THANK YOU

Today I wanted to post a last brief note to thank all of those who helped us in our little project. Thank you to everybody who contributed by sharing their views or their likings on this blog. I would also like to thank the people who were brave enough to read in front of an audience. I hope you enjoyed the experience, whether it was for the fun of it, or because it even made you learn something.

Remember that one of the best ways to learn a language is by reading. There will always be some kind of text that you will enjoy reading. Moreover, if you can share what you read with somebody else, it will even be more enjoyable.

And after all that reading you can take a step beyond and also try to write. Send your views to newspapers around the world. We are lucky to be studying a language that is spoken all around the globe. Keep contributing to different blogs, or create your own. Whatever you do don't give up. I know how hard and frustrating learning English can be, but as the saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, again.

Good luck with your exams to those of you who have to suffer through them, either because you have to take them or correct them :-((

You know where to find me.

April 23rd

Just a brief note to invite you all to the public reading that will take place on the 23rd of April to celebrate World Book Day. The event will take place in the Ateneo which is now in Habana Ave., where the old Tennis Club used to be. It will start at 7.00 pm and will go on for about two hours.

As on Women's Day there will be people reading in all the different languages taught at the EOI. It will be a nice time to get together, listen to some good literature and catch up on things.

Hope to see you there.

Public Reading at Torga on Women's Day

Ian McEwan

As I was reading The Guardian this morning, I came across an article written by Ian McEwan. On my last post I had given you a list of some of my favourite books, which comprised Saturday. It was hard for me to choose just one to include in the list, since I have loved all the books by him I've read: Atonement, Amsterdam, On Chesil Beach.

The article We disliked her and we loved it, written after the death of Margaret Thatcher, is well worth your time. To me, he writes like very few people can do. Click on the link below and enjoy!

Margaret Thatcher: we disliked her and we loved it

What's your favourite book?

Do you have a favourite book? You probably have at least ten! I've always found that kind of questions hard to answer. Don't you find it shocking when they are interviewing a famous person on the radio and he or she is asked out of the blue what their favourite book is? The interview might be about politics, the environment, art or whatever field the person is involved with. Then, the deep interviewer wants the audience to get closer to the interviewee and starts asking about their favourite food, book, song, movie, you name it. The best thing is that they are always prepared and give the wittiest answers. I try to put myself in a situation like that (as if anyone would ever want to interview me!), and I'm glad I'm nobody, because I would be so dumbfounded I would not know what to say. How can you choose only one!

Anyway, our friend Tony has found this piece of news on the BBC's webpage and I want to share it with you. Click on the link below to read the article and check out the list.

Teachers' favourite 100 books

Have you read any of those books? I have read 9 of the first 20 and I must admit that it includes 3 of my favourite books ever. As I said before it is very hard for me to choose one, but I'm going to try and give you a short list of the books I've enjoyed the most. I'm actually going to give you two lists. One with classic books and another one with modern literature. The order is totally random.

My classics  

1.- To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
2.- The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
3.- The Collector, John Fowles
4.- The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins
5.- In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
6.- Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
7.- The Assistant, Bernard Malamaud
8.- Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
9.- Dangerous Liaisons, F. Laclos
10.- The Color Purple, Alice Walker

Great Current Books 

1.- American Pastoral, Philip Roth
2.- Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami
3.- The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

4.- Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
5.- The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga
6.- Disgrace, JM Coetzee
7.- The Road, Cormac McCarthy
8.- Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt
9.- Empire Falls, Richard Russo
10.- Saturday, Ian McEwan

Do you have any favourite books you would like to share with us?

Why read?

As a language teacher, I would have a very easy answer to that question. One should read because it is the best way to fix vocabulary, remember expressions, pay attention to spelling and see syntactic structures used in context.

I don't want to talk about reading as a tool for learning, I think that it's too obvious. If you want to learn, you have to read. It's a must, not an option. I want to talk about choice. I want to know if you like reading, so I would like to ask you some questions: Why read? Do we like it? Do we get pleasure from it? Is it a fun way to spend our free time? There are so many other things to be done, that it seems to me that reading could be too tiring an activity to be enjoyed. How do you like to read? What do you like to read? Where and when do you read?Are you into technology or would you much rather have a traditional book in your hands? Have e-books changed your life?

If we read because we like stories, then there are many other sources to enjoy storytelling. How about a good film? Why not all those great TV series that are being shown these days? Is downloading a podcast with a good story a good option? Audio books?

Tell me what's in a book that makes you want to go back to it as soon as you have a free minute.  As Patricia Shaw, a great professor I had in college, used to say "this book is unputdownable". Do you think the book is the king of storytelling or as long as there's a story you don't mind the medium?

The following video gave me the idea to ask you about these things. Watch it and see what you think.

TED talks. The technology of story telling, Joe Sabia

I'll be asking you more things about books in the coming days. Our project's next goal is to have another public reading on the 23rd of April, coinciding with World Book Day.

For now, I would love it if you shared your ideas with us about the questions I have just asked you.

It was fun

Just a brief note to let you know that I had a great time yesterday. It is very rewarding to see that our little project has touched other people and they are the ones making it work now. I would really like to thank those of you who were brave enough to read in public. The venue was packed! Everybody did a great job at sharing the language experience with our town. It was a wonderful time to let everybody see what we do and how much we can learn from it.

I would also like to thank my partners in the workshop and congratulate Berta for being such a cheerful MC. I don't want to forget my colleagues from the French, German and Chinese departments who even though they are not part of the project, they encouraged their students to take part in the event.

Let's get ready for the next one. Don't forget to save the date, April 23rd. Start thinking about all those books you've read and you want to share with us.

International Women's Day

Public Reading, March 8th 

As a lot of you know, tomorrow we'll be having a public reading which will take place at the bookshop "Vento do Sul" (old "Torga"), just across the Teatro Princial. The event is starting at 7.30 p.m. If you are in Ourense you're welcome to join us. The readings will be about women and in the different languages taught at the school of languages. It'll be nice to enjoy the "international" aspect of women's day and to be able to hear what women around the world have to say about themselves.

These are two texts that I have chosen to be read tomorrow. They are both by African-american author Maya Angelou. Her style of writing is very direct and really gets to you. Hope you like it.

Excerpt from “Letter to my daughter” by Maya Angelou

Dear Daughter,

This letter has taken an extraordinary time getting itself together. I have all along known that I wanted to tell you directly of some lessons I have learned and under what conditions I have learned them.

My life has been long, and believing that life loves the liver of it, I have dared to try many things, sometimes trembling, but daring, still. I have only included here events and lessons which I have found useful. I have not told how I have used the solutions, knowing that you are intelligent and creative and resourceful and you will use them as you see fit.

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.

Never whine. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood.

Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity.

I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish-speaking, Native American and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you.

My mother, Vivian Baxter, warned me often not to believe that people really want the truth when they ask, "How are you?" She said that question was asked around the world in thousands of languages and most people knew that it is simply a conversation starter. No one really expects to be answered, or even wants to know "Well my knees feel like they are broken, and my back hurts so bad I could fall down and cry." A response like that would be a conversation stopper. It would end before it could begin. So, we all say, "Fine, thank you, and you?"


I believe in that way we learn to give and receive social lies. We look at friends who have lost dangerous amounts of weight or who have added ungainly pounds and we say, "You're looking good." Everybody knows the statement is a blatant lie but, we all swallow the untruth in part to keep the peace and in part because we do not wish to deal with the truth. I wish we could stop the little lies. I don't mean that one has to be brutally frank. I don't believe that we should be brutal about anything, however, it is wonderfully liberating to be honest. One does not have to tell all that one knows, but we should be careful what we do say is the truth.

Let us bravely say to our young women, "That raggedy hairstyle may be trendy, but it is also unattractive. It is not doing anything for you." Let's tell the truth to the people. When people ask, "How are you," have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully. You must know however, that people will start avoiding you because they too have knees that pain them and heads which hurt and they don't want to know about yours. But think of it this way, if people avoid you, you will have more time to meditate and do fine research on a cure for whatever truly afflicts you.

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.


You can hear it being read in the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK5fbS41-iA

My Friends

I'm realising that writing about the women in my life is making me sound too sentimental. Not that I can deny being so, but I would like to give this post a rather different tone.

For some reason, I think that if you are a woman your girl friends are a lot more important to you than a man´s guy friends are to him. It'd be interesting to have a man who reads this post verify or contradict this point. Guys may need other men to play sports with or to have fun while drinking a few beers. Us women, on the other hand, need girl friends to talk and share experiences. We need other women in our lives. I met my oldest friend when we were three years old and I can proudly say that despite living far away from each other, we click as soon as we get together.

I went to an all girls school and although I know that today it sounds like an anachronism, something from pre-history that doesn't make any sense from an educational point of view, in my experience it was a blast. I wouldn't change it for any other type of school. As a little girl you don't pay much attention to whether there are boys or not at your school, but as you grow up, you start giving importance to the opposite sex. Since we were all girls, we didn't have to worry about looking good or acting pretty, we just were who we were without fake façades. Gym class was a lot of fun because in general we were all rather clumsy, but we couldn't care less. Recess was full of talking and conspiracy, you have to understand that there was no whatsapp or facebook back then and calling on the phone was quite expensive. The playground was the only place where we had the chance to talk about our things. A few years ago, when we all turned forty, we had a reunion and it felt like we had been together for all those years we had been apart. We each fell into the roles we had at school, the funny ones, the critical ones, the leaders, the responsible ones... we had a great time.

I met one of my dearest friends in college. We've lived apart for many years now, but we don't let more than two weeks go by without talking on the phone. At university we were hand in glove and we spent many, many hours together, studying, talking, having coffee, but most of all laughing. Today she's one of the few people to whom I'd tell anything. We've always been there for each other and I know that we will be forever. Didn't I start by saying that I wasn't going to get too sentimental? Well, if any of my friends get to read this, they'll all be laughing by now, because they know me too well and would have sworn in line two that I wasn't going to succeed.

My current friends, the ones I share my daily life with, have been together for quite a while now and have been through thick and thin. As you get older life gets complicated and those college years when all you do is laugh seem to be farther and farther away. All in all, though, we have a great time. When there is a problem we help each other or if there's not much we can do, at least we are there to listen to one another and to give support. We go shopping, we drink wine, we listen to stories about our respective children, we go shopping again, but once more what we do the most is talk, talk, talk and laugh.

My friends are all very dear to me and I could not live without them. They're all different from each other, but they all have something that makes them super special for me. I would not want to finish, though, without giving someone a little wink. My red carpet buddy... how could cocktails in Manhattan not to have a special mention!

A Contribution

• A dear member of this blog has sent me a very moving poem to pay tribute to mothers. 

In Memory of my Mother by Patrick Kavanagh

I do not think of you lying in the wet clay

Of a Monaghan graveyard; I see

You walking down a lane among the poplars

On your way to the station, or happily

Going to second Mass on a summer Sunday –

You meet me and say:

“Don’t forget to see about the cattle”

Among your earthiest words the angels stray.

And I think of you walking along a headland

Of green oats in June,

So full of repose, so rich with life –

And I see us meeting at the end of town

On a fair day by accident, after

The bargains are all made and we can walk

Together through the shops and stall and markets

Free in the oriental streets of thought.

  

O you are not lying in the wet clay,

For it is a harvest evening now and we

Are piling up the ricks against the moonlight

And you smile up at us – eternally.

Glossary:

2. Monagahan: a county in the northwest region of Ireland.

4. the station: this could refer to the railway station; or perhaps to the Irish rural custom of a priest visiting homes in his parish to hear confessions and to say Mass.

19. ricks: a large pile of straw or hay (= dried grass) that has been built in a regular shape.

• He has also sent me this song by Kate Bush. I am also posting the audio for you to enjoy.

Mother stands for comfort by Kate Bush
Cover version by Jane Birkin)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5satHt2LFo

She knows that I've been doing something wrong,
But she won't say anything.
She thinks that I was with my friends yesterday,
But she won't mind me lying,
Because

Mother stands for comfort.
Mother will hide the murderer.

It breaks the cage, and fear escapes and takes possession,
Just like a crowd rioting inside.
(Make me do this, make me do that, make me do this, make me do that...)
Am I the cat that takes the bird?
To her the hunted, not the hunter.

Mother stands for comfort.
Mother will hide the murderer.
Mother hides the madman.
Mother will stay mum.

Mother stands for comfort.
Mother will hide the murderer.
Mother hides the madman.
Mother will stay mum.

My Mom

When I was a little girl my mom was my whole universe. Her being a housewife and me being an only child probably had a lot to do with it. I thought she was the prettiest woman in the whole wide world, and my goal in life was to at least try to look half as good as she did. I admit that I felt like the ugly duckling next to her.

We used to spend a lot of time together, she was always taking care of me. We would go to the park and to have a snack in the afternoons. I loved hanging out with her and her friends, it made me feel like a little lady. If you remember from my last post, one thing I liked about my grandmothers was that they were very lenient with me. My mom, on the other hand, was very strict. I used to laugh at people who said that only children were spoilt. They sure wouldn't be if those children were my mom's! She always made sure I ate the right things for my health, that my hygiene was perfect and that my manners were impeccable.

When I grew up and became a teenager she was the perfect mother. All my friends were jealous of me because I was able to talk to her about anything. She would always be ready to listen to whatever I had to tell her and I had a very comforting feeling that she trusted me. I appreciated her listening to me very much, because she can be quite a talker if she wants to.

As an adult you learn to see your parents in a different light. You realise that apart from being your parents, they are people and they are not infallible. They have their flaws just like everybody else. My mom is a strong woman who has the theory that a little bit of bad temper will save you a lot of trouble in life. Even though she was born in a time when women had a very clear role, she was always a free spirit. She has probably done things she wouldn't have done if she had been born at another time, but despite that, I have a feeling that she has done pretty much what she wanted in life.

I've always loved my mom very much, but the day I myself became a mother that love grew even deeper. I was able to experience the way a mother loves a child, and it struck me to think that she probably loved me in the same way.

Mom, you're the best!

Well, readers, it's your turn now to write about your mothers. I'm really glad that some of the blog's members have plucked up the courage to share their thoughts with us. Don't be afraid of using your English, it'll only get better if you use it.

Answer Key for the Love Quotes

I was owing you the answer key for the Love Quotes. Did you get many right? Are you shocked by any of the answers?

1.-Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. 
Oscar Wilde 

2.-Love is the flower you've got to let grow. 
John Lennon

3.-The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves. 
Victor Hugo 

4.-Love is the child of illusion and the parent of disillusion. 
Miguel de Unamuno

5.-True friends stab you in the front. 
Oscar Wilde

6.-I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. 
Mother Teresa 

7.-Friends can help each other. A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself - and especially to feel. Or, not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them. That's what real love amounts to - letting a person be what he really is. 
Jim Morrison 

8.-Where there is love there is life. 
Mahatma Gandhi

9.-We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone. 
Orson Welles

10.-I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. 
Martin Luther King, Jr.

11.-A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous. 
Ingrid Bergman

12.-Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. 
Aristotle

13.-Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives. 
C. S. Lewis

Our next goal

International Women's Day, March 8th

Our project's next goal is going to be a public reading on the 8th of March to pay tribute to women.Wow, another exhausted worn topic, you might say. Well, and which one is not. All these set dates are mere excuses to let us read and write, which is our real goal. Besides, even though any topic might sound like a cliché, there are always a thousand different ways to approach it.

Given the fact that I am a woman, that I love being one and that fortunately this reality has never caused me any problems, I'm going to reflect upon women from a positive loving perspective rather than one of trouble or adversity. Enough has been said about discrimination and abuse. It's high time we portrayed ourselves without pity or without trying to be equal to men. Guess what, we are not, and I personally don't want to be. Nothing against men, but today I'm not going to talk about them. It's not their turn.

Our school has another project going on, Constructing a European Female Identity, which has so far had many different activities. One that has caught my eye was the construction of a "family tree" of the women in your life. I didn't strictly do it back then, but seeing the ones at school made me make my own one mentally.

I am going to start talking about my grandmother Elisa. I grew up living with her and even though I understand how hard it must have been for my mom to have three generations living under the same roof, I wouldn't change that experience for any other living situation. She was a rather simple woman as regards formal education, although she liked to read and spent her old age doing crossword puzzles to keep her brain active. What I really liked about her was her lively mood and her constant smile. She was the only survivor of five siblings, three of whom died young due to TB. Her health was not the best either, but you would never hear her complain. She was always ready for a joke or a game of cards, not to mention a great traditional Asturian (not that she would have refused one of any other origin) dessert.

What I am very grateful to her for is that she always supported me and never, ever in her life got angry with me. Today, whenever I think about her, a big smile appears on my face, usually accompanied by a couple of tears. I miss her.

I don't want to leave my other grandmother out. Florentina was not such a big influence on me, mostly because we didn't live together. She never got angry with me either and was always eager to listen to my stories. What I remember the most about her was how she loved to look good and was fond of fashion until her very last days. Another thing that shows how vain she was is that she would never say her age, to such an extent that we were not very sure of how old she really was.

Why don't you tell us something about your grandmothers? I would love to read your stories.

COMING SOON: My mom

LOVE QUOTES

LOVE QUOTES QUIZ 

At the bottom of this post you'll find the names of some very well known people. Try to match them to the right quote. I'll be posting the answer key soon.

1.-Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. 

2.-Love is the flower you've got to let grow. 

3.-The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves. 

4.-Love is the child of illusion and the parent of disillusion. 

5.-True friends stab you in the front. 

6.-I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. 

7.-Friends can help each other. A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself - and especially to feel. Or, not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them. That's what real love amounts to - letting a person be what he really is. 

8.-Where there is love there is life. 

9.-We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone. 

10.-I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. 

11.-A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous. 

12.-Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. 

13.-Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives. 

WHO SAID WHAT? Match the quote to the person who you think said it:

Aristotle, C.S. Lewis, Ingrid Bergman, Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., Miguel de Unamuno, Mother Teresa, Orson Welles, Oscar Wilde (2), Victor Hugo

           

Valentine's Day Part II

In the evening session of our activity we got together in the computer room to share some readings. At first we read texts in both English and Portuguese. This was quite an experiment for me, since not everybody understood both languages. The Italian team came in later.

 Despite the difficulty, I think it worked out quite well, especially as we were able to follow the texts that were being read on the screen. I've been giving some thought to the multilingual aspect of these sessions, and although I can see some problems, I think that we have to try to be positive and make the most out of it. If we are able to learn some little cultural aspect or enjoy the rhythm of a poem or a song, we should definitely appreciate it.

I personally enjoyed a song in Portuguese Amor e Sexo, by a singer called Rita Lee. You can take a look at it in the blog Abloguear that you can access from the menu to the right of this post.

Perhaps it is the English language that worries me more, since not everybody speaks it, and it is undoubtedly harder to figure out. I must say, though, that most people there had previously studied English and seemed to be enjoying the texts.

We also did a quiz about famous love quotes that I'll post below for you to try out. I'll be posting the answer key in a few days.

To finalise the session we embarked on a spontaneous writing workshop. Starting to write out of the blue doesn't seem to be the easiest task, but our goal was not too demanding. We decided to write Haiku. Have you ever heard about it before? Check out the following part of this post and you'll find out about it.

Haiku

A Haiku is a short poem of Japanese origin which uses imagistic language to convey the essence of the human condition. The common practice in English is to use 17 syllables divided into three lines 5-7-5.  Here are some examples:

your love was a port
of call where many ships docked
until morning came

(Sonia Sanchez)


we are sudden stars
you and I exploding in
our blue black skins

(Sonia Sanchez)


Do not be afraid,
the darkness will fade my love,
the next sun is ours.

(Stephen Hyer)

our eyes meet; you smile.
I think I’m falling in love.
how could this end well?

So this is what we came up with in a few minutes. We are thinking about talking to some publishing companies

Trying to learn some-

thing that makes you overwhelmed

is rather tiring

My son's growing up

he'll be taller than me

but he won't stay put

Thinking about you

I'm spending my summer days

under the green tree

She was so precious

to all people who new her

that she felt alone.

ài

So far today we've done a little activity with Andrea´s advanced 1 group 1 class. They were reading poems and doing a little quiz on love quotes. Some of them were even prepared without knowing it, because they were wearing red :-))

Then we went into Pino´s class and we learnt how to make the Chinese character for LOVE. Here it is


The name of this post is the transcription of how they pronounce it. I'll keep updating you as the day goes on.

I would also like to thank Andrea, Whitney and Pino for their collaboration.

LOVE POEMS

On Thursday the 14th of February, Valentine's Day, we will be having a little tribute to love at the EOI of Ourense. We will be at the computer room waiting for you at 7pm. 

Nothing has been totally planned nor will there be a set programme of activities. If you show up I'm sure something will be happening. You yourself might have a text you want to share with us. I'm going to suggest three poems that I like and that someone can read out loud.

I also suggest taking a look at Reading to Write USA, a blog that you might access through the menu you'll find to the right of this post. In there you'll also find a little selection of texts related to the topic of love.

WHEN YOU ARE OLD

 by W.B. Yeats

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,

And nodding by the fire, take down this book,

And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,

And loved your beauty with love false or true,

But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,

And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,

Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

SOMETIMES WITH ONE I LOVE

 by Walt Whitman

Sometimes with one I love I fill myself with rage for fear I
effuse unreturn'd love,
But now I think there is no unreturn'd love, the pay is
certain one way or another,
(I loved a certain person ardently and my love was not
return'd,
Yet out of that I have written these songs.)



MY MISTRESS’ EYES ARE NOTHING LIKE THE SUN (SONNET 130)
by William Shakespeare


My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Brotherly Love

So the 14th of February is coming up which makes me keep talking about love. Today I'm suggesting that you read a beautiful  piece of writing from a blog that is being published in The New York Times. This text really comes to show that real love does not necessarily happen only between lovers. Click on the title of this post in order to read the article.

One little recommendation, have a box of Kleenex at hand!

Japanese display of affection

We need to get back to the topic of love, which is going to be the one keeping us busy in our first public reading. So, let's get in the mood for love. While browsing The Guardian this morning, I came across the most picturesque public display of affection. Do you see yourself doing something like this? Could it become popular in Spain? Watch the following video and see what you think.

Love your wife day

Dozens of men take to the stage in a Tokyo park to declare love for their wives in an abnormally open display of affection. The husbands take turns to address their other halves loudly in front of an audience at the event which is broadcast nationwide. Love Your Wife day, which has been running for five years, provides a platform for Japanese men to be affectionate in a society which is often more reserved.

Source: Reuters, Jan 29th, 2013

Thrilled!

I'm just so thrilled about seeing that my humble blog has a little group of followers! I wouldn't want to abuse your kindness but, even though you've just made my day by simply joining as members, I'd love it if you commented on some of the posts every once in a while.

If any of you would like to get something published on my blog, make sure you send it to me. Those of you who personally know me have my e-mail address. If not, you can use this account readingtowriteeoiou@gmail.com to make texts get to me.

As the name of the blog suggests, its main purpose is to improve our writing skills by reading.  I have and will be recommending books to read. However, I know that we do not always have enough time for extensive reading. Going through these short texts that I'll be publishing here might offer us at least some insight into how to eventually start writing.

You've taken the fist step, you're now reading. Be brave and take the next one. Write a little comment on any of the posts on the blog. Once you do that, you'll be sending me texts to publish and that will be the real leap forward, the one that will make you feel great, satisfied with all you're going through to learn how to write in a foreign language.

Life of Pi

I guess I'm going to be a rather hectic blogger. I warned you I was a newbie, basically I didn't know what was going to come out of the whole blogging thing. Here I was presenting the theme of love and encouraging you to find texts about it, while I'm going to be talking about something else. I promise I'll go back to Love in the coming days.

As some of you might know, I'm home "ridden" by a stupid sore throat, so while I was browsing the press this morning, I came across an interesting article. It deals with the hackneyed topic of "the movie or the book". In this case I read the book, and I must confess that even though I found it rather original, I got I little bit sick of so much water and so many animals. On the other hand other people I know who read it were highly impressed by it.

As the article comments, my favourite part, by far, was the bits about religion. How he tried to be Christian, Islamic and Buddhist at the same time was hilarious to me.

Here's the link to The Guardian's article. It might give you and idea of something to do on this rainy weekend

THE LIFE OF PI

http://ofwitandwill.com/the-stacks/life-of-pi-the-movie-or-the-book/