Dear Teacher,
On the 10th of April 1970, Paul McCartney publicly announced the break up of The Beatles – two of this month’s downloadable worksheets on www.tuneintoenglish.com are from Let It Be, the final album the band released. (There are nine further Beatles worksheets on the site, an appropriate number, as those who study Beatleology will know!)
I’ve Got A Feeling, reflecting on McCartney and Lennon’s different emotions at the time, was the last song the pair wrote as a partnership. Caroline Swettenham’s worksheet looks at idioms with a grammar review.
The Long And Winding Road was McCartney’s reaction to tensions within the band – he later cited the subsequent post production as one of the six reasons for breaking up the Beatles. The worksheet, by Mike Kearns from Barcelona, Spain, focuses on verb forms.
The third new worksheet this month is appropriate for anyone who may be caught in an April shower – Mika’s recent tormentone Rain was submitted by Laura Casolero from Grumo Nevano. (Rain was also the title of a Beatles song.)
All of the songs mentioned in this month’s newsletter are featured on the karaoke page, which now contains over 6,000 songs (including 99 Beatles songs!). There is also a special Easter karaoke section with, significantly, 33 seasonal songs – just click on the link at the bottom of the Home page (after Easter, this will remain online at the bottom of the karaoke page).
You can also sing along with the UK Top 10 Charts, in collaboration with Speak Up – updated weekly, you can access this from the link on the Home page of Tune Into English, or on www.speakuponline.it.
The first post-Easter Tune Into English Roadshows will be in Spain (including a presentation of Tune Into Ireland at the University of Huelva), before returning to the north of Italy. There are photos and videos from over 100 shows on Tune Into English’s facebook page – there is also a link to the ISIS Einaudi, Dalmine (BG), who have published 40 short video extracts from their recent Roadshow.
There is very little time before teachers at the Scuola Superiore di Primo Grado decide which text book to use for the next academic year – Team Up in English is one of Italy’s most successful courses, with songs written by Tune Into English. ELI, the publishers, working with Eco-Libris, will plant a tree for every copy of the first level sold this year – there is more about this on the Teachers’ Area of the website.
Finally, you can read The Beatles story in easy English, with activities and audio/video, by following the link on the Games/Activities page of the Student’s Area. There is also a link to The Beatles IQ Challenge – can you beat Tune Into English’s high score of 172,077?
A very Happy and restful Easter to you all!
Best wishes,
Fergal Kavanagh
Tune Into English
www.tuneintoenglish.com
P.S. Next month’s newsletter will feature details of the new Tune Into English t-shirt! Keep an eye on the facebook page for latest developments.