INTRODUCING THE MORGANS (III), ELSA MORGAN

Hi, I'm Elsa Morgan. I was born in Sintra, Portugal and I am a clockmaker.

A few months ago, I discovered that the famous Welsh pirate Henry Morgan was an ancestor of mine and that I had brothers and sisters to meet. Thanks to The Grandma, an Andorran grandmother, who made every effort to locate us, today I know them all and to celebrate this meeting we decided to spend two months together travelling and reviewing our level of English because we have all decided to retire to Kingston, Jamaica, to enjoy the Morgan fortune, and English is its official language.

-Good morning and thanks to attend us.

 

-Good morning. It's an honour.

-What's your full name?

-My name is Elsa Morgan Alfonso de Aguiar.

-How do you spell your second surname?

-A-L-F-O-N-S-O   D-E   A-G-U-I-A-R

-Are you a student? What are you studying?

-No, I'm not a student. I completed my training in clockmaking several years ago and now I work full-time.

-Are you working? What is your job?

-Yes, I am. I'm a clockmaker. I design, assemble, repair, and maintain clocks.

-Do you like your job? Why?

-Yes, I love my job because it requires precision, patience, and creativity. I enjoy working with small mechanical parts and bringing clocks back to life.

-Where are you from?

-I'm from Sintra, Portugal.

-How long have you lived there?

-I lived in Sintra for most of my childhood and early adult life. Although I travel occasionally for work, I still consider Sintra my home.

-Why are you studying English?

-I'm studying English because many clockmaking companies and customers come from different countries. English helps me communicate with clients and learn about new developments in the industry.

-How long have you been studying English?

-I've been studying English for two months. I started with The Morgans and I continue to improve it through work and travel.

-Tell me about your town.

-Sintra is a beautiful town near Lisbon. It is famous for its castles, palaces, and green hills. Many tourists visit it because it looks like something from a fairy tale.

-What music do you like?

-I enjoy listening to classical music and jazz while I work because they help me concentrate. In my free time, I also like Portuguese folk music.

-Can you play any instrument?

-Yes, I can play the guitar a little. I'm not a professional musician, but I enjoy playing for friends and family.

-Tell me about your favourite place.

-My favourite place is the Pena Palace in Sintra. I love its colourful architecture and the incredible views of the surrounding countryside.

-What do you like doing in your free time?

-In my free time, I enjoy hiking, reading historical novels, visiting museums, and learning about traditional crafts. I also like spending time with my family.

-Do you practise any sport? Which?

-Yes, I do. I enjoy hiking and swimming. They help me stay active and relax after long hours of detailed work.

-What skills are important for a clockmaker?

-I think patience, attention to detail, and good hand-eye coordination are essential. A clockmaker must be very careful because even a tiny mistake can affect the movement of a clock.

-What is the most interesting part of your job?

-The most interesting part is repairing old mechanical clock. Each clock has its own history, and it's very satisfying when it starts working perfectly again.

-Would you like to create your own clock brand one day?

-Yes, I would. It has always been my dream to design clocks that combine traditional craftsmanship with modern technology.

-Why do people still buy mechanical clocks today?

-I think people appreciate the craftsmanship and the history behind them. A mechanical clock is not only a tool but also a piece of art.

-How is a normal day with The Morgans?

-We haven't got similar days. Every day is different and this is something very important because it offers to you the possibility of living fantastic experiences every day and you can enjoy them with all your heart because you know that next day you're going to put the score to zero and we're going to start again. It's a non-stopping life.

-Which is your best memory with The Morgans?

-It's difficult to choose only one. I remember when we travelled back in time with my TARDIS to meet Claire Randall, an English former World War II military nurse in Scotland who, in 1945, finds herself transported back in time to 1743. It was an incredible experience.

-Which is your favourite song?

-I have a lot of songs, but I'm Portuguese. I love fados. All of them talk about life, saudade (longing). I would say any song from Mísia, but I will say 'Memória' by Rosalía and Carminho, because it talks about the passage of time and memories, something related to my job.

Será que tu me conheces
Que o tempo passa e não esqueces
Quem eu fui e sou em fim
Oh meu doce Coração
Diz-me se sabes ou não
Ainda te lembras de mim?

Do you know me?
Time passes and you don't forget
Who I was and am in the end
Oh my sweet heart
Tell me if you know or not
Do you still remember me?

 

Rosalía & Carminho 

THE MORGANS, DISCOVERING THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

Today, The Morgans have started to search The Chamber of Secrets, a hidden place in Hogwarts. Searching The Chamber of Secrets is a difficult work full of dangers, magic and riddles but the family has accepted this challenge and they are ready to start this adventure.

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the second novel in the Harry Potter series.

The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, during which a series of messages on the walls of the school's corridors warn that The Chamber of Secrets has been opened and that the heir of Slytherin would kill all pupils who do not come from all-magical families. These threats are found after attacks that leave residents of the school petrified. Throughout the year, Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione investigate the attacks.

The book was published in the United Kingdom on 2 July 1998 by Bloomsbury and later in the United States on 2 June 1999 by Scholastic Inc. Although Rowling says she found it difficult to finish the book, it won high praise and awards from critics, young readers, and the book industry, although some critics thought the story was perhaps too frightening for younger children.

Much like with other novels in the series, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets triggered religious debates; some religious authorities have condemned its use of magical themes, whereas others have praised its emphasis on self-sacrifice and the way one's character is the result of one's choices.

Several commentators have noted that personal identity is a strong theme in the book and that it addresses issues of racism through the treatment of non-human, non-magical, and non-living people. Some commentators regard the diary as a warning against uncritical acceptance of information from sources whose motives and reliability cannot be checked. Institutional authority is portrayed as self-serving and incompetent.

The film adaptation of the novel, released in 2002, became at that time the fifth highest-grossing film ever and received generally favourable reviews. Video games loosely based on Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets were also released for several platforms, and most obtained favourable reviews.

Rowling found it difficult to finish Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets because she was afraid it would not live up to the expectations raised by Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. After delivering the manuscript to Bloomsbury on schedule, she took it back for six weeks of revision.

More information: Wizarding World

In early drafts of the book, the ghost Nearly Headless Nick sang a self-composed song explaining his condition and the circumstances of his unknown death. This was cut because the book's editor did not care for the poem, which has been subsequently published as an extra on J. K. Rowling's official website. 

The family background of Dean Thomas was removed because Rowling and her publishers considered it an unnecessary digression, and she considered Neville Longbottom's own journey of discovery more important to the central plot.

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets was published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. It immediately took first place in UK bestseller lists, displacing popular authors such as John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and Terry Pratchett and making Rowling the first author to win the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year for two years in succession. In June 1999, it went straight to the top of three US bestseller lists, including inThe New York Times.

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets continues to examine what makes a person who he or she is, which began in the first book. As well as maintaining that Harry's identity is shaped by his decisions rather than any aspect of his birth, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets provides contrasting characters who try to conceal their true personalities.

Gilderoy Lockhart lacks any real identity because he is nothing more than a charming liar. Tom Riddle also complicates Harry's struggle to understand himself by pointing out the similarities between the two both half-bloods, orphans raised by Muggles, probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin.

Opposition to class, death and its impacts, experiencing adolescence, sacrifice, love, friendship, loyalty, prejudice, and racism are constant themes of the series. In Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets Harry's consideration and respect for others extends to the lowly, non-human Dobby and the ghost Nearly Headless Nick.

More information: Wizarding World

Immorality and the portrayal of authority as negative are significant themes in the novel. There are few absolute moral rules in Harry Potter's world, for example Harry prefers to tell the truth, but lies whenever he considers it necessary -very like his enemy Draco Malfoy.

At the end of Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore retracts his promise to punish Harry, Ron, and Hermione if they break any more school rules -after Professor Minerva McGonagall estimates they have broken over 100- and lavishly rewards them for ending the threat from The Chamber of Secrets. Krause further states that authority figures and political institutions receive little respect from Rowling. 

William MacNeil of Griffith University, Queensland, Australia states that the Minister for Magic is presented as a mediocrity. In his article Harry Potter and the Secular City, Ken Jacobson suggests the Ministry as a whole is portrayed as a tangle of bureaucratic empires, saying that Ministry officials busy themselves with minutiaeand coin politically correct euphemisms like 'non-magical community' for Muggles and 'memory modification' for magical brainwashing.

This novel implies it begins in 1992. The cake for Nearly-Headless Nick's 500th death day party bears the words Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington died 31 October 1492.

More information: Screen Rant

Download Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K.Rowling

Download Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets (Exercise) 

 You will also find that help will always be given
at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.

Albus Dumbledore