Groups - Languages to Philosophy

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Languages

French  both groups meet at the LFMH every Thursday from 2.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.  We have enjoyed six trips to France, and are going again in September 2006.  ‘Conversation’ is more advanced than  ‘Improvers’.

French Conversation   discusses current affairs, tackles various puzzles, plays scrabble and reads and translates a chosen novel.

French  Improvers       has as a more formal approach to language learning and is working with the BBC French Experience 2. Games and videos are frequently used to consolidate and extend the scope of the text book. This is a very friendly group that does not take itself too seriously.

French Beginners for members new to the language

German  requires some knowledge of the language but 'rustiness' or 'extreme rustiness' should not deter prospective members.  There is a meeting on most Friday mornings covering either German Translation  or German Grammar & Vocabulary.

Latin is for beginners interested in reading Latin and also contains some history and literature. It is held twice a month normally on 1st and 3rd Friday afternoons.

Spanish         groups each meet twice a month at the home of the coordinator.

Intermediate Spanish   are currently following the BBC text book and tapes Suenos Level 2. Games and role play are used to consolidate and extend the scope of  the basic course, while Advanced Spanish  practice and improve their command of Spanish.  The sessions open with informal discussions often based on members’ travels. Members are encouraged to talk about their travels. We are currently using the ‘A’ level text book and tapes ‘Ponte al Dia’ and finding that it is a stimulating and demanding course.

There is also a Beginners' Spanish which meets at the Friends Meeting House 

Music

CD recitals  are held once a month to listen to CDs of classical music using a sound system recently purchased from an Awards for All grant. Members from the group take turns to choose and introduce the music. The group meets at LFMH on the 4th Tuesday afternoon (the afternoon of the monthly meeting)

Exploring Music meets in the afternoon of the fourth Thursday of each month at the leader's home. The major emphasis is upon music composed in the 20th Century, with a further belief that valuable music is written by a wide variety of composers and is not the sole preserve of those with major reputations. Thus lesser-known composers have been featured, such as Bax, Honegger, Howells, Karlowicz, Koechlin and Szymanowski, alongside highly respected figures such as Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky and Vaughan Williams. Where appropriate, simple musical analyses are used, and on occasion, jazz styles have been examined. From time to time, avant garde composers have been listened to, such as the Second Viennese School, Lutoslawski, Birtwistle, Boulez, Stockhausen and others.

These meetings maintain an informal atmosphere and produce lively discussion, and some humour.

Music Miscellany    is normally held in the afternoon on the second Friday of each month at the leader’s home. A relaxing afternoon listening to a wide ranging selection of music. Along with themed selections; we also indulge in Matinees Musicales. An additional future proposal would be a non academic, intermittent survey of English music from its beginnings to the present.

Natural History

This group studies Natural history mainly by field trips to interesting local reserves, but partly by indoor meetings. It is held on the second Monday in each month. Any walks involved are always reasonably easy: normally much less than 5 miles, sometimes the activity is a full day sometimes just a morning.

Numbers and Shapes                 

This is a shared-learning group and is not a venture into higher mathematics.  It is, however, an adventure into the magic of numbers and the world of shapes.  This group hopes to provide learning with fun and requires only an elementary knowledge of arithmetic and geometry.  At our meetings, presentation of a subject is followed by some discussion and then small groups work together to solve a problem or two.  Anyone who has an idea for exploration can take a turn in leading this group activity.  Among subjects investigated in recent series of meetings have been triangle and square numbers, labyrinths, and boxes. The group meets at LFMH when Words is not running and uses the same fourth Wednesday morning slot.

Opera            

This group has meets once a month to watch and listen to an Opera on DVD.  Before viewing the opera a brief introduction is given to help members better understand and appreciate the performance. Some cutting is usually needed to fit the viewing into the 2-hour session, or in the case of longer operas split over two meetings

The group normally meets at LFMH on the fourth Friday in the month at 2.00.

Some meetings involve visits to live opera performances in Manchester or Liverpool

Painting

There are two groups -

Art: A diverse group which has taken on some quite tough assignments and has enjoyed working hard and improving  skills. The group meets either inside or in the garden of LFMH and has produced interesting paintings of the lovely garden and house. We have a good sized and enthusiastic group meeting on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays each month at 10.00 a.m. at LFMH. Most of the group do paintings in water colour or similar media. New members with any level of expertise are welcome.

Painting for Pleasure: Another group of varied abilities meeting twice a month which draws, or paints in water colours at the house of the Coordinator.

Philosophy