SPEAKING ABOUT A NOVEL: THIS ROUGH MAGIC

1.      What was the novel about?

“This rough Magic” is an adapted version of the original novel with the same title written in 1964 by Mary Stewart. The novel is set in the Greek island of Corfu and tells the adventures that Lucy Waring lives when she goes there for holidays. There are some murders that she helps to investigate with other people in the island and also there is a love story.

2.      What do you think about the novel?

I think This Rough Magic is an enjoyable book. It had suspense and romance which I really love in a novel. Reading this novel was a good experience because it is not too long and it is not very difficult to understand. Mary Stewart described the beautiful nature of the Greek island of Corfu with so much detail that made me want to book a flight there to go swimming and relaxing with dolphins and handsome Greek man. I would recommend reading this novel This Rough Magic to everybody.

3.      What would you change about the novel or the plot?

I wouldn’t change any part of the novel because I think it has a great story. What I would have like to have is a longer story, especially in the romantic part. Maybe I should have chosen the original version instead of the adapted version.

4.      What about the author?

Mary Stewart, whose real name was Florence Elinor, was born in 1916 in the UK. She is a well-known and popular novelist whose novels have been bestsellers in many countries. Several of her books are set in Greece because it is a country that she knew very well and loved a lot. Her fame was due to her “Merlin Trilogy” which her first volume was “The crystal cave”, written in 1970.

5.      Why did you choose this novel and what is for the next term?

I had bought this novel two years ago when I had the purpose of taking the First Certificate in English exam. The official Cambridge website recommended this novel among others books and I chose this one. In the end I didn’t take the Cambridge exam because it was too difficult for me but I read the novel I really enjoyed it.

For the next term I am going to read a bestseller called “Wonder” written by R.J.Palacios. A good friend of mine recommended me this novel because it is easy to understand and because it is a lovely story. 

6.      What was the most interesting moment in the plot for you and why?

The most interesting moment for me is the end of the story because Lucy appears as a heroine to help to catch the murderer. I also like the end because the love story finishes with a proposal of marriage.

7.      What can you tell me about the characters?

My favourite character is the main character Lucy Waring who tells the story in the book. She is intelligent, brave and an animal lover because there are some scenes involving a dolphin who becomes important for her.

INFORMAL EMAIL

Hi Pat!

I’m writing to you to say that I’m going to London on 9^TH July. When I received your email, I was booking a flight in Ryanair. I’m looking forward to seeing you and Tim. I just have three days off in July so 10^th July is a perfect date to go to the Tim birthday’s celebration.

By the way, the last time I saw Tim, he was really stressed due to his job and he mentioned something about going to a spa and relaxing. What do you think if I pay a “relaxing weekend” in a health resort as a present?

Related to go camping, I afraid I won’t be able to go. I’m on holiday in August, not in July and it isn’t possible to change it. Maybe next year.

Anyway, did you know that Lion King musical is in London in July? Shall we go together? Although, if you have a better plan, we can always make some changes, it doesn’t matter.

Kisses,

Maru.

1984 NOVEL REVIEW

1984 is an adaptation from the original novel written by George Orwell in 1948. It is a science fiction book about how government controls people’s lives every second of the day. The story is set in 1984 in London and tells the story of Winston, a member of the party who starts to be unhappy with his life.

I chose the book for two reasons. The first one was because I asked a good friend of mine who works in a bookstore that recommended me an interesting book to read. And the other one was because I was curious to know who was Big Brother and why there is a reality show with his name.

In my opinion the book is a political novel written with the purpose of warning readers of the dangers of totalitarian governments. I also think it is ahead of the time it was written because the control over people begins with the advance in technology. Nowadays, there are cameras watching us everywhere and also there is information about us on computers. Fortunately, the author’s future has not been exactly the same as the world in 1984, although, in some way he was trying to warning us about the possible danger of power.

While I was reading the book, I felt a bit disturbing, thoughtful and even scared. In spite of there was a love story in the book, there was not a happy ending. I think the most worrying part of the book was when Winston realized what really was inside ‘the room 101’. That part of the story was quite terrifying. The most curious things were the Newspeak language and the new words that were invented. For example an ‘unperson” is someone who has been not only killed by the government, but erased from existence.  I also discovered that ‘Big Brother’, who never appears in person in the novel and may not actually exist, was the enigmatic dictator who always was watching people. His image was stamped on posters with the message ‘BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU’.

I recommend reading this book because it could make you wonder about several aspects of our current life like what kind of government we have, how free we are, why we believe in everything that is said on television, etc.

MONOLOGUES: HOLIDAYS

Hello, my name is Maru and I’m going to talk about holidays. I think it's this a fantastic topic because I absolutely love everything about holidays and travelling. Well, I will try to explain my opinion in only three minutes although it won’t be easy. I’ll focus my monologue on three parts. Firstly I am going to talk about the holidays in Valencia, then I’ll explain my travelling experiences and finally I will talk about my next holidays.

There are a lot of kinds of holiday but the most typical thing to do on holidays in my city is going to the beach. Every year a crowd of tourists come to Valencia for enjoying the sun, the beaches and the night life. A lot of foreigners rent apartments and stay in hotels. And I really understand them: the Mediterranean diet, the weather and our way of life are fantastic. We have a great variety of vegetables, fruits, meat and fresh fish. Our traditional dishes like for example Paella are delicious and you can go to eat out frequently because it is not very expensive. The weather helps so much because it’s usually sunny and hot. There are also wonderful beaches for practicing water sports and relaxing, too. At night, you can hang out at bars and nightclubs. Drinks are cheaper than in other European cities and the discos close as late that you will have to have breakfast before you go home. I really enjoy my holidays in Valencia and there is a good opportunity to have a great time when I can’t afford to travel to another place.

Personally I prefer to travel abroad. Every year, I try to save some money to plan a great holiday with friends but unfortunately I can’t travel as much as I’d like to. I’ve been to London, Glasgow and Dublin and I had a wonderful time in all these places. I think travelling is not too expensive if you plan it carefully and in advance. I love planning trips with friends because it seems to me as if the holiday has already started. I also like travelling with my family and dogs but this kind of holidays are more for relaxing.

I don’t usually buy many souvenirs but I have a kind of tradition with my best friend that consists in buying a postcard of every place we visited and send it to us from that particular place. We’ve been doing this for years so I have hundreds of postcards.

I’m really looking forward to going to my next trip. I’m travelling to Italy, in particular to Rome and Florence with one of my best friends for a week. I planned this trip last month and I think it didn’t cost much money because I booked everything in advance:  the accommodation, the flights and the train tickets. Now, we have to plan the visits to the museums and churches but we have a lot of time to do it until August.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say about this topic. I hope I wasn’t too boring and thank you very much for listening to me

MONOLOGUE: TECHNOLOGY

Hello, my name is Maru and I'm going to talk about technology. From my point of view this is an important topic because we use technology in almost every aspects of our daily life. I’ll focus my monologue on talking about the internet, mobile phones and my personal experience.

Nowadays we need the internet for almost everything. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t have WhatsApp o a Facebook profile for example. But the internet is not only used for social networking sites o messeges services. You can use it for applying for a job using useful webs like Infojobs or even for paying taxes. However, this new techcnology has also some disadvantages. Your privacy migh be in danger if you are the kind of person who shares every second of his life on the net. Moreover, most people spend more time spying on other people’s lives than on his on life. I think if we use the internet properly can be a very useful tool for making our lives much easier.

Then I’d like to speak about mobiles phones. I think that the main advantage of having a mobile phone is that you can communicate yo your family and friends wherever you are by calling or sending messenges. However, they aren’t only used for making phone calls, you can also use your mobile phone’s applications for playing games, listening to your favorite music, taking photographs, shopping online and many other things. On the other hand, there are also some disadvantages. Using your mobile phone when you are working, studying  or doing and important activity that requires all your attention can be a serious problem. For example, if you look at your mobile while you are driving, you will be more likely to have an accident. So, as I said before about the internet, this technology has to be used properly and when it is necessary or when we have some free time.

Finally I’d like to talk about my personal experience. I use techology a lot for everything. If I had more money I would buy the state of the art gadgets because the main disadvante of technology is that become obsoleted very fast. My favorite gadget is my mobile phone because as I said before, It can be used not only for making phones calls but also to write emails, make videos, record audios, listening to music, and lots of things. I use my mobile phone even to pay the rent of my house. Sometimes I spend too much time on watching youtube videos or messeging on Whatsapp groups. It’s a way of wasting my time but I have to learn to manage these situations.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say about this topic. I hope I was clear and thank you very much for listening to me.

MONOLOGUE: SPORTS

Good morning, my name is Maru and I’m going to talk about sports. I think this is a difficult topic for me because I’m not very athletic and I don’t like pretty much sports but I’ll try to say some ideas in three minutes. First I’ll speak about how I keep fit, then about the benefits of keeping fit and finally about what is the most popular sport in Spain.

I’ll start talking about my experience. I don’t practice any sport but I try to go to the gym at least three times a week. I have a sedentary work so I know I have to do something to keep fit and to avoid the consequences of being on the couch watching the television all day. I chose the gym closest to my home so I wouldn’t have an excuse not to go. My favorite class is body combat. In this activity I have a teacher who is leading all the movements that we have to do. Body combat is class based on martial arts and it is basically cardiovascular exercise. I really keen on this class because apart from being a way of burning calories, it’s also a way of relieving stress.

Secondly I’d like to say that physical exercise has a lot of benefits. For example, regular activity and a healthy diet can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels and that can help reduce the risk of illnesses such as heart diseases. Also, exercise is necessary to have strong bones, to have a lot of energy and to reduce the stress. Therefore, if we want to live longer, healthy and happy, we must include physical exercise in our daily lives.

Finally, I’m going to talk about the most popular sport in Spain which is football. I think the reason for it could be because you only need a minimum of two players and a ball to play for fun and you can also play it almost anywhere. Furthermore the television and advertisement play an important role to promote football. Every week you can watch a match for free on the TV and if it is not free, you can go to a pub and watch the match with friends and have a great time. I think in Spain this became a kind of tradition especially between young people.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say about sports. I hope I wasn’t too boring and thank you very much for listening to me.

MONOLOGUE: CINEMA

Good morning, my name is Maru and I’m going to talk about cinema. I think this is a fantastic topic for me because I really love going to the cinema. I’ll focus my speech in three points: the advantages and disadvantages and my preferences.

I usually watch films at the cinema because it has a huge screen and a Dolby sound which is very important if there are special effects like in sci-fiction films. It seems like if you were inside the movie and that is the main advantage that the cinema has. You can also have a great time eating pop-corn and enjoying the movie with friends. Furthermore is a good opportunity to train your ear when you are learning a language if you watch films in original version.

On the other hand, there are also some disadvantages. Nowadays the price of the ticket in Spain is too expensive although we have the spectator’s day. In this special day, usually Wednesday, the tickets have a considerably discount. However, I don’t usually go on Wednesday to the cinema because it is a working day and I don’t have free time. If the spectator’s day were at the weekends, I wouldn’t miss any good movie.

Talking about my preferences, I really like several kinds of movie such as rom-com, sci-fi and horror films. The last movie I watched was The Avengers: age of ultron. It is the second part of the movie based on the Marvel comic. The special effects of this movie were amazing and it has action from the first minute. I really recommend watching it if you are fond of Marvel comics like me.

Well, that’s all I have to say about this topic. I hope I wasn’t too boring and thank you very much for listening to me.