Anglofams – Galette de Rois
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Anglofams is an international community designed to connect English-speaking families with kids of all ages in the area. We are a diverse group of families who understand the unique experiences of raising bilingual children. Parents can share stories and resources, seek advice, and provide a casual, social environment for their children to be exposed to English outside of the home. On January 12th, join us at the library as we celebrate the French tradition of the Galette de Rois. Light refreshments and snacks will be available, as well as activities and games to keep kids entertained. This event is free and open to all library members with an active family membership. To sign up, please e-mail the group leaders here. We kindly ask that you RSVP by January 8th. |
Reading Shakespeare
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Treat yourself to an afternoon of a collective reading of one of Shakespeare’s plays. 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. Free and open to all library members. For more information or to sign-up, please contact the group coordinator here. The number of participants is limited. |
Write Here, Write Now
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Welcome to “Write Here, Write Now”! Join this series of workshops for people who love to write in English and don’t mind sharing what they’ve written (although this sharing is not mandatory). We’ll explore different themes and genres. Keenan Brown, a library volunteer, will guide you through different ways to stimulate your writing and keep you inspired, all in the company of lovers of literature. “You can make anything by writing” (C.S. Lewis). Following Lewis’s invitation, let’s explore the world at large, as well as your own secret gardens through words… all while discovering the unknown realms of the writing of others. Workshops will be run Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the library once a month. They are free for library members (maximum of 10 participants). For more information and/or to sign up, please contact the group leader. |
Reading Shakespeare
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Treat yourself to an afternoon of a collective reading of one of Shakespeare’s plays. 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. Free and open to all library members. For more information or to sign-up, please contact the group coordinator here. The number of participants is limited. |
Walk and Talk
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Get on those hiking boots and take some time to revel in the great outdoors! The group “Walk and Talk” organises an easy walk once a month – approximately 10 km, 2 to 3 hours in the afternoon – in order to discover or re-discover the beautiful hiking paths of the Maine-et-Loire. Come along with good walking shoes, protection against rain, cold or heat according to the season…. a bottle of water and a little “en-cas” to keep your stamina up ! Maximum group is 20 so make sure to sign up! Want to sign up? Easy as pie!Sign up by sending your name, email address and phone numbers (perferably cell phone) to this email address. You will be sent full details of the walk in due time. |
Take your TOEIC test
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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. |
Pizza and board games
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Come to the library and enjoy a slice while you roll the dice – all in English of course! This fun-filled event is the perfect way to unwind, meet new people, and enjoy a night of friendly competition. Whether you’re a fluent speaker or just starting out, everyone is welcome at our table. Date: December 17th Time: 6:30 – 8:30 pm Cost: 10€ per player. This covers your pizza and soft drinks. Open to the public. All ages and levels welcome. (Children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.) Let the games begin! |
Saturday Reading Group
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The Saturday Reading Group is for anyone who loves to read, socialize in English, and meet new people. For this meeting, the group will read “Less” by Andrew Sean Greer. “You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years now engaged to someone else. You can’t say yes–it would all be too awkward–and you can’t say no–it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of half-baked literary invitations you’ve received from around the world. QUESTION: How do you arrange to skip town? ANSWER: You accept them all. If you are Arthur Less. Thus begins an around-the-world-in-eighty-days fantasia that will take Arthur Less to Mexico, Italy, Germany, Morocco, India and Japan and put thousands of miles between him and the problems he refuses to face. What could possibly go wrong?” Meetings are once a month on Saturday afternoons starting at 3 pm. Open to all library members. To sign up please contact the group coordinator at bookgroup@ellia.org.
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Film Club – The Great Gatsby (1974)
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The film club presents a film in English once a month on a Saturday afternoon, which is followed by a discussion in English. This activity is free and open to all library members. December’s screening will be of the original 1974 version of The Great Gatsby, starring Mia Farrow and Robert Redford. |
Book Club reads “Things Fall Apart”
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The December read for the book club is “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe. “The novel chronicles the life of Okonkwo, the leader of an Igbo community, from the events leading up to his banishment from the community for accidentally killing a clansman, through the seven years of his exile, to his return, and it addresses a particular problem of emergent Africa—the intrusion in the 1890s of white missionaries and colonial government into tribal Igbo society. Traditionally structured, and peppered with Igbo proverbs, it describes the simultaneous disintegration of its protagonist Okonkwo and of his village. The novel was praised for its intelligent and realistic treatment of tribal beliefs and of psychological disintegration coincident with social unraveling.” The Book Club is full for the 2024-2025 year. If you would like to join the waiting list, please send an e-mail to reception. We also invite you to consider joining Books and Tea or Saturday Reading Group! |