Trivium Home School · The Muses
The festivals of the year in calendar order, from Halloween to the summer holidays, each in parts from easy to advanced: the fun, the history, and the stories behind them.
A1–C2 · 28 songs (10 free) · All the Muses
Halloween in four parts, from easy to advanced: the customs and games of Halloween, the old Irish feast of Samhain, the festival America turned into cinema, and a playful villain to finish.
A1–A2 · FREE
Grammar: There is / there are; can; Don’t…! Halloween words
Bobby “Boris” Pickett and This Is Halloween
Lanterns, costumes, apples and treats.
B1–B2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: The passive; it is said that; is believed to have been
Nina Simone
Samhain in the gods’ battles, the heroes’ tests and the kings’ feasts of medieval Ireland.
C1–C2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Hedging and stance; cleft sentences; nominalisation
Michael Jackson and Warren Zevon
Horror films, America and the business of fear.
B1 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Want to, feel like; tired of + -ing; as… as can be
Eartha Kitt
A good girl tired of being good.
The Green Fields of France: a soldier’s grave, the soldiers in the trenches, and the people who send them to war.
B2 · FREE
Grammar: Questions about the past
Eric Bogle / The Fureys
A young soldier’s grave, and Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est”.
B2 · FREE
Grammar: Should; rhetorical questions; like / as
Black Sabbath
Who starts wars, and who fights them?
B2 · FREE
Grammar: Relative clauses; accusing
Bob Dylan
A young singer speaks to the makers of weapons.
Midwinter in four parts, from easy to advanced: the fun of Christmas today, the ancient festivals of the winter solstice, how they became the Christmas we know, and a quiet song for those who are alone.
A1–A2 · FREE
Grammar: Present continuous; you’d better; there is / there are
The Jackson 5 and Shakin’ Stevens
Santa, presents, sweets, parties and family.
B1–B2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Used to and would; the passive; comparing cultures
Annie Lennox, The Holly and the Ivy
Yule, Saturnalia, Yalda, Dongzhi and the return of the sun.
C1–C2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Cleft sentences; careful claims; concession
The Pogues and the Kinks
The Church, the Puritans, Dickens, and the commercial Christmas.
B1–B2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Wish and if only; second conditional; a scene in the present
Joni Mitchell
The quiet side of Christmas.
A2–B1 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Present continuous questions; everybody is…; festival words
Slade
The loudest, happiest Christmas song.
Easter in three parts, from easy to advanced: eggs, bunnies and spring fun; Holy Week in Andalusia; and the mystery of the name “Easter”, from the pen of the monk Bede.
A1–A2 · FREE
Grammar: Prepositions of place; can / can’t; imperatives
Elton John, Jack Rabbit
Egg hunts, chocolate, hot cross buns and monas de Pascua.
B1–B2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: The passive; relative clauses; telling an event in order
Schubert’s Ave Maria
The brotherhoods, pasos and tronos, nazarenos and saetas of Seville and Málaga.
C1–C2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Degrees of certainty; must / may / can’t have; etymology
Bede and a medieval Easter chant
One sentence, a goddess, and twelve centuries of argument.
Easter 1916 in three parts: the poem of the man who led the Rising, a love story from the week of the executions, and the Irish abroad who never forgot home. The history is told from more than one side.
B2–C1 · FREE
Grammar: Rhetoric; whom and whose; old forms; two views
Patrick Pearse
The poem he wrote a year before he led the Rising.
B1–B2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Narrative tenses with exact times; the passive; be allowed to
Jim McCann
Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford, married in Kilmainham Gaol.
B1 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Reported speech; long to; though born…; relative clauses
The Wolfe Tones
The children of emigrants, and the leaders of 1916 born abroad.
The first of May in three parts, from easy to advanced: maypoles and dancing, the old fire festival of Beltane, and International Workers’ Day.
A1–A2 · FREE
Grammar: Can / can’t; like + -ing; dance instructions
Men Without Hats
Maypoles, May Queens, Morris dancers and spring.
B1–B2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Used to and would; past simple and present perfect; customs
The Bee Gees
Beltane fires, the Floralia, Walpurgis Night and growing up.
C1–C2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Mixed conditionals; participle clauses; disputed history
AC/DC, Stormy May Day
The eight-hour day, Haymarket, and why “Mayday” means help.
The great summer festivals of Spain in four parts: the fires of San Juan, the bulls of San Fermín, Hemingway and the bullfighting debate, and the pilgrims’ road to Santiago.
A1–A2 · FREE
Grammar: Past simple; there was / there were; telling a story in order
The Pointer Sisters
Bonfires, wishes, fireworks and a midnight swim.
B1–B2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Must, mustn’t, have to, don’t have to; be allowed to
Herb Alpert
The chupinazo, the encierro, the rules, and the debate.
C1–C2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Show, don’t tell; would for typical behaviour; concession
Luke Bell
The Sun Also Rises, “The Undefeated”, and tradition against cruelty.
B1–B2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Verb + to or -ing; present perfect for experience; journeys
Paul Simon, Graceland
The apostle, the Camino, the shell and the botafumeiro.
Three American holidays, from easy to advanced: the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Veterans Day, with the history told from more than one side.
A1–A2 · FREE
Grammar: Dates and ordinals; numbers and colours; can see / can hear
The national anthem
Fireworks, parades, flags and picnics.
B1–B2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Grateful for, thank you for -ing, thanks to; the passive for history
Johnny Cash
Plymouth, Lincoln, turkey, and a National Day of Mourning.
C1–C2 · PREMIUM
Grammar: Conditionals of regret; inversion; wish + past perfect
John Prine and Creedence Clearwater Revival
Who serves, and what happens when they come home.
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