CULTURE: The right pronunciation

Hi fellow teachers and students!

For today, I will talk about the pronunciation of a word I am always correcting in my students. The word is CULTURE. And this is a word we tend to use quite a lot!!!

Below, I send a link with the correct pronunciation.

https://youtu.be/KPGF6aLxfQc

Dizer tremer a perna de medo em Inglês

Hello,

Have you ever felt so weak because you are way too nervous or scared?
Well, you TURNED TO JELLY.
Em português dizemos que trememos a perna de medo. 😂

Hi mates,

Do you know how to say "nem que a vaca tussa em Inglês? There are 2 possible ways....

When hell freezes over.....or....
When pigs fly

For example:

Are you going to swim that early in the morning?
When hell freezes over OU
When pigs fly.

Bye for now! 😉

Can you recognize Thesaurus Syndrome?

If you came across the paragraph below. What would you think of it?

When I went to the meeting, I took the leaflets that my team had prepared because I wanted to show my colleagues which flyers our team wanted to use. We had worked hard to produce pamphlets because we were aware that another organisation had used brochures very successfully. My colleagues agreed at the meeting that the booklets that my team had prepared were appropriate for our customers.

Well, we can observe that although this writer can get his ideas across, he fails in choosing the right words, in other words, Thesaurus Syndrome.

Before using ‘thesaurus words’:
– Find a sample sentence that uses the word. Compare it with your phrase/sentence. Is your usage appropriate?
– If you see a list of words in a thesaurus, pick the one with which you’re familiar… at least you can’t go wrong!
– The best way of expanding your vocabulary is by reading. I don’t just mean Nobel Prize winning novels, Shakespeare and 18th century poetry. A scathing film review can offer as much in terms of new vocab and interesting turns of phrase. 

To conclude this post I will quote Stephen King: “Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.”  

That's food for thought, isn't it?

Great apps to study on your own!

Hi guys!
I highly recommend these two apps for teachers and students who study by their own. One is a prepatory for TOEFL. The other is highly engaging because you can practice your grammar while competing against people all over the world! Very fun!!

Practice your listening with movies! I have some suggestions

 Do you want to practice you English in a more contextualized setting, using real language. Check this ones out. I highly recommend

https://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/eslvideo/videos3.html

http://en.ver-taal.com/trailer_blooddiamond.htm

http://en.ver-taal.com/trailer_blooddiamond.htm
http://movies.clubefl.gr

Hope you can benefit from it!

Vo

Como dizer "estar matando cachorro a grito" em inglês

Esta expressão é uma usada por nós. O equilavente em inglês é "to be in dire straits"
Veja os exemplos: freedictionary.com

n dire straits

In a very bleak or grim situation. The recent nosedive in the stock market has left many companies in dire straits. I was in dire straits there for a while, but I'm feeling much better after my hospital stay.

Learn how to say "gambiarra/ quebra galho" in English.

Existem várias formas equivalentes para esta expressão mas a forma mais prática é "to make a quick-fix".
E.g. I didn't have to buy a new plug because I managed to make a quick-fix. (Eu não precisei comprar um plugue novo porque consegui fazer uma gambiarra/quebra-galho).

Isto são outros "quinhentos"....

Você sabe dizer a expressão isto são outros quinhentos em inglês? Observe o exemplo:

Writing a paragraph is easy but writing a 200-word essay is A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME.

(Escrever um parágrafo é fácil mas escrever uma redação de 200 palavras é outros quinhentos)

See, watch, stare and look. Difficult?

Os verbos de percepção em inglês são bem mais ricos que em português e a equivalência, às vezes, fica difícil.  Mas acho que com estas ilustrações ficará mais fácil para você.

Do you know how to say "firme e forte" in English?
Alive and kicking

E.g: How are you feeling after a long day studying for the test?
 Alive and kicking.

Reference: Englishexperts.com

Your Semester Hashtag Activity

####magicteaching#coolactivities#motivated students#positiveresults#lerningtounlearn######

 Many of our students love this symble nowadays, so....why not thinking of a cool ativity to incorporate it to our class. Reflecting upon it, I thought of an activity but before the procedures let's look into some facts about the origin of hash tags. I confess I was taken aback!! I got it from urbandictionary.com:

"Hashtags are believed to have originated on Twitter but, interestingly enough, it is not a Twitter function. Some believe it began when the broken plane luckily landed in the Hudson River in early 2009, some Twitter user wrote a post and added #flight1549 to it. I have no idea who this person was, but somebody else would have read it and when he posted something about the incident, added #flight1549 to HIS tweet. For something like this, where tweets would have been flying fast and furiously, it wouldn't have taken long for this hash tag to go viral and suddenly thousands of people posting about it would have added it to their tweets as well. Then, if you wanted info on the situation, you could do a search on "#flight1549" and see everything that people had written about it."

Suggested activity and procedures:

1) First of all, to introduce the topic, I would have my students discussing about their beliefs regarding the origin of hash tags to see of any of them know about the facts.

2) After I would ask them to carry on a research on the internet to know about the facts.

3) Later on, I would ask them to take a picture (they're free to use their creativity), which would represent their expectations for the semester. Then they would create the hashtag for the picture.

4) As students finish creating their hashtags, I would ask them to vote for the most creative one. As an alternative prodecedure, if students have a group on facebook, the teacher can ask them to upload their pictures and there can be a votation online. This way they can show their pictures and hashtags to families and friends! ;)

For more interesting info on the topic you can also check these two links:

http://pt.wix.com/blog/2013/11/o-que-sao-hashtags/

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag

http://top-hashtags.com/instagram/

The Word of the Year Quiz

Every year the Oxford Dictionaries announce the word of the year. So, the new SELFIE is VAPE which was the word chosen for its significant use in 2014.

To explore this set of words that are year after year incorporated to the English language, I found this quiz (link below). There teachers can have students enriching their vocabulary and also practicing  these new items by asking students to role play situations where they have to use a given number of words. Very good activity for advanced and upper-intermediate students!

http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/11/word-of-the-year-2014-quiz/

Let's now wait for the word of 2015!!!!

It's World Cup Time!

Veja abaixo algumas gírias, comumente usadas em futebol, em inglês:

CABEÇA DE BAGRE; PERNA DE PAU: journeyman; journeyman player; huffer; puffer

PISAR NA BOLA: the ball got stuck under his feet; he tripped over the ball

PARADINHA: feinting

PEIXINHO: diving header

CAVADINHA: Panenka penalty; chipped penalty

ROLINHO, CANETA: to nutmeg; to do a nutmeg

DRIBLE DO ELÀSTICO, ELÀSTICO: flip-flap; flick-flack

MEIA LUA: penalty arc

BARREIRA: wall

FRANGO: howler; blunder; blooper (AmE)

PELADA: pickup game (AmE); kick-around (BrE)

CAMA DE GATO: leaning in

BOLA DIVIDIDA: fifty-fifty ball; loose ball

CHUTAR DE BICO: to toe-poke

CONTRAPÉ, PEGAR NO CONTRAPÉ: wrongfoot, to wrongfoot

CARRINHO: sliding tackle

GANDULA: ball boy; ball girl

ARTILHEIRO: top scorer

Source: www.inglêscomfutebol.com.br

English language and Shakespeare...much more than to be or not to be

Did you know that...

1)   Shakespeare, in his plays, poems, and other writings, used 29,066 unique words. Most people today only use 7,500 to 10,000 unique words in their writing and speech.

2)   Shakespeare introduced nearly 3,000 words into the English language. In addition, Shakespeare's works, which were often quoted, became such commonplace that they helped set the standards for Modern English; prior to Shakespeare, English grammar and spelling had few standards. In addition, many of Shakespeare's expressions (such as "a foregone conclusion") are commonly used today.

3)   Shakespeare’s ability to formulate new, popular words and his ability to maintain an extensive vocabulary positively define him as a "man of words." For his phrases to stand the test of time, Shakespeare must have had a proficiency for the English language. So why not share this relevant information with your students and show how brilliant this genious was. Have a try!

Vocab hint! Willy-nilly!

I was watching a movie the other day and I heard this: I willy-nilly had to go to school.

In Portuguese we could translate as:  Eu tive que ir para a escola por bem ou por mal!

I’ve heard other expressions with a similar meaning ( come hell or high water, by hook or by crook) but this one (willy-nilly) sounded more informal.

For more reference go to:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/willy-nilly

Hobson's choice? What does it mean?

Meaning: a free choice in which only one option is offered. As a person may refuse to take that option, the option is therefore taking the option or not; "take it or leave it".

Em português, ás vezes, quando não temos a opção de escolher, dizemos que a escolha foi por livre e espontânea pressão!!! A Hobson’s choice!!!

Phrasal Verbs: Wanted Dead or Alive!!!

If you are either an English student or teacher, you may already have the feeling that phrasal verbs are so difficult that you will never be able to learn them. But the thing is: NEVER EVER GIVE UP!

Challenge yourself and your students and try to find below the top 25 most common and used Phrasal verbs and have a chance to practice and improve your English! And remember, native speakers use phrasal verbs all the time in conversation!

addupblowupbringupcalloffcarryoncomeacrosscomeupwithfallapart

getalonggetawaygetovergiveupgoonholdonlookafterlookforwardtolookup

makeoutpassoutpulloverputdownputoffputupwithturnupwatchout

 

For more information go to:

http://www.grammar.net/phrasalverbs

http://www.abaenglish.com/blog/english-grammar-learn-english-with-aba/25-most-useful-phrasal-verbs/

http://learnenglishfromhome.blogspot.com.br/2010/12/top-20-most-common-english-phrasal.html

Vocab hints!

There are these three expressions I have always wanted to know how to say and I finally found out. I hope it helps you too:




brinde - freebie
tudo junto (quanto você fala um e-mail, por exemplo) - all-in-one word. Meu e-mail, por exemplo, eu diria: anaisacunha, all-in-one word at hotmail dot com.
ser unha e carne com alguém: to be joined at the hip. E.g: I can go to London without Mike. We're not joined at the hip, you know.

Slang time!

 SQUEALER

 

DEFINITION:  To turn informer; betray an accomplice or secret.

USE: Don'y tell Debbie any secret: she is a squealer.

IN PORTUGUESE: dedo duro, X9

 

source: thefreedictionary.com