The Media

Click here to see some vocabulary related to the topic.

News stories

Websites to practise:

1. BBC Learning English: short real pieces of news with a summary, some vocabulary and the script.

2. Listen to News: short easy news reports with pre-listening vocabulary, gapfill texts, comprehension questions...

3. News in levels: choose a piece of news and a level (you have the script).

4. VOA: Level Two articles are meant for intermediate learners of American English. Sotries are often more than 500 words and may include audios from newsmakers. There may be a quiz to test your understanding and new words are explained in the Words in This Story area at the bottom of the article (very slow).

5. El País in English

6. Breaking News in English: choose the news story and the level. You have lessons with lots of activities.

Special backpack for sitting

Can you recall the feeling when your legs are tired but there is nowhere to sit? What if you could simply sit down on your backpack?

Students lost in Turkish mountains

Watch the video and take notes. Then read the script and check. 

Joe Cocker

The Ebola Outbreak

Click here to listen to a discussion about Ebola and the use of experimental drugs. You have some vocabulary and you can see the script too.

Scotland votes 'No'

I. Listen and read this short report about the Scottish referendum (there's some vocabulary explained).

II. Watch this piece of news up to 1’10” and complete these sentences. You may need from one to three words in each gap. Check your answers in ‘comments’.

The newsreader says that “for now that dream is (1) _______________”.

The final result is (2) _______________ Yes, (3)_______________ No. It produced (4)_______________ from backers of the union and (5) _______________ from those who believed Scotland could do better.

This morning Alex Salmond put a (6) _______________ on defeat accepting what he called the (7) “_______________”.  But this afternoon he announced that he would soon (8) _______________.

“For Scotland (9)_______________ continues and the dream should (10) _______________.”

King Felipe VI

Click here to watch a video about King Felipe VI.

Gabriel García Márquez

1. Listen to the piece of news and do the activities.

2. You can watch an interview with Isabel Allende about García Márquez here (the script of the whole interview is included).

Newsinlevels

Have a look at this great website to practise your English while keeping updated with current affairs.                                                                                             Marathon des Sables


(Thanks to Mª Ángeles for letting us know about it)

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Watch this video if you want to learn more about this festivity.

Read and watch a short video about the parade in Birmingham (the third biggest one in the world).

*Remember to have a look at old posts about the same topic.

Mandela's event interpreter

Read about what happened and watch a video here.

You can watch more videos and see other comments here.

Nelson Mandela

Watch the video and answer the following questions. Check your answers in 'comments'.

    1.      When was he born?

    2.       What does ANC stand for?

    3.       When did he become head of the ANC’s Youth Wing?

    4.       What did his law firm do in Johannesburg?

    5.       What happened in 1960?

    6.       Why was he arrested and put on trial in 1962?

    7.       How did he defend his actions?

    8.       What was he sentenced to two years later?

    9.       Why was he freed?

  10.   When was he elected the first black president? How old was he?
 11.   How long was he president? 

  12.   Why did Mandela and Mr de Klerk get the Peace Nobel Prize?

  13.   Why was he critized when he was president?

  14.   When did he retire from public life?

  15.   What did he turn South Africa into?

President Kennedy "taken from us" 50 years ago

Watch this video about the 50th anniversary of JFK assassination. Click on the right to see the script.

Lou Reed

Lou Reed, Rock ’n’ Roll Pioneer, Dies at 71. Read about it here.

An interview with Malala

Malala sat down with Stewart to talk about her views on education and terrorism and how she plans to continue her fight to open up classrooms for girls all over the globe.
Watch part of the interview and answer the questions (check them in 'comments').


1. What feels very good according to the interviewer?
2. Why does she think terrorists are afraid of education?
3. When did the real terrorism start in Swat?
4. How many schools did they blast?
5. What did she do to speak out against terrorists? Why?
6. When did she realise the Talibans had made her a target?
7. Did she believe it? Why/ Why not?
8. What did she think she would do at first?
9. How does she think you might fight others?
10. What does the interviewer want to do?

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook

Malala Yousafzai

On 9 October 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Atta Ullah Khan, a Taliban gunman. One year later she has been nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize, although The Norwegian Nobel Committee has finally decided that the prize should be awarded to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.

Here's a video shot before the attack. Watch it and answer the following questions (check your answers in 'comments').





1. What will happen on 15th January?
2. What does Malala's father do?
3. What has the family decided to do?
4. Why can't her father risk to keep his school open?
5. Why does Malala's father have to be careful?
6. How has the situation already affected the school?
7. Why does Malala's father face the end of his career?
8. Is Malala still hopeful?

BBC one-minute news

Watch the video and complete the news stories. Check your answers in 'comments'.

-      A special interrogation team is waiting to _________ the teenager suspected of bomb attacks on the Boston Marathon. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is under armed guard in _________   where his condition is described as _________  but _________ .  Police _________  him following a gunfight after he was found hiding in a _________  in a suburbian garden. Much of Boston _________  _________  _________  during the search after his older brother was killed _________ _________ _________ in a shoot-out with police.

-      A powerful _________  has hit the southwest Chinese province of Sichuan. _________  _________  have been trying to find survivors in collapsed buildings. More than _________  people have been killed and _________  have been injured.

-       Italy’s_________  _________ , Giorgio Napolitano, has been _________  to serve another _________  time.

CNN Student News

Watch the news and take notes. Then read the script and check your notes.

BBC News / passive

Watch this video and complete the news stories:
(check your answers in 'comments')

The star dancer who___________  ___________ (1)of orchestrating an attack on his boss at the Bolshoi Ballet has told the Moscow court he had ___________  ___________  (2)that acid would ___________  ___________(3). Pavel Dmitrichenko said he´d expected that Sergei Filin would ___________   ___________ (4) on the head.

The body of the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, is now lying in state at the Military Academy in Caracas. His mother and children gathered  around the open casket to ___________ (5) their respects, that's before members of the public ___________  ___________  (6) in.

The UN has begun ___________ (7) with opposition fighters in Syria to secure the release of 21 observers seized by Syrian opposition fighters. All the captives ___________  ___________ (8) to be from the Philippines. (=They think that all the captives are from the P.)

Election officials in Kenya are continuing to count votes by hand. That´s after the electronic system ___________  ___________(9). The head of the electoral commission has warned that it maybe Friday or even Monday before the result ___________  ___________(10).