#multilingual reading

An analysis of the education system Emilie Bourdeleau works in versus the one I do. Le chant du coq - Arlette Cousture

Full disclosure: I have read this book before and written about it on the blog. If you look up the tag “Arlette Cousture” you can find previous entries. What made me want to go back and read it again is pretty simple. First of all, I like rereading books and I remember really liking this one. Also, I’d like to finish the trilogy and it helps to refresh your memory before going back.…

Finishing my Isabel Allende books and Afterwards…

As I went to update my “libros” page of books read, I discovered that Mas Alla del Invierno is the thirtieth book I’ve read in Spanish in the two years since I started my blog. There are another twenty three titles in French. That’s at least fifty books I’ve read in languages, which is pretty damn respectable. Apparently setting a concrete goal actually helped me accomplish my goal, which was to…

Code switching and dedication to languages (Livre 22) Being multilingual and the click in your head when you switch languages, also making peace with not devoting my all to language learning

It’s a summer morning, my friend’s birthday actually, and I’m sitting with a mug of coffee having just hit the 60% mark of Bondree on my Kindle. It continues to be really good, if not what I usually read. I’m not big into thrillers, but the language is so lush and the pacing so beautiful on this one that I’m happy to step outside my comfort zone. I’m also happy to be reading this a little before…

Obligation reading - book clubs, language learning, signing up for guilt and going back to university in French again

I don’t know anybody who isn’t familiar with obligation reading. It’s the stuff you read because you have to. Most of the time we experience this phenomena with elementary, high school or university. There’s a reason why I marked off the books I read as part of a course on my libros and livres pages. When I was little I did a lot of obligation reading inspired by my grandfather’s idea about what…

Livre 23: Rereading and the value of going slow

The image here is a watercolour drawing I did last night during craft club. I didn’t have any major project underway so I just dabbled with my beloved watercolour brush pens, playing with colours. I made it while talking to friends and talking about craft. There is something peaceful about that. I’ve been rereading Bondree from the beginning and it’s much more satisfying. I’m using my Kindle…

Today at work I was reading Matilda by Roald Dahl to the kids I supervise. The first chapter is all about Matilda becoming a reader and discovering the library. I loved this book when I was little as a precocious reader myself, but it holds up well. At one point Matilda is talking about her experience reading classical literature. The interaction goes as follows: “Mr. Hemmingway says a lot of…

Libro 27: El Amante Japones by Isabel Allende

Yes, more Isabel Allende. Look, until I’ve read them all in Spanish that is what this blog is going to be about.

There are things that come along with having a favourite writer. You develop a relationship with their work longterm, not just individual books but the overall flow of their creativity and thinking. You can see elements of things you love in the books you aren’t crazy about, and you…

Interview with Patrick Goddard: Part 1

DSF: Daniela Smith-Fernandez. PG: Patrick Goddard

DSF: So can you start by just introducing yourself?

PG: Sure. My name is Patrick Goddard. I know you from MainLine Theatre and the Montreal Fringe Festival where I was the volunteer coordinator and the General Manager for about twelve years I guess?

DSF: Wow I didn’t know it was that long.

PG: (laughs) So I did that for…