Something blue...

Listen here: 

"Something old, something new

Something borrowed, something blue

And a silver sixpence in your shoe…"

Here is a poem from the Victorian Era that every English-speaking bride knows by heart: the list of all the things that she needs on her wedding day to follow the tradition and be lucky. And today, we are going to discover what they mean.

There are indeed many interesting facts about weddings that many people don't know about. To have something old on your wedding represents the continuity between the bride and her family and community: her maiden name is going to change but it doesn't mean that she'll lose her identity and family history. There is a variety of objects that could work as her "something old", such as a vintage garter, her grandmother's veil, a locket with a family picture, a brooch, etc.

The "something new" represents the future of the new bride and groom. It symbolizes new beginnings and living together forever happily married. It can be a wedding dress, new makeup, new shoes, fresh flowers, or even the key to a new house.

"Something borrowed" means the everlasting support of family and friends for the new couple. Normally, the borrowing is supposed to be between the bride and a happily married woman. Examples of borrowed things are a grandmother's cake recipe, a sister's shoes, a mother's earrings, etc.

"Something blue" is symbolic of purity, loyalty, faithfulness, everlasting love and fidelity in the new marriage. Traditionally, all English-fashioned wedding dresses have a hidden blue thread. However, it could also be blue flowers, blue polish-nail, blue shoes, a blue garter, blue jewelry or even blue bridesmaids dresses.

Finally, the sixpence in your shoe is a wish for good fortune and prosperity throughout the marriage. This one is mainly a British custom.

That's it: now you know a bit more about English traditions! 

What about you? What are the wedding good luck charms in your country?

Did the Duchess of Cambridge have a blue garter under her  wedding dress? 

Adapted from http://castlecatering.net/vintage-traditions-for-the-modern-wedding-infographic/#.UpO8NKW-z9K

REM - Losing my religion

This week, with my afternoon students (pre-intermediate), we were talking about songs and artists we liked and one of them mentioned REM, which reminded me of this great song I wanted to share with you today.

For those of you who don't know REM, they are an American band from Georgia created in 1980 by 4 artists: Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry. Their music was labeled as "alternative rock" and they were one of the firsts in that genre. Today, we are going to study the song "Losing my religion", which is one of my favorite ones.

1) Listen to the song

2) Read the lyrics and listen at the same time to find the missing words.

3) Check your answers here.

4) Check the vocabulary here: REM Losing my religion.pdf

5) Play the song again and sing at the same time. If you don't know why you have to sing, check my previous post on the subject here.

6) Comment with your answer to this question: What is the song about?

Life is ________________
It's ________________
And you, you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The ________________ in your eyes
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up

That's me in the ________________
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion________________ to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said ________________

I thought that I heard you ________________
I thought that I heard you ________________
I think I thought I saw you ________________

Every whisper
Of every waking hour 
I'm choosing my ________________
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt lost and blinded fool
Oh no, I've said too much
I set it up

Consider this
The hint of the________________
Consider this
The slip that brought me
To my knees failed
What if all these ________________
Come flailing around
Now I've said too much

I thought that I heard you ________________
I thought that I heard you ________________
I think I thought I saw you ________________

But that was just a ________________
That was just a ________________

That's me in the ________________
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion________________ to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said ________________

I thought that I heard you ________________
I thought that I heard you ________________
I think I thought I saw you ________________

But that was just a dream, try, cry, why, try
That was just a dream, just a dream, just a dream
Dream

Nina Simone

This week, I want to make an article about Nina Simone. I introduced one of her songs in my classes and discovered that she was unknown to my students. It was therefore necessary for me to present her life and work as the legendary artists she was. 

- The "difficult" words are underlined, and you are free to find their meanings in your dictionary (www.wordreference.org) 

- Listen to the podcast here:

- Read the text

- Listen and read at the same time for your brain to develop and improve your listening skills.

Enjoy!

***

Nina Simone was one of the most extraordinary artists of the 20th century and an icon of American music. She used her talent to create a sense of liberation, empowerment, passion and love through wonderful songs. She was nicknamed "High Priestess of Soul" because she could cast a spell on people, and they would lose track of time and space as they became absorbed in the moment. 

Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon. She was born in North Carolina on February 21st, 1933. She started playing the piano by ear at the age of 3. She was raised in a strictly religious family and she played the piano in her mother's church. When she was 12, she made a concert in the local church. Her parents, who were sitting in the front row, were forced to move to the back to leave their seats to white people. She refused to play until her parents moved back to the front. 

After graduating from high school, she wanted to go to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the school rejected her because of her race. Eunice moved to New York City and studied at the Julliard School of Music.

To survive, she began teaching music to local students. One day, in 1954, she started to sing at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She transformed popular tunes unto a synthesis of jazz, blues and classical music, and people started talking about her. Her rich, deep velvet voice combined with her wonderful keyboard skills soon attracted an audience. Eunice didn't want her mother to know she was singing in bars, she became "Nina Simone", after the actress Simone Signoret.

When she was 24, Nina Simone came to the attention of the record industry and signed a contract with Bethlehem Records, and her interpretation of "I Loves you Porgy" was a big success in 1958. Nina Simone recorded more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974. Her musical style is a mixture between gospel and pop songs, with a bit of classical music and jazz singing. 

In the early 1960s, she became involved in the civil rights movement and that gave a new direction to her life. Her music had a big influence on the fight for equal rights in the United States. Nina Simone always included songs about her African-American origins, but it was the first time she openly sang about the racial inequalities in the United States with "Mississippi Goddam". From then on, there was always a civil rights message in her songs. The most powerful performance, to me, is her interpretation of "Strange Fruit", a song originally by Billie Holiday.

Her last album, A Single Woman, was recorded in 1993. She had suffered from breast cancer for several years when she died in her sleep on April 21st, 2003. Elton John sent flowers with the message "You were the greatest and I love you." Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. She leaves a daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud, actress and singer with the stage name Simone.

Source: the Official Home of Nina Simone and Wikipedia

Here is a documentary about the great Nina Simone; called: Nina Simone, The Legend.

Abercrombie & Fitch CEO's ugly quest for attractive "cool kids"

Hi everyone. This week, I suggest you an adapted news article about the infamous Abercrombie & Fitch brand. Follow the instructions and enjoy!

1) Listen to the podcast   - DON'T READ

2) Listen again and take notes of what you understand.

3) Read the text and look for the underlined words in a dictionary

4) Read again and listen to the podcast at the same time.

5) Answer the questions at the end of this note, as well as the opinion questions. You can comment the article with your answers.

This week, a mother from Washington DC took her three daugthers’ Abercrombie & Fitch clothes and returned them to the firm’s chief executive, Mike Jeffries, with a note explaining that she wouldn’t let her kids shop at his stores anymore.

Why was she so angry?

Last week, Business Insider reported that Abercrombie refuses to make large-sized clothing, because Jeffries wants «thin and beautiful» people shopping in his store. «He doesn’t want his customers to see people who aren’t as hot as them wearing his clothes». «As far as Jeffries is concerned, America’s unattractive, overweight or otherwise undesirable teens can shop elsewhere.»

Jeffries is quoted as saying « In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-America kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong in our clothes, and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody either.»

However, nowadays, fast fashion retailers such as H&M and Forever 21 do a pretty good job of exciting fashion customers of all ages and sizes. And - no big surprise - they have been stealing market share from Abercrombie & Fitch.

From a fashion point of view, Abercrombie is a lame label. Although it sounds vaguely English, Abercrombie is a reinvented hunting and fishing creator based in Ohio. It is not what you can call a design house. It is just a retailer of relatively boring overpriced clothes tarted up for teens.

The company always seems to be in the middle of some scandal or controversy: Its catalog photos are too suggestive, it’s selling thong underwear to pre-teens, and they are in court for forcing less attractive and minority employees to work behind the scenes rather than on the floor.

So, while there is nothing particularly original going on style-wise at Abercrombie, there is a certain genius for developing the anxiety of youngsters who want to be considered cool by their peers.

Supposedly, it’s an anxiety that CEO Jeffries, now in his late 60’s, never outgrew. «Jeffries wants desperately to look like his target customers, and in that pursuit he has aggressively transformed hismelf from a classically handsome man into a cartoonish physical specimen: dyed hair, perfectly white teeth, golden tan, building biceps, wrinkle-free face, and big Angelina Jolie lips.»

Still trying to be one of the cool kids, I guess.

Adapted from L.A. Now, article by Robin Abcarian, May 11th, 2013

Questions:

1) Why was the mother so angry?

2) Why does Abercrombie exclude non-attractive people?

3) Why does the journalist think that Abercrombie is a lame label?

4) What kind of controversy or scandal is the company in the middle of?

5) What does Jeffries look like?

Opinion questions:

1) Did you know Abercrombie & Fitch? Have you ever been to one of their shops?

2) Is this company the reflection of today's world?