New Bilingual Blog about Transsiberian Journey

... you may find it here:
http://russia2mongolia.blogspot.com/

It includes a day to day account of our transsiberian journey from Moscow to Mongolia, in English and French! - I have started already with our arrival to Moscow at the end of July 2006!

Hopefully I will soon work out how to include sounds etc.... as I made quite interesting recordings along our journey, in terms of people we met and sounds from the places we visited... (plus the epic recording of my first train ticket purchase!!! Honestly, well worth it if only for entertainment value frankly!!!)

:-)

Lxox

From Russia (& Mongolia!) with love!

Am just back today from Mongolia, after an epic journey via Beijing and a rather panicky Heathrow airport ("you, get rid of your mongolian whisky, and quicker than that!" - or else put it in a plastic bottle and place it in a completely unsuitable rucksack, hoping for the best...)

Too tired to say much after a 26 hours journey, which was a complete downer after the fantastic views I have enjoyed in the last few days in Mongolia!

Our transsiberian journey went extremely well (I even managed to "improve" on my very rubbish russian skills! - I was actually very pleased to have taken some classes, given the complete lack of cooperation of the various ladies we encountered at the tickets offices... except in Tobolsk where the clerk was extremely helpful and pleasant! She even smiled, and it was not just because she was happy to see us go - at least that's what I think!)

I will try and post some photos and comments in the next few days, once I have recovered from jetlag (c'est pas gagne d'avance!) and will attempt to write posts in English and French with sound extracts (but it may be a tad too technical for me!!!)

Thanks for everyone who has been in touch - this was certainly a trip worth doing! And for all the young parents out there - my 9 year old bundle-of-love was fantastic and enjoyed everything - in fact he would have prefered to stay in Mongolia!!!

Ta-ta for now, and will post soon
Lxox

New Autumn French Classes!!

I am sorry that I am a bit in a rush with this - am leaving tomorrow for my transsiberian journey from Russia to Mongolia, and time just does not have an elastic quality unfortunately!

Anyway, I am sure that I will have plenty of stories to tell on my return (in particular about the sad state of my Russian language skills, though I will do my utmost to make my tutor Natasha proud, of course!!)

I am planning quite a number of new things, in particular a short course for 'false beginners' in French, ie people who have studied the language at school up to GSCE level, but think they have forgotten most of it. The idea of the short course is that the students will then be able to join the longer Post-Beginner French, running from October through to December - hence making their learning more efficient, instead of trapping them in an Absolute Beginners Course!

Also, I have decided to re-focus the Advanced group onto something more geared up towards French current affairs, as I think my previous conversational format was perhaps a bit too relaxed... It will be quite a challenging course, but I am certain students will progress steadily!

My 'learning through film' course is continuing valiantly... I am still very pleased with the obvious results it has in terms of improving the understanding of rapidly spoken French . Hopefully I will not run out of good French films!!!! If you are interested in this course, please do not hesitate to let me have your thoughts on the matter, bearing in mind we have already covered Amelie, Les Choristes and Les Enfants du Paradis, among others....

Finally, as far as news are concerned... I have decided following pressure (you know who you are!!) to start organising sessions to help parents who want their young children to experience French language and culture. It will hopefully equip them with the necessary tools to make the whole experience enjoyable to all parties. As a Mum myself, I have the experience of educating a bilingual child, and I can give you advice on how best to achieve this, if this is something you are interested in.

Anyway, I am off to my bed, awaiting an early start tomorrow! The airag awaits, as well as the large steppe of Mongolia. (OK, and the Gobi Desert, but maybe I am a tad too ambitious for my short stay!)

A bientot - More details below about the classes I am offering in the Autumn - Don't hesitate to contact me by email for more info: lise@edilang.com



::: New evening classes in September:::
4 weeks courses, for £40.00
STARTING : w/c 4 Sept ENDING w/e 29 Sept 2006

:::False Beginners: Mondays: 6-7.30pm:::
:::Post-Beginners: Mondays: 7.45-9.15pm:::
:::Elementary 1: Tuesdays: 7.45-9.15pm:::
:::Elementary 2 Pure Conversation: Tuesdays: 6-7.30pm:::
:::Intermediate 3: Thursdays: 6-7.30pm:::
:::Intermediate 1: Wednesdays: 6-7.30pm:::
:::Advanced Conversation / Current Affairs: Wednesdays: 7.45-9.15pm:::
:::Improving listening comprehension through Film: Thursdays: 7.45-9.15pm:::
Please contact me (Lise) now to register your interest: lise@edilang.com. I will be available at the end of August for a free assessment of your current level.

::: New evening classes in October:::
10 weeks courses for £92.50
STARTING : w/c 2 Oct ENDING w/e 15 Dec 2006 (with a break for mid-term the 3rd week of October)

:::Absolute Beginners: Mondays: 6-7.30pm:::
:::Post-Beginners: Mondays: 7.45-9.15pm:::
:::Elementary 1: Tuesdays: 7.45-9.15pm:::
:::Elementary 2: Tuesdays: 6-7.30pm:::
:::Refreshers: Thursdays: 6-7.30pm:::
:::Intermediate 1: Wednesdays: 6-7.30pm:::
:::Advanced Conversation / Current Affairs: Wednesdays: 7.45-9.15pm:::
:::Improving listening comprehension through Film: Thursdays: 7.45-9.15pm:::

As usual, please contact me (Lise) now to register your interest: lise@edilang.com. I will be available at the end of August for a free assessment of your current level.


New course: French for Parents
Keep your eyes peeled for my new monthly seminars for parents of children under 2.
The course will last for 3 hours, and will help you to introduce effectively French to your baby or toddler, through songs, nursery rhymes and other games that will engage your child.
The cost for the first 3 hours session will be £25, and will include a CD with typical French songs, as well as a booklet to guide you after the seminar – and of course refreshments such as tea, coffee, etc.
The first one will take place either on Saturday 23 or 30th of September 2006: please contact me now to register your interest, and indicate your preference in terms of dates: lise@edilang.com


Thank you!!!!

Lise Morel

:: 5-10 MAY 2006 ::

:: Friday 5 May :: Exhibition ::
::The Auld Alliance 2006 ::
"Coinciding with the 'Fizzers' exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, the Scottish Cartoon Art Studio present this collection of over 30 original cartoons comparing and contrasting Scottish and French art, cuisine, history and popular culture."

:: Where :: Institut Francais d'Ecosse
:: When :: 4 May-30 Jun, not 22 May
:: How Much? :: Free!

:: Saturday 6 May :: Film ::
::The Double Life of Veronique ::
"(15) Two girls - one Polish, the other French - are born at the same time on the same day and come to discover that their fates are bound up together. An eerily fascinating and disturbing erotic dance of love and death from the director of 'Dekalog2 ('The Ten Commandments'), with an extraordinary twin performance by Cannes award-winner Jacob."

:: Where :: Filmhouse
:: When :: 6-7 May: 8.45; 8 May: 2.00; 9-11 May: 4.15 8.45
:: How Much? :: Check on Filmhouse website.
:: More info::

:: Sunday 7 May :: Film ::
:: Hidden (Caché) ::
"Georges (Auteuil) the presenter of a literary review programme on French TV, and his publisher wife Anne (Binoche) receive packages containing videos shot outside their nice suburban house. As the tapes and the drawings they come wrapped in become more personal and alarming, Georges begins to lose his mind. Haneke has always diffused polemic through the most personal of scenarios. 'Hidden' is a devastating, giddying examination of middle class smugness, the burden of the past and the deeply objectional self obsessions of the intellectual. Beautifully acted, paced, edited and directed, it will leave you gasping and perplexed as all great cinema should. If you want to know why 30 French towns and cities burned in October and November of 2005, the answer is here."

:: Where :: Cameo
:: When :: 5-9 May: 12.55; 10-11 May: 12.55 6.45
:: More info ::

Attention: Special double bill on the 7th with Code Unknown . (13:30)
On a busy Parisian street, Anne (Juliette Binoche), an actress on the brink of success, bumps into Jean (Alexandre Hamidi), the younger brother of her non-committal war photographer partner Georges (Neuvic). After disclosing that he has run away from his father's farm, Jean casullay humiliates Maria (Luminita Gheorghiu), a Romanian illegal immigrant, by dropping his rubbish into her lap as she begs. The incident, which leads to Maria's deportation, is spotted by Amadou (Yenke), a teacher of deaf children who angrily remonstrates with Jean. It is an incident which briefly links the lives of these five very different people. This is a remarkably conceived film from Director Michael Haneke, about the nature of communication, disassociation through technology and the comfort to be found in an entirely non-committal lifestyle. His rigourous visual approach of long uninterrupted wide shots that create blocks of real time is, thankfully, neither self-regarding nor pretentious. Instead, a slow and almost invisible accretion of emotion and incident pulls the viewer in steadily as he veers from the banal to the poetic whilst never offering anything less than profound honesty.
Note: this film is subtitled

:: Tuesday 9 May :: Conversation ::
:: The world ::

::Where :: The World (pub), in Thistle Street
:: When :: 9 May 2006, 9-11pm
:: How much? :: Free

:: Wednesday 10 May :: Lecture ::
:: Visiting Picasso: Evening Lecture & Book Launch ::

::Where :: Weston Link (Hawthornden Lecture Theatre)
:: When :: 10 May 2006, 6-7.30pm
:: How much? :: Free
:: Further info :: No booking required, unticketed.

"Visiting Picasso (Thames & Hudson) brings together, for the first time, the notebooks and letters of Roland Penrose detailing his many encounters with Pablo Picasso. It is edited by Elizabeth Cowling, Reader in History of Art at the University of Edinburgh. In this special evening event and book launch, she will be in conversation with Antony Penrose (son of Roland Penrose) and Richard Calvocoressi, Director of the Gallery in Modern Art. A book signing follows the talk."