Fawlty Towers

Fawlty Towers is a sitcom first broadcast in 1975-1979, which was ranked first in the list of  the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes by the British Film Institute. It stars John Cleese as Basil Fawlty, a rude, stressy owner of a hotel in Torquay, and Andrew Sachs as Manuel, a well-meaning, but rather daft Spanish waiter who struggles to understand English without too much success. 

Here below, you can watch a selection of funny sketches called "Bad Customer Service". Although the video (10:38) has subtitles and some of the humour is visual, the language is fast and there is no context for each of the clips, so, it is recommended for C1 students, who will find intersting words like: crummy, shady,  to crawl, to lick, to spit, a puff adder, to trespass, mahogamy, to top, to stuff, to sharpen, the punch line, garbage, to shup up, highly strung, a dump, puke, proper, to unscrew, to scrape [it off], to drop in, to stick [your nose], to get my dander up, grotty, to get away with it, prawn, to faint [it], bastard, to care for [something], snob, stuck up, toffee-nosed, half-witted, upper-class.

If you want to watch Manuel's humorous misunderstandings, you can watch "Too Much Butter", "Manuel's in Charge", or "Manuel's Funniest Moments. Part 1". Happy Easter!

Telepathy? A Brain Implant Lets Impaired Patients Do Incredible Things with their Thoughts

Mark, a patient with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), can send health notifications and text messages using his thoughts and a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) called Synchron BCI, which was developed by Australian neurosurgeon Dr. Thomas Oxley, and was implanted without major brain surgery by Dr. Raul G. Nogueira, according to the CNN Business video report "An implant in his brain lets him do incredible things with his thoughts".  I would like to thank my colleague Nuria G. for the information about this CNN Business report.

The 5:37 video with subtitles is suitable for B2 students and above, who will come across interesting words like: to send out, a pretty involved [process], [I don't take] lightly, ALS, to sign up to a clinical trial, a stentrode,

 

[brain computer] interface, [to play] pong, FDA [approval], a caregiver, paralysis, [motor] impairment, a wired mesh, [electrode] sensors, a stent, to sit in a [major] vein, deployed in a blood vessel, [minimally] invasive, a device, to fire impulses, an [electrical] signature, [electrical] patterns, [to take] a snapshot, a domain [of function], skull, garbled, [in the patient's] setting, tournament.

If you want further information, you can listen to Dr. Thomas Oxley talking about how close neurosurgery is to telepathy, that is, to a brain-computer interface for people who have lost the capacity to move or speak. This Sydney TED-Talk lasts 15:50, and can be watched with subtitles by B2 students and above.

International Women's Day 2024

March 8th is International Women's Day.  BBC News explains the origins of the event in International Women's Day: When is it and why is it important?. This article is suitable for B2 students, who will come across interesting words like: to mark, a seed, to march, an advocate, to tie [to], a strike, a tsar, a blossom, the legacy, a trailblazer, to highlight, gender violence, an allegation, rape, to ban, to hinder, to defy [the rules], lengthy jail terms, to be abducted, a ransom, wellbeing.

In another article, BBC 100 Women 2023, you can read about the  most inspiring and influential women of 2023, including Spanish football player Aitana Bonmatí (this video is in Spanish, Catalan and English, with a voice over in Spanish), Qiyun Woo, a storyteller and environmentalist from Singapore; Timmit Gebru, an AI expert and anti-racial bias campaigner from Ethiopia, Huda Kattan, an American beauty businesswoman; Najla Mohamed-Lamin, a Western Sahara women's rights and climate activist; Isabel Farías Meyer, an early menopause campaigner from Chile; Sara Al-Saqqa, a general surgeon in the Palestinian Territories (the images in the video might hurt your sensibility); Sonia Guajajara, a State Minister in Brazil; America Ferrera, the actress who played Barbie and its iconic monologue.

Paulina Chiziane, a writer in Mozambique, Clara Elizabeth Fragoso Ugarte, a Mexican truck driver (this video is in Spanish); Xu Zaozao, an egg freezing campaigner in China (this video is in Chinese with English subtitles), Ulanda Mtamba, a campaigner against child marriage in Malawi.

Afroze-Numa, a shepherdess in Pakistan (the video is in Wakhi language with French subtitles), Neema Namadamu, a disability rights campaigner in Congo, Gloria Steinem, a feminist leader in the US, Sumini, a forest manager in Indonesia, Yael Braudo-Bahat, a peace activist in Israel, Vee Kativhu, a YouTuber in Zimbabwe and UK, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, a Ugandan veterinarian, and Dayeon Lee, a campaigner for Kpop4Planet in South Korea, among other women. 

The articles and the videos can be used with C1 students and above. Some interesting words you can find in the BBC article are: to reveal, attorney, a wildfire, a flood, to tackle, to break down, overwhelming, to dismantle, a shepherdess, a yak, to die out, a flock, barter, bias, to be fired, to raise an issue, to freeze [he eggs], procedure, to take [the hospital] to court, the verdict, pending, to rally [K-pop fans], to pivot, a pledge, to prevent [the hospital] from [treating patients], to raid [a hospital], a target, to follow in her footstepts, early menopause, [ovarian] failure, to launch, a network, to grow up in [Oklahoma], to shun [a corporate career], to pursue [her passion], to enroll in [a school], a clientele, a brand, to encompass, a midfielder, to be crowned, to speak out [for equality], to be overshadowed, the fallout, the burgeoning [indigenous rights movement], to vow [to make], illiterate, to wreak on [an ecosystem], lead [actress category], to flee [violence], a sandstorm, grassroots, outskirts, to juggle, to set up, endangered, eroded, to downgrade, to address [a crisis], the mainstream, a seasoned [organisation], floods, deforestation, forestry, logging, at-risk [wildlife], rampant, poaching, to tackle [a crisis], to drop out [of school], to owe [much to her mentor], to foster [understanding].

To finish the entry with a joyful note, you can watch Dayeon dancing "Se Acabó" and celebrate International Women's Day, 2024:

St. David's Day, 2024 / Dydd Gwyl Dewi, 2024

Wales is one of the four countries that constitute the United Kingdom. It is a small country, nevertheless, it has a vast literary history, a profound identity and an unwavering zest to preserve its cultural heritage. March 1st is St. David's Day, a celebration of Welshness around the world with street parades, concerts, festivals and Eisteddfods (Welsh arts & culture festivals), school games, homemade food etc. In this entry you will find a score of links to mark St. David's Day and join in the Welsh fun.

Visit Wales lists a wide range of partying activities in Epic Ways to Celebrate St. David's Day: it starts with a brief history of Saint David, a missionary and miracle man who preached "be joyful, keep the faith and do the little things" --his biography can also be watched at length on this Trisagion Film video entitled "Do the little things".  Back to Epic Ways to Celebrate St. David's Day, the article moves on to name the venues of the festivals, it also provides ideas to dress up, to cook traditional Welsh "cawl" soup, saussages, or cakes, and it ends up by visiting the city of St. David's and its superb cathedral. The Epic Ways to Celebrate St. David's Day text  is suitable for B2 students, who will find interesting expressions like: a broadcaster, daffodils, a leek, wondrous, [to travel] far and wide, scores of [religious communities], [his] remains, to settle, to be canonized, the Pope, a parade, to pin [an emblem] to the lapel, reliable, lavish, a host of [events], heritage, a costume, to spot, a banner, a procession, to head down to [the Hayes], a rousing [rendition], a shindig, a [food] stall, cookery, arts and crafts, a [daffodil] dash, an outpouring, a random, a bake off, to fuel [it] out, homemade, a settlement, [to bring out] the bunting, undulating, a fortress, to be dotted, a big hitter, a lesser-known [spot].

The Trisagion Film video with subtitles, "Do the little things" (13:34), can be accessible for B2+ and C1 students.

If you prefer a shorter journalistic report you can read the Evening Standard's article "St. David's Day 2024: why and how Wales celebrates its patron saint." This article can be accessible to B1 students, who will come across the following vocabulary: patron saint, a bank holiday, unlike, to mark [the day], a feast, a cliff,  fierce, a nun, a claim, to found [a monastery], [a Cathedral] to stand, to host, a parade, a leek, a helmet, a dish, cawl, bara brith, to top [your cake], a [lemon] curd, a sprinkle [of sugar], [to take to] the stage, [Go to a] gig, a singer-songwriter. 

Whereas WalesOnline reports on the Croeso celebration in Swansea, which started on February 29th, with the article "Huge four-day St. David's Day Celebration in Swansea with centrepiece spectacular parade through city".

Primary school teachers can find an array of resources to decorate classrooms, to play with children, a video to watch or some PowerPoints about St. David in the link St. David's Day on Twinkl.es. Techie teachers can use digital tools to build St. David's Cathedral with Minecraft, to write a Welsh recipe with Adobe Creative Cloud Express, to create images & animations with J2e, and find some more support materials & resources around the topic of St. David on Hwb, the National Digital Learning Platform.

St. David's Day is marked all around the world. Wales Week in London takes place for a fortnight, from 22nd February to 5th March 2024, and it features arts & crafts exhibitions, artisan food & drink tasting events, concerts, theatre, business talks etc. The number of cities around the world that honour St. David's Day has been growing since the covid19 pandemic impacted the spread of commemorations across the world. In A worldwide celebration of Wales, you can find parades and festivals in Bangkok, British Columbia, Dublin, Hungary, Iran, Kansas, Melbourne, New York, Osaka, Paris, Tokyo etc.

You can finally watch the Visit Wales video to visit St. David's, the smallest city in the UK, with a population of less than 2,000 people, and listen to some its inhabitants explaining the charms of the city. This short 2:11 video without subtitles can be easily avilable for B2 students.

After reading and watching all this, you can take this online St. David's Quiz  from the blog Office Holidays, to assess how much you have learnt about Wales and its patron saint. Good luck!

'Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus' - 'Happy St David's Day' in Welsh. On this short video from We Learn Welsh, you can hear the proper Welsh pronunciation.