Transition Year Class A with Roddy Doyle, Mrs. Monagle and Miss Lafferty
Was it the excitement of having created their first short story together or was it the experience of meeting the great Roddy Doyle, whose work they were studying in their classroom? Maybe it was the soaking they got while running up O'Connell Street in Dublin in a thunder-shower to get to the bus in Parnell Square before it departed for the hills of Donegal... Whatever the reason, the noise on the bus home to Carndonagh from "Fighting Words" caused me to note that...when Youth is determined, Youth will prevail! I wonder will anyone top their 'world record' of thirty minutes non-stop clapping in unison!
Mrs. Catherine Monagle
Teacher, Transition Year A
Fighting Words is a creative writing centre, established by Roddy Doyle and Sean Love. Fighting Words helps students of all ages to develop their writing skills and to explore their love of writing.
Certainly the poetry of the memories shared with colleagues opens our minds to what we experience. We also had time for work and in my dummy role of coordinator, I also wish to thank you all for the efforts made and, as the saying goes, the best- still to come. Thanks mates for keep on working and making it a pleasure. Cheers.
El instituto de Educación Secundaria “La Marina”, de Santa Cruz de Bezana, ha participado recientemente en una nueva reunión de evaluación del proyecto Comenius: E- Read. Coordinada desde el propio centro, esta actuación forma parte de las abundantes y variadas actividades que el instituto está llevando a cabo relativas al tema del fomento de la lectura y escritura.
En este proyecto Comenius participan centros educativos de Irlanda (Carndonagh Community School) y Alemania (Werkmeister Gymnasium) y se coordina desde el IES La Marina, en España. A lo largo de este segundo año se continuarán trabajando conjuntamente diferentes temas: la competencia lingüística y digital, la competencia lectora, el funcionamiento de las bibliotecas escolares y otros múltiples aspectos que reflejan los intereses e iniciativas de de profesores, alumnado y familias de los centros colaboradores.
Este reciente encuentro ha servido para revisar, especificar los objetivos y consensuar, coordinar y plantear las distintas actividades que se desarrollarán a lo largo del calendario de trabajo de este segundo año de funcionamiento de la asociación escolar.
El proyecto del IES La Marina concibe la lectura y escritura como ejes centrales de trabajo, en consonancia con los objetivos del Plan Lector que se viene desarrollando desde hace varios cursos en nuestro centro. El IES La Marina es uno de los centros educativos de Cantabria que cuenta con un proyecto europeo de asociación escolar del que, además, es coordinador. Para mayor información, les invitamos a visitar la web del proyecto: http://comenius-e-read.blogspot.com/ y http://www.iesbezana.org/web-ies/comenius/eread.htm
It's not too often that I'm inspired to write poetry...the following has nothing to do with books! It has more to do with how much I enjoyed my stay in Neresheim and Nordlingen recently. Many, many thanks to Alexandra and her two wonderful children, Herr Christian, Regine, Sonia, the host families and all who looked after us during our stay.
Maybe one day I'll sit beneath the lonesome tree by the Neresheim cycle path and read a line or two of Goethe (now that I know who he is...)
On a German Cycle Path
Wandering…weaving among broken white lines, The casual peloton carelessly meanders
Along tree-lined paths and roads rarely used.
Though now and again comes the call of the rearguard…
"Auto!..."
A secluded playground bids us to stop
In a glade that echoes to laughter.
In sight of the swinehouse stands a large, leafy tree.
Solitary;
The forested horizon a distant companion. Not before time comes The Cyclist's Rest;
A welcome pause in sublime isolation. Onwards!
The homeward journey is a satisfied crawl. We arrive full circle.
The following piece is contributed by Donegal historian and author, Seán Beattie (on right in photo). He was a teacher and counsellor at Carndonagh Community School. To the left in photo is Nobel Prize winner, John Hume. Seán certainly ranks among distinguished colleagues...he went to school with another Nobel Prize winner, Seamus Heaney!
I first started collecting books when I was a student, holding on to my textbooks rather than selling them. As a student in the 1960s in UCD, I had ample opportunity to add to my collection by paying regular visits to the numerous bookshops along the quays, now no more, where thousands of second-hand books were on open display under awnings. My preference was for history books from an early stage and I still have a copy of my first purchase, David Hume’s History of England, published in 1831, which cost the princely sum of one shilling. Slowly, I found my attention turning to Irish history and local publications, which at that time were few in number. Harry Swan lived in Buncrana and was one of a small number of historians writing about local history. I recall buying his Romantic Inishowen for ten shillings and since then I have built up a collection of his entire output. For many years, I searched for the histories of local landlord families such as the Youngs, the Harveys and the Harts and have only recently, after many years searching, succeeded in getting all three.
In 1966, my reading interests took a different turn. A book of poetry caught my attention, called Death of a Naturalist, which had glowing reviews in the press. The poet was Seamus Heaney, whom I had known as a fellow student in St. Columb’s College in Derry. Heaney had a brother in the school and he was in my class, so I knew the family well. I found I could identify with some of the poems, particularly “Mid-term Break”, which is set against the background of the college. Heaney described how he sat all day in the sick-bay in the school waiting for his parents to come and bring him home for the funeral of his little brother who had been killed in a car accident. Since that first publication, I have been buying and reading Heaney’s books of poetry as they appeared, including his most recent, Human Chain. Heaney is now a major player in the world of international literature and it is difficult to keep track of his work, much of which is published abroad.
Other Irish writers that have caught my attention are John McGahern and Jennifer Johnson, both of whom I have met several times. McGahern has passed on but Jennifer is still hard at work.
I have always had an interest in French literature since my time in UCD. Two of my favourite authors are Merimée and Balzac. Prosper Merimée wrote Colomba, a story of treachery and savagery set in Corsica. Honoré de Balzac’s La Cousine Bette is his best known novel and superbly portrays the decadence of mid-nineteenth century Paris. But the most interesting of all is Alain-Fournier’s Le Grand Meaulnes (The Lost Domain), with its narrative of magic, realism, and beauty. He wrote only one novel and lost his life in 1914 at the age of 27. One wonders what might have been had he got a better throw of the dice.
A seventeenth century writer, Francis Bacon, said that some books are to be chewed and digested. I disagree. I prefer to read and collect them.
The new school year is almost upon us...it's back to business! We're set to welcome our all-new First Year group on Friday...it will be our duty to also welcome them to the world of Comenius. It may be ambitious, but we aim to encourage every First Year to contribute at least one item of work to the blog this season...maybe we can even inspire one or two of them to literary greatness! Hopefully they will in turn inspire us. VivatComenius!
Happy reading (and writing) during 2010/11 to all our colleagues and friends.
Regards,
Your Comenius Associates at Carndonagh Community School.
A personal note...The truth has crept up on me! My involvement in the Comenius Project has finally turned me into a reader! What a terrible admission for a librarian. I openly admit it...I often find reading a chore. Don't get me wrong, I often read, but exclusively for information and rarely with much enthusiasm. Until now! Almost without realising it, I have begun to put aside an hour every day to read, and I'm enjoying it...Currently, I'm reading a 1200 page history of Germany! Admittedly, it's not easy going...but there's no way I would have picked up such a book last year...now I'm on page 48 (I know, LONG way to go!)...Got to hand it to the Germans, they sure did a lot of stuff! Next up, the history of Spain...But not for about three years on the basis of my current progress. I've no doubt the Spanish did a lot of stuff too...Well, that's my reading sorted for the next decade!
While I´m on holidays, I enjoy reading and preparing things for the new course. Maybe visiting Burgos could turn out a nice idea, especially the Museum of Books. Vivat Conmenius E-Read.
This novel from 1996 by Helen Fielding is written in the form of a personal diary, the main character and writer of the diary is Bridget Jones, a single woman at the age of thirty-something. She smokes, drinks alcohol, feels fat and she is single. At New Year she sets out to lose weight, stop smoking and to find a nice man. Naturally someone like Bridget Jones is too awkward to manage all this in one year; she gets involved in some (more or less) romantic affairs and has to deal with her friends and family. This book is particularly suited for a rainy day: it’s easy to read and so humorous that while reading it one can forget about time just to look up and see the sun shining again. Elisa D. 12b
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is the most impressive book I’ve ever read. It’s a negative- utopia that shows a world in which humanity is stultified and dulled. The fire brigade doesn’t erase fire, they light the fire and burn books. Books are prohibited because they make people think about their lives. What shocked me most is the emotional frigidity of society, for example it’s usual that children kill each other. Furthermore the media is nearly the only purpose in life and the outbreak of a nuclear war is imminent, but no one thinks about it or cares. Guy Montag is the main character of the book and a fire fighter, but he changes during the book. First he conforms to the totalitarian system, but some events make him change his point of view and so he develops into an active resistance fighter. In my opinion Fahrenheit 451 shows many problems and threats of our society although it was published in 1953. It made me think about the behaviour of our society and some of the aspects of society in the novel already seem to have become real. All in all it is a very interesting book which will make you think about many things. Daniela S. 12b
The art of poetry made the front pages in Ireland recently as Dublin poet, Harry Clifton was awarded the title of Ireland Professor of Poetry for the next three years. The awarding of such a position may seem a small matter nationally and internationally, but if you consider some of the past poets of Ireland whom he now represents - Yeats, Kavanagh, Wilde, Joyce - he certainly has considerable responsibility. However, raising the profile of contemporary poetry will probably be his biggest challenge. The main aim of the position is to help maintain the value of poetry in Irish culture, both at home and abroad. One of the trustees of the position, Seamus Heaney is a Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Harry is in good company!
Herta Müller's is a political voice that can also sing poetic. Her writing unites the great virtues of literature. Her work pleads for justice that transgresses all borders. It was correct and important to award her the Nobel Prize.
Every year, the Nobel Prize for literature is a source of surprises. This year's shocker? The committee's choice isn't much of a surprise at all. From publishers to critics, most agreed that Herta Müller was a good candidate for the award. Indeed, thanks to her most recent novel "Atemschaukel," (the working title of the English translation is "Everything I Have I Carry with Me." An English excerpt can be read here) she is also on the shortlist to receive the 2009 German Book Prize, which will be awarded at the Frankfurt Book Fair next week.
Indeed, it seems that this year, the annual debate about whether the winner should have won may be skipped entirely -- in favor of a focus on the recipient herself. Müller was born on Aug. 17, 1953 in Banat, a region of western Romania. It is a region that was home to a large number of Germans -- indeed Müller's native language was both German and the idiom of a minority.
Müller learned to speak Romanian only when she was 15 years old. Her first book, published in English as "Nadirs," was heavily censored by the communist authorities when it was published in Bucharest in 1982. An uncensored version appeared in Germany in 1984. She earned her living as a private German teacher.
It wasn't long, however, before pressure from the Romanian secret service became intolerable, and in 1985 she applied to leave the country. Since then, aside from brief stints as "writer in residence" at a number of universities in Europe and the United States, she has lived in Germany.
Yet Müller's language is different -- and not just because she comes from a German enclave that spent centuries developing its own German dialect. Rather, her language is bold and up front, as though she were obsessed with using it a bit differently than it is normally used.
Writing against Terror
The band of prose she wrote in West Berlin, "Traveling on One Leg," describes leaving one country called home and arriving in another. Müller confronts readers with the alien world of the Ceausescu regime, but also with the alienation in her own life.
Life under totalitarian rule was also a central theme in her novel "Even Back Then, the Fox Was a Hunter" (1992), "The Land of the Green Plums" (1995) and "The Appointment" (1997). She wrote about the aftermath of her Romanian experiences in "Hunger and Silk" (1995).
With "A Lady Lives in the Hair Knot" (2000), Herta Müller collects collages for a headstrong poetry album, which depart from the nadirs of life like children's rhymes and rythmic verses.
The literary creations in her latest work are also lined with a sort of childish linguistic charm -- she originally wanted to write about the experiences in a Soviet gulag of her deceased colleague Oscar Pastior. Her books have titles that almost seem to come together in unison against the hunger, death and darkness that are themes in those novels. As if they can't bear alone all that they want to say.
Communicating without Boundaries
You can of course disagree with both the eulogists of "Everything I Have, I Carry with Me," and also with the decision made in Stockholm. One complaint is that the content and qualities that have been praised and rewarded here could also have been discovered and rewarded in works of contemporary Chinese literature.
The Nobel Prize jury's decision was nevertheless an original one because it has foiled the perpetual debate over which country and which author should get his or her turn this time. It has awarded the prize to an author, who stands and writes in her own unique way -- between national territories.
It could send out an impulse for the the concept of a Central Europe that has been placed on the sidelines through the Yugoslavian tragedy and European Union expansion. A concept in which identities aren't determined by nation-states, but rather through cultural ties.
If the Nobel literature prize has succeeded in that, then we would have Herta Müller to thank.
Niña inocente, pequeña traviesa Brincas, cantas, bailas Ignoras tu dislexia Haces travesuras, te ríes, ilusionas No aprendes a escribir, deletreas, desesperas tu escritura está en reversa no cuentas, no sumas, no restas te equivocas los números inviertes, los signos no entiendes Hemisferio norte, hemisferio sur forman parte de tu incomprensible cerebro ¿No sé qué pasa?, se quedan neutros No lees, no cuentas, te equivocas Desesperas, lloras Analfabeta, ¡tonta! te juzgan y reprochan Te abrigas en mis brazos Tu tembloroso cuerpo frágil y pequeño está agitado Mitigo tu ira, la tristeza me agobia Sufres el dolor que atormenta la búsqueda incesante De tus números y letras Escribes palabras incoherentes ¡No te rindes¡ el coraje te levanta Eres un mar, Sediento de lecturas fantasiosas Arrastras el lápiz, Imaginando que estas escribiendo Cuentos de hadas, de duendes y fantasmas Ante la soberbia ciega de tus palabras Niña inocente, pequeña traviesa “Algo anda mal en tu cerebro” Parecías ser normal como otros niños Pero no eres como ellos.
Buchvorstellung J`ai réfléchi longtemps quel livre je prends, mais je me suis décidée pour ce livre « Julias Einschlafbuch ». L’auteur est Doris Wiederhold. Elle est très inconnue et elle a écrit seulement 4 livres ! Le livre s´agit d´une petite fille qui ne veut jamais aller au lit. Pour cette raison sa mère lui raconte beaucoup d´ histoires .Elle raconte des autres pays et comme les enfants y dorment. La mère décrit la vie dans le désert, dans le nord et dans la forêt. J´aime ce livre parce qu’on apprend beaucoup, des autres pays et parce que je préférais ce livre aux autres quand j´étais petite. « Julies Lieblingsessen » est aussi un livre de Doris Wiederhold. Ces deux livre étaient un cadeau de mes grands-parents. Ils sont pour des enfants qui ont quatre ou cinq ans.
Glennkill J’ai choisi le livre « Glennkill » de Leonie Swann. Elle était née en 1975 près de Munich. Maintenant elle habite à Berlin. Glennkill a été son première livre et elle a l’écrit parce qu’elle a été à l’Irlande et là-bas elle a fait la connaissance des moutons. L’idée pour le livre lui est venue dans la tête à Paris, où elle rêvait de la campagne et des moutons. Le livre Glennkill s’agit d’un berger, qui est assassiné et de son troupeau des moutons, qui veulent trouver le meurtrier, parce que le berger George Glenn a lu des polars aux moutons. Voilà pourquoi le troupeau sait ce qu’il doit faire. Pendant qu’ils cherchent le meurtrier, ils font beaucoup de choses drôles … La suite du livre est « Garou », où ils sont en France. J’aime le livre parce que c’est drôle comme les moutons tentent de trouver le meurtrier.
Portuguese novelist Jose Saramago, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998, has died at the age of 87. (BBC News
Saramago, a communist and atheist, only began to become recognised for his work in his fifties.
One of his best-known novels is Blindness, written in 1995, which tells the story of a country whose entire population lose their sight.
He had been due to appear at Edinburgh's book festival in August.
Saramago moved to Lanzarote in the early 1990s after opposition from Portugal's right-wing government to his controversial work The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.
The administration barred his work from being entered in the European Literary Prize on the grounds that it was offensive to Catholics.
International acclaim
His first novel, published in 1947, was the commercially unsuccessful Terra do Pecado - or Country of Sin - a tale of peasants in crisis.
Every time I finish a book I wait for another idea, it may not come this time, we shall see
Saramago speaking last year
He returned to fiction later in his life and first won international acclaim with 1983 fantasy Memorial do Convento - published in English in 1988 as Baltasar and Blimunda.
Saramago's final book, Caim - with the English title Cain - was published at the end of last year.
Earlier in the year, El Cuaderno, or The Notebook - a compilation of blog entries including criticism of Tony Blair and the Pope - was published.
Speaking to BBC News last June, Saramago said: "I may have three, four years more to live, maybe less.
"Every time I finish a book I wait for another idea, it may not come this time, we shall see."
Das doppelte Lottchen J’ai choisi le livre « Das doppelte Lottchen » d’Erich Kästner, qui vivait de 1899 à 1974. Il était un auteur célèbre des livres d’enfants. Dans le livre il y a deux petites filles de huit ans, qui s’appellent Louise et Lotte. Elles restent pendant leurs vacances avec d’autres enfants dans un centre de vacances. Les deux ne se connaissent pas, c’était le premier rencontre. Mais, c’est bizarre : leur aspect physique est exactement le même! Les deux sont choquées, mais bientôt elles découvrent qu’elles sont des sœurs! Des vraies jumelles! Mais les deux ne se comprennent pas. Elles ont mille questions : Pourquoi les parents se sont-ils séparés ? Et, avant tout : pourquoi les deux filles étaient-elles séparées ? Lotte et Louise font un plan : Elles changent les rôles ! Louise va à Munich chez la mère et Lotte va à Wien chez le père. Mais ça ne marche pas toujours comme voulu et bientôt les filles tirent un nouveau plan … J’ai choisi le livre parce que c’est un de mes premiers livres et je trouve l’histoire aujourd'hui même très jolie.
Un des mes livres préférés est une bande dessinée qui s’appelle « Comment Obélix est tombé dans la marmite du druide quand il était petit » des auteurs connus René Goscinny et Albert Uderzo. Tous les lecteurs qui connaissent les livres d’Astérix savent qu’Obélix est très fort parce qu’il était tombé dans la marmite du druide quand il était petit. Cette parution extraordinaire explique comment cela s’est passé. On voyage dans le passé quand Obélix et tous les autres Gaulois célèbres étaient des enfants. On retrouve par exemple Assurancetourix, qui veut devenir barde, Cétautomatix, dont le père fabriquait les armes et bien sûr Astérix, le meilleur ami d’Obélix. A l’époque, Obélix n’était pas fort, il aimait même pleurer. Quand les enfants du village jouaient « attaque des Romains », c’était toujours Obélix, qui devait jouer le gros de la troupe ennemie. Comme un jour il n’avait plus envie de se faire battre, Astérix a tiré un plan … J’adore les livres d’Astérix en général, parce que les histoires sont conçues pour les grands aussi que pour les petits. On apprend – garni avec beaucoup d’humour - un peu l’histoire de l’occupation de la Gaule par les troupes de Jules César, on peut s’identifier avec ce groupe de Gaulois qui résistent aux essais des Romains de prendre le petit village. Dans les livres on trouve beaucoup de jeux de mots et des allusions concernant des sujets de la politique actuelle. C’est aussi le cas dans le livre présenté ci-dessus, mais il y a une différence en ce qui concerne l’illustration : Il ne s’agit pas d’une vraie bande dessinée : Les grands images s’étendent sur toute la page ou même deux, dessinés en style d’aquarelles et le texte est narratif et se ne trouve pas dans des bulles.
Maintenant je présente le livre Michel aus Lönneberga L´auteur est Astrid Lindgren qui est un auteur très connue. Elle a écrit beaucoup de livres pour les enfants par exemple Pipi Langstrumpf ou Kinder von Bullerbü. Dans l’histoire il y a un petit lutin qui s’appelle Michel qui fait beaucoup de bêtises drôles que sa famille ne trouve pas toujours amusantes. Michel a un très bon copain qui s’appelle Alfred. Alfred aide la famille et il a 38 ans. Michel a aussi une sœur et une grand -mère drôle. La mère aime Michel, mais le père n’aime pas Michel. Apres avoir fait une plaisanterie il est toujours puni par son père. Il y a aussi un film de Michel aus Lönneberga que j’aime bien. J’aime bien le livre parce que ce très amusant et ça fait beaucoup rire. Je pense qu’Astrid Lindgren écrit un style naturel qui me plaît beaucoup.
MfG Georg Fischer Französische Werkmeister Gymnasium Neresheim Klasse 8a
One day Peter and John were going home after the school. They were students of La Marina High School in Bezana. When they were near an old house they saw a book in the middle of the street. The book was very old and it had a lot of dust. They touched the book and immediately they were in the same place but two hundred years ago. They tried to touch the book again but nothing happened. The old house was a library. They went into the library and they saw an old place, there were some tables and some books. They asked the people if they had seen the book that they had. A man said that he saw that book in the church of the village. They went to the church and after they went to their homes. In this year there were only some caws and sheeps. The church was far from there so they walked for a long time. When they were walking they saw that the village was little, there were only twenty small houses, the church, the library and some farms in the nearer fields. The citizens were afraid because Peter and John were wearing strange clothes so they didn’t speak with them. When they arrived to the church a priest received them. They asked him about the book. The priest went with them to the church’s library. It did not have a lot of books and they were bigger than a normal book. They found the book in a table with some other books. They touched the book again. They didn’t feel anything but the priest wasn’t now with them and they were in the middle of a street. They asked a woman for the year. They were again in 2009.
Hi, my name is Santi. I’m fourteen years old and I live in Bezana. I’ve got a small library in my bedroom. It’s not too big, it’s about 100 books. Some of them are from I was a child. The newest are more or less big. They’ve got among 600 pages. Most of them are adventure books with a little fantastic touch. I usually buy my books from a magazine called “The Readers Circle”. It’s got the newest book and they are cheaper than a normal book if you it in the book shop.
My favourite book is Eragon, it’s got two books more to continue the story and the writer is writing the last book, The Empire. The books are about a farmer who works to survive in a world dominated by the evil Empire. Eragon discovers a dragon egg and his life changes completely. His feature and himself becomes interesting when he meets his dragon, Shaphira. He makes alliances with draws and more fantastic creatures to destroy The Empire. This is one of the books most excited I’ve ever red in my life. I recommended to you, it’s got action, magic, a very little love and so much funny! You will enjoy it.
His writer is Christopher Paolini, he’s one of the most younguest writers who had sold so much books. His is form United States, Montana. He was born on the 17 of November of 1983. He actually had written the trilogy of Eragon and he is writing the next book and the end of the story, it is called The Empire.
(On behalf of the Coordinating Sapnish school librarian, Fernando Abascal)
Escenas de lectura
I: Una biblioteca pública en Nueva York. La luz atraviesa los grandes ventanales, se posa sobre los libros, las mesas, el embarnizado suelo de madera. Afuera, el pasar de los coches, la extraña e incansable circulación del mundo. Una anciana lee. Permanece sentada con las rodillas muy juntas. Sostiene el libro con firmeza, pero pasa las páginas como si fueran frágiles cristales, con una articulada y oriental lentitud. Acerca los ojos a lo que lee. Yo la miro y su imagen se desvanece. Leer es irse.
II: Un monje ciego esparce un veneno mortal entre las páginas de un libro a su vez venenoso: la “Poética” de Aristóteles. Es Umberto Eco el que nos cuenta en “El nombre de la rosa” la doble perversión de ese monje: eliminar un libro potencialmente peligroso y, a la vez, aniquilar a quien lo lee. Ese monje encarna los poderosos tósigos que controlan la lectura o el saber; vela para que no se transgredan los límites; vigila para que determinados libros, esos que han cambiado y cambian la conciencia del mundo, no nos despierten de nuestro “feliz” y “entrenido” letargo. Leer y escribir para trans - formar, para con - mover.
III: Rousseau determinó que la única lectura de su “Emilio” fuera el “Robinson Crusoe” a fin de que el protagonista fuera lo bastante maduro para entregarse, sin riesgos, a la literatura. Descartes, en la primera parte de su “Discurso del Método”, escrita en clave autobiográfica, muestra una gran desconfianza hacia todo lo que se ha aprendido en los libros como “método” o camino de acceso al conocimiento o a la virtud. En ambos casos, tanto la condena cartesiana de la literatura como la desconfianza que manifiesta Rousseau ante las lecturas peligrosas, nos recuerdan la expulsión platónica de los poetas. En el orden racional que Platón nos describe en su República no caben los poetas, pues tenían un papel privilegiado en la formación de las personas, en el buen orden del alma de los ciudadanos. Domesticada la literatura por la gigantesca maquinaria cultural, ya no será necesario expulsar al escritor, al poeta; será suficiente con asimilarlo al precio de una servidumbre. Leamos a los que no sirven.
IV: Dice Maurice Blanchot: “...lo que más amenaza la lectura: la realidad del lector, su personalidad, su inmodestia, su manera encarnizada de querer seguir siendo él mismo frente a lo que lee, de querer ser un hombre que sabe leer en general”. Y es que un buen lector no es arrogante, no se apropia de la lectura, no la reduce a su medida, sino que se embarca en una nave sin destino, dispuesto a oír lo que no sabe, a “ponerse a la escucha” y dejarse atravesar por una invisible lanza; a no permanecer ajeno e impasible; a no ser un mero espectador que persigue un placer intrascendente e instantáneo. Steiner lo dice con maestría: “leer bien significa arriesgarse a mucho. Es dejar vulnerable nuestra identidad, nuestra posesión de nosotros mismos”. No leamos como está mandado.
V: Empaña con su aliento el cristal de la ventanilla. El tren silba al entrar en un túnel y la luz se enciende en el vagón. Estoy sentado frente a ella. Se abre de nuevo el paisaje. La niña dibuja con su minúsculo dedo algo parecido a letras irreconocibles. Afuera llueve. Me fijo en esos rasgos, ahora atravesados por estriadas gotas de lluvia. Cuando escribo, yo también empaño con mi aliento la página en blanco.
VI: Nietzsche en el prólogo de “Aurora“ exigía a los que practican el “arte venerable” de la lectura el saber “volverse silenciosos y pausados”. Nuestra época, bulliciosa e hiperactiva, soporta mal el silencio y la lentitud. Nietzsche desconfía de los lectores modernos. Un caracol lee sobre la hoja de una berza.
VII: Walter Benjamín reflexiona en su texto “Experiencia y pobreza” sobre la abundancia de estímulos y la penuria de experiencias que caracteriza a nuestro mundo. Tenemos el conocimiento, pero como algo externo a nosotros, como un útil o una mercancía. Cada vez sabemos más, pero no cambiamos con lo que sabemos.
VIII: A los 78 años aprendió a leer. Aquel maestro le enseñó lo que ella siempre había querido. Leyó un libro, muy, muy despacio, silabeando cada palabra, deteniéndose en cada punto, en cada coma. Cuando finalizó la lectura, entre satisfecha y triste, se presentó ante el maestro y le dijo: ahora, enséñeme a leer otro libro. Nunca dejamos de aprender a leer.
IX : Los platos y los vasos en su sitio, el orden final de la cocina. Ella extiende la manta de planchar sobre el fogón, muy cerca del horno aún caliente. Ambos sentados con los pies colgando, había algo de juego en esa postura. Abre la cartilla, hoy toca la “d”. Leo dado, dedo, diente, docena, duna. Tengo cuatro años, casi cinco. El índice de su mano recorre los renglones. Sigo la curva de su uña, parece el rabillo de una letra, un extraño esmalte que une las palabras. No hay apenas significado, sólo percutida música de las sílabas y el tic-tac del reloj del pasillo que se repite incansable en su caja de madera. Pasa el tiempo y oscurecen los azulejos. Las letras salen del dedo, de la mano, del brazo, del seno, de los labios de mi madre. Y a mi boca llegan como una lenta succión para hacerse nombre, sola palabra. De niños leemos con el cuerpo.
X : Encorvado como si se buscase a sí mismo, una manera de defenderse. Apenas se podía ver el libro que tenía en las manos. A veces emitía una mínima exclamación y luego volvía a leer en el silencio del parque, del agua estancada. En un momento dejó de leer. Creo que me vio. Cerró el libro e hizo un amago de levantarse del banco e irse, pero no, permaneció allí, sentado y encorvado sobre sí mismo, en una posición de espera, con el libro cerrado en las manos, como si temiera que la luz de la tarde velara lo escrito o las palabras escapasen hacia las copas de los árboles. Me pareció que continuaba leyendo aquel libro cerrado cuando me fui. Leemos lo que ya hemos leído.
XI : Una mujer joven lee una carta frente a la claridad de una ventana abierta. Vermeer nos muestra la luz que atraviesa el irregular cristal emplomado y se esparce por la habitación en penumbra. La mujer está inmersa en la lectura, tiene los labios separados, como si paladeara lo que lee, como si leyendo se oyese a sí misma. Hay demasiada separación entre sus grandes ojos y las manos que sostienen con firmeza el arrugado papel. Advertimos en ello el germinar de una pasión que aún no exige cercanía, un cierto refreno, acaso las marchitas razones de la prudencia. En primer plano, el pintor nos enseña diversas frutas, manzanas y melocotones, en una bandeja inclinada sobre un tapiz, tal vez una simbología de la voluptuosa mordedura del pecado original. A la derecha, una cortina o telón de un verde amarillento y sostenida por una barra transversal nos permite “ver” la escena, mostrar el cuadro. Todo revela atención y sugiere una soledad impuesta, pero a la vez un deseo de abrirse al desorden del mundo: la claridad fugitiva que entra por la ventana; la fruta y el tapiz descuidados; la secreta convulsión de quien a solas lee y tal vez se oye leer. Llueve en Dresde. A la salida del museo donde se puede ver este bellísimo óleo de Vermeer, otra mujer lee un plano de la ciudad, reduce con sus manos la rebeldía del desplegable y mueve los labios, una manera de confirmar lo leído. En el escaparate de una frutería cercana brillan unas manzanas rojas y los parabrisas de los coches van y vienen de un lado a otro. Más allá, la claridad repentina de un semáforo. Así la vida.Leemos para atravesar las calles del tiempo.
Here are the results of the competition in which we asked you to create a one-page classroom activity for iT's for Teachers magazine. A big thank-you to everyone who took part in our competition to create a classroom activity for the summer issue of iT's for Teachers. We have chosen one winner and three runners-up, all of whose activities appear in the summer issue of the print magazine and at the site. The winner will receive a Papyre 6.1 e-book reader.
The competition judges were Stephanie Collins, commissioning editor for Cambridge University Press in Spain; Jamie Clement, who heads up the ELT department at Vicens Vives publishing house in Spain; Jane Cadwallader, author of infant and primary materials; Lindsay Clandfield, teacher, teacher trainer and author; and Robert Campbell, editor of iT's for Teachers.
Miniature Earth by Javier Martínez (IES La Marina, Cantabria, Spain) Students complete facts to raise their awareness on the important things in life.
Some of the judges’ comments: “I really like the idea behind this text and project and think it makes for a very interesting and original class idea. Many teachers would really like to address a topic like this, and the video is a bonus.”
“The angle of this activity is original and interesting. It’s educational and critical.”
“The content is fascinating and thought-provoking. I think students would really want to know the right answers to the cloze test (how often does that happen in an ELT activity?!), and it’s a great springboard for discussion.”
“A very well-structured activity which presents the topic in a way that is likely to generate lots of opportunity for discussion and comments. It provides a good model of how YouTube can be tapped as a great resource for lessons.”
For all these reasons, “Miniature Earth” is the overall winner of the competition, and a Papyre 6.1 e-book reader is on its way to Javier Martínez (pictured here).
Sean lay on the ground in pain, with a werewolf standing over him. You see, the werewolf was chasing some people into an alley. Sean just happened to be passing with his friends and jumped in… literally. It was a bad idea. The werewolf heard Sean and swung his arm around, hitting Sean as he was in mid-air and sending him through a wall. And now the werewolf was on top of him, showing his teeth and growling. Sean gulped and started to get nervous. He couldn’t think of the spell for taking down werewolves and he had only been looking at it yesterday. The book was in his bag. Where was his bag? “What’s your name?” he asked, trying to spare himself some time before getting eaten. The werewolf hesitated, shutting his eyes. “Doreen” he said, clearly ashamed of it. Sean tried not to laugh, but found it increasingly hard and let out a loud giggle. “I’m a Stefa,” the werewolf growled, not taking his eyes off Sean. “You know what that means do you?...It means that my pack and I were trained to be the best of the best, so I would shut my mouth if I was you.”. ‘Fra…no that’s not it…Fas… no…’ Sean tried to think of the spell. While he was thinking he heard someone speak behind Doreen. “Hey big ball-o-love,” the voice said, making Doreen turn around so Sean could see who was talking. It was his friend Mitch, who was holding one of Sean’s crossbow revolvers in his hand. He had the cocky look on his face he always had and ran his free left hand through his brown hair. “Prepare to eat silver!” With that, he pulled the trigger and a small bolt shot out of the crossbow and into the werewolf’s arm, were it lodged. Doreen just looked at it and laughed. A young, tall girl with shortish brown hair leapt out from behind the wall and put her head in her hands. Her name was Onix. “That clearly wasn’t silver,” she screech at Mitch. “Are you just naturally a dumbass?” “Of course I’m a dumbass!” came the response. This distraction was what Sean needed. “Trafa maltos,” he shouted. A bright light surrounded the werewolf, who vanished into thin air. Sean stood up and brushed himself off. He looked up at Mitch and Onix who, as always, were arguing. He walked over to them and slapped Mitch on the back of the head with his hand. “You took your time, didn’t you?” he said in an annoyed tone of voice. Mitch was wearing his long, black coat, and under that was an assortment of weapons you would usually associate with an assassin…with many more weapons besides. He had on a blue shirt and black trousers. “I had to find a silver bolt, which I obviously didn’t find, and Onix was trying to open your bag of tricks…but as we all know, that thing only opens for YOU,” said Mitch. Sean looked at Onix who was holding his bag. He put out his hands and she handed it to him. “This fool told me he got a silver one,” Onix said, shooting an angry look at Mitch. “For a guy who is fast enough to be able to outrun a Meth Dragon on heat, you aren’t so fast up here.”...She tapped Mitch’s forehead with her finger, and then slapped him. “What’s with the slapping? I mean, we have nothing to worry about now that Sean has made him go bye-bye for good. Am I right?” he said, looking at Sean who opened his mouth to speak. A voice came from behind him. “That would be impossible; he would have to know the Waraca spell, and you have to be a Moon to know that,” said a boy who appeared to be in his early teens. “THAT’S the spell I was trying to remember! But NO…I sent him away to a werewolf bar four streets away instead,” Sean said while looking through his bag. He pulled out a book and started to flick through it. After a minute he stopped on a page and read it to himself. He looked at Onix and Mitch… “Got the spell…He will be back, and he will bring others.” Sean looked at the boy and smiled. “By the way, I AM a Moon.”
…to be continued…
(posted on behalf of Sean Gallagher, Third Year pupil)
We all remember that talented child called Michael Jackson singing the lyrics, numbers and musical scale in this song back in the 70s. When we talk or write about music, we frequently use syllables to refer to each note: Do-Re-Mi… However, this symbols are not universally recognized everywhere. In countries such as the USA, UK, Germany or Ireland, our partners normally use the letters from the alphabet, though starting from La. Thus, “A” stands for “La”, “B” for “Si”, “C” means “Do” and so on… But Latin and Mediterranean languages prefer the mentioned syllables. Just let me point out another funny thing about the scale: English-speaking countries use “So” for “Sol” and “Ti” for “Si”. For these reasons, the universal language of music is no longer universal when referring to translated musical terms but it keeps on being world accepted when reading a score.
An Italian monk named Guido d’Arezzo was the very first one to come up with the idea of representing the musical scale by means of symbols on a staff. At first, the notes were written on a single line. Later, a second one was added, in a different colour and as centuries went by, we came to the pentagram which we use at present. Guido’s invention was quite significant and set the first key stone to establish a system for the musical scale, thanks to which the greatest composers in history have produced their legacy. Guido lived in the 11th century. Previous civilations such as Egyptians, Romans and Greeks surely composed a lot of interesting music, but it didn’t last because of the lack of a system to keep a printed record.
Also, it was Guido the one to put the name to the notes of the musical scale that we are using currently. At that time, there was a well-known hymn to St. John which was very popular among the monks of his monastery. That hymn happened to have a peculiar structure in which each verse started with a higher pitch than the previous one. It read like this:
Ut queant laxis
Resonare fibris
Mira gestorum
Famuli tuorum
Solve polluti
Labii reatum
Sancte Ioannes.
Guido took the very first syllable of each verse to name the six notes: Ut-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La. Centurias later “Ut” was changad for “Do” which seems moire suitable for singing, and the 7th note was added, “Si”, which is the abbreviation of “Sante Ioanes”, the last line of the verses of the hymn. Guido’s system allowed many monks to read music, relieving the memory effort of learning long hours of Gregorian melodies. Also, intonation turned out to be easier as each pitch was identified with a specific syllable. Guido’s invention has gone through some changes and implemented centuries later but it keeps the essence up to nowadays and it is still used by millions of musicians all over the world. Probably, he would never have imagined that it might be still alive 1000 years after his death.
Just keeping the distances, Guido’s idea was similar to Julie Andrews’ approach when singing in “the sound of music”. She was the nanny teaching music and other things who was able to conquer the widower’s heart. The film was shot in English and later translated into Spanish with a funny title “Sonrisas y lágrimas (laughter and tears)”. Tradutore, traditore… as they tend to change part of the texts, especially with songs. It takes an effort to think of the translator trying to keep to the idea while trying to match the lyrics with the syllables and the melody with the difficulty ofthe suitable rhyme.
This song is a really special case since Mary (Julie Andrews) tries to explain the children the meaning of the musical scale setting very different examples. The first verse reads “Doe” in English which becomes “Don” in Spanish. Can we infer therefore that “Doe and Don” sound the same?. The differences are clear when comparing both versions, not only because of the meaning and content but also, which is worse, because of intonation and appropriateness. So, we should try to watch films not dubbed, the original soundtrack with or without subtitles, is always much richer. Let me finish with the song in both languages for you o compare:
What do Julie Andrews, Michael Jackson and italian monk Guido d'Arezzo have in common? This article intends to explain some details about the names we give to musical notes in different languages. At the moment only in spanish, but I promise to translate as soon as possible.
A-B-C ... is easy as 1-2-3 ...or simple as Do-Re-Mi A-B-C, 1-2-3, baby, you and me girl!
Todos recordamos al niño Michael Jackson cantando a las letras, los números y las notas musicales en esta canción de los años 70. Cuando hablamos o escribimos sobre música utilizamos sílabas para referirnos a cada nota: Do-re-mi,... sin embargo, estas sílabas no son universales. En países como Estados Unidos, Reino Unido. Alemania o Irlanda se utilizan más a menudo las letras del abecedario, pero empezando desde la nota La. De este modo 'A' equivale a La, 'B' es Si, 'C' es Do, y así sucesivamente hasta la 'G', que equivale a la nota Sol. En cambio en paises latinos se utilizan con más asiduidad las sílabas mencionadas. Y apuntaré otra diferencia más: los anglosajones utilizan la sílaba 'So' en lugar de 'Sol' y 'Ti' en lugar de 'Si'. De este modo, el lenguaje musical, llamado solfeo, deja de ser universal cuando lo traducimos a palabras y a sílabas, pero sigue siendolo cuando leemos una partitura.
El primero que tuvo la ocurrencia de representar las alturas musicales mediante símbolos alrededor de una línea horizontal fue un monje italiano llamado Guido d'Arezzo. En principio las notas se escribían sobre una sola línea. Más tarde se añadió una segunda, de otro color, y con el paso de los siglos se llegó al pentagrama que utilizamos hoy. El invento de Guido fue muy relevante porque puso la primera piedra para establecer un verdadero sistema de notación musical, gracias al cual conocemos las grandes obras que nos han dejado los compositores a lo largo de la historia. Guido vivió en el siglo XI. Civilizaciones anteriores a esa fecha, como Egipcios, griegos, romanos, etc. seguramente crearon mucha música interesante, pero se ha perdido para siempre porque no existía un sistema para anotarla en papel.
También fue Guido el responsable de poner nombre a las notas musicales que utilizamos hoy. Existía por aquel entonces un himno a San Juan que todos los monjes de su monasterio conocían y en el que, casualmente, cada uno de los versos empezaba en una altura superior al anterior. El himno, en latín, decía así:
Ut queant laxis Resonare fibris Mira gestorum Famuli tuorum Solve polluti Labii reatum Sancte Ioannes
Guido tomó la primera sílaba de cada verso para dar nombre a las seis notas: Ut-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La. Siglos después se sustituyó 'Ut' por 'Do', que es más adecuado para el canto, y se añadió la séptima nota: 'Si', que es la abreviatura de Sancte Ioannes, el último verso del himno. El sistema de Guido permitió a muchos monjes, que hasta entonces debían memorizar horas y horas de melodías gregorianas, leer la música y descansar la memoria. Además, la entonación resultaba más facil, al identificar cada altura con una sílaba. El invento de Guido ha sufrido algunas variaciones y ha sido ampliado siglos después, pero en la esencia permanece aun vivo y sigue siendo utilizado por millones de músicos en todo el mundo. Probablemente él mismo no imaginaba que 1000 años después de su muerte seguiría teniendo plena vigencia. Salvando las distancias, lo que Guido ideó con el himno a San Juan es similar a lo que Julie Andrews cantaba a los niños en la película 'Sonrisas y lágrimas'. Ella era la institutriz buena que, entre otras cosas, enseñaba música a sus pupilos, y de paso enamoraba a su padre, viudo. La película está rodada en inglés y fue traducida enteramente al español para su doblaje. El título original, 'The sound of music' fue extrañamente traducido por 'Sonrisas y lágrimas' -estas curiosas adaptaciones de los títulos son habituales en la historia del cine-. Supongo que los traductores estaban tan acostumbrados a tergiversar ciertos textos, especialmente las canciones, que no tenían muchos reparos en hacerlo también cuando no era necesario. Cuesta imaginar a los traductores afanandose por el triple reto de traducir las canciones de la película con un mínimo de fidelidad, consiguiendo al mismo tiempo que la versión traducida encaje perfectamente en las sílabas de la melodía y además con las rimas adecuadas. La canción que nos ocupa es un caso excepcionalmente complejo, porque María -el personaje de Andrews- explica a los niños el significado de cada una de las siete sílabas musicales con ejemplos diversos. Así, en el primer verso dice 'Doe, a deer, a female deer' en la versión original y 'Don, es trato de barón' en la adaptación al castellano. ¿Se puede deducir de ello que 'Doe' en inglés y 'Don' en castellano se pronuncian de manera parecida? En la versión inglesa las notas de la canción son 'doe-ray-me-far-sew-la-tea' y en la española 'don-res-mi-far-sol-la-sí'. Como todo el mundo puede observar, se pierde mucho en la versión doblada. No solo en lo que se refiere al texto y al significado, sino -quizás aun más grave- en cuanto a entonación y declamación de los actores. Así que, aunque cueste un poco, procuremos ver las películas en su versión original, con o sin subtítulos. Es mucho más enriquecedor y constructivo. Para terminar, incluyo la letra de la canción completa en su versión original y doblada. También podeis ver ambos videos a continuación.
Doe, a deer, a female deer Ray, a drop of golden sun Me, a name I call myself Far, a long, long way to run Sew, a needle pulling thread La, a note to follow Sew Tea, a drink with jam and bread That will bring us back to Do (oh-oh-oh) ---------- Don, es trato de barón. Res, selvático animal. Mi, denota posesión. Fa(r) es “lejos” en inglés. Sol, ardiente esfera es. La, al nombre es anterior. Sí, asentimiento es Y otra vez ya viene el Do.
It was great to meet up again and see what progress has been made. Pepe, your music class will be long remembered. Christian, you made a big impression in Dumfries-the Iron Man.
Here are some pictures of a few readers.
Transition Year Class A with Roddy Doyle, Mrs. Monagle and Miss Lafferty
our competition to create a classroom activity for the summer issue of iT's for Teachers. We have chosen one winner and three runners-up, all of whose activities appear in the summer issue of the print magazine and at the site. The winner will receive a Papyre 6.1 e-book reader. 
