Treasure Island

The story

Young Jim Hawkins helps his mother run an inn on the English coast until an old sea captain arrives with a sea-chest and a terror of a one-legged sailor. When the captain dies, Jim finds a map to Captain Flint's buried treasure.

A ship is hired, the Hispaniola, and a cheerful cook named Long John Silver joins the crew. But half the crew are pirates, and on the island the fight for the treasure begins.

Themes: courage, greed, loyalty and betrayal, growing up.

Why it's a good book for language learners

Stevenson wrote it for young readers, so the plot is clear and exciting, but the language is rich enough to stretch intermediate learners. Long John Silver's speech is a famous source of pirate English, and the sea vocabulary is endlessly useful.

What you'll practise

• Sea and ship vocabulary
• First-person narration in the past
• Pirate slang and informal speech
• Describing danger and suspense

Did you know?

Many ideas we have about pirates — treasure maps marked with an X, parrots, one-legged captains — were popularised by this book.

The PageWalker adventure

In the adventure you are Jim Hawkins, and one wrong choice puts you in Silver's hands. The first page is free to play in your browser, and the adventure is available in 13 languages with click-to-translate.

Treasure Island in other languages

• EnglishTreasure Island
• العربيةجزيرة الكنز
• DeutschDie Schatzinsel
• EspañolLa Isla del Tesoro
• FrançaisL'Île au trésor
• हिन्दीखजाना द्वीप
• ItalianoL'isola del tesoro
• 日本語宝島
• 한국어보물섬
• PortuguêsA Ilha do Tesouro
• РусскийОстров сокровищ
• TürkçeDefine Adası
• 简体中文金银岛