Wednesday 31 December 2014

HAPPY 2015!

Risultati immagini per new year eve quotes

WHY SHAKESPEARE MATTERS ...


In Shakespeare the birds sing, the bushes are clothed with green, hearts love, souls suffer, the cloud wanders, it is hot, it is cold, night falls, time passes, forests and multitudes speak, the vast eternal dream hovers over all. Sap and blood, all forms of the multiple reality, actions and ideas, man and humanity, the living and the life, solitudes, cities, religions, diamonds and pearls, dung-hills and charnel houses, the ebb and flow of beings, the steps of comers and goers, all, all are on Shakespeare and in Shakespeare.
Victor Hugo


Monday 29 December 2014

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

Valentine's Day in Hertfordshire | Hertfordshire Traditions in ...

Geoffrey Chaucer (1342/3–1400) was born into a well-to-do English family. Not much is known about his education but he was well read, spoke French and had some knowledge of Latin and Italian. He was the king’s personal attendant and married a servant of the queen’s. He fought in the Hundred Year’s War against France, was captured and the king had to pay a ransom for him. He was sent on diplomatic and trade missions to France and Italy. He was controller of the Customs on wool and wine. The Canterbury Tales, his major work, is considered one of the greatest works in English literature.
Here you can find an informative website which will help you learn about Geoffrey Chaucer's life  and  his masterpiece,  The Canterbury Tales.  Here   you can download a PDF presentation of the pilgrims on their journey. 
Click here  to revise  the poem. 

Sunday 28 December 2014

Thursday 25 December 2014

Wednesday 24 December 2014

CHRISTMAS WISHES!


Click here to find tons of Christmas wishes! Very useful indeed!
Now enjoy  Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" with Misterduncan!



Tuesday 16 December 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE AUSTEN!


How did this early-19th-century novelist become the chick-lit, chick-flick queen for today? It is not only because she is an enduring writer. A few other female writers have achieved pop culture celebrity: Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath for the drama of their suicides, the Brontës for the Gothic feelings of gloom and mystery of their novels and the contrast to their quiet lives. None inspire the warmth, fanaticism - or merchandising – that Jane Austen does. Click here to continue reading ...
And now here watch the official trailer of the gorgeous movie Becoming Jane whose  story is a romance with lots of twists and turns ...

Read here  to discover why we need to celebrate the Jane Austen Day!

Jane Austen in quotes: 30 tips for a successful life
Celebrating Jane Austen Day 2014 with 75 Sensational Quotes That Every Janeite Should Not Live Without
I Learned Everything I Needed to Know About Marriage From Pride and Prejudice


Friday 12 December 2014

THINKING ABOUT GRAMMAR

This morning a colleague of mine told me that grammar rules and exercises are not very important when learning a foreign language as a beginner ... it would be better reading texts! I was just amazed! 


Grammar, regardless of the country or the language, is the foundation for communication - the better the grammar, the clearer the message, the more likelihood of understanding the message's intent and meaning. That is what communication is all about. 
William B. Bradshaw 

You can read the whole article here.
Click here to discover a wonderful website to revise your grammar. 


Thursday 4 December 2014

THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE


Click here to read this emotionally intriguing novel by  Audrey Niffenegger online. 
You can also read some reviews here and here.
Here you can find a thorough analysis of the novel.

Monday 1 December 2014

DECEMBER


God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December.
J. M. Barrie

Sunday 30 November 2014

ARE YOU A JANEITE?


Here are some interesting articles to read  just in case you you feel like becoming a Janeite ...


Thursday 13 November 2014

Sunday 9 November 2014

REMEMBERING WORLD WAR I



Today the Queen has led the country in the annual ritual of Remembrance Sunday. Read The Guardian article here.

Immagine correlata



Click here to find essays, articles, slide shows and videos to dig deeper into the causes, consequences and legacy of World War I.  Here you can find another helpful website.

Saturday 1 November 2014

Friday 24 October 2014

Friday 10 October 2014

WHO HAS WON THE 2014 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE?



Click here  and here to read articles about the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize which today has been awarded to Indian child rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzay  "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people."

Thursday 9 October 2014

DO YOU PREFER PRINTED BOOKS OR E-BOOKS?


If you are a book-lover and, like me, you enjoy reading both printed books and e-books, click here.
You may also be interested in reading these articles:


Sunday 5 October 2014

HAPPY TEACHERS' DAY!


Click here to discover why World Teachers' Day is internationally recognized and celebrated world-wide.

Wednesday 1 October 2014

OCTOBER




October
And the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear
What do I care

October
And kingdoms rise
And kingdoms fall
But you go on ... and on ...

Thursday 25 September 2014

NORTHANGER ABBEY





Northanger Abbey was Jane Austen's first novel; it was written between 1798 and 1803, but  it was published in 1818, after her death. The novel is concerned with the adventures of a seventeen-year-old girl who first discovers  the polite society of Bath, a popular English resort town, with all its balls, dances, shows, fashion, and its gossip, then  Northanger Abbey, the magnificent home of one of the book's wealthiest families. Her travels are full of mischance with new friends and love interests.
Jane Austen was one of the first British female novelists, and became the most celebrated in her time. Her novels  became popular for their penetrating portrayal of the British upper classes using ironic wit to expose their follies as well as for its enjoyable, seemingly romantic plots. Yet she published her novels anonymously, because at the time she wrote, women who became public figures often lost respectability.
Northanger Abbey is a  satire of the Gothic novels that were hugely popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  It contains two elaborate parodies of The Mysteries of Udolpho, a novel by Gothic writer Anne Radcliffe, who was greatly  admired when  Jane Austen wrote her novels. It also satirizes the conduct books of the 1700s, books that informed children and young people how to behave in society. Apart from its historically specific references, the novel is pretty universal. It looks at things like love, friendship, and growing up. Like Jane Austen's later novels, Northanger Abbey humorously focuses on human behavior. This timeless element is a reason why her novels are all still so widely read today.

Tuesday 23 September 2014