremans, and every story on Study Brew, Story Brew, and Story Valley is read in my voice. I grew up in Brussels and have lived abroad for 25 years. English became the language I work and write in, but nobody handed it to me. I learned it.
Over those years I've met a lot of people who struggle with it. Capable, curious people for whom English felt like a wall instead of the shared language it's supposed to be. I care about education, and I believe being bilingual is one of the most useful things a person can give themselves. These shows are my small part in that.
My Chinese name
jiāng江river
míng銘to inscribe
tè特distinguished
In Taiwan the roles are reversed and I'm the learner, working through Chinese one character at a time. I know what it's like to catch half a sentence and lose the rest. I write about that side on pieter.tw.
Three shows, one voice
Each show is pitched at a level, so you can start where you are and move up.
Study Brew
B1 to B2
About 5 minutes
About 5 minutes
Short everyday stories about daily life, travel, and work. Kept short on purpose, so you can listen closely the whole way through.
Story Brew
B1 to B2
Bedtime
Bedtime
Bedtime stories in slow, calm English to fall asleep to.
Only my voice
Every episode on all three channels is read by me. No AI voice, no hired narrator. You'll hear a non-native accent, and that's deliberate: it's closer to the English you'll meet in real life than a studio voice will ever be.
Why I'm also building an app
Listening is half of learning a language. The other half is keeping hold of what you heard. That's why I'm building Study Brew into a note-taking app for language learners, a place for the words and sentences you want to remember. It's still in development, and you can follow it on studybrew.co.
Looking for Echo Room or my personal journal? Those are on the podcast page.