El Instituto Cervantes ofrece cursos de español para estudiantes de todos los niveles, desde principiante absoluto hasta perfeccionamiento (A1 – C2 del MCER), cuyo objetivo es desarrollar la capacidad del alumno de comprender, hablar, leer y escribir en español.

Asimismo ofrece un amplio abanico de cursos específicos, como los cursos por Internet del Aula Virtual de Español (AVE), cursos de preparación del Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera (DELE) y de los exámenes de GCSE, AS y A2, español orientado al mundo de los negocios, español para personal médico, traducción, cursos de lengua y cultura (literatura, historia, viajes), conversación, bailes latinos, español para niños y cursos de formación de profesores ELE. Otros cursos fuera de programa y clases particulares y en empresas también están disponibles.

Para más información visite nuestra página web www.londres.cervantes.es o contacte con la oficina de matriculación de lunes a sábado llamando al 0207 235 0353.

The Instituto Cervantes offers Spanish language courses for all levels, from complete beginners to proficiency (A1 – C2 of the CEFR), aimed at developing the students’ ability to understand, speak, read and write in Spanish.

We also offer a wide range of more specific courses such as online courses (AVE), courses to prepare for the DELE Spanish official exams, GCSE, AS and A2 levels, general business Spanish, Spanish for medical professionals, translation, language & culture (literature, history, travel), conversation courses, Latin dance, Spanish for children and teacher training courses. Other courses and private and corporate tuition are available on demand.

For full details please visit our website www.londres.cervantes.es  or contact the Enrolment Office, Monday to Saturday, on 0207 235 0353.

Esta Navidad… e-books y más

Si todavía no conoces el servicio de préstamo de libros electrónicos para los socios de la biblioteca, aprovecha estas vacaciones de Navidad para empezar a utilizarlo. Solamente tienes que hacer clic aquí* para ver lo fácil que es usarlo donde quiera que estés con acceso a Internet.

Además de miles de e-books de autores españoles y latinoamericanos,  en nuestra plataforma podéis encontrar video cuentos  para niños  y documentales en streaming que podéis ver durante las vacaciones de Navidad. ¡Esperamos que disfrutéis con el servicio!

¡Felices fiestas!

*Recuerda: para acceder al servicio necesitas tu número de tarjeta y contraseña (4 últimos números)

La biblioteca estará cerrada desde el sábado 21/12/13 hasta el  lunes 06/01/14, ambos inclusive

This Christmas… E-books and more!

If you still don´t know our e-books lending service for library members, make the most of this Christmas to start using it. You will only have to click here* to see how easy it is to use. It´s an entertaining way to learn or practise your Spanish and the good thing is that you can read your e-books anywhere where you have access to the Internet.

On top of thousands of e-books by Spanish and Latin-American authors you will find video stories for children and documentaries for adults in streaming that you can watch over the winter holidays. We hope that you will enjoy!

Happy holidays!

*Remember! To access this service you’ll need your library card number and password (last 4 digits)

The library will be closed from Saturday 21/12/13 until Monday 06/01/14

21st Century Fiction from Latin America 

La biblioteca cerrará entre los días 21/12/13 hasta el 06/01/14, ambos inclusive.
La biblioteca os desea ¡Felices fiestas!

The Library will be closed from 21/12/13 until the 06/01/14.
The Library Team would like to take this opportunity to wish you all Happy Holidays!

 Os recomendamos El tiempo de Manolo, un minucioso relato biográfico de la juventud de su autor Ismael María González Arias. En esta etapa se entregó al disfrute pleno del placer, al que, como tiene demostrado de sobra, sigue entregado en la actualidad. Valiéndose de un estilo narrativo torrencial y vivísimo, González Arias descubre por primera vez lo que para muchos va a resultar imperdonable: los misteriosos detalles de la vida de un pueblo allá por 1975.

La amistad, el amor, el sexo, las drogas y la muerte son, en resumidas cuentas, los ingredientes básicos en este «plato fuerte» que no tiene ninguna intención moralizante pero sí una clara vocación de homenaje, público y notorio, a una forma de vivir que, en ciertas circunstancias, resulta la única posible.

Para accede a nuestra plataforma de audiolibros pinche aquí

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We would like to  recommend you El tiempo de Manolo,  a detailed biographical story about the youth of his author, Ismael María González Arias. During that time, he fully enjoyed the pleasures of life, something we are aware that he is still doing at the moment. Using a rich and lively narrative style, González Arias discovers the mysterious details of life in a small town for the first time in 1975.

Friendship, love, sex, drugs and death are, to put it in a nutshell, the basic ingredients of a book that doesn´t have any moralizing purpose. It is indeed a public and noticeable tribute to a way of life that in some circumstances turns out to be the only possible one.

To access our audiobooks platform, click here

Concierto conmemoración del V centenario del descubrimiento del Océano Pacífico

Con la participación de La Folía
LUN 09 – 6.30pm
Auditorio del Instituto Cervantes de Londres

La ruta española a Extremo Oriente quedó instituida a partir de 1567, cuando se logró realizar el tornaviaje, es decir la travesía del Pacífico (océano que había descubierto Vasco Núñez de Balboa en 1513) navegando hacia el Este de vuelta de Filipinas a Nueva España (el actual México), lo que venía intentándose desde que en 1523 Magallanes y Elcano habían hecho el viaje de ida por primera vez. Abarcando una extensión de 25.000 kilómetros, las naves viajaban desde las costas españolas hasta Veracruz, en la costa atlántica del continente americano – mientras que otro ramal iba al istmo de Panamá y de allí viajaba al Callao en el virreinato de Perú–, que era cruzado luego en caravana por tierra pasando por ciudades como Puebla y Ciudad de México hasta llegar a Acapulco, al borde del Pacífico, desde donde partía el Galeón de Manila o Nao de China, que aseguraba la conexión al Lejano Oriente.

De diversos lugares de esta ruta, se han seleccionado piezas musicales a dúo que son interpretadas con 18 flautas de diferentes tipologías y tesituras, copias de instrumentos históricos de los siglos XVI a XVIII, incluyendo música barroca compuesta y conservada en Pekín, glosando figuras como la del madrileño Diego Pantoja, instructor musical en 1601 de los eunucos en la Ciudad Prohibida, o el italiano Teodorico Pedrini, que hizo un accidentado periplo para llegar a la capital china, que le llevó a recorrer toda América del Sur y Central, después de naufragar en Cabo Hornos y hacerlo aun dos veces entre Manila y Macao.

El Dúo de solistas de La Folía, que forma parte del grupo de música barroca de más larga trayectoria continuada en España desde que fue fundado en 1977 en Madrid por Pedro Bonet. Pedro Bonet y Belén González Castaño son los solistas de flauta de pico del Grupo de música barroca La Folía, En esta formación de dúo, interpretan el rico y abundante repertorio barroco para dos flautas sin bajo, junto a una muestra de la literatura para flauta sola o para flauta y bajo, así como piezas a dos voces de la música contrapuntística medieval y renacentista. Cuentan para ello con abundante instrumental de diferentes tipologías históricas y tesituras que confiere gran variedad a la audición y constituye uno de los atractivos de los conciertos del dúo.

Pedro Bonet es catedrático de flauta de pico del Real Conservatorio Superior de Madrid, donde imparte también Teoría de la Interpretación, Improvisación de la Música Antigua y Conjunto Barroco. Belén González Castaño ha realizado con La Folía numerosas giras de concierto y grabaciones discográficas. Compagina su actividad profesional flautística con el piano, instrumento con el que lleva a cabo también diversas actuaciones a solo y de cámara.

Organizado por Instituto Cervantes Londres
Entrada libre con reserva obligatoria reservas.londres@cervantes.es / 02072010752

Concert commemorating the V centenary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean

With the participation of La Folía
MON 09 – 6.30pm 
Auditorium Instituto Cervantes London

The Spanish route to the Far East was first established in 1567, when they succeeded in making the ‘return journey’. In other words, crossing the Pacific (the ocean discovered by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513), sailing eastwards on their return from the Philippines to New Spain (present day Mexico), something which they had been attempting ever since Magellan and Elcano made the outward journey for the first time. Covering a further 25,000 kilometres, the ships sailed from the Spanish coasts to Veracruz, on the Atlantic coast of America (while others sailed to the Isthmus of Panama and from there to El Callao in the viceroyalty of Peru), where they then crossed over land in convoy passing through cities like Puebla and Mexico City until they reached Acapulco, on the Pacific. From there, the Galeón de Manila – also known as the Nao de China – set sail, securing the link to the Far East.

From various points on this route, the Grupo de Folía have selected musical duets to perform on 18 flutes of different typologies and tessituras, copies of historical instruments from the 16th to the 18th centuries. These pieces include Baroque music composed and kept in Beijing, and take in figures such as the Madrileño Diego Pantoja, music instructor in 1601 to the eunuchs of the Forbidden City; and the Italian Teodorico Pedrini, whose eventful journey to reach the Chinese capital took him through the whole of South and Central America after being shipwrecked at Cape Horn, and then twice more between Manila and Macao.

La Folía’s duo of soloists form part of the longest continuously running Baroque music group in Spain, since it was founded in Madrid in 1977 by Pedro Bonet. Pedro Bonet and Belén González Castaño are the recorder soloists of the Baroque music group La Folía. As this duo, they perform a rich and abundant Baroque repertoire for two recorders without bass, together with a sample of pieces for solo recorder and for recorder with bass, as well as duet pieces of medieval and Renaissance contrapuntal music. For these they play many instruments of different typologies and tessituras, which makes for a very varied concert and is one of the attractions of performances from this duo.

Pedro Bonet is professor of recorder at the Real Conservatorio Superior in Madrid, where he also teaches the Theory of Interpretation, Ancient Music Improvisation, and Baroque Ensemble. Belén González Castaño has completed numerous concert tours and CD recordings with La Folía. She combines her professional flautist activity with the piano, on which she also performs both as a soloist and in chamber music groups.

Organised by Instituto Cervantes Londres
Admission free booking essential reservas.londres@cervantes.es / 02072010752

Conferencia
Una mirada al Pacifico: el océano en la Historia Global

A cargo del Prof. Felipe Fernández-Armesto
JUE 28 NOV – 6.30pm
Auditorio del Instituto Cervantes de Londres

Para conmemorar el V centenario del descubrimiento del Pacifico, el Instituto Cervantes de Londres ha organizado una conferencia con la participación del profesor Felipe Fernández Armesto. Doctor en Historia por la Universidad de Oxford. Es catedrático de la Universidad de Londres y de la Tufts University de Massachusetts. De sus libros traducidos a 23 idiomas , destacan los títulos Colon(1992), Milenium (1995), Civilizaciones (2002), Los conquistadores del Horizonte. Una historia mundial de la exploración (2006).

En inglés

Organizado por Instituto Cervantes Londres
Entrada libre con reserva obligatoria reservas.londres@cervantes.es / 02072010752

*Con motivo de la conferencia que impartirá el catedrático Felipe Fernández-Armesto, ponemos a disposición de nuestros usuarios los libros que tenemos escritos por él en nuestra biblioteca.

Lecture
Gazing on the Pacific: The Ocean in Global History

By Prof. Felipe Fernández-Armesto
THU 28 NOV – 6.30pm
Auditorium Instituto Cervantes London

To commemorate the 500 years of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean, The Institute Cervantes has organised a lecture with the participation of Professor Felipe Fernandez-Armesto. Felipe Fernández-Armesto is a British historian and author of several popular works of history. Felipe Fernandez Armesto joined the history department at the University of Notre Dame in 2009, after occupying chairs at Tufts University and the University of London (Queen Mary College). He had spent most of his career teaching at Oxford, where he was an undergraduate and doctoral student. He has had visiting appointments at many universities and research institutes in Europe and the Americas, and has honorary doctorates from La Trobe University and the Universidad de los Andes. He began his teaching career at Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey where he was widely admired for his flamboyant bow ties.

In English

Organised by Instituto Cervantes Londres
Admission free booking essential reservas.londres@cervantes.es / 02072010752

*We are please to present the books we have in our library written by Professor Mr. Felipe Fernández-Armestos.

Nos complace presentaros tanto en soporte papel como en e-book 3 libros de autores españoles de reconocido prestigio traducidos al inglés que acabamos de recibir. Para accede al libro electrónico, hacer clic aquí. Para consultar el catálogo y ver la disponibilidad de los libros en papel, haz clic aquí.

We are happy to present you these three new books that just arrived in our library in paper format and in e-book format. To access the e-books, please click here. To see the availability in paper format, please, click here.

THE FAINT-HEARTED BOLSHEVIK   Lorenzo Silva; Translated by  Nick Caistor and Isabelle Kaufeler

Short-listed for one of the most prestigious literary awards in Spain before being made into a successful film, The Faint-hearted Bolshevik has, over the fifteen years since its first edition, become an undisputed classic of contemporary Spanish literature. One morning in a traffic jam on his way to work, a driver is distracted and slams into the car in front. When the woman driving the other car reacts with a torrent of abuse out of all proportion to the incident, the driver cracks and decides to teach her a lesson, by dedicating his whole summer to ruining this foul woman’s life. But his plans for revenge are thrown by the sudden appearance of Rosana, his intended victim’s compelling teenage sister, and he finds himself and his base instincts severely tested …

 Caught up in this impossible affair, the man’s thoughts turn in moments of weakness to that famous photo of the last Tsar’s daughters, as he tries to put himself in the place of the Bolshevik hired to kill the beautiful Grand Duchess Olga; a man who was surely, just like him, a victim of his own faint-heartedness.

 So, within a story somewhere between comedy, suspense and melodrama, Lorenzo Silva uses his main character to present a vicious critique of today’s world of work, and the inner conflicts of a frustrated middle-aged man, which is at the same time a story of ill-fated love with an unexpected twist.

NOTHING EVER HAPPENS     by José Ovejero;  Translated by Philip H. D. Smith and Graziella de Luis

Carmela and Nico lead a comfortable life in a nice house in the suburbs with their little girl, Berta, their dog, Laika and Olivia, the young immigrant Ecuadorian home help. They have all settled into a cosy daily routine of fixed habits, as day follows day in a peaceful, middle-class pattern in which nothing ever happens. Or does it?
    When Olivia arrives one morning to find blood stains at the entrance of the house, a trail of footprints through the snow leads her and Nico to a discovery that not only slams home the terrifying fragility of life as it shifts suddenly and unexpectedly, but also the simple fact that appearances can be deceptive. Sometimes, beneath the surface calm, there’s a huge storm brewing.
    So, the author takes us calmly, page by page, through the various aspects of each character, peeling away their masks as he goes, until by the end we are left with a stripped landscape revealing the tangled web of hidden stories that lurk beneath the apparent normality. All it takes is someone with a keen eye – someone like José Ovejero – looking through a random keyhole, to show that behind every door, at every moment … something always happens. 

THE HAPPY CITY  by Elvira Navarro; Translated by Rosalind Harvey

“I feel terrible. Although he doesn’t say it, I know he had been hoping the whole time that I would explain it all somehow; but I can’t explain it, because I don’t understand anything.” These disturbing words, almost a distillation of the entire text, close the novel The Happy City by Elvira Navarro, who featured in Granta’s The Best of Young Spanish-language Novelists issue in 2010.
The stories of Chi-Huei—a Chinese boy whose family has come to Spain in search of a better life—and his friend Sara—a girl strangely fascinated by a homeless man—comprise two separate yet complementary sections, presenting the reader with a detailed account of their life circumstances and the nuances of their perspectives: the genuine, as-yet untamed voices through which the book’s pre-adolescent protagonists negotiate the world around them, their initial astonishment finally turning to frustration as they gaze upon their dehumanized society.
A pre-teen’s first faltering steps towards sexuality, social pressures, the way polarized outlooks on life coexist at the core of the same family, those first experiences of disillusionment as we awaken into the adult world: these are some of the themes that Navarro lays out for her readers in order to reveal, with razor-sharp control, the constant duality that exists between the outward appearance of things and their inner reality. 

24/10/2013 – 6.30pm
Auditorio Instituto Cervantes Londres | Auditorium

CONFERENCIA Y DEGUSTACIÓN GASTRONÓMICA

El Sabor de la Ñ: Una Combinación de Ciencia y Literatura resultó todo un éxito. Puedes leer la conferencia de José Manuel Iglesias pulsando aquí (en español).

Más información

LECTURE AND FOOD TASTING

The Flavor of Ñ: a Combination of Science and Literature was a success! You can download José Manuel Iglesias’ lecture by click here (in Spanish).

More info

Act Spanish and improve your Confidence

New course! Starting on Saturday 1st of February 2014 at the Instituto Cervantes
The aim of this course is to provide a friendly creative and fun environment in which to learn and practice speaking Spanish. We use theatre and drama techniques including improvisation, role play and games to act out real-life situations. In this way, we concentrate less on the mechanics of grammar and more on extending your vocabulary and building your confidence when speaking Spanish in the real world. Level : Intermediate and Fluency Speakers

Saturdays from 12:00 – 14:00h

Dates: from 1st February to 22 February 2014 (4 weeks; 10 hours)

Full fee: £92 (5% discount for students enrolled in the last two terms)

 To register for the course please contact us:

Tel: 020 7235 0353             102 Eaton Square, London, Greater London SW1W 9AN

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