Archives: Events

The month-long show “San Francisco in Black and White” featuring photography by Yves Tourmen opens on Thursday, April 25th at 6 PM, and continues until Saturday, May 25th. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Join us on opening night for refreshments and meet the artist!

Yves Tourmen, a biologist and passionate photographer, shows photographs from his visits to San Francisco in 2017 and 2018. The exhibit features classic landscape shots, portraits and street photography. His Hasselblad camera, a vintage model from the 1970s, surprised many Californians, which gave him the perfect opportunity to start up a conversation with the locals and take many candid shots. Despite the digital age, Tourmen respects the traditional process and develops his photographs in his own darkroom.

Stop by the library from April 25th to May 25th during opening hours to view his work.

Come join the Drama Club which is open to adults and university students, with or without acting experience. It consists of miming, improvising, and acting out published works of theater, such as sketches and plays.

Meetings take place at the library twice a month (except during school holidays) on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Please attend regularly on the following dates: April 24th, May 15th, May 22nd, June 5th and June 12th.

This activity is open to library members, the cost is 90 € for the 2018-2019 school year. Sign up at the front desk. Take the stage and break a leg!

The pizza and board games evening is scheduled one Tuesday a month from 6-8 pm. Cost is 7 euros (covers pizza and non-alcoholic drinks, 5 euros for children 12 and under and native English speakers). No reservations necessary, just come and enjoy! Next dates are May 21st & June 18th.

For music lovers who are not necessarily musicians, the library presents a series of sessions aimed at illustrating English Classical Music in its most beautiful forms. Each session will focus on a composer, with a short presentation of their work as well as listening to select pieces and videos. The point is to share comments and criticism as a group. Please note: this session will feature Short Works by Henry Purcell.

These sessions are free and open to the public. For more information or to sign up please contact the group leader here.

The April read for the bookclub is “The Razor’s Edge” by W. Somerset Maugham.

Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of this spiritual odyssey involve him with some of Maugham’s most brilliant characters – his fiancee Isabel, whose choice between love and wealth have lifelong repercussions, and Elliot Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob. The most ambitious of Maugham’s novels, this is also one in which Maugham himself plays a considerable part as he wanders in and out of the story, to observe his characters struggling with their fates.

For any inquiries about joining the book club please send an email by clicking here.

The library is an authorised test center for the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test (the Test of English for International Communication). For more information please visit our TOEIC page or to sign up go to the official ETS website.

“Springtime in the States” is a 3-day English-learning workshop for teenagers (ages 12 to 14). Participants learn English in a fun, interactive way with games, songs and activities with lots of talking and moving around! The workshop will be at the library for three consecutive afternoons: Tuesday, April 16th, Wednesday, April 17th and Thursday, April 18th from 3 to 6 PM.

Please contact the front desk to sign up by phone: 02 41 24 97 07 or email: info@ellia.org. Limited to 15 participants so sign-up fast! Cost is 75 euros (includes snack, materials and library membership).

The film club presents a film in English once a month on a Saturday afternoon. This showing will be of “Maurice,” a 1987 British romantic drama film based on the novel by E. M. Forster. It is a tale of gay love in early 20th-century England. The story follows its main character, Maurice Hall, through university, a tumultuous relationship, struggling to fit into society, and ultimately being united with his life partner. The film stars James Wilby as Maurice, Hugh Grant as Clive and Rupert Graves as Alec. Watch the trailer here.

Screening begins at 3 o’clock sharp and will be followed by a discussion in English. This activity is free and open to all library members. If possible, please reserve by signing up at the front desk. 

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. Upcoming dates are April 13^th and May 18^th

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

Treat yourself to an afternoon of a collective reading of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew”. This activity consists of watching a BBC production on DVD and then reading relative scenes. This is a great activity for lovers of language and fans of the great wit. The activity is free for library members. Please sign-up by emailing group leader John Barritt here.

Please note that the session of Friday 12 April has been cancelled and replaced by this date.