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.

CES 2024 Las Vegas, the Latest Gizmos & Gadgets

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2024) is the number 1 electronics fair in the world, where the most competitive technological companies showcase their latest innovations, and where the most powerful CEO's meet to do buisness and present their corporate visions for the future. The event is held in Las Vegas, and the speeches can be followed online at ces.tech or on the social media. This Las Vegas tech show is certainly worth watching.

The media around the world cover the event to report about the latest and wierdest gadgets that are going to shape our near domestic future. Here you can find 3 videos which feature different, and, sometimes, the same technological breakthroughs.

The first one, from Euronews, has few words and subtitles, so, it can be accessed by B2 students. It is entitled CES 2024: Some of the weird and the wonderful tech innovations and gadgets unveiled so far, you can find it on the link and just under this list of interesting words: hairdryer, to unveil, gadget, infrared light, thermal rods, to heat, up to  [30% less energy],a valet, a concept [car], weird, angle, an assembly plant, a rental car, a twin, a memo, to claim, to monetise (Am Eng), a 9 to 5 [job], a break, an aero taxi, affordable, aircraft, to target, man-made, regulations, foldable, to showcase, tough, an array, a [temperature] shock, icing, a display, scenario, freezing, a screen, a fair, to run. 

Firstpost, the Indian news website, highlights the Top 5 Gadgets at the CES 2024 Tech Show. C1 students can find a number of AI powered robots and machines like the Afeela car by Sony & Honda, the Mobion car by Hyundai, a digital fishtank and OLEG transparent TV set by Samsung and LG, ¨ballie" a home companion robot by Samsung, and an AI enhanced robot masseuse. Some interesting words in this video are: a tech show, brand, a tech gala, to show off, flavour, AI powered, dashboard, a barista, to crab walk, gadget, a steering wheel, to decree, to come up with [an alternative], a prototype, to manoeuver, run-of-the-mill, a racing game, to charge [the car], a pin, to hit the market, a concept, unique, to take a peek, parallel parking, a viewing experience, wireless, a click, new age, to release, to end up [making TVs], obsolete, altogether, to enhance, to rush, [to change] the game, to map out, appliance, a switch, a stalker, a chore, to get rid of, a pick, to round up, masseuse, some tissue, a hit, a marvel, to get a glimpse.

The Washington Post reports about The Weirdest and best of CES 2024, including an AI ring, an AI cat door, and electric ski shoes. This video is denser and faster so it is recommended for C2 students without subtitles and C1 with subtitles, and you can find words like a glimpse, a backpack, comfy [shoes], a standout, a display, to double, a catch-all, home assistant, to ship, built-in, homebound, seniors, to be [fully] fleshed out, to work out [details], to tote, to track, well-being, veteran, telekinesis, IR blaster, a device, a [flat] switch, a toggle, an appliance, prey, to strap, a handle, a brake, off you go.

St. Patrick's Day

With social restrictions in place because of COVID19, St. Patrick's Day is going to be celebrated differently again in 2021, but, it is still going to be a worldwide online celebration.  To join in the fun, and feel the spirit of Paddy's Day, here you can watch a selection of videos and a quiz.

The first video comes from The Economist, and it explains the history and relevance of St. Patrick's Day as a celebration of the brand "Ireland" and "Guinness", Ireland's main export to the world. The video is only 2':22" long, the pace of the narrator's voice is not fast, and there are good subtitles, so it is suitable for B1 students and above.

For a more institutional version of the "Ireland" brand, you can watch this serious 2021 video produced by the Irish Foreign Ministry, which lasts 3':06", and has subtitles, but whose language and background music, make it more suitable for B2 students and above.

SmarterTravel shows a tourist view of St. Patrick's Day celebration in the streets and pubs of Dublin back in 2018, in this 1':13" video with big, simple text and no voice, which is also suitable for B1 students.

C1 students and above can visit the webpage of the Irish Times and do a general knowledge test about Irishology.

And finally, to rejoice your heart, you can tap your foot to the catchy rhythm of an Irish song and enjoy this cute video by Jess Glynn, published in 2014, which can be recommended for B1 students and even for lower levels. Happy Paddy's Day!

Oral Presentations and Public Speaking Tips

December is a good month for oral presentations. Students have a long bank holiday in Spain and not many university exams yet, so they can prepare a short, five-minute presentation about a topic of their choice. This activity takes only three lessons, one to give them encouragement and basic guidelines and two lessons for the presentations themselves, all in all, from 5 to 6:30 hours of classroom time and the results are always impressive.

Here you can find a Lesson Plan for B2, C1 and C2 students which revolves around an Interactive Exercise that was originally published by Allyn & Bacon Public Speaking (www.abpublicspeaking.com, but this link is no longer available on the web), which has been adapted for B2, C1 and C2 students. You can also find the Key to the Interactive Exercise, which the teacher can use to give students the main guidelines for the task, and an Oral Presentation Checklist to help the teacher assess the presentations. 

You can also find three more handouts: 10 Tips for Improving Your Public Speaking Skills by Marjorie North from Harvard Extension School, Oral Presentations from Duke University Writing Studio, and a glossary with Useful Language for Oral Presentations, that my colleague Mar C. once passed me, which can be a really useful vocabulary list. In addition, C1 and C2 students can also watch this 14':46" video with subtitles by Thomas Frank and listen to his 9 Public Speaking Tips:

YouTube is loaded with videos to help students start speaking in public, here you can find two more links: Presentations in English, How to Give a Presentation by Oxford Online English, which is suitable for B2 and less experienced students, and 6 Public Speaking Tips to Hook Any Audience, by Mohamed Qahtani, which can be interesting for C2 students who want to incorporate basic acting techniques to present longer monologues and engage their audiences. And the best models for modern, oral rhetoric  can currently be found at TED Talks.

Some of the words you will find in the Interacative Exercise Key are: to churn, to wring [wet], to spell disaster, to dispel, the flow [of your points], setting, reservations to overcome, the adrenaline rush, to tighten, self-defeating, to discard, time constraints, time slot, to disrupt, an issue, to undermine, to strive [for comfort], a cap with a bill, overly loose clothing, blousy sleeves, smooth, to mar [the flow of speech], to interject, to stare, to scan, to dwell, the prevailing [norm], to avert from [direct eye contact], to pace [back and forth], to sway [to and fro], the culprit, to set up [a display table], a slide show, to enhance [my presentation], to engage [the audience], a rule of thumb, the razzle and dazzle, a back up [plan], a [computer] crashes, a bulb blows, overhead [transparencies].

The Future of Jobs: the Most Valuable Skills for 2021-2025

In the challenging economic scenario of a global pandemic, which has brought about confinements, telework, shop closures, furlough schemes, but also new business opportunities for pharmaceutical or computer companies, what are the top job skills that thriving companies are seeking in their new recruits? Here you have a collection of four articles that list the most highly demanded soft and tech skills in the corporate world.

The first article comes form HR Vision, it quotes the recently published World Economic Forum report, "The Future of Jobs", which predicts that by 2025, in the summit of a digital and biological revolution -the 4th Industrial Revolution- companies will be seeking candidates with communication and interpersonal skills, the so-called "soft skills", like "complex problem solving", "critical thinking", "creativity", "people management" or "emotional intelligence" to outperform robots and get things done in a changing business environment. The complexity of the vocabulary makes this article suitable for C2 students.

You will come across words like, self-driving cars, quantum computing, on the cusp of [the Fourth Industrial Revolution], lightning speed [advancements], [a] mind-bloggling [change], to earmark, genomics, to thrive [in this brave new world], to survey, leading [companies], to strap yourself, to rev up, flux capacitator, a balance beam, to swing, to leap, to twirl, back and forth, limber, to shed [new] light, nimble, to flex [our cognitive muscles], to take up, try your hand at [an art class], to glaze over, the comfort zone, to embrace, to flag, for the time being, to be high up [on the list], to shine a spotlight on [consumers], carbon footprint, food safety, labour standards, a grip on [service oritentation], to step into [the minds], the knack [for strong decision-making skills], to nab [seventh spot], sheer [volume], to amass, to sift through, to figure out, to set aside [time], overwhelming, skillsets, to give a boost, to play off, to piggyback, artsy, seemingly, to unleash, on a regular basis, to wander, to weigh up [the pros and cons], savvy, to give [humans] a run for their money, to top [the list], settings, in a nutshell, at breakneck speed, core [skills], to zero in, to be honed, the holy grail, to keep apace [with the changes].

ToolBox, quotes various sources to list the top 10 technical skills in demand for 2021: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) top the list, followed by Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing -dominated by market leader Amazon AWS, which is building three new data processing centres in Aragon- and Data Analytics. This article contains a lot of technical jargon, so it is classified above C2 and it is recommended for Experts (level Ex).

Here, you will find words such as [IT] openings, fierce [competition], high-paying [jobs], [the most] sought-after [tech skills], to grab [top-paying jobs], in-demand, pegged, core, to mine [data], insights, pro, neural networks, natural language processing, robotics, deep learning, chatbot, in the wake of [pandemic recovery], [top technology] trends, to range from, ethical hacker, a prospective [employer], a sexy [job], to rule the roost, to rely on [data], highly valued, to crown as [the top emerging in-demand role], data wrangling, k-means clustering technique, software developers, shortcomings, latency, edge computing, to bypass, the Internet of Things (IoT), to fit in, versed in, embedded systems, rampant, to focus on, scrum, to pursue [excellence], to reckon, to pair, to advance [a career], to open up, back-end [framework skills], the job [outlook], to spruce up, double-digit [growth], to qualify [for a position], to upgrade, to match [your career goals], 

LinkedIn Learning lists the top skills needed in 2020, and the courses where you can learn those skills (for free only up to February 2020). At the end of the article, you can also watch a short promotional video with automatic subtitles (1':00"). This text is slightly easier, so, it can be read by C1 students above.

In this article you will find words and expressions like: to surface, timely [data], in-demand, to stand out, to unlock, to hone, highly sought after [skills], to dive into [the list], to make or break, to take on [new opportunities], to top [the list], soft skills, [top] spots, evergreen, to gravitate towards, to fall off [the list], to advance [your career], to brush up, stakeholders, [follow your] lead, to embrace [reality], to show up, stressful, to underscore, blockchain, to highlight, workforce, asset, to be run, [to uncover] insights, to augment, to harness [the power of AI...], the [average] attention span], expertise, a must-have [hard skill], to leverage, [to be] hyper-targeted, to be hard pressed, [the sales] funnel, insatiable [appetite for video content], to cultivate [essential soft skills], to be empowered, 

Finally, here you can read the list of the top job skills for 2025 from the World Economic Forum webpage, and an estimate of how long it will take employees to reskill.  This article is suitable for C1 students.

In this article, you will encounter words like: to reskill, to top [the list], resilience, to require, double-disruption, to take hold, to map, to track, at our disposal, the bounty, to be leveraged, to unleash, to upskill, to deploy [safety nets], to be displaced, destitution, bespoke, to thrive, to estimate, a shift, in-demand [skills], gaps, core [skills], to track, granularity, cross-cutting [skills], to pick up [new skills], a sharp [rise], trend, a fourfold [increase], to seek out [opportunities], fivefold, ninefold, funding, to purse [new opportunities].

Display Copy: Old Clothes are the Newest Thing in Fashion

Display Copy is a new fashion magazine that just features vintage and thrifted items from second hand and charity shops like eBay, Etsy or the Salvation Army, but pictured by top-notch models and photographers. "The idea was to make used clothes desirable", says Brian Hemingway, editor of the magazine.  The New York Times reports that "upcycling" is gaining momentum in the fashion industry, and well-established brand names like Miu-Miu, Levi's, Maison Margiela, Patagonia, Gucci, Stella McCartney or Burberry have launched collections of recycled clothes and have set up second life stores.  This article is suitable for C1 students.

You will come across words like: disposablility, chic, a host of big brands, joy, upcycling, the cover [of a magazine], to feature, to debut, newsstands, a plus-size model, inclusivity, glossy shoots, vintage, secondhand, thrifted, pre-loved, for resale, a stream of [mostly] on-line shoppable [content], collectible, sustainable, [upcycled] apparel, 18-karat gold, to scour flea markets [for inspiration], to embrace, to tweak, to refashion, to jazz up, to unveil, a buyback [program], denim, to follow the footsteps, garments, charity shops, to deconstruct, to rework, to double down on [the idea], to come in the wake of, pioneer, attire, partnership, second life store, samples and pieces, to gather [dust], closet, to sell off, embellishment, tags, one-off, quasi-couture, to plot, to reissue, a cape, premier, to put the spotlight on, conventional wisdom, to addle [their senses], to risk [losing their attention], [wallet] share, to turn out, short term, to reek of [insecurity], to rely on [freneticism], white noise, to boost sales, a glut [of stuff], the value proposition, to hang on to [a garment], to be done with [something], to grapple with [the impact of..., the problem], [systems] weren't in place, housedress, leftover fabric, pandemic, lockdown, mills, deadstock, to prompt [Farfetched to expand], on-site [credit], the landfill [problem], to bolster, the [much] heralded [growth], to hit [$ 6 billion], to turn away from, to price out of [something], accessories, to co-opt, to gross out, to move on, to open a new realm [of possibility].

If you want to read on, you can try this Refinery29 article about Fall 2020 fashion trends, which includes streams of technical jargon to describe the garments in detail as well as pictures. The vocabulary of this report is suitable for C2 students.

100,000 Mink to be Culled in Aragon

The BBC reports that 100,000 mink are going to be culled in a farm in Puebla de Valverde (Teruel) because they have been infected with coronavirus, after Joaquín Olona, agriculture minister for the Aragon region, announced the decision yesterday.  The outbreak was discovered back in May, when the wife of a farm worker was infected with the virus.  It is not clear, though, if transmission from animals to humans and viceversa is possible.  Similar cases have been found in the Netherlands and Denmark, major producers of mink for their fur. Click here if you want more details of the story.

This report is suitable for B2 students.  You will find interesting words and expressions in context like mink, to be culled, an outbreak, to contract the virus, to test positive, to be bred for their fur, hotspots, to stress [an idea], unwittingly, an unsubstantiated theory, to pass on a disease, to be slaughtered.

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.

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.

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.

Panic Buying and Coronavirus

Shoppers in the UK are rushing to the supermarkets to stockpile toilet paper, hand sanitiser, tinned food or pasta as fears to the spread of coronavirus grow (B2 level). 

If you want to find out more about the pychology of panic buying, and how it has been observed in different crisis and natural disasters all over the wold, you can read this longer article (C2 level). 

Peugeot Ready to Buy New Car Companies

The Peugeot family, one of the main shareholders of the PSA group (Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel, Vauxhall) has stated that they are ready to support a new acquisition, if an opportunity presents itself.  Fiat Christler is a candidate for a merger, New Delhi TV reports.  This short article is classified as B2.

Reuters reports that shares of Fiat Chrisler jumped 5.2%  yesterday as a result of the Peugeot family announcement while shares of Peugeot also rose 2.7%.  Reuters mentions General Motors and Jaguar Land Rover as other ideal partners in a future merger.  This financial story contains more technical language, so it is classified as C2.

Best Tech of World Mobile Congress 2019

The World Mobile Congress in Barcelona whirled around 5G technology -which won't be widely available until 2020- while it showcased the latest in mobile phones, foldable smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S10, the Huawei Mate X or the Nokia 9 PureView -with more rear cameras than any other. But there were other gadgets on the Fira Gran Via floor:  Microsoft presented its HoloLens 2, a light mixed reality headset only available for enterprises right now.  The best camera zoom was the Oppo 10x and the biggest microSD card was the ScanDisk Extreme with 1TB of storage capacity.  Huawei launched a faster and more powerful laptop, the MateBook X Pro (2019). The prices of these devices match their top-notch quality, as you can read in this link to Mashable, which opens the door to the technology you will be using in the future.

Although the Mashable report above is short and it illustrated with photos, the density of the information and the technical vocabulary makes this text a C1 reading task.

If you still want to find out more about the organization of the WMC -the exhibitors, the speakers, the seminars, the programmes, the networking  possibilities and much more- you can click here on the official web page of the congress.  Reading this long and technical text could be a C2 task.

Art for Rent at the Weisman Art Museum

The Pond, by Hide Kawanishi (1957)

The Weisman Art Museum of Minnesota offers students, employees and departments the possibility of renting original pieces of art to decorate their homes or offices for six months at affordable prices, The Minnesota Daily reports.

Here you can find a link to the Weisman Art Museum webpage that explains the characteristics of the art rental programme.

A High Fashion, Trash Shopping Mall in Sweden

BBC News reports about this shopping mall in Eskilstuna, near Stockholm, where everything is recycled.  It is located right next to the city's recycling centre, shopkeepers pick unwanted household objects which they resell or upcycle. The mall also hosts a design school, where students learn how to upcycle donated objects.  It is creative, sustainable and a business success.  Do you think this idea would work outside Sweden? Why/why not?

Do not miss the short video with subtitles at the bottom of the report, there you can see the shopping mall with your own eyes.

The Coolest Gadgets for 2019

The CES 2019 at Las Vegas is the largest consumer technology fair in the world.  It showcases more than 4,500 exhibiting companies that present their latest gadgets.  Here you can find the coolest gizmos from this year's edition:  a rool-up TV screen, an electric Harley Davidson motorbike, a quantum computer, a headband for insomniacs, an instant water-heater for tea, the fastest tooth brush in the world and the most beautiful gaming monitor ever. 

CES 2019 displayed amazing innovations in TV technology.  Here you can watch a video and read an article about the latest trends in TV sets.

Bangladesh Garment Workers Strike

Workers in the garment industry in Bangladesh went on strike over low wages for more than two weeks.  One worker was killed and 50 were injured in clashes with the police. International retail giants like H&M, Walmart, Primark, Tesco or Aldi are among the main buyers of clothes made in Bangladesh.

Here you can read a report from The Times of India about the unrest and the clashes with the police (Jan. 9th, 2019).

And here you can read another story from Channel News Asia (Singapore) that reports about the sacking of hundreds of workers after the protest ended and strikers returned to work (Jan. 16th., 2019).

The Most Expensive Ham in the World

How much are you prepared to pay for the top-notch leg of Spanish ham? This BBC report talks about the most expensive Spanish ham in the world.