Languages, Learning

5 Steps to Follow in your First Week of Learning a Language from Scratch

Are you learning a language from scratch? Here are five tips that can help you get started: Define your motivation Having a strong motivation is one of the keys to acquiring a foreign language. Learning a language from scratch takes a lot of time, so make sure you have a good reason to learn it. It sounds contradictory, but I chose to learn a totally … Continue reading 5 Steps to Follow in your First Week of Learning a Language from Scratch

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Languages, Learning

New monthly language challenges! 🗣️

New monthly language challenges ! 🗣️ Sweet October comes and brings new challenges ! 🍂 Holidays are over and we’ve already got so much to do, but challenging our brains from time to time can help us keep our minds sharp. 🧠 Learning a foreign language and exposing yourself to a different culture is one of the best brain exercises. 💪 Most of us usually … Continue reading New monthly language challenges! 🗣️

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Brazil, Literature

Brazilian literature: #2 João Guimarães Rosa – Magma

João Guimarães Rosa is one of the names of Brazilian literature you absolutely need to know. Most known for his best-seller The Devil to Pay in the Backlands, he also published short stories and poetry. I decided to discover this author through his verses, a collection of poems called Magma, published posthumously in 1997. In his lifetime, João Guimarães Rosa never thought his work was … Continue reading Brazilian literature: #2 João Guimarães Rosa – Magma

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Brazil, Creative writing, Culture, Literature

Brazilian literature: #1 Jorge Amado – Captains of the Sands

There is something mysterious and intriguing about books that were burned under dictatorships, don’t you think?  Personally, knowing that a book was prohibited by certain authorities inspires me even more to discover it. Captains of the Sands is a novel written by the Brazilian author Jorge Amado in 1937. Amado was only 25 years old when he first published the story of the abandoned children … Continue reading Brazilian literature: #1 Jorge Amado – Captains of the Sands

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Creative writing, Education, Learning, Literature

Learn to write from the Masters: #2 Charles Kiefer – “Para ser escritor”

The writer’s struggle for the right word is the most painful struggle. This is Charles Kiefer’s statement, Brazilian literature professor and author who shares his thoughts on the most common challenges writers face. Finding the right word, or le mot juste that Flaubert himself struggled with, is obviously one of the obstacles in the writing process. In Flaubert’s case, this struggle turned into obsession (it … Continue reading Learn to write from the Masters: #2 Charles Kiefer – “Para ser escritor”

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Creative writing, Learning, Literature

Learn to write from the Masters: #1 Horacio Quiroga – Decalogue of the perfect storyteller

Fernando Pessoa said, “Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life”. However, what is truly agreeable is the final result which requires a long and painstaking work. Writers, whether they’re geniuses or amateurs, have all struggled with writer’s block. Quiroga, one of the greatest short story writers, shares 10 of his writing secrets that could help you get inspired, overcome writer’s block and finally, … Continue reading Learn to write from the Masters: #1 Horacio Quiroga – Decalogue of the perfect storyteller

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Culture, Literature, Macedonia, Poetry

Discover Macedonian poetry: #3 Aco Sopov – The Wind Carries Beautiful Weather

The wind carries beautiful weather. It raves within us, then resounds. It carries beautiful weather. All that’s lovely is bright but changes, and grief remains. Sometimes grief stretches inside us, lies down in our eyes and thickens the layers that dim the lights we watch. Then an aching of awe blows cold and lost, unknown inside us, haunting us deep. But then again grief plays … Continue reading Discover Macedonian poetry: #3 Aco Sopov – The Wind Carries Beautiful Weather

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Literature, Poetry, Quotes

Being a poet: between agony and privilege

How do we write a poem? Where does inspiration come from? What does it take to be a poet? Is being visited by the muses a torture or a bliss?To answer these questions, I chose two poems by authors whose personalities represent the true nature of poetry – melancholy and plurality. The French symbolist Charles Baudelaire compares poets with albatrosses, seabirds tortured by sailors. Fernando … Continue reading Being a poet: between agony and privilege

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Literature, Macedonia, Poetry

Discover Macedonian poetry: #2 Kočo Racin

Kosta Solev (1908-1943) is one of the most important Macedonian poets. As a socialist activist, he dedicated his verses to the people. He published his collection “White Dawns” under the pseudonyme K.Racin. Persecuted by his political opponents, his life ended tragically at the age of 34.Racin’s story proves the power of words and the danger of telling the truth. As Emily Dickinson said, “Tell all … Continue reading Discover Macedonian poetry: #2 Kočo Racin

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En français, Literature, Macedonia, Poetry, Translation

Poésie macédonienne

I. Poésie romantique (19e siècle) Konstantin Miladinov – Nostalgie du sud Comment avoir des ailes d’aigle,et m’envoler dans nos régions,m’en aller dans nos pays,voir Istanbul, voir Koukouche,voir si là-bas aussi, le soleilapparaît sombre, comme ici. Si comme ici le soleil me rencontre, si là-bas aussi, le soleil luit sinistrement,pour un lointain voyage je partirai,et dans d’autres pays m’enfuirai,là où un soleil clair se lèveet où … Continue reading Poésie macédonienne

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