Last Minute Holiday Gifts for Foreign Language Fans!

Oh, no. Did you wait until the last minute to buy holiday gifts?

Never fear! Here are some favorite books and movies for foreign language fans, as recommended by our instructors. Happy holidays! (See something you like? We’ve included links to Amazon.com for every item listed here to make your shopping a little easier…) What would you add to the list? Leave us a comment with your favorite selections!

Chinese:

Movies: Not One Less (a touching & funny film about kids in a rural Chinese school); Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (action packed with beautiful cinematography)

French:

Books: A Year in Provence (in English, a delightful book by Peter Mayle);  7 Jours pour une Eternite (A modern-day battle between a demon and an angel from one of France’s most popular writers, Marc Levy; La Vie en Mieux by Anna Gavalda (another popular French writer’s newest novel, set in Paris); the novels of Tahar Ben Jelloun (see side bar)

Movies: Intouchables (Surprisingly funny), Romantics Anonymous (a sweet romance), Paris, Je t’aime (a love-letter to Paris in shorts), La Gloire de Mon Pere and Le Chateau de Ma Mere (based on the stories by Marcel Pagnol, set in Provence at the turn of the 20th century). Jean de Florette (a stunning drama, also by Pagnol), Les Misérables (a terrific version starring Liam Neeson; it’s an American-made production but you can listen to it in French)

German:

Movies: Goodbye Lenin (a funny film about the end of communism in East Germany); Run Lola Run (a race against time with alternate endings); The Lives of Others (an Oscar-winning thriller)

Italian:

Movies: Cinema Paradiso (like a love-letter to cinema as an artform); La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful, Oscar-winning masterpiece from Director Roberto Benigni)

Portuguese:

Movies: Senna (documentary on the famous Brazilian Formula One driver, in English); City of God (powerful, acclaimed film set in Rio de Janeiro)

Spanish:

Books: Love in the Time of Cholera (the classic by Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez); Cien Años de Soledad (Another by García Márquez, in English); Don Quijote (the 400 year old classic novel by Miguel Cervantes)

Movies: Rudo Y Cursi (Two siblings rival each other inside the world of professional soccer), Amores Perros (a dazzling film with three stories that intersect after a violent accident); Maria Llena Eres de Gracia (“Maria Full of Grace,” a dramatic thriller about the ruthless world of international drug trafficking), La Ley de Herodes (political satire from Mexico); Biutiful (Oscar-nominated Javier Bardem stars in this drama set in Barcelona); Paraiso Travel (a Colombian illegal immigrant tries to find his fortune in NYC)

 

Recommendations from instructors John Altamirano, Liz Bertrand, Edwin Davila, Rodrigo Rion, Erin Tyler,  and Craig Snyder. 

Language classes also make great gifts! Contact The Language Academy of the Carolinas at (704) 548-0048 for a gift that always fits just right.