Other Ways to Enjoy the Chronicles

tirian_son_of_erlian

tirian_son_of_erlian

Active member
This summer I will be taking a break from Houston. I've lived here ten years now, but it's been four years since I've visited Florida. So I'm glad I'll be in the Tampa area for a month to see my dad and old friends. Among them is Alicia who loves the Chronicles of Narnia. We'll be reading some of our favorite passages. Sometimes we like to act scenes out, or at least infuse passion into how we read certain characters aloud.

Another idea I have is picking up the Chronicles in Spanish. I took three years in high school, so I remember a bit, and notice more comes back to me than I expect when I start using it. Having connections in both Florida and Texas, Spanish is a valuable asset. At this point in my life I never expect to be fluent in it, but improving in it through conversation will come in handy. I know the Chronicles so well, I believe reading them in Spanish would greatly sharpen my vocabulary and grammar.

Have you tried either of these methods, homespun dramatization or foreign translations, or even something else?
 
Tirian, thank you for starting this thread. I hope you have a wonderful visit with your father and friends, and I look forward to hearing more of your Narnia times with Alicia. As for your Chronicles translated into Spanish reading idea, I think that sounds wonderful! Reading something you are familiar with content-wise, certainly can help you learn to enjoy that text more easily! It should be tremendous fun! (I have been enjoying getting the Verse of the day on my YouVersion Bible phone app in French but have never tried reading one of the Chronicles all the way through in French...Hmmmm).

This past year I have been helping with my daughter's book club go through The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe using a newly developed curriculum from the University of Leeds. This University was researching how to use literature to help students grow in six particular areas of virtue: love, wisdom, integrity, fortitude, self-control and justice. In addition to the curriculum, my daughter would write a skit from one scene each chapter for club members to act out what they have been reading. Since all the members including my daughter have various cognitive or developmental delays it was helpful to talk about each of these virtues as exemplified by various characters throughout the book as a way of increasing reading comprehension. But certain members really caught the idea of the virtues and have been able to apply those concepts to their own lives this year...
 
This past week my family completed read aloud all seven of the Chronicles, this time in chronological order... Thanks to the extra time we have been spending at home during pandemic, we got to rediscover the joy of reading to each other. My favorite parts of our reading adventures was to see how much delight and joy my daughter evinced as she anticipated twists in the plot as evil was thwarted or characters changed for the better -- or how, in solidarity, we booed the villains (such as Shift the ape in the horrifyingly manipulative early scenes of The Last Battle).
 
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