Classic Stories: Northanger Abbey

From Learning English Stories by BBC Radio

February 20, 2026 · 7 min

About this episode

This episode features a reading of Jane Austen's 'Northanger Abbey' while providing language learning tips.

Enjoy this classic story written by English author Jane Austen, read to you by Tim. Practise your listening and learn 13 uses of the word ‘tell’ in around 6 minutes. And if you have a good level of English, but you feel anxious when you speak, try our new podcast and video series, where we speak to experts about the fears that come with speaking a foreign language: ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/beating_speaking_anxiety Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter, where your favourite presenters will send you an email with their weekly tips for you to improve your English: ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/newsletters If you enjoy improving your English with podcasts, try some of our others: ✔️ 6 Minute English ✔️ Learning English from the News ✔️ Learning English Conversations

People in this episode

Host: Tim

Topics covered

classic literature
listening practice
language learning
anxiety in speaking
English vocabulary

Keywords

Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen
listening practice
English language
speaking anxiety
vocabulary
BBC Learning English

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Radio

Books & works: Northanger Abbey