The Great War Centenary

• Armistice day  BBC an interactive story through WWI
• WWI resources for teaching & learning English BBC

The Day (article pdf): "White poppies are attention-seeking rubbish"
Is it wrong to wear a white poppy?

Eric Newby

An extract from his book A short walk in the Hindu Kush published by The Guardian

At sea aged 19 ( bottom left) and in the Hindu Kush. photos: PA

Eric Newby dies aged  86. BBC news 22 October 2006

Pushkar religious festival, Rajasthan.
Photos of the largest camel market

Departures and Arrivals

Eric Newby

HarperCollins Publishers, Oct 1, 2010 - Voyages and travels - 208 pages

1 Review

'Whatever else we remember of our travels, we remember our departures and arrivals. Often they are the most enduring of all our memories of them.'

From one of Britain's best-loved travel writers comes a fascinating collection of incredible highlights from an eventful life.

How ugly vegetables can feed the planet

Read the article online

article pdf

article audio in American English

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables  The book online   

Netflix series: Anne with an E

by Lucy Maud Montgomery a Canadian writer

The Guardian

Ten things Anne of Green Gables taught me

Being Brown in Britain

• Being Black and Brown in Britain by Joshua Virasami   Article
• Video and activities by the British Council    Multicultural Britain
• Collocations Units 21 & 22  Houses and flats &  Eating and Drinking

1. Keep track of  all interesting vocabulary and examples of use.Focus on collocations ( free online collocation dictionary click)
2. To expand your knowledge and raise awareness of interesting expressions use Linguee English Spanish (←click)
3. Reading Strategy: 
4. To understand the text better ask yourself  WHAT is the text about? WHO.....? WHERE.....? WHEN....? WHY....? HOW....?                   
5.  Write down the answers you found by reading the text
6. Think and write down 5 good questions about any interesting aspect of the article

High degree of difficulty and more collocations

Practically from the cradle, many U.S. children plan and prepare to attend college or university


Article online
article pdf  and audio

 Best Colleges in the States

1. Keep track of  all interesting vocabulary and examples of use.Focus on collocations ( free online collocation dictionary click)
2. To expand your knowledge and raise awareness of interesting expressions use Linguee English Spanish (←click)
3. Reading Strategy: 
4. To understand the text better ask yourself  WHAT is the text about? WHO.....? WHERE.....? WHEN....? WHY....? HOW....?                   
5.  Write down the answers you found by reading the text
6. Think and write down 5 good questions about any interesting aspect of the article.

Collocations Physical appearance and Families  units 18 & 19

The crusades through Arab eyes

The Crusades through Arab eyes by Amin Maalouf  Read online or download

listen to the Crusades through Arab eyes audio online

Saving the Past for the Future

Saving the past for the future, article online

Print the article pdf  and listen to the audio

Work with the Scrible toolbar annotating your document (you can do it with both the article online or the pdf)

1. Keep track of  all interesting vocabulary and examples of use.Focus on collocations ( free online collocation dictionary click)
2. To expand your knowledge and raise awareness of interesting expressions use Linguee English Spanish (←click)
3. Reading Strategy: 
4. To understand the text better ask yourself  WHAT is the text about? WHO.....? WHERE.....? WHEN....? WHY....? HOW....?                   
5.  Write down the answers you found by reading the text
6. Think and write down 5 good questions about any interesting aspect of the article.

The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society: Society

An article by Tea-Time magazine from my Scribble Library

“That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you to another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive - all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment.”

― Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Look inside the novel

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE ON NETFLIX - A remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

"I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers." January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb...

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society's members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

The story behind the novel

Mary Ann Shaffer

Annie Barrows

Trailer 

History in every glass

Not very literary but ... interesting

Tea Time mag article from my Scrible library  with highlighted phrases

History in every glass online

   

1. Keep a notebook with all interesting vocabulary and examples of use.Focus on collocations ( free online collocation dictionary click)
2. To expand your knowledge and raise awareness of interesting expressions use Linguee English Spanish (←click)
3. Reading Strategy: 
4. To understand the text better ask yourself  WHAT is the text about? WHO.....? WHERE.....? WHEN....? WHY....? HOW....?                   
5.  Write down the answers you found by reading the text
6. Think and write down 5 good questions about any interesting aspect of the article.

Biography: Arthur Guinness

Visit Ireland

Dublin vacational travel guide

Dublin City Guide by Lonely Planet

Memories

Tea time magazine online

magazine pdf 

article audio

Enid Blyton's website

1. Keep a notebook with all interesting vocabulary and examples of use. Focus on collocations ( free online collocation dictionary click)
2. To expand your knowledge and raise awareness of interesting expressions use Linguee English Spanish (←click)
3. Reading Strategy: 
4. To understand the text better ask yourself  WHAT is the text about? WHO.....? WHERE.....? WHEN....? WHY....? HOW....?                   
5.  Write down the answers you found by reading the text
6. Think and write down 5 good questions about any interesting aspect of the article.

France victorious as world cup final ends

France victorious as golden world cup ends  The Day

pdf article


Sports idioms 1

Sports idioms 2

The rescue boat at the heart of Europe's crisis

1. Look at the word cloud for about 30 seconds. Stop and write down as many words from the word cloud as you can... then look again for 10 more seconds and add the words you've noticed. Use all these words to write a paragraph that links the topic to the present situation in the world.


2. The rescue boat at the heart of Europe’s crisis (The Day)

Whose responsibility are refugees? As World Refugee Day approaches, ships carrying 630 migrants have finally docked in Spain. The EU spent a week arguing about where they should end up. 
2a. Read and work with the language in the article.
The Day: the pdf article
2b. Be ready to talk about the image that illustrates the article

3. Learn about refugees, asylum seekers, a stateless person or an internally displaced person @ the UNHCR website

4. Refugee day, a reading activity

5. Find an image illustrating this topic that you would like to talk about

Geography: The volcano burning through homes in Hawaii

1 The volcano burning through homes in Hawaii

The Day pdf document with very interesting word combinations about the topic 

2  Dozens killed in Guatemala volcano disaster

The Day pdf document

Collocations

Let's work with collocations

Use the collocation dictionary online here

Explore and be aware of the types of collocations ( unit 4) that are used.

Focus on the register ( unit 5) they have to know when it's appropriate to use them

UNITS 6 & 7 Intensifying adverbs & everyday verbs 1

UNITS 8 & 9 Everyday verbs 2 & 3

Units 10, 11 & 12  Confusables 1 & 2 and metaphor

Units 12 & 13 Weather and Travel

Units 14 & 15 Countryside and Town & Cities

A new era dawns as Megan marries Harry

Article online   The Day

A new era  pdf

War metaphors?

About metaphors:

An article From the guardian

To learn how to use the following words find their collocations

Oxford Dictionary of Collocations:

• search "war", 
• search: conflict,
• search: struggle, 
• search: fight, 
• search: battle
• search: violence

The TV series Outlander was based on a series of novels.Who wrote them?

Diana Gabaldon

The rebellions that shaped Scottish history

The rebellions that shaped Scottish history article

• Article pdf to download
• Audio recording

1. Keep a notebook with all interesting vocabulary and examples of use.
2. To expand your knowledge and raise awareness of interesting expressions use Linguee English Spanish (←click)
3. Reading Strategy: 
4. To understand the text better ask yourself  WHAT is the text about? WHO.....? WHERE.....? WHEN....? WHY....? HOW....?                   
5.  Write down the answers you found by reading the text
6. Think and write down 5 good questions about any interesting aspect of the article.

Beauty redefined

‘The Atlas of Beauty’ hopes to redefine looks

Can beauty be defined, or is it in the eye of the beholder? The photographer Mihaela Noroc has travelled the world, photographing ordinary women to challenge “unachievable” beauty standards.

Vocabulary: Beauty redefined

Chimamanda on redefining beauty

Mission Accomplished

‘Mission accomplished’: the West strikes Syria

Were we right to hit Syria with missiles? The US, the UK and France claim to have destroyed the bulk of Syria’s chemical weapons facilities. What comes next is far from clear…