As a standalone activity or an introduction to our resource on the centenary of the BBC, this cleverly edited video provides the BBC’s answer to the question, “What is public-service broadcasting?” Or simply an introduction to the variety of programming that it has pioneered. If you show pupils the video on the Indy 100 news … Continue reading “This is Our BBC Video”
The British Broadcasting Corporation is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022, just as it faces the biggest threat to its existence. The Conservative government has announced the end of the licence fee paid by British residents to access the BBC for 2027. Without the licence fee, the BBC’s future as a public-service broadcaster, not dependent … Continue reading “Happy 100th Birthday to the BBC!”
The BBC is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year: founded in 1922 to produce radio programmes, it’s become a major British cultural force across TV, radio and increasingly digital platforms. This B1 resource has students use the BBC 100 website to find out about the corporation, its history, faces and voices, then prepare a podcast … Continue reading “100 Years of the BBC”
An evening at the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris will provide lots of insights on Northern Ireland, a nation with a still fluctuating identity and status 101 years after its creation. Activist art, thought and song will all combine on 8 June. The Government of Ireland Act that came into force on 3 May 1921, … Continue reading “Everything You Wanted to Know about Northern Ireland”
The father of the historical novel, author of Ivanhoe and the romanticised image of Scottish history portrayed in the Waverley novels, and a collector and preserver of ballads from the oral tradition, Sir Walter Scott was one major figures of Victorian Britain. This year, Scotland celebrates the 250th anniversary of his birth. Scott was born … Continue reading “Sir Walter Scott at 250”
This year marks the 250th anniversary of author Sir Walter Scott’s birth, on 15 August 1771. Our Biobox video quiz will allow you to familiarise your students with Scott’s life from A2+ level. You can download the MP4 file below to use in class.
1921 has been described as a year of anniversaries in Northern Ireland, marking 100 years since the partition of Ireland which led to the creation of Northern Ireland. But nobody seems sure which dates to mark or celebrate, or indeed if they should be marked at all. A century after the border was created, and in … Continue reading “100 Years Ago: Northern Ireland Came into Existence”
February 2021 sees the 200th anniversary of the untimely death of British Romantic poet John Keats. The author of “Ode to a Grecian Urn”, “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” and “To Autumn”, died of tuberculosis at the age of 25, convinced his literary career was a failure. Yet his poems became some of the best … Continue reading “Romantic Poetry: John Keats 200”
Ray Bradbury took the popular genre of science-fiction to the level of literature with short story collections like The Martian Chronicles and novels like his masterpiece Fahrenheit 451. A hundred years after his birth, this B1-level article will allow your pupils to discover Bradbury and his work. It is ideal for the beginning of the … Continue reading “Ray Bradbury”
American author Ray Bradbury spent more than seventy years fascinating readers and viewers with futuristic science-fiction stories like The Martian Chronicles, and Fahrenheit 451. But it all started with a little bit of magic. Bradbury was born in 1920 in Waukegan, a small town in Illinois. He fell in love with storytelling by watching films … Continue reading “Ray Bradbury at 100”