English Recordings

Once upon a time, there was a magician, who lived in a cave.
He was very powerful and wise.
He had a magic staff and a magic cloak.
He could control the elements and turn monsters into stones.
One day, an evil witch attacked him and destroyed his cave.

Once upon a time, there was a knight who lived in the woods.
He was strong, brave and very honest.
He had an invicible armour and a magic sword.
He could fight dragons and all sorts of monsters.
One day, an evil Queen sent guards to capture him and take him to prison.

Once upon a time, there was princess who lived in a castle.
She was beautiful, generous, and determined.
She had a bow and magic arrows.
She could shoot an arrow over a very long distance, very precisely.
One day, a dangerous wizard attacked her castle.

The Princess and the Smartphone

Once upon a time, there was a rich girl who lived in a large house in New York City. Her name was Olivia. She had good marks at school, a big bedroom where she could play and study. She also had a lot of clothes, a beautiful electric guitar, and the last generation technology (a computer and a smartphone). She was crazy about technology.

However, she was not a happy girl. She was extremely shy, she didn’t have many friends, she was being cyberbullied by a group of boys who played in the football team at school. On Facebook or Instagram, they called her “Bambi” because she was shy.

One day, Olivia was feeling particularly sad and isolated. She took out her phone, and a message mysteriously appeared on the screen. “Hello, I am the smartphone fairy. Let me help you make friends!”. Olivia was extremely surprised, but she accepted the proposition.

The fairy explained to Olivia that it was important to talk to an adult about her cyberbullying problems. The fairy also showed Olivia the Facebook and Instagram accounts of two girls in her class who loved playing music and singing, just like her.
So, a few days later, Olivia started talking with the two girls, and invited them to play music in her beautiful house. The three girls played for hours and hours; they had so much fun that they decided to meet again every week-end.

In the end, they became good friends and decided to create a girls’ band: “the techy crazy trio”. They stayed friends forever, had a lot of success, and lived happily ever after.

She lives in Scotland and she has long curly red hair. She is very courageous, she can fight. What's her name?

She has long, wavy, dark hair, She lives in the desert and her father is the Sultan of Agrabah. Her best friend is a tiger, Rajah. What's her name?

She was kidnapped by a witch when she was a baby, and she was imprisoned in a tall tower. She has got very long blond hair. What's her name?

She lives in New Orleans. She dreams of opening a restaurant. She helps a prince who was transformed into a frog. What's her name?

He is more intelligent than Ron Weasley, and he is as brave as Hermione Granger. What's his name?

He is more wicked than Draco Malfoy, and he is as intelligent as Hermione. He is NOT as brave as Harry Potter. What's his name?

He is NOT as intelligent as Harry Potter, but he is funnier. He is as brave as Ron Weasley. What's his name?

Here, for thousands of years, the people of this land have journeyed from tribe to principality to nation-state; through Reformation and Enlightenment, renowned as a “land of poets and thinkers,” among them Immanuel Kant, who taught us that freedom is the “unoriginated birthright of man, and it belongs to him by force of his humanity.”

Here, for two centuries, this gate stood tall as the world around it convulsed — through the rise and fall of empires; through revolutions and republics; art and music and science that reflected the height of human endeavor, but also war and carnage that exposed the depths of man’s cruelty to man.

It was here that Berliners carved out an island of democracy against the greatest of odds.

Symbolic Protest

In 1968, during the Mexico Olympic Games, two African American athletes made the Black Power salute during their medal ceremony. They had won the gold and bronze medals in the men's 200-metre race. They had stepped up to the podium without their shoes, wearing black socks (symbolizing poverty among African Americans), civil rights buttons and one black glove each. When the American anthem was played, they bowed their heads and each raised a fist in the air, in a gesture of protest against racism in the United States. The Australian 200-metre silver medalist wore a human rights badge on the podium as a sign of solidarity.

Smith and Carlos were suspended from the US team and banned from the Olympic Village. Back home they were subject to abuse and they and their families received death threats.

Sit-ins

In the 60s black people were not allowed to attend many segregationist public facilities. However, in February 1960, black students sat down at a "White-only" lunch-counter and ordered food. They didn't move until they had been served, which was forbidden. When they were arrested, a new group took their place. The students always remained non-violent and respectful. This sit-in movement was very successful: within six months, segregation had ended in restaurants in twenty-six southern cities.

This non-violent strategy also developed in public parks, swimming-pools, theatres, churches, libraries, museums and beaches.

Martin Luther King Jr

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their character."

Martin Luther King Jr (15 January, 1929-4 April 1968) was an American clergyman and an active leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. He wanted to fight racial discrimination and segregation through non violent means'. He organized boycotts, sit-ins and marches. In Birmingham, Alabama, he organized the boycott of discriminatory businesses, sit-ins in "White only" lunch counters and everyday peaceful demonstrations. These initiatives successfully fought against segregation and for equal employment opportunities in the city.

In 1963, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, King made his famous "I have a dream" speech. In 1968 he was assassinated. He had received the Nobel Peace Prize four years before.

Welcome to Manhattan! We don't have a lot of time, so let's get started!

At nine in the morning, we visit the Empire State Building.
Then at ten thirty, we go shopping in SoHo.
Lunch is at noon in Little Italy.

After lunch, at two pm, we visit the Museum of Modern Art.
For dinner, at six forty-five, we eat at Virgil's Bar-B-Que in Times Square.
Then, at eight pm, we see "The Lion King" on Broadway. After the play is finished, at eleven pm, we have a carriage ride in Central Park.

At midnight, we will see the movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
After the movie ends, at two fifteen in the morning, we go dancing at Webster Hall.
Then, at four forty­ five am, we have a big breakfast at the Westway Diner.

After breakfast, at six thirty am, we visit the Fulton Fish Market and South Street Seaport. And finally, at seven fifteen am, we get on the ferry to tour New York Harbor.

A famous slave : Olaudah Equiano

Olaudah Equiano was born into a rich West African family in 1745. Olaudah Equiano's father was a village chief. He had seven children and many slaves, so Equiano grew up in a slave society. But it was a different kind of slavery.

When he was eleven, Equiano was captured by African slave traders: The slave traders separated Equiano from his sister and sold him again and again. Eventually on the Africa's Atlantic coast he saw a slave ship. But he had no idea what lay ahead. No Africans had ever returned from the Americas.

The journey from Africa to America was called "The Middle Passage”. Slavers packed three or four hundred Africans into a ship in terrible conditions. Up to 25 percent of a slave ship's Africans died during the voyage. The slave ship carrying Olaudah Equiano and hundreds of other Africans finally reached the Barbados.
No one purchased Equiano, who was still just a boy of 12. So, he was shipped north to a plantation in Virginia. There he was shocked to see the instruments used to control and punish slaves.

Equiano was soon sold again. His new owner was a lieutenant in the British navy named Michael Henry Pascal. Equiano learned to be a sailor. He was sold again. Eventually he saved 40 pounds (equal to about $3,700 today). That was enough to purchase his freedom.

As a freeman, Equiano continued working as a sailor for years. He traveled widely, but his personal struggle against racism and slavery continued. In 1789, he wrote his autobiography. Olaudah Equiano died in 1797. Ten years later, Britain and the United States abolished the slave trade.