The subjects covered by the films in the main competition at this year’s Cannes Festival are very varied. The English-language competitors are a case in point, ranging from zombies in small town America to washed-up actors in Hollywood, to an indictment of the gig economy in the UK. 82-year-old director British Ken Loach has planned … Continue reading “Zombies, Loach, Tarantino and Elton John at Cannes”
National Vegetarian Week is taking place from 13 to 19 May in the UK, encouraging people to move towards a plant-based diet for their health and the planet’s. The week is organised by the National Vegetarian Society, which was founded in 1847, reflecting the long history of vegetarianism in the UK. The Society believes that … Continue reading “Eating Your Greens”
The fourth edition of the Semaine des Langues is taking place from 13 to 18 May. This year’s theme, like last year’s, is “Let’s Share Languages”. Teachers and pupils all over the country and participating in a whole range of events, many of them involving food! Collège Pierre Bodet in Angoulême organises an annual poster … Continue reading “La semaine des langues 2019”
Britain is celebrating a new royal baby, as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced the birth of their son on 6 May 2019. The British capital decided to have babies welcome the baby. The new baby, who is the seventh in line to the throne, has been named Archie. He is unusual in the Royal … Continue reading “It’s a Boy!”
Adapting a scene from a book as a film scene, or a film scene as prose, is an excellent English-learning exercise. To see how the experts do it, a talk at the American Library in Paris analyses the adaptation of one of America’s classic books into one of its classic films. Judith Merians, Hollywood executive … Continue reading “To Kill a Mockingbird: Adapting to Film”
Back at the beginning of the school year, we launched three pupil competitions. The A2-level competition was to write a 10-question “Who Am I?” quiz about a famous English-speaker. We were absolutely inundated with replies for the three competitions. Please apologise to your pupils for the delay but we finally have the winners of the … Continue reading “Who Am I? Competition Winners”
The world of Pop culture will remember April 2019 for two things: the release of Avengers: Endgame and the final series of Game of Thrones. Both mark the culmination of tentacular stories with many iconic characters which could die at the really end… or not. As Game of Thrones approaches the midpoint of its final … Continue reading “This is the end…”
While most countries involved in World War I commemorate those who served in that and later wars on 11 November, the date the War ended, in Australia and New Zealand, the main commemoration is ANZAC Day, 25 April, the day in 1915 when their servicemen first saw action, in the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign. When Britain … Continue reading “ANZAC Day”
The Châtelet Theatre in Paris is re-opening in September and returning to its tradition of putting on large-scale musicals, in their original language. The opening offering is George and Ira Gershwin’s An American in Paris. There are special matinée performances for schools on Thursdays 12 and 19 December at 3 p.m. An American in Paris … Continue reading “Take Your Students to “An American in Paris””
Soul singer Aretha Franklin has been posthumously honoured with a Pulitzer Prize. The 2019 winners list revealed on 15 April also included Richard Power’s extraordinary novel The Overstory and The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal for their investigations on President Donald Trump. Aretha Franklin (pictured) died in August 2018, at the age … Continue reading “Aretha Franklin Honoured with a Pulitzer Prize”
