English Reading Comprehension Story: 'My Friend Peter'

This reading comprehension story, "My Friend Peter," is for beginning-level English language learners (ELL). It reviews names of places and languages. Read the short story two or three times, and then take the quizzes to check your understanding.  

Tips for Reading Comprehension

To aid your understanding, read selections more than once. Follow these steps:

• Try to understand the gist (general meaning) the first time you read.
• Try to understand words from the context the second time you read.
• Look up words you don't understand the third time you read.

Story: "My Friend Peter"

My friend's name is Peter. Peter is from Amsterdam, in Holland. He is Dutch. He is married and has two children. His wife, Jane, is American. She is from Boston, in the United States. Her family is still in Boston, but she now works and lives with Peter in Milan. They speak English, Dutch, German, and Italian!

Their children are pupils at a local primary school. The children go to school with other children from all over the world. Flora, their daughter, has friends from France, Switzerland, Austria, and Sweden. Hans, their son, goes to school with students from South Africa, Portugal, Spain, and Canada. Of course, there are many children from Italy. Imagine, French, Swiss, Austrian, Swedish, South African, American, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Canadian children all learning together in Italy!

Multiple-Choice Comprehension Questions

The answer key is provided below.

1. Where is Peter from?

a. Germany

b. Holland

c. Spain

d. Canada

2. Where is his wife from?

a. New York

b. Switzerland

c. Boston

d. Italy

3. Where are they now?

a. Madrid

b. Boston

c. Milan

d. Sweden

4. Where is her family?

a. United States

b. England

c. Holland

d. Italy

5. How many languages does the family speak?

a. 3

b. 4

c. 5

d. 6

6. What are the children's names?

a. Greta and Peter

b. Anna and Frank

c. Susan and John

d. Flora and Hans

7. The school is:

a. international

b. big

c. small

d. difficult

True or False Comprehension Questions

The answer key is provided below.

1. Jane is Canadian. [True / False]

2. Peter is Dutch. [True / False]

3. There are many children from different countries at the school. [True / False]

4. There are children from Australia at the school. [True / False]

5. Their daughter has friends from Portugal. [True / False]

Multiple-Choice Comprehension Answer Key

1. B, 2. C, 3. C, 4. A, 5. B, 6. D, 7. A

True or False Answer Key

1. False, 2. True, 3. True, 4. False, 5. False

Additional Understanding

This reading helps you practice adjective forms of proper nouns. People from Italy are Italian, and those from Switzerland are Swiss. People from Portugal speak Portuguese, and those from Germany speak German. Notice the capital letters on the names of people, places, and languages. Proper nouns, and words made from proper nouns, are capitalized. Let's say the family in the story has a pet Persian cat. Persian is capitalized because the word, an adjective, comes from a name of a place, Persia.