Travel Safety in Times of Coronavirus

As de-escalation progresses around the world and the economy starts to activate, people are slowly starting to plan their holidays in times of a global pandemic, and the first question is "Is it safe to travel now?" This National Geographic article answers some of the questions people are asking themselves, like "Should I get on a plane?", "Should I head to a national park?", "Should I rent a cottage by the sea?", "Should I stay in a hotel?" "Should I use a public restroom (American English for "toilet")? etc.  This article can be easily read by B2 students. I would like to thank my student María A. for sending me this article.

The travel industry is taking a proactive strategy to increase safety standards that can guarantee its customers' health and peace of mind.  This Arab News report explains the new measures that have been introduced by Emirates airline to increase hygiene from check-in to disembarkation. This article is very short but very dense, so it can be suitable for B2 students.

Shavuot, a Jewish Tradition

Shavuot is a Jewish holy day that marks the beginning of the harvest ("Bikkurim" or the collection and offering of "The First Fruits" to the Temple in Jerusalem) and also the reception of the Torah, with the 10 Commandments, given to Moses at Mount Sinai, 7 weeks after the departure from Egypt in Passover (Shavuot means "Festival of the Weeks" in Hebrew).  So, originally, Shavuot had an agricultural origin, which is kept in the tradition of decorating the house with greenery and flowers, or having a pic-nic in the woods or in your garden.  Later, when the Jewish people became more learned, some rabbis added to the festivity the practice of an all-nighter, "Tikkun", which involves staying awake all night and reading the Torah (the 10 Commandments, Ruth's or Ezekiel's books etc), having social debates about Arts & Culture etc. In 2020, Shavuot is celebrated from sunset May 28th to nightfall May 30th.  If you want to know more about Shavuot, you can read this article by Chabad.org. These texts are suitable for B2 students.

Food is an important part of the celebration too.  Ashkenazi Jews like to eat dairy products, like ice-cream, cheesecake or drink some milk, whereas Sephardic Jews prefer to eat a large meat meal, or the "Bread of the 7 Heavens" which you can see in the picture below right and you can bake by following this recipe in Spanish from eSefarad.com.  And kids like to bake aleph-bet shaped cookies.  Below, you can watch a short video by "BimBam", which has subtitles, but it is narrated at a fast speed and with several Hebrew words,  so it is more suitable for C1 level.

The Christian celebrations of Pentecost and Witsun in the Church of England are closely related to the Shavuot tradition, as you can read on this Wikipedia link.

I would like to thank A. C. Sefarad Aragón for their kind help to write this entry.

Eid-al-Fitr, The End of Ramadan

Eid-al-Fitr is the first day of  the month of Shawwal and the day Ramadan ends, so it is celebrated by Muslims around the world: people dress in their best clothes, exchange gifts, attend communal prayers, listen to a sermon (khutba), practice charity with the poor (zakat al-fitr), and they greet with the words "Eid Mubbarak!" (Holy Feast!) as you can read on this web page.

In Turkey, this year's Eid's celebrations will be severely restricted to fight the spread of the coronavirus epidemic: a strict 24-hour curfew has been ordered in 83 provinces for two days and worshippers will not be allowed to pray in mosques, as you can read in this Aljazeera report and video, which is accessible to B2 students and above.

But the epidemic has also brought "amazing signs of solidarity" like the Berlin church that has hosted Muslim worshippers to help them maintain physical distancing rules while they pray together in Eid-al-Fitr, as Aljazeera reports in this B2 article.

In Arabia, Saudis are finding new ways to celebrate Eid-al-Fitr in lockdown:  Muslims will perform Eid-al-Fitr prayers at home, and they will exchange homemade gifts, decorate their home for the occasion and play home games like pinatas,  according to this Arab News report, which quotes 30-year-old Hadeel Ezmirli: "I want to at least feel the vibe of Eid, even though I will be at home".  This article, for its length and vocabualary can be classified as C1.

"Our Planet" in International Biodiversity Week

You can celebrate International Biodiversity Week (18- 22 May) by watching the first episode of the Netflix documentary "Our Planet", which has just been released on YouTube.  The stunning beauty of the images, the music, and the impeccable English on the voice of Sir David Attenborough will surely open an imaginary window to the wonders of our natural world and the fragility of its future preservation.
Subtitles are available, so this 49':27" documentary can be enjoyed by B2 students and above.

Face Masks Are Becoming Fashionable

Coronavirus is also changing fashion. This BBC article talks about how the fashion industry is turning face masks into the trendy accessory of the season:  Angel Obassi's wedding outfit, with a matching face mask, received more than 100,000 "likes" on Instagram and when Tiziana Scaramuzzo posted the images of a trikini as a joke on Elexia Beachwear, she started to receive thousands of orders.  You can also watch a short video where South-Korean designer Paul Parks shows how he sews his new washable and re-usable cotton masks. Read this article if you are ready to fight COVID-19 in style!
This report is suitable for B2 students.

Phrasal Verbs & Songs

 One of my B2 students, José Manuel A. has made these tasks to learn phrasal verbs with five songs: "I Will Survive", "Tears in Heaven", "Bye Bye Love", "Across the Universe" and "I Just Called to Say I Love You". 

Here you can find the introductions to the songs, the lyrics, the links to different versions of the songs, the exercises that are focused on phrasal verbs and the key.  

I can only add that I feel proud and priviledged to have students like José Manuel A. This lesson is suitable for B2 students and above.

Teacher of the Year in Wicomico County, Maryland

This article from a local newspaper in the state of Maryland, the Salisbury Independent, talks about Hemalatha Bhaskaran, an Environmental Science teacher at a local high school that has won the award of "Teacher of the Year" from the Wicomico County Board of Education.  Reading the article can give you insights about current key issues in secondary education in the USA: diversity, equity, excellence, leadership etc.

Here you can take a look at the webpage of James M Bennett High School, where Mrs. Bhaskaran works:  you can watch a short video about school news by two students ("clippers" is the nickname of the students)  and the Principal (or Headteacher) Ms. Savage.  And you can take a look at the different subjects and school activities to see what an American high school is like.

I have created some activities around the text to build a lesson which includes a reading comprehension task with its key, a vocabulary chart to highlight key words and expressions in education that are used in the article and some questions for oral discussion. Here you can find all the materials. The lesson is suitable for B2 students.

David Beckham on Desert Island Discs

The BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Disc marked its 75th anniversary with this interview to David Beckham where he talks about his football career in Manchester United, Real Madrid, Milan, PSG etc.  He also talks about his relationship to Victoria Beckham, the "Posh Spice Girl", his family and his charity work. The programme is 52 minutes long and there is no script, so it is recommended for C2 students, but it can be used as "background conversation" to expose learners to the rhythm of English language, while attention is elsewhere: walking, running, ironing, gardening etc (see "How to use this blog"). The interview contains several examples of the use of "would" for past habits.

In the conversation, David mentions the letter "Love at First Sight Exits" that Victoria Beckham wrote for Vogue magazine in 1996. Here you can read an article in Hello magazine that reports about that "candid" letter, where Victoria describes how she met David and reveals her insecurities as a teenager. This text can be accessible to B2 students.

Mother's Day

Mother's day is celebrated on May 10th in USA, India and Australia, on March 22nd in the UK and Ireland and on May 3rd in Spain. Here you can read three stories related to the topic.

The first story is Kate Middleton's virtual visit to a new mother in a hospital in South-West London, where she has a friendly conversation with the astonished new mother, who describes the experience as "surreal".  Kate's goal was to raise awareness about the mental health issues that can affect new mothers.  The story comes from "The Daily Mail", a royalist tabloid in the UK, and it is suitable for B2 students.

The second story comes from The New York Times, and it reports on how florists are preparing to deliver bouquets of flowers for Mother's Day in the USA during confinement.  The language in the article is very descriptive -precise nouns and adjectives- which can be challenging, so the text is suitable for C1 students, but the pictures, of course, can be enjoyed by anyone.

Finally, the third story also comes from The Daily Mail, but from the Australia edition, in this case.  The article explains how social distancing restrictions will affect the celebration of Mother's Day in the different states and territories in Australia.  The text is not too difficult, it is full of passive voice verbs, but it can be read by B1 students with the help of a dictionary to look up words like "gatherings" (meetings), "to ease restrictions" (to reduce or to soften restrictions) or "hugs" (embraces).

Spaniards Rush Outside After Lockdown

Yesterday was the first day that Spanish people were allowed to exercise outdoors after 49 days of lockdown.  It was a day so many people had been longing for and, perhaps, a day to remember.  This is how Reuters reported the story for Channel News Asia (CNA) in Singapore.
This text is suitable for B2 students.

Underpaid Key Workers in the Coronavirus Pandemic

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Britain is launching its #ThankAWorker campaign to praise key coronavirus workers who are risking their health to keep the country running. 4 in 10 of those employees are getting paid less than 10 GBP an hour. This campaign marks International Workers' Day. 

NHS staff, carers, bus drivers, posties, retail workers deverve a pay rise -according to union leaders- because they are putting their lives at risk to help the country fight the pandemic.  Union leaders are also calling for an increase in the minimum wage and improvements in working conditions.

The Daily Mirror is a left-wing British tabloid. If you want to read the whole story you just have to click here.  This story is suitable for B2 students.