Stretch St Patrick celebrations for one more night with traditional Irish band Altan, in concert in Rennes on 19 March. They’re also in Colomiers on 13 April. The five members of Altan, mainly from Donegal, have been playing together for more than thirty years. Fiddle, guitar, accordion and bouzouki blend to play traditional tunes and … Continue reading “Fabulous Irish Music in Rennes and Colomiers”
Students from across the New Zealand city gathered for a vigil in honour of those who were killed or injured in the Christchurch mosque shootings. They performed an emotional haka together. The vigil, one of several which have taken place, was organised by Okirano Tilaia, the Head Boy of nearby Cashmere High School. At least … Continue reading “Christchurch Students Perform Haka for Shooting Victims”
A quiet revolution is building momentum around the world as school pupils strike and march to try to get their elders to take serious measures to limit climate change. It started with one Swedish 15-year-old missing school to go and be a one-person picket line in front of a government ministry in September 2018. She … Continue reading “School Strike for the Planet”
A free online course from the British Council lets you, and your students, explore Shakespeare’s plays and language. Exploring English: Shakespeare is a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) which is free and open to anyone who is interested, though it is aimed at B1-level speakers and above. The introduction video a gives a taster of … Continue reading “Explore English Through Shakespeare”
It’s the thirtieth anniversary of the conception of the World Wide Web. In seems incredible to imagine that something billions of us use hundreds of times a day was the brainchild of one man trying to solve a practical problem. British scientist Tim Berners-Lee – he wasn’t Sir back in 1989 — was a software … Continue reading “Happy Birthday World Wide Web”
Green Book — winner of the 2019 Best Picture Oscar —is a road movie about friendship and race relations in the 1960s American South. The film takes its title from a guide book published for almost thirty years from 1936: The Negro Motorist Green Book. These online resources will help you explore the real Green … Continue reading “Green Book: Online Resources”
This article explores the fates of two queens who reigned in neighbouring kingdoms in the 16th century. Both linked and opposed, they had to rule in a man’s world, in a conflict-ridden society, where religious and political unrest were rife and conspiracy and treason were the norm. Through the new biopic, Mary Queen of Scots, … Continue reading “Two Queens”
If Beale Street Could Talk, a love story set in 1970s Harlem, is the first English-language film adapted from one of James Baldwin’s novels. This video and interactive book can be used in class to explore Baldwin’s work and the film. It is a romance but also an ode to loving family bonds. And it … Continue reading “Love in Harlem: Teaching Tools”
Films about Stuart queens are like buses — there are none for ages, then two together, just in time for the Oscars. Mary Queen of Scots and her descendant Queen Anne are both gracing our screens in radically different biopics, both diverging from history as it has traditionally been portrayed. The Favourite portrays the reign … Continue reading “Queens on Screen”
If Beale Street Could Talk, one of this year’s Oscar-nominated films has impeccable credentials: the first English-language film adapted from one of James Baldwin’s novels, it was both adapted and directed by Barry Jenkins, who won the 2017 Best Picture Oscar for Moonlight. Like Moonlight, and Baldwin’s work, it is centered on a working-class African-American … Continue reading “Love in Harlem”
