This A2 document aims at developing your students’ reading skills and autonomy, as well as guided writing skills. Its general theme is protecting the environment, and should prove of interest to most young people, all the more so as most of them will have seen the animated film Saving Nemo which gave its name to … Continue reading “Saving Nemo”
Every year on Australia Day, 26 January, the country honours the Australians of the Year: citizens who have made a major contribution to making other people’s lives better. This year’s Young Australian of the Year is Danzal Baker, alias Baker Boy, a 22-year-old Indigenous Australian who raps in three languages. As well as achieving success … Continue reading “Aboriginal Rap”
Australia’s Liberal National Coalition has scored a surprise victory in the federal election called by Liberal Party Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The minority coalition in power was behind in opinion polls for a year, and no one expected them to win. Scott Morrison was the sixth Prime Minister in six years, with both parties having … Continue reading “Australian Election Turnaround”
Every year on Australia Day, 26 January, the country honours the Australians of the Year: citizens who have made a major contribution to making other people’s lives better. This year’s Young Australian of the Year is Danzal Baker, alias Baker Boy, a 22-year-old Indigenous Australian who raps in three languages. As well as achieving success … Continue reading “Indigenous Rap: Young Australian of the Year”
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”
A new exhibition at the Musée Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac explores the vast continent of Oceania, where water is omnipresent in real and metaphorical senses. The exhibition was originated at the Royal Academy in London to commemorate the journeys of James Cook in search of a mythical southern continent in the late Eighteenth Century. Cook never … Continue reading “Discovering Oceania”
A quiet revolution is building momentum around the world as school pupils strike and march to try to get their elders to take serious measures to limit climate change. It started with one Swedish 15-year-old missing school to go and be a one-person picket line in front of a government ministry in September 2018. She … Continue reading “School Strike for the Planet”
Australian water activist Mina Guli has undertaken a gruelling physical challenge to draw attention to the growing global water crisis. From November till February she is attempting to run 100 marathons in 100 days. The United Nations estimates that there will be a 40% shortfall between demand and supply for water globally by 2030. Increasing … Continue reading “Running Dry”
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”
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”