Rabbit wants a tail - contes a la Biblioteca de Tortosa

Aquest dimecres, dia 13 de novembre, tornem a col·laborar amb la biblioteca de Tortosa, amb un conte en anglès.

Especialment recomanat per xiquets de 3 a 8 anys, però segur que a qualsevol jove, o gran, de 0 a 99 anys, també li agradarà! A les 18.00 la Sílvia ens explicarà el conte "Rabbit Wants A Tail"!

Saint Jordi's Day

Today is the 23rd of April - a very special day in Catalonia. The Catalans’ Patron Saint happens to be Saint Jordi (or George in English). Yes, the guy who killed the dragon. Jordi was a Roman soldier born in Palestine in the 3rd century AD who later converted to Christianity. Although the first documented writings of the dragon incident state that it happened in Libya, the Catalans believe it actually happened in the town of Montblanc in Catalonia. They may have a point as I can vouch that there are definitely no dragons currently living in Montblanc.
Jordi finished the dragon off with his lance, and from the wound the dragon’s blood spilled out and amazingly turned into a beautiful red rose.

Nowadays in dragon-free Catalonia, it is customary to walk the streets on this day with your family looking at the many open-air book stalls set out, as the Catalans celebrate this day by giving books and roses to their lovers/partners. Tradition dictates books for men and roses for women, though many men give both a book and a rose to their “better half”. It is an extremely beautiful, cultural and peaceful celebration. There are many public poetry recitals and book-readings today too alongside other literary events. Many countries have also tried copying this idea of a “book giving day”, and in 1995 UNESCO declared 23rd April to be World Book Day (even though, for reasons better known to themselves, the UK celebrates its “World” Book Day in March!).
This day has many literary connections. Cervantes was born, and died, on the 23rd April, and Shakespeare also died on this date – but as the English and Spanish used different calendars back then, these “23rd”s were not exactly the same day, if that makes sense!

Will technology save minority languages?

It is estimated that there may be around 7,000 languages spoken in the world. Many of these are spoken by few people, and face the threat of a more dominant neigbouring language taking their place. For years experts have predicted the death of these less widely-spoken languages. Their extinction, and with it an important part of their, and our, culture is (or was) inevitably doomed.

However, it seems like the new wave of technological developments and social networks may yet save the day for many of these languages. From the ability of one person with one computer to set up an online dictionary, to the amazing opportunities for scattered minority language speakers to communicate and form networks, it seems that there may still be hope.

The BBC has a very interesting article on the subject, click here to continue ....

Frog or Toad?

In 2009 Disney made an animated film called The Princess and the Frog, based on a novel (The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker). This film was dubbed into Spanish and given the name, Tiana y el Sapo. Tiana is the name of the "princess" in question, but "sapo" actually means toad, and not frog. Apparently this change in "leading animal" was made so as to tie in with a popular Spanish fairy tale about a princess kissing a toad, which then becomes a prince.

As you can see from the picture, the animal in question is clearly a frog - so was the right decision taken to change the name in the title? Would "Tiana y la Rana" have made sense? Another tricky decision for translators and, in this case, film studio bosses!

Saint George/Jordi, and the art of giving books and roses

Today is the 23rd of April - a very special day in Catalonia. The Catalans’ Patron Saint happens to be Saint Jordi (or George in English). Yes, the guy who killed the dragon. Jordi was a Roman soldier born in Palestine in the 3rd century AD who later converted to Christianity. Although the first documented writings of the dragon incident state that it happened in Libya, the Catalans believe it actually happened in the town of Montblanc in Catalonia. They may have a point as I can vouch that there are definitely no dragons currently living in Montblanc.
Jordi finished the dragon off with his lance, and from the wound the dragon’s blood spilled out and amazingly turned into a beautiful red rose.

Nowadays in dragon-free Catalonia, it is customary to walk the streets on this day with your family looking at the many open-air book stalls set out, as the Catalans celebrate this day by giving books and roses to their lovers/partners. Tradition dictates books for men and roses for women, though many men give both a book and a rose to their “better half”. It is an extremely beautiful, cultural and peaceful celebration. There are many public poetry recitals and book-readings today too alongside other literary events. Many countries have also tried copying this idea of a “book giving day”, and in 1995 UNESCO declared 23rd April to be World Book Day (even though, for reasons better known to themselves, the UK celebrates its “World” Book Day in March!).

This day has many literary connections. Cervantes was born, and died, on the 23rd April, and Shakespeare also died on this date – but as the English and Spanish used different calendars back then, these “23rd”s were not exactly the same day, if that makes sense!
Click here for more info regarding this celebration.

Saint David's Day

The first of March is Saint David's Day. Saint David is the patron saint of Wales. Legend has it that he was a Welsh preacher and religous official, who died on 1st March 589.

This day is widely celebrated in Wales with different events and public parades. Many events include singing and poetry reading. It is also quite common to wear a daffodil or leek on your jacket, two very Welsh symbols.

Many people eat cawl on this day - a kind of soup usually made with lamb and leek.

Language learning is good for you

This interesting article from Science Daily may encourage language learners not to give up!

People who speak more than two languages may lower their risk of developing memory problems, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 63rd Annual Meeting in Honolulu April 9 to April 16, 2011.

It appears speaking more than two languages has a protective effect on memory in seniors who practice foreign languages over their lifetime or at the time of the study," said study author Magali Perquin, PhD, with the Center for Health Studies from the Public Research Center for Health ("CRP-Santé") in Luxembourg. Perquin is helping to lead the MemoVie study which involves a consortium of partners from different hospitals and institutions.

The study involved 230 men and women with an average age of 73 who had spoken or currently spoke two to seven languages. Of the participants, 44 reported cognitive problems; the rest of the group had no memory issues.
Researchers discovered that those people who spoke four or more languages were five times less likely to develop cognitive problems compared to those people who only spoke two languages.
People who spoke three languages were three times less likely to have cognitive problems compared to bilinguals. In addition, people who currently spoke more than two languages were also four times less likely to have cognitive impairment. The results accounted for the age and the education of the participants.

"Further studies are needed to try to confirm these findings and determine whether the protection is limited to thinking skills related to language or if it also extends beyond that and benefits other areas of cognition," said Perquin.
The research was conducted in Luxembourg, where there is a dense population of people who speak more than two languages.
The MemoVie study was supported by The National Research Fund (FNR) from Luxembourg.

Complete article here.

Xiuxiuejava, She whispered

Thanks to the Col·lectiu Emma we have found this delightful article published in Granta by the poet and translator, Rowan Ricardo Philips.

Translation, at the best of times, should be a form of welcome. But for me, translating from Catalan into English sometimes feels more like a form of farewell. As I work I feel both languages equally alive, equally limber; equally conversant, competitive and playful. At these moments I am free from the immense gravitational pull of English and free from the centric tug of Spanish. If only, I think to myself in the middle of a translation, I could keep both the banality of ‘she whispered’ and the absurd beauty of the original word xiuxiuejava, how by a strange twist of fate the two words strongly hint at a rhyme, how simply cool the rangy assonance of a phrase as plain as ‘Ah! Ho haveu vist?’ (‘Ah! Have you seen it?’) is for the mouth and the mind.

Has a more beautiful language ever flowered from Vulgar Latin than Catalan? This naked joy gained from the simultaneity betwixt and between two languages is the translator’s great pleasure and also, eventually, the translator’s great and inevitable loss. With Catalan I feel that loss rather sharply as the English version further comes into focus, options discarded, everything soon ossifying into the final draft and subsequent published translation. This is in part due to Catalan’s diaphanous literary status and our sad tendency to settle for the illusion of a single-tongued Spain: a mirage of a house with Castilian spackling its holes like sores. The result has been a very visitable but not entirely visible Spain. And now with economic crises everywhere you turn and fewer people visiting, Spain is clearly not well. It has sold itself until prosperous and now has spent itself to quick ruin. Let’s hope this is temporary. In the meantime, we readers should take this opportunity to get a better view inside of this imagined house. We should strip the walls and look at Spain as Spain really is, not as it’s practical for us to pretend it to be. Translation from the Catalan – as well as from Basque, Galician and the other languages of the peninsula – is one of the most useful and poignant vehicles through which to do so.

Yet translation by itself solves little. The work of translation is to act out everything and explain nothing. As your skin is not an explanation of who you are, a translation is hardly an explanation of another culture. I translate from Catalan to English not so that the latter stands in for the former but to encourage the English-language reader that much closer to Catalan culture. The rest is up to the will of the reader. May she or he strive to be a citizen of the world. This is precisely why translation is a form of farewell: it demands a letting go.

Tyrants have tried, legislators have tried – but nothing can glean a language from the face of the earth like translation. And thus although translation is essential to knowing who we are, how we live and what we have achieved, it should never become under any circumstances what will suffice.

Story-telling in English at Tortosa library

Tortosa public library offers many more activities than mere book-lending. Reading clubs are organised monthly at all levels, and in different languages. There are also oral story-telling sessions in Catalan and English every month. This month we have had the pleasure of being able to collaborate with these initiatives, with Silvia telling the tales of Chicken Licken and The Little Red Hen last Thursday.

We enjoyed it immensely, and so did the 27 children who came along to the activity. A very interesting introduction to English for these little minds, and hopefully an encouragement to read and enjoy more English.

This photo and more can be found at the library's blog page.

John Lennon

John Lennon died 30 years ago today. Apart from his music, John also wrote poems and short texts, playing with words to create surreal nonsense. They show us that, however big a legend he became, he would always retain his sense of humour. Here are a couple of extracts from one of his books, In His Own Write.

I was bored on the 9th of Octover 1940 when, I believe, the Nasties were still booming us led by Madalf Heatlump (Who had only one). Anyway, they didn't get me. I attended to varicous schools in Liddypol. And still didn't pass-much to my Aunties supplies. As a memebr of the most publified Beatles me and (P, G, and R's) records might seem funnier to some of you than this book, but as far as I'm conceived this correction of short writty is the most wonderfoul larf I've ever ready.
God help and breed you all.

...

A Surprise for Little Bobby
It was little Bobby's birthmark today and he got a surprise. His very fist was lopped off, (The War) and he got a birthday hook!
All his life Bobby had wanted his very own hook; and now on his 39th birthday his pwayers had been answered. The only trouble was they had send him a left hook and ebry dobby knows that it was Bobby's right fist that was missing as it were.
What to do was not thee only problem: Anyway he jopped off his lest hand and it fitted like a glove. Maybe next year he will get a right hook, who knows?

...

I Sat Belonely, I sat belonely down a tree,

humbled fat and small.

A little lady sing to me

I couldn't see at all.
I'm looking up and at the sky,

to find such wonderous voice.

Puzzly, puzzle, wonder why,

I hear but I have no choice.
'Speak up, come forth, you ravel me',

I potty menthol shout.

'I know you hiddy by this tree'.

But still she won't come out.
Such sofly singing lulled me sleep,

an hour or two or so

I wakeny slow and took a peep

and still no lady show.
Then suddy on a little twig

I thought I see a sight,

A tiny little tiny pig,

that sing with all it's might

'I thought you were a lady',I giggle, - well I may,

To my surprise the lady,

got up - and flew away.

Presentació del Mountain Walking in Southern Catalonia

Dilluns, 19.30, presentació del llibre Mountain Walking in Southern Catalonia a la biblioteca de Tortosa.

Philip and Vivien Freakly have written a guide to walking in the mountains of the Ebre region, in English. It will be presented in public in Tortosa library on Monday at 19.30.

Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving Day is known as Black Friday. It is traditionally the first day of the US Christmas shopping season with many shops extending their opening hours and offering special promotions.


There are two possible origins of its name. Many claim it is due to the intense traffic jams caused by shoppers, while others claim it is often a day that shopkeepers actually move "into the black" - that is, they start making profits.


Happy shopping!

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the USA on the fourth Thursday in November. It is a celebration which goes back to the 17th century, the time when the first pilgrims to reach American shores gave thanks to God for surviving the winter. The story goes that the celebration consisted of a three-day feast shared by pilgrims and native Americans alike.

Nowadays many people take a four-day weekend and the main feature of the celebrations are large family meals with turkey, vegetables, pumpkin pie and other traditional foods.

Another well-known aspect of the day, thanks to Hollywood and numerous films, is the parade held in New York by Macy's department store - a clue that Christmas is just around the corner!

Conta-contes en anglès

Continuing with the intense calendar of activities organised by Tortosa's library, today is the turn of the story-telling in English. At 6pm, a famous fairy tale will be told, and acted out, by the library's collaborators. Aimed at 4 to 8 year olds, but I'm sure all ages would enjoy it.

Remembrance Sunday

Many learners of English ask why most British people appearing on the news this week are wearing this red flower.

World War I finished at 11 o'clock in the morning, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918. British people commemorate this event every year on the second Sunday in November, Remembrance Sunday. On this day, we remember and pay our respects to those who lost their lives in both World Wars, and other conflicts which have happened since then.
Solemn and emotive services are held at War Memorials in towns all over the UK, with a two-minute silence at 11am.

The red poppy flower was chosen as a symbol for this day as they bloomed all over the blood-drenched battle fields of France. They are made of paper and plastic and "sold" for a voluntary donation which goes to charities devoted to ex-servicemen, disabled soldiers, army widows and so on.

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.

We are the Dead.

Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

John McCrae

Confusing English (1)

Sentences or expressions which may or may not confuse learners of English (or even English learners), no.1:

The children were playing up downstairs.

Bonfire Night

On November 5th we celebrate Bonfire Night (or Guy Fawkes Night) in England. This celebration commemorates the failure of the Gunpowder Plot ...

In 1605 a group of Catholics tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill the Protestant King of England, King James I, with the aim of replacing him with a Catholic head of state.

However, the plot was discovered, and the barrels of gunpowder. The plotters were arrested and executed. The most famous member of the group was their leader, Guy Fawkes.

Fortunately this celebration has lost its anti-catholic connotations over the centuries and is now a great night out to blow away the winter blues. People build huge bonfires in gardens and public parks. Children traditionally make an effigy of Guy Fawkes (called "a guy") and used to drag him around the streets asking for money from passer-bys ("a penny for the guy"). When the bonfire is lit, everyone gathers around and the "guy" is thrown on to be burnt. Firework displays are very common. And, as with all great festivities, plenty of treats are consumed - jacket potatoes, toffee apples, pie and peas ...

Poems on Water

Blog Action Day 2010 deals with the issue of water.

Water, that wonderful but elusive element, which says so many things to each and every one of us. Below we offer our humble contribution to the day’s thoughts and reflections, with two poems talking about water, one in English and one in Catalan.

The Old Men Admiring Themselves In The Water
I heard the old, old men say,

'Everything alters,

And one by one we drop away.'

They had hands like claws, and their knees

Were twisted like the old thorn-trees

By the waters.

I heard the old, old men say,

'All that's beautiful drifts away

Like the waters.

WB Yeats

Cançó de Pluja

No sents, cor meu, quina pluja més fina?
Dorm, que la pluja ja vetlla el teu son…
Hi ha dues perles a la teranyina,
quina conversa la pluja i la font!
No sents, cor meu, quina pluja més fina?

No sents, cor meu, quin plorar i quin cantar?
Canten les gotes damunt la teulada,
ploren les gotes damunt del replà…
Gotes de pluja, gardènia que es bada…
No sents, cor meu, quin plorar i quin cantar?

¿No sents, cor meu, quina pau més divina,
amb la música dels núvols desfets?
Pluja de nit, delicada veïna,
dentetes d’aigua en els vidres quiets…
No sents, cor meu, quina pau més divina?

¿No sents, cor meu, que la pena se’n va,
dintre aquest plor de la pluja nocturna,
i les estrelles somriuen enllà?
Enllà somriu un mantell tot espurna…
No sents, cor meu, que la pena se’n va?

No sents, cor meu, quina pluja més fina?
No sents, cor meu, quin plorar i quin cantar?
No sents, cor meu, quina pau més divina?
No sents, cor meu, que la pena se’n va?
No sents, cor meu, quina pluja més fina?

Josep Maria de Sagarra

Are dying languages worth saving?

An interesting article from the BBC website:

Are dying languages worth saving?

Language experts are gathering at a university in the UK to discuss saving the world's endangered languages. But is it worth keeping alive dialects that are sometimes only spoken by a handful of people, asks Tom de Castella?
"Language is the dress of thought," Samuel Johnson once said.
About 6,000 different languages are spoken around the world. But the Foundation for Endangered Languages estimates that between 500 and 1,000 of those are spoken by only a handful of people. And every year the world loses around 25 mother tongues. That equates to losing 250 languages over a decade - a sad prospect for some.

This week a conference in Carmarthen, Wales, organised by the foundation, is being attended by about 100 academics. They are discussing indigenous languages in Ireland, China, Australia and Spain.
"Different languages will have their quirks which tell us something about being human," says Nicholas Ostler, the foundation's chairman.
"And when languages are lost most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays we want access to everything but we don't want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world."

Apart from English, the United Kingdom has a number of other languages. Mr Ostler estimates that half a million people speak Welsh, a few thousand Scots are fluent in Gaelic, about 400 people speak Cornish, while the number of Manx speakers - the language of the Isle of Man - is perhaps as small as 100. But is there any point in learning the really minor languages?

To continue reading the full article, please click here.

British English and Australian English (1)

The English language is spoken in many parts of the world and for various historical and cultural reasons, differences often occur between British English and the English of a specific country or region. We have already looked at some differences between the English spoken in the UK and the USA. Today we offer a few examples of Australian English – bearing in mind, though, that some of them are quite colloquial.


UK – farm; Australia – station

UK – field; Australia – paddock

UK – Good morning; Australia – Good Day (pronounced G’Day)

UK – horse; Australia – neddy

UK – beer; Australia – amber liquid

UK – mosquito; Australia – mozzie

UK – sausage; Australia – snag

UK – excellent; Australia – tops

And my personal favourite – apparently Australians refer to tight-fitting swimming trunks as “budgie smugglers”!