Jaialdi/ San Inazio, the Basque Festivals in Idaho

Jaialdi is a major Basque Festival held in Boise, Idaho, every five years. Thousands of Basques migrated to the Western states of the U.S. in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, to work as shepherds or farm labourers in the cattle ranches. In 1987, the first Jaialdi festival began to celebrate Basque heritage in Boise and now it is the largest and most popular festival in the Basque diaspora. San Inazio is a smaller festivity that takes place every year, both events are organised by the Basque Center in Boise.

Jaialdi 2025 runs from July 29th to August 3rd. B1 students can read the article "Drinks and dancing though the decades: Boise's Basque Festival Jaialdi returns this week" written by Jaime Gear on Boise State Public Radio, and they will find interesting expressions like: to chop, an attendee, a [basque] staple, the Gold Rush, a tight-knit [community], a garb, buoyant, to toss, a hay bale. For B2 students, George Prentice's story "Dancing, wagon lifting, chorizo and kalimotxo. Hey Boise, here's your Jaialdi 2025 preview" is more suitable, as the text summarizes a more complex (13':06") radio interview to Lael Uberuaga in "Morning Edition" (C1 level). Some of the expressions in the article are: an overstatement, to skip, to date back [to 1987], a footprint, to stretch, naively, to reconvene, to gather, a vendor, to get underway, an attendee, to ramp up, to dub, herri kirolak, a hay bale, to hoist, an anvil, to be hard-pressed.

If you want further information about Basque culture in Idaho, you can check The Basque Museum and Cultural Center (BMCC) in Boise, which includes Esther Ciganda's The Immigrant All Around podcasts -where Pedro Ciganda's bilingual account of how he picked up English and how he adjusted to the American way of life, is highly recommendable, and the BMCC Oral Histories, a library of interviews to numerous Basque migrants like José Ramón Larrea, or their desendants like Juan Pablo Aramburu who talk about their experiences in the U.S.A. You can also watch a Visit Idaho video about the Basque Block in Boise or another short video from Idaho News 6 about San Inazio 2024, the smaller festival which is held annually.

Finally, C1 students can watch the KTVB report with subtitles below about Jaialdi, where they will find expressions like: a gamut, a thunderstorm, to honour [the culture], to head [to], a closure, to check out, to shape, seating.

Backstage with Shakira

Shakira is in the middle of a tour in North and South America, "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Women No Longer Cry)" and Mark Savage has interviewed the Colombian artist in the backstage of the Miami show for BBC News in the article "My kids are the reason I'm alive: Backstage with Shakira". The report peeps into all the seamstress and laundry work behind an international musical show with an interview to head of wardrobe, Hannah Kinkade, and it also revisits the recent personal upheavals of Shakira and how she has managed to get over every setback and relaunch her career. 

The first half of the article contains very precise fashion & music show vocabulary, colloquial expressions and interesting collocations but the sentences are quite short, so, it can accessible for B2 students and above, who can pick up words like: backstage, bowels, to be taped, on fire, a scrawl, to put on [a stadium tour], sold out, to polish, frayed nerves, a screaming [match], vibe, to stretch, seamstress, to sew, a catsuit, a [guitar] check, tuning, to hang around, a tumble dryer, to plumb in, a venue, wardrobe, a costume, to care for, to stitch, to scrub, an outfit, to scuff [their shoes], to stash [reserves of Gatorade], iced coffee, sticky [Miami heat], a trade-off, the underworld, a set, to stash away, to stud, a [sound] check, [non-]deceitful, to be flanked, a [police] escort, flared, a vest [top], flawless, the crew, to deliver, a quip, a wink, to be [full] out, to figure something out, one way or another, a pan pipe, a riff, a wristband, a workout, [the obsession] to pay off, a parade, a [tribal-knife] routine, to thrash, to howl, to bray, heartbreak, [personal] upheaval, to fall apart, [tax] fraud, to settle [a case], out of court, to prompt, an outburst, a barb, a string [of hits], to rack up [13 billion], streams, furry, a she-wolf, commitment, [to come] off [stage], to put together [a show], to make something happen, to carry you through, to break into [the Western pop market], precarious, humane, to catch up with [the BBC], to christen, a [powerful] statement, to underpin, to span [generations], to bounce around, a tender [ballad], to duet, mixed emotions, stressed out, [to stay] tuned, to tease. 

If you want to watch the Mexico show of Shakira's "Women No Longer Cry" tour, you can click on the YouTube link below:

The Parsi Museum in Mumbai

Cherylann Mollan reports on a little museum in Mumbai that tells the history and traditions of an ancient people, the Parsis: the Framji Dadabhoy Alpaiwalla Museum.

The BBC News report, entitled "Of opium, fire temples, and sarees: A peek into the world of India's dwindling Parsis" can be read by B2 students and above, who will find interesting expressions like: a saree, a peek, to dwindle, to [be] tucked away, a lane, Zoroastrianism, to flee, [fled, fled], the mainstream [population], to shake-off, an artefact, on display, a curator, to showcase, a print, [to be] draped in [saree], cuneiform, a terracotta [pot], to source, [to be] dated [to 4000-5000 BCE], to rule, a barren [desert], to settle, to outline, to grant, a [human rights] charter, a portrait, to own, a brand, striking, to trade, an exhibit, to depict, a compelling [exhibit], a glimpse into, off-limits [to non-Parsis], [to be] renovated, [well]-captioned, a [glass] case, packed with [history].

You can step into the Alpaiwalla Museum virtually by watching the YouTube video below, where Purva Chitnis, assistant editor of The Print, interviews Kerman Fatakia, the curator of the museum, who offers a guided tour of the main exhibits in the museum.  This video can be watched with machine-generated subtitles, which may prove helpful for those C1 students and above who are less familiar with Indian English:

The War in Ukraine

The invasion of Ukraine has lasted for over a month now. On March 2, the BBC reported on the ongoing battles for Kharkiv, Kherson and Kyiv: the chaos, the rubble, the dispair of peaceful Ukrainians in the bomb shelters, the tears of refugee families parting into exile...  This distressing report, which is introduced by Clive Myrie, an experienced BBC foreign correspondent and TV presenter, is suitable for B2 students and above.  

You will come across interesting expressions like: "in broad daylight, to leave a trail of destruction, the aftermath of a deadly missile attack, the target [is] an airbase, in the rubble, to keep myself together, shooting, to have captured, sirens wail, [deserted streets] echo fear and dread, [the children made] pistols [to kill the enemy], as war closes in, to put on a brave face in, the national anthem, hit by sustained rocket fire, airborne troops, [planes] shot down, distressing images, [calm] in the wreckage [of people's homes], to hide in basements and bunkers, made a dash, to make it onto a train, to go back and forth, to refuse to be cowed, shoving forward, chaos, desperate to get on board, to swear at [all those who have caused the suffering], to flee abroad, to break down".

In the next BBC News report (29/03/22), Iryna Babich, a refugee English teacher,  explains how she has found peace of mind in a Romanian monastery "Only here, at the monastery, I stopped hating.  Last Sunday, I even prayed for Putin", Iryna says while she sadly misses her husband who is delivering fuel back in the besieged city of Kharkiv. This short interview can be followed by B1 students and above and you will find expressions like: "a place of retreat, prayer, meditation, my [lovely] van, just to smell [my husband, my house], stayed behind [...] delivering fuel, [a city] under Russian siege, [they can stay] as long as they wish, [I wished Putin] to become wiser, to feel sympathy to Russian troops, sunflowers in the yard, to breathe [this beautiful mountain air], they fled Ukraine, they might be home by Easter, their best hope is by summer".

Abdulrazak Gurnah Wins the Nobel Prize for Literature

Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first black African to win the prize for almost two decades.  

He was born in Zanzibar (Tanzania) but he migrated as a teenager to the UK, escaping from ethnic persecution and eventually became a professor of Post-colonial Literatures at the University of Kent in Canterbury. His novels talk about the experience of colonialism, refugees, migration and individual dignity. In this three minute interview NPR's culture reporter Neda Ulabyis talks about his life and works. You will come across interesting words like: shortlisted, fate, to flee, civil unrest, scholarly work, to be batted around, to track, marquee names, overdue, sprawling, to reconcile cultural chasms with their dreams, a clip, linen, a chubby face, uprooted [people].

Below, you can also watch a 6 minute BBC interview to Mr. Gurnah himself after he learnt he had won the Nobel Prize, which can be heard with subtitles. Both recordings are suitable for C1 students and above.

You can also listen to a lecture by Professor Gurnah about Indian Ocean Journeys on this link (15:07).

Migrants in the Canary Islands

The radio programme "All Things Considered", has recently reported about the African migrants that are temporarily being sheltered in hotels in the Canary Islands.  Here you can find a link to the audio (3':42") and the transcript on NPR's webpage. 

And on this link, you can download a lesson plan which includes a listening comprehension exercise, the key and some questions for discussion which can be used as oral exam practice for a monologue or an interaction at C1 level.

The vocabulary is not particularly difficult, some of the words you will come across are: pandemic, to halt [global travel], to host, a wave [of visitors], a surge, packed with [tourists], the occupancy, to be down to [COVID restrictions], to soak up [the sun], asylum seekers, [to play] draughts, apprehensive, to flee [conflict], risky, to starve, to scrape a living, the mainland, to bounce back.

Rescue Boat Baby Five Years On

This is the story of a baby who was born on a rescue boat, when her Nigerian mother was trying to arrive in Italy five years ago.  This short BBC News video with subtitles (2':47") is suitable for B2 students and it will allow you to listen to a West-African English accent in the voice of the mother.

The vocabulary is not too difficult, you will find words like miracle, a rescue ship, to flee (fled, fled), to struggle [for your life], to bear [a name], to faint, to be in labour, to make it to Europe on a boat, to go through [something], to be in [somebody's] shoes, to be blessed.

Padma Lakshmi Hosts and Produces "Taste the Nation" and "Top Chef"

Padma Lakshmi is an international model, the host and executive producer of the TV show "Top Chef" in USA, and now she is the host of the new food and travel programme, "Taste the Nation" on Hulu, a leading Disney video service, where she visits chefs in immigrant communities who have contributed to the American culinary heritage.

Ms. Lakshmi talks to Terry Gross on Fresh Air (NPR) about her childhood as an immigrant from India in the USA; the cooking tradition she learnt from and how her mother transformed it to create new dishes by mixing ingredients from other cuisines; her first steps into the modelling world in Madrid and in Italy; a car accident she had; the sexual abuse she suffered twice in her life; her awareness-raising work as co-founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America and about her family in India.

The interview lasts 41 minutes, so it can be used by C2 students and experts as background listening while you are doing something else, like walking, gardening or ironing. There is a full script which helps to pick up unintelligible words, or to do a reading and listening exercise with C1 students.  You can also find a text that summirizes the highlights of the interview.

The interview contains many new words, including cooking ingredients: to acknowledge, cages, backbone, to pick up, to leave off, to be vilified, insight, a diner, to get heckled, [to sneak] snuck snuck, to take somebody to task, a rocking chair, dosa, lentil, crepe, batter, upma, sauteed, sooji, rava, couscous, quinoa, to streamline, carnivorousness, pepperoni, baloney, cold cuts, squeamish, tripe, offal, brewers, to be spotted, audition, legit, booker, mortified, a rocky start, outsider, appeal, scar, to dawn on me, cachet, S & M, pose, to squander, knickers, stockinged, cleavage, duster jacket, keloid, whole-hog, grunge, billboards, self-loathing, to admonish, to rear-end, embankment, jaws of life, windshield, ribs, home-bound, penance, secular, to have a career in [food], a major in theatre, to pay off, collage loans, premiere, cookbook, a spiral notebook, to jot down, splash, ploy, freak, compound, a knitted blanket, a crocheted blanket, to sling slung slung, a platter, gosh, to dress up, guilt, to make waves, sexually assaulted, op-ed, to be challenged [in court], unwillingness, it weighed on me, date rape, taxing, to rip off, to cherish, chronic pain, to crumple in bed, a heating pad, the period, to handle, to dispel, to wreak havoc, lining, leftover tissue, memoir, to instil in [somebody], cuddly, siblings, hem, sari, a well-read person, verbatim.

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.

Rural Depopulation in Spain

Rural depopulation is number one problem in Spain, according to this BBC Assignment report. This documentary explores the "Caravans of Love" that have succesfully matched couples in rural Spain for several decades; Marta Corella, the mayor of Orea, who tries to create meeting points like the church, the social bar, or the social bakery to promote human contact in villages under 500 people; "neorurales" who move back to the countryside and other initiatives to make villages in Spain more attractive to live.
This report has extracts is Spanish and the topic is close to Spanish learners, but there is no script, so it is classified as C2.