The Speaker with Strange Advice
A free A1-level English story for language learners, readable online in English, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
Callisto's smart speaker starts giving silly, useless answers, and she traces the problem to a failed software update.
Callisto has a smart speaker in her room. She asks it questions every morning. It usually gives quick, simple answers. Today, the speaker gives very strange answers.
"What is the weather today?" Callisto asks. "Wear your shoes on your hands," the speaker says.
Callisto laughs and tries a new question. "Set a timer for ten minutes," she says. "Your timer is now a purple elephant," it says.
Callisto frowns and picks up the speaker. She checks the small light on top. The light blinks red instead of blue.
Callisto looks up the blinking light online. A red light means a software update failed.
Callisto finds the reset button underneath the speaker. She holds it down for ten seconds. The speaker beeps twice and restarts itself.
A calm voice speaks after the restart. "Hello again. Systems are now normal," it says.
Callisto smiles and asks her question again. "What is the weather today?" she asks. "Today is sunny with a light breeze," it says.
"That sounds right," Callisto says with a relieved laugh. "Set a timer for ten minutes," she says again. "Timer set for ten minutes," the speaker replies calmly.
Callisto pats the speaker gently on top. "No more purple elephants today," she says, grinning. She writes a note for next time. It says, "A red light means: restart me."
