About spelling

Watch the video and write a comment about it.

If you liked 'My name is Lucy Barton' you may like Elizabeth Strout's new novel.

An unforgettable cast of small-town characters copes with love and loss in a novel from the No. 1 New York Times bestselling and Man Booker long-listed author of My Name is Lucy Barton. 

Recalling Olive Kitteridge in its richness, structure, and complexity, Anything Is Possible explores the whole range of human emotion through the intimate dramas of people struggling to understand themselves and others. Anything is Possible tells the story of the inhabitants of rural, dusty Amgash, Illinois, the hometown of Lucy Barton, a successful New York writer who finally returns, after seventeen years of absence, to visit the siblings she left behind. 

Reverberating with the deep bonds of family, and the hope that comes with reconciliation, Anything Is Possible again underscores Elizabeth Strout's place as one of America's most respected and cherished authors. 

‘There is, in every chapter, a wrenching, beautiful dissonance between private desires and public obligations… Strout is a brilliant chronicler of the human condition. Anything is Possible is a wise, stunning novel.’ - The Observer 

 Born in Portland, Maine, Elizabeth Strout has spent her early life in New England before moving to New York. Justly considered one of America’s finest living writers, she won a Pulitzer Prize for her third novel Olive Kitteridge which was subsequently made into an award-winning drama by HBO.

Source:  https://www.waterstones.com/book/anything-is-possible/elizabeth-strout/9780241287972

Have something done

Activity 1. Click on the words in the correct order.

Activity 2. Complete the sentences.

Activity 3. Complete the sentences.

Verb patterns

Click here to listen to a BBC Six-Minute English about verb patterns. There is a little test at the end!

Activity 1. Choose the correct answer.

Activity 2. Click on the words in the right order.

Activity 3. Choose the correct answer.

Activity 4. Let or make?

Can, could, managed to

Activity 1: Choose the correct answer.

Activity 2: Complete the sentences.

Saint Patrick's Day

St. Patrick is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. He was born in the fourth century and is famous for bringing Christianity into Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day falls on the 17th of March. Click here to listen to the text and then do Task 1. (scroll down) 

About The Archers

Archers fan Stephen Fry gives his instant introduction for new listeners. Learn about the people and places, the laughs and the scandals, so that you can get the most from The Archers. What do you learn about the following characters? You can find the answers as a comment.

1. David and Ruth Archer:___________________________________

2. Pat and Tony Archer: ____________________________________

3. Brian and Jennifer Aldridge: ______________________________

4. The Hebden Lloyds: _____________________________________

5. Emma and Ed Grundy: ___________________________________

TV Addicts

Most people can't imagine life without TV, yet it's only 75 years since regular broadcasting began. Listen to the programme and complete the sentences. You can find the answers as a comment.

1. How many hours a week on average does someone in the UK watch television? 

a) 20 hours

b) 30 hours

c) 40 hours

2. The BBC first public broadcast in the UK began in ___________.

3. Nick Higham explains other names that were considered for the television, such as photo  ___________ or electric ___________.

4. The television historian John Trenouth mentions the radio was called  ___________ in the past.

5. Some of the first things to be shown on TV were ___________, ___________ demonstrations and ___________ models.

6. Some British people didn't have a TV set back then because they weren't ___________ and they were ___________ of this mystical device.

7. Manufacturers put ___________ on the front of TV sets as people thought the TV set could see them and tried to put a ___________ over the screen!

8. Technology has developed so much that today you can even watch TV on your ___________ ___________, and the number of ___________ has expanded.

Source: BBC 6 minute English

16th January: Martin Luther King's Day

 

Answer the following questions:

1. What event took place on 18th August 1963?

2. Who was the most relevant speaker?

3. What had happened a few months earlier?

4. How did President Kennedy react to that?

5. Where did the demonstration start and finish?

6. Who did Martin Luther King mention at the beginning of his speech?

You can find the answers to the question in 'comments'.