Accent

21 May Made In China? Of Course It Is – But Why?

Posted at 16:20h in A2 - Pre-intermediate, Business, CNBC International, Complete Lesson Plan, North America

This lesson focuses on the concept of “Made in China” and its many connotations. It compares the sales price of international products (H&M, Adidas, Starbucks) IN China with the prices in the US and it also looks at the cost of made in China products around...

19 May Just How Do Airlines Set Their Prices?!

Posted at 15:40h in A2 - Pre-intermediate, British, Business, CNBC International, Complete Lesson Plan, Technology

This lesson is based around airlines, pricing and artificial intelligence but there should also be plenty of opportunities for 'spin-off' conversations into things like low-cost carriers like Ryanair, impact on the environment, will high-speed trains ever compete etc....

19 May Starbucks – Love ‘Em Or Hate ‘Em ? The Australian Story

Posted at 15:20h in Australia, Business, C1 - Advanced, CNBC International, Complete Lesson Plan, North America, Popular Culture

This lesson is based around Starbucks. More specifically, it connects to their failure in Australia (at least at their first attempt) and their new (Autumn '18) venture into the sacred home of coffee: Italy. It's a meaty subject and there are THREE connected videos so you...

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...

14 Mar What are the six Universal Principles of Persuasion?

Posted at 22:12h in A2 - Pre-intermediate, British, Complete Lesson Plan, Popular Culture, Psychology

This animated video describes the six universal Principles of Persuasion according to Robert Cialdini, an influential scholar and author. This can be a self-contained short lesson or extended to get more mileage out of it. It’s broken down into six topics so it makes for an...

12 Mar How covid-19 is boosting innovation

Posted at 11:24h in A2 - Pre-intermediate, British, Business, Complete Lesson Plan, Technology, The Economist

This video is (mainly) focusing on the positives of Covid and is handily broken down into “chapters” so you can pick and choose to match your students’ interests and/or to complement an existing lesson topic. This is just the transcript so the lesson itself and your...

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...