Fernando Aramburu

Fernando Aramburu en Página Dos

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/pagina-dos/pagina-dos-fernando-aramburu/3744368/

La musica italiana

Buongiorno a  tutte, dopo un primo contatto con voi avvenuto lo scorso mercoledi, abbiamo deciso che il primo argormento della prossima lezione di conversazione in Italiano é "La musica italiana", con la possibilitá di fare una comprensione del testo di alcune canzoni che piú vi sono piaciute. 

Un argomento che accomuna la gente e ci fa sentire piú vicini, un modo per rompere il ghiaccio e imparare nuove parole. Vi aspetto tutti, la prossima lezione sará il mercoledi 8 di Novembre. Un saluto a tutti e buona festa di tutti i Santi.

Encuentro en Oviedo con el premio Pricesa de Asturias de las Letras

Patria, Fernando Aramburu

Para comenzar este nuevo curso, en el club de lectura hemos leído durante el verano Patria de Fernando Aramburu, un libro del que parece que todo el mundo habla, y que ha gustado a personas tan diferentes como Mariano Rajoy o Jorge Javier.

Lo cierto es que en el club la opinión general ha coincido también. Es un libro correcto, de fácil lectura, que engancha desde el principio y que nos lleva muy verazmente a la situación vivida en el País Vasco, en los pueblos, durante los años en los que ETA actúa. Si bien a algunas personas les ha parecido de una construcción literaria simple y con algún personaje maniqueo, en lo que sí estaba todo el mundo de acuerdo es en que sin duda, la historia de Patria es muy interesante.

Quizá no sea nuestra novela favorita, pero sí es un libro que probablemente recordemos durante mucho tiempo.

Halloween

Next Tuesday will be Halloween.  Will you be celebrating it?  How about your children?  How has Halloween changed since you were young?

I´m sure you know all about Halloween traditions, but do you know how much Americans spend on the holiday?

http://fortune.com/2016/10/31/americans-spending-halloween-2016/

The first of November is a holiday here in Spain, but do you know how they celebrate it in Mexico?

http://www.lifemattersmedia.org/2015/10/dia-de-los-muertos-a-celebration-of-life-and-death/

Do you know of any other countries that celebrate this holiday and any of their traditions?  

There are many taboos related with death.  Which ones do you know of around the world?  In some places merely talking about death and planning for it are difficult and taboo for some people:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10825710/The-real-reasons-why-death-is-still-so-taboo-hard-to-talk-about-with-your-loved-ones.html

Les "Malgré-nous"

Août 42 - Février 53 : "Malgré-nous", les oubliés de l'Histoire

Dans la Wehrmacht, la Luftwaffe, la Kriegsmarine, ou encore dans la Waffen-SS, la branche militaire de la SS. Les "malgré-nous" désigne les Alsaciens et les Mosellans français incorporés de force dans les troupes hitlériennes à partir d'août 1942.

Food

Next week I´d like to talk about something we can all relate to.  Food!  We all have to eat it, we all enjoy it in varying degrees, and we all have a special relationship with it.  What foods do you like?  What don´t you like?  Are you a picky eater?

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/05/16/477660671/breaking-down-the-science-of-picky-eating

Food can affect us not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well.  Are you an emotional eater or a stress eater?

http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/2011/02/you-are-what-you-eat-how-food-affects-your-mood/#.Wec-qdSLRkg

Please come prepared to share what your favorite meals are, what your least favorite meals are, what the best thing you have ever eaten is, and what some foods may remind you of:  

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/margaret-marshall/memories-of-food-are-powe_b_8011508.html  

Ruta Natural.

Columbus Day

As often happens to me here in Spain, I forgot an American holiday that just passed recently.  Columbus Day was on the 9th of this month.  I would hate to miss an opportunity to talk about this holiday just because it has passed.  This year it has drawn a lot of controversy about whether we should celebrate this Columbus´ achievements or not.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/09/columbus-day-parade-new-york-protesters

It brings to the forefront the larger question of whether we should look at our history factually or celebrate our successes without tainting them with some of the unsavory consequences. What do you think?  Should we keep the statues and memorials and honor his achievements?  Or should we take them down and admit the often overlooked darker aspects?  Should we face history or erase it?

This debate has gotten especially pointed this year and has stemmed from a debate about Confederate statues being taken down around the country. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/10/04/confederate-statues-come-down-what-columbus/730644001/

What do you know about this situation?  Should the statues be taken down?  I won´t pretend to be impartial on this issue, but I would like to hear what everybody thinks about this situation.

Here´s a video depicting some of the protests in the U.S: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCwHdzf47rE

Here is a 2 minute video of the mayor of New Orleans explaining his point of view on the issue.  The video is produced by The Atlantic which is a monthly magazine "which covers news and analysis on politics, business, culture, technology, national, international and life"

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3hrUU7dgus

Do you have any memorials that are objectionable or controversial here in Spain?  What have other countries done to commemorate their history?

I look forward to our conversation.

Natural disasters

I´d like to thank you all for coming yesterday.  I look forward to all of our interesting conversations throughout the year.

I´d like to start out by talking about natural disasters.  Have you ever been in or affected by a natural disaster?  Are there any natural disasters that terrify you?  Would an area being prone to a natural disaster prevent you from living there?

http://www.basicplanet.com/natural-disasters/

As I mentioned in class my city, Houston, was affected by a very strong hurricane this summer.  Here is a video showing some of the aftermath:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU6li_fPvfo

This video explains a little about why Houston flooded so badly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePC7R3maJsw

Of course, it´s difficult to talk about natural disasters without mentioning climate change.  I´d like you to read this article from a local Houston news outlet and tell me what your thoughts are on the language that it uses:

https://www.click2houston.com/weather/did-climate-change-effect-hurricanes-irma-and-harvey

CLUB DE LECTURA 2017-2018

Parece que nos gusta leer... y mucho, porque no solo va a continuar el club de lectura un curso más, sino que además ampliamos días... y el jueves tendremos un club nuevo.

El próximo miércoles 18 y jueves 19 ¡nos vemos!

EL CLUB DE LECTURA INFANTIL...

¡¡YA ESTÁ AQUÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ!

Que sí, que hemos vuelto, el martes pasado comenzamos de nuevo el club de lectura. Estuvimos presentándonos y haciendo un imán para la nevera con las fechas del club ¡para que no se nos olvide ningún día!

y el 7 de noviembre... ¡nos vemos de nuevo para comentar Escuela de Vampiros de une scritor que se llama Peter Bently.