Valentine's Day: The Best Places to Elope in 2026

How are you going to celebrate Valentine's Day? With a romantic walk in a sunny, sheltered forest? With a candle-lit dinner at a rustic restaurant, or tucked-away in your sofa with fluffy pillows and a warm cup of tea?  Eva Sandoval has some travel ideas for the adventurous and affluent who want to elope and get married away from a crowded banquet -and for everyone else who uses their imagination to travel the world!

In the BBC story "Chosen by experts: Where to elope in 2026" B2 students will find lovey-dovery ideas for a Valentine elopement and interesting English expressions like: to elope, [to get] engaged, commitment, [to be] on the rise, soaring [wedding costs], stunning [locations], [increasingly] chic, cheesy, shameful, to trace [the shift back to the mid-2020s], wanderlust, [to push the idea into] the mainstream, to swap, a vow, thrilling, to splash out, wilderness, a no-brainer, to tie the knot, a loch, secluded [wilderness], untouristed, heather, [nuptials] hack, the red tape, alleyways, a cove, to unfold, a dip [in the Mediterranean], the vibe, the cliffside, laid-back [pace], a leap [of faith], overrun, touristy, off the beaten path, a rugged [landscape], a pristine [beach], a mezze [platter], [the coastline] dotted, to crave, to rough it, to be studded, a [major] draw, a melting pot, bougie, a cerulean [sea], to overlook [the ocean], a bliss, the scenery, unmatched, a moose, to blow [your] mind, a glacier, a waterfall, trooper, lush [volcanic topography].

You can also watch this 4:42 video with the Top 5 Adventurous Elopements in U.S. from Simply Eloped, which is recommende for B2 students and above.

Russia Tricks Africans to Die in Ukraine

African young men are being recruited with lies to end up fighting in the frontline in the Ukranian war, Larry Madawo reports for CNN. They are promised high salaries and Russian citizenship for civilian jobs, but they are sent to the most dangerous spots of the Ukrainian war instead, and they are even forced to carry out suicidal missions at gunpoint (Warning: some of the images in the video can be disturbing!).

This harrowing story of human trafficking is suitable for C2 students in the video version and for C1 students in the written version. In the video, students will encounter expressions like: to entice, to lure, to recruit, a land mine, to strap, to storm [positions], a can opener, to trace, traumatising, a [Kenyan] number (person), a growing [number of men], to glamorise, to brag, [to feel] trapped, shrapnel, an ambush, an armour [vest], buttocks, a grenade, to flee, (fled), aimed at [foreign fighters], a sign on [bonus], wounded, [to have] an issue, [to go] underground, a crackdown, to sign up.

In the longer, written story, C1 students will find interesting expressions like: to fight back tears, to reach [somebody], to end up, to serve [in the military], the frontline, a [Kenyan] number (person), a [racist] slur, a can opener, to breach, distraught, his plight, a last-ditch effort, to jolt, to hurl [racist slurs], to be deployed, to uncover [new details], a rosy [promise], a first-hand [account], to entice, to bolster [its ranks], to dupe [into becoming mercenaries], to follow suit, to be coerced, to flee, at gunpoint, a binding [picture of service], to lock [the serviceman into broad obligations], to reimburse, to trigger, to surrender [a passport], to disclose [sensitive information], a screenshot, the enrollment [procedure], to allege [racism], to admonish, pidgin [English], in the target [country], [forced] conscription, [countless] casualties, to rot, a limb, to spotlight, a send-off, committed, a [military] tag, to desert, to handle [firearms], a grenade, to chase [me away], to issue [him with a travel document], buttocks, a pipeline, a windfall, [plans] [to go] awry, to miscarry, a limp [hand], bait [for Ukrainian drones], an assault, a recruiter.

CGTN Africa, the division of the Chinese Global Television Network based in Nairobi, also covered this story last month, as you can see in this 6':37" video whose images are less explicit. This video can be recommended for C1 students:

Sirat: a Gripping Road Movie to Hell

Sirat is a Spanish film that is competing for the Oscars (Best International Feature Film & Best Sound), after having won the Jury Prize of the Cannes Film Festival. Here you can listen to an 8-minute review of the film by NPR & The New Yorker critic Justin Chang.

Film reviews often feature a dense, florid prose, which can prove really tough for EFL students, and indeed, Justin Chang's review is rich in synonyms and precise with collocations, yet, it does not go over the top with cinema or literary references, so the text can be recommended for B2 students, who can expand their lexical base, whereas the audio version is more suitable for C1 students, who can pick up interesting words and collocations like: a gripping [film], a raver, a fitting [title], exhilarating, devastating, an unlikely [traveling companion], to make your way [through a godforsaken stretch of the Sahara Desert], the setting, derivative, a reveler, a dystopian [thriller], to sweep [you up], the propulsive [beat], an unruly [desert], a bacchanal, to vanish, to show up, to break up [the party], the ensuing [chaos], to drive off, bound [for another rave further south], to chronicle, a perilous [journey], the cast, mesmerizing [ability], to feel for [somebody], an off-the-grid [daredevil], a [dangerous] trek, a camper van, treacherous [terrain], reluctantly, to tag along, to help [each other] out, to ford [a small river], a steep [mountain road], an overwhelming [experience], propelled [by that thrillingly percussive score], to strike, a nail-biter, wary, mistrustful, at his bleakest [moments], [his driving skills] to come in handy, tenderness, unrelenting [in its ferocity], [apocalypse] to loom, a pitiless [world]. 

You can watch the official trailer below:

For futher information, you can read the Wikipedia entry for Sirat, which includes its locations in La Rambla de Barrachina (Teruel), in Er-Rachidia and in Erfoud (Morocco). Below, you can also watch director Oliver Laxe talking to Dennis Lim at the 63rd New York Film Festival and actor Sergi López struggling with English to explain his trade with the help of an interpreter. This conversation is recommended for C2 students:

How Rich is Donald Trump?

While the world is talking about President Trump's military action in Venezuela, and his threats over Greenland, there is a question that not many journalists are covering anymore: 

What is Donald Trump's net worth?

Forbes has been calculating Trump's fortune, and last September they gave the figure of $7.3 billion in the article "The Definitive Net Worth of Donald Trump", as his fortune shot up in the first nine months of his presidency with $3 extra billions made on his cryptocurrency ventures, his legal team successes and the licences his branding company has sold to foreign developers. The report includes some personal and family data, like his pension fund ($2 million) and the $50,000 annual interest that his three eldest children pay him for loans that amount to $5 million.

If you want to find out the details of Trump's assets and liabilities, you can read the Forbes article, "The Definitive Net Worth of Donald Trump" which is short, but it is recommended for C2 students for its abundant business & finance vocabulary, where you will encounter interesting American-spelt expressions like:
a tally, to leverage [the presidency for profit], to stall out, a [court] judgement, dormant, a licencing [business], to surge, to clamor, to drop off, a liquid asset, net value, [to be] flush with cash, a stockpile, a memecoin, a token, the buzz, [a coin] to unlock [value], to get off to a [rocky start], to snap up, a pile, to lock up, a stablecoin, to tie [to the dollar], to mint [a stablecoin], to drive [adoption], a venture, a [crypto] exchange, a bundle, a bunch [of cash], a stake [in a firm], from [a financial] standpoint, a net loss, revenue, to bid up [shares], head-scratching [prices], a liability, [Trump's golf game] to take off, a profit, to foreshadow, an indebted [golf resort], [to put it] underwater, [business] to pick up, real estate, a leasehold, retail, to wound, glitzy, to oversee, to refinance, to hedge [a variable interest rate], [a portion, a stake] to float, a condo, a penthouse [apartment], to helm [a business], to boast, to leverage [its network], to pay off [a debt], to unburden [a property], a [residential] lot [of land], a winery, to terminate [a loan], to offload, a shell company, a co-op [unit], to disclose [a price], to list [it for sale], to slash [a price], vacant land, a storage unit, a licencing [business], a branding [business], a tax return, sweetheart, a [legal] liability, an appellate court, to throw out [a €500 million court judgement], to stem [from], [to remain/ to be] on the hook, [interests] to accrue, to keep score.

If you want to do some listening, you can watch the Forbes video below, President Donald Trump's Net Worth Revealed, April 2025, which shows slightly different figures to the September article above, but allows students to hear the pronunciation of a very similar text -this video is also recommended for C2 students. For more background information, you can also read the lengthy Wikipedia entry Wealth of Donald Trump, which is recommended for teachers and experts.