• Pompidou Centre. An “exhibition without exhibits” is on show at the famous Pompidou Centre in Paris. The exhibition ‘Voids, a Retrospective’ is on the fourth floor, filling five rooms with…..nothing. The rooms are empty, the walls white and the floors bare. The exhibition celebrates the work of the minimalist artist Yves Klein and costs €40 to 'see'! More here.


• Nicolas Sarkozy will be presented next week with proposals to redraw the map of France and which are likely to cause uproar. The present 22 regions would be reduced to 15. Paris would be expanded to a ‘grand Paris’, Brittany would reclaim some territory around Nantes and Picardy would disappear. To read more see here

Segovia and Ávila

The last full day of the Salamanca trip took us to the old capital of Castille and its famous aqueduct, which is 900 yards long and comprises 166 arches. It is thought to have been built under the emperor Trajan. According to a popular legend, sloth, rather than Romans, was responsible for the construction of the aqueduct. A woman who worked as a water carrier, fed up with hauling her pitcher through the steep streets of the city, made a pact with the devil: the devil could take her soul if water would arrive at her doorstep before the cockerel crowed. To cut a long story short, she repented and her soul was saved.

Segovia is also famous for its Alcázar, which started off as an Arab fort. At the end of the 11th century it was conquered by el Rey Alfonso VI. During the Middle Ages, the Alcázar of Segovia was the favourite residence of kings of Castile. A fire in 1862 destroyed part of the roofs, but they were restored in the very same style they were built more than 300 years ago. It is an excellent example of the mudéjar style: a fusion of Christian and Moorish traditions after the reconquista. Its stucco ceilings are particularly impressive, especially the salón de piñas (pine-cone room, pictured).

Finally, we made a short stop in Ávila, which at 3665 feet above sea level is Spain’s highest town. It is famous for its chuletón (similar to a porterhouse steak) and, most importantly, boasts Spain’s most complete mediaeval walls, built around 1090.

Entre les Murs

Entre les murs is a novel written by François Bégaudeau in 2006.  A former teacher, he based his book on his experiences teaching teenagers in a rather run-down suburb (the 19ième arrondissement) of Paris.  What is different in this story is that the teacher is not the usual ‘hero’, and from that point of view it   

comes across as being much more realistic.  The teacher and pupils are human, both are imperfect and capable of mistakes.  The book was made into a film and stars the author himself as the teacher in question.The Class (as the film is titled in English and directed by Laurent Cantet) won La Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival last year.  The film opens in Dublin next week. It was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language section but did not win.  The book is coming to the library and a group of deserving pupils will be going to see the film, accompanied by a deserving teacher!

El museo taurino

On the Friday, we had a guided tour of the bullfighting museum of Salamanca. Diego explained how a corrida works. First the banderilleros put spikes in the bull's back to make him angry and then the matador fights the bull. depending on how well the matador performs, he is awarded one ear, two ears or two ears and the tail. A clean kill is considered very important; the sword should be plunged between the animal's shoulder-blades and pierce the heart. In exceptional circumstances, the audience can spare the bull if he has shown great valour. Last year 37 were spared out of a total of 10,000 (that makes 0.37%).

In a corrida, six bulls are killed: two for each torero. Afterwards the meat is sold in the market. A corrida lasts just over two hours and costs €20 for the cheapest seats in the sun (sol) up to €110 for the most expensive ones in the shade (sombra).

International Mother Language Day

International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is observed every year by member states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It started in 1999 with the purpose of promoting linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. It also aims at protecting the hundreds of languages around the world that are in danger of dying out. The day has its origins in Bangladesh, who had celebrated its own language with its own Language Movement Day in 1952. Several Bangladeshi students were killed by police for campaigning for the Bangla language to be included as a main language in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Even though their protests were peaceful, the police opened fire.

UNESCO stated that "by deciding to celebrate mother tongues…member states wished to recall that languages are not only an essential part of humanity's cultural heritage, but the irreducible expression of human creativity and of its great diversity." IMLD celebrates the fact that 6,000 languages are spoken around the world today. Each year has had a special theme. In 2002, UNESCO promoted its ‘3,000 Languages in Danger’ campaign. In 2005, people commemorated Braille and sign languages. A UNESCO spokesperson said “Languages are the mirror of the souls of the societies in which they are born.” The former President of Iceland said languages were "humanity's most precious and fragile treasures."

El mercado

In Spain, every bit of the pig is eaten, as our group found out at the market. As we left the market, we had some budding vegetarians. Here are some handy words for a few of the titbits we saw. They are all in the photos. Can you spot them?

cochinillo suckling pig

callos tripe

manitas trotters

lengua tongue
riñones kidneys

criadillas testicles

sesos brain

morro snout

¡Tienes un morro!
Literally: "You've got a snout"
Means: "You've got a cheek"

Las Torres de la Catedral

Salamanca actually has two adjoining cathedrals, a Romanesque one built in the twelfth century and a larger Late Gothic one built in the sixteenth. The earlier building was used for classes and hence another was needed. The tower which we went up is leaning due to damage from the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. It is held together by massive iron rings and you can see cracks in the interior (pictured). There is an impressive view of the río Tormes and the Palacio del Obispo (Bishop's Palace), from where Franco formally declared war in 1936.

Palabra Clave: gallo
This means cockerel and there is one on the weather-vane of the cathedral. Behind it you can see a cigüeño (stork). Midnight mass at Christmas is called la misa del gallo. Also, if you say tengo un gallo (en la garganta), it means 'I have a frog in my throat'

Una excursión a la sierra

After a morning of churros, a long walk in the country was called for. Yesterday morning, we left to visit the sierra de los franceses, about an hour from Salamanca. We bought some local embutido (cured pork, esp.sausage) to make sandwiches and set off from the picturesque village of La Alberca (place of water in Arabic). A brisk three and a half miles through woods and across streams brought us back to our coach.

Palabra clave: sierra
This word means 'saw' and its secondary meaning, derived from the shape of its teeth, is 'mountain range'. serrano is the adjective from sierra. Thus jamón serrano is mountain ham.

¡Chocolate con churros!

Yesterday, for breakfast, we all had a traditional Spanish breakfast. Churros are deep-fried rings of batter. These are dipped in a hot chocolate, which is much thicker than what we are used to. Excellent for slimmers! Many of the group found them too greasy, but a couple of us finished our plates and then felt queasy for a good few hours after. Best saved for special occasions…

Nuestra familia española

Alex and Zuleika talk about their Spanish family…

Nuestra madre se llama María. Tiene cincuenta anos, más o menos. Tiene dos hijos que se llaman Juan y Daniel. Está separada. Es bastante baja y muy simpática. Es muy buena cocinera. Ayer cenamos arroz con ajo, huevos fritos y salchichas. De postre, tomamos un yogur. Vive en un apartamento al lado de su hijo. También vive un chico irlandés en el piso. Es de Sandycove, a unos veinte minutos de SCC. Lleva seis semanas en Salamanca.

Salamanca Trip: Monday 16th February

After a long journey on the Sunday, we all arrived in Salamanca at 9.30 pm and were met by our families as we got off the coach. A late dinner was followed by an early night. On Monday morning, we had a guided tour and learned about the history of the city. Amongst other things, we saw La Casa de Las Conchas (about which more on a later post), the cathedral and the university, which is the third oldest in Europe and built largely in the estilo plateresco. The walk finished in the Plaza Mayor, which is considered by many to be the most beautiful in Spain (others prefer Madrid). Above each arch there is a medallion representing a famous figure: conquistador, writer or monarch. Despite his questionable role in Spanish history, Franco, el Caudillo de España, is still represented.

In the afternoon, pupils had lessons which concentrated on verb tenses and conversation and after that the over sixteens went to a disco in the club Camelot.

Tournois des Six Nations : L’Irlande victorieuse

Exactly 100 years ago the first Ireland v France rugby match was played, and here Fred Mann (Form V) tells us about his experience of the cracking centenary encounter in Croke Park last Saturday.

On leaving the bus we were greeted by crowds of people, all walking in the same direction, walls of green punctuated by pockets of blue and red. The talk of old men arguing about how badly France were going to lose, and the odd group of people in blue scarves arguing in French, no doubt, about how badly Ireland were going to lose.
In the stand I was mainly surrounded by Irish fans but there was also the odd “ tricolore” waving (in its original red white and blue form!). The French presence was shown in the singing of “La Marseillaise”, the national anthem, a sound that rivalled the singing of “Ireland’s call” which echoed though the ground in a deafening roar.
As the match kicked off there was a tumult that climaxed as the ball was lofted up by Lionel Beauxis, only to be gathered into the safe hands of Jamie Heaslip (the man of the match). A penalty from Ronan O’Gara was enough to send the Irish section of the crowd wild, but spurred on by chants of “Allez les bleus” the French replied with a try that was well worked and took the Irish by surprise. Ireland replied almost immediately with a superb try by Jamie Heaslip, right in front of our stand. This promptly quietened the French fans who had begun to create a wall of noise in support of “l’équipe de France”.
As the second half started, one of the most exciting matches of recent years began to open up. Ireland scored again thanks to Brian O’Driscoll, and the crowd erupted into a roar on a par with a thunderclap. Victory was becoming more and more certain, but just as the Irish fans began to feel more comfortable the French scored the most amazing try with a cross field kick. At this point the brass band began to play once more and, backed by this, ”Les Bleus” began to sing in a deafening forte - broken only by Irish substitute Gordon D’Arcy scoring a try in his come-back match. The Irish supporters responded with a slow crescendo of “The Fields of Athenry” that drowned out the loudest of French calls. What followed was ten minutes of desperate French attack with both teams being spurred on all the way by their supporters. The scrambling Irish defence held fast, and when Celtophile referee Nigel Owens blew the final whistle this heralded scenes of Irish joy unsurpassed since the famous Croke Park defeat of England in 2007.

Les magazines Phosphore et Okapi

Le saviez-vous ?

Depuis plusieurs années la Bibliothèque de Saint Columba’s College est abonnée à Okapi et à Phosphore, deux revues de presse françaises pour les jeunes.
Okapi s’adresse surtout aux collégiens (entre 10 et 15 ans) et parait deux fois par mois. Phosphore est un magazine mensuel qui s’adresse aux lecteurs plus âgés des lycées (de 15 à 18 ans).
Ces magazines d’actualité pour les jeunes sont un moyen formidable d’améliorer son français tout en s’instruisant sur la culture et la société françaises ou sur l’actualité internationale. Toujours présentés de manière très attrayante, Phosphore et Okapi proposent des articles et des dossiers variés sur l’actualité et sur les préoccupations des jeunes. Pour le professeur de français, Okapi et Phosphore représentent donc une précieuse ressource en harmonie avec les centres d’intérêt des élèves.

Un rappel pour nos jeunes lecteurs irlandais:
Okapi et Phosphore sont écrits pour des lecteurs dont la langue maternelle est le français. Il est donc normal de ne pas comprendre tous les mots et il ne faut pas que cela vous décourage. Concentrez-vous plutôt sur ce que vous comprenez et vous vous surprendrez!
Rendez-vous à très bientôt à la bibliothèque !

Ce mois-ci dans Phosphore, vous trouverez un "dossier études" sur le bilinguisme: "Devenir bilingue, mission impossible?" Un dossier très intéressant, plein de conseils et d'informations sur l'apprentissage d'une langue étrangère. Egalement dans Phosphore ce-mois, un "dossier actualité" sur la télévision. A lire.

LE CARAMBAR
Yesterday, when wandering through the dorms, my eyes lighted with glee upon a little reminder of my childhood. My pulse raced, my heart quickened, a small fleck of saliva dribbled from the corner of my mouth. For there, in front of me, lay a Carambar wrapper. But someone had been there before me, and sadly the wrapper was empty...
In France, whether you are five or ninety five, everyone knows about this famous caramel sweet, and it has probably helped to enrich generations of French dentists.
The first Carambar (short for caramel bar, and christened “Caram’bar” until 1977) was created in 1954 in Marcq-en- Barœul, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, the most northerly region in France. Rumour has it that it was created by mistake, when surplus cacao was mixed with caramel due to a misfunctioning machine, thus producing unusually long bars of quite hard and very sticky caramel.
This sweet now comes in many different flavours: nougat, réglisse (liquorice), barbe à papa (candy-floss), fruit flavours, various drinks flavours such as coca-cola, orangina, grenadine...
Since 1969, Carambars have become famous for their jokes (or “blagues,”) which began to be printed inside the wrappers. (As often with French humour, many of these jokes translate badly into English!).
In 1981 "Les Bleus" won the Five Nations Championship (as usual) and François Mitterand became French president for the first time. It was in that year also that my mother (who is French) lost a tooth whilst attempting to chew on a Carambar (take note).
Carambars will shortly be appearing in a French lesson near you!

CARAMBAR – un portrait
Profil: Tueur de dents en série
Nationalité: Française

Année de naissance:1954
Domicile: Habite principalement en France
Chiffre de vente: environ 1 milliard de Carambars vendus en France par an (nb : au 1er janvier 2009, la population française est estimée à 64,3 millions d’habitants.)
Goût: caramel
Ingrédients: sirop de glucose, lait écrémé concentré sucré, sucre, huile de coprah hydrogénée, cacao maigre en poudre, sel, gélatine, arômes
Longueur: 8cm
Poids: 8g
Prix en 1954: 0,05 franc (ie: 0.007€)
Prix en 2009: 0.15€

Jules Verne

Le 8 février 1828 naît à Nantes, dans l’ouest de la France, l’écrivain français Jules Verne. Auteur de romans d’aventures et de science-fiction, il est l’un des pionniers dans ce genre littéraire et ses œuvres connaissent encore aujourd’hui un succès international.
Jules Verne est l’aîné d’une famille de cinq enfants et grandit dans la bourgeoisie nantaise, dans un milieu de navigateurs et d’armateurs. Elève au Lycée de Nantes (aujourd’hui le Lycée Clemenceau), Jules Verne est encouragé par son père à devenir avocat. Après son baccalauréat, il commence donc des études de droit à Nantes. A l’âge de vingt ans, il part terminer ses études à Paris où il fait la connaissance de l’écrivain Alexandre Dumas. C’est aussi à Paris qu’il s’intéresse de plus en plus au théâtre et fait ses débuts littéraires. Il refuse de succéder à son père à la fin de ses études et renonce ainsi à une carrière dans le droit. Il passe désormais beaucoup de temps à la Bibliothèque nationale et se passionne pour la science et les découvertes.
En 1863 paraît le roman Cinq semaines en ballon qui connaît un succès immédiat en France et ailleurs. Voici quelques grands succès de l’auteur : Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours, Voyage au centre de la Terre, De la Terre à la Lune, Vingt mille lieues sous les mers.
Jules Verne meurt le 24 mars 1905, à l’âge de soixante-dix-sept ans à Amiens.

La Zona

Last Monday the Spanish Sixth Form went to the Mermaid Theatre in Bray to see La Zona, a shocking portrayal of inequality and corruption in Mexico City. This is an outstanding film and we recommend it wholeheartedly. Below is Max Günnewig’s account:

El lunes pasado fui con mi clase de español a ver la película La Zona. Es dirigida por Barry Zetlin. La Zona está ambientada en las afueras de la Ciudad de México. Es una urbanización de lujo para la gente rica que trata de refugiarse de los crímenes. Una noche hay una tormenta y tres jóvenes se cuelan para robar. La dueña de la casa les sorprende y uno de los ladrones la mata. La alarma se va y guardias llegan. Un guardia y dos ladrones se matan a tiros. El tercer ladrón se da la fuga y los miembros de la zona le cazan. La zona es una película que nos hace pensar. La policía es corrupta y brutal. La gente de la comunidad protegida no tiene escrúpulos cuando caza al ladrón. La película nos muestra la vida auténtica de América latina y los problemas que hay que enfrentar. Podemos ver la diferencia entre la vida de los pobres y la vida de los ricos. El actor principal es Daniel Tovar que hace el papel de un chaval que ayuda al ladrón porque le da pena. Su representación es sobresaliente, particularmente cuando se pelea con su padre, que es el jefe de los vigilantes. La Zona es una producción excelente. Si pudiera decidir, le daría un Oscar.

Pétanque

The Primary French class are covering sports at the minute. Below is a description of the French game of Pétanque by Mark Russell.

Pétanque

Pétanque is a game played with two teams of either one, two or three players. Each player has three boules, large metal balls, and it’s not allowed to have more than twelve boules on the ground at one time. The boules are usually steel and are about 75 millimetres in diameter. There is also a 30 millimetre ball made of wood called a cochonnet which is sometimes known as a “jack”. Someone must draw a circle on the ground and then throw the jack away while standing in that circle. Players have to stand in the circle and try to get their boule as close to the jack as possible. You may also use your boule to knock your opposition’s boule away from the jack. Whichever team has the closest boule to the jack wins.

Maxime Du Camp

Form IV were asked to write a short biography for someone somehow associated with this week. Sope Anthony-Ojolola chose the photographer Maxime Du Camp was born on the 8th of February.

Maxime Du Camp

Maxime Du Camp was a French writer and a photographer. He was born in Paris on the 8th of February 1822. He was the son of a very successful surgeon. He’d always had a strong desire to travel, and after college he did just that with the help of his father’s assets. Maxime Du Camp travelled in Europe and the East from 1844-1845 and then again from 1849-1851 along with Gustave Flaubert, the famous French author. When he returned, he wrote about his experiences.
Du Camp became a founder of the Revue de Paris and a regular contributor to the Revue des deux mondes in 1851. He became an officer of the Legion of Honour in 1853. In 1860 he served as a volunteer with the Italian military and political figure, Giuseppe Garibaldi. Whilst doing this, Du Camp thought about his experiences in Expédition des deux Siciles.
Maxime Du Camp was nominated was for senate in 1870, but, because of the downfall of the Empire, his election was incredibly difficult. In 1880, he was elected as a member of the French Academy.
Du Camp was an early amateur photographer and his travel books were one of the first to be illustrated with photographs. He died in 1894 and was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris.

Anniversaire de Jacques Prévert

Jacques Prévert est né ce jour en 1900. C’était le poète le plus populaire du vingtième siècle. Sa première collection Paroles a paru en 1945. Il est mort en 1977 d’un cancer du poumon.

Voici un de ses poèmes plus connus. Il dépeint le désespoir d’une femme, qui se trouve coincée dans une relation qui s’effondre.



DEJEUNER DU MATIN

Il a mis le café
Dans la tasse
Il a mis le lait
Dans la tasse de café
Il a mis le sucre
Dans le café au lait
Avec la petite cuiller
Il a tourné
Il a bu le café au lait
Et il a reposé la tasse
Sans me parler Il a allumé
Une cigarette
Il a fait des ronds
Avec la fumée
Il a mis les cendres
Dans le cendrier
Sans me parler
Sans me regarder
Il s'est levé
Il a mis
Son chapeau sur sa tête
Il a mis
Son manteau de pluie
Parce qu'il pleuvait
Et il est parti
Sous la pluie
Sans une parole
Et moi j'ai pris
Ma tête dans ma main
Et j'ai pleuré.

La Chandeleur

Today is, as well as the birthday of Louis Marchand, also the feast of the presentation of Jesus, marked here in St Columba’s by a white chapel this morning. In France, this holiday is called la Chandeleur, Fête de la Lumière or crêpe day. On this day French people eat lots of crêpes but also do a bit of fortune telling while making them. Below are a few of the proverbs for the day. Remembering the weather today let’s see if any of them hold true!

À la Chandeleur, l'hiver cesse ou reprend vigueur.
On Candlemas, winter ends or strengthens.

À la Chandeleur, le jour croît de deux heures.
On Candlemas, the day grows by two hours.

Chandeleur couverte, quarante jours de perte.
Candlemas covered (in snow), forty days lost.

Rosée à la Chandeleur, hiver à sa dernière heure.
Dew on Candlemas, winter at its final hour.

On this day 2nd February

Joyeux anniversaire à Louis Marchand un compositeur et organiste français du 17e-18e siècle. Marchand est né le 2 février 1669 à Nevers. Un contemporain de Couperin, Marchand a tenu des positions notables dans les cathédrales célèbre comme l’église Saint Benoit et le couvent des Cordeliers à Paris.

Trouvez ci-joint un enregistrement de "Cromorne en taille" composé par Marchand et joué par Jean-Baptiste Robin.