When an ISIS terrorist threatens to kill everybody in a Starbucks coffee shop, a fearful young woman with a gun surprises herself and the terrorist. And her life is changed forever.

Why should you read this story to improve your English? Because reading for pleasure is the fastest way to become fluent in English. Language learning research tells us you will learn new vocabulary words ten to twenty times faster by reading, than by formally studying vocabulary. It also tells us that in order to maximize the power of reading for learning English, what you read should have two key characteristics.

First, it should be fascinating. A Terrorist Goes to Starbucks was written to capture attention and thrill the reader. Second, what you read should be easy. The simple definitions of the vocabulary in the story make it easy to understand.

A Terrorist Goes to Starbucks is about seven pages long, containing only 1,000 words, and is repeated several times, each time with fewer definitions. Chapter one, for readers with native level English, has no definitions. Chapter two, for beginners, has definitions for almost all the words in the story. Chapter three, for intermediate readers, has fewer definitions. And chapter four, for advanced readers, only defines the most difficult words or expressions.

When a word is bolded, that means that there is a definition for it just below the paragraph(s). If you don't know the meaning, you can quickly look down at the definition and continue reading.

Please read the story as quickly as possible to enjoy it as much as possible. The goal is not to study English words, but to absorb English vocabulary and grammar by reading for pleasure. You should read the story over and over until you do not need to look at any of the definitions. In this way, depending on your level, you will learn from 10 to 300 new words.