Followers

Saturday, April 27, 2013

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.






Sunday, April 21, 2013

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

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

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


Sunday, April 7, 2013

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?