ACTIVITY 2

The Alchemist is an easy story with a deep message. It is a message to follow your heart and search for your dreams. The book is about a young man named Santiago who lives in Spain and works as a shepherd. He begins to have strange dreams so he goes to a Gypsy to find out what they mean. The Gypsy tells him that he needs to go to the Egyptian pyramids to find his treasure. Of course he does not believe her. But later he meets another person who tells him the same thing. At last Santiago decides to give up his life as a shepherd and go find his treasure.

Santiago encounters many problems as he goes on his journey. He meets many people and learns a lot along the way. He also learns to listen to and trust the Soul of the World. Does he ever find his treasure? And why is the book called The Alchemist? I can't tell you. You will have to read the book if you want to find out.

The Alchemist was originally written in Portuguese by Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian author. It has been translated into many languages, including, of course, English. It is a good book for people who are learning English because most of the sentences are fairly short and you will recognize a lot of the vocabulary. There are definitely words you will not know at first, but with a little patience and study you should be able to finish (and maybe enjoy) the book. They say patience is a virtue whether you are learning English or trying out new catfish fishing lures for the first time. This book is a great choice for readers learning the English language. And hopefully you will be able to follow your dreams as well.

Questions and Answers

1. The Alchemist is a book about following your dreams.

 True

2. Santiago takes care of cows.

 False

3. A Gypsy is from Egypt.

 True4. Santiago has a lot of problems as he looks for his treasure.

 True

5. The author of the book is from Brazil.

 True

6. The author wrote the book in English.

 False

7. The book has only easy English words.

 False

Activities for June 8th

Hansel and Gretel

Activity 1
Answer these questions in English
a) Who are Hansel and Gretel?
They are two brothers who leave them in the forest and are kidnapped by an evil witch.
b) How does the story start?
Hansel and Gretel were children of a woodcutter. The family was so poor that the mother persuades the father to abandon the children in the forest, because it had no way to feed them. It leaves them in the woods, but Hansel stones mark the path home. They return, and the next day the father takes even so far, but Hansel, lucid, redials the way. The third day the woodcutter leads to the heart of the forest itself. Hansel marks the way, this time with breadcrumbs, but quickly warns that the birds have eaten. The brothers spend two days wandering through the woods, until they find a house built with sugar, candy and gingerbread. They begin to devour the walls.

Activity 2

Watch the video and listen to the story if you have headphones or read the subtitles in English.

Activity 3

Look at these pictures and write a description in English for each one of them.

*There was Hansel and Gretel hoping to return her parents and lost in the woods.