Do some armchair travelling with the Big Jubilee Read: a list of 70 books, ten for each decade of Queen Elizabeth II’s record-breaking reign. As befits its head, the authors and settings range all over the Commonwealth: representing 31 countries on six continents. It includes eight Nobel Literature Laureates, and a lot of Booker Prize … Continue reading “The Big Jubilee Read”
Red Nose Day is back on Friday 18 March in the UK. British charity Comic Relief has been encouraging people to don a clown’s red nose and “do something funny for money” since 1988. This year, the event returns to its annual slot and Sport Relief will be back later in the year in conjunction … Continue reading “Put on a Red Nose and Fundraise”
St David’s Day, 1 March, is Wales’s national day, in honour of its patron saint. This year, the Welsh government is encouraging people to share “random acts of Welshness” on social media. So what are some distinctively Welsh things to do on 1 March? You can see some of them in this short video: the … Continue reading “Random Acts of Welshness for St David’s Day”
Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee this year, marking 70 years on the throne, a milestone no other British monarch has reached. The Queen marked the anniversary of her accession on 6 February with a quiet ceremony. It is always a sad occasion for her as it was the day her beloved father … Continue reading “A Historic Milestone”
Will it be a long, cold winter, or will spring come early? On February 2, in Pennsylvania, an animal gives its prediction. Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, has a population of just over 6000, but once a year the sleepy town welcomes up to 30,000 visitors who come to see a groundhog – a North-American marmot. On 2 … Continue reading “Groundhog Day: What’s the Weather Like?”
Not many countries have an annual celebration of their national poet. In fact not all countries have a national poet. But Scotland does and millions of people around the world celebrate him on Burns Night every 25 January. The adoption of Robert Burns (1759-1796) as national poet was a natural, organic process born or real … Continue reading “Toasting Robert Burns”
Christmas crackers are such an integral part of British Christmas dinner celebrations but do you know how they were invented? Hint: there’s a French connection. Enjoy our animated slideshow with your students from A2.
As Black Friday approaches, we wonder why a specifically American date in the commercial calendar has taken over first the internet and now high-street shops around the world. Black Friday is the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving, which falls on the fourth Thursday in November. It’s a long weekend and approximately a month before Christmas. … Continue reading “Why Black Friday?”
Today, there is growing awareness that the “Thanksgiving story” told to young schoolchildren in the U.S.A., which provides much of the traditional imagery of the holiday, is just that: a story. Many Native Americans denounce the hypocrisy of portraying this origin story of the nation as a peaceful and cooperative meeting of peoples, when in … Continue reading “A Native American View of Thanksgiving”
On 30 November, Josephine Baker will become the sixth woman, and the first black woman, to enter France’s Panthéon, where the country honours its greatest heroes. The Franco-American dancer and singer was an active member of the Resistance in WWII and civil-rights activist in the U.S. Freda Josephine McDonald was born into poverty in St … Continue reading “Josephine Baker Enters the Panthéon”