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”
Game of Thrones may be set in the imaginary Seven Kingdoms, but it was filmed in real locations around the world. Many locations, and all the studio work, were done in Northern Ireland and the country is attracting crowds of tourists anxious to walk in the footsteps of their heroes. As well as studio tours … Continue reading “Screen Tourism: “Game of Thrones” Fans Flock to Northern Ireland”
The Oceania exhibition that is now on at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris originated at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The RA has a number of videos in English online in connection with the exhibition that are excellent for class work on the topic. It would work well with Shine Bright … Continue reading “Oceania Through Videos”
Green Book — winner of the 2019 Best Picture Oscar —is a road movie about friendship and race relations in the 1960s American South. The film takes its title from a guide book published for almost thirty years from 1936: The Negro Motorist Green Book. These online resources will help you explore the real Green … Continue reading “Green Book: Online Resources”
The biopic about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is excellent for discussing gender issues in this class. This short clip should really get students talking. It’s suitable from B1+, as there is a lot of implicit content. It’s a scene from early in the film, On the Basis of Sex. It’s 1956, and Ruth … Continue reading “Teaching with Film: Ruth Bader Ginsburg”
The new biopic about Oscar Wilde’s final years after leaving prison takes its ironic title from one of the children’s stories he wrote for his sons. The film, written, directed and starring Rupert Everett has a wonderful supporting cast (Colin Firth, Colin Morgan, Emily Watson.) This B2 downloadable resource includes work on an article about … Continue reading “Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince”
Uluru, the giant rock formation in the Australian desert is often used as a symbol of the country. To its Aboriginal traditional owners, it is sacred. After years of asking tourists to respect their beliefs and refrain from climbing the rock, it is to be closed in October 2019. The local people hope tourists will … Continue reading “Uluru to Close to Public”
Raise awareness about bullying in November. On the 8th, it’s Anti-Bullying Day in French schools. And it’s Anti-bullying Week in the UK from 12 to 16 November. We look at some student-produced anti-bullying videos and apps that are helping fight the problem. This is the video for the 2017 anti-bullying week but it works better … Continue reading “Students Against Bullying”
Raise awareness about bullying in November. On the 8th it’s Anti-Bullying Day in French schools. And it’s Anti-bullying Week in the UK from 12 to 16 November. Both campaigns are putting a focus on cyberbullying. The theme for this year’s French Anti-Bullying Day is cyberbullying with sexist or sexual content. The main theme for Anti-bullying … Continue reading “Fighting Bullying”
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”
