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The Learning of Catalan through Poetry
Objective: Make the learning of Catalan interesting for Chinese speakers through anexperiment with poetry.
Level: Advanced
Target: Chinese students learning Catalan
Description of teaching process:
1. Introduction
In this web interface, when the user first clicks on the 1st page (in the following pages, asquare box refers to a webpage that requires design):
The Learning of Catalan through PoetryObjective
Make the learning of Catalan interesting for Chinese speakers through an experimentwith poetry.
It consecutively shows 3 pages with pictures of themes related to the poems andsoothing music background.
1 past:
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2. love
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3. war
Such a process aims to use both visual and audio stimulus to quickly capture thestudent attention, and to get him or her ready for the language learning that is to follow.
2. Catalan Poem
The 3 Catalan poems are then showed. User can click on Catalan audio reading (fileattached):
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JO VINC DUN SILENCI
Jo vinc d'un silenci
antic i molt llarg
de gent que va alant-sedes del fons dels segles,
de gent que anomenenclasses subalternes,
jo vinc d'un silenciantic i molt llarg.
Jo vinc de les places
i dels carrers plens
de xiquets que juguen
i de vells que esperen,
mentre homes i dones
estan treballantals petits tallers,a casa o al camp.
Jo vinc d'un silencique no s resignat,
d'on comena l'horta
i acaba el sec,
d'esfor i blasfmia
perqu tot va mal:
qui perd els orgens
perd identitat.
Jo vinc d'un silenciantic i molt llarg,
de gent sense msticsni grans capitans,
que viuen i moren
en l'anonimat,
que en frases solemnes
no han cregut mai.
Jo vinc d'una lluita
que s sorda i constant,
jo vinc d'un silencique rompr la gent
que ara vol ser lliurei estima la vida,
que exigeix les coses
que li han negat.
Jo vinc d'un silenci
antic i molt llarg,
jo vinc d'un silenci
que no s resignat.
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ELS AMANTS
La carn vol carn (Ausis March)
No hi havia a Valncia dos amants com nosaltres.Feroment ens amvem del mat a la nit.
Tot ho recorde mentre vas estenent la roba.Han passat anys, molt anys; han passat moltes coses.De sobte encara em pren aquell vent o l'amori rodolem per terra entre abraos i besos.
No comprenem l'amor com un costum amable,com un costum pacfic de compliment i teles(i que ens perdone el cast senyor Lpez-Pic).
Es desperta, de sobte, com un vell hurac,i ens tomba en terra els dos, ens ajunta, ens empeny.Jo desitjava, a voltes, un amor educat
i en marxa el tocadiscos, negligentment besant-te,ara un muscle i desprs el peo d'una orella.El nostre amor es un amor brusc i salvatge
i tenim l'enyorana amarga de la terra,d'anar a rebolcons entre besos i arraps.Qu voleu que hi faa! Elemental, ja ho s.Ignorem el Petrarca i ignorem moltes coses.
Les Estances de Riba i les Rimas de Bcquer.Desprs, tombats en terra de qualsevol manera,comprenem que som brbars, i que aixno deu ser,
que no estem en l'edat, i tot aix i all.No hi havia a Valncia dos amants com nosaltres,car d'amants com nosaltres en son parits ben pocs.
PATERNAL
Furient va esclatant l'odi per la terra,
regalen sang les colltorades testes,i cal an a les festes
amb pit ben esforat, com a la guerra.
A cada esclat mortal -la gent trmula es gira:
la crudeltat que avana, -la por que s'enretira,
se van partint el mn ...
Mirant el fill que mama, -la mare que sospira,
el pare arruga el front.
Pro l'infant innocent,que deixa, satisfet, la buidada mamella,
se mira en ell, -se mira en ella,
i riu brbarament.
4. Background information:
Background information is then provided for the user to learn and understand the poem:a. Vocabulary list
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b. Poets backgroundc. Background on the concept of Modernism
:1.Vocabulary list
2. PoetsRAIMON
1961
Vicent Andrs Estells (1924-1993).
Joan Maragall ( 1860-1911)
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18901950
.
5. Followup Activities
a. Multiple Choice Questions: Comprehension (In Catalan)2 questions per poem,
users just need to click on one of the 4 suggested answer
a. Comprehension: Multiple Choice Questions
b. Feedback on Comprehension when users submit, giving the right answer andsimple explanation.
Feedback
Solution
Explanation
c. Translation into Chinese: users given a box to translate either one of the poemsinto Chinese
Please translate any one of the 3 Catalan poems into Chinese
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d. Feedback about translation: After submission, suggested model of translation isprovided. Audio reading of the three translation in Chinese is available(attached as chinese_lover.wav, chinese_Icomefromsilence.wav,chinese_paternal.wav)
1JO VINC DUN SILENCI
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2ELS AMANTSLa carn vol carn (Ausis March)
-
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3PATERNAL
--
--
e. Fill in the blanks (possible suggestions).
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Appendix: (English translation of poems and background information)
Experimental material:
A) Chinese poems:
B) Catalan poems (with English translation):
JO VINC DUN SILENCI
Jo vinc d'un silenci
antic i molt llarg
de gent que va alant-se
des del fons dels segles,
de gent que anomenen
classes subalternes,
jo vinc d'un silenci
antic i molt llarg.Jo vinc de les places
i dels carrers plensde xiquets que juguen
i de vells que esperen,
mentre homes i dones
estan treballant
als petits tallers,
a casa o al camp.
Jo vinc d'un silencique no s resignat,d'on comena l'horta
i acaba el sec,d'esfor i blasfmia
perqu tot va mal:
qui perd els orgens
perd identitat.
Jo vinc d'un silenci
antic i molt llarg,
de gent sense mstics
ni grans capitans,que viuen i moren
en l'anonimat,que en frases solemnes
no han cregut mai.
Jo vinc d'una lluita
que s sorda i constant,
jo vinc d'un silenci
que rompr la gent
que ara vol ser lliure
i estima la vida,
que exigeix les cosesque li han negat.
I COME FROM A SILENCE
I come from a silence
that's old and very long,
of people who keep standing up
from the bottom of the centuries,
of people they call
the subordinate classes;
I come from a silence
that's old and very long.I come from the squares
and the streets fullof children playing
and old people waiting,
while men and women
are working
in the little workshops,
at home or in the fields.
I come from a silencethat is not resigned,of where the garden starts
and the dry land ends;of effort and blasphemy
because all goes wrong;
who loses his origins
loses identity.
I come from a silence
that's old and very long,
of people with no mystics
or captains,who live and die
in anonymity,who have never believed
in solemn phrases.
I come from a struggle
that is deaf and constant,
I come from a silence
that will be broken by people
who now want to be free
and love life,
who demand the thingsthey have been denied.
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Jo vinc d'un silenci
antic i molt llarg,
jo vinc d'un silenci
que no s resignat.
I come from a silence
that's old and very long,
I come from a silence
that is not resigned,I come from a silence
that the people will break,I come from a silence
that is deaf and constant.
ELS AMANTS
La carn vol carn (Ausis March)
No hi havia a Valncia dos amants com
nosaltres.Feroment ens amvem del mat a la nit.Tot ho recorde mentre vas estenent la roba.
Han passat anys, molt anys; han passat moltescoses.De sobte encara em pren aquell vent o l'amori rodolem per terra entre abraos i besos.
No comprenem l'amor com un costumamable,com un costum pacfic de compliment i teles
(i que ens perdone el cast senyor Lpez-Pic).Es desperta, de sobte, com un vell hurac,i ens tomba en terra els dos, ens ajunta, ens
empeny.Jo desitjava, a voltes, un amor educat
i en marxa el tocadiscos, negligentmentbesant-te,
ara un muscle i desprs el peo d'una orella.El nostre amor es un amor brusc i salvatgei tenim l'enyorana amarga de la terra,
d'anar a rebolcons entre besos i arraps.Qu voleu que hi faa! Elemental, ja ho s.Ignorem el Petrarca i ignorem moltes coses.
Les Estances de Riba i les Rimas de Bcquer.Desprs, tombats en terra de qualsevolmanera,
comprenem que som brbars, i que aixno deu
ser,que no estem en l'edat, i tot aix i all.No hi havia a Valncia dos amants com
nosaltres,car d'amants com nosaltres en son parits benpocs.
LOVERSFlesh craves flesh (Ausis March)
Never were there in Valncia two lovers likeus.
We loved ferociously, from morn 'til night.I recall everything, as you hang out theclothes.
Years have passed, many years: many thingshave happened.Suddenly that wind, or love, seizes me still
And we roll on the ground amidst embracesand kisses.We do not know love as a loving custom,As a quiet custom of politeness and finery
(and may the chaste Lpez-Pic pardon us).Love, It awakens suddenly, like an oldhurricane,
it throws us to the ground, it joins us together,
squeezing us tightly.Sometimes I desired a courteous love,
With the gramophone on, kissing you idly,Now a shoulder, next an ear lobe.Our love is a brusque and savage love
And we feel a bitter yearning for the earth,Of rolling upside down amidst kisses andclutches.I'll say it clear. Primal, ... I know it.
We ignore Petrarch's work, we ignore manythings.The stanzas of Riba, the rhymes of Bcquer.
Afterwards, lying somehow on the ground,We realise that we are barbarous, that thismay not be,
we are not in the right age, and this and that.Never were there in Valncia two lovers likeus,
Lovers like us are just not born !
PATERNAL
Furient va esclatant l'odi per la terra,
regalen sang les colltorades testes,i cal an a les festes
PATERNAL
Hate explodes
throughout the earthwith rage,
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amb pit ben esforat, com a la guerra.
A cada esclat mortal -la gent trmula es gira:
la crudeltat que avana, -la por que s'enretira,se van partint el mn ...
Mirant el fill que mama, -la mare que sospira,el pare arruga el front.
Pro l'infant innocent,
que deixa, satisfet, la buidada mamella,
se mira en ell, -se mira en ella,
i riu brbarament.
the broken-neck heads
drip blood
and we must go to
partiesbravely, as if to war.
At every mortalexplosion - the
tremulous people turn
their heads:
the cruelty which
advances - the fear
which retreats,
go along dividing the
world betweenthemselves ...
Looking at the son at the
breast, - the mother whosighs,
the father furrows his
brow.
But the innocent infant,
who releases, satisfied,
the emptied breast,
gazes upon him, - gazesupon her,
and laughs like a
savage.
C) Background information:
Authors:
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RAIMON
Raimon started singing in public in1961, while he was still a student at the
University of Valncia where he tookhis degree in History. At the same time,he was on the fringe of the Barcelonamovement of the Nova Can, to whichhe brought a personal and divergentstyle which placed him in an absolutelyoriginal position with regard to both this
movement and also the Spanish musicalscene in fashion at that time.
He sang for the first time in Barcelonaat the Forum Vergs in 1962. His music,words and way of singing caused agreat surprise in the artistic circles ofthe early sixties. His first song.Al vent,,was an instant success.A point of reference in the fight fordemocracy and against the dictatorship,Raimon is a singer and poet who bringsto music his distinctive and personalvoice which is far removed from theusual fashion and circuits of pop music.Raimon's international importance andvocation is evident from the edition ofrecords and recitals in differentcountries around the world.
Vicent Andrs Estells (Burjassot, 1924 Valncia, 1993).
Poet and journalist. Heis considered a principalfigure in the revival ofcontemporaryValencian poetry andthe greatest poet to
come out of theValencian Lands fromthe Fifteenth Centuryuntil modern times that is, since the goldenepoch of Ausis Marchand Ros de Corella.Among his books ofpoetry what stands outis the second volume ofhis Obra Completa, Les
pedres de lmfora(Stones from theAmphora), which wontwo awards, Lletra dOr(1974) and Crtica SerradOr (1975). Alsoremarkable are twoworks that describe theValencian Lands: Llibre
de meravelles (Book ofMarvels) and Mural delPas Valenci (Mural ofthe Valencian Lands).He received the PremidHonor de les LletresCatalanes (1978) andthe Premi de les LletresValencianes (1984).Various singers haveset his poems to music.
Outstanding amongthem is Ovidi Montllor inCoral romput (Broken
chorus). He was amember of theAssociaci d'Escriptorsen Llengua Catalana.
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Joan Maragall (Barcelona, 1860-1911)
Joan Maragall was best
known as a poet but he
was also a translator and
the author of essays ofideological, cultural and
political interest. With
his origins in the romantic tradition and participant in
the modernist movement, his theory of the "living
word" in poetry had not only an aesthetic but also ahuman sense, since he understood the fact of poetry as a
natural manifestation and not an elitist one, something
close to society and capable of influencing it. His poetic
production contains different poems. His translations of
Goethe, Novalis, Pindar, Homer and Nietzsche are
outstanding. At the time of the Tragic Week crisis in
Barcelona in 1909, and almost the only intellectual to
do so, he responded with articles such as "Ah,
Barcelona...", "La ciutat de perd" (The City of
Forgiveness) and "L'esglsia cremada" (The Burned
Church), insisting that, in some measure, the Catalan bourgeoisie were responsible. In 1904, he was
proclaimed "Mestre en Gai Saber" (Master in the Art of
Poetry), and he was a founding member of the
Philological Section of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans
(Institute of Catalan Studies).
Modernism
After the military and political defeat of 1714, the Catalan literature takes a long time to
overcome the consequences and don't recovered some vigour until the start of the XVIIIth.century, when it was possible to detect a substantial growth of literary production. This newstart will not be consolidated until the work of Modernists - Art Nouveau writers -.
Under an European point of view, from the origins of Art Nouveau with the work of Ruskinuntil the consolidation of a Catalan Modernist literature, a period of 40 years was run. Into thatperiod a succession of facts, influencing the Catalan political and cultural thought, will impulsethe process.
The start of Art Nouveau literature was run around the magazine "L'Avens". This magazine hadbeen adapted in that period - since 1891 - a uniform model following the new grammatical and
syntactic rules. This magazine will be crucial for the consolidation of new Catalan Art Nouveaunarrative.
Later, Raimon Casellas had been developing different criteria on the analysis of the reality
through the artist emotions, using naturalist elements. This process will suffer an evolutionculminating in a pessimism. This pessimism is reflected in the "Estrofes decadentistes" of Joan
Maragall. This poet overcame this pessimism influenced by Nietzsche work.
Most of categories where treated: the novel, the tale, the theatre, the legend, the lyrics, the epics,etc., frequently referred to episodes of the life and national Catalan history.
The Modernist literature was the core from who, the Catalan literature will take a decisiveimpulse, to be recognized as the same level of other national literatures in Europe.
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ACTIVITIES
1. Fill in the gaps. Each pair of letters (A-A, B-B, C-C and D-D) has to rhyme.Click on the first letter of each pair and you will find a hint (Translation of theword into Chinese).
PATERNAL
Furient va esclatant l'odi per la ________ (A),
regalen sang les colltorades ________(B),
i cal an a les ________ (B)
amb pit ben esforat, com a la ________ (A).
A cada esclat mortal -la gent trmula es ______ (C):
la crudeltat que avana, -la por que s'enretira,
se van partint el mn ...
Mirant el fill que mama, -la mare que ________ (C),
el pare arruga el front.
Pro l'infant _________ (D),
que deixa, satisfet, la buidada mamella,
se mira en ell, -se mira en ella,
i riu ___________ (D).
2. Translate the three poems into Chinese. Once translated, you will be able tocompare your translation and see what kind of translation problems you havecome across .
3. Raimon is one of the main figures of the New Song movement. What do youknow about this movement? And about Franquism? Try to find informationabout this movement and about franquism. What does the word silenci referto?
4. The Lovers by Vicent Andrs Estells explains to us the story of a passionatelove. Which words refer to love? And which words help to give an idea of violentpassion?
5. With the help of these words and your love experience, try to write a love poem.
