Skins

Skins TV series

Skins is a British teen drama which follows a group of teenagers in Bristol England during their two college years. The show was created by Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittan, and was broadcasted for the first time in January 2007.

The cast are entirely replaced every two seasons, when the characters leave sixth form and begin their adult lives. There are usually about eight main cast members, although the second generation had nine. Most of the central actors are relatively inexperienced, but there are sometimes better-known actors, such as Tony Stonem and James Cook.

Skins talks about teenagers' problems such as dysfunctional families, mental illnesses, eating disorders, adolescent sexuality, drug abuse and death. That’s why this series attracted me, as it deals with real life problems that teenagers face, not just the positive side that we can see on many other TV shows.

Clementine Lebret

 

Cocal-Cola

Coca-cola bottles

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink invented in 1886, when a chemist, John Pemberton tried to sell his drink as a medicine for headaches but nobody believed him. When he died in 1888, another chemist, Asa Candler, bought the recipe and Coca Cola became the most famous drink in the USA. The Company increased sales by over 4000% between 1890 and 1900.

Coca-Cola became famous all over the world during World War II, when five billion bottles were sold to the American soldiers. In 1931, a magazine published an advertisement for Coca-Cola showing a joyful, red-coated Father Christmas whereas before he could be as a kind of a small elf.

Today Coca-Cola’s recipe is kept in a safe, in Atlanta. There you can find a giant building called “World of Coca-Cola”. Coca-Cola is the most popular soft drink in the world and this corresponds to a profit of 22 billion dollars.

Isaure de Vibraye

 

Philadelphia

Philadelphia photo

Philadelphia is situated in the northeastern part of the USA, in Pennsylvania; the population is around 1,500,000 inhabitants. Philadelphia means in Greek “the city of brotherly love” but her nickname is “Philly”

The city was found by William Penn in 1682, as port for the United Kingdom. The declaration of the United States of America was signed the 4th of July 1776 by among others Benjamin Franklin. The first Stars and strips banner was created here by Betsy Rose. Between 1790 and 1800, Philadelphia was the capital of this new country just before Washington.

Philadelphia is of course a cultural city with the Rodin museum, and the Philadelphia museum of Art where Rocky walks up the stairs in the movie. One of the culinary specialties is the Philly cheesesteak it’s a sandwich with steak cheese and onions. Philadelphia is a sporty city with teams in national leagues in all sports: the Phillies in MLB, the 76ers in NBA, the Eagles in NFL and the Flyers in NHL.

Theo Le Blanc

 

William Shakespeare 1564 - 1616

William Shakespear portrait

William Shakespeare is the most popular dramatist and poet in the history of English literature. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. No one knows the exact date of his birth. April 23, 1564 is accepted as Shakespeare's birthday.

He must have been 17 or 18 years old when he married Anne Hathaway. Their first child Susanna, was born in 1583, then they had twins, Hamnet and Judith in 1585.

The company in which he played was very popular and performed regularly at the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Among the most famous works by William Shakespeare are: Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and the romantic tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespearian characters die violently through murder, treason, bloody combat and suicide, as it is seen in Romeo and Juliet and Othello.

During the course of his life, Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets. He died of unknown cause at age 52. Shakespeare is buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.

Alice Barbier

 

New Zealand

New Zealand flag

New Zealand (Aotearoa in Māori) is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean, comprising two main landmasses (North Island and South Island) and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some 1,500 kilometers east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly 1,000 kilometers south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.

With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest before the arrival of humans. It was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. The majority of New Zealand's population is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and non-Māori Polynesians. English and Māori are the official languages, with English predominant. Much of New Zealand's culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers.

New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of New Zealand and the head of state. New Zealand, here you come!

Antoine Gayral

 

Harrods

Harrods dept store

Harrods is located on Brompton Road in the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea. Henry Charles Harrod founded it as a grocery store in 1849. The enterprise expanded in the late 1800s. Harrods installed England's first "moving staircase" or escalator, in 1898.

The store’s owners developed customer services to provide for every need. In fact, the Harrods slogan is « Omnia Omnibus Ubique »—All Things for All People, Everywhere.

The present Harrods building, constructed in 1905, has roughly 300 departments, 20 restaurants, a bank, and a beauty salon. It occupies a 20,000 m2 site and has over 90,000 m2 of selling space. The store sells gourmet food items and it is always ahead of fashion.

In 1985 it was bought by Mohamed al-Fayed, who was the father of Diana’s lover. He finally sold Harrods to Qatar Holding in 2010 for 1.8 billion €. Harrods is considered the best department store in Britain.

Nicolas Fortun

 

2011 Rugby World Cup

Haka

The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby competition organised by the International Rugby Board every four years since 1987. The IRB selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin in 2005.

In this competition 20 nations are going to compete in 48 matches in 11 stadiums. It began on the 9th September and ends on 23rd of October. To start the competition, there are four pools: Pool A: New Zealand, France, Tonga, Canada and Japan. Pool B: Argentina, England, Scotland, Georgia and Romania. Pool C : Australia, Ireland, Italy, United States and Russia Pool D : South Africa, Wales, Samoa, Fiji and Namibia.

There will be ten referees from several nations. The favourite to win is obviously New-Zealand but every team has a chance to win.

Pierre Poisson. Image

 

Steve Jobs

Steven Paul Jobs was a famous American businessman and a symbol of the technological progress of the last years. He was also one of the richest people in the world.

He was born on February 24th in 1955 in San Francisco. After he travelled to India, he created the Apple Company, with Steve Wozniack and Ronald Wayne. In 1984 the Company launched the well-known and successful computer Macintosh. In 1988, Jobs contracted with Disney to produce computer-animated feature films, and we can quote some of the more famous, such as Toy Story in 1995 and Wall-E in 2008. Jobs became the chairman of the Apple Company in 2000. In 2001, the company launched the iPod, and the iPhone in 2007. In August 2011, Jobs resigned as the chairman of Apple, but continued to work in the company.

But on October 5th 2011, Jobs died of pancreatic cancer. Many people paid tribute to him, such as Barack Obama, Bill Gates and many other anonymous people from all over the world.

Scarlett Gagneux

 

 

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney footballer

Wayne Rooney is a worldwide famous football player, born in October 1985, in Liverpool, where he grew up. During his youth, he played for the Liverpool schoolboys, then, his dream came true when he was about 11: he signed a contract which bound him with his favourite team Everton.

When he was 16, he became the youngest scorer of Everton. Thanks to that, he received the BBC sport young personality trophy of the year, which is given to the best young sportsman or woman. After some clashes with the club directors, he finally signed up with Manchester United for about 31.000.000€.

He was named best hope of the premier league in 2005 and, in 2006 thanks to him Manchester United won the premier league in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011, the league cup in 2006, 2009, and 2010, and the most prestigious one: the champion's league in 2008. He scored 209 goals in his whole career, 181 in clubs, and 164 with Manchester United.

Etienne Dayron

 

Black Swan

Black Swan poster

Black Swan is a movie directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Nathalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel. It follows the story of Nina Sayers, a ballerina in NYC Ballet Company. Thomas Leroy, the director of the company is mounting Swan Lake. The main lead was supposed to be for Beth Macintyre before she was forced to retire.

Every ballerina wants the part but no one wants it more than Nina. She lives to dance so much that she is willing to do everything like her idol Beth. Nina is conscientious; she can dance the white swan perfectly. Anyway, Thomas doesn't believe she has the dark passion which will enable her to dance as the black swan too. An unexpected move from Nina convinces him that she can make it. But she feels threatened by a new dancer : Lily. Despite of their new friendship, a rivalry interferes between them. Nina's efforts and stubbornness will destroy her.

It's a disturbing but also wonderful movie where Tchaikovsky’s amazing music and dance have an important place.

Sara Belahcene

 

Hannibal Lecteur

Hannibal Lecteur

Hannibal Lecter, nicknamed “Hannibal the Cannibal”, is a brilliant psychiatrist and serial killer in the movie The Silence of the Lambs.

Born in Lithuania in a noble family in 1933, the sociopath’s life really started at the end of World War II when his parents died , leaving him and his younger sister orphans. Soon afterwards, starving soldiers took refuge in the chalet where Hannibal and Mischa were hiding. One day, little Lecter witnessed them murder and… eat his sister.

All alone, Hannibal left the family castle for an orphanage. When he was 13, he went to live with his uncle in Paris where he committed his first murder: a butcher who had abused his Japanese aunt, Lady Murasaki. After becoming a doctor, he went after his sister’s murderers. When he finally found them, he tasted cannibalism for the first time.

So, even the worst monsters are human beings who have suffered. People don’t become criminals for pleasure. I may become a psychiatrist myself… but don’t worry, I won’t eat anyone!

Elise Pons. Image

 

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe's real name was Norma Jeanne Mortensen. She was born in June 1926 in Los Angeles. Her first job as a model was in 1945 and her first film in 1947.

Marilyn was advised to discolour her hair in platinum blond because it was more appealing. She also changed her name. Marilyn Miller was a famous actress and Monroe was her grandmother’s name. She married Joe DiMaggio in 1954 and Arthur miller in 1956. She is also suspected to have love affairs with famous people such as President Kennedy. She committed suicide in 1926 by drug overdose.

Even 60 years after her death, she is still an icon and a symbol a sex-appealing.

Clemence Van Thuan

 

Bill Gates

William Henry Gates III was born in 1955 in Seattle. His mother Mary was a teacher and director of enterprises and banks, and his father William Henry Senior was a lawyer.

During his childhood, Gates went to Lakeside School, where he discovered IT and created his first program with his friend Paul Allen. At 18, Gates went to Harvard but gave up to focus on programming. Two years later, he created a little enterprise with his friend Paul Allen: Micro-soft. In 1980, Gates and Allen signed a deal with IBM to sell IBM computers with Microsoft Operating Systems. He became a famous business man, because in 1986, when Microsoft went on the stock market, Gates became a billionaire.

In 1994, he got married to Melinda Friench, and had 3 children. In 2000, Gates created the Bill and Melinda Foundation to fund medical search. Today, Gates is retired from Microsoft, but he continues to care about his foundation; his personal fortune is estimated at 60 billion Dollars.

Thomas Le Guevel

 

Robin Hood

Poster Robin Hood 2010

Robin Hood is a 2010 adventure film. Its director is Ridley Scott and the main actor is Russel Crowe as Robin Langstride.

The story takes place in England in 1199 during Richard theLionheart’s reign. When the film starts, Robin Langstride is an archer in the army of the king. During a battle in France, King Richard was killed. Robin brought back the crown to the king’s mother and John, the king’s brother, became the new king of England. After that, Robin went to Nottingham where he met Lady Marian who will become his wife. He also met soldiers who couldn’t stand the way of thinking of the new king anymore. Together, they will fight against the troops of King John to restore the good in England.

This is the beginning of the legend of Robin Hood. I enjoyed this film and I really appreciated knowing how Robin Hood became a legend. If you haven’t seen it yet and like this kind of story, you have to watch it!

Thomas Cherrier. Image

 

Australia

Sydney Opera House

Australia was discovered in 1770 by Captain James Cook. Australia is 14 times larger than France and there is a two hour time difference between the west and east coast. It is the smallest continent in the world and the sixth largest country. This country has 20 million inhabitants and is considered to have one of the highest concentrations in the world, with about 70% of the population living in the 10 largest cities.

Thanks to a temperate climate, Australians are crazy about sport. The most popular sports are cricket, rugby, tennis, swimming, golf and aerobics.

If you want to discover more about Australia, I recommend you visit this country, it's a beautiful place.

Clementine Lebret

 

Broadway

Broadway theatres

Before being a famous place, Broadway was known as a big avenue, the only one which crosses the island of Manhattan diagonally. It was called the “Great White Way” because of all the neon signs used by the theaters, illuminating the streets.

Broadway was born around 1700, when the first NYC stage was built. This place could welcome less than 300 people and was only used for Shakespearean plays. The first big theater was built in 1798, after the American Revolution. In the 19th century, Broadway was a dodgy district which hosted immigrants and poor comedians. However, they started attracting more and more people.

The first musical entitled The Black Crook was played in 1866. This musical was played 475 times and the theater earned $1 million. As the number of Broadway shows dwindled in the 1930's, many famous Broadway producers became bankrupt.

Today movie theaters have replaced the theaters. In spite of this, Broadway remains one of the most popular attractions in NYC.

Heloise Dung. Image

 

New York & its monuments

scene from New York

New York is a metropolis of nineteen million inhabitants, divided into five borough: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. This is the most populous city of the United States and the third richest state after California and Texas.

The term "Big Apple" appears in the 1930s when New York became the capital of Jazz. It was used by the musicians talking about the ball in the stomach before going on stage.

There are many unavoidable monuments in this town like the World Trade Center (now Ground Zero), Central Park, the Empire State Building, Times Square, the MoMA or the Statue of Liberty. In fact, New York is a city famous for its legendary monuments. Indeed many movies and stories are inspired by the Empire State Building (for King Kong) or the Statue of Liberty, for example.

For many, going to New York is a dream, so go there, you'll not be disappointed!

Margot Lancesseur. Image

 


The MegaQuiz (B2-C1)

Un quiz grammatical de Rodolphe Martin pour s’entraîner et/ou réviser temps, mots de liaison, vocabulaire, synonymes, anto-nymes, etc.

A faire et à refaire !!

 

Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex Ferguson

Alexander Chapman Ferguson, better known as « Sir Alex » was born in 1941 in Glasgow, Scotland. From a humble family, he didn’t really want to study because he was more interested in football. So, at the age of 16, he decided to start his playing career with Queen’s Park, a Scottish team.

As an amateur, he was a tool-worker at the same time to earn a living. However Ferguson was a very good striker who won several cups and joined 5 others clubs like Rangers. He finally played his last match in 1974. This year he stayed in the football world because he became the manager of East Stirlingshire.

Alex was admired for his tactical decisions and has become a legend. He has been the manager of Manchester United, the most famous English club, since 1986. He was also ennobled by Queen Elizabeth II for his results and his two great careers in this sport.

Alexis Martineau. Image

 

Winchester Mystery House

Winchester Mystery House

Sarah Lockwood Pardee was born around 1840. In 1862, she married William Wirt Winchester, the heir of the famous Winchester gun manufacturer. Within fifteen years, her daughter and her husband died. In fact, her family and her fortune were being haunted by spirits of people killed by Winchester rifles. The death of members of her family was caused by these spirits.

She had to move to the west and build a house to appease the spirits. In California, she bought a farm in 1884. She passed away in her sleep in 1922. For 38 years, from 1884 to 1922, Mrs. Winchester magnified the house all the time. It is said that every night, she consulted the spirits to know their desire for the building. Some doors go nowhere and open onto walls! Some stairs lead to the ceiling! In 1922, the mansion contained 160 rooms, 2000 windows, 10000 doors, 47 fireplaces, 47 stairs, 13 bathrooms and 6 kitchens!

Thibault Chene

 

The Summer Olympics games of London

London 2012 Olympics logo

The Olympic Games are a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate.

The Games are currently held every 2 years, with Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternating, although they occur every 4 years within their respective seasonal games. All around the world, everybody know this competition, and more than 700 million people will see this event on TV.

The city of London was elected among five candidate cities during the session of the International Olympic Committee in 2005. The 2012 Summer Olympic Games will take place from 27 July to 12 August. All the buildings and projects that London created for this event are finish. The group Muse was announced as the only composer and interpreter of the hymn of the Olympics.

There will be 26 sports, 300 events, and more than 2000 athletes during the olympics. These olympics will be incredible!

Clementin Demay & Wikipedia

 

Ultimate Frisbee

Ultimate frisbee

The history of the frisbee begins in 1871, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. Russel Frisbie creates the Frisbie Pie Company, a bakery. In 1940, the students of Yale campus finish their dinner throwing the Frisbie Pie Company plates. In 1957, the Wham’O Hula hoop society buys the shape of the pie plate and sells the flying disc renaming it the Frisbee.

In 1968, the Columbia High School, in Mapplewood, New jersey, USA invents a new collective sport: the ultimate. A match lasts 45 minutes, sets seven players in outdoor and five in indoor and beach matches. To score, you have to give the disc to somebody in the zone. Contacts are forbidden. And when the disc falls, the opponents take it. There are 4 kinds of competitions: The national championship, the national cup, the continental cup and of course the world cup.

Ultimate is for everybody, boys and girls, from Under 14s to Old Masters (45 years old or more). So, It is a young sport which is not very well-known but with the same team spirit as in every collective sport.

Jocelyn Blin

 

 

 

 

 

This is your web space!

Just like last year, you will be required to give at least one oral presentation in class. Then you will publish a summary of your presentation here, with a small illustration. Can't decide what to talk about? There are some great ideas on Icons! 

 

 

Pupils' Websites 2011
Jean-Baptiste K
Pierre M
Clementine M
Sixtine Q
Isaure J
Justine L
Elsa F
Laura F
Lucie S
Kinan S
Thomas L
Augustin Pe.
Valentin C
Victor G
Melanie M
Melanie B
Astrid C
Alexis L
Georgy S
Augustin Po.
Jonathan L
Peurdy S
Thomas D
Alban C
Elisabeth A

 

DreamweaverCS3 iconDreamweaver CS3 (v.9)

It's the name of the web development tool you will be using to design and create web sites this year.

 

Notions de base en anglais à revoir ?

100 activités de rattrapage

 

Want to improve your accent?

Try LyricsTraining an easy and fun method using music videos and lyrics of your favorite songs! Or Tuneintoenglish "The essential resource for learning English through pop music".

 

 

 

Revision

Oral Comprehension training (1)
Oral Comprehenson training (2)
with www.elllo.org

English Karaoke - wide choice of songs

 

 

TOEIC Training

Now is the time to begin intensive training for your forthcoming TOEIC exam. Be prepared - and good luck to you all! Here are some links to help you: