sexta-feira, 27 de abril de 2012

English Slang – Be Careful When You Use It


by Robert Hewson



Millions of people around the world are trying to learn English or to improve their English.  There are a few things to be careful of when learning English.  

One frustrating thing can be learning how to use English slang properly.  If you learn to use it correctly, your English will sound very natural.  If you use it wrong, you might sound like you were raised in a bad environment and find it hard to get a job.

I remember when I was in the military and one of my fellow soldiers married a woman who spoke no English.  The English she learned was from him and his choice of movies.  The problem was, he spoke bad English slang and his choice of movies were full of colourful language (that means lots of swearing.)  After being married to this man for approximately a year, I had the opportunity to speak with his wife.  It was shocking!

We have a phrase in the USA – that person talks like a truck driver!  This is not an indictment on truck drivers.  We all know there are many educated and well speaking people who drive trucks, but the stereotype is that they are uneducated.  This woman, who might have spoken like an educated proper lady in her home country, had now learned such bad English slang that it was going to have a tremendous effect on her life when she got to the USA.  The jobs she could get would be limited and the friends she would acquire would also now be limited.  A typical American would be shocked to listen to her, and probably not let them near their children!   But this woman thought it was normal.  This is an example of what learning bad English slang can do.

 If you want to learn English slang so you can speak more natural, you need to make sure you know if it is good slang or bad slang.  People learn English so they can compete and communicate more effectively in the world.  Make sure the English slang you learn is proper, or else you will spend your time learning things that will make you less valuable in the business world rather than more valuable.

How should you learn good slang?  
A great way to do this is to watch the evening news from the USA.  CBS, NBC, ABC evening news programs are all available online.  If you are an advanced learner and they say some things you don't understand, chances are that it is slang.  Because it is used by respected broadcasters, it is acceptable slang.

Source: http://m.articlesbase.com/languages-articles/english-slang-be-careful-when-you-use-it-5168072.html

quarta-feira, 25 de abril de 2012

Taking the Frustration Out of Phrasal Verbs


AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- English teacher Lida Baker joins us from Los Angeles to talk about phrasal verbs. The first word is a verb. The second word, sometimes even a third, is usually a preposition. Phrasal verbs have a reputation for being tough for English learners.  So what does Lida Baker think?

LB: "I think that is a myth."

RS: "Really."

LB: "Phrasal verbs are not hard to learn, as long as you learn them in a context.  I think what has given phrasal verbs a reputation for being difficult is the way they are traditionally taught, which is that students are given long lists of verbs -- you know, for instance every phrasal verb connected with the word 'go.'  So 'go on,' 'go up,' 'go out,' 'go in,' 'go away,' 'go through,' OK?  That's a very tedious way of learning anything."

RS: "Well, give us some of your strategies."
Lida Baker
LB: "All right.  Well, one thing we should keep in mind about phrasal verbs is that they are used a lot more in conversational English than they are in formal English.  So you are going to find a lot of phrasal verbs in conversational settings such as ... "

RS: "Come on [laughter]."

LB: " ... television programs, radio interviews, and pop music is a wonderful, wonderful source for phrasal verbs.  I think the best way to learn, or one of the best ways of learning phrasal verbs is to learn them in everyday contexts.  One good one is people's daily routine.  We 'get up' in the morning, we 'wake up,' we 'put on' our clothes in the morning, we 'take off' our clothes at the end of the day, we 'turn on' the coffee maker or the television set, and of course we 'turn it off' also.  After we eat we 'clean up.'  If we're concerned about our health and our weight, we go to the gym and we ... "

RS: "Work out."

LB: "There you go.  You see, so as far as our daily routine is concerned, there are lots and lots of phrasal verbs.  Another wonderful context for phrasal verbs is traveling.  What does an airplane do?"

AA: "It 'takes off.'"

LB: "It 'takes off,' that's right.  And lots of phrasal verbs connected with hotels.  So when we get to the hotel we 'check
in,' and you can save a lot of money if you ... " 

RS: "Stay -- "

LB: "'Stay over,' right."

AA: "And you just have to make sure you don't get 'ripped off.'"

LB: "That's right!  I'm glad that you mentioned 'ripped off,' because a lot of phrasal verbs are slang, such as ripped off. And most of them do have sort of a formal English equivalent. So to get ripped off means to be treated unfairly ... "

AA: "To be cheated."

LB: "To be cheated, yeah.  And there are lot of other two-word or phrasal verbs that you might find, for instance, in rap
music.  For example, to 'get down' means to, uh -- what does it mean?"

RS: "It means to party, doesn't it?"

LB: "To go to parties."

AA: "Have a good time."

LB: "Right.  Another wonderful context is dating and romance. For example, when a relationship ends two people 'break up.' But when they decide that they've made a mistake and they really are in love and want to be together, they 'call each other up' ... "

RS: "And they 'make up.'"

LB: "And they make up.  Now, if your boyfriend 'breaks up' with you and it's really, really over, then it might take you a few months to 'get over it.'  But, you know, sooner or later you're going to find someone else ... "

AA: "To 'hook up' with -- "

LB: "To hook up with."

AA: " -- to use a current idiom."

LB: "Right.  Or you might meet someone nice at work to 'go out with.'"

RS: "So what would you recommend for a teacher to do, to build these contexts, so that the students can learn from them?"

LB: "I think the best thing for a teacher to do, or for a person learning alone, is to learn the idioms in context.  And there are vocabulary books and idiom books that will cluster the phrasal verbs for the student.  There are also so many wonderful Web sites.  I mean, if you go to a search engine and you just type in 'ESL + phrasal verbs,' you're going to run across -- and there's another one, 'run across' -- you're going to find lots of Web sites that present phrasal verbs in these contexts that I've been talking about.  And also grammar sites which explain the grammar of phrasal verbs, which I haven't gotten into because we just don't have the time to discuss it here.  But in doing my research for this segment I found lots of Web sites that do a really great job of explaining the grammar of phrasal verbs."

AA: Lida Baker writes and edits textbooks for English learners. You can find earlier segments with Lida at voanews.com/wordmaster. And that's WORDMASTER for this week. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti

terça-feira, 24 de abril de 2012

The Seven Stages



- Teacher, afinal, o que eu preciso saber para aprender, de uma vez por todas, inglês?

- Well, não é o que precisamos aprender e sim COMO aprendemos isso. 

Depois de observar por anos, a jornada de vários estudantes tentando aprender inglês, percebi que os que conseguiam dominar o seu aprendizado efetivamente tinham sete pontos em comum: structuring, savoring, taking risks, tuning, recasting, self-study e going further. 

Para falar inglês é preciso mais que gramática e vocabulário - é necessário, antes de qualquer coisa, saber construir a idéia mentalmente, formular a frase e estruturar aquilo que se quer dizer (structuring). 

A gramática dá dicas de como podemos construir a nossa estrutura, o vocabulário dá palpites e nomes para que possamos usar ao nos comunicar, mas para somar a gramática ao vocabulário e ter o resultado chamado "é isso que eu quero dizer", o aprendizado requer um esforço mental e um trabalho muito bem feito que só terá mesmo efeito se o aprendiz da língua saborear o processo de construir significado - savouring -  e enfrentar o desafio de trabalhar a sua própria motivação para se arriscar além da zona de conforto do ter medo de errar -taking risk - zona esta cheia de desculpas (sou tímido, tenho vergonha, nunca vou aprender, etc), muletas ( livros e cadernos) e boicotes (esse curso é uma %#^*, meu professor é um %#^* - vou desistir!!!).

Uma vez que conseguimos construir  essa fase da nossa trilha e estruturamos a nossa comunicação numa linha satisfatória que dê asas à nossa confiança; a jornada continua, pois o desafio agora será compreender também a estrutura dos outros e esse desafio beira a missão impossível dependendo da origem da pessoa que conversa conosco. Por isso, compreender a diferença entre ouvir e escutar e saber como calibrar e nivelar a nossa comunição e a do outro - tuning - é uma técnica que requer do aprendiz uma compreensão e uma prática real que livro nenhum consegue ensinar.

Para isso é preciso aprender a se auto-corrigir - recasting - muitos estudantes dependem tanto da correção de seus professores que não se perguntam porque estão errando em primeiro lugar. Ora, como é possível aprender algo que erramos sem compreender o PORQUÊ do que erramos? 

De todos os pontos em comum, percebi que o Self-Study era o conceito ideal porque para ser um verdadeiro Learner é preciso sempre ter um pé na escola e outro na independência - autonomy - e para isso, precisamos todos mergulhar profundamente em nosso estudo - go further - e compreender, de uma vez por todas, que o professor não é o Google tradutor nem é dicionário; e muito menos, o professor não é a pessoa que deve vir preparada para a aula. Quem tem que se preparar para aprender é o aluno!!!

Sem seguir esses estágios - The Seven Stages - estamos perdendo o nosso tempo em cursos de línguas. 

Escola boa não ensina - ela ajuda você aprender e não depender do outro sempre que precisar saber algo novo. 

Well... Esse é o segredo para aprender inglês - o único problema é que a maioria escolhe o caminho mais fácil e menos trabalhoso que é continuar, como diria Renato Russo, com as "suas aulinhas de inglês"...

 
Professor Frank

quarta-feira, 18 de abril de 2012

Rephrasing

Sometimes we say things that other people don't understand, or we give the wrong impression.

This is an example conversation where one person says something that the other person thinks is strange.

LUIZ: "English is a very easy language to learn."

IRENE: "What do you mean?"

LUIZ: "Well, what I meant to say was that it is easy if you practise every day."

IRENE: "Oh, right."

Rephrasing expressions
"What I meant to say was…"

"Let me rephrase that…"

"Let me put this another way…"

"Perhaps I'm not making myself clear…"

Back to the beginning
If you're explaining something, and you realise that the other person doesn't understand, you can use the following phrases:

"If we go back to the beginning…"

"The basic idea is…"

"One way of looking at it is…"

"Another way of looking at it is…"

If you forget the English word
If you forget the word you want to use, you can say:

"I can't find the word I'm looking for…"

"I'm not sure that this is the right word, but…"

"What I want to say is…"

Speaking Tip
Don't be afraid to repeat what you're saying, especially if you can do it in a slightly different way.

Source: http://www.english-at-home.com/speaking/rephrasing/

segunda-feira, 16 de abril de 2012

Brain Sex

The Real Difference Between Men & Women

by Anne Moir & David Jessel. Published by Carol Publishing Group (New York, 1991). Available from National Vanguard Books for $20.95, postpaid.
"To maintain that [men and women] are the same in aptitude, skill, or behavior is to build a society based on a biological and scientific lie." (Moir & Jessel)




Does the opposite sex mystify you? Do you wonder why he is so uncommunicative? Are you amazed at times by her intuition? Brain Sex is a book dedicated to demystifying the differences between male and female behavior. Men and women act differently, according to authors Moir and Jessel, because our brains are structured differently.

Feminism holds that, except for obvious anatomical differences related to reproduction, men and women are essentially the same. Feminists argue that psychological differences -- differences in interests, mental abilities, or emotions -- are caused by social conditioning, not by genes. This book directly contradicts modern feminist theory, and it documents its conclusions with a myriad of scientific studies. It is ironic that "[r]ecent decades have witnessed two contradictory processes: the development of scientific research into the differences between the sexes, and the political denial that such differences exist." The evidence, however, is now "conclusive" and "incontrovertible" that men and women have different mentalities and thus perceive the world differently.

Moir and Jessel explain that the presence or absence of hormones is as important as XX or XY chromosomes in determining the sex of a fetus. Sex hormones working on the embryonic brain and nervous system cause the structure or "wiring" to develop differently in males and females. It is these sex hormones that "bear the ultimate biochemical responsibility for producing gender-related differences in interests, cognitive style, [and] gender role differences. . . ." What are these sex-based mental differences?

Men's brains are more specialized (which has advantages and disadvantages). Their abilities are those centered in the right hemisphere of the brain -- understanding spatial relationships and abstractions, seeing shapes and patterns, grasping the big picture. Women's abilities are less specific: The two spheres of the female brain are able to communicate more easily. Their strengths, however, lie in the left hemisphere -- verbal and linguistic skills; assimilating practical, concrete information; keeping track of the details. Men are the world's explorers and inventors. According to the authors, ninety-nine per cent of all patents applied for today are registered by men. Women are better at "people" skills: teaching and care-giving. Eighty-three per cent of elementary school teachers are women.

Differing abilities and the resulting sexual division of labor have a survival advantage and an evolutionary origin. Most of our race's existence has been spent in hunter-gatherer societies. Men were the hunters and protectors; women were the gatherers and nurturers. Men needed greater strength and speed to track and kill large animals. They also needed spatial abilities to be able to hurl a spear into the flank of a woolly mammoth and find their way back to camp. Women, who were pregnant or nursing most of their adult lives, needed to stay closer to camp. They could use their more acute sense of taste, touch, and smell to locate and select the best nuts and berries and then use their better coordination for rapid, repetitive fine motor tasks to gather them.

Some of the most interesting chapters of the book deal with contemporary heterosexual relationships. Men and women are attracted by their physical differences, yet our psychological differences keep us apart. One tip offered to guys: The best way to a woman's heart is through her ears, since the male voice is what many women find most seductive.

Why are men and women so different? The authors find it "hard to understand nature's plan in arranging this inherent incompatibility between the two sexes of the species. Maybe if we all felt and thought alike we would soon get bored with each other." At this point a better grounding in socio-biology would help explain the survival functions of different reproductive strategies.

The book also has a chapter dealing with sexual deviance. Apparently there is no single cause for homosexuality, and there may be two basic types: primary (congenital) and secondary (environmental). However, the more extreme forms of sexual confusion such as transsexuality, where the unfortunate individual feels "trapped in the body of the opposite sex," are certainly biological in origin. While the authors make a plea for tolerance toward sexual deviance, they admit that "intolerance may be biologically wired into our brains as a part of aggressive behavior to the outsider."

The authors give us information on psychological differences between men and women but do not tell us what these differences might mean for society, yet no one can read a book such as Brain Sex without thinking about the implications of its findings for society. Feminists might argue that even if we accept male and female physical and psychological differences as innate, there is some overlap. Some men are shorter than some women, and some women are better mathematicians than some men. Shouldn't we treat everyone as an individual? If only one women in a thousand would make a good paratrooper, shouldn't she be allowed to "be all that she can be"?

The answer to this question comes down to fundamental values. If individualism is our guiding principle, if individual rights and self-fulfillment are society's highest goals, perhaps an argument might be made for a female paratrooper. Even then one runs into all sorts of practical problems with discipline and morale and with inefficiencies (separate showers, etc.). If , however, society's goal is the advancement of a racial community, it's not difficult to see how destructive individualism, especially the feminist variant of that ideology, has been. A dysgenic birthrate among better-educated women, a weakening of the family, and the breakdown of civility are, to an extent, by-products of contemporary feminism.

A strong case can be made that a majority of women have been hurt by feminism -- the feminization of poverty and devaluing of feminine qualities come to mind. Even more important is the fact that society has been profoundly disrupted by this ideology. Now that the scientific evidence overwhelmingly points to innate mental differences between men and women, the challenge is for society to accept that men and women are both fundamentally different and equally essential.

Brain Sex is written on two levels. Since both Moir and Jessel are journalists, the book is an entertaining synthesis for the layman. There is even a Brain Sex Test at the end of chapter three to determine how masculine or feminine the mentality of the reader is. For the more serious student who wishes to check original sources, Anne Moir, who has a Ph.d. in genetics, has compiled an extensive bibliography. Unfortunately, specific citations within the text are handled in a rather awkward way.

Brain Sex will give the reader plenty of ammo to use on any radical egalitarians who may cross his path. Perhaps the greatest value of this book, however, is in documenting another instance where our intellectual and political elites have chosen to disregard or distort scientific findings which do not fit their social agenda.

quinta-feira, 12 de abril de 2012

The Power of Making Mistakes


Everyone Makes Mistakes

Accepting the fact that everyone makes mistakes is easier said than done. Everyone is taught their whole lives to NOT make mistakes and have often been trained or re-enforced negatively when a mistake is made. Perfection seems to be the target of most people in their work, relationships and life.

What Impact Does Your Mistake Have?

I think the important factor in determining whether a mistake is acceptable or not is in the impact of your mistake. Most mistakes don’t actually cause any damage and they are generally not intended to cause harm either. If harm is intended, that is more of a choice in action, than a casual every day kind of mistake being made. Do the mistakes you make have a lasting impact or something that can easily be cleaned up or dealt with?

You may have to take care of some cleanup yourself in doing something over, taking more time to fix or repair something or perhaps you owe someone an apology ? Often, a simple mistake has no impact at all, it was simply not done in the way that was expected. Whatever the impact is, take a look at who or what was involved, and decide if something needs to be done at all to recover from the mistake that was made.

Accepting Mistakes in Others

If you’re going to accept your own mistakes then you ought to do the same for others. You can’t easily accept the mistakes of others, if you don’t first accept your own mistakes, so they go hand in hand. Learn to ask some simple questions when a mistake is made to simplify the outcome instead of beating yourself up (or someone else) about a simple mistake.
•How much was I (or someone else) actually hurt from this mistake?
•What is the lasting impact of this mistake?
•Was their harm done intentionally or by accident?
•Can it be corrected? How?
•What can I learn from this?

Learning from Mistakes

That last question is the one I like best to see what is available for learning from a mistake. Mistakes made are truly powerful in teaching new ways to approach problems. This is required to get new results and to improve ourselves so its critical that we look at mistakes as a learning opportunity so it can be improved on next time. If you are never making mistakes, then it is likely that you are not trying new things and learning from them, but instead doing things the same old, comfortable, safe way. This has little learning opportunities!

I believe that people who are willing to make and accept mistakes in others learn the fastest and become more dynamic in their problem solving because they learn to adapt quickly to new things and to change their approach.

Encouraging Harmless Mistakes

So, with understanding that simple mistakes are such a learning opportunity, I recommend that you encourage harmless mistakes. Or at least the behaviors, decisions and actions that have some risk, where mistakes are likely to happen. This is common in doing anything new and especially in things outside your comfort zone . You obviously don’t need to go looking to make mistakes, but putting yourself in new circumstances and trying out new things will inevitably lead to making mistakes. This is a good thing! Its a way to learn and a way to avoid a world of complacency because of any fears of making mistakes!

Encourage these same things with those around you! That may be your spouse, children and family or your colleagues. Instead of making fun of someone’s mistakes or yelling at them when they make a mistake, ask some of those simple questions, see what can be learned from them and encourage others to do the same, its a very powerful tool in life!

Source: http://learnthis.ca/2008/04/the-power-of-making-mistakes/

quarta-feira, 11 de abril de 2012

A Joãozinho Tale

- O que você aprendeu na escola hoje, joãozinho?
- Nada, mamãe!
- Como assim " nada", joãozinho? Você não aprendeu nem uma coisinha?
- Não! Minha professora disse que que a gente aprende errando e hoje eu não fiz nada de errado!

terça-feira, 10 de abril de 2012

Dicas de Websites para English self-study

Os melhores sites para English self-study!


http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish

http://www.britishcouncil.org/fr/learnenglish-podcasts-themes.htm

http://www.literacynet.org/cnnsf/archives.html#kpix

http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/tablecontent.html

www.esl-lab.com

a4esl.com

segunda-feira, 9 de abril de 2012

A floresta Inglesa



Tente imaginar que você tem algum motivo para entrar numa floresta sem bússola e sem mapas. Para não se perder e conseguir encontrar o que você deseja, você passará a contar com a sua memória (saber de onde veio e memorizar os passos que deu), seu poder de fazer associações para criar soluções (saber o que fazer se houver algum perigo ou diante de algum imprevisto) , extrair uma visão macro da floresta (compreender o seu novo hábitat e sua relação com ele) e por fim, precisará ter uma grande resistência para lidar com o cansaço e as frustrações, afinal cada passo adentro da floresta vai requerer muito mais esforço e atenção.

Yes, this is about speaking English. Pelo menos no início ou depois de um tempo sem praticar, falar inglês é como entrar nessa floresta por conta própria e risco. Para os iniciantes é um esporte radical novo e cheio de aventuras; para os veteranos que correm atrás da fluência perdida será um resgate da memória da floresta, pois esses últimos, já estiveram nela e deveriam "teoricamente" saber se virar muito bem, mesmo sem bússola e mapa. Não sabem!

Essa crônica é para dar dicas aos mais novos e relembrar aos mais velhos sobre como se virar bem enquanto estiverem na floresta, quero dizer, falando inglês.

1. Memória

Saber como a sua memória funciona deveria ser a primeira lição de um curso de idiomas. Não é!

A) decorar não funciona: esqueça aquelas técnicas malucas de decoreba. Ao invés de se matar tentando decorar mil palavras que provavelmente você nunca vai usar por não saber como associá-las; associe! Isso mesmo - associe! Ao aprender alguma palavra nova; ao invés de traduzi-la ou tentar decorar, associe essa nova palavra com algo que você já conheça, uma frase que tenha sentido com ela ou uma imagem que seja forte o bastante para você olhar para a palavra e lembrar da imagem.

B) palavra deletada: sua mente faz três varreduras mentais para apagar palavras soltas. A primeira em meia hora, a segunda, antes de você dormir e a última, três dias depois. Se você revisar o que aprendeu, logo depois da aula, antes de dormir e dois dias depois, você nunca esquecerá essa nova palavra. A parte ruim é a disciplina que você não tem; a boa é que basta revisar por três minutos a lição aprendida. Cool, não?

2. Associações

Cada pergunta em inglês é um confronto com uma esfinge que metade-leão metade-gente nos encara e exige: decifra-me ou eu te devoro!

A) a resposta está na pergunta: para não ser comido vivo pela prática sugerida, observe a pergunta. Geralmente, a sua resposta começa com frases da pergunta.

B) Gambits: ganhe tempo para poder responder. Evite o silêncio com palavras e frases como: well, let me see, etc.

C) A, B and C: sempre use um BECAUSE para dar razão a sua resposta inicial e finalize com um SO. Evite respostas curtas. Lembre-se que a razão da prática é que você pratique. Nesses casos, mais é mais, desde que você faça sentido e use essa estrutura de três frases associadas para falar mais e get your message across.

3. Macroview

De micro já basta o nosso salário. Compreenda o que se está sendo sugerido e perceba aonde o seu curso está levando você e qual é o seu papel nisso.

A) esforço mental: esforce-se para compreender o que se está sendo proposto; se você não entender algum exercício, peça instruções.

B) não entre mudo e saia calado: não crie obstáculos, nem use armaduras para evitar se arriscar. Se você está num curso de inglês, deveria ser para conseguir se expressar. Não se esconda por trás do seu caderno ou do livro ou dos outros que falam e se arriscam mais; o exercício mais importante de um curso de idiomas é abrir a boca e usar a língua.

C) o verdadeiro suspeito: se o seu problema é disciplina e falta de organização, não aponte o dedo pro professor e para o curso. Primeiramente, perceba que apesar do dedo apontador estar na direção do outro, há três outros dedos apontando na sua direção: responsabilidade, esforço e respeito (pelo professor e por si mesmo).

Finalmente, aceite o cansaço; perdemos o gás mesmo. Falar inglês cansa tanto quanto tentar sobreviver no extremo de uma floresta. Até conseguirmos ver esse estudo e fala como algo natural e prazeroso, cada resposta construída dói um pouco, mas posso garantir que, as my granny used to say, o quê não nos mata, deixa a gente mais fluente.

sexta-feira, 6 de abril de 2012

Cultural Lesson: Easter


To Christians, Easter Sunday is the day that Jesus rose from the dead after 3 days of being dead. Like Christmas. Easter is celebrated by non-Christians; clearly, for many, the religious significance has been lost. Instead of being a religious celebration, these days, it's all about eating chocolate and having a good time.

Easter coincides with spring when we're surrounded with signs of re-birth. Images such as bunnies and Easter eggs are associated with Easter.

On Easter Sunday people exchange chocolate eggs and children traditionally decorate eggs in bright colors; children also hunt for hidden eggs.

Easter and the holidays that are related to it are known as moveable feasts, they are not on fixed dates, instead the date changes each year; however, Easter is always on a Sunday.

Is Easter celebrated in your country? What do you do?

1. rose

2. significance

3. associated

4. exchange

5. decorate

6. hunt

7. bunnies



Using the numbers next to the key words, match them to their definitions below.

· Search:

· To give something to someone and receive something from them:

· To have become alive again:

· Importance:

· Connected:

· Rabbits:

· To add something to an object to make it more attractive:



Check the right answer on your dictionary or on the link below:

http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/cultural-lesson-easter

quinta-feira, 5 de abril de 2012

Inglês para os Tímidos

Are You Shy to Speak English?


Possibly you are shy because you will say the incorrect words, or that you will not know the other person, or that your pronunciation cannot be understood. Or possibly you are just worried, that you won’t identify what to say, or how to express yourself correctly.

How many of us feel very introverted to speak English. Not because someone can speak fluently, the case for someone in the process of learning to learn English. Many people feel very shy to something they do not know much.

In the procedure of learning English, speaking is one of the most hard to handle, because most of the process so involves two or more people. That's why someone will feel shy to speak, even to practice. Not as learning English by using a book or recording.


How to avoid feeling uncomfortable.



1. Think it's the Practicing Process of course someone in the learning mode will be wrong. And that's the learning process. Everyone in this world will go through something new in their lives, and this thing happens every day. Now your turn to do something new, learn English.

2. Talk and Combine : Do not try to speak English perfectly. However, you can mix your own language. Gradually, you will be well-known with it. This will be your daily learning process. No matter what language you speak at, but are sure to insert a word in English on it.

3. Converse about Easy : Dont talk about something economic, political, or takes you to the serious discussion. One reason is usually that type of field will be used up and the word may be hard for you to understand. Thus, the daily use to talk about, for example afternoon play in, breakfast in the morning and the rest so many years. This can make you feel easy to talk.

Speak English will be fun if you also speak with someone who was also in the knowledge process. But make sure you also have other friends with fluent English. This is important for you on how to learn English easily.

Source: http://english-preparation.blogspot.com.br/2011/10/are-you-shy-to-speak-english.html

quarta-feira, 4 de abril de 2012

The power of introverts

By Susan Cain

In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated.

Our world prizes extroverts -- but Susan Cain makes a case for the quiet and contemplative...

terça-feira, 3 de abril de 2012

Wounderous Stories



I have two learners, one lives near me, the other one lives far far far away. Both are great women, learners who are not afraid of making mistakes, therefore, they take the risks they need in order to go further and improve not just their English, but their awareness of the world around them.

This week, the learner who lives abroad asked me further details regarding a word I wrote in a text called "enchantment". She got interested in it and she wanted to know how she could " enchant" somebody just by using her voice. The other one asked me about the meanings of the word "wonder". This chronicle was made to answer their questions and at the same time, to tell you, my learner and reader, about the wonder of telling a story. Let's start, shall we?

First of all, let me tell you about the word "wonder":

A) It can be a noun or an adjective to describe something that is marvelous.
Ex: The Corcovado is one of the seven wonders of the modern world - She is as stronger as the Wonder Woman.

B) It can be used as a verb to describe the act of thinking further about something
Ex: I wonder why she did it

In both cases, wonder shows that it is a kind of word that put a smile on your face or makes you meditate about something you saw or heard.

A story can be wonderous (be told in a wonder way). When you are telling a wounderous story, you have to do it in a way that can make people wonder about it and if people are paying attention to you, they become sort of enchanted, which leads us to the other question: how can we enchant people?

Enchantment is another beautiful word in English. It somehow reminds us about the fairy tales and all the magic within it. The verb "To Enchant" means fill someone with great delight, almost as a which or a wizard has put somebody under a spell. This is exactly what happens when somebody is telling a story full of wonder (wonderful) and that is exactly how people feel when they are listening to it.

To enchant people through your conversation is to believe in your own words and articulate it in a way that people would not just pay attention to you, but get involved because they are eager to know the story until its end. Forget about the content; it is not about what you say, but about how you tell it.

· Enchanting is the language of publicity - create slogans or catchy phrases that people will never forget.


· Enchanting is the language of lovers - saying the right thing with the proper intonation to keep their loved one by their side.


· Enchanting is - most of all - the language of the passionate people, those ones who study something by their joints, by the hearts e finally by the mind.


So if you are talking in English, don't just talk, enchant people; fascinate them, put them under your spell. Say the things in a way that people will be wondering about it. So, this is the main role of a story to be told and the secret of this ancient art called: storytelling.

Professor Frank

segunda-feira, 2 de abril de 2012

O Andador para Bebê e a Escola de Inglês


Há diversas semelhanças entre a jornada de um bebê e um adulto aprendendo a falar um segundo idioma, especialmente quando comparamos quando a criança começa a andar e quando o adulto começa a estudar inglês.

No livro "Não Engula o Chiclete": mitos e meia verdades sobre o corpo e a saúde. O Dr. Aaron E. Carroll e a Dra. Rachel C. Vreeman desmistificam a crença que a criança aprende a andar muito mais rápido se usar um andador, segundo eles: "Os pais parecem adorar os andadores porque imaginam que eles ajudam a criança a aprender a andar. No entanto, os andadores, segundo varias pesquisas, podem na realidade retardar o desenvolvimento da criança para andar sem apoio".

Seguindo esse exemplo, podemos dizer que algumas escolas são como andadores, parecem auxiliar o aluno a aprender, mas na verdade, atrasam o processo ou em alguns casos, podem prejudicar completamente o progresso de um interessado em falar um segundo idioma.

Essas escolas afirmam que os alunos só poderão aprender se estiverem na escola tal seguindo certa metodologia ou usando dado livro, porém elas não mostram ao aluno como o aprendizado realmente ocorre, quais são suas dificuldades e barreiras. Não participar ativamente do processo pode prejudicar o aluno.

No caso dos bebês, o andador impede que as crianças vejam as suas pernas se movimentando - fator crucial da capacidade do bebê para andar. No caso dos adultos, se eles não souberem para onde estão indo e como seu processo está ocorrendo, eles serão sempre dependentes das escolas-andadores.

O bebê anda de forma diferente dentro do andador e quando se sustenta por si. Dentro do Andador, o bebê usa mais os músculos da parte posterior da perna e em geral fica na ponta dos pés, provocando ao mesmo tempo um enrijecimento inadequado dos músculos da perna. O adulto aprende um inglês na escola, enrijecido por um material que não o prepara para a vida real.

Os bebês que aprendem a andar dentro do Andador precisam reaprender a trabalhar toda essa musculatura antes de conseguirem andar por si. Os alunos geralmente saem das escolas com um diploma embaixo do braço, mas não conseguem sequer se apresentarem ou conversarem sem ter o conforto e a segurança da escola. Da mesma forma que o andador oferece equilíbrio para o bebê, o aluno percebe que ele não esta preparado para o desafio de se equilibrar sozinho quando passar a andar sem apoio.

Sem a muleta do andador, os pais precisam confiar no ritmo natural do bebê. Ao abraçar o seu próprio aprendizado, o aluno dispensa a muleta da segurança ilusória de acreditar que só aprende com a escola e ganha a autonomia de aprender consigo mesmo, e vai pouco a pouco, deixando de engatinhar e passando a dar os primeiros passos sem o andador-professor.

Conheço diversos pais que mesmo sabendo dos perigos do andador preferem usá-los assim mesmo; assim como eu conheço muitos alunos que só querem aprender se o professor ensinar, pois dizem não ter tempo ou a disciplina para caminhar sem os andadores. Nesses casos não há muita coisa a fazer a não ser desejar boa sorte!


Professor Frank