Writing a composition from a song

World Poetry Day

Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?

by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

“Thank God her last name was Austen…” *

When we start reading in English – because we want to improve our language skills or simply because we enjoy reading – there are some names we cannot skirt: Shakespeare or Virginia Woolf, for example. But in fact, there are some sentences that for their witty, work-of-art, amazing construction become a part of the language they were written in and even though we might not have read the book, they’re always there to remind us of that lack on our general knowledge.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man 

in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

As foreigners we may not even recognise the sentence, but I can assure you that only a few British wouldn’t be able to repeat by heart the first line in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Maybe it’s the amazing writing, maybe the almost human characters, probably the sense of humour. Reality is that the allure of this book is still another “truth universally acknowledged”.  And it is 200 years old.

I decided to write this post as a reminder of that event.

Can I ask you some questions you can answer on the comment box? They’re pretty plain, don’t worry.

- Does the name Jane Austen ring a bell?

- Have you read Pride and Prejudice?

- Have you seen the film or the 1995 BBC award-winning series?

- Have you ever fallen in love with Lizzie or Darcy?

I could go on and on about it, I could; however I don’t want to bother you or cause that you close the page. So, if you allow me, I’ll give you – at the end - some links where you could go on reading (if you choose to do so), but I firmly advise you to become a part of this amazing world Austen invented for us all, by reading the book (hopefully), watching the BBC series or even watching the adaptations may them be from Hollywood, Bollywood or BBC itself. 

More reading:

- The 10 best Jane Austen characters – in pictures

- Jane Austen still matters, 200 years on

- Pride and Prejudice: A Jane Austen interactive

- Pride and Prejudice at 200: the best Jane Austen small-screen adaptations

- Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen fans celebrate novel's 200th anniversary

- Happy two-hundredth birthday, "Pride and Prejudice"

* “The library held all the Eng lit classics […]. I had no idea of what to read or in what order, so I just started alphabetically. Thank God her last name was Austen…”

In Winterson, Jeanette Why be happy when you could be normal?, Vintage, London, 2012, pg. 37.

Red Nose Day

 

Today is Red Nose Day ....                  
                                and your task is .............
to find out what it is about.

Leave your answers in the comment box.

Idioms, idioms, idioms

Today, I'd like  to make you work a bit. To start, I'd like to ask you if you know what an idiom is and once we know that, I want you to write here, in the comment box your favourite idiom and tell us why you like it and if you use it.

Oscar's Season

Do you like cinema? Do you go often?

If you are a true fan this is, definitely, your month, because the Oscars are coming up. We could chat about it, couldn't we?
- Are you one of those who watch the Academy Awards Ceremony live?
- What is your favourite Oscar winning film, director and stars?
- What film deserved an Oscar as best movie and didn't win it? What actor or actress?

And how about testing our colective trivia knowledge???
- Do you know why they are called The Oscars?
- How many academy awards did Charlie Chaplin win?
- Who were the eldest and the youngest actor/actress to win an academy award?
- Which movie won the most awards and which one had the most nominations?
- Who's the actor/actress who has more awards won? And who's the most nominated one?

Happy Valentine's Day

Whether you are in love or not, you are going to fall all over again with this little Warbler.

And then, read a bit about this day published in Speak up magazine number 330 in an article from the British Council.

Accents ....

... for fun.  (and excuse my French)

A great unknown

 You are bound to know this image and yet, there is so little we know about it. The 26th of January is a red-letter day for them. Speak up magazine 329 publishes an article you might enjoy.
 

Straight from the horse's mouth

Many Australians, including me, have complicated feelings about Australia Day.  On the one hand, many of us feel shame at celebrating on a day that is increasingly recognised as a sad moment in history for Australia's indigenous people, the Australian Aborigines, who call it Invasion Day. In recent years, people have suggested changing the date on which Australia Day is celebrated, naming January 1st - the date of Australia's Federation - as an alternative. 

On the other hand, Australia Day for most people is a fun holiday. It's celebrated in the middle of summer, so the weather is normally hot, and many people like to celebrate by having a barbecue on the beach. Nearly 80% of Australians live close to the coast, and the beach is a part of people's lives, even in big cities. Most city beaches have public barbecue areas, but you have to get up early if you want a good location - they are normally all taken by mid-morning by groups of families and friends. My friends and I normally hold a barbecue at a beach right around the corner from where I used to live, Coogee Beach. Some people like to play games, like frisbee or beach cricket, and of course it's nice to take a swim on a hot day.

The food at Australia Day parties can be as simple throwing sausages on a barbecue, or people might cook up traditional Australian foods. This website contains a collection of recipe suggestions for Australia Day parties, including old favourites such as:

- sausage rolls and meat pies, popular types of meat pastries

- pavlova, a dessert made of meringue, cream and fruit, originally created in honour of the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova

- damper, a type of bread made by early settlers on an open fire

- lamingtons, a traditional Australian cake

On the day before Australia Day the Australian of the Year is announced. This year's winner is Ita Buttrose, a journalist and editor, but previous winners have included sportspeople, doctors, scientists, human rights lawyers and Aboriginal Activist. 

Another very popular event on Australia Day is the countdown of the top 100 songs for the year on the national radio station, Triple J. Young people all around the country have parties to listen to the countdown, which goes right through the day. Some people place bets on which song will win the year's countdown. Last year's winning song was "Somebody I Used to Know" by the Australian singer Gotye - you have probably heard it on the radio here.

Over the years, Australia Day has become for many a celebration of multiculturalism - the idea that people from many different countries and cultures can live together in harmony. On Australia Day, Citizenship Ceremonies are held in which recent migrants pledge their loyalty to Australia and its laws. I have had several friends - from places like South Africa, India, and Scotland - take the citizenship oath, and it's always moving to see the newest Australians being officially welcomed to the country. It's a reminder that being Australian isn't just about where you were born - it's also about the thousands of people who come to Australia every year in search of a better life.

Celebrating Underground

Has any of you seen today's doodle? Well, actually, you should have. It's really neat the way the Google guys decided to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the London Underground, you can read something about that on this link. However, I'll paste the image to our little blog so you can all see it, not needing to go here to do so.

 

Isn't it great???

Well, I'll leave you something more to read and listen: 

- The Guardian sent Stephen Moss on a journey along the  longest, busiest, reddest tube line of them all; 

- the official website of the Tube gives us a lot of info too; 

- LBC tells us the Underground's (Hi)story in pictures; 

- and, of course, BBC couldn't let the day pass without showing us the celebratory stamps and helping us understand where and how everything started (in this report) or how this amazing invention changed the city.

Hope you all enjoy the trip I'm proposing to celebrate this day with the British and comment about it.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Midnight... The last 12 seconds of the year that ends... Some eat grapes, some swallow raisins, some watch a huge ball drop in the town where all dreams come true. Ask for 12 wishes (one for each gong) or just make hopefull new year resolutions. May you all have someone to kiss and hug and may all your wishes be fulfilled. 

I'll leave you with Lea Michelle singing Auld Lang Syne, a nice tradition of the English speaking countries.

Christmasy

Merry Christmas to you all!
I would like you to share your Christmas spirit by writing what this festivity  means to you.
Is it about family or presents? What are the traditions which are important for you? What can you do without in this time of the year?

Tell us all about it in the comment box.

reading and listening

We are going to do some work today. You are going to listen to a song and then read the lyrics

 Somebody that I used to know in  a version by Matthias Harris  (Thanks a bunch Marta)

Then you are going to do several excercises:

1st. Find these words in the text: /eɪk/, /rʌf/, /ðəʊ/, /hʌŋ/, /wɜːd/

2nd. Find a word or words that mean the same as:

-sometimes

-to have a clear meaning and be easy to understand

-say, pretend

-finish

-(idiom) to drop your moral standards far enough to do something bad or unpleasant

-stop having a friendly relationship with someone

3rd. "Have your friends collect your records and change your number

 I guess that I don't need that though"

Do you think you could express this idea with a different connector?

-"But had me believing it was always something that I'd done"

Can you tell me why the author has chosen this tense and not another?

Let's go back to childhood

How did you learn to speak your mother tongue? I guess we cannot remember. What about English?
Let me propose something and let's go back to "clean slate neurons". Try to overcome the fact that it IS for children and make the most out of it.

Let's play with English

Are you up to working with headlines? Enter this website and match the headlines you can read there with the section in the newspaper they belong to.

don't you?

This is for you to practice and relax. Enjoy it thanks to Judith.

Homophones ....

.....  are words which sound exactly the same but have different meaning and spelling. Getting to know them could help you with your pronuntiation and your listening skills.

I am going to give you two sentences, an easy one -to build up your confidence- and a difficult one -to challenge you- so that you tell me the homophones, which I give you just with the phonetic transcription:

Your /sΛn/  was playing in the /sΛn/.
The /stɔ:k/ ate the /stɔ:k/ of the cherry.

...and now ... could you think of more examples using homophones in the same sentence??? Please share your examples in the comment box.

Let's do magic

Happy Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day Parade

    Today, I would like you to learn more about this tradition. I hope this image  makes you  want to find out something else.

For those of you who don't read the comments, here you can read what  my friend wanted to share with you about this festivity. Let me tell you that although she comes from Europe, she's been living in the US for 20 years.

Hello, argh the joy of Thanksgiving. As a foreigner, who has been living in the US for over 21 years, i must say this holiday has been growing on me. It is not about the Turkey or the gravy (i despise both, as i do not eat meat) or the green beens, but about enjoying the day in itself. We have been visiting my hostfamily every year for this holiday enjoying a not so traditional feast, because my hostfather's background is Lebanese. So in addition to the turkey (which hardly anyone eats anymore) a middle eastern feast is presented. And to describe it in one word it would be: scrumptious. What i enjoy about this holiday is the part of slowing down for the day, sleeping in, taking a walk (not this year however), watching the parade (yes it is a big thing..i heard people prepare for it a year at a time) and visiting with friends. Simple as that. Sometimes it is a good day to see a movie at night and sometimes it is just good coming home after consuming 1 million and 5 calories and putting the belly up in the air. Many individuals of course enjoy preparing after a day of eating for Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. This year, it was a bit controversial, as many big stores opened on T-day evening or at midnight. Many workers were planning on demonstrating etc. I certainly do not understand the frenzy of shopping in the middle of the night for the newest tech gadget or worse camp out in the front of the store a week prior to the opening of Black Friday. But then again, this is America.

On that happy note, i will rest my belly (as i continued overeating today) and enjoy a quiet Black Friday in the comfort of our home, listening to the wind outside blowing over Lake Erie while snow flakes are coming down...(yesterday we had 13 degrees and sunshine)...

Greetings

Tanja