First things first -- this weekend on Sunday January 28th at 18:00 pm is our extra activity for this month.  We are meeting to have coffee and discuss The Handmaid's Tale. To prepare for the activity, you must have read the book or watched the TV series. You still have time to binge watch it!  I have downloaded the series (10 episodes) in English with subtitles in both English or Spanish if you are interested.  Please email to confirm your attendance and I will respond with more details by Friday. Thanks!

This week we used Google's incredible Arts and Culture app to explore art, taking special care to put some descriptive vocabulary into action.

Listening:
Learners can try starting with an easy excercise about a modern art exhibit called A Matter of Taste.  Then try a listening activity about museum in the U.K. or another one about making Andy Warhol's paintings accessible to children.  Another great resources is a Series from the British Council, videos about the art market.

For original version, check out the BBC page about arts and culture which has countless videos and other resources to explore. Or check out any of the 50 greatest art videos on Youtube.

Reading:
Learners can read some biographies of famous artists: Fernando Botero, Georgia O'Keeffe, Pablo Picasso
or from VOA:

• Andy Warhol - The Father of Pop Art
• Diane Arbus - Photographer
• Edward Hopper - Painter
• Edward Weston - Photographer
• George Catlin - Part 1 - Painter
• George Catlin - Part-2 - Painter
• Georgia O'Keefe - Painter
• Isabella Stewart Gardner - Art Collector and Cultural Supporter
• Jackson Pollock - Painter
• Leonardo da Vinci - Artist and Thinker
• Mary Cassatt - Painter
• Nam June Paik - Video Artist
• Robert Rauschenberg
• Winslow Homer - Painter

For original version, take a look at some of the articles over in the Arts and Design section of the New York times. There are also some really fascinating long form pieces about fine art at longform.org

Writing:
I recommend you download the Google Arts and Culture app, it's absolutely fantastic!  Now go ahead and choose a piece of art you were not familiar with before, read a little about the movement and the artist and describe the work in English.  Be descriptive and specific!
Best,
Kelly

This week in honor of Martin Luther King Day celebrated on Monday in the United States, we examined the history of Black Americans and took a close read of Martin Luther King's famous I Have a Dream speech. In class we focused on the last 5 minutes of his speech, but I highly recommend reading the whole thing. Check out Stanford University's Freedom Rings website to see an illustrated version of the speech.

Listening:
Learners should start with a listening exercise about Martin Luther King's life and then move on to the Voice of America article about the great orator and activist as well as his impact on American history.

For original version, there are numerous great documentaries that you can watch online. Eyes on the Prize is one of the most famous documentaries about the American Civil Rights Movement. Check out Freedom Writers about the same period of History. If you happen to have a Netflix account, I highly recommend their original documentary called 13th.

Reading:
Learners can try a five minute English reading activity about MLK. Or, you could try a reading comprehension activity about another very important civil rights activist, Malcolm X.

For original version, try any of the newest articles available at history.com about the civil rights movement. Or you may be interested in some of the recent race controversies sweeping the United States, including the latest from Donald Trump.

Writing:
Now it's time to put some of that study to work with your writing. Please write a short text talking about how prejudice and racism affects your world today. You can think about the situation in Spain or Europe or in other places around the world.
Best,
Kelly

This week we talked about awful winter weather, basing our conversation on my experiences in the US over the holidays and some original version newspapers I brought back with me.

Listening:
Learners can try a listening activity about Winter Snow, Britain's Big Freeze, or Seasonal Changes.  See if you can pick up some weather vocabulary from the activities!

For original version try watching a video about the extreme weather at the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire or any of the NYTimes videos about extreme weather, about the Bomb Cyclone.

Reading:
Learners can read an article about the weather from the British Council.  or this text about the weather in the U.K.

For original version read this article about how a dog survived 5 days under the snow in Maine or the NY Times suggestions about how to win at winter when you hate winter.

Writing:
Wild winter weather has been the source of some recent controversy in the Spanish media.  Please write an article describing how the snow affected holiday travel last weekend and how people responded or reacted.
Best,
KellT

Firstly, don't forget that this week is our holiday party!  We will celebrate Christmas with some drinks and snacks and do an activity called a yankee swap on Thursday December 14th 20:30.  Please confirm your attendance by Wednesday! (And don't forget, you're welcome to drag along a friend if they'd like to partake in the fun).

This week we practiced agreeing and disagreeing using the expressions SO DO/DID, and NEITHER DO/DID.  Try your hand at a quiz here and here.

Listening:
Learners can check out some of these expressions in context from movies. Can you try dictating any of these sentences to check your comprehension? Or you could watch a video about agreeing and disagreeing.

For original version try watch a TED Talk about Daring to Disagree.

Reading:
Learners can read some articles about how to agree and disagree in English. Start with one from the British Council, and then move on to the VOA article about Agreeing to Disagree.

For original version check out the article How to Get People to Agree With You.

Writing:
This week I'd like you to write out a dialogue between two people trying to find common ground. It could be two people on a first date, or new roommates, or even strangers on a train.  Make sure you use small talk as well as the expressions we saw in class.

Best,
Kelly

We extended last week's climate change conversation to talking about different global negotiations about solutions.  We took different perspectives, from developed countries, to emerging countries, to developing countries.

Listening:
Learners can start with something easy about taking action.  Or try an ESL video that is a higher level examining what could really happen.

For original version try a video by Bill Nye about Climate Change or any of the TED Talks that are out there about the topic.

Reading:
Learners can head over to VOA English for several articles about this threat: Suicides caused by Climate Change, or about the world's longest living trees being crowded about by climate change.

For original version try any of the articles over at the NYTimes about Climate Change.

Writing;
This week I'd like you to try writing a report about possible solutions to combat this potential calamity. Start with an introduction, then explain possible measures that could be taken by developed, emerging and developing countries, then finish up with a conclusion.
Best,
Kelly