What is the coronavirus?

Watch the video and answer the questions. Check your answers in "comments".



1. What is it caused by?
2. What are the symptoms?
3. What are the cases we know about?
4. Where did it come from?
5. How old are the most affected people?
6. Who are those who have died?
7. How is it transmitted?
8. Is there a treatment? Why? / Why not?
9. How serious is this outbreak?
10. What's the death rate?

Margarita Salas, Spain's leading female scientist, dies aged 80

 Click here to read about this inspiring woman's death.

Sesame Street

Watch the video and answer the questions. Check your answers in "comments".

1. How long has “Sesame Street” been tackling tough topics?
2. What are some of these topics?
3. Who is Julia?
4. Who do they want to help now with Carly?
5. What is Sesame Street in Communities?
6. Why is Carly necessary?
7. Who was Carly living with when she was introduced in the show?
8. What will Carly do?
9. What has Carly learned?
10. Why is it important for Sesame Street to create tools to help address these issues?

Best audio/video news websites

The best audio/video news and current affairs websites to learn English. The image below is interactive. Click on the icon and read what each website has to offer. 

Cristina Cabal

News reports

Click here to see old posts about the same topics. 

66 days lost at sea

Watch the video and answer the questions. Check your answers in "comments".


1. What caused the accident?
2. What happened to the boat?
3. What were the damages?
4. How did he survive?
5. What did he pray for?
6. When was he rescued?
7. Who rescued him?
8. What was the first thing he do? What did he tell him?
9. Why didn't her sister lose hope?
10. What was he treated for at hospital?
11. What did her mother tell the reporters?

News and the Media

Click here to learn some vocabulary.




Reading activities about mass media.

Have a look at this lesson on "Discussing the News". It includes a listening activity, the script with the explanation of the new expressions and a vocabulary activity.

Click here to watch a video explaining five ways to spot fake news.

Some websites where you can practise your English through news stories. Why not listening to a news story every day?

1. ECTV News
2. BBC
3. CNN
4. Breaking news
5. News in Levels

Watch this funny video first without subtitles. Watch it again clicking on the subtitles. Do you know the meaning of the words in the Vocab-U-Cast? Check them in the Urban Dictionary.

The News

Some interesting websites to keep you up to date and improve your English at the same time. 

CNN Student News (with scripts and quizzes)

Breaking News English (different levels, scripts and lots of exercises)

Newsy (video news with scripts)

One-minute World News (BBC)

LEONARD COHEN

Click here to read the news about Leonard Cohen's death.

Click here to listen to one of his most well-known songs (Hallelujah) and play with it.