The Reading / Listening - Ye (formerly Kanye West) - Level 2

The rapper Kanye West has changed his name. Kanye Omari West is the name that appeared on his birth certificate. However, the artist now has the shorter name of Ye. He has no legal middle name or surname. Ye had wanted to change his name for a long time. Three years ago, he announced that he was, "the being formerly known as Kanye West". He said his change of name was for "personal reasons". He didn't give any more explanations. The rapper has had the nickname Ye for a long time. It is the name of his eighth studio album.

The music website billboard.com said people in California who want to change their name have to publish it in a newspaper. This is so anyone who might not like the change can object. Ye did this four times in September. He put notices in the Daily Commerce newspaper. One of the only times Ye has talked about his new name was three years ago. He chatted to a radio host. He said "Ye" was from the Bible and that it means "you". He said: "I believe "ye" is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible, it means "you". So, I'm you, I'm us, it's us."

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Ye (formerly Kanye West) - Level 0 Ye (formerly Kanye West) - Level 1   or  Ye (formerly Kanye West) - Level 3

Sources
  • https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kanye-west-name-change-ye-194657972.html
  • https://news.sky.com/story/kanye-west-officially-changes-his-name-to-ye-12437924
  • https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9646949/kanye-west-changed-name-ye/


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. the name that appeared on
  2. the artist now
  3. He has no legal middle
  4. Ye had wanted to
  5. formerly known
  6. for personal
  7. The rapper has had
  8. the name of his eighth
  1. change his name
  2. the nickname
  3. studio album
  4. reasons
  5. name
  6. his birth certificate
  7. as Kanye West
  8. has the shorter name

Paragraph 2

  1. The music
  2. people in
  3. publish it
  4. anyone who might not
  5. Ye did this four
  6. One of
  7. He chatted to
  8. the most commonly
  1. used word
  2. in a newspaper
  3. times in September
  4. the only times
  5. website
  6. a radio host
  7. California
  8. like the change

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

The rapper Kanye West has (1) ___________________. Kanye Omari West is the name that appeared on (2) ___________________. However, the artist now has the shorter name of Ye. He has no legal middle (3) ___________________. Ye had wanted to change his name for a long time. Three years ago, he announced that he was, "the (4) ___________________ as Kanye West". He said his change of name was for "personal reasons". He didn't (5) ___________________ explanations. The rapper has had the nickname Ye for a long time. It is the name of (6) ___________________ album.

(7) ___________________ billboard.com said people in California who want to change their name have (8) ___________________ in a newspaper. This is so anyone who might not like the change can object. Ye did (9) ___________________ in September. He put notices in the Daily Commerce newspaper. One (10) ___________________ times Ye has talked about his new name was three years ago. He chatted to (11) ___________________. He said "Ye" was from the Bible and that it means "you". He said: "I believe "ye" is the most (12) ___________________ in the Bible, and in the Bible, it means "you". So, I'm you, I'm us, it's us."

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

TherapperKanyeWesthaschangedhisname.KanyeOmariWestisthen
amethatappearedonhisbirthcertificate.However,theartistnowhasth
eshorternameofYe.Hehasnolegalmiddlenameorsurname.Yehadwan
tedtochangehisnameforalongtime.Threeyearsago,heannouncedtha
thewas,"thebeingformerlyknownasKanyeWest".Hesaidhischangeof
namewasfor"personalreasons".Hedidn'tgiveanymoreexplanations.
TherapperhashadthenicknameYeforalongtime.Itisthenameofhiseig
hthstudioalbum.Themusicwebsitebillboard.comsaidpeopleinCalifor
niawhowanttochangetheirnamehavetopublishitinanewspaper.Thisi
ssoanyonewhomightnotlikethechangecanobject.Yedidthisfourtimes
inSeptember.HeputnoticesintheDailyCommercenewspaper.Oneoft
heonlytimesYehastalkedabouthisnewnamewasthreeyearsago.Hech
attedtoaradiohost.Hesaid"Ye"wasfromtheBibleandthatitmeans"you
".Hesaid:"Ibelieve"ye"isthemostcommonlyusedwordintheBible,and
intheBible,itmeans"you".So,I'myou,I'mus,it'sus."

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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