HAVE A BLESSED GOOD FRIDAY!

Here you can read an informative article about Easter celebrations in Britain.  

THE BRONTË SISTERS

Emily Brontë is best known for authoring the novel Wuthering Heights (1847) which received wide critical and commercial acclaim. She was the sister of Charlotte and Anne Brontë, also famous authors. Read here.

Charlotte Brontë became identified in the public mind as the author of the popular novel Jane Eyre (1847), a strong narrative of a woman in conflict with her natural desires and social condition. The novel gave new truthfulness to Victorian fiction. She later wrote Shirley (1849) and Villette (1853). Read here.

Anne Brontë was  the youngest member of the Brontë literary family. She wrote two novels: Agnes Grey, based upon her experiences as a governess, was published in 1847; her second and last novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which is considered to be one of the first sustained feminist novels, appeared in 1848. Read here.

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HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!

Here you can find a lesson plan about St Patrick’s Day.

MARCH

THE VICTORIAN ERA

In the history of the United Kingdom, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a time of rapid change and thanks to the Industrial Revolution it saw the country evolve from a mostly rural environment to an urban, industrialised one. Almost every aspect of life changed over the course of these sixty years including politics, attitudes to women, health, science and manufacturing. The Industrial Revolution definitely changed life in the Victorian era. Technological advances in the development of machines and steam engines lead to an increase in mass production and improved productivity. The building of railways, canals and roads meant that raw materials and goods could be transported more quickly and cheaply than ever before. Living standards were said to have improved due to an increase in wages, although towns were becoming so overcrowded that many families lived in squalor. Chronic hunger and malnutrition were common for many, a situation that didn’t improve until the end of the century. 

Indeed, the Victorian period was a time of contradiction, often referred to as "the Victorian compromise": on the one hand there was the progress brought about by the Industrial Revolution, the rising wealth of the upper and middle classes and the expanding power of  Britain and its empire; on the other hand there was the poverty, disease, deprivation and injustice faced by the working classes. Read here.  

FEBRUARY

"Go to the winter woods: listen there, look, watch, and “the dead months” will give you a subtler secret than any you have yet found in the forest."
Fiona Macleod, Where the Forest Murmurs

PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE CRANBERRIES' DOLORES O'RIORDAN

Dolores O'Riordan passed away suddenly at the Hilton Park Lane hotel in London on Monday  15th January at the age of 46. She was an Irish musician and singer-songwriter. She led the rock band The Cranberries for 13 years before the band took a break starting in 2003, reuniting in 2009. The Cranberries - who have sold 40 million records with hits including Zombie and Linger - said her family has been left "devastated" by the loss.

REVISING JANE AUSTEN ~ 5^C LINGUISTICO

Jane Austen’s present-day popularity derives chiefly from the fact her heroines, although two centuries old, act as romantic beacons for the modern age. With a universal message of marrying for love rather than money, they provide examples, though fictional, of women choosing husbands due to strings of the heart and not of the purse. Read here. 

Here you can revise Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice.

CELTIC TREE ASTROLOGY

We all have heard about zodiac sign astrology. However, Celtic tree astrology is something that is not so much known. Read here.

JANUARY

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