20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

The story

Ships around the world report a giant sea monster. Professor Pierre Aronnax joins an American warship to hunt it, and is thrown overboard with his servant Conseil and the harpooner Ned Land.

The “monster” is a submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by the mysterious Captain Nemo. As prisoners and guests, they travel under the oceans of the world — coral forests, Atlantis, the South Pole, giant squid — while Ned plans their escape.

Themes: science and the sea, freedom and revenge, exploration, technology.

Why it's a good book for language learners

Verne combines adventure with long scientific lists of fish, minerals and machines, so this is a goldmine for vocabulary. Conseil's obsession with classification is funny and helpful. In French, it is one of the most read classics in the world.

What you'll practise

• Sea life and ocean vocabulary
• Science and technology words
• Describing people's motives
• Long descriptive passages

Did you know?

A league is about 4 km; the title refers to the distance travelled under the sea, not the depth.

The PageWalker adventure

In the adventure you are Aronnax aboard the Nautilus — choose between Nemo's world and Ned's escape plan. The first page is free to play in your browser, and the adventure is available in 13 languages with click-to-translate.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in other languages

• English20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• العربية20،000 فرسخ تحت الماء
• Deutsch20.000 Meilen unter dem Meer
• Español20.000 Leguas de Viaje Submarino
• FrançaisVingt Mille Lieues sous les mers
• हिन्दीसमुद्र के नीचे 20,000 लीग
• ItalianoVentimila leghe sotto i mari
• 日本語海底二万里
• 한국어해저 2만 리
• PortuguêsVinte Mil Léguas Submarinas
• Русский20 000 лье под водой
• TürkçeDenizler Altında 20.000 Fersah
• 简体中文海底两万里