shonibare - gorgeously recognisable artist

The Serpentine Gallery shows some fabulous contemporary art:

Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States - Serpentine Galleries

With the artist talking about their latest show on BBC radio:

Front Row - Yinka Shonibare, Sean Shibe, cinema and digital decay - Yinka Shonibare, Sean Shibe, cinema and digital decay - BBC Sounds

With more photos and examples here:

Yinka Shonibare Builds a Sanctuary of Safety at Serpentine - Ocula Advisory

Some reviewers think it's just the same as before:

The British-Nigerian artist’s first solo London show in more than two decades is full of his signature beautiful African fabrics subverting familiar colonial figures – just like the last one

Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States review – gorgeously recognisable, but is that enough? | Yinka Shonibare | The Guardian

Other reviewers look at the politics:

Yinka Shonibare considers the tangled relationship between Africa and Europe at Serpentine South

Yinka Shonibare presents ‘Suspended States’ at Serpentine South | Wallpaper

Artist Yinka Shonibare has brought Winston Churchill down to size

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earth day 2024

This year's Earth Day promises to be very big indeed:

Earth Day: The Official Site | EARTHDAY.ORG

The theme this year is Planet vs. Plastics:

Earth Day 2024 | Activities & Resources for April 22 - Earth Day

As reported today:

Over the past 60 years, around eight billion tons of plastic has been produced, according to a recent study in the journal Science Advances — 90.5 per cent of which has not been recycled. As a result, this year’s Earth Day theme— “Planet vs. Plastic”— demands a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.

Just how big of a challenge is this? What type of numbers are we talking about? Here’s some perspective:

• In 1950, the world produced just two million tons of plastic. We now produce over 450 million tons.
• Half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 15 years.
• Production is expected to double by 2050.
• More than one million plastic water bottles are sold every minute.
• Every year, about 11 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the ocean.
• Only 9% of plastics ever produced has been recycled.
• Plastics often contain additives that can extend the life of products, with some estimates ranging to at least 400 years to break down.

Plastic is literally everywhere

An advertisement from the American Plastics Council in a 1997 edition of the New Yorker suggested that plastic wrappers and containers were the “sixth food group” that were there to keep contaminates out of our food.

Earth Day 2024: Planet Vs. Plastic

Here's some background:

Earth Day is a global event which aims to highlight the importance of protecting the environment. It takes place every year on 22 April.,It was set up in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a US senator and environmentalist, and Denis Hayes, a graduate student at Harvard University...

The 2024 theme, "Planet vs. Plastics", aims to raise awareness of the harms of plastic pollution for human and planetary health. Previous events have covered a range of environmental issues, from climate change and clean energy to protecting species and the benefits of tree planting. This year's focus comes ahead of an historic UN treaty on plastics, which is expected to be agreed by the end of 2024. More than 50 countries, including the UK, have called for an end to plastic pollution by 2040. But the organisers of Earth Day want to go further, and are calling for a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.

What is Earth Day, when is it and what has it achieved? - BBC News

Corporations are getting in on the act - although how effective these promotions are...

Win Disney+ National Geographic Galápagos Islands Cruise: How to Enter

Apple Celebrating Earth Day and International Dance Day With New Apple Watch Activity Challenges - MacRumors

Or is it greenwashing, again...

Reclaiming Earth Day from corporate greenwashing – The UCSD Guardian

How Capitalism Stole Earth Day

Earth Day 2024: Greenwashing is the order of the day

Perhaps more importantly, people are doing things:

Rochdale News | News Headlines | Family event to celebrate Earth Day to be held at Number One Riverside - Rochdale Online

Discounted unlimited travel on Salisbury Reds buses for Earth Day | Salisbury Journal

Celebrate Earth Day in Lancaster district - Beyond Radio

And around the world:

Armenia Changes the World, One Sapling At a Time - Earth Day

Earth Hour 2024: Hyderabad monuments to turn dark today evening; All you need to know | Mint

World Earth Day 2024 Matters In South Africa - iAfrica

And very locally:

Celebrate Earth Day in the Brockton, Taunton area with clean ups 2024

Loose Women films at Eden Project for World Earth Day - Cornwall Live

It's not just plastic:

Earth Day 2024: Importance Of Reducing Carbon Footprint

On Earth Day, don’t forget fish - The Korea Times

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the key language learning benefits of graded readers

There are some great resources out there to help students on their way:

Jay Doubleyou: graded english readers

With many of these resources also coming with something to listen to:

Jay Doubleyou: english easy readers - audio books

Here's a good introduction:

What are Graded Readers for ESL Students? | Wiki | Twinkl

Here's a further guide from the British Council:

Using Graded Readers | TeachingEnglish | British Council

And here's an excellent overview from the latest EL Gazette:

Some are turning their nose up at graded readers, but teachers Willy Renandya and George Jacobs argue that the books are a valuable tool to improve the reading skill.

As language educators, we constantly seek effective ways to support and enhance our students’ language learning experiences. One powerful yet often neglected strategy is the use of graded readers.

Graded readers are widely acknowledged to be highly beneficial for many areas of language proficiency. They are specially written or revised reading materials tailored for various proficiency levels and designed to meet the varied interests of our students. Students can experience the joy of reading a fiction or non-fiction graded reader on practically any topics that pique their interest at any proficiency level. Graded readers provide beginning students with an excellent bridge to gradually move to reading non-graded, unabridged texts.

Here are some of the key language learning benefits of graded readers:

...

Top grades for graded readers! - E L Gazette

With some further academic research here:

The Benefits of Graded Reading - ProQuest [also: (PDF) The Benefits of Graded Reading]

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listen to bbc radio 4!

How do you wash your dishes?

Is it better to wash your dishes by hand or use a dishwasher? This question from listener Eve has got to be among the most hotly contested debates out there. She wants to know which method uses more water and which is more energy efficient. To find out, we speak to a man who's spent decades studying the differences - Professor Rainer Stamminger from the University of Bonn in Germany.

Sliced Bread - Dishwashers - BBC Sounds

How often do you spend time in the garden?

Michael dons some gardening gloves and gets grubby. It’s no surprise that digging, hoeing and heaving bags of soil around is great for our physical fitness. But Michael learns how gardening can also impact our microbiome from Dr Hannah Holscher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She explores how gardening can boost the gut microbiome, benefitting our health and wellness. Our volunteer Caspar, tests his green fingers by growing some kitchen herbs and visiting a community garden.

Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley - Get Gardening - BBC Sounds

How do you like your history?

Greg Jenner is joined by chocolate historian Alex Hutchinson and British TV legend Richard Osman to explore the culinary and cultural history of chocolate - Britain's favourite confectionery. Just what did the Maya use to flavour their cacao? How did cacao become chocolate and find its way into our shops and hearts? And why did a family feud change the entire branding of a much loved chocolate bar?

You're Dead to Me - The History of Chocolate - BBC Sounds

How much do you know about the Irish actor Cillian Murphy?

Cillian Murphy played Tommy Shelby in the BBC drama Peaky Blinders, a role that brought him a huge audience and much critical acclaim. Before that he’d played Scarecrow in The Dark Knight trilogy, starting his collaboration with filmmaker Christopher Nolan, and has most recently starred in Nolan’s Oppenheimer winning a Golden Globe and receiving an Academy Award nomination. The Irish Times named him as one of the greatest Irish actors of all time.

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs - Seven things we learned from Cillian Murphy's Desert Island Discs

How much do you know about professional wrestlers?

Professional wrestlers Drew and Lee have been like brothers ever since adolescence. When one betrays the other in the heat of a tumultuous night in Glasgow, the two men find themselves entangled in a bitter grudge that goes way beyond the confines of the wrestling ring, with violence and bitterness spilling over into the real world…
In Radio 4's Sideways – the podcast about the ideas that shape our lives – Matthew Syed delves into the world of pro wrestling to shed light on the hidden values and harsh consequences of grudges.
Can grudges ever be beneficial? Or will they always be destructive?

BBC Radio 4 - Sideways, 57. Grudge Match - Why do we hold grudges and can they ever be good for us?

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dumbing down high culture

What do we mean by 'high culture'?

Jay Doubleyou: high vs popular culture

Jay Doubleyou: high culture > popular culture --- high register > low register

Jay Doubleyou: romeo + juliet and west side story

And what do we mean by 'dumbing down'?

Jay Doubleyou: dumbing us down [and school]

Jay Doubleyou: education: dumbing us down [and Prussia]

Jay Doubleyou: brexit, trump and dumbing down [the cult of ignorance]

What about opera? Does it have to be 'dumbed down' to make it 'popular'?

I'm a young opera fan - we don't need them to be dumbed down for us (March 2024)

Daily Research News Online no. 8123 - Research 'Dumbing Down' Opera? (March 2008)

But what a snob! Or is this critic criticising with tongue firmly in cheek?

What’s so good about young people? I only ask because English National Opera seems so desperate to entice the yoof that it is willing to let them through the door in their pyjamas and slippers, and possibly in nothing more than their birthday suits if that whole dressing-up lark feels like too much effort.

This week, ENO enlisted the help of Blur’s Damon Albarn (well into middle age) and Terry Gilliam (old enough to start resembling a badger) in an attempt to woo a younger audience. Albarn and Gilliam, who both dress like 14-year-old boys, launched the Undress for the Opera initiative, which invites newcomers to turn up in their jeans and trainers instead of the usual suits and frocks. The London Coliseum will also offer beer promotions, “club-style bars” and “specially themed cocktails”. Come to the opera and get as drunk as you like, kids!

If you don’t like the music, Gilliam (hopefully) joked that you could “wear your earphones”. Meanwhile, the ENO’s artistic director, John Berry, said that “there are lots of people who are put off by the way opera is presented…We’re going to greet you when you come through the door, look after you and make sure you have a really fantastic evening.” Eeww! Please don’t!

Why are we so obsessed with courting young people? They’ve got no money, and when they do they spend it all on super-strong alcohol, rolling tobacco and condoms. The few young people who do want to spend their savings on Don Giovanni hardly need the promise of hooch as an incentive. Does this craven appeal to young folk make an institution look cool? No. It just makes it look like a sad teenager trying to attract the focus of their unrequited love.

I have never been to the opera – not because you have to dress up, or because, in the words of Gilliam, I think it is “for a bunch of old farts – the bourgeoisie in dinner jackets”. I haven’t been to the opera because it generally costs a small fortune. So while it’s great that ENO will be making 100 seats available for 25 quid, it would be even better if we could sit in those seats in our finery, without the threat of a pint of beer down our backs. You don’t need to lure people to The Magic Flute by turning it into The Pig and Whistle.

Dumbing down won't attract the young to the opera

Finally:

Jay Doubleyou: register: populism, culture wars and woke [how Trump speaks, defining populism...]

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the real price of learning english

How much does it cost to learn English?

How much does it cost to learn English in the UK? ‹ Frequently Asked Questions ‹ Frequently Asked Questions

And are there other approaches?

How Much Does It Cost To Learn English? Can You Learn English For Free?

But is the system fair?

The true cost of science’s language barrier for non-native English speakers

The latest EL Gazette discusses this, starting with another discussion:

Back in December, an intriguing and divisive article appeared in the Guardian. The article, titled ‘English still rules the world, but that’s not necessarily okay’, was written by lecturer in public policy and administration at the University of Ulster, Michele Gazzola. In it, Michele discusses the position of the English language in today’s modern world, and the implications it has for those who speak it as a second language. Specifically, Michele says there is a real cost, financially and socially, to both countries and individuals.

What is the real price of ELT… - E L Gazette

Finally, maybe the costs of not learning a second language need to be considered:

A Cost/Benefit Analysis of Learning a Second Language | Language Trainers UK Blog

The True Cost of (Not) Learning a Second Language for International Education - Gateway International Group

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how to teach/learn reading

TEACHING READING:

How can we teach the reading of English has become a big discussion points:

Phonics and the battle for literacy: experts cross pens in the ‘Reading Wars’! - E L Gazette

The latest EL Gazette is dedicated to 'how to teach reading':

ELG2402 Feb Issue 488

Including:

Asking the right question: teaching reading to bilingual learners - E L Gazette

Embracing English learners in a Science of Reading era - E L Gazette

Here's more of the basics:

A step-by-step set of procedures: 

Teaching Reading to ESL Students

With the same in more detail:

How to Teach Reading to ESL Beginners: 6 Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension | FluentU English Educator Blog

Here we look at a specific approach:

Guided Reading: a Powerful Tool for Teaching Reading Skills to ESL Learners | Learn English

Here's a teaching reading poster:

Teaching reading | TeachingEnglish | British Council

Here we go a little deeper in helping students:

7 Tips to Improve Your ESL Students’​ Reading Comprehension • LatinHire Online Tutoring

LEARNING READING:

Keeping it deep, reading is in itself a good thing for learing a language:

Improve your English through Reading | EnglishClub

Here's a pretty comprehensive list of specific skills:

How to Improve Your English Reading Skills: 22 Tips and Strategies | FluentU English

The British Council has got some great reading tasks at different levels:

Reading | LearnEnglish

Here's Emma from mmmEnglish with some great ways to improve reading:

The Best Way To Improve Your Reading Skills 📖📚 English Tips! - YouTube

It's possible to work on speaking when reading:

Reading Tips to Improve Pronunciation for ESL Students

Here's a good list of 'easyish' novels:

9 great novels to help improve your English - Blogs | Pearson Languages

And here are some ideas on reading 'easy readers':

5-step guide: How to improve your English by reading simple books

Finally, here are some great resources online to help further:

Free Websites to Practice English at Home | The New York Public Library

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