Famous Female Mexican Painter

Frida Kahlo

An Introduction

In the British Council Elementary Podcast Series Programme 6,  the famous person discussed this week was Frida Kahlo, a famous Mexican Painter.  She is truly a fascinating woman and here are some sources of information to help you understand her work and  her life.

http://www.fridakahlo.org/index.jsp

The above website incorporates:

• 6 biographical videos and a written biographical page. You may like to write your own biography on her life after you have read, listened to and watched these video's.  This could be a small group project where you take a small part of her life story each.
• information, facts and the chronology of Frida Kahlo's life. You could assemble the information into a time line using this link - http://www.dipity.com/
• a paint gallery  with over 70 self portraits to scroll through by Frida.  Perhaps you could arrange and edit these pictures into a Favourte 10 Frida Kahlo Painting PowerPoint Presentation, writing a summarising sentence about each painting and what it means to you.
• A selection of quotes taken from what Frida said in her lifetime and her diary which she kept for the latter part of her life.  These could be made into a pocket book of Frida Kahlo Quotes.

My Favourite Quote

“Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing.”

In her diary she also wrote:

"Laughing and letting go and feeling lighter give one strength. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing "man" has, and I am sure that however much animals "suffer", they never exhibit their "pain" in open "theatres" or "behind doors". Their colours are truer than any image that any man may "represent" as painful.”

After her experiences in life, I am truly inspired by this incredible woman and her words.  It is a miracle that a person who suffered so much, had this amazing gift of valuing and living her life so fully. Awe inspiring!

The Film - Frida

Frida Kahlo's life was made into film starring Salma Hayak and Alfred Molina, as her husband Diego Rivera (the famous Mexican muralist).

Here is a film trailer to view at:-

http://www.totaleclips.com/player/Splash.aspx?formatId=10&bitrateId=310&vendorId=9&eclipId=e17261&playerId=38

And here is a written, online review for the film from Alex von Tunzelmann (The Guardian)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/jun/17/frida-reel-history

British Council Elementary Podcast Episode 6

TEFL Vocabulary, Grammar and Communicative Skills.

If you are a beginner (A2 CEFR level) these British Council Podcasts are excellent for getting you started.  As the week progresses I will post up other related work which will be appropriate for different levels of student ability.  If you are an Intermediate level of student you may want to use this resource to revise and then extend your knowledge.  Advanced students may just want to dip into the additional and other resources added during the week.

Go to: 

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/elementary-podcasts/series-01-episode-06

Find the audio link (MP3) right click and save it so you can listen to it whenever is convenient for you. The podcast comes with a support pack and transcript which is 22 pages long.  Use this link:

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/sites/podcasts/files/learnenglish-podcasts-elementary-01-06-support-pack-transcript.pdf

Download and do the exercises.

Main Contents of Podcast This Week

• Telling a story - 'being late'.
• What famous person would you like to meet and why? Frida Kahlo, a famous Mexican painter
• Vocabulary quiz - words beginning with (single consonant sounds)
• Kazakhstan - a comparison of 'old' and 'new'.  Astana (capital city) versus traditional mountain scenery.  'Berkutchy' - a traditional eagle keeper or modern occupations.
• Expressing an opinion - how 'green' are you?
• Dialogue of Carolina from Venezuela when she is at university deciding what societies and clubs to join.
• Telling/retelling a joke

Here is a summary of the main language points of the podcast. Try to get more practise with these language points during the week if you can:

1. Use of the word 'like' as a verb, preposition and informal conversation filler.
2. Informal language and phrases.
3. Giving information to others.  For example: phone numbers, addresses.
4. Use of the phrase 'as well'

I will follow up with work that is related through the week.  This work will be graded for different levels of student ability.

BBC World Service - Witness, Fifty years of the Beatles

BBC World Service - Witness, Fifty years of the Beatles

Click on the title link above and listen to Beatles music clips (Love, Love Me Do; Please, Please Me and she Loves You) with an interview led by Simon Watts in 1962.  

The four young Beatles (Ringo, George, John and Paul) are interviewed as are George Martin and Brian Ebstein (their manager and stage manager respectively).  

Their 'natural sense of  humour' and 'love for fun' comes through really well in the interview as indeed do some of their 'character flaws'. 

The interview was conducted in a very different time era where musicians did as their manager and stage manager told them.  They dressed in suits as directed by Brian Ebstein instead of the jeans and leather jackets they had originally turned up for audition in.  

Very informative. Listen, sing along and enjoy!