NINE FIFTEEN

Did you know that British sovereigns usually choose   a dish to mark their Coronation Day?  That’s definitely a good way to match History and enogastronomy, one of the best expressions of the culture of a community!  On today’s occasion (6th May 2023) King Charles and Queen consort Camilla shared the "coronation quiche" recipe via their social media. The quiche  is described as "a deep quiche with a crisp, light pastry case and deli cate flavours of spinach, broad beans and fresh Tarragon ”.  You can eat it hot or cold with a green salad and boiled new potatoes and that’s perfect for a ‘Coronation Big Lunch’, that is to say for street parties across the country to celebrate His Majesty the King and get in touch with family, friends and neighbours.  Watch here or read here the official recipe for the quiche.  Whether you are a royalist or not, this is a day to remember in hist ory!  Enjoy your meal!  P.S. In the picture you can see the delic...

Dear Students,  As a teacher, this time of September is always full of high hopes and great expectations for what is going to happen. New classes to meet for the first time, old students to greet again after the summer break.  Will we get along well soon? I’m sure we will. Yes, we will, provided you realize that all my interventions at school  serve your dreams .   By the way, what are your dreams? Cristal clear already, or still cloudy and misty?  Try and get an answer after reading/listening   this poem  by Langston Hughes, one of the most famous American poets of all time. Ah, guess the title!  Enjoy your new school year! 

 Dear Students,  Happy to meet you again after all this extremely challenging time!  I hope you are well and that Covid-19 hasn’t been too difficult to face for you and your families.  I’d like to greet your back to school days with this wonderful poem by Black American poet Amanda Gorman,  The Miracle of Morning (April 2020), a hymn to solidarity, empathy and optimism even in the tragic times we have experienced.  Let’s read it scrolling down this page or listen to it together clicking on  this link  and discuss it.  Enjoy the poem and the new school year! I thought I’d awaken to a world in mourning. Heavy clouds crowding, a society storming. But there’s something different on this golden morning. Something magical in the sunlight, wide and warming. I see a dad with a stroller taking a jog. Across the street, a bright-eyed girl chases her dog. A grandma on a porch fingers her rosaries. She grins as her young neighbor brings her groceries. Wh...

Did you know that the European Union has 24 official and working  languages ? Did you know that learning foreign languages is good for your health, social relationships, and future job?  ‘The limits of my language mean the limits of my world’: do you understand the meaning of this famous quotation by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein? Celebrate  the European Day of Languages , taste the richness of Europe!

After the long summer break, let’s start the new school year finding inspiration in a very special kind of art: street art. Read about Banksy, one of the most celebrated street artists in the world, at  this link  and then scroll down his official  Instagram account .

Exciting ‘English Cooking Demo' inspired to Jamie Oliver's recipes with the young students of IPC Tandoi Corato, class III C! #MenuOfTheDay: Starters: Shrimp Cocktail Main course: Fish and Chips with Mushy Peas Dessert: Blackcurrant Cheescake. Thanks to the excellent young cooks and Prof. Giovanni Lagreca for the supervision.  Stay tuned for the video recipe!

There was an interesting conference on food design yesterday in the school where I currently teach.  The pretext was the presentation of a book titled ‘La cucina di design. Cibo, tendenze, moda’ by a dear colleague and friend of mine, Loredana La Fortuna. The topic was food design, an issue analyzed from the critical lenses of social semiotics, definitely an unusal perspective for the students of a ‘Professionale Alberghiero’.  Food is not just what we eat. It is a language and, as such, it can express several meanings concerning family and national traditions, lifestyle, environment, hierarchies, gender roles, religion, cultural politics and ... Art, as Loredana’s book highlights.  Therefore, studying food means studying culture. I really recommend the reading of this book edited by Progedit (Bari 2016) to all the students and people interested in deconstructing the contemporary trend of ‘foodism’. Thanks a lot to all the participants to yesterday’s school even...

Have you heard the name of Greta Thunberg in the news? Have you heard of her nonviolent struggle against the climate change? Surf this  website  and read this  article  to find information about this cause... Now say if and how you are going to support the 15th March global strike.

On the occasion of this year International Women’s Day, March 8th, I have 3 reading suggestions for you all: 1.  A short history of the day ; 2. The book We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 3. A  list  of some of the reasons why it’s always good to thank a feminist! Enjoy your reading and your day of pride and struggle!

Work in groups: answer the following questions and discuss the results with the class. Then draw differnt graphs in Excel for each question.  1. How often do you eat junk food? 2 How often do you eat out? 3.  What’s your favorite food? 4. Who do you have lunch with? 5. Do you care where the food you eat comes from?  6. What national dishes from your country would you recommend to the world?

Can you think of any times you have felt these feelings? Using  this precious song   as the soundtrack of your activity, write shortly about them.

What better way to practice comparatives and superlatives than learning also about extreme weather? Click  here !

Curious about the hidden meanings of a chef’s hat? Read  here !

A fter Brexit, the EU referendum when Britain decided to leave the European Union, the British currency, the sterling, became weaker against the euro and the dollar. This however resulted in attracting more tourists to Britain , especially from North America , who wanted to take advantage of the favourable exchange rate, with the pound dropping in value against the dollar. This drop meant that Americans visiting Britain paid much less for hotels and therefore had more holiday money to spend. The number of visitors from EU countries also increased by 8% in 2016 compared to the previous year. The British tourism minister however stressed that this increase in visitors was not only due to the weaker pound, but was also proof that Britain has everything the tourist wants, from vibrant cities to stunning landscapes and many cultural attractions. Yorkshire seems to be one of the areas that benefited most with a record 476,000 visitors in the three months following the referendum, am...

Listen to this quick  conversation  and find out something about yourself and this new word!

Riding a bike can make you feel definitely FREE. For most of us cycling is just a nice sport activity to be carried out in the leisure time. However, there are countries where bikes are among the most common means of transport for communiting, doing the shopping, and moving across the city/cities. An example? The beautiful Denmark! Read  here  about this nation of cyclists and then answer the questions below: 1. Do you like cycling? When did you learn to ride the bike? Who taught you this? 2. When and why do you usually use your bicycle? 3. Is cycling dangerous in your town? 4. What are the advantages of cycling? 5. Can there be any disadvantages of cycling?

Dream of the sea free from plastic? Read  here  about this great invention by a young Dutch guy, Mr Boyan Slat... And you? How can you help saving our planet from plastic?

Hi guys! Today’s focus is on pronunciation. You’ll find below an animated phonemic chart to practice  the sounds of English   and the English alphabet with its  phonetic transcription . Please click on the suggested links and practice before our next class! See you soon!

Hello Everybody! How was your summer? September is already here and a few days are left before school classes begin. To tell the truth, this year I’m still in a holiday mood, far from home, on parental leave in Boston (USA) spending a wonderful life experience with my husband and son! Boston is a fantastic city, with all its parks, shores, museums, libraries, cultural events and shops! But, most of all, Boston is a truly inspirational place! Cambridge, one of its main districts, is home to two of the world’s most famous universities: Harvard and the MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, leading academies for their often life-changing research.  I’ve spent much time wandering across these places and I’ve found them so exciting! One day, at Harvard, I saw lots of young people from all over the world greeting their families with a kiss and a hug carrying their luggage to the dormitories. They were the new Harvard ‘freshmen’ (boys and girls) moving to the colleg...

Need to write a film review for your next English class? Find an example here: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/writing/elementary-a2-writing/film-review