European contact, disease and slavery

Imagine living in a place so remote that the nearest inhabited land is over two thousand kilometres away. No neighbours. No easy escape. Just ocean in every direction. And across the island are hundreds of giant stone heads, carved by hand.

This place exists… and people have lived there for centuries.

This episode will look at Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as it is known locally. Easter Island is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, one of the most isolated inhabited islands on Earth, and home to hundreds of giant stone heads.

So how did humans even get here? How did people cross vast oceans, reach this tiny volcanic island, and then decide to stay? And how did they organise a society capable of carving and moving some of the largest stone statues ever created?

In today’s episode of Thinking in English, we’re travelling to the edge of the world to explore one of the most fascinating human stories ever told. And we’ll learn some English vocabulary along the way!

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TRANSCRIPT - https://thinkinginenglish.blog/2026/03/30/381-easter-island-mystery-moai-and-the-edge-of-the-world-english-vocabulary-lesson/

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