Where Christmas is made
(AN ADVANCED READING AND LISTENING LESSON) Quite a few years ago, I read this article and it changed the way I looked at Christmas forever! It’s about the city in China where most of the world’s Christmas decorations are produced. GET THE WORKSHEET There are two texts for this week’s lesson. You can read the […]
Visit Georgia
(AN ADVANCED READING LESSON) Before I started this community, I didn’t know anything about the tiny Eastern European nation of Georgia. Now, thanks to our members, I am DESPERATE to visit this amazing place. This week, we’re learning about Georgia and all the incredible things is has for us to discover. Well, I mean, if […]
The most powerful word in English
(AN ADVANCED READING AND LISTENING LESSON) This week is related to linguistics. We’re learning about the post powerful word in English. Any guesses about what it is? There are two texts for this week’s lesson: An article from BBC Culture: Is this the most powerful word in the English language? A podcast episode from BBC’s […]
What is success?
(AN ADVANCED LISTENING LESSON) What does success mean to you? And have you ever wondered where you ideas about success actually come from? This week, we are examining our ideas about success, what influences them, and whether we ought to reconsider them altogether. GET THE WORKSHEET The lesson is based on two talks by the […]
An unusual union
(AN ADVANCED READING LESSON) When I first saw the heading of this week’s BBC article, I promise you, I was like…WTF!? You can find it here: Why I ‘married’ a cartoon character But then after reading the story, I was really empathetic. Honestly, I’m considering marrying a cartoon character myself. 😉 GET THE WORKSHEET I […]
The Missing Cryptoqueen
(AN ADVANCED LISTENING LESSON) I’ve been listening to this amazing BBC podcast called ‘The Missing Cryptoqueen’. It’s about the mysterious disappearance of a now-infamous scammer, Dr Ruja Ignatova. I’m addicted to listening to it this week, so I thought I’d make this week’s lesson based on episode 1. You can listen to the podcast here: […]
Squid Game translation
(AN ADVANCED READING LESSON) Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would have heard about the Korean-language Netflix series, ‘Squid Game’. One of the many discussions sparked by this series has been about the challenges of translation. This week, we are ready two articles on the topic, both published by The Conversation: Squid Game: […]
God and robots
(AN ADVANCED ENGLISH LESSON) With Artificial intelligence (AI) slowly but surely creeping into every aspects of our lives, some religions are contemplating what role it may play in worship in the future. This week’s lesson is based on a BBC report into the different experiments that are already being made into the role of robots […]
Holiday consumerism
(AN ADVANCED READING LESSON) We are reaching that time of year when people in western countries start spending exorbitant amounts of money on holiday food, decorations and costumes. This trend is illustrated nowhere better than in the USA. This week’s lesson is about conspicuous consumption and the holidays, specifically Halloween. It’s based on the two-minute […]
How language shapes the way we think
(AN ADVANCED LISTENING LESSON) This week’s lesson looks at the question of how language shapes the way people think. It’s particularly interesting for you, language learners, who are now learning through a second language how another group of people perceive and express things through language. Â GET THE WORKSHEET The lesson is based on a […]