Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

The story

A bored girl follows a waistcoat-wearing White Rabbit down a hole and lands in a world where the rules keep changing. Bottles say “Drink me”, cakes say “Eat me”, and every sip or bite makes Alice grow or shrink at the worst possible moment.

Along the way she argues with a hookah-smoking Caterpillar, sits at a tea party that never ends, plays croquet with flamingos and finally stands trial before a Queen whose answer to every problem is “Off with their heads!”

Themes: curiosity, identity, logic and nonsense, growing up.

Why it's a good book for language learners

Carroll writes in short scenes built almost entirely on dialogue, so you meet a lot of everyday spoken English: questions, polite refusals, complaints and comebacks. The puns are the hard part — “tale/tail”, “lessons/lessen” — but working them out is a quick lesson in how English sounds trick the eye. When a joke goes over your head, a translation in your own language next to the line usually unlocks it.

What you'll practise

• Question forms and reported speech (“she asked whether…”)
• Comparatives: curiouser, larger, smaller
• Polite English: “Would you mind…?”, “I beg your pardon”
• Wordplay and homophones

Did you know?

The book began as a story Carroll improvised for the young Alice Liddell and her sisters on a rowing trip in Oxford in 1862.

The PageWalker adventure

In the PageWalker adventure you are Alice: every scene ends with a choice, and the wrong one can end your trip through Wonderland early. The first page is free to play in your browser, and the adventure is available in 13 languages with click-to-translate.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in other languages

• EnglishAlice's Adventures in Wonderland
• العربيةأليس في بلاد العجائب
• DeutschAlice im Wunderland
• EspañolAlicia en el País de las Maravillas
• FrançaisLes Aventures d'Alice au pays des merveilles
• हिन्दीएलीस इन वंडरलैंड
• ItalianoLe avventure di Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie
• 日本語不思議の国のアリス
• 한국어이상한 나라의 앨리스
• PortuguêsAs Aventuras de Alice no País das Maravilhas
• РусскийАлиса в Стране чудес
• TürkçeAlice Harikalar Diyarında
• 简体中文爱丽丝梦游仙境