READING THE NEWSPAPERS

Teenagers usually don’t like reading the newspaper - or reading in general -  but if you want to enrich your vocabulary reading is very useful. We tried this activity in pairs during one of our recent lessons: our teacher brought real English newspapers and we leafed through the pages in search of interesting news or curiosities. Our task was writing down a summary of the article giving the reasons why we had chosen it . It was quite useful and here are the results of our work in pairs.

WELCOME TO COACHELLA

If you want to have fun with your friends and you like all kinds of music COACHELLA FESTIVAL MUSIC It's the perfect party for you. It's a music festival that takes place every year in California, in the United States of America. Usually it's a 2-3 days long event (usually in April). The festival features several music groups that play different genres, with a preference for electronic, rock, indie and hip hop music.

TOTTI’S DAY: FAREWELL, CAPTAIN!

Last Sunday many Italian people watched Totti's tears  during his last ride around the football field as    ''Roma's Captain''. ''Time has come'' Totti said in a post-match speech, from the centre of the pitch, in front of almost 60,000 fans inside the 'Stadio Olimpico'

The weeping of ''er Pupone'' (Italian people call him  this way) was accompanied by the soundtrack of the movie  ''The Gladiator''; his hug to his children, The King Lion song,  Ennio Moricone's music, Francesco Totti's  close-up face on the giant screen and when the songs by Antonello Venditti started from the speakers of the Olimpic Stadium, we were all in tears.

LIVING ABROAD

''Should I stay or Should I go'' sang  The Clash back in 1982. This is a question that lots of people wonder.

For many people it's a dream to move abroad. Others, instead,  decide to stay in their own country. In Italy it seems job opportunities are decreasing, so young people wish to go abroad, to other countries, where,  maybe, they can find more and better job offers. But there aren't only young people wishing to to go away, there are also old people who are forced to go abroad where, with their pension, they can live better.

So here there are some countries where it is possible to change your life for  better...

INDIE BANDS: THE ART OF BEING … INDEPENDENT!

Indie music = independent music.  How much do you know about it? As for me, I’m sure I love it!

Independent music is music produced independently from major commercial record labels. The term indie is sometimes also used to describe a genre (such as indie rock and indie pop).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROBERT NESTA MARLEY!

Who is Bob Marley?


Bob Marley was just a man , like us , like you , like the whole world , but at the same time he wasn't. People should be like him , not literally but just like him they should care about their brothers next to them . Sure he wasn't the first and not even the last to dedicate his life to others but sure he may be a model to follow. 

JUVENTUS: A BAD CHOICE!

Hi guys,  happy Sunday and... welcome to the football world!

Juventus Football Club is one of the best football teams in Europe at the moment, thanks to years of great achievements and a brilliant team.

We are two wild-eyed Juventus supporters and today we would like to tell you about an event which shocked the majority of us fans: the substitution of our wonderful emblem.

In fact, the management has recently announced that starting from 2017/2018 season the old logo will be replaced by a brand-new emblem. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CLAUDIO MARCHISIO!

Today it is a great day for football or more precisely for the black and white supporters,   that is Juventus fans!

Today they celebrate the birthday of one of their heroes, one of the greatest Juventus players, Claudio Marchisio.  

 He was born on this day in 1986. Marchisio's father, Stefano, was a big fan and the team had just won, a few weeks before, the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo, one of the most beautiful football finals ever.

FAREWELL TO GEORGE MICHAEL

The ex Wham singer   passed away on Christmas Day, at just 53. We pay tribute to him and his long career marked by 100 million records in 40 years.

George Michael, whose real name was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou born in London in 1963. He became famous when,  with his schoolmate,  Andrew Ridgeley, formed a  band, The Wham, that has now become a cult from 80s.  The band lasted only five years, after which George Michael began a long solo career which led him to sell over 100 million records all over the world.

WHAT ABOUT A MUSIC CHALLENGE?

Hi guys!

We are back with a music challenge!

Are you ready to have fun with us?

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT COLDPLAY? (PART ONE)

ARE COLDPLAY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER BANDS?

OF COURSE! Coldplay were a surprisingly new phenomenon when they started back in 1996. 20 years ago!!! Music journalists have written that the band doesn't quite fit in with the current popular-music landscape. Their soulful, haunting, intelligent songs have set them apart from bubblegum pop stars, aggressive rap artists. Also the lead singer, Chris, is far from the lifestyle of a stereotypical rock star: he doesn’tt take drugs, he doesn’t distaste alcohol, but he never had a bad lifestyle.

In an article in Maclean's magazine, Coldplay guitarist John Buckland said “ connecting to listeners on an emotional level is the most important thing in music for us. We're not really the cool, detached kind of people; we're really passionate about what we're doing." At Coldplay's official website, Chris Martin explained the band's choice: "We were trying to say that there is an alternative. That you can try to be catchy without being slick, poppy without being pop, and you can be uplifting without being pompous.... We wanted to be a reaction against soulless rubbish."

Here is a cool video featuring Chris Martin. Recently he has taken part in a funny show with James Corden which is very famous in the USA, the "Carpool Karaoke"!

THE GOLDEN 80s & 90s

Hi guys, today we want to talk about the songs of a time gone by, but that we will never forget . We are talking about songs that have made the history of music, songs from the 80s & 90s. The music of the past is very different from today's music. Once you had to know how to play an instrument or have a great voice or at least to know how to tell a story in your lyrics but, nowadays,  very simply with a computer everybody can make and release a song, even your Maths/English/Science teacher 

Everybody knows that since many years the music that we hear is contaminated by money and business so it is a bit difficult to recognize a good song when you hear it. However not all contemporary music has to be thrown away , absolutely not!

Now let's not think about this and think more about the 80s/90s hits. Here we have the top songs chart by MTV.  We’ve chosen to see just the first five songs that in ascending order are :