Media Scan

The invasion of Ukraine has lasted for over a month now. On March 2, the BBC reported on the ongoing battles for Kharkiv, Kherson and Kyiv: the chaos, the rubble, the dispair of peaceful Ukrainians in the bomb shelters, the tears of refugee families parting into exile...  This distressing report, which is introduced by Clive Myrie, an experienced BBC foreign correspondent and TV presenter, is suitable for B2 students and above.   You will come across interesting expressions like: " in broad daylight, to leave a trail of destruction, the aftermath of a deadly missile attack, the target [is] an airbase, in the rubble, to keep myself together, shooting, to have captured, sirens wail, [deserted streets] echo fear and dread, [the children made] pistols [to kill the enemy], as war closes in, to put on a brave face in, the national anthem, hit by sustained rocket fire, airborne troops, [planes] shot down, distressing images, [calm] in the wreckage [of people's homes], to hide in...

Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first black African to win the prize for almost two decades.   He was born in Zanzibar (Tanzania) but he migrated as a teenager to the UK, escaping from ethnic persecution and eventually became a professor of Post-colonial Literatures at the University of Kent in Canterbury. His novels talk about the experience of colonialism, refugees, migration and individual dignity.  In this three minute interview NPR's culture reporter Neda Ulabyis talks about his life and works.  You will come across interesting words like: shortlisted, fate, to flee, civil unrest, scholarly work, to be batted around, to track, marquee names, overdue, sprawling, to reconcile cultural chasms with their dreams, a clip, linen, a chubby face, uprooted [people]. Below, you can also watch a 6 minute BBC interview to Mr. Gurnah himself after he learnt he had won the Nobel Prize, which can be heard with subtitles. Both reco...

The radio programme " All Things Considered ", has recently reported about the African migrants that are temporarily being sheltered in hotels in the Canary Islands.  Here you can find a link to the audio (3':42") and the transcript on NPR's webpage .  And on this link, you can download  a lesson plan which includes a listening comprehension exercise, the key and some questions for discussion which can be used as oral exam practice for a monologue or an interaction at C1 level. The vocabulary is not particularly difficult, some of the words you will come across are: pandemic, to halt [global travel], to host, a wave [of visitors], a surge, packed with [tourists], the occupancy, to be down to [COVID restrictions], to soak up [the sun], asylum seekers, [to play] draughts, apprehensive, to flee [conflict], risky, to starve, to scrape a living, the mainland, to bounce back.

This is the story of a baby who was born on a rescue boat, when her Nigerian mother was trying to arrive in Italy five years ago.  This short BBC News video with subtitles (2':47") is suitable for B2 students and it will allow you to listen to a West-African English accent in the voice of the mother. The vocabulary is not too difficult, you will find words like miracle, a rescue ship, to flee (fled, fled), to struggle [for your life], to bear [a name], to faint, to be in labour, to make it to Europe on a boat, to go through [something], to be in [somebody's] shoes, to be blessed .

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 ...