Jonna Jinton, an Artist, a Photographer and a Blogger

Jonna Jinton is a Swedish artist who decided to move from the city to a remote little village in the North of Sweden with "no plan, no money and no job", to follow her dream and live close to nature.  In the middle of the forest, she became a photographer, an artist, a blogger, and, finally, an influencer.  In this beautiful video, she tells the story of her life in her slow, crystal clear English, which is subtitled, so the document can be accessible to B1 students and above.
Thanks to my student Cristina L., who sent me this link.

If you want to see an example of her ephemeral nature art, you can click here and watch another of her YouTube videos "The Art of Balancing Stones",  She says that it is "still and quiet, in a world that is constantly moving."

Coronavirus Parody Songs & Self-Isolation

The coronavirus pandemic is sweeping the whole world and millions of people are in lockdown or self-isolation to fight the spread of the epidemic.  The disruption of family life may be hard to understand by very young children.  This is a BBC story about a self-isolated dad in Wales, and the while-lie he is telling his daughter.  It is a short video with subtitles, so it is suitable for B2 students.
I would like to thank one of my students, María A., because she passed me this link.

But in these times of global confinement, there is also a positive side:  the spread of memes, jokes, and parody songs that give us sound advice with a pinch of humour. Some of the key words you'll come across: allergies, flu, hand sanitize, shivers, social isolation, the flat curve, scrubbing, sneeze, droplets, crappy, latex gloves, tissue, mask. Here, you can watch three videos.  Which one do you like best?




Queen's "Coronavirus Rhapsody":

The Beatles' "I Gotta Wash My Hands!"

Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence", in Alvin Oon's version:

If you still want to read on, this CNN report will show you more catchy cover songs with coronavirus lyrics: "My Sharona", "We Didn't Start the Fire", "Leave (Get Out)!

A Bit of Fry & Laurie (2): The World's Worst Football Coach

Hugh Laurie (Doctor House) and Stephen Fry (Peter's Friends) became popular in the 1980's with the sketch comedy "A Bit of Fry & Laurie". Here you can watch a parody of football coaching.
This video, with subtitles, is quite visual, but there is a lot of language too, so it can be suitable for C1 students and above.

Taylor Swift, Rosalía, Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, Bon Iver and FKA: Their Hits Revealed

7 Grammy artists (Taylor Swift, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Rosalía, Bon Iver and FKA) talk about how they made their latest hit song. 
These seven videos from the New York Times are really hard to understand for different reasons: the clips are fragmentary, so they are a bit like a voice puzzle; there is a lot of technical language about writing and producing songs (jingle, shuffle beat, verse, chorus, bridge), various accents (listen to Lil Nas X!), slang words (so dope, beef up)..., so it is, basically, a document for experts (Ex level).  
The less difficult video is Rosalía's about her reggaeton track "Con Altura" (C1 level).  There is a full transcript of the words, which you can listen to while you are reading the text, which is really valuable help for learners of English.

Applause for Health Workers in Spain

BBC News reports on the round of applause that was given to health workers in Spain to show gratitude for their work to fight the corona virus epidemic, in this period of lockdown. This short video with subtitles can be suitable for intermediate learners, B1 and above.

If you want to read some more, this article from The Independent explains the story and gives it some background.  This report is suitable for B2 students and above.

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). 

100 Women of the Century

Time Magazine has published a special issue with the 100 Women of the Century.  Some of them made the cover of the magazine at the time, but there are many whose contribution to the world was initially overshadowed: scientists, mathematicians, business leaders, activists, atheletes, royals, artists etc, here you can read their stories.
This reading can be suitable for C1 students and upwards.

Floods in the UK

In February there were severe floods in the UK caused by Storm Dennis. Here you can find several BBC reports about this recent example of extreme weather.  There are witten reports, videos with interviews to local people, pictures etc. Some of these materials can be suitable for B2 level and above.


And if you are really interested in the topic, here you can find a special programme from ITV News Central on the impact of storms Ciara and Dennis. It is a 29 minute long video, and although you can use subtitles, this material is more suitable for C1 and C2 students.