Humor4u

The Mid-term elections are the real test to gauge political trends across the USA every four years. In Washington, the focus is on the control of Congress, that is, the House of Representatives and the Senate, the legistative branch of the constitution. In 2022, the key political issues were democracy and abortion rights for the Democrats, and the economy and crime for the Republicans, but what was really at stake was the political fight to control key local offices across the country, like state attorneys and governors of swing states like Georgia, Pensilvania, Arizona or Nevada, which will oversee the fairness of the next presidential election in 2024,  The New York Times editorializes  in this opinion article. The results of the Mid-term elections show a country that is split into two halves, with minimum gains for the Republicans in the House of Representatives (please, google "Midterm Elections 2022 Results" for the latest update). The Democrats keep control of urban are...

Meghan Markle has recently launched Archetypes , an original podcast on Spotify.  In the first episode, the Duchess of Sussex has a casual chat to her friend and tennis champion Serena Williams about ambition in women . The conversation, in very natural American English, is quite long (57:28), so it is recommended for C1 students and above. There seems to be no operating link to the script on the web page, so, you can use this list of interesting and salient words as a listening guide:  a commercial, greasy, pots and pans, to belong in the kitchen, to reach out to, triumph, to have a ripple effect, an awakening, to box women, to make a difference, diva, the "b" word, slut, harsh, abrasive, to suck around, bitch, mortified, dumb, dragon-lady, household names, to bear the brunt of [something], label, to open up, competitive, an order [of nuns], the sisters, to renounce [their] vows, to behold to a system, to be raised [Catholic], to trickle down, limitless, to date [my now husb...

Alt.Latino is NPR's music programme dedicated to alternative and rock music in Spanish, hosted by Felix Contreras and Jasmine Garsd .   Last July 3rd, Alt.Latino summer intern,  Vita Dadoo , hosted and produced the show " Flamenco, Rock and Songs of Rebellion from Spain ", a monographic episode, which compiles interviews, songs and narrates the influences on alternative music from Spain, featuring Sylvia y Los Caminantes, Martirio, Pedro Iturralde (with Paco de Lucía), Antonio Lizana, Camarón de la Isla, and Ángeles del Infierno. This 32 minute radio show , which includes a bilingual interview to flamenco saxophonist Antonio Lizana, can be acessible to B2 learners and above, since the cultural references are close to Spanish listeners.  There is no transcript, but you can follow the show with the notes below of the most salient and interesting words, as a listening guide:  Hiatus, to rethink, to dig around, 2017, 2014, 2011, to cover [music], earbuds, whether,...

After the Lionesses, England's female football team, won the European Cup last Sunday, there has been a national celebration of soccer and female empowerment. The media have reflected the historical moment by flooding the waves with words of praise and joy for the victorious women athletes. BBC Radio 4 programme Today is a good example of this shared communal enthusiasm, and on August 1st, Today devoted several slots to cover the different angles of the the story during the 3 hour programme (that podcast is available on line for 29 days, and it is suitable for C2 students). A compilation of the different interviews can be heard on Best of Today , a podcast that is only available on line for 6 days, also suitable for C2 students. In the podcast 5 Minutes On , you can hear a short summary of the story for a whole year (C1). Below you can watch a Sky Sports News video, where the England players interrupt the press conference that coach Sarina Wiegman was giving by singing the song ...

Mr. Happy Face is a Chihuahua-Chinese crested mix dog that has recently won the "World's Ugliest Dog" contest held in Petaluma, Ca .  Here, you can read the story from Canadian CBC programme " As It Happens ", which is a written summary of the radio interview (6:12) that you can also access on this link.    The article is suitable for B2 students, whereas the radio interview, without script, is recommended for C1 students, especially if you listen to the interview before reading the article.   Here you can find a list of some key words as they appear in the radio interview which can be used as a listening guide if you get very lost, as there is no script: bat, tuft, snarl, crookedly, bound, curl, quirky, cute, so popular, extra-attention, shelter, unadoptable, hoarder situation, human touch, bond, hospice situation, a second chance, caring and nurturing, strange noises, grunt, a diesel truck revving, barks in his sleep, cries, howl, on tour, meet and greet, joy,...

  Terry Gross is much more than a radio host, she is, problably, the most respected radio journalist in the USA today. She has run and presented " Fresh Air " on NPR for over 45 years, where she has interviewed the very best American actors, directors, musicians, authors, journalists, doctors, naturalists or international relations analysts. Stephen Colbert defined her unique interviewing style as a combination of  "a conversationalist, a therapist, and an oral historian" when she was presented with the Peabody Institutional Award (the Pulitzer of radio journalism) on June 6th, 2022. She also received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama in 2015 together with Louise Glück, Wynton Marsalis, Isabel Wilkerson or José Andrés.  " Fresh Air " is a model for oral American English.  Personally, listenting to Terry Gross' conversations with her guests has helped me to keep my English alive and kicking here in Spain since digital radio podcast...

Ellen MacArthur has recently won the Princess of Asturias Prize for International Cooperation, The Majorca Daily Bulletin reported last week . In 2005, Ms MacArthur became the first woman to break the world record as a solo sailor around the world and later she started the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to promote the circular economy and design a more sustainable future for the finite world resources.  As a result of their campaign, in March 2022 the UN adopted a resolution to negotiate a legally-binding treaty on plastic pollution, which is hoped to be drawn and signed by the end of 2024.  Dame Ellen MacArthur was invited to the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs back in 2009. In this 45' interview she talks about her background, her achievement in sailing, and her charity work. Her English is a perfect model for C1 and C2 students, because it is rich, but not pompous; there are technical terms, but it is not packed with jargon; the colloquial expressions fit natur...

The British Museum has recently opened the exhibition "Female Power: the Divine to the Demonic" which shows how women have been represented throughout history in various mythologies around the world. Here you can find a 3 hour lesson plan about Art , which complements unit 7B of  English File C1.1 , O.U.P.  The first lesson includes some speaking activities to discuss Art, exhibitions and Public Art; a power point presentation of local Public Art in Zaragoza and an intensive listening comprehension task, based on a clip of  Today programme on BBC Radio 4 (17/05/22) , which is more suitable for C2 students.  The second lesson is focused on Street Art and it includes some conversation questions about Art, education etc., and another power point presentation about Street Art in Zaragoza . You can access the list of key words below in Word format here and  the 5' recording of the Today radio report here . Some of the key words you will come across in the recordin...

Kimpton, Hertfordshire, claims to hold "the biggest village festival in the country". Here you can listen to a short radio interview (2':54") to Emma Rice-Oxley, one of the top organizers of the 2022 festival, on  Today , BBC Radio 4 .  And here you can find a lesson plan for B2 students . The interview has no script, but with this list of interesting words as a guide, it can be suitable for B2 students and above:  live events, to host [a village festival], to raise the flag to mark the start of the festivities, blessed [with the weather], brilliant, [quite] a claim, to proof your credentials, [a two-year] hiatus, the highlights, the procession, to parade, [up] the high street, moving, dressed up, floats, a Jubilee related [float], a cannon, to fire, rainbows and brownies dressed up as fireworks, a scout group, to bang pots and pans, theme, the UK Garrison , a charity group, Darth Vader , stormtroopers , Maypole dancing , a fun run, a hog roast , you name it. You can...

Christmas is a commercial and religious family holiday which is celebrated in many countries around the world, including Spain and the UK. It is also a school holiday and each student always has something to say about Christmas: whether they find it exciting and uplifting, or gloomy and depressing, Christmas is always a very productive conversation topic in EFL and there are so many carols and songs that is very easy to find some music to bring to class.  Here, you can find a lesson plan for a B1 conversation class which includes a Learn English with Ben video which compares British and Spanish Christmas , one of the most popular Christmas carols,  Silent Night, in Tori Kelly's a capella voice , with a fill-in the gap listening task and the full lyrics to serve as the key , this link to Dougie MacLean's version of Auld Lang Syne , which is mentioned in the video.  In addition, you can listen to this BBC 5 Live podcast with an exculsive interview to Father Christmas...

Lewis Hamilton recently won his 7th F1 title in Turkey, matching Michael Schumacher's all time record. This feat has prompted the British media to relish a debate about Lewis Hamilton's place in the history of F1 and British sport in general. Here you can listen to a BBC Radio 5 Live programme, " Chequered Flag ", where a panel of 3 journalists, Rebecca Clancy, from The Times , Scott Mitchell from The Race and Saith Hardy, a freelance reporter from the USA, talk about the most popular sportsperson in Britain nowadays: his recent victory in the Turkish Grand Prix,and his leading role as an activist in various social causes, including racism.  The podcast lasts 53':48", and there is no script, so it can be suitable for C2 students. Below you can find the glossary and here, on this link, a list of the different sections of the interview which can be used as a supplementary listening guide for the students who might need that kind of written support. If you want...

The BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Disc  marked its 75th anniversary with this interview to David Beckham where he talks about his football career in Manchester United, Real Madrid, Milan, PSG etc.  He also talks about his relationship to Victoria Beckham, the "Posh Spice Girl", his family and his charity work. The programme is 52 minutes long and there is no script, so it is recommended for C2 students, but it can be used as "background conversation" to expose learners to the rhythm of English language, while attention is elsewhere: walking, running, ironing, gardening etc (see "How to use this blog"). The interview contains several examples of the use of "would" for past habits. In the conversation, David mentions the letter  "Love at First Sight Exits"   that Victoria Beckham wrote for Vogue magazine in 1996. Here you can read an article in Hello magazine that reports about that "candid" letter, where Victoria describe...

British people love long-lasting traditions like the Monarchy, Parliament or drinking a "nice, cup of tea".  The Archers is one of them -the longest-running radio soap-opera in the world- The Archers is "a contemporary drama in a rural setting", called Ambridge, which has been running non-stop since 1951 on Radio- 4, the main talk channel on the BBC. It has over 5 million listeners every day, one million of them via the internet, according to Wikipedia.  Here you can find a synopsis of the soap, and a lot of background information (Link B2). On The Archers web page, you can find videos, clips, podcasts, a list of characters, a blog, and, of course, you can listen to the latest episodes on the archive.  These audios and videos, without subtitles, are problably suitable for C2 students.

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.

Siobhan Lowe, the headteacher at Tolworth Girls' School in Surbiton, South London, admitted that she had to scrub school loos and work in the school canteen because of the shortage of funds. According to the Education Policy Institute, the number of local authority (state-run) secondary schools in deficit has risen from 8.1% to 30.3% in the past 4 years. If you want to read more, you can find the BBC report here, a B2 reading task. But if you actually want to listen to the original BBC Radio 4 interview to headteacher Siobhan Lowe on Today (08/03/19), you can find the full recording of the radio programme here.  The interview runs from 1:17:37 to 1:23:44. There is no script, so listening to this interview directly, without reading the report above first, could be a C2 task.