CRUZ+DE+LA,+ALMUDENA


 * SUSHI FOR BEGINNERS. Marian Keyes[[image:keyes_sushi-for-beginners_uk.jpg width="127" height="200" align="left"]] **

==== **//Sushi for beginners//** is a novel from the international bestselling author Marian Keyes, released in 2000. Marian Keyes is born in Limerick (Ireland) in 1963. Since she started to write in 1995 she has sold over 22 million copies, and her books have been translated into 32 languages. ====

====Although many of her novels are known as comedies, they tackle serious themes often inspired in Keyes' own experiences, including domestic violence, drug abuse, mental illness, divorce and alcoholism. ==== ====She is regarded as a pioneer of the “chick lit” genre (stories for the modern women); her stories usually revolve around a strong female character who overcomes numerous obstacles to achieve happiness. ==== ====The story is set in the city of Dublin (Ireland). Lisa Edwards, a successful magazine editor expects to get a promotion to an important New York’s fashion magazine but she is sent to Dublin to launch a new young girls’ magazine instead. Lisa is a fashionable and ambitious woman, so she has to overcome her disappointment for being deported to a grey, raining and unfashionable country, and above all things she has to struggle against her loneliness in that foreign city. ==== ====Ashling Kennedy is the editor assistant of the new magazine. She´s a very organized woman with lot of worries and superstitions, from her lack of waist to her bad luck with men. ==== ====Clodagh Kelly is the Ashling’s gorgeous best friend. She has a very devout, patient and handsome husband, a nice house, and two lovely children, but she´s not yet satisfied with her life. ==== ==== **//Sushi for beginners //** revolves the life of these three women who despite their differences are living very similar big times and misfortunes always related with work, family, betrayal and love affairs. The book can be a bit hard to read because its extent (564 pages pocket edition) and because its colloquial vocabulary, but actually the plot is really interesting as it tackles such themes like women’s work condition, the obsession for the appearance or the depression. Also, the dialogue is quite intelligent and the author knows well how to combine fun and humor with more touching moments. ====

Other review: [] William Morrow, 2003 Lisa Edwards has busted her tail in the magazine business and now she's ready for the big move--to New York and one of the world's top magazines. Instead, she gets shuffled to Ireland to start a new magazine with little hope, little concept, and almost no money. Her bosses even assign her an assistant editor who can't write and who seems to need to fix everything. Assistant Editor Ashling Kennedy is still on the rebound from her last boyfriend and from losing a job over a bad recipe for stain remover. She's excited about her new job, until she meets Lisa the perfect bitch. Both women have problems with the men in their lives, both live to shop (although Lisa is a lot better at it). In an odd and somewhat unhealthy way, the two actually bond. SUSHI FOR BEGINNERS is sometimes funny and sometimes touching. Neither Lisa nor Ashling are especially admirable, or even sympathetic, but their increasingly heart-felt suffering makes them stand out. The novel touches on the issues of depression and homelessness, weaving these serious subjects seamlessly into fashion, discussions of where else to wear hair conditioner, and ongoing competition among women for the few good (and even not-so-good) men to be had.

SECOND PRESENTATION (9) for start (for a start) historical (pronounce the "h" Good text Caribbean (stress on the "e", not the "i") Very correct genres (/z>/, not /dz>/) Very good English-It sound like a very good, well-prepared, memorised text wait for the films to release on DVD(be released) Saturdays (/ª:/, not /u/) Talibans government (no "s") brother (/ª/, not /e/) girl is get rid of (is got/gotten) has barefoot? (is) lapidate (stone) nosense(nonsense) trailer (/ei/, not /ai/) sexi**s** in the society (sexi**sm** in society) consumism (consumerism) hypermarket (/ai/, not /i/) people start to run (started) others feel (felt)

UNIT 4 COMPOSITION

//Boyhood, scenes from provincial life// are the fictionalized memoirs of John Maxwell Coetzee, who was awarded with the 2003 Nobel Prize of Literature. This book released in 1997 and it continues in //Youth, scenes from provincial life II// (2002).

J. M. Coetzee was born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1940. Though his family was descended from early Dutch immigrants, they spoke English at home and Afrikaans with other relatives. They were a middle-class family, his father was an occasional lawyer while his mother worked as an schoolteacher. Coetzee has worked as a computer programmer, novelist, essayist, literary critic, linguist, translator and professor in several universities.

In this novel, told in third person, Coetzee traces his own childhood in an objective way, describing with a lot of details his day to day living in Cape Town and Worcester. He tells us about his experiences at school, his worries and his relationship with his relatives, especially with her mother, with whom he maintains a strong love-hate relationship. Furthermore, through telling his experiences in South Africa Coetzee tackles some sensitive issues, such political censorship, religious marginalization, identity and poverty.

//Boyhood, scenes from provincial life// is a pleasant book to read because is not so long and the vocabulary is not so difficult. Moreover, in my opinion, the best of the book is how the author communicate his sensitive way to look at things, tackling serious issues from the innocent point of view of Coetzee the child.

= = Hi, my name is Almudena, I’m twenty-five years old. I’m from Chiva, a town 30 km far from Valencia, where I’m living with my boyfriend in a pretty apartment. I did my degree in Media & Communications, but now I’m studying a Master in Cultural Management because I’m really interested in Culture, Ethnology and Arts.

Time bank: I don’t spend much time in Valencia so it’s a bit difficult for me to do time banking volunteering. However, I can offer French lessons (I have the EOI Intermediate Certificate), or help with PC basic programmes, Internet tools too.

I would like someone to practise speaking in English, and to explain some cooking recipes.

=** Very good **=

Hi Sushant,

It´s nice to hear such good news! I don´ t have any exams this year but I´m doing my final work for the master. However, I have a lot of free time to show you my town ( that i t´ s not so sprawling), you can come to visit me whenever you want. I can´t promise you to hit the town on your visit, you know life in the countryside it´s calmer and there aren´t many night clubs but I know one that you´ll really enjoy it, you´ ll see!

Anyway, restaurants are very cheap and we can go round to taste some typical meals. As I said you before, it´s not a really vibrant town unless you come for the festival days in August, when a lot of people come from the city to have fun here. You don´t have to worry about the language, in spite of the proximity with Valencia all the people here speak Castilian.

I´m so sorry you wont enjoy shopping because there are only a few expensive boutiques, but we can go to visit some beautiful monuments like //La torreta// (an ancient Moorish tower). In addition, we have a great landscape with a lot of natural fountains where we can go, you´ll really love the sensation of breathing fresh air!

Write soon. Lots of love,

Almudena de la Cruz

CORRECTIONS AND ASSESSMENT

Hi Sushant,

It´s nice to hear such good news! I don´ t have any exams this year but I´m doing my final pr oject for the master. However, I have a lot of free time to show you my town, which is not so sprawling. You can visit me whenever you want. I can´t promise you will hit the town on your visit. You know life in the countryside is calmer and there aren´t many night clubs but I know one that you´ll really enjoy ; you´ ll see!

Anyway, the restaurants are very cheap and we can go round to taste some typical meals. As I said before, it´s not a really vibrant town unless you come for the festival days in August, when a lot of people come from the city to have fun here. You don´t have to worry about the language. In spite of the proximity with Valencia all the people here speak Castilian.

I´m so sorry you won´t enjoy shopping because there are only a few expensive boutiques, but we can visit some beautiful monuments like //La torreta// (an ancient Moorish tower). Besides(*), we have a great landscape with a lot of natural fountains where we can go, you´ll really love the sensation of breathing fresh air!

Write soon. Lots of love,

Almudena de la Cruz

(*)colloquial

=** Good. Pay attention to punctuation and the use of **// it //** as a subject. **=