Classic Stories: The 39 Steps

From Learning English Stories by BBC Radio

May 22, 2026 · 6 min

About this episode

This episode features a classic story, 'The 39 Steps', while teaching 14 uses of the word 'lie'.

Enjoy a classic story in English, and learn 14 uses of ‘lie’. Read by Tim. If you like learning English with podcasts, try some of our others! In The English We Speak, you learn interesting informal English words, phrases, expressions and idioms to level up your spoken English. Try it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/features/the-english-we-speak If you'd like to learn about the news in English, try Learning English from the News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/learning-english-from-the-news_2026 And if you haven't tried our most popular podcast, 6 Minute English, where have you been?! Try it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2026

People in this episode

Host: Tim

Topics covered

classic stories
learning English
language education
informal English
idioms
spoken English

Keywords

learning English
The 39 Steps
lie
classic stories
BBC Radio
language education
informal English

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Radio

Books & works: The 39 Steps