1966 and all that

My God what a roller coaster of a World cup!

All of the negativity going into the World cup in Russia and it has been quite simply one of the best in living memory.
No matter what happens this Wednesday, as England go into their first semi final in a lifetime!
So good luck to England!

It's coming home!

https://youtu.be/RJqimlFcJsM

2018

2018
What will that bring?

A family year ,   Beautiful 

😃

Work, lots of it, very varied, very busy.Challenges, yes lots of them.

New partners at the Word in South Shields, 
Develop our partnerships in Spain A CORUÑA- estupendo
Continue and develop our partnership in France á 
IMEP BOURGES.
MAIS OUI!
Go to Germany, set up a new partner in Oberhausen. vhs Oberhausen
wunderbar !

 DESTINATION BORO 2 American Road trip = run 500 miles,    fenomenal
Go to Russia, run a Park run in St. Petersburg---  ОТЛИЧНО  excellent!


Play the piano, go for grade 1  eccezionale      
grade 4 guitar,   impeccable

LEARN ARABIC?           رائعة حقا     Amazing!

OHO!
😀
Why not?

Write a poetry book!      stimolante
|Write a book.        Anything is possible!

Follow the BORO back to the Premier League?😃😃      eioeioeioeioeioeioeioeioeioeioeioeioeioeioeioeio

One day I woke up a Poet!

Life never ceases to surprise me!

I attended a wonderful Creative Writing course with the University of Teesside in the Summer.

After attending the beginners last year, I attended the research course.

Andy Willoughby our tutor suggested we looked at art for inspiration for our writing and we all had a go.
It now seems that we are to be part of published anthology of poetry, with a reading soon at MIMA.

Amazing!
So we are to go to the Launch of the project and the book.

AN ANTHOLOGY OF EKPHRASIS

My poem is about a couple of paintings of my home town Middlesbrough by JS Lowry.
Here they are. In one, you can see Lowry walking across the market place with his dog , whereas in the other he is not there.

 

HERE IS THE POEM

HEY LOWRY!

Hey Lowry. Where’s your dog gone?

Has someone nicked it mate?

Old St Hilda’s no longer there

And there’s a padlock on the Sally Army gate!

Hey Lowry, where’s that other bloke gone?

The old town hall’s still there, just!

Remember that old clock and the Tranny?

They’ve just painted over the rust.

Hey Lowry, they’ve flattened Fleetham Street and my old school

Are you still collecting the rent?

Some gadgie has recalled it Gresham

I suppose it was well meant?

Hey Lowry, we’ve got a MIMA, a Tenemos and a bottle now

The General , the Infirmary are all in the past

 No Ayresome park or a Holgate end

No Parkies any more, but I can still run quite fast!

Hey Lowry, there’s No Rag and Bonemen

No refund on the pop bottles, no number 14 bus.

The Poly’s a University

No Hintons and no Pybus Bros

Hey Lowry, old Baker Street’s still there

We’ve got an Orange Pip market now

But the slipper baths and the Gaumont are just a memory

But I’ll never forget them, my childhood will not allow.

Spanish Language Update

SPANISH LANGUAGE UPDATE.

Muchas gracias a todos.

Thank you all for your support, we have more than 70 students of Spanish.

 Our partnership with Susana and the project is flourishing.

CaféCoruña 

THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

As recommended, have a look at this amazing film.

BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB

As recommended, have a listen to this amazing music!

I have updated all class details and resources on my website, link below.
Click here for my web page and links to resources.

El taller Saturday 25th February 2017

CAFẾ PIERRE LANGUAGES

EL TALLER ESPAÑOL

SABADO 25th Febrero

language classes in 

MIDDLESBROUGH, STOKESLEY, HARTLEPOOL, NORMANBY, REDCAR, YARM AND GUISBOROUGH

Muchas gracias a todos!

Special thanks to ANYA for her excellent presentation of  LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA.

Thanks also to VICTORIA, LUIS, IVAN, ANNA, VALENTIN, SANDRA AND REGLA!

MUCHAS MUCHISIMOS GRACIAS!!!

NEXT TALLER

Saturday 25th March 1-3 at the Multi Media Exchange in Middlesbrough.

New dawn of language learning

Café Pierre Languages are entering a new dawn of Language learning.

In the next couple of months we expect to see new Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin classes appearing on our programme.

Our workshops are becoming very popular, with guests from all around the world visiting and working with our students and friends.
The dates for the next round of workshops are below.

El taller español-   Spanish Language and culture workshop. Saturday 25th February 13:00-15:00 Multi Media Exchange , Corporation road in Middlesbrough.

L’atelier français, French language and culture workshop. Saturday 4th March 13:00-15:00 , Multi Media Exchange , Corporation road in Middlesbrough.

Der Stammtisch  German language and culture workshop. 18th February 14:00-16:00 at the Buck Inn , Chop Gate.

[Peter, Gaelle and Martine at the last French workshop].

We are planning a Japanese workshop , hopefully to include Manga Art.

A dutch workshop is also on the way.

We have had up to date, more than 1,000 enquiries for languages in the North Yorkshire and Tees Valley area and our venues are now in Middlesbrough, Redcar, Normanby, Stokesley, with classes planned for Yarm and Guisborough.

Skype classes have included tutors working from Russia, Germany and Spain.

Our list of languages now includes.

Arabic, Chinese Mandarin, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Spanish. 

For further informaiton contact Peter at 
cafepierrelanguages@gmail.com  07929781421

James Joyce Ulysses or Homer The Odyssey - an Update

Well, having read the Odyssey, I now have more questions than answers. But it is true to say that I really! enjoyed the experience!

And now the Marathon that is;

James Joyce, Ulysses.

I have just managed to finish the Introduction and I found myself reaching for the dictionary almost as much as my reading experience in Italian!

Another case of 'Watch this space!

Questions of  Masculinity and the androgynous man. 

Irish politics, Shakespeare, References to Tolstoy, Eduoard Dujardin, Samuel Beckett, Jean Paul Sartre, To name but a few!

And of course constant references to W.B. Yeats!

So the questions begin.

Will I recognise the themes , the likenesses of the Odyssey? Will I know when Leopold Bloom is representing Oddyseus and when Stephen Dedalus is portaying Telemachus.

Will I need to research Irish history to understand the story, The Easter rising?

How I remember my visit to Dublin and pointing out the bullet holes on the walls of buildings on O'Connell Street.!

Lets see!

Language News October 26 2016

Planning is under way for a new Language programme in Redcar.

French for Beginners, Spanish for Beginners and Italian for Beginners are all going to be available from January 2017.

Class lists are open and details will be available tout de suite.

Please contact Peter on 07929781421 or send an email to cafepierrelanguages@gmail.com for further information.

Florence July 2016

Where to start?
A month in Tuscany.

My first time in Italy!
Amazing course at the British Institute in Florence.  Grazie mille!

Florence A city so full of magic, it is difficult to know where to start.

So many thoughts and experiences.

La Traviata.
My first Opera, in the Open Air in Il palazio Pitti.

James Joyce Ulysses or Homer The Odyssey

A dilemma, I want to read James Joyce's materpiece, but I feel I have to read the Odyssey first to understand Joyce!

It is getting to the point where I am wondering, should I also read the bible!

Writers are so influenced by classics and religion as well as there own experiences.

It fascinates me, but I guess it is similar to reading Russian text in that background knowledge helps to understand the message from the writer.

So here we go on my own Odyssey, I have decided ot have a look first at Homer. God knows I may need some help!!  But if it helps me understand, James Joyec, Job done.

Watch this space!!