Leonardo da Vinci: He Wrote Backwards and Dreamed of Flying… 400 Years Too Early
Leonardo da Vinci filled thousands of pages with mirror writing, anatomy drawings and flying machines — about 400 years before the first airplane. Why did he write backwards? Learn five B2 words and must have / might have with the true story of Leonardo da Vinci.
Coming 18 November 2026, 3:00 pm New York time
Transcript
Tap a time to jump to that moment. Highlighted words have a meaning: tap them. Words in bold show today's grammar.
More than 500 years ago, a man filled his notebooks with backwards writing.
To read it, you need a mirror.
Why did he do it?
Nobody knows for sure.
This is the story of Leonardo da Vinci.
Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.
. goes from right to left, so it is easiest to read in a mirror.
He wrote his notes in .
. is a strong wish to know or learn about something.
His had no limits.
. A is a quick, simple drawing.
He made of almost everything he saw.
. is the study of how the body is built.
He made drawings of the heart, the skull and the muscles.
. A is a work of art of the very highest quality.
The Mona Lisa is his most famous .
Now, one pattern: must have and might have.
We use them with a past participle to guess about the past.
Must have means we are almost sure.
Might have means maybe.
Many pages survive, and many were lost.
He must have filled thousands of pages.
Ready? Let's begin.
Leonardo was born in 1452, near the small town of Vinci, in Italy.
His parents were not married, and he had little schooling.
Later, he called himself "a man without letters", someone who learned from experience.
As a teenager, he joined the workshop of the famous artist Verrocchio, in Florence.
There he learned to paint and to make sculptures.
In one of his master's paintings, young Leonardo painted an angel.
His had no limits.
He made of almost everything he saw: faces, plants, water, horses and machines.
One of his to-do lists says: "Describe the tongue of the woodpecker."
He wrote his notes in , from right to left.
To read them, you need a mirror.
Why did he write backwards?
People have asked that question for 500 years.
He wanted to know how the body works.
He said he studied more than 30 human bodies.
He made drawings of the heart, the skull and the muscles.
One of his ideas about the heart was only rediscovered in 1912.
He was also a great painter.
In Milan, he painted The Last Supper on a wall.
In Florence, he began the Mona Lisa, and he kept it with him for many years.
The Mona Lisa is his most famous .
And he dreamed of flying.
He studied birds and bats, and he wrote more than 35,000 words about flight.
Giorgio Vasari, who wrote about his life, says Leonardo even bought caged birds just to set them free.
He drew wings that flapped like a bat's, a giant screw to lift a man, and a parachute shaped like a pyramid.
But as far as we know, none of them was ever built.
No person's arms are strong enough to flap such wings.
Still, his ideas were centuries early.
The first airplane flew about 400 years later.
And in 2000, a British skydiver jumped from a balloon with a parachute built from Leonardo's drawing.
It carried him smoothly down for more than 2,000 metres.
So why the ?
Nobody knows for sure.
He was left-handed, so he might have wanted to keep his hand out of the wet ink.
He might also have wanted to keep his ideas private.
In his last years, he lived in France as a guest of King Francis I, and he died there in 1519.
He must have filled thousands of pages.
More than 7,000 survive today, and many more were lost.
Let's review. He wrote his notes in .
His had no limits.
He made of almost everything he saw.
He made drawings of the heart, the skull and the muscles.
The Mona Lisa is his most famous .
And remember: he must have filled thousands of pages.
Leonardo da Vinci's story teaches us: never stop asking questions.
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Step 3
Words from the story
Say the word, guess its meaning, then flip the card. Keep the ones you know, and practise the rest again.
Great work, you know every word in this story. Now try the quiz below.
mirror writing noun
writing that goes from right to left, so it is easiest to read in a mirror
“He wrote his notes in mirror writing.”
curiosity noun
a strong wish to know or learn about something
“His curiosity had no limits.”
sketch noun
a quick, simple drawing
“He made sketches of almost everything he saw.”
anatomy noun
the study of how the body is built
“He made anatomy drawings of the heart, the skull and the muscles.”
masterpiece noun
a work of art of the very highest quality
“The Mona Lisa is his most famous masterpiece.”
flying machine noun
a machine designed to carry a person through the air
“He drew a flying machine with wings like a bat's.”
apprentice noun
a young person who learns a skill by working for an expert
“As a teenager, he was an apprentice in Verrocchio's workshop.”
polymath noun
a person who knows a lot about many different subjects
“Leonardo was a painter, an engineer and a scientist — a true polymath.”
Grammar in the story
must have / might have + past participle
We use it for: to guess about the past: must have = we are almost sure; might have = maybe
- He must have filled thousands of pages.
- He might have wanted to keep his hand out of the wet ink.
- He might also have wanted to keep his ideas private.
From the story
- He must have filled thousands of pages.
- He might have wanted to keep his ideas private.
Find it in the story 5 times
Your turn
He made sketches of almost everything he saw. He filled thousands of pages.
Nobody knows why. He might have to keep his ideas private.
We are not sure, but he learned it as a child.
Step 4
Story Challenge
9 quick rounds: choose, fill the gap, build the sentence and match the words. Answer in a row to build a streak and earn bonus points.
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Take it further
Before you watch: Can you write with your other hand? Try writing your name backwards — is it easy?
After you watch: Look at a photo of a place you don’t know. Write three guesses with must have and might have. For example: It must have rained — the street is wet. Someone might have lived in that old house.
Think about it: Leonardo asked questions about everything, from birds to the human heart. Which question would you like to find the answer to? Is curiosity more important than school?
