I WISH YOU TIME

I don't wish you all sorts of gifts.
I just wish you, what most people don't have:
I wish you time to be happy and to laugh
and if you use it, you can make something out of it.

I wish you time for your doings and thinking,
not only for yourself, but also to give away to others.
I wish you time - not to hastle and run,
but time to know how to be contented.

I wish you time - not to pass just like that.
I wish that some of it may be left for you
as a time to marvel and to trust,
instead of just looking at the time on your watch.

I wish you time to reach for the stars,
and time to grow, to mature.
I wish you time to hope and to love.
There is no sense in putting this time off.

I wish you time to find yourself,
to see the happiness in each day and each hour.
I wish you time also to forgive.
I wish you: time to live.

Elli Michler (1921-2014) wrote this beautiful poem in the year 1987.

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!

HAPPY BOXING DAY!

Boxing Day is celebrated every year on 26 December. It became an official holiday during the reign of Queen Victoria, though some historians trace its origins back much further - to medieval times. Today, it's basically an extension of the Christmas holiday and a big day for sporting events and shopping.  Read here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MISS AUSTEN!

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 in the village of Steventon in Hampshire. She was one of eight children of a clergyman and grew up in a close-knit family. She began to write as an adolescent. In 1801 the family moved to Bath. After the death of her father in 1805  Jane Austen, her sister Cassandra and their mother settled in Chawton, near Steventon.

Her first novel, “Sense and Sensibility”, appeared in 1811. Her next novel “Pride and Prejudice”, which she described as her "own darling child", received very favourable reviews. “Mansfield Park” was published in 1814. “Emma”, published  in 1816,  was dedicated to the Prince Regent, an admirer of her work.

In 1816 she began to suffer from ill-health, most likely due to Addison's disease. She travelled to Winchester to receive treatment,  and died there on 18 July 1817.

Two more novels, “Persuasion” and “Northanger Abbey” were published posthumously in 1818. Her novels have rarely been out of print, although they were published anonymously and brought her little fame during her lifetime.

Jane Austen’s novels, set among the English middle and upper classes, are outstanding for their wit, social observation and insights into the lives of early 19th century women. They often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her use of biting irony, along with her realism and social commentary, have earned her everlasting praise among critics and scholars.

WATCHING MACBETH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMILY DICKINSON!

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson is one of America’s greatest and most original poets of all time. She challenged the existing definitions of poetry and the poet’s work. She wrote close to 1800 poems in her lifetime. Her poems are often extremely short, waste no words, and subvert the traditional forms of the day. Read here and here.

She was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, on 10 December 1830. Continue reading here.  

FOOD AND DRINK VOCABULARY ~ 1^C AND 1^D LINGUISTICO

Click here and here to learn useful food and drink vocabulary.

You can also find lots of exercises here! 

FRANKENSTEIN ~ 5^C LINGUISTICO

Mary Shelley and the Birth of Science Fiction is a very interesting lecture transcript about Frankenstein. It is commonly classified as a Gothic novel, but it is also considered  an early example of science fiction.

Here you can find a PowerPoint presentation to revise the novel.

DECEMBER