la biblioteca Issue 1- New Beginnings. |January 2016
ÂŁ5.00
HABLA ESPANOL Learning Spanish from the beginning. Where to start and how to get it right.
NEW YEAR NEW BOOKS A sneak peak at the latest, and upcomng releases in fiction
WRITERS BLOCK? A look at some of the best apps around to help with an empty mind.
10 Boo ks You MUST Read T his Winte r
Contents BOOKS
08 5 2016 RELEASES YOU MUST READ 11 ARE BOOKS MIRRORS OR WINDOWS? 15 CAN FICTION CHANGE A PERSON'S LIFE? 18 REVIEW: HOW TO BE A HEROINE BY SAMANTHA ELLIS
SPOTLIGHT CAN FICTION CHANGE A PERSON'S LIFE?
WRITING
20 BALANCING WRITING AND STUDYING: IT IS POSSIBLE
REVIEW
HOW TO BE A HEROINE BY SAMANTHA ELLIS
24 WRITER'S BLOCK AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT.
"THE book for those who love to read"
28 CLICHES ALL WRITERS SHOULD AVOID 33 TIPS ON LETTERING LIKE A PRO LANGUAGES
38 NEW YEAR, NEW LANGUAGE 43 THE BEST LANGUAGE APPS AROUND 50 BEING BILINGUAL. 58 HABLA ESPANOL
COMPETITION
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For as long as I can remember, I've been an avid reader. I love the sound of the pages as they turn, and the smell of a new book you have taken home from the bookshop. But it wasn't until later on in my childhood that something changed. There are always going to be bad books, and there are always going to be good ones too. However, the best of the best will be the few that help define how we think, act, behave. live. Books have the power to transform us into the people we are today, in both literary and physical terms. At the age of 12, this is exactly what happened to me. Upon seeing the final Harry Potter film on a whim, I delved straight into the books, inhaling each word, absorbing each character. A year later and I emerged as someone very different. My views on certain issues had changed - that wasn't necessarily because of growing up, but instead because of how J.K Rowling's world had inspired me. LA LITERATURA
Harry Potter helped me at one of the lowest times in my life. Escapism came into play, and after a bad day I could head to Hogwarts and sit in a Herbology class or watch the Triwizard Tournament. Those books saved me from becoming a person who hated life - they gave me hope that things would get better. They shaped the person who I have become. It's true that this will not happen to every reader. Some may never need to escape into some else's life. But for many bookworms, there will be a book that has altered your perspective on an issue, or been the reason that you missed that bus on a drizzly Tuesday and met your best friend instead. George RR Martin once said "a reader lives a thousand lives." Question is, which one made you who you are today?
"Books have the power to transform us into the people we are today, in both literary and physical terms." CAN FICTION CHANGE A PERSON'S LIFE?
Want more life-changing books? Turn to chapter 24 for many great recommendations
WWW.LABIBLIOTECA.CO.UK | Chapter 3
BEING BILINGUAL We caught up with Rita Dias, a book blogger based in the UK, on Being Bilingual and how it affects her life.
Have you always been bilingual and which languages do you speak? I've probably been bilingual since the age of three or four. I'm from Portugal but live in England, so I speak both Portuguese and English, but I'm also learning Spanish. Do You think in English or Portuguese? I think in English. There's a lot of bilingual people I know of who change which language they think in depending on where they are - whether it is their home country/ around their native family language, or their second language. How frequently do you use Portuguese living in England? Because of being in a mainly English-based environment, there are a lot less opportunities to speak in Portuguese. I speak it occasionally at home, and when we return to Portugal in the summer, I'm back into my first language.
EL IDIOMA
What do you think the advantages are that come with being bilingual? This doesn't apply to me personally, but it can be great if you want to go into a job dealing with linguistics or if a company or workplace need translators. Additionally, I reckon I've found it a lot easier to learn another language, because I'm Bilingual Are the any problems you come across or have because of being Bilingual? Sometimes it can be hard to think of a word in English that I have the perfect one for in Portuguese. People also assume that English is my first language, so they find it odd if I start spelling or counting in Portuguese (because I find it easier to do that), or they think I'm showing off. If you could learn another language what would it be? Italian or French. It would be nice to have a fourth language!
WWW.LABIBLIOTECA.CO.UK | Chapter 50
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Next Issue Diversity and Self Expression In light of JK Rowling's casting of Hermione in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, we will be looking at diversity in fiction, and if there's enough. Our limitations in the languages we are made to study in school. 'Writing what you know;' and how this phrase is problematic.
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EDITORIAL LETTER
Dear Reader, We created La Biblioteca with love, wonder, and questions. This is a magazine for the curious mind. For the person who wants to break free from the mould of fashion and beauty. For those who want to look deeper than the surface. That is exactly what we intend to do with La Biblioteca, and we all hope you enjoy reading.
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