domingo, 24 de marzo de 2019

Happy Nowruz, Persian New Year!

It's Nowruz, Persian New Year, a celebration of Spring for more than 300 million people around the world, including Iran, Tajikistan, Russia, Turkey, India and Iraq.
Find out more about the celebrations, Persian style, in this short BBC video with subtitles which is accessible from B2 level.

viernes, 15 de marzo de 2019

A Bit of Fry and Laurie (1)

This short video is a perfect example of British comedy at its best, with Stephen Fry (Peter's Friends, etc) and Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) in "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", a BBC production. An absurd humorous sketch starting from a couple of simple questions at a police station: "What's your name? and What's your address?"
Humour is always a challenge for learners of a foreign language, but the subtitles can be invaluable help, so this video is classified as a B2 link.

viernes, 8 de marzo de 2019

Women's Day (1): RBG "We Can Do It"

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the second woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in history.  She was a brilliant Law student who had to face work discrimination in her youth, before she turned into a staunch advocate for gender equality and women's rights.  She has earned deep respect from her colleagues at the Court and in recent years, she has become a popular icon for her refusal to step down, despite her age, her serious health problems and her minority position in the Supreme Court.  She is known as "Notorious R.B.G."  In this B2 text from Inc. magazine you can read some of her most inspiring quotes.

You can read more about her life and career on this Wikipedia link.

Women's Day (2): Theresa May

Theresa May has served as Prime Minister during the stormy times of Brexit in the UK.  She has often been dismissed as a weak leader, but she has grabbed the helm of the country with determination to survive defections in her Cabinet and a no-confidence vote in Parliament and to sail over her political rivals in the opposition and in her own Conservative party. This article from Fox News talks about her political career, her gritty character and her upbringing as the daughter of an Anglican vicar. 
The rich vocabulary of the text and the references to the ins and outs of British politics make this report a C1 reading task.

Women's Day (3): Nancy Pelosi

Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the most powerful female politician in the USA now, and the leader of the opposition. She has fought long and hard to get respect and power from her fellow male colleagues in the Democratic Party "Nobody gives you power, you have to take it away from them", she says.  She lives in San Francisco, she is rich and this makes her "the quintaessence of California limousine liberalism", an easy target for Republicans to caricature. But she is one of the toughest, hardest working and shrewdest politicians in Capitol Hill.  Nancy Pelosi is also the mother of 5 children.  Here you can listen to a long NPR interview (36:59) to New York Times Magazine journalist Robert Draper who is an expert in Washington politics.

Although this radio interview is scripted, the complexity of American politics makes it a C2 listening task.