Festival America, the bi-annual event that celebrates the literature of North America, is back for its 9th edition in Vincennes from 20 to 23 September. It offers a weekend where booklovers will be hard-pushed to choose between all the delights on offer. This year, the focus is on Canada, both Anglophone and Francophone. The U.S.A. … Continue reading “Festival America”
This B1-level article will introduce your students to the British political system. They will most probably have heard about Brexit, but will need to understand why the referendum was decided by David Cameron, how British Prime Ministers come to power and what the exit process involves. We’ve updated this resource to autumn 2018. This would … Continue reading “Brexit”
If you would like to work on Britain’s referendum on leaving Europe, the following article is a good resource. Pupils from A2+ level can understand this concise article from the BBC Newsbeat site (the news programme of their teen radio station Radio 1). At the end, there are a number of Tweets, which are more … Continue reading “Brexit Referendum Webpicks”
A whole range of visions of America and from America will be screened from 31 August to 9 September at the 44th Deauville American Film Festival. Fiction (both films in competition and premieres) and documentaries combine to give fascinating insights into U.S. life and culture as it is, or as filmmakers imagine it. The jury … Continue reading “Welcome to Deauville!”
This A1 plus-level article deals with a special piece of art in Greater London, linked to the iconic Queen Elizabeth II. The theme will enable pupils to review personal descriptions as well as the preterite and participate to a fun writing contest, coming very soon. Language points: Vocabulary: British monarchy, family members, adjectives of personality … Continue reading “The People’s Portrait”
Spike Lee’s latest film, BlacKkKlansman, is based on the true story of an African-American police officer who managed to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. Incredible as it sounds, Ron Stallworth masterminded an infiltration operation by posing as a white racist on the phone. The film, which won the Grand Prize at the … Continue reading “Spike Lee is Back”
Spike Lee’s new film BlacKkKlansman is based on the true story of Ron Stallworth, a Colorado Springs policeman who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. This downloadable audio interview with Stallworth is excellent for listening comprehension. The 13-minute interview is a downloadable podcast from the BBC World Service. It’s very clear and extracts are understandable from … Continue reading “Teaching with BlacKkKlansman”
One of golf’s biggest competitions is coming to France for the first time: the Ryder Cup will take place from 25-30 September. The competition pits the twelve best male golfers in Europe and the U.S.A. against each other every two years. And the Junior Cup is for the 12 best under-18-year-old players from each continent, … Continue reading “Golf 101”
The term “sanctuary city” is used frequently in coverage of immigration issues in the U.S.A. What does it mean and what is the size of the phenomenon? The term is generally used to refer to cities, counties or even entire states which refuse to cooperate with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). ICE … Continue reading “Word of the Moment: Sanctuary Cities”
Malheureusement, ce sont souvent les mêmes élèves qui se proposent pour les effectuer. Il est donc essentiel d’équiper tous les élèves avec une espèce de cadre pour les Recaps. Bien sûr, le cadre en début de collège sera simple et court et il évoluera au fil de l’année et sur l’ensemble de la scolarité. Le … Continue reading “Récapitulons !”