Traditionally, the U.S. presidential election primary season starts off not with a primary but with a caucus. What’s the difference? Both primaries and caucuses are a way to choose candidates for a party’s election campaign. Not only party members vote – all voters can choose to register as Democrat or Republican when they sign up … Continue reading “Caucus vs Primary”
The new Netflix TV series The Fall of the House of Usher is inspired by the famous Edgar Allan Poe story but in a pretty tangential way. The horror mini-series keeps the Usher twins Roderick and Madeline but far from being the last members of a dying family they are the heads of a family … Continue reading “Edgar Allan Poe 21st Century Reboot”
We are gradually publishing an 8-part analysis of the 1993 animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas so you can study the film with A2-level pupils in class. Here are are the three final parts, 6-8, in time for Christmas The film, directed by Henry Selick and written by Tim Burton, focuses on the King of … Continue reading “Analysing Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Parts 6-8”
This 4-minute video is a simple explanation of Thanksgiving, designed for young learners in the U.S.A. It would work well in an ESL classroom. We’ve indicated the content of the sections if you don’t want to use the whole thing. The voiceover is slow and understanding is helped by the images. You could use sections … Continue reading “Simple Thanksgiving Video”
We are gradually publishing an 8-part analysis of the 1993 animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas. Here are parts 4 and 5. We’ll be publishing further parts during the autumn so you can study the film with A2-level pupils in class. The film, directed by Henry Selick and written by Tim Burton, focuses on the … Continue reading “Analysing Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Parts 4 and 5”
Three weeks after Kevin McCarthy became the first ever Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to be voted out of the Speaker’s chair, the House finally elected a new Speaker on 25 October, the fourth candidate to attempt election: Mike Johnson from Louisiana. Johnson was elected on his first try on Wednesday, with all … Continue reading “Found: Speaker”
On 3 October, Kevin McCarthy became the first ever Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to be voted out of his role. He had already made the news when had had to face 15 separate votes before being elected Speaker in January – most of the opposition coming from his own Republican Party. The … Continue reading “Wanted: Speaker”
We published the first part of an analysis of the 1993 animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas in July. Here are parts 2 and 3 out of 8. We’ll be publishing further parts during the autumn so you can study the film with A2-level pupils in class. The film, directed by Henry Selick and written … Continue reading “Analysing Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Parts 2 and 3”
This is the first part of an analysis of the 1993 animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas. We’ll be publishing further parts in the coming months so you can study the film with A2-level pupils in class. The film, directed by Henry Selick and written by Tim Burton, focuses on the King of Halloween Town, … Continue reading “Analysing Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”
There has been a lot of news about the NBA draft recently. But what is the draft in the NBA and other U.S. sports? A draft system is used in the NBA but also the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer. It’s a system for allowing all … Continue reading “What is the NBA Draft?”