“The Matrix Resurrections”: the Future is Now!

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 23 December 2021 > What's On

Eighteen years after The Matrix Revolutions, which we thought was the third and final Matrix film, Lana Wachowski has directed a fourth: The Matrix Resurrections. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are back in black in the iconic roles they made famous: Neo and Trinity. The Matrix franchise primarily consists of a trilogy of science-fiction films written and directed … Continue reading ““The Matrix Resurrections”: the Future is Now!”

It’s Not Easy Being a Teen

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 22 December 2021 > What's On

If Paul Thomas Anderson’s coming-of-age film Licorice Pizza feels much more real than many films about teenagers, there’s a good reason: it was a project Anderson dreamed up in lockdown. When it was still impossible to do a COVID-compliant shoot, he roped in his kids’ friends and his friends’ kids to make a film about … Continue reading “It’s Not Easy Being a Teen”

Do You Know About… Christmas Crackers?

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 20 December 2021 > Celebrate

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.

A Year in Words

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 17 December 2021 > In the News

Different dictionaries have been revealing their “words of the year” for 2021. The COVID pandemic has had a major influence on the words we use and look up. Vax, double-vaxxed, vaccine and pingdemic all show up, as well as perseverance, which we’ve all had to show. Oxford Dictionaries announced vax was their word of the … Continue reading “A Year in Words”

King Richard

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 09 December 2021 > Shine Bright Lycée What's On

King Richard is a film about a man with a mission: Richard Williams, who decided two years before his daughter Venus was born, that he would have two daughters destined to become tennis champions. This would seem a pretty wild ambition even if Williams had been from a tennis-playing background. However, that couldn’t have been … Continue reading “King Richard”

Josephine Baker: An Incredible Life

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 26 November 2021 > Ready to Use

Our bioboxes are short “Who Am I?” quizzes to help introduce pupils to famous figures in the English-speaking world.  This one is on Josephine Baker as she enters the French Panthéon. For more information on Baker, see our article. You can download the biobox below to use it offline with your pupils.  

400 Years of Thanksgiving

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 25 November 2021 > In the News

This year sees the 400th anniversary of the ancestor of today’s Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.A. 400 years after the meal shared by Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians in Massachusetts, efforts are gaining ground to see the event from the points of view of both communities. When the Mayflower brought 102 Puritans to New England in … Continue reading “400 Years of Thanksgiving”

Why Black Friday?

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 23 November 2021 > Celebrate

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?”