If you’re looking for a fun language activity before the holidays, how about transforming your pupils into dancing zombies? For the tenth year running, Thrill the World will try to break its own world record for the biggest simultaneous dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”: 22,596 people around the world! The song’s video with Jackson doing … Continue reading “A “Thrilling” Halloween”
How much does it cost to fund a presidential election campaign, and how do the candidates raise the money? We look at the thorny issue of election finance. There is a long history of politics and money. Back in 1757, “founding father” George Washington won an election to the Virginia State parliament after throwing a … Continue reading “Election Money Machine”
The Battle of Hastings in 1066 was a major turning point in British history. The victory of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, changed whole course of Britain’s history and culture. Not least the language, as French became the legal language of England for the next 300 years. The 950th anniversary of the battle this … Continue reading “1066: Battle of Hastings”
It’s been nine years since the final book in the Harry Potter series, five since the final film. There have been the exhibitions and theme parks to keep fans busy in the meantime, but now Harry Potter is really back with a vengeance! Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is not strictly speaking an eighth … Continue reading “Harry’s Back!”
For the first time ever, the Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded not to a novelist, playwright or poet, but to a songwriter: Bob Dylan. The 2016 Nobel was awarded to the 75-year-old folk-rock legend, “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. The singer-songwriter was born in 1941 in … Continue reading “The Times They Are A-Changin’”
In 2011, the United Nations declared 11 October the International Day of the Girl. It’s a day to celebrate girls and raise awareness of the problems they face. Girls face challenges such as violence, child marriage, early pregnancy and its health effects, and limited access to paid work. Gender equality and education for all were … Continue reading “International Day of the Girl”
Every autumn, Britain breaks out in verse for National Poetry Day, this year on 6 October. We often reach for poetry when we want to say something meaningful, whether it is in a birthday card, a graduation speech, wedding or funeral. The aim of National Poetry Day is to have people encounter poetry in unusual … Continue reading “Say it with a Poem on National Poetry Day”
Tim Burton’s latest film is being hailed as his best in twenty years. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children could have been written for the director who has always had a fascination for misfits, from Edward Scissorhands to Ed Wood or Corpse Bride. The film is based on the best selling American novel by Ransom … Continue reading “Tim Burton: Gloriously Peculiar”
The 27th edition of the Dinard British Film Festival marks the triumph of Sing Street. The film swept the board with wins in four categories: – The Golden Hitchcock Jury Grand Price Cine + – Hitchcock for Best screenplay, by Allianz – Hitchcock of the Audience Premiere – La règle du jeu Heartbeat Hitchcock. Sing … Continue reading “And the winner is…”
Every year, the BBC National Short Story Award contains some real gems of short fiction — and you can download the audio versions to listen to at leisure. Previous awards have been given to both unknown authors and well-established ones. This year, all five authors on the shortlist are women. Their stories have protagonists ranging … Continue reading “National Short Story Award to Listen to and Keep”