Writing tips

Follow the link to the 15 Grammar goofs that make you look silly and check the infographic by copyblogger, it can be of some help with your writing, although it is made for bloggers.
And Ernest Hemingway tips for writing well.
Some more tips for good writing.
Do you have any question? ask Mike.

Listen to Tom

 

Follow the link and listen to Tom Sawyer and read it at the same time.
Download the audiobook if you prefer, or listen to it online.

Mark Twain (that is a pen name for Samuel Langhorne Clemens) life is important because he wrote about his chilhood memories in Hannibal, a small town in Missouri (USA).

The spark

"That is all Peter is -The spark I got from you" 

(dedication from J.M.Barrie to the Llewelyn Davies boys who inspired Barrie to write Peter Pan) 

Sing along and watch the video. You will learn why you should never smile to a crocodile.

This is the statue of Peter Pan that you can see in Kensington Gardens (London). The statue is placed exactly where J.M. Barrie wanted it to be.
 As you all know, Barrie is the author of Peter Pan, he lived near this part of the park, and we know that he used to come here to walk along with his San Bernardo dog (who would become the Darling family's nanny).
It was in Kensington Gardens where he met the Llewelyn Davies boys who inspired him to write Peter Pan.
Barrie (1860-1937) donated the copyrights of Peter Pan to The Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.
You can read a short Barrie's biography in its website.
 Peter Pan:Download the audio book from books should be free.
Or go to a bookshop and buy the book, if you prefer.

Charles Dickens: Champion of the poorest

"There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate"  Charles Dickens.

The man in the picture is Charles Dickens.  Today is his birthday, he would be 200 years old if he were alive. So, Have a happy birthday!
His novels show the appalling conditions of life of poor people in Victorian times. Reading his books you will have a dramatic description of the poorest neighborhoods in London.

Some fast facts about his life and Dickens' London map if you want to explore it.
Listen to or download some of his books.
Time Out takes you to visit London places related to Dickens.
Click and play: a BBC game about Dickens and London in his time.
The Guardian has a gallery of pictures of London spot related to him.

And the video:

Romeo and Juliet (again)

O, that I were a glove upon that hand, That I might touch that cheek! 

(Romeo talking to Juliet who is in a window, Romeo and Juliet, Act II scene 2)

This is for those of you who are reading Romeo and Juliet.
Watch how Romeo met Juliet and how he learnt that she was a Capulet, member of the family enemy to Romeo's ow family (Montague).

Click and follow the Romeo and Juliet itinerary in Verona.
 

This is a graffitti wall in Juliet's home in Verona.
Click for more about Romeo and Juliet.
Follow the link to see pictures of the Globe Theatre in London.
Some facts about Shakespeare.

breogan's lighthouse

Breogan's lighthouse is an anthology of Galician Literature that you can now read in English, written by  Antonio de Toro and published by Francis Boutle .  They are publishing anthologies of literatures of those lesser known European Languages as Manx, Breton and so many, those languages are alive and kicking, you can not say the same about  Cornish.

Romeo and Juliet

"It is the east, and Juliet is the sun" 

(Romeo  and Juliet, Act II, Scene II).

Those of you with a higher level of English will enjoy reading Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, remember that underlined words in red are explained on the right side.
If you can't see the pages it is because you need to download a flash player plug in.
Enjoy.

Romeo and Juliet

Do you like reading comics? Are you a romantic person? If your answer is yes, follow the link above and read a version of the famous love story by Shakespeare.

Do you want to learn about "Tyrone the Horrible"? Here he is:



You don't need to register to read the e-books, but you must do it if you want to leave a comment or write your own e-book.

And don't be impacient, sometimes these webpages are a bit slow.
Would you like to choose an e-book by your own? Follow the link and enjoy.

Alice

 "Alice adventures in Wonderland"  was written by Lewis Carroll , whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He was a teacher in mathematics and logic at Oxford and an amateur photographer as well. He was famous because his two books, "Alice Adventures in Wonderland" and the second part, "Through the Looking Glass". Both of them were the stories he told Alice Liddell and her sisters.He died in 1898 but his stories have always interested to fim makers.
The BFI (British Fim Institute) has recently  restored the oldest version of the film Alice in Wonderland.
Click here if you want to watch it.

Tim Burton has made a new version of the story in which a grew-up Alice  goes back to Wonderland:

Download "Alice Adventures in Wonderland" in pdf format with the original Tenniel's ilustrations.
Download the mp3 version if you prefer listening to it.

Ghost stories

Ghost Stories
Some of you are reading "Ghost stories" , I have prepared a game about it.Try the link to check how much you know about the book. Enjoy and don't forget the test on Tuesday.

goodbye to Salinger

Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad.

 (The Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield in Chapter 7)

J.D. Salinger, the great American author of "the catcher in the rye" has died, he was 91 years old. In  "The catcher in the rye" which made of him a famous writer, Salinger gave to a young called Holden Caulfield a voice to express himself, as it had never happened before.  He lived in privacy and far of literary circles from 1965, year in which he published his last story:"Hapworth".
Follow the link and walk around Manhattan with Holden Caulfield.

Remembrance of the fallen

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below."
(In Flanders Fields, John McCrae)

This Sunday is Remembrance Day, it is a day in which British people remember all those who were killed in war, specially during World War II (they thought that they had finished with war after it, they were wrong, obviously).

This day is also called Poppy Day because it has become a tradition to wear an artificial poppy as those which grow in the fields of Belgium, where so many British died during World War I.

A Christmas Carol by Jim Carrey

Meet Jim Carrey playing the n the role of Scrooge (and not only in that role) and compare it with the book you are reading just now.
The trailer comes from Trailer Addict

Mark Twain lost stories

              

"This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four."  (Mark Twain on April fools' Day published in Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar)

For those of you who have read and enjoyed Tom Sawyer adventures  here you have a picture of Mark Twain in front of his home. We remember him today because some stories written by him have been found just now, it seems that he had given them to his brother and told him "you had better shove this in the stove." because he didn't want things published after his death. Now they will be published in spite of Twain's wish. What would you do? Would you publish a story when its author had told you not to?.A lot of time has passed anyway and although Twain's brother didn't burn the stories, he didn't publish them either.

I want you to search and learn about Mark Twain's life. Click to see the crossword about him (and print the pdf).

Here you can find help with the crossword.

And... What are we reminded of on April fools' Day in Twain's opinion? (I know it is easy).

What is there in a face?

Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!

 "A sweet-face man; a proper man, as one shall see in a summer's day"

(Shakespeare,  A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1. 2)

Which Shakespeare do you prefer? the bald one or the one with an earring? the middle aged or the smiling young man? We don't know for sure what he looked like but here you can see his portrait  as shown in the First Folio. they say that it is the most similar to the real Bard.

Some scholars have found this portrait and they say it is the only one painted during his lifetime.
Task: Have a look to the portraits and choose one, then write a short description.

The adventure of a life: Aphra Behn

All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn,... for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds. (Virginia Woolf: A room of one's own)

Today is the International Women's Day, a very special day for women, maybe you think we don't need a day dedicated only to women but it is still a long way in front of us. Aphra Behn is the woman whose life we will revise today. She was born in Kent (about 1640) when she became a widow, she had to do a lot of different things to survive, she not only travelled to Surinam, but worked as a spy for the king Charles II (England and the Dutch were at war at the time). She spent a time in prison because of her debts (king Charles was not a good payer), after that she started to write, her plays were well received by the public and she made herself a living out of her writings. And this is the most outstanding point in Aphra Behn's life, she was the first woman who could live of her earnings as a writer. Her tomb is in Westminster Abbey, a great honour for British people.

How is Kaa's dance?

This is a word scramble game for those of you who are reading the jungle book

More flashcards, word scramble, crosswords, and hangman at StudyStack.com

Do you like it? follow the link and create your own games and flashcard to help you to study.

Jungle book crosswords

Bloomsday is a beautiful day

"I want to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book."
James Joyce.



This is a Dublin Tourism promotional video. I hope you enjoy it.

Today Dublin is a great party. Dubliners celebrate Bloomsday . They call this celebration Bloomsday because it is the day of Bloom, the main character in the book "Ulysses" written by James Joyce. People from Dublin find it funny to wear old times' costumes, they enjoy having the same breakfast as Leopold Bloom had in the novel, they walk around Dublin as he did in the book, and everything happens as on the book, on the 16th of June in Dublin. Joyce chose this date because that was the day of his first date with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle.
Click here to see some Dubliners in Bloomsday costumes.

Sherlock Holmes Death

The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (The Hound of the Baskervilles)

Sherlock Holmes, the worldwide famous detective started his work as a private eye in the book called "A Study in Scarlet"and he died (on the 3rd of May) fighting against his enemy Moriarty in a story called "The Adventure of the Final Problem" published in a magazine "The Strand" in 1893. Conan Doyle was fed up with this character and wanted to get rid of it. But he couldn't, readers got upset,and, so many as twenty thousand of them cancelled their subscription to the magazine. Finally Conan Doyle had to bring Holmes to life again, it was so much pressure.

As all of you know, Sherlock Holmes lived in London, at nº 221B, Baker St. as it is set in "A study in Scarlet" with his friend, Watson who was of great help in his difficult cases.

You can listen to "the final adventure" clicking here.

Click here to play a concentration game.

As you have already read "The speckled band" watch now a scene: