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Dragon slaying and books

editor — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 06:00:44 +0000

It’s all happening today.

Firstly, it’s St. George’s Day, who is the patron saint of England, and of Catalonia and Aragon in Spain (and of a host of other European countries, it appears that slaying dragons really scores you a lot of points: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George%27s_Day).

And as if that weren’t enough, since 1995 the 23rd of April has been World Book and Copyright Day (as proclaimed by UNESCO). The date was chosen because three great writers died on 23rd April 1616: William Shakespeare (who was also born on 23rd April), Miguel Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. However, UNESCO can’t claim the idea was originally theirs. Giving a rose away with every book sold on the 23rd of April has long been a tradition in Catalonia. This date has been Book Day in Spain since 1930 and in 1964 it officially became Book Day for all Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries.

All book lovers at Route 66 Language School can get their fix at the 41st annual Valencia Book Fair which is on until 2nd May in the Jardines de Viveros. Among the many activities and exhibitions on offer, visitors can get books signed by their authors and attend readings and workshops.

For the full programme of events, check out the Book Fair website: http://www.firallibre.com

Austen for technophiles

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:39:56 +0000

I recently came across a version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice that tells the classic story using emoticons. No, honestly, I really did. What’s more, I’m recommending it to everyone:

http://bookshop.livejournal.com/1010612.html

As a quick summary of the plot it’s brilliant (I imagine it would be useful for anyone who has never really understood what was going on) and it made me laugh no end.

Pride and Prejudice is called Orgullo y Prejuicio in Spanish. Unfortunately I seem completely unable to pronounce the Spanish version of the title, and so challenge other non-Spaniards to practice their pronunciation by giving it a go.

Claire Huston

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

admin — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:14:11 +0000

Would you like to improve your Spanish? Besides following a course at Route 66, why don’t you try to read a book? Yes, I know it’s difficult to understand a book in another language but as a teacher I recommend you do it. You don’t have to look up all the words that you don’t know, just try to understand the concepts and the story in general. Perhaps, at the beginning it’s a bit difficult but after a while it won’t be.

If your level of Spanish is upper-intermediate, there’s no doubt, this is your book: Sin noticias de Gurb by Eduardo Mendoza (published by Seix Barral). This novel is very funny and easy to read because it’s written as a diary.

This book is about an alien who gets lost in Barcelona and narrates the adventures that he experiences together with his friend.

I hope you like it!