North America

10 May Why everyone believes in at least one conspiracy theory

Posted at 11:41h in B2 - Upper-intermediate, British, Complete Lesson Plan, North America, Popular Culture, Psychology

It’s easy to be dismissive of conspiracy theories and think it’s always about ‘those people’ believing them but, the truth is, most of us have fallen for them at one point or another and when you look at ‘why’ people fall for them and then...

05 May How California is copying China to create Super Apps

Posted at 09:23h in B2 - Upper-intermediate, Business, Complete Lesson Plan, North America, Technology

This lesson focuses on the beast that is “WeChat”, the Chinese “superApp”, and how western tech giants like Google and particularly Facebook are copying it. This New York Times video is actually a little old (2016) but still feels relevant and it gives students the...

29 Abr The Future of Avatars. Maybe.

Posted at 09:13h in B2 - Upper-intermediate, BBC, British, Complete Lesson Plan, North America, Popular Culture, Technology

This lesson is based on a 25-minute BBC report called “Women of the Future: My Avatar and Me” and has soooo much good material to get into so it should make for a great source of inspiration for interesting conversation and debate! The video deals with...

24 Mar Are all-white paintings masterpieces or baloney?

Posted at 21:48h in Art, Business, C1 - Advanced, Complete Lesson Plan, Economics, North America, Popular Culture, Vox

I had a lot of fun with this lesson! It explores the world of minimalist art and attempts to justify the astronomical price tags. I particularly enjoyed it because I’m more on the side of “pretentious bullshit” than “misinterpreted masterpiece” so it worked well with...

01 Mar Why Putin wants Alexei Navalny dead

Posted at 19:29h in Business, C1 - Advanced, Complete Lesson Plan, North America, Politics, Problem Solving, Vox

This video takes a look at ‘why’ Putin had Alexei Navalny poisoned and how Putin has positioned himself to be a modern-day Tzar and powermonger. As you might suspect, this topic is for the more worldly-wise advanced level student but, saying that, personally I knew very...

5 tips to improve your critical thinking

26 Feb Tips to improve your critical thinking

Posted at 11:11h in A2 - Pre-intermediate, Complete Lesson Plan, Management, North America, Psychology, TED ed

This lesson is based on “Critical Thinking” and revolves around a very accessible video on the subject. As usual, there is a lot of potential for segues and going deeper into the subject but it can also be a “light and short“ lesson depending on...

17 Feb time flies…or does it?

Posted at 16:05h in B2 - Upper-intermediate, Complete Lesson Plan, North America, Popular Culture, Psychology, Science, Veritasium

This lesson is based on the perception of time and how it seems to either fly by or drag on. It’s a very interesting lesson but it took me some time to get my head around this personally so bear in mind Einstein’s words: “If...

17 Feb What kind of witchery does VR use to trick our brains?

Posted at 12:17h in B2 - Upper-intermediate, Complete Lesson Plan, North America, Psychology, Technology, Vox

This lesson is based on Virtual Reality (VR). It focuses on the human emotions and science of VR and how it tricks our brains. It was inspired by an article on “the future of work (using VR)” (see resources) so there is the potential to...

16 Feb What are the secrets of the Japanese Yakuza?

Posted at 22:05h in A2 - Pre-intermediate, Business, Complete Lesson Plan, North America, Popular Culture, The Economist

This video is on the Japanese mafia - the Yakuza. The video itself is very “light” in its approach and is more artistic as its focus is on a photographer who was allowed to document the Yakuza but it can act as a launchpad into the world...

16 Feb How do free video games make money

Posted at 21:41h in Business, C1 - Advanced, Complete Lesson Plan, North America, Problem Solving, Psychology, Technology, Vox

This video is based on the world of Freemium apps — a business model that, in the past few years, has largely wiped out the market of paid-for games. Now, game designers have to monetize the gameplay and one way to do that is by...