Pocahontas biography

Pocahontas was the beloved daughter of the Algonquian Chief Powhatan, you know about her life because of the famous Disney picture, but you can also listen to her biography here:




 Follow the link and read while you listen, (I know, it is a bit too long...).
 This is a download from: Voice of America Special English.

Here you have some more links about biographies.

And click here for a crazy quiz about Pocahontas.

Some English words of Amerindian origin.

The shortest reign in Britain

Lady Jane Grey was the first Queen of Britain, but her reign was the shortest in British history and maybe the shortest in the whole world. She was a Queen during nine days and after that period she was executed in the Tower of London by her cousin Queen Mary. She was beheaded on the 12 of February of 1554.

We don't know for sure if the above picture is  her real portrait, but she is shown with a book and historians tell that she was a a learned person, the most learned of the women of her time, they say.

Stop violence against women

Lilly, Zook and Angela: stars of AI Safe Schools comic

© AxWorks Films

Read the comic and help Amnesty International to make of schools safe places for girls because an education without violence is not only a right for every girl, but also it is the best guarantee of a new generation of citizens  for freedom and against all kinds of violence.

The adventure of a life: Aphra Behn

All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn,... for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds. (Virginia Woolf: A room of one's own)

Today is the International Women's Day, a very special day for women, maybe you think we don't need a day dedicated only to women but it is still a long way in front of us. Aphra Behn is the woman whose life we will revise today. She was born in Kent (about 1640) when she became a widow, she had to do a lot of different things to survive, she not only travelled to Surinam, but worked as a spy for the king Charles II (England and the Dutch were at war at the time). She spent a time in prison because of her debts (king Charles was not a good payer), after that she started to write, her plays were well received by the public and she made herself a living out of her writings. And this is the most outstanding point in Aphra Behn's life, she was the first woman who could live of her earnings as a writer. Her tomb is in Westminster Abbey, a great honour for British people.

Pocahontas: A crazy quiz

Here you have a different quiz. It is better if you practise the previous post before playing this game. Enjoy and good luck!

Click here for full screen version