At age 87, veteran British filmmaker Ken Loach says The Old Oak will be his last film and it closes the trilogy set in the north-east of England after I, Daniel Blake (Cannes Palme d’or 2016) and Sorry We Missed You (2019). It looks at the arrival of a group of Syrian refugees to be … Continue reading “Ken Loach Trying to See the Hope”
Both the U.S.A. and Canada celebrate their countries’ workers on the first Monday in September, they just don’t agree on the spelling! Featuring picnics, barbecues but also political speeches, both public holidays grew out of union movements in the late nineteenth century demanding shorter working days and more rights for workers. It’s no coincidence that … Continue reading “Labor or Labour Day?”
Your students seem particularly inspired by the final task in a sequence from Shine Bright Terminale: File 4 Masters and Servants: writing a diary entry for one of the household of an aristocratic British home. This is the second set of entries we’re publishing. In this sequence, in Axe 2 Private Space and Public Space, … Continue reading “Your Students Have More Talent: Masters and Servants”
It’s always lovely to see students’ work. Here are some diary entries pupils wrote as their final task in a sequence from Shine Bright Terminale: File 4 Masters and Servants. In this sequence, in Axe 2 Private Space and Public Space, students considered to what extent private and public spaces are codified by British society. … Continue reading “Your Students Have Talent: Masters and Servants”
It’s the traditional time of year for dictionary publishers to announce their “word of the year”. In a year dominated by the pandemic, Oxford Dictionaries decided to choose several, whereas Collins chose “lockdown” from a shortlist dominated by the health emergency. Merriam Webster in the States went with the word “pandemic” itself. Frequently-used words this … Continue reading “2020: A Year in Language”
If you’d like to find out more about farming, discover a new place and culture and meet new people, WWOOFing could be just the thing. WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It’s a non-profit organisation which began in the UK in 1971 and now exists in more than 100 countries on six … Continue reading “Discovering Life on Organic Farms with WWOOF”
Ken Loach is famous for his socially committed films, and his new film, Sorry We Missed You, is no exception. Loach brings the kitchen-sink drama bang up to date with this indictment of the gig economy in the UK with a family struggling to survive in the modern world of work. The gig economy, or … Continue reading “Ken Loach Takes on the Gig Economy”
Caroline Criado Perez’s thought-provoking book Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men does exactly what it says: shows the hundreds of ways in which the needs of women (and anyone who isn’t a 1.77m tall, 76kg white male) are ignored in all aspects of our society. The author will be giving a … Continue reading “Visible Woman”
British author and activist Caroline Criado Perez’s new book Invisible Women sets out to show that we live in a world that is literally made for men. And the results of that vary from annoying to downright dangerous. This B2-B2+ resource based around a review of the book fits well into the Shine Bright 1re … Continue reading “Invisible Women”
Listen to or download extracts of our interview with Anglo-Italian singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti for classroom use. The extracts have varied levels and themes as Savoretti discusses the advantages of multicultural schooling, the ups and downs of his musical career, and a Bob Dylan song which is his lucky talisman. Vocabulary and structures Comparisons School Intercultural … Continue reading “Jack Savoretti: Interview with a Musician”