Dutch exchange

Our students went to Eindhoven on exchange to visit a bilingual school: the experience was fantastic since they spoke in English, learned about Dutch artists and history and enjoyed all of it, specially the cycling.

We want to share this activity with you and make you conscious how important it is to practise the real language everywhere. Hope to go back soon!

May and October 2010. Teachers: Am, Bert, Pablo and Mª Eugenia.

And many other teachers since then...2011, 2012, 2013, ...

New Etwinning Project 2011-2014

 

The Dutch school is ready to start a new Etwinning project, so I have chosen 3rd ESO-British to start communication with Lucía -the Spanish teacher- and the Dutch students.

Some of them might have the chance to meet their Dutch penfriends in October 2012, and most of us will share some English and Spanish using IT and this blog.

Welcome to our readers in Stedelijk College!.

¡Bienvenidos todos a esta nueva actividad!

Our projects:

"Some traditions in our countries-Tradiciones en nuestros países".

SchoolYear 2011-12.

"Keeping in touch with the Dutch!". SchoolYear 2012-2013.

This is our Blog. Thanks to the Dutch and Spanish students who helped us!

http://iesaberruguete.blogspot.com.es/

Mª Eugenia Matía. IES Alonso Berruguete. Palencia.Spain.

Lucía González. Stedelijk College. Eindhoven. The Netherlands.

English literature in the classroom

Welcome to a new school year!

We are looking forward to listening to your opinions.

Meanwhile keep reading before the exams start. Good luck!

Although we read some books in English, this time nobody wrote in our blog... but we´ll keep trying to improve it with our students´reports.

Que el libro os acompañe...

Despido con alegría a estos jóvenes lectores... Quizás aprendieron que además de su afición a la música, al deporte y a la amistad, el libro puede ser el amigo que nunca les defraudará . Dedicarán mucho tiempo a la lectura (a sus apuntes, a Internet, a la prensa...) y probablemente algo de su escaso tiempo juvenil al libro entre sus manos. Pero saben que allí, -en el libro- , se encierran sentido y sensibilidad para su futura vida.

Y al despedir a este buen grupo de alumnos, es inevitable evocar en mi homenaje particular, a D. Miguel Delibes y a Dª Casilda Ordóñez, que ya para siempre visitarán otros parajes meseteños.

¡Hasta siempre! Junio 2010

Using the Press in the Classroom

During 2009 students took part in the project "Aprender con el periódico" with the help of the language assistants. They brought real newspapers from US and we had the opportunity to browse and analyse them during English lessons. So the lessons were very interesting: there were some serious economic newspapers which were difficult to understand because of the technical vocabulary, and there was one called "The Onion" extremely ironic and fun (so Diane said!). Since it was Election Year we also learned a lot of Presidential Elections and Obama´s life... and finally came the worst part of it: hard work. Mª Eugenia and Diane made us create our own newspapers. We had to choose news from recent papers in English and present them to the class. We practised some translation, a lot of reading, writing and speaking and covered all the sections: national, international, sports, economy, entertainment and social life. We also did some team work with the Swedish students on exchange and our newspapers have been hanging on the bulletin board with thumbtacks all the year along.

What else can we say? We enjoyed the activity since it was cool and a good opportunity to work and learn in a different way. (1º Bachillerato students)

Jóvenes lectores y un amigo común

Pensaba yo que encontar otros siete magniíficos lectores era tarea fácil. Aquí están en la foto los poquitos que se enrolaron en la tarea de ampliar este blog... Aún así, mereció la pena insistir y ver sus comentarios publicados.... porque los libros son de obligada recomendación, y porque si aún no los has leído ¿ a qué esperas?.

Recuerda que no importa tanto la lengua en que leas o escribas (francés, inglés, español) como el hecho de sentir curiosidad por saber qué historias cuentan, y cómo en tu imaginación crecen. No renuncies a leer por el placer de estar contigo mismo y así acercarte a la inteligencia de quienes escribieron tales historias.

Leímos estos siete magníficos en español, inglés o francés y aunque no pudimos ver todas las versiones cinematográficas, os invitamos a completar nuestros comentarios, a leer en verano y a ver algún DVD en la lengua original.

El bosque animado (España)

Reunion (Germany)

Around the World in Eighty Days (G. Britain)

The name of the Rose (Italy)

The Girl with an Earring (Holland)

Les Trois Mousquetaires (France)

Pride and Prejudice (England)

Quiero finalmente, dar las gracias a los alumnos: Alba, Noemí, Mariano, Miguel Quijada y Miguel Pérez, así como despedir a nuestro profesor Will Clark quien nos deja para proseguir sus estudios universitarios.

¡Recordaremos tu nombre literario y tu presencia en clase! You are the best!. ¡Hasta siempre!

... y si queréis seguir leyendo, aquí os espero. See you next year!

 

Around the World in Eighty Days

 

Around the World in Eighty Days (1873, Jules Verne)

This book recounts the adventures of Phileas Fogg, a rich man who makes a bet with his friends in the Reform Club; he thinks he can go around the world in just eighty days.

With his faithful manservant Jean Passepartout, whom he has just contracted, Phileas embarks on the adventure. The whole time he is being secretly followed by inspector Fix, a detective investigating a robbery at the Bank of England, as he believes Fogg is the criminal he’s looking for. Fix will do whatever he can to stop Phileas Fogg and Passepartout on their hazardous trip.They even meet Mrs. Aouda, the young widow of an old Indian Prince, who must be buried with her dead husband according to Sutee tradition. Once she is rescued, she completes the rest of the adventure with her rescuers.

Do you want to know if he eventually won the bet? If so, I really recommend that you read it. You will enjoy it, as I did, and find out that the world is bigger than you expect.

Alba Peribáñez (3º ESO)

The Name of the Rose

 

The name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)

Fray Guillermo de Baskerville arrives at an Abbey in Italy to investigate the death of a monk. He arrives with Adso, his servant. While they are investigating, more people die. The victims all have something in common: they all have their mouths and hands stained with ink, so he guesses that they died because of the ink.

Eventually Fray Guillermo finds a library where the monks keep the church’s forbidden books, and a book written in Latin about many sins and forbidden themes for the church, and apparently monks die when they read it.

The cultural level of the monks was not very high, and they subjugated the village for their own benefit.

Personal opinion:

The descriptions are really amazing, and I really enjoyed the description of the Abbey, although I think there were too many descriptions.

The theme was really interesting, and described from an interesting point of view.

Miguel Pérez Polanco (4º ESO)

El bosque animado

El bosque animado (1943, Wenceslao Fernández Flórez)

Mi propósito para esta reseña es sencillo. Simplemente, pretendo alabar El Bosque Animado, y presentarlo al lector como la pequeña joya que es. Como estudiante de literatura, no podría honradamente intentar hacer una crítica; mi conocimiento de la literatura e historia española es demasiado escaso como para pretender hacer una crítica. Lo que sí puedo hacer, sin embargo, es reconocer el valor de la obra para cualquier aficionado a los libros y el lenguaje, y espero poder convencer a alguien del gran valor de este conjunto idiosincrático de relatos.
Empezaré con un cliché. Este libro tiene de todo. Se hallará en él lo que se busca, ya sea filosofía, tragedia, o simple capricho. Fernández Flórez nos ofrece un mundo más o menos completo, que dispone de todas las vicisitudes de la vida: lo alto del amor y el abismo de la muerte, todo envuelto en la hermosa pero despiadada capa verde de la naturaleza. Dentro del “Cecebre wencesleño” se topa con una panoplia de personajes únicos y encantadores, gente, (y animales y plantas) que representan sus papeles según sus propios destinos, llevando a cabo sus vidas tras dieciséis pequeñas viñetas que detallan, por ejemplo, la intrusión de un arrogante y frío poste de teléfono en el tradicional cantar del viento, o el orgullo absurdo del "Pueblo Pardo" de las moscas.
Este mundo, manejado por la destreza considerable de su autor, engancha desde las primeras palabras, y ofrece al lector una vista nítida de la Galicia rural de hace casi un siglo. Sin comentarios pedantes, ni tratados complejos, reúne la gran sabiduría de un estudiante ilustre de la humanidad, y lo enlaza (¿o amarra?)) a su tierra y a su pueblo de una forma tan inextricable que casi no se pueden distinguir lo uno de lo otro. Yo, leyendo este libro, pensaba vislumbrar la sagacidad de la propia fragua mientras sonreía o sufría con sus habitantes.
Finalmente, la prosa ingeniosa de Flórez completa la emoción que este libro ejercita sobre el lector. Es lo que la prosa debe de ser: digna y propia de las historias que cuenta, en este caso, repleto de metáforas naturales, lenguaje y fraseología levemente galega, y con un ritmo lo suficientemente fluido para enlazar las pequeñas brechas entre las varias estancias.

Will Clark , junio 2008.

The girl with an earring

Girl with A Pearl Earring (Tracy Chevalier)

The novel is set in Delft in the mid-17^th century. It is a story based upon historical figures, principally upon the painter Vermeer, and narrated, in the first person, by an imagined character, Griet, taken from one of Vermeer’s paintings.

Griet comes from a poor, protestant family. At sixteen, she is the eldest of three children. Her parents cannot work because her mother is unemployed and her father is blind. Her younger brother works in a factory and his is the family’s only income. Since they need more money and Griet can work, her parents send her to work as a servant for Vermeer, a man who painted pictures for an acquaintance of her father.

Vermeer lives with a very strange family. There are four daughters; a baby; Catalina, his wife; Maria Thins, his mother-in-law; and Taneke, the servant. Vermmer is very reclusive. He spends all day painting in his studio at home. When Griet arrives at Vermmer’s home she notices the family members’ different personalities, above all the differences between Vermmer and his wife. Vermmer has a very special friendship with Maria Thins, and a colder, more distant relationship with Catalina. For example, the only one who is allowed to go into his studio is his mother-in-law. When he then contracts Griet to clean his studio, Catalina feels a little jealous, so her relationship with Griet is troubled from the start.

The novel doesn’t have a strong plot. It centres around the development of the (very awkward) relationship between Griet and Vermeer. This relationship, like nearly all those in the novel, is characterized by a permanent, increasing tension resulting from the closeness of the relationship between the painter and his servant. Fundamentally, this is a story of a relationship that doesn’t fit in the society in which it is set.

Vermeer increasingly confides in Griet over the course of the novel. Vermeer first hires Griet to clean the studio, because he doesn’t have confidence in Tanneke or his clumsy wife to do it. Early on, Vermeer doesn’t appear much in the story, but he appears with increasing frequency as his confidence in Griet increases. Unlike Catharine or Tanneke, Griet tries to understand his work and he recognizes that she learns and understands. At some point, though, the work that Griet does for Vermeer must become secret because Catharine doesn’t like for her husband to confide in a servant more than in her. Griet and Vermmer’s feelings toward one another aren’t love, but by the end of the novel they come to feel a very close confidence.

Via the development of this relationship, Chevalier creates a very unique atmosphere. Since she focuses on an illicit relationship between a servant and master, she can generate tension between Griet and almost every other character in the story. Since the story is written in the first person, from Griet’s perspective, the reader never loses contact with the tension created by Griet’s singularly awkward position.

It is through this tension that Chevalier portrays the society that surrounds Griet. The reader only has access to the world around Griet through her thoughts, impressions, and feelings about the people around her. What this creates is a very detailed picture of a very small section of 17^th century Dutch society. Readers interested in 17^th century Dutch society will find this book’s scope to be narrow, but it’s focus intense.

Personally, I liked it very much because despite the book moving rather slowly, it is continually interesting. I would recommend this novel to anyone, be they interested in the period or not; aside from being useful in offering a unique perspective historically, it is fundamentally a great story.

Miguel Pérez – author and William Clark - editor

Les trois mousquetaires

Les trois mousquetaires ( Alexandre Dumas)

Le jeune d’Artagnan quitte son village avec un cheval de son père et une lettre de recommandation pour Monsieur de Tréville, commandant des Mousquetaires. Pendant le voyage, il se bat contre un homme qui lui vole la lettre. Mais il a aussi l’occasion de rencontrer les mousquetaires du roi. Arrivé à Paris, d’Artagnan raconte à M. de Tréville ce qui s’est passé. M. de Tréville et les mousquetaires sont des hommes de confiance du roi et la reine que le cardinal veut discréditer. Le cardinal sait que la reine a un amant, le duc de Buckinham. Elle lui avait offert un ferret en signe d’amour. Le cardinal était au courant grâce à ses espions, dont Lady Winter, belle-soeur de Buckinham. Sur une insinuation du cardinal, le roi demande à la reine de porter les douze ferrets, lors du prochain bal de la cour. D’Artagnan, qui est tombé amoureux de Constance Bonacieux, femme de chambre de la reine, doit récupérer le bijou. Accompagné des trois mousquetaires, il va à Londres et obtient une réplique du ferret.

Pendant ce temps, Mme Bonacieux est enlevée par les soldats du cardinal et M. Bonacieux devient l’espion du cardinal auprès de la reine. Lady de Winter trompe Mme Bonacieux et lui fait boire un poison qui la tue. Elle est jugée et condamnée par d’Artagnan et les mousquetaires.

Finalement le roi décore les mousquetaires et nomme d’Artagnan lieutenant des mousquetaires.

Une histoire classique, pour tous, qu´il faut lire et relire.

Mariano Miguel Sánchez 4ºB

 

Reencuentro

Reencuentro (1960. Autor: Fred Uhlman)

Hans Schwarz es un chico de 16 años y de origen judío que vive en Alemania. Sus padres son personas normales y amables, respetuosos con todo el mundo. Su padre es médico y ama de casa su madre. Este chico va a clase en una escuela de enseñanza media en la ciudad alemana de Stuttgart. Hans es un muchacho solitario y bastante tímido.

Un día llegó a su clase un alumno nuevo, de familia noble, rica y poderosa, llamado Konradin. Éste, al igual que Hans, no se relacionaba con nadie y al cabo de algún tiempo se formó una fuerte amistad entre ambos: iban al colegio juntos, hablaban sobre poesía, compartían sus diferentes opiniones religiosas... Todo parecía maravilloso hasta que un día Hans comenzó a sentirse incómodo porque él siempre invitaba a Konradin a su casa y éste nunca a la suya. Hans temió que su amigo se avergonzara de él por su diferente religión: más adelante se enteró de que era porque los padres de Konradin odiaban a los judíos. Con la subida de Hitler al poder poco tiempo después, la amistad de los dos jóvenes se truncó para siempre a causa de sus diferencias políticas y religiosas...

Ante el nuevo panorama político y la tragedia familiar vivida, Hans marcha a Estados Unidos, donde encontrará tranquilidad y una nueva vida.

Pasados treinta años vemos a Hans convertido en un gran abogado y con familia propia. Un día... recibe carta desde Alemania que incluye una lista con los nombres de alumnos de su antiguo colegio que murieron en la II Guerra Mundial. Lee y relee los nombres a excepción de los que empezaban por la H (letra del apellido de Konradin) y comienza a recordar su biografía. Al final se arma de valor y lee aquellos que le faltaban.... para descubrir con amargura: “VON HOHENFELS, Konradin, implicado en la conspiración para matar a Hitler; ejecutado”.

Nuestra opinión:

Un buen libro de lectura amena, vibrante y de contenido humano de gran interés.

Noemí Núñez y Miguel Quijada (4º ESO)

Il Gattopardo: old Italian society and baroque style

Here is the first book we read last November: Il Gattopardo, de Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.

The film was too long and slow for us, but a masterpiece anyway.The movie shows a refined and subtle description of an époque’s decadence, a meticulous historical reconstruction of the Italian Unification movement. The middle classes make the aristocracy disappear, some are replaced by others, but in fact, nothing changes. In addition, there can be found wonderful pictorial compositions: the light, the sceneries, the stately homes, the battles… Colossal photography and immaculate costumes according to the special clothing the play requires. The film is Italian, directed by Luchino Visconti and based in the Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa novel, who received an important prize in Cannes (1963).

Review: It’s too long if we think about the duration of the story, slow rhythm. At the same time, in spite of the fact that photography is high quality, the movie doesn’t seem so shocking for us if it’s watched on TV. Finally, we have found it a bit boring, tedious, though the teachers found worth watching it.

Chat con Margot Wallstrom: 11th May 2007

After working on the webpage "Spring Day in Europe 2007", we decided to enrol in the Chat activity. It was scheduled on 11th May at 2 p.m, so we brought our packed lunch to the computer classroom and engaged on an interesting hour to share our questions on Europe with other 8 schools from Spain, Latvia, Italy, Romania, Belgium, Bulgaria and Turkey.

First we were asked to log on at 2:00, and then wait our turn. From Brussels they told us to prepare the questions beforehand, to type them and read the answers until the third part of the chat, when our school could go on with our questions. Margot Wallstrom, ViceCommissioner of the European Union was online answering what she thought or considered should be the next 50 years of the EU.

It was very exciting to check that some of the participants were asking too local or general questions... and the ViceCommissioner played the political role! Anyway, we thought she was quite close to the students´ fears or suggestions... and after a long hour chatting, we can say we enjoyed taking part in it.

The topic "The next 50 years for the EU" may be a guess, but the atmosphere of having fun while doing an English activity was quite real for the students on the photo.

Thanks to the students: Maitane Sardón, Sara García, Esther García, Mónica Polo, Silvia Rodríguez and Rut Romero (2º Bachillerato).

I wish you the best, young and prepared European girls as you are...

Magnificent Seven: despedida

Las siete historias que nos acercaron a siete países europeos podrían multiplicarse por setenta veces siete.... Porque leer debería ser una experiencia feliz y multiplicadora para los jóvenes: con tantos medios electrónicos y audiovisuales alrededor, el tiempo escasea para sumergirse en la profundidad de las vidas que la literatura produce.

Por ello, esta sencilla propuesta tuvo su interés para nosotros: seleccionar una obra que tuviera a su vez una versión filmográfica, y así compartir y comparar dos mundos artísticos que se completan. En la diversidad de épocas y países, al leer "Alastriste", "Cyrano", "Il Gattopardo", o "Pride and Prejudice" revisitamos esas sociedades tan distantes ya de nuestro siglo XXI. Y con "Sophie Scholl" o "Angela´s Ashes" aprendimos que la vida no sólo puede ser dura, sino trágica en su irrenunciable dignidad: han sido dos ejemplos de buenas versiones cinematográficas que enriquecen e invitan a re-leer los libros que las dieron aliento.

Nos queda una historia final ("Los hermanos Corazón de león") que aparecerá en este blog cuando ya las alumnas de la foto estén en sus estudios superiores.

Gracias por vuestro tiempo y colaboración : Silvia, Rut, Maitane, Mónica, Andrea, Esther, Iovanna, Jaime, Pablo y al apoyo del tutor Ángel del Olmo.

Con el deseo o consejo de que nunca renunciéis a la lectura: para nutrirse de ideas, para relacionar, aprender, gozar o evocar...

-Nos hubiera gustado poder viajar a Bruselas pero no ha podido ser...

-Hemos aprendido a hacer un blog, algo muy útil.

-Hemos aprendido a utilizar el idioma en varios registros

Cyrano de Bergerac: by Edmond de Rostand

Cyrano was a man with a big nose. He loved his cousine but she loved someoneone else (Christian), though she didn´t know she was loved herself by Cyrano. Cyrano never dared to tell his cousine of his love because he was ashamed of his long, terrible nose. Both cousins were in good terms, so when Roxane asked her cousin for help, he didn´t doubt to write poems and in this way to help Christian de Neuvillette to get Roxane´s love. When the war started, Cyrano and Christian shared together the adventure, but Christian died. Cyrano and Roxane will spend the rest of their days sharing their mutual, friendly love until the last moments of Cyrano´s life, when he will discover his hidden feelings to his sorrowful Roxanne.

We read the story in French, in an adapted cartoon, it was good and fun! (Pablo Medina, 2º ESO)

Los hermanos Corazón de León: una historia sueca

Carlos es un niño terminal. Su hermano Juan León, es un chico alto, guapo, parece un príncipe. Juan al llegar a la escuela se sentaba al lado de Carlos a contarle sus batallitas, pero un día Juan muere en un incendio por salvar a su hermano y le dice: "No llores, nos veremos en Nangijala". Cuando días después muere Carlos, ambos se encuentran en Nangijala. Visitan el valle de las cerezas y descubran que al otro lado de las montañas, en el valle de las zarzamoras, gobernaba un malvado tirano llamado Tengil. Hasta allí fue Juan a liberar a Orvar, líder de los guerreros del valle, tarea nada fácil porque Orvar está encarcelado en la cueva de Katla, dragona prehistórica al servicio de Tengil. Carlos sigue a Juan hasta el valle y le ayuda a liberar a Orvar. Orvar, Juan y Matías (el anfritión de los hermanos Corazón de León) preparan el ataque contar Tengil. Juan roba a Tengil la corneta con la que manejaba a Katla y así pueden ganar la guerra. En las vicisitudes del combate, Juan perdió la corneta y Karma, un monstruo marino ahorcó a Katla. Tras la muerte de Matías, Juan y Carlos deciden regresar para morir en Nangijala.

Desde Suecia, os recomendamos esta buena historia para jóvenes con fantasía y sensibilidad. (Jaime Gago, 2º ESO)

Etwinning 2007

Of course you know this virtual iniciative launched by European Schoolnet. And here we are to tell you about this first experience.

We are a group of teachers from different schools and levels. Last November we registered our schools in the etwinning European webpage. First we got used to the outline of the site and then we learnt how to surf and use the different tools in it. Was it easy? Yes, it was, so once we succeeded in getting an etwinned school, we decided to create this blog and share with you all our accomplishment.

Etwinning is a virtual space where schools can pair up with other European schools. Each pair will choose a shared topic to work with their students. The elearning virtual space provides different tools to enhance ways to develop projects with our students. Once we registered and gave the basic info from our schools, we launched a topic and waited to see if it was interesting for any other school. We got some answers from schools all over Europe, we sent messages back and finally we linked to one of the schools. We are doing school activities with students. Once a month they write a report and send it to the twinned school which will send us back their own report on the same topic. We also plan on using the other tools provided by the system (chat, profile, forum, calendar, twinfinder, mailbox, my candidates, twin space, progress card, bulletin board and my team).One of the proposals was related to literature.

Students were prompted to read a book once a month and write a report in English. As an addition the students would watch the film based on the book. With this activity, we hope the students would broaden their cultural awareness of the country where the book is located. So we called the project: Magnificent Seven: Seven books, Seven Films (from seven different European countries).

We’ll keep updating the info about our process. We promise we’ll keep your hooked to our projects.

ETwinning 2007: "Magnificent Seven: 7 books, 7 films, 7 European countries".

Teachers: Maria Eugenia Matía y Ángel del Olmo. IES Alonso Berruguete. Palencia. Spain.

Students: Mónica Polo, Maitane Sardón, Rut Romero, Silvia Rodriguez, Ioana Stariminova, Andrea Vaca, Jaime Gago y Pablo Medina.

Books & films read and seen by students from 2º Bachillerato & 2º ESO:

"Il Gattopardo" , Giovanni Tommaso di Lampedusa (Italy).

"Angela´s Ashes", Frank McCourt (Ireland).

"Cyrano de Bergerac", Edmond de Rostand (France).

"Alatriste", Arturo Pérez Reverte (Spain).

"Pride and Prejudice", Jane Austen (G. Britain).

"Sophie Scholl; The Last Days"(Germany).

"Broderna Lejonhjarta", Astrid Lindgren (Sweden)

................................................................................. 

Slovakian school: Stredná priemyselná škola, Komárno (Eslovaquia)

Pride and Prejudice: old English society

Book: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a fortune must be in want of a wife". So begins Jane Austen´s most popular novel. And of course, so thinks Mrs. Bennet , mother of five daughters, who after knowing the arrival of a new wealthy neighbour, Mr. Bingley, to Herdfordshire, selects him for her oldest daughter, the beatiful, lovely and sweet-tempered Jane.

Though they like each other since the very first time they meet, there is one problem: Mr. Bingley has come with his snob sisters and with his friend Mr. Darcy, who will do their most to prevent such a disadvantgeous marriage. However, Mr. Darcy, a tall, handsome and very wealthy man himself is fascinated with Elizabeth, the beautiful, intelligent and stubborn second Bennet sister. After too much considering and in spite of his better judgement, he proposes to Lizzie who firmly rejects him.

But fate intervenes to bring Darcy and Lizzie in contact and she begins to realize there is another Darcy than the proud one she imagined. That he is a good man becomes apparent when he secretly intervenes to rescue the empty-headed Lydia, youngest of the Bennet sisters from a fate worse than death: being seduced but not married by a genuine scoundrel.

Gradually Lizzie realizes that her first impression of Darcy´s pride was "prejudice"... and Darcy realizes there are factors in male-female relationship that class and fortune cannot provide. (Silvia Rodríguez, 2º Bachillerato)

Film: I did not find the film as deep in features as the reading,... however the students enjoyed the romantic film as well as the mild, rich background depicted, remnants of old times , a very different society and universal feelings around.

Angela´s Ashes: poverty and childhood

"When I look back on my childhood, I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth living. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish catholic childhood". (Frank McCourt, author of Angela´s Ashes)

Can you imagine being born in Depression era Brooklyn and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland?

This is the life of Frank McCourt as told in his memoir, "Angela´s Ashes" . He brings you inside the mind of a miserable Irish catholic child whose life would seem unbelievable to most of us today.

Before he reaches the age of ten, Francis witnesses the death of his sister and two brothers. His father hardly ever works and when he does, he spends it on alcohol. Through all the poverty, near starvation and harassment, Frank and his family remain strong in spirit. Angela´s Ashes is a story of survival, the survival of a mother who has to carry on with a family by her own begging for food, clothes and money to the charity; the survival of the brothers living his childhood in the streets of the greyish Limerick and after all the survival of the oldest son, Frank, who has to work in order to maintain his family playing his father´s role.

However, there is nothing Ireland can offer to him, so he takes the difficult decision of going to America where he could find a good opportunity to live.... But that´s another book and a different story! (Silvia Rodríguez, 2º Bachillerato)