Archives : Évènements

This is a special moment when the community gathers together to talk about everything and anything (…in English of course!) and sips coffee and tea. Coffee House is free and open to all library members. Just drop in, no need to reserve!

The library is an authorized open center for the TOEIC Listening and Reading test (Public programme with photo). To sign up please consult the ETS website. 

Love those French restaurants? Feel like you need to speak English more but in a relaxed atmosphere? Join this club which schedules a lunch in a great local restaurant. Click here to send an email to the coordinator for more information and the full schedule and to sign up!

The Saturday Reading Group is for anyone who loves to read, socialize in English, and meet new people.

The November read for the group is “A Street Cat Named Bob” by James Bowen. When James Bowen found an injured, ginger street cat curled up in the hallway of his sheltered accommodation, he had no idea just how much his life was about to change. James was living hand to mouth on the streets of London and the last thing he needed was a pet. Yet James couldn’t resist helping the strikingly intelligent tom cat, whom he quickly christened Bob. He slowly nursed Bob back to health and then sent the cat on his way, imagining he would never see him again. But Bob had other ideas. Soon the two were inseparable and their diverse, comic and occasionally dangerous adventures would transform both their lives, slowly healing the scars of each other’s troubled pasts. A Street Cat Named Bob is a moving and uplifting story that will touch the heart of anyone who reads it.

The group will also be discussing the 2016 film starring Luke Treadway and Bob the Cat.

When and where: Meetings will be held in the library once a month on Saturday afternoons starting at 3:00. Cost: FREE to all members of the library. To join: Please contact Anne Kaar at bookgroup@ellia.org

The Internet is wonderful and can answer all your questions. For most of us, it is the main source for news. Indeed, we have immediate access to plenty of media from different parts of the world. But can they all be trusted? Using different sources and media, the press review helps you to find your way through the news and be well-informed. This is an informal sharing and discussion of the news in English. Please feel free to bring in an article that you would like to share with the other members of the group.

Meetings are held on Saturdays from 2-3pm. Dates for 2018-2019 are Nov 10^th, Dec 8^th, Jan 12^th, Feb 16^th, March 16^th, April 13^th and May 18^th

This activity, free for library members, is organized by freelance journalist and library volunteer: Isma Hassaine-Poirier.

Come along and bring your knitting,

Have a natter while you’re sitting,

Or learn to knit with wool provided,

Needles loaned and stitches guided.

Knitted garments are très chic,

So be in vogue and start this week.

Knit and natter is a free activity open to all members. No need to reserve, just come and enjoy yourself! If anyone has some extra wool please bring it in. The Knitting group has a project knitting twiddle muffs and are looking for bits and pieces of washable wool.

This is a special moment when the community gathers together to talk about everything and anything (…in English of course!) and sips coffee and tea. Coffee House is free and open to all library members. Just drop in, no need to reserve!

Angers Nantes Opéra invites the members of the English-language Library to “Chantez-vous le londonien”: une mise en bouche de The Beggar’s Opera où les spectateurs sont amenés à (dans le désordre) tester l’accent cockney lors d’une ballad, découvrir des éléments (voir des secrets) sur The Beggar’s Opera…par Tony et Kirsty Baker. 40 minutes environ. Entrée libre et gratuite sur réservation avec la Bibliothèque Anglophone par email info@ellia.org.

To be followed by THE BEGGAR’S OPERA by Gay Pepusch performed in English with French subtitles starting at 8 pm. Tickets still available. Prix de 7 à 30 euros. Contact laizeau@smano.eu Mise en scène : Robert Carsen et mise en musique : William Christie. Durée 1h40 environ.

Genre savant, noble et complexe, l’opéra a donné lieu, très tôt, à de succulentes caricatures. Angers Nantes Opéra présentait la saison dernière Atys en folie, parodie du grand opéra à la française de Jean-Baptiste Lully. Cette fois, nous passons de l’autre côté du Channel où à la même époque, les années 1720, John Gay et Johann Christoph Pepusch signent avec The Beggar’s Opera (L’Opéra desgueux) une œuvre bien plus grinçante encore : nous ne sommes pas dans la caricature des dieux et des héros de l’Antiquité mais dans l’évocation des basfonds de Londres, monde de brigands, de prostituées, de représentants de l’ordre corrompus jusqu’à la moelle. Une satire sociale en fait intemporelle, accompagnée de chansons populaires (des ballads, d’où le sous-titre de ballad opera) dont les sonorités sont toujours familières à nos oreilles du XXIe siècle.

Le grand metteur en scène d’opéra Robert Carsen a donc bien fait de réadapter cette pièce pour souligner combien les vices d’aujourd’hui sont proches de ceux d’hier et nous rendre plus familière encore la légende de Macheath, voleur, trafiquant, chef de bande, effronté, inconstant, menteur, qu’entoure toute une galerie de personnages pittoresques.

Et il a réuni une éblouissante distribution de chanteurs, comédiens, danseurs britanniques, tandis que William Christie, à la tête des Arts Florissants, se lançait dans une passionnante reconstruction de la partition de Pepusch. Sur instruments anciens, bien entendu, mais dans l’esprit d’une pop music de toujours, énergique et transgressive, qui redouble la verve théâtrale par une inépuisable fantaisie sonore.

If you love needlecraft, this activity is for you! Each participant will make a textile creation of their choice, (bag, pouch, wall tapestry, whatever you fancy!) all while exchanging different techniques in English.

Bring your own materials and join us at the library once a month on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 4 p.m. on the following dates: November 8^th and December 6^th. Free to library members. Please sign up at the front desk, when possible.