Route 66 has mythical status in the U.S.A. and around the world. It’s been immortalised in songs, novels and films. Although it’s no longer a major highway, it still draws visitors keen to experience the iconic home of the road trip. Every September, enthusiasts gather in Springfield, Illinois, for the Mother Road Festival, using the … Continue reading “On Route 66”
Are you teaching LLCER this year? We can help! Shine Bright 1e has four sequences covering both themes. Look out for LLCER resources on Speakeasy-news. And in November we’ll be publishing reading guides to four of the literary works on the curriculum. Watch our video to find out more! You can find up-to-date resources … Continue reading “Language and Literature: English Speciality”
Britain has a new Prime Minister. After a two-month voting process following Theresa May’s resignation, the Conservative Party announced the name of its new leader on 23 July. On 24 July the Queen invited Boris Johnson to form a government. The new government has just over three months to try to find a solution to … Continue reading “Boris Johnson at Number Ten”
The 30th edition of the Dinard British Film Festival will take place in the Breton town from 25 to 29 September. The films in competition haven’t been announced yet, but you can get ready to sign up your classes to see some of the best British films from the last year at special schools showings. … Continue reading “Take Your Classes to the Cinema in Dinard!”
Keith Haring grew up in small town Pennsylvania reading, watching and drawing cartoons. When the 20-year-old arrived in New York City to study art in 1978, his fast, cartoonish style was soon recognisable all over the city. A retrospective at Tate Liverpool, then going onto Brussels, shows the astonishing output of his short life. Haring … Continue reading “Keith Haring: Fast Art”
South African singer, musician, dancer and activist Johnny Clegg has died at the age of 66. His music was an influential part of his participation in the anti-Apartheid campaign. His songs “Asimbonanga” and “Scatterlings of Africa” took his message of protest but also of unity around the world. Johnny Clegg was born in England. His … Continue reading “Singing for Freedom”
Hong Kong citizens have been protesting for weeks against a law they say would stifle political opposition by allowing activists to be extradited to mainland China for trial. In the face of surveillance, activists in the former British colony are turning to web apps to anonymously organise protests, or even vote on their next actions. … Continue reading “Digital Democracy in Hong Kong Protests”
NASA is marking the fiftieth anniversary of the first Moon landings. Fifty years after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon, and 47 years after the end of the Apollo program, the U.S. space agency is preparing to go back to the Moon by 2024. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin boarded … Continue reading “Landing on the Moon”
A new biopic, Vita and Virginia, tells the story of author Virginia Woolf’s relationship with aristocrat Vita Sackville-West, which resulted in one of the most innovative novels of the early twentieth century, Orlando. Apart from an interest in literature and writing, nothing destined Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West to meet, never mind form a relationship. … Continue reading “Virginia Woolf Love Story”
Caroline Criado Perez’s thought-provoking book Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men does exactly what it says: shows the hundreds of ways in which the needs of women (and anyone who isn’t a 1.77m tall, 76kg white male) are ignored in all aspects of our society. The author will be giving a … Continue reading “Visible Woman”