Thursday, May 19th
Quizzes : try one or many
Thursday, May 12th
Wired is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and has been in publication since March/April 1993. Wired went on to chronicle the evolution of digital technology and its impact on society. Wired quickly became recognized as the voice of the emerging digital culture and a pace setter in print design. (Wikipedia.org)
Take the opportunity to browse through their website and choose 2 (long) articles to read.
Tuesday, May 10th
Translation (Time & Tenses)
Monday, May 9th
Switch to these open-source apps…on Windows, macOS or Linux!
Thursday, May 5th
Discover BBC Learning English.
Monday, May 2nd
22 best things I saw at CES 2022
Thursday, April 14th
What other operating systems are there besides Windows or Mac?
Chrome OS is a Un-Appreciated Masterpiece
Thursday, March 31st
Brush-up your grammar, choose some items either from Beginner to pre-intermediate or from Intermediate to upper intermediate.
Monday, March 28th
MKBHD – Explained!
Does Fast Charging ACTUALLY Ruin Your Battery?
Thursday, March 24th
Business Magazine // British Council Learning English => Choose ONE topic, read carefully and do the TASKS
Tuesday, March 22nd
videos about some recurring themes at the exam
Choosing an OS for your computer
Monday, March 21st
Takes notes ! This is exactly the type of general advice that you should be able to deliver on the day of the exam.
Thursday, March 17th
oral presentation => who’s next?
Writing activity: how to write a personal profile
Monday, March 14th and Tuesday, March 15th
Sujet d’écrit, BTS tertiaires 2019
Thursday, March 10th
Start with the test here and call me when you’re done.
Tuesday, March 8th
YouTube.com – How Does the Internet Work? – Glad You Asked / VOX : For most of us, the internet is virtual, made of Instagram posts, emails and YouTube videos. And, access to the vital utility isn’t guaranteed across the world. Glad You Asked host Cleo Abram wants to know: What is the internet actually made of? And, how does it work? Answering that question involves discovering how internet cables are laid in the sea, if 5G is really the future, and how balloons in the stratosphere are helping people connect.
YouTube.com – 50 Years Of The Internet – BBC Click : The internet turns 50. To celebrate, we talk to its creator, Vint Cerf, to get his views on what his creation has become and where it is heading.
Tuesday, March 1st
- The English tense System, an extremely basic overview
- The English Tense System, a not so basic overview over
Monday, February 28th
From The Guardian : Russia unleashed data-wiper malware on Ukraine, say cyber experts
Thursday, February 10th
Get ready for the oral presentation and conversation on March 3rd.
Monday, February 7th and Tuesday 8th
K-PAX, on Wikipedia and on IMDB, and the review by Roger Ebert.
Tuesday, February 1st
The Google PageRank algorithm a class handout from The University of Stanford.
Monday, January 31st
The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms. In this BBC documentary, mathematics professor Marcus Du Sautoy reveals the hidden world of algorithms and how these 2,000-year-old problem solvers work.
Thursday, January 27th
Monday, January 24th and Tuesday, 25th
l’examen oral
- cadrage des sujets (PDF – 394.6 ko)
- grille d’évaluation (PDF – 661.4 ko)
- sujet zero n°1 (PDF – 424.6 ko)
- vidéo sujet zero n°1 (MPEG4 – 25.8 Mo)
Tuesday, January, 18th
Send a couple of lines from either a summary or the beginning of your screenplay/book/gameplan.
Monday, January 10th and 17th
Writing a story using a worksheet to collect all the useful elements and following the traditional pattern (12 stages) presented in the video (January 3rd) and summed up below:

Thursday, January 6th
26 Computers and Internet Magazines (October 2021) choose one to download and read
+ oral presentations
Monday, January 3rd 2022
Writing a story using a worksheet to collect all the useful elements and following the traditional pattern (12 stages) presented in the video below:
Thursday, December 16th – Gr.A, Gr.B
The oral presentation will take place as a one to one session with the teacher and will start in January.
- something you like
- something you know about
- something which can be talked about in English
- => search the web IN ENGLISH for information and vocabulary,
- Google is mainly going to give you results in French, try another search engine called Duckduckgo which can be easily switched to another language and location => https://duckduckgo.com/settings
- => compile a long list of elements (nouns, adjectives, VERBS, phrases, sentences etc. Store this list ONLINE.
- => prepare your presentation using the collected material
- => you may bring some pictures or a very short video clip on your phone (but no slides, there are no slides during the exam)
- => you need about 300 words to talk for a few minutes.
Monday, December 13th
Apple is Revolutionising Low Power Computing and No Other Brand Has an Answer to It
Thursday, December 9th
Almost a dictation, about airpods, the first commercial when they got released/launched.
The voice is that of Jony Ive, long-time Apple designer and one of the most celebrated designer today.
Tuesday, December 7th
Make a detailed list of specifications (specs) for each of these 7 gadgets.
Monday, December 6th
Use the 8 forms of DRINK to complete the following sentences.
- He…………………… on Saturday night with his friends Bill and James.
- He …………………… whisky now, that’s really not like him.
- He …………………… at the time his wife left him.
- He …………………… before he finally left the pub.
- He…………………… . He is an alcoholic.
- He ……………………. Look at him, he is in such a state!
- He …………………… before he drove home!
- He …………………… three pints of Guinness.
- He DRANK on Saturday night with his friends Bill and James.
- He IS DRINKING whisky now, that’s really not like him.
- He WAS DRINKING at the time his wife left him.
- He HAD DRUNK before he finally left the pub.
- He DRINKS . He is an alcoholic.
- He HAS BEEN DRINKING. Look at him, he is in such a state!
- He HAD BEEN DRINKING before he drove home!
- He HAS DRUNK three pints of Guinness.
Build sentences
1. holidays / on / be / Durrells / the
2. on / be / Corfu / they
3. they /a / large / live / villa/ in
4. receive / they / a / letter
5. a / it / long / be / letter
6. great / be / from / Aunt / Hermione / it
7. and / she / come /want / to / with / stay / them
8. not / she / in / good / be / health
9. advise / a / doctors/ her / climate / warm
1.The Durrells were on holidays. 2.They were on Corfu. 3.They were living in a large villa. 4.They received a letter. 5.It was a long letter. 6.It was from great Aunt Hermione. 7.She wanted to come and stay with them. 8.She was not in good health. 9.Her doctors (had) advised a warm climate.
Make one long sentence out of all these short ones, using: as / while / because / who and commas.
Possible solution: While the Durrells were on holidays on Corfu, living in a large villa, they received a letter from great Aunt Hermione who wanted to come and stay with them because her doctors had advised a warm climate as she was not in good health.
Thursday, December 2nd – Gr.A, Gr.B
Choose a subject for an oral personal presentation :
- something you like
- something you know about
- something which can be talked about in English
- => search the web IN ENGLISH for information and vocabulary,
- Google is mainly going to give you results in French, try another search engine called Duckduckgo which can be easily switched to another language and location => https://duckduckgo.com/settings
- => compile a long list of elements (nouns, adjectives, VERBS, phrases, sentences etc. Store this list ONLINE.
- => prepare your presentation using the collected material
- => you may bring some pictures or a very short video clip on your phone (but no slides, there are no slides during the exam)
- => you need about 300 words to talk for a few minutes.
The oral presentation will take place as a one to one session with the teacher and will start in January.
Tuesday, November 30th
- The English tense System, an extremely basic overview
- The English Tense System, a not so basic overview over
Use the 8 forms of WRITE to complete the following sentences.
Allan ……… songs to impress girls when he was a teenager.
Allan …………………… for years on this old typewriter.
Allan …………………… , be quiet!
Allan …………………… three novels before becoming famous.
Allan ……………………poetry, he is a poet.
Allan (also) ……………………six novels.
Allan ……………………his fourth novel when he got the Booker prize.
Allan …………………… for years when at last a publisher phoned him.
Allan WRITES poetry, he is a poet. PRESENT
Allan IS WRITING.Be quiet! PRSENT
Allan HAS also WRITTEN six novels.PRESENT
Allan HAS BEEN WRITING for years on this old typewriter.PRESENT
Allan WROTE songs to impress girls when he was a teenager.PAST
Allan WAS WRITING his fourth novel when he got the Booker prize.PAST
Allan HAD WRITTEN three novels before becoming famous.PAST
Allan HAD BEEN WRITING for years when at last a publisher phoned him.PAST
Use the 8 forms of DRINK to complete the following sentences.
- He…………………… on Saturday night with his friends Bill and James.
- He …………………… whisky now, that’s really not like him.
- He …………………… at the time his wife left him.
- He …………………… before he finally left the pub.
- He…………………… . He is an alcoholic.
- He ……………………. Look at him, he is in such a state!
- He …………………… before he drove home!
- He …………………… three pints of Guinness.
Thursday, November 25th
- Read this text which makes abundant use of the passive.
- Do this exercise and this one too
- Finish the worksheet
Tuesday, November 23rd
Monday, November 22nd
Sujet d’examen écrit au BTS SIO 2017 et proposition de corrigé2
2ème partie => Expression écrite
Thursday, November 18th
finish the exercise about Reported speech (aka indirect speech)
=> online activity to help you with exercise 4
Tuesday, November 16th
Sujet d’examen écrit au BTS SIO 2017 et proposition de corrigé
1ère partie => compréhension
Monday, November 15th
a short-story, The Gun by Philip K. Dick
- read online
- read on your phone/tablet/e-reader
- listen to the audiobook (file here or below)
(material found on Gutenberg.org – Project Gutenberg, a library of over 60,000 free eBooks
Tuesday, November 9th
The Second Renaissance Part I & II, (no subtitles in this version but the transcript is here) from the Animatrix, a prequel to the Matrix trilogy, take also a look at The Three Laws of Robotics which are very relevant to this subject.
It is also a good opportunity to ponder this quotation by Stanley Kubrik the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a famous science fiction film from 1968 based on the writings of Arthur C. Clarke.
One of the fascinating questions that arises in envisioning computers more intelligent than men is at what
point machine intelligence deserves the same consideration as biological intelligence. Once a computer
learns by experience as well as by its original programming, and once it has access to much more
information than any number of human geniuses might possess, the first thing that happens is that you
don’t really understand it anymore, and you don’t know what it’s doing or thinking about. You could be
tempted to ask yourself in what way is machine intelligence any less sacrosanct than biological
intelligence, and it might be difficult to arrive at an answer flattering to biological intelligence.
in Stanley Kubrick Directs, 1971.
Monday, November 8th
Reported speech (aka indirect speech)
HOMEWORK to be handed in by Friday, November 12th
The aim behind watching The Circle (the link opens to IMDB.com – the American equivalent of AlloCiné.fr) is to write a film review about it, here you may find a few tips about writing a film review. This review (400 words +/- 10% – please indicate it) is to be handed in the week after the Autumn holidays, simply paste the text in my contact page).
If you need to watch The Circle again, it’s here.
Thursday, October 21st – Gr.A, Gr.B
Choose a subject for an oral personal presentation :
- something you like
- something you know about
- something which can be talked about in English
- => search the web IN ENGLISH for information and vocabulary,
- Google is mainly going to give you results in French, try another search engine called Duckduckgo which can be easily switched to another language and location => https://duckduckgo.com/settings
- => compile a long list of elements (nouns, adjectives, VERBS, phrases, sentences etc. Store this list ONLINE.
- => prepare your presentation using the collected material
- => you may add some pictures or a very short video clip (but no slides) to help your audience focus and understand
- => you need about 300 words to talk for a few minutes.
Tuesday, October 19th and Monday, 18th
Watching The Circle (see Tuesday, October 12th)
Thursday, October 14th – Gr.A, Gr.B
The Modals: online exercises
Tuesday, October 12th
The aim behind watching The Circle (the link opens to IMDB.com – the American equivalent of AlloCiné.fr) is to write a film review about it, here you may find a few tips about writing a film review. This review (400 words +/- 10% – please indicate it) is to be handed in the week after the Autumn holidays, simply paste the text in my contact page).
Monday, October 11th
The modals (exercises formes de type présent A et formes de type prétérit C)
Traduisez en privilégiant l’utilisation d’un modal, une forme de substitution sera parfois nécessaire.
- Il se peut qu’il soit trop tard. => It may be too late.
- Elle peut courir longtemps sans se fatiguer. => She can run a long time without getting tired.
- Il a pu oublier. => He may have forgotten.
- Elle n’a pas pu oublier ! => She can’t have forgotten!
- Il peut préférer rester chez lui après tout. => He may prefer staying at home after all.
- Ils n’ont pas pu faire une telle erreur ! => They can’t have made such a mistake.
- Elle a dû recevoir ma lettre. => She must have received my letter.
- Il faut qu’il parte avant la fin de la réunion. => He must go before the end of the meeting.
- Ce n’est pas la peine que tu restes. => You don’t need to stay.
- Il ne faut pas conduire si vite. => You shouldn’t drive so fast.
- Ça ne doit pas être très difficile. => It can’t be too difficult.
- Ce n’était pas la peine que tu te presses. => You did not need to hurry.
- Vous avez dû rêver. => You must have dreamed (dreamt)
- J’ai dû changer un pneu. => I had to change a tyre.
- Est-ce qu’ils ont pu le vendre ? => Did they manage to sell it?
- Il a fallu qu’il prenne le train de sept heures. => He had to take the 7 O’clock train.
- C’était dangereux, il aurait pu se casser un bras. => It was dangerous, he could have broken his arm.
- S’il avait dix-huit ans, il pourrait voter. => If he was 18 he could vote.
- La tâche des enquêteurs pourrait être difficile. The task of the investigators could be difficult.
- Il se pourrait que leur équipe gagne la coupe du monde. => Their team might win the World Cup.
Thursday, October 7th

Describe the picture above by filling in this form.
Tuesday, October 5th
The modals (simple chart to be completed with elements from the complete chart below).
Monday, October 4th
Tech Trends for 2022
Thursday, September 30th GrA&B
- Watch the following video (watch the video once WITHOUT the subtitles (CC = closed captioning), then a second time WITH the subtitles. If the video is still difficult to understand, you may download the CC using https://www.nitrxgen.net/youtube_cc/ and then copy and paste the text to Deepl.com.
2. read the article from which the video was extracted and take notes about IoT (enough notes to be able to explain what IoT is, how it works and present some of its uses.
Tuesday, September 28th
Monday, September 27th
Reading Tartan, a short-story by George Mackay Brown.
Thursday, September 23rd GrA&B
Take some notes while doing the exercise, don’t write EVERYTHING but write SOMETHING!
Tuesday, September 21st
Reading Tartan, a shorDoes Fast Charging ACTUALLY Ruin Your Battery?t-story by George Mackay Brown.
Visualizing the scene by drawing elements. The scene takes place in the north of Scotland, near Durness and it looks like this when the weather is good!






Monday, September 19th
Thursday, September 16th
about MKBHD
Tuesday, September 14th
a written exam subject to download based on the online article found on ArsTechnica.
Monday, September 13th
a written exam subject to download based on the online article found on ArsTechnica.
Thursday, September 9th Gr B
Use the 8 forms of DRINK to complete the following sentences.
- He…………………… on Saturday night with his friends Bill and James.
- He …………………… whisky now, that’s really not like him.
- He …………………… at the time his wife left him.
- He …………………… before he finally left the pub.
- He…………………… . He is an alcoholic.
- He ……………………. Look at him, he is in such a state!
- He …………………… before he drove home!
- He …………………… three pints of Guinness.
Thursday, September 9th Gr A
Basics
- Howlers – most common mistakes to avoid
- numbers and figures (to train yourself at home use this)
- comparatives and superlatives
- useful vocabulary
- Hardware? Keyboard? On-screen? Action?
Tuesday, September 7th
An overview of the English Tense System
Monday, September 6th
- General introduction
- Référentiel BTS SIO complet à télécharger
- a short history of the English Language.