Ruth and Idgie

Warning: this video may not be suitable for delicate sensibilities (like my partner's) ;-)

Listen to this video about Idgie and Ruth and decide whether the sentences below are true or false. The answers are in the comments:

1. The cat (Ruth) and the dog (Idgie) were found in a trash can

2. The dog shares everything she gets with the cat

3. The cat protects the dog against other dogs

4. At the centre, they're waiting for somebody to adopt Ruth and Idgie

5. Customers wanted to buy Ruth and Idgie to give them as Christmas gifts

The Prado Museum, online and in English!

A couple of years ago, I posted this in the blog:
You can enjoy some of the Prado's masterpieces online and in English. You just have to go here, choose a work and click on "listen to the audioguide" to get the story of the painting in English. If you prefer to read, the option also exists.

Enjoy!

What inspires you?

Dear All,
here's the video we saw yesterday in the NB2 class, in case you want to listen to it again. 
The sentences below are for NI2. The answers are in the comment section.

Complete the sentences:
1. When Ken was a child, everybody thought he was going to be a ____________ (2 words).
2. When he got polio, his father immediately saw he had other ____________. 
3. When Ken was nine, his father had an accident, he ____________ (3 words).
4. Ken's father behaved as the _______________ (2 words) of the family.
5. Ken describes his father as a funny, __________, independent, _____________, man.
6. Ken devotes his life to education because his father _____________ him __________ into it.
7. Ken's father taught him it was important to __________________ (3 words) to be yourself.
8. He wasn't just Ken's dad, he was an _______________ to him. 

I asked NB2 to write a short piece titled "Who or what inspired you?" for next Tuesday. You can follow these points to organize your text (80-100 words):
1. What did you want to be when you were a child?
2. Did anybody encourage you to do/study something in particular?
3. What was that person like?
4. Did you change your opinion about what you wanted to be at some point?
5. What happened in the end? Did you become the person you thought you were going to be?

The "poorest President" in the world

Watch this video and try to answer the questions below, which I have taken from Ian James' wonderful blog for English teachers:

1. How does international media refer to José Mújica?
2. Where exactly is his house?
3. How does José Mujica define poor people?
4. What does he own according to his latest declaration of wealth?
5. What does he do with his salary?
6. What is his political background?
7. What does the man interviewed say about his lifestyle and political record?
8. What do his approval ratings say about his popularity?
9. What does his main political rival accuse him of?
10. What does Mújica hope for in the future?

You can find the answers in the comments, as always ;-)

Happy Halloween!

Hi there!

Here's a video on the history of Halloween. Listen and answer the questions below:

1. The history of Halloween starts with ...................... (a diverse group of tribal societies from Europe).

2. The end of the harvest season was celebrated on .................. (date)

3. Why was it a magical night?

4. On Samhain (pronounced /sauin/), people sat around .................

5. When did the church start to appropriate the pagan festivity?

6. Both the pagan and catholic festivities had to do with ...................

7. "hallow" means .......... or ..........

8. Who brought the holiday to the United States? When?

9. Some of their customs included bobbing for apples and "playing tricks on ...........

10. The young pranksters wore ........... not to be recognised.

11. In the 1930s the holiday became dangerous because of ..................

12. What is Halloween's holiday greeting?

(The answers are in the "comments")

Listen

Interview with Keith Jarrett

Listen to this interview with pianist Keith Jarrett and relax... The speakers speak slow, the interview is accompanied by music, and the questions I'm posing below shouldn't be too difficult for you to answer, so this exercise is meant to make listening comprehension not a stressful but a relaxing experience ;-)

1. On April 9th 2011, Jarrett presented the album he had been working on for two years. True or false?

2. What factors does the pianist mention as guiding his compositions?

3. What does the pianist mean by having "an out-of-the-body experience"?

4. What's the disadvantage of playing solo, according to Jarrett?

5. The story Jarrett is telling in his last album is the story of his divorce. True or false?

6. Having played for so many years makes it easier for the pianist to perform in front of an audience. True or false?

7. According to Jarrett, it was the atmosphere in Rio that determined the success of his concert. True or false?

You can find the answers in the comments. If, after listening, you still need to check some words, here's the transcript

How I Got My Song

Hi there!

The last Prince of Asturias Prize for Letters, as you may know, is Canadian poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen. Here's his speech at the award ceremony, which can be easily understood:

Further entertainment for Cohen fans here

And my favourite version of one of Cohen's songs (I think even Cohen admitted Buckley's cover was better than the original ;-)

Stress in the workplace

Click here to listen to a 6-minute audio text dealing with stress in the workplace.

Which job do you think is more stressful? You'll find out at the end of the programme

- Airline pilot

- School teacher

- Surgeon

Motivation

Somebody mentioned Steve Jobs as an example of a successful person when we spoke about motivation in class the other day. Here's an interesting video you may want to watch. You can try without reading the Spanish subtitles.

Occupy World St.: From NYC to Everywhere

Watch the video and answer the comprehension questions below. You can find the key to the answers here.

1. For what action were some protesters arrested in New York?

2. What is the relationship between governments and corporations, according to the female protester interviewed in NY?

3. In London, the police tried to disperse crowds. Why?

4. What is making protesters in London take action, what is galvanising them (stimulating them into action)?

5. What was the UE government’s reaction to the protesters intentions in Brussels?

6. Who are the protesters in Brussels?

7. The Madrid correspondent mentions several of the reasons for the protests in Madrid. Which are they?

8. What is the profile of the protesters, according to the correspondent in Madrid?

What literature can do for us

Watch the first four minutes of the video below and answer the questions. You can then check your answers here. After the exercise you may want to see the whole video (20 mins in total) without subtitles or with English or Spanish subtitles.

Comprehension Questions:

a) Elif Shafak was born and lived in Turkey during her childhood. True or false?

b) In what ways did she feel her family was different from other families?

c) Which are the two models of women the writer grew up with?

d) The writer’s grandmother’s practices to heal patients’ warts included: an apple, words, rose thorns and ________________

e) As a witness to her grandmother’s healing practices, the writer …

1. believed what she saw

2. questioned the power of the healing

3. thought her grandmother was crazy

f) What was the lesson the writer learnt from her grandmother?

g) According to an Eastern tradition, it’s not good to stare at one’s own reflection for too long. What many women do, then, is…

1. not to buy mirrors

2. to cover mirrors with velvet

3. to turn the mirrors upside down

h) One of the dangers of this globalized world is…

i) What is the power of story-telling, according to Elif Shafak?