The latest films I have watched ...

Had I not trusted my instinct and I would have missed a very interesting film, which having been referred to as a comedy (which I very rarely watch), was in fact a biographical film on the life of the producer's father whilst in Iran and later on in France.

Despite the hardships the main character had to go through during his emprisonment in the epoch of the Shah of Iran and the subsequent disappointment throughout the Khomeyni ruling period All three of us provided the viewer with a somewhat rather intelligent approach to one's life path highlighting one's principles and personality traits.

The second film I watched - The Man who knew Infinity was a biography as well and a particularly interesting one, which again highlighted one's resilience and how far one can go regardless of the obstacles one has to overcome.


Set against the outbreak of World War I the true story based film focuses on the friendship between a self-taught Indian mathematics genius (Ramanujan) and a rather eccentric, though brilliant professor G. H. Hardy) at Trinity College, Cambridge - a friendship that forever changed Mathematics.

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"The man who knew infinity stands on its own merit thanks in great measure to Patel and Irons, who give us engaging characters. This is not so much a film about understanding the numbers but understanding the men who made us see thier merit, and the passion that drives each of us to find true meaning in our lives."





Despite being completely different they do have something in common - they are both thought-provoking, particularly in regards to one's life path and what role one can (should) play in it regardless of the prejudices ... and any other obstacles one might have to face along the way.

The Summer English Course for 6 and 7 year old children - Day 4 - The 14th of July 2016

(...)

We had a quiet morning till the break in which I felt really proud of the children and what we had achieved as we worked through rehearsing and doing some new identification exercises. A moment of collective euphoria made me feel unexpectedely disappointed and I must confess I didn't take it lightly and silently showed the children how sad I had suddenly become. 

Classes ended twenty minutes earlier, though I still managed to hand them some pages from a book of puppets and show them a water puppet performance video, so they could identify the difference between the various types of performing puppets. 

Ana and I finally finished decorating the room for the exhibition having displayed some of the dolls from countries I had spoken of during the course not only because of the 3D constructions the boys had made but also the children, whose lives they had become acquainted whilst watching the film on paths to school.

Because I had some puppets like the ones they saw in the pages they had been handed out I also decided to have themon display.

I honestly don't know what the final performance will be like but I'd like to believe they will not let me down ...

(To be continued)

The Summer English Course for 6 and 7 year old children - Days 2 and 3 - The 12th and 13th of July 2016

I had asked João, a former colleague who has recently retired to come and take some photos of the children's rehearsal performance, once he is a keen photographer whom I had counted on several times before during the children's Summer courses. By the time he reached the centre we had already covered the vocabulary which was needed, done some exercises and had our morning break. 

Children were working on their artistic projects, some of which looked as if they wouldn't be finished in time for the Friday exhibition (according to the photos I had taken the previous evening as I cleaned the classroom), Big Ben and Eifffel Tower being the exceptions regarding the boys' artistic pieces, together with Camila's painting on the part of the girls'.  

Before we called in the course secretary to watch the rehearsal João strolled around the working room and still managed to see the above mentioned finished works.

As Ana and I got the children ready for the rehearsal we weren't exactly sure what would come out of it, but I am glad to say that it must have been one their best performances. Isabel and João were both impressed, and so were we.


After having witnessed what the children were able to do in such a short period of time (two mornings) I felt a lot more reassured as to  the forthcoming Friday's performance for the parents and grandparents, as well as the author of the book whom I intend to send the film and photos to.

The children's facial expressions together with the obvious enjoyment say it all ... 

Camila, Salvador, Filipa and Luz spent the afternoon with us and thus managed to finish their artistic pieces, with Camila having done two for the exhibition.

Wednesday was strictly speaking a hard working day with no time for photographs, though I managed to film two of the reaharsals, one in the classroom and another one in the auditorium, where the  children will be performing next Friday. We finally covered all the vocabulary and  I am proud to say that all the artistic pieces were finished and positioned in the right places for the Art exhibition.

We have still got a lot of decorating to do in the classroom in spite of having counted with Camila; Salvador and Filipa's precious help, once they spent the afternoon with us., 

(To be continued)