If you teach in collège, you might like to sign your pupils up for an original multilingual story competition. It asks classes to write a story using elements of languages other than French. The winners will be revealed during the Semaine des langues vivantes in May. You need to sign up by 22 October 2018. … Continue reading “Multilingual Story Contest for Classes”
For several months, the news in the U.S.A. has been dominated by the midterm elections. Depending on which survey you look at, these could mean a major revival for the Democratic Party, or a small bump on President Trump’s path to re-election. What are the midterms, and how important are they? The midterms are an … Continue reading “American Midterm Elections”
The contentious nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court makes him the new colleague of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg aka Notorious R.B.G.. She is a feminist and pop culture icon and the subject of a documentary just released in cinemas. Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court was the most contentious nomination process in … Continue reading “Supreme icon”
Cécile Sempere-Brun recommends: The Verdun Affair, by Nick Dybeck A novel about love and loss, forgetting and remembering. Reading A Verdun Affair is like travelling through space and time. The novel is set immediately after WWI, in France and Italy, as well as against the more glamorous background of 1950s Los Angeles. As the story … Continue reading “Festival America: Reading Ideas for Literature Classes”
We asked several teachers and authors who attended Festival America book festival in Vincennes in September to give us their favourite picks amongst the authors and books they encountered. Isabelle Brefort, who teaches at Lycée Jean-Baptiste Corot, Savigny-sur-Orge (91), recommends: The Mothers by Brit Bennett Can a secret ruin lives? Can our choices shape our … Continue reading ““The Mothers”, a Coming-of-Age Story”
We asked several teachers and authors who attended Festival America book festival in Vincennes in September to give us their favourite picks amongst the authors and books they encountered. Cécile Sempéré-Brun, who teaches at Lycée Raynouard, Brignoles (83), recommends: The Verdun Affair, by Nick Dybeck A novel about love and loss, forgetting and remembering. Reading … Continue reading ““The Verdun Affair”, Love and Loss in WWI”
We asked several teachers and authors who attended Festival America book festival in Vincennes in September to give us their favourite picks amongst the authors and books they encountered. Gerald Kenny, who teaches at Lycée Saint-Sernin, Toulouse (31), recommends: The Barrowfields by Phillip Lewis Nobody gets the parents they deserve, and Henry Aster is no … Continue reading ““The Barrowfields”, a Haunting Family Tale from North Carolina”
How do you make a biopic about one of the most famous men of the twentieth century but who was famously private and discreet? There can be few people on the planet who don’t know who Neil Armstrong was, or rather what he did. But do many of us even know what the astronaut looked … Continue reading “Filming “First Man””
Fifty years after the Mexico Olympics, when African-American medallists Tommie Smith and John Carlos made a Black Power salute to protest at discrimination, all three men on the podium that day have been recognised for their courage. On 16 October, 1968, two American sprinters made a symbolic gesture that became an iconic image of fight … Continue reading “Black Power at the 1968 Olympics Fifty Years On”
The Invictus Games, initiated by Prince Harry for injured service people, is in Sydney, Australia for its fourth edition from 20 to 27 October. It is especially poignant in the weeks before the commemoration of the end of the First World War. Prince Harry served in the British Armed Forces for ten years. In 2013, … Continue reading “Game On Down Under”