23 APRIL, WORLD BOOK DAY

23 April: a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.

The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George's Day, a rose is traditionally given as a gift for each book sold. 

To celebrate books and reading on this day I want to share a poem with you:

IF: A FATHER'S ADVICE TO HIS SON by Rudyard Kipling

What makes a boy into a man? ( and may I add, What makes a girl into a woman?)

Courage.

Confidence.

Patience.

Integrity...

For more than one hundred years, this classic poem has inspired readers to reach for the best in themselves.

Here's a video of the poem read by Tom O'Bedlam, taken from his  Youtube Channel: SpokenVerse.  I hope he doesn't mind my using it here now. I strongly recommend his channel to everyone who's learning English and likes good literature. It's a pleasure to listen to him.

And now, for those who need a little bit more motivation, the same poem read by Federer and Nadal:

The Spanish translation  

Si (Rudyard Kipling)--------------------


Si puedes conservar la cabeza cuando a tu alrededor
todos la pierden y te echan la culpa;
si puedes confiar en tí mismo cuando los demás dudan de tí,
pero al mismo tiempo tienes en cuenta su duda;
si puedes esperar y no cansarte de la espera,
o siendo engañado por los que te rodean, no pagar con mentiras,
o siendo odiado no dar cabida al odio,
y no obstante no parecer demasiado bueno, ni hablar con demasiada sabiduria...

Si puedes soñar y no dejar que los sueños te dominen;
si puedes pensar y no hacer de los pensamientos tu objetivo;
si puedes encontrarte con el triunfo y el fracaso (desastre)
y tratar a estos dos impostores de la misma manera;
si puedes soportar el escuchar la verdad que has dicho:
tergiversada por bribones para hacer una trampa para los necios,
o contemplar destrozadas las cosas a las que habías dedicado tu vida
y agacharte y reconstruirlas con las herramientas desgastadas...

Si puedes hacer un hato con todos tus triunfos
y arriesgarlo todo de una vez a una sola carta,
y perder, y comenzar de nuevo por el principio
y no dejar de escapar nunca una palabra sobre tu pérdida;
y si puedes obligar a tu corazón, a tus nervios y a tus músculos
a servirte en tu camino mucho después de que hayan perdido su fuerza,
excepto La Voluntad que les dice "!Continuad!".

Si puedes hablar con la multitud y perseverar en la virtud 
o caminar entre Reyes y no cambiar tu manera de ser;
si ni los enemigos ni los buenos amigos pueden dañarte,
si todos los hombres cuentan contigo pero ninguno demasiado;
si puedes emplear el inexorable minuto
recorriendo una distancia que valga los sesenta segundos
tuya es la Tierra y todo lo que hay en ella,
y lo que es más, serás un hombre, hijo mío.

i carry your heart with me by ee cummings

So I feel like sharing with you a beautiful poem by an American poet, ee cummings. I know you don't usually read poetry, much less in English, but I think you may like this. Like Emily Dickinson, he wrote simple poems, easy to understand. He experimented with syntax, punctuation and spelling (no, I made no mistakes: He never used capital letters). I really enjoy poets like him, I hope you do too.

So this is it:


i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

Conditionals: a poem

As we are learning the conditional sentences in 4 year, I thought I would share with you a beautiful poem by Emily Dickinson, one of my favourite poets in the English Language.
Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote (19th century); they contain short lines, have no titles, and often use unconventional capitalization and punctuation. I think that because of that they're not too difficult to understand.

So, here it is:

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

Emily Dickinson

If you like this poem, I encourage you to read more: you can find lots of poems by Dickinson and others (with the Spanish translation) in this great blog