The Old Man and the Sea - Defeat as Victory

"He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream". This is the simple beginning of the famous story which most kids have known at school. But in spite of its simplicity, this is the tale of life and death where an old fisherman struggles proudly against a big fish to regain his good reputation. Ernest Hemingway published The Old Man and the Sea in 1952 and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. This delightful story has deep ideas about the difficulties in life and how to overcome them, and we can approach it by watching a wonderful animated video that won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film, together with some tests to get a good grip on this moving story.

The Melancholic Story of the Great Gatsby

In the summer we can enjoy the melancholic story of The Great Gatsby, the famous novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald which describes a romantic affair in the summer of 1922, during the Age of Jazz and alcohol Prohibition. It's a perfect story for young students, because the plot is full of insights into the lives of people in that time and into the human behaviours of all ages, and we can learn a lot about that. It reads well and it's a must-read for anyone interested in great contemporary literature; besides, we are lucky to be able to read it and listen to it online at esl-bits.net. And you may want to take some interactive tests that I have created for you to test your knowledge of this story and to look at it more deeply. You'll enjoy it.

Baseball

Todos sabemos que el baseball es el deporte nacional de los Estados Unidos, y lo hemos visto jugar muchas veces en las películas. Aquí presentamos un breve vídeo en inglés que nos introduce en el mundo de los partidos de béisbol. Podremos ver en él los preparativos de un partido, y la labor de todas las personas que contribuyen al espectáculo. Te proponemos también que hagas un test para ayudarte a comprender lo que dicen en el vídeo.