http://www.rte.ie/radio/utils/radioplayer/rteradioweb.html#!rii=9%3A%2D2%3A0%3A%3A
Listen live to the radio from Ireland.
You will find they talk about the same things as in Spain.

OSCAR WILDE

Oscar Fingall O Flahertie Wills Wilde.

His family was from Roscommon, Ireland.
He was born in Dublin on October 16^th 1854.

His father, Sir William Robert Wills Wilde received a knighthood from Queen Victoria for his work in medicine and for his remarkable work on the census of Ireland and its treasures.

His mother Jane Francesca Elgee, Lady Wilde, was an Irish nationalist even though her family background was Protestant and conservative.
She wrote under the pseudonym of Speranza about the folklore of Ireland. People in the streets of Dublin cheered when she passed in her carriage because of her courageous defense of all things Irish.

'She was welcomed by dreamers and workers.'

So Oscar Wilde's parents were very remarkable and extremely talented too.

He was born in Dublin and with his brother William, went to Portora Royal School in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland.

He read Latin and Greek at Trinity College Dublin and at Oxford University England with great success.
He was an Irish Protestant from a highly respected family.
From his mother he learned the social impact of the written word.
In 1879 after her husband died she went to live in London with her two sons.
As a master craftsman of the English language, the enchantment of Oscar Wilde and his work hold their appeal still today.

In our shared readings last year he introduced us to the magical world of his children's stories, to the homes of the élite and to the darkness of prison life.

We enjoyed reading his work firstly because of the beauty of the language but also because he is very clever, very witty, very fresh, very provocative, very funny, very relevant and irreverent.

Also it is worth mentioning his love of beauty, beautiful manners, beautiful objects, beautiful surroundings, physical beauty and natural beauty.

To quote from Lady Windermere's Fan:

'So devoted to sunsets! Shows such refinement of feeling does it not? After all there is nothing like nature, is there?'

His plays became very successful and his fame spread across the Atlantic and he spent a year touring America and giving conferences.

He married Constance Lloyd and they soon had two sons, Cyril 1885 and Vyvyan in 1886.
His is a universal name that bridges many different worlds

He went from fame to infamy and suffered the humiliation of imprisonment for his homosexuality in 1895. Two years of hard labour in Reading Gaol. The worst punishment that he was to suffer was never to be allowed to see his children again. His best work is widely considered to be The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Society turned its back on him but his wife was kinder. His mother asked to see him before she died but permission was denied.

He had poor health when he left prison and died in Paris on 30^th November 1900 at the age of 46.

By naming the association after Oscar Wilde we raise our hats to this gentle giant.

How many of us who have read his Art would have liked to  have been the stranger who did just that, the one man among the crowd of people who raised his hat, as Wilde was being escorted to court from the prison cell handcuffed between two policemen, his head bowed?

From De Profundis

‘I store it in the treasure house of my heart. I keep it there as a secret debt that I can never possibly repay. That lovely little silent act of love.’

Looking back

February 2010 El Indio Mocaqua Alcobendas

Actors Jonathan Mellor and Julie Davies came to El Indio Mocaqua, the artist Nacho Paswal's  wonderful kaleidescope of a bar, to read a selection of poetry by American author T.S.Eliot as a first initiative of ASEDOW to share something beautiful It was brilliant but there were very few people there to enjoy the performance despite all our efforts. Fede, from Argentina who was running  the bar at the time told us,

'In Argentina culture and leisure time go hand in hand.'

On his return from Brazil to Dublin via Madrid on Friday, the Minister of Education from Ireland Ruairi Quinn attended the launching of two books on Spanish Irish relations in the past.
The Battle of Kinsale and  The Irish Presence at the Cortes de Cadiz.

Mr Quinn  shared a story about Jean Monnet one of the architects of the E.U. the greatest peace project of our time. When he was asked if there was anything he would change about the European Union on looking back, M. Monnet replied. 'I think I would begin with culture.'

What a deep well that is.

Music, Language, Literature, Art, Films, Songs, Dances to share and respect ...the water of life.


Three years later sadly El Indio Mocaqua is closed. However,  Fede is running a bar in London and ASEDOW is in a position to repay a debt of kindness to Julie and Jonathan.

Spooky Wednesday

SPOOKY WEDNESDAY

STORY: The Doctor and the Haunted House

SONG: The Monster Mash

Game: Pass the Parcel

Where? La. U.P. Sala 1.1

What time? 17:45

ASEDOW invites you and your children to SPOOKY WEDNESDAY

                                       18:30h

NOSTALGIA del HOGAR

The adult conversation topic will be homesickness following this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2013/09/130919_6min_homesickness.shtml 

SPIDERS GALORE!!!

Wednesday is a good day to make spiders. So we did!

First the children heard the story.

Then they heard about Incy Wincy Spider.

Then we made these.

So  Hallowe'en, here we come!

How ASEDOW celebrated Oscar Wilde's birthday

A gentle giant like Oscar Wilde would have been charmed to see the lovely children who came to listen to Audrey read the classic tale of The Three Little Pigs.
After singing and jumping to the music of Five little Monkeys the children happily chatted and drew pictures to decorate the wall.
We all had a delicious chocolate to celebrate this important day.

Mar and Luis are proof of the pudding that you learn a language by speaking it.

Well done everyone for making it a special day!

 NEXT WEDNESDAY MORE SINGING AND DANCING!

Happy Wednesdays

                      THREE LITTLE PIGS

                                     and

                   FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS

Can you imagine?

Well, first we will hear the story of the three little pigs read by Audrey.
Then we will sing a song about five little monkeys!

Join us at The Common Room on Wednesday at 5:45h

The conversation group for adults have an interesting discussion  at 6:30h.

La Universidad Popular  Wednesdays

Here we come

ASEDOW is offering people who are looking for employment in commerce, catering , tourism etc. the opportunity to review their c.v.in English as well as the opportunity to brush up on their English for interviews  and future employment.
See poster below.

Another activity that the  ASEDOW team is offering is the chance to get together and enjoy using your English, oiling the machinery if is rusty. You learn a language by speaking it but where can you practise?
Find out by reading the poster below.

Both these activities are free of charge but to join them you need to be a member. To find out how to become a member you can read a link on the side or contact us at asedow@gmail.com.
The annual fee to join ASEDOW  is 15€. Do it now!

Someone like you

BIBLIOTECA CENTRAL   19:15/30h Tuesday 7th
Av Baunatal, San Sebastián de los Reyes
Hi,
Just a reminder that we will be at the library on Tuesday, not to sing Adele's song but to read and comment on  a short story from  a collection by Roald Dahl by that name 'Someone like you' Penguin edition. The  association has enough copies to share but maybe you want to have your own copy.
See you then.

Let's begin.

We are very happy to offer some fab reasons to get together  thanks to the  great ideas of our members and the space we have in the Universidad Popular.

Where better to begin than at the beginning? Cristina will run this activity for small children.
Have a look at our poster.