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The Treasure of the Blues

Arts BNC Levels C1-Advanced CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 5 Stories January 22, 2020 0

ReadOasis Step 5 Blues Legend Robert Johnson The blues is a great treasure of American musical culture. It stands as the foundation for practically every form of American music in the 20th century, including gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and hip hop. Blues music has its... Read more

The Blues: Music of Survival

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Music Step 2A Public Step 2 Stories January 21, 2020

Four men were walking across a field. They were carrying a body wrapped up in white cloth. Their strong, black hands and arms supported the body as they walked on. Other men, women, and children walked behind. And the tall green trees listened. They listened to the cries of... Read more

Drifting Cowboy: Hank Williams

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Public Step 2 Stories Top Picks January 21, 2020 0

Hank would never make it to the concert. There were too many problems. It was icy cold outside. He sat under a cover in the back of his light blue Cadillac car. He was heading to the city of Canton, Ohio, to give a big concert on New Year’s... Read more

Walt Disney’s Impossible Dream

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Movies Step 2A Protected Step 2 Stories Times January 21, 2020 4

ReadOasis Step 2 In 1934, Walt Disney began plans to make a movie. He wanted to create the first full-length animated film. But when people heard about his idea, they said it was a mistake. They thought it would destroy the Disney studio. Even Disney's brother and wife tried... Read more

Try with Ukulele

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 2 Stories January 21, 2020

ReadOasis Step 2 At age 18, Mandy Harvey lost most of her ability to hear. As a child and during her teenage years, Mandy loved to sing. But she stopped singing for a time after she went deaf. But then she learned to feel a song's beat through the... Read more

The Goodbye Bacon Blues

A2-Beginner+Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 3 January 9, 2020

ReadOasis Step 3 With apologies to all my pig farming and hog farming friends, I wrote this song, a blues song about bacon. Today I read the news. They say that bacon is bad for you. For effect, it’s like a cigarette. If you eat a lot, you'll be... Read more

Johnny Cash: The Man in Black (Step 2)

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 2 Stories January 9, 2020

ReadOasis Step 2 Johnny started singing, but he looked uncomfortable. The audition was not going well. Sam Phillips, the producer, listened politely. But he didn't smile. Johnny kept singing, but with no confidence. Then Mr. Phillips said, "Hold up!" Johnny and his friends stopped playing. Phillips said, "I hate... Read more

The Biggest Band (Step 4)

Arts BNC Levels C1-Advanced CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 4 Stories December 26, 2019 0

ReadOasis Step 4 It was a hot August night in New York City, 1965. Two thousand policemen supervising security watched anxiously as 55,000 fans filled Shea Stadium. But this was not for a baseball game; it was for the first ever stadium concert in the history of rock and... Read more

W.C. Handy: Father of the Blues (Step 2)

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Music Step 2B Protected Step 2 Stories December 26, 2019 0

By Maria Sonora ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) W.C. Handy at age 19 "Then I saw the beauty of primitive music." W.C. Handy, Father of the Blues W.C. Handy grew up in the southern part of the United States, in a small town in Alabama. His father was a... Read more

Why is Christmas on December 25th?

A3-Beginner++Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Ideas Public Step 2 Stories December 26, 2019 1

ReadOasis Step 2 Would you celebrate someone’s birthday even if no one knew the day when he or she was born? That is what happens around the world every year on December 25th, when most Christians remember Jesus’ birthday. We know a lot about Jesus. But we don’t know... Read more

The Wind

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 2 Stories December 23, 2019 1

By Robert Louis Stevenson ReadOasis Step 2 I saw you toss the kites on high And blow the birds about the sky; And all around I heard you pass, Like ladies' skirts across the grass-- O wind, a-blowing all day long, O wind, that sings so loud a song!... Read more

A Story of Robin Hood

A3-Beginner++Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 3 Stories December 23, 2019 1

ReadOasis Step 3 (Part 1) In the rough and hard days of King Richard and King John, there were many great woods in the land of England. The most famous of these was Sherwood Forest. It is the place where the king often went to hunt deer and other... Read more

The First Lady of Song

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Music Step 3B Protected Step 3 Stories December 22, 2019 5

ReadOasis Step 3 After her mother died, Ella had a lot of trouble. Her grades dropped at school. She couldn't find a good place to live. She became an orphan, a child whose parents are dead and gone. Eventually, she was sent to the New York Training School for... Read more

The Artful Geisha (Step 3)

Arts B2-Intermediate+BNC Levels CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 3 Stories Styles December 21, 2019 1

ReadOasis Step 3 Geisha are traditional female entertainers from Japan. They are skilled at various Japanese arts, such as classical music, dancing, and poetry. The word "geisha" comes from (GEI) meaning "art" and (SHA) meaning "person." Thus, in a literal sense, a geisha is an artist. In the modern... Read more

Are You Sleeping?

A2-Beginner+Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Music Step 2B Protected Step 2 Stories TV December 19, 2019

ReadOasis Step 2 The bells are ringing, but John is sleeping. It's time to wake up! This is the basic setting for the song "Are You Sleeping." In the English speaking world, many people know this song, and they can also sing the first lines in French. Frère Jacques,... Read more

The Moon

Arts B3-Intermediate++BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 4 Stories December 18, 2019 0

By Robert Louis Stevenson ReadOasis Step 4 The moon has a face like the clock in the hall; She shines on thieves on the garden wall, On streets and fields and harbour *quays, And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees. The squealing cat and the squeaking mouse,... Read more

The Old Woman and the Doctor

A3-Beginner++Arts BNC Levels CEFR Levels Listen!Protected Step 2 Stories December 16, 2019 0

ReadOasis Step 2 An old woman was nearly blind from a disease of her eyes. She consulted a doctor and made an agreement with him. She would pay him a high fee if he cured her. But if she did not get better, he would receive nothing. The doctor... Read more

On the Road Again (Step 2)

A3-Beginner++Arts CEFR Levels Courses Listen!Music Step 2A Protected Step 2 Stories December 16, 2019 0

ReadOasis Step 2 Willie Nelson's Guitar "Trigger" Little Willie was born into hard times. On October 29, 1929, the American economy crashed. It was called Black Tuesday. Many people lost all their money. By Willie’s day of birth in 1933, around 25% of Americans had lost their jobs. People... Read more

Statesboro Blues

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Protected Step 3 Stories December 15, 2019 0

By Blind Willie McTell (1927) ReadOasis Step 3 Blind Willie McTell put his guitar case on the ground next to an old brick building. In the late afternoon, the gentle light made the brick walls turn bright red. McTell looked up and stretched his arms up in the air.... Read more

The Best Guitarist: Jimi Hendrix

Arts B1-Intermediate BNC Levels CEFR Levels Courses Music Step 2B Protected Step 2 Stories Times December 15, 2019 2

ReadOasis Step 2 It was the summer of 1967. About 200,000 people came to the small town of Monterey, California. It was time for the Monterey Pop Festival. Over 30 artists were playing 3 days of music. But today, people remember the last night of the show. It was... Read more