Media Scan

The C1.1 students became gossip reporters last week, when they had to find a story about celebrities, their relationships and personal lives.  Five stories were voted in the four mini-groups as the best:  María B. presented "Did Kanye West Cheat On Kim with Jeffree Star?" after reading the story in Dazed Digital .  Vera R. talked about Dora Maar, Picasso's lover, muse and "a major surrealist photographer" in her own right, and then she wrote her story "When Love Creates Art and Tragedy" , based on two stories from  The New York Times and The Guardian . Adriana R. wrote a piece on Heather Mills and Mike Dickman , after compiling information from three stories in The Sun  "Who is Heather Mills' Fiancé Mike Dickman?" , the same story on January 14th , and  "The Most Staggeringly Expensive Celeb Divorces Ever"  and after reading a fourth text from Heather Mills' Profile  in Hello Magazine. Rafaela S. wrote a short text called ...

  Australian social media celebrity  Supercar Blondie  shows us round a luxury villa in Dubai with a snow room in the extreme heat of the desert. Check it out! If you have $24 million, you may consider buying it! This short video below (9':15") can be watched with subtitles and it is suitable for B2 students and above. The language is cool and informal, and you will find few difficult words: to hang out, a desalination plant, sustainable, an irrigation system, stitching, the hustle and bustle, I feel like a million dollars, soak it up!, an infitity pool, tidal, super VIP, to wave [hello], inspirational [neighbours], a villa, solar power, the groceries, the mainland, make it happen!, a [Swedish] bunker, a sauna, a gym, a massage room, no way!, "glitzer" (a German word which means "glitter" or "purpurina"), ridiculous, layers.

Antonio Banderas, talks to Terry Gross on Fresh Air about his latest movie with Pedro Almodóvar, " Pain & Glory ", which earned him a "Best Actor Award" in the Cannes Film Festival and a nomitation to the Oscars, and about his acting career both in Spain and in Hollywood.  In addition, he explains what the contracultural movement, " La Movida " meant in 1980s Spain, when a whole country regained control of its own future and started enjoying public and private freedoms that had been alien during the dictatorship, and finally, he talks about his Soho Theatre in Malaga. During the interview, Antonio Banderas talks very openly about his experience as a learner of English, who started an acting career in Hollywood, with a very basic level of English and tons of chutzpah, and about the challenge of doing radio interviews in English. This 37 minute long interview can be accessible to B2 students, as long as they have the support of the transcript, but it cou...

Geena Davis became a household name with the film " Thelma & Louise " back in 1991. Since then, she has had a long career in the movie industry and as an activist to denounce gender inequality in Hollywood.  In this interview, she talks to  The Irish Times  about The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media , which she launched and has successfully managed for two decades; about sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement; about being a mother in her 40's and about her career in general.  The interview is long and the language includes some colloquial, American slang, so it is suitable for C1 students. You will surely find new words and expressions like: Hot dog!, harassment, prejudice, a sweatsuit, athleisure, a bra, knickers, snappy, personable, pals, cosy, lockdown, a homebody, downtime, to snuggle, to wipe, to scrub, to account for, to make up the top 100 grossing films, far-fetched, endeavour, to focus on, to launch, a toddler, her jaw dropped to the floor, g...

Padma Lakshmi is an international model, the host and executive producer of the TV show " Top Chef " in USA, and now she is the host of the new food and travel programme, " Taste the Nation " on Hulu, a leading Disney video service, where she visits chefs in immigrant communities who have contributed to the American culinary heritage. Ms. Lakshmi talks to Terry Gross on Fresh Air  (NPR) about her childhood as an immigrant from India in the USA; the cooking tradition she learnt from and how her mother transformed it to create new dishes by mixing ingredients from other cuisines; her first steps into the modelling world in Madrid and in Italy; a car accident she had; the sexual abuse she suffered twice in her life; her awareness-raising work as co-founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America and about her family in India. The interview lasts 41 minutes, so it can be used by C2 students and experts as background listening while you are doing something else, like ...

Bruce Springsteen published a memoir in 2016, entitled " Born to Run ", after his greatest hit, where he reveals some hidden aspects of his life and personality, so, he was interviewed by Terry Gross, to present his book on NPR's Fresh Air radio programme.  The listening is long, 22 minutes, so, it is problably very suitable for "extensive listening", that is, to listen to while you are doing something else, like walking, driving, or ironing, but you can always go the the script, if you are lost or if you want to check a word that you didn't pick up. I have used this interview as listening homework with my B2 students, although it is problably more suitable for C1 students.  I include some notes about how we discussed the interview in class and the cultural information I had to give my students to help them understand the context of the book, the musician and the journalist. Here are my notes on a link to Google Drive.