quinta-feira, 27 de fevereiro de 2014

Brazil learns to speak English

Jill Langlois

Along with the World Cup and the Olympics, English is coming to the Portuguese nation.




SAO PAULO, Brazil — “Stand in the wall, run through the net, pick up the ball, hit the wall, and throw up,” said the teacher, in English, at a recent tennis lesson for 6-year-olds at an international school here.

The kids stared back blankly. Then one spoke up: “I’m sorry sir, can you repeat that? I didn’t understand.”
The teacher, a little frustrated, just repeated the same muddled instructions. English in Brazil is a work in progress.


Until recently, Brazilians didn’t need to use English at all. With a self-sustaining society and a history of military dictatorship that cut the country off from most outside contact for 21 years, Portuguese was the only language anyone needed.

But now that Brazil has landed two major games — the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 — that has started to change. After the government won the bids, it began to require public schools in Rio de Janeiro to teach English to all children between the ages of 6 and 8, with plans to expand the program to Sao Paulo next year.

Called Crianca Global — Global Child, in English — the government program has been put in place in order to “prepare these children so that they can actively participate in the opportunities that will open up because of the Olympics,” according to a statement from Claudia Costin, Secretary of Education.


And as the country takes a bigger role on the world stage, Brazilians’ interest in the global society has begun to shape national culture. Businessmen and women want to work for big, international companies. Young people want to study abroad in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

The English language, at least in some Brazilian circles, has begun to be seen as more sophisticated than Portuguese.

“I really like the fact that English is getting more and more important in Brazil. It was about time!” said Gabriela Genovesi Gomes, a teaching assistant at a private international school in Sao Paulo who also studies education.
“It’s important for communicating with tourists and for traveling abroad, not to mention what it does for our language abilities and cognition.”

In Sao Paulo, the largest city in South America with over 11 million people, private English-language schools have sprung up on nearly every block with names like Wizard, Skill and Wise Up. If students are lucky, they get a native-speaking teacher. If not, they get a Brazilian who has already been out of the country and gets almost all of the grammar right.

It doesn't come cheap. Private lessons tend to run from 50-100 reals ($26-$53) per hour, which is no easy feat to pay when minimum wage is R$545 a month (about $290). And with such little time before people from all over the world jet into Brazil, it’s not clear whether the country will be as fluent in English as the government might like.

“I think they just have a lack of practice,” said John Milton, a professor of English literature and translation studies at the University of Sao Paulo for the past 27 years. “There’s generally no need to use English in their day-to-day lives, so it’s difficult for Brazilians to find a place where they can actually speak the language.”

Some Brazilians have opposed the government push. “Brazil should worry about the quality of the Brazilian curriculum subjects before even thinking about teaching another language at school,” said Marisa Mayumi Oliveira, a communications specialist in Sao Paulo who speaks fluent English. “Most Brazilians barely speak Portuguese correctly. Besides, do we have enough qualified English teachers to teach proper English at these public schools? I really doubt it. We don’t have enough teachers with good qualifications in basic subjects.”
The government isn’t waiting for everyone to learn English. Signs all over major cities and main highways are now in Portuguese, Spanish and English, and some stores even have names in English, which has led at times to some confusion.

“There are signs for Parque do Ibirapuera [in Sao Paulo] that also say Ibirapuera Park,” Milton said. “What’s the point in that?”
Said Oliveira: “I think the Brazilian government is just trying to add some makeup to the surface without treating the real problem, just so they can promote our country as an international nation for the World Cup and Olympics,” she said. “After that, the government will hand out a very Brazilian solution: they will forget the subject forever.”

Travel/Tourism Brazil Education


quinta-feira, 20 de fevereiro de 2014

Na Metade


Conversando com alguns professores, friends of mine, que dão aulas para brasileiros na Inglaterra e nos Estados Unidos, perguntei como eles conseguiam dar aulas para grupos de alunos estrangeiros dos mais variados. Explico, quando fazemos um curso de General English abroad, dividimos a classe com asiáticos, latinos, europeus e gente de toda parte do mundo. Se dar aulas only para grupos de brasileiros já é tão complicado, justamente pelos alunos serem tão diferentes, imagine dar aulas para estrangeiros de diversas nacionalidades e culturas ao mesmo tempo. 

According to them, o desafio é encontrar um caminho de passar a informação que possa servir para todos, contudo, essa tarefa é sempre cheia de surpresas e mudanças de metodologia, pois os recursos usados para um grupo não têm apelo para o outro e vice-versa. Then, perguntei se eles poderiam traçar um perfil dos learners de acordo com suas nacionalidades e eles me enviaram o resumo abaixo, pedindo o cuidado para que eu levasse in account que mesmo dentro de um grupo específico, há variáveis que fogem ao perfis apresentados abaixo:

Japoneses: possuem uma memória fantástica para vocabulário e grande dificuldade com estrutura gramatical. Não se arriscam a ir além de frases simples, a não ser que tenham certeza absoluta de que estão 100% corretos. Quando se encontram com outros de mesma nacionalidade, passam boa parte do tempo falando seu próprio idioma. 

Coreanos: são "japoneses latinos" (jargão criado pelo meu amigo americano Nathan). Possuem as mesmas dificuldades e facilidades dos japoneses, porém arriscam mais. 

Italianos: possuem grande vontade de se comunicar, adoram usar o que aprendem, mas cometem muitos erros. Não possuem paciência para aprender a correção, odeiam ser corrigidos e misturam inglês com italiano, acreditando verdadeiramente que podemos entendê-los. São grandes comunicadores, mas alunos terríveis. 

Alemães: são os primeiros a chegarem e os últimos a saírem. Anotam tudo o que ensinamos, entregam os home-works e fazem questão de serem corrigidos. Possuem grande dificuldade com algumas pronúncias de palavras, demoram para aprender, mas quando aprendem, falam muito bem, apesar do sotaque carregado. Contudo, não interagem com os outros alunos e evitam ao máximo participarem de happy-hours e festas. Não são bem vistos pelo grupo, pois possuem o hábito de corrigir os outros alunos.

Europeus (diversos países): possuem facilidade em aprender as estruturas gramaticais, e demoram mais em adquirir vocábulos mais complexos e formais. São pacientes e muitos deles chegam rapidamente em um nível de comunicação tão bom ou melhor que os nativos. Porém, são os que cometem mais gafes culturais ao usarem falsos cognatos ou reproduzirem comportamentos de seus países na maneira como se expressam. 

Árabes (diversos países do oriente-médio): querem sempre aprender frases e expressões que os ajudem na vida real, não gostam de aprender conteúdo de contextos não familiares. Se divertem muito quando estão tentando falar e vibram como se ganhassem na loteria quando se comunicam. 

Africanos (diversos países da África): possuem muita vontade de aprender, mas são extremamente impacientes. Apesar do sotaque carregado, assim como os europeus, eles possuem facilidade em aprender as estruturas gramaticais. 

Latinos (diversos países da América Latina): apesar do sotaque carregado e da dificuldade inicial em aprender as estruturas da língua, conseguem aprender bem. Iniciam os cursos bem tímidos, mas depois, com certa segurança, se tornam bem falantes, muitas vezes, acabam até atrapalhando o resto da aula. Falam muito sua língua nativa, assim como os japoneses, quando encontram outros latinos na sala de aula. 

Argentinos: começam muito mal, sem entusiasmo, mas depois de um certo tempo, conseguem aprender muito rápido e atingem graus de fluência com extrema facilidade. São um dos únicos grupos de latinos que, mesmo tendo outras pessoas da mesma nacionalidade, não se comunicam em seu idioma. 

Brasileiros: começam muito bem o curso, com grande entusiasmo, mas a maioria, ou larga na metade do curso ou começa a faltar muito. Têm facilidade de aprendizado e seu sotaque não é tão carregado quanto os dos outros países latinos. Passam boa parte do tempo do aprendizado lutando contra o que aprendem, querendo saber os porquês e razões de uma estrutura ser assim e não assado. Não querem usar certas palavras por acharem o significado ou a pronúncia feia - e assim como os italianos -, misturam muito seu próprio idioma com inglês, além de criarem palavras que não existem. 

É claro que esses perfis são genéricos e quase esteriotipados, porém, nos ajudam a ter uma ideia dos diferentes perfis dos alunos estrangeiros. O mais interessante é que vejo todos esses perfis acima nas salas de aula aqui do Brasil. Que perfil acima tem mais a ver com você?

quinta-feira, 6 de fevereiro de 2014

Frequently asked questions about POPEYE



Q.1- Is Popeye a cartoon or a comic strip?

Popeye began as a character in Elzie Segar's daily strip, Thimble Theatre . He quickly became popular and the Fleischer brothers, Max and Dave turned him into a cartoon in the early 30s. His first appearance was July 14, 1933 in the cartoon Popeye the Sailor

Q.2- What are Popeye's vital statistics?

According to Bud Sagendorf, Popeye is 34 years old , 5'6",and weighs 158 lbs. In the cartoon "Popeye in Goonland", made in 1938, Popeye says he hasnt seen his Pappy since birth, 40 years ago, so that would put his actual birth in 1898. Since the first appearance in the strips of Popeye was 1929, this would make him 31 years old when he first appeared.

Q.3- Who is Popeye's dog?

Popeye did not have a dog, but did have a pet called Eugene the Jeep who is magical. Eugene lives in a 3 dimensional world but is really a 4 dimensional creature. He answers yes/no questions by bowing down for yes and not bowing down for no. Eugene subsists on a diet of orchids. He made his first appearance on April 1, 1936.

Q.4- Who did the voice of Popeye in the cartoons?

Originally in the first few cartoons, William Costello, aka, Red Pepper Sam did the voice. He was fired early on. The voice that is best known is that of Jack Mercer who was an in-betweener at the studio. He was responsible for all the mumbling and asides and the great Popeye laugh. Olive's voice was done by Mae Questel who also did Betty Boop's voice. Gus Wickie did the original voice of Bluto. During the war when Mercer was overseas, Mae Questel did Popeye's voice for 6 or 7 cartoons!

Q.5- Who are Popeye's nephews?

Peepeye, Poopeye, Pipeye, Pupeye.

Q.6- Was is always spinach that gave Popeye his power?

In one of the cartoons, Popeye is shown eating garlic to make him strong. This takes place in Roman times so that spinach is the main modern source of Popeye's power.

Q.7- Wasn't there a movie about Popeye?

Technically, yes. The movie directed by Robert altman and starring Robin Williams as Popeye and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl is an abomination. The negatives should be burned. Do not watch it. Instead if you want more than the 7 minutes that you get with a regular cartoon watch one of the 3 two-reelers: Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinvad the Sailor Popeye Meets Ali Baba and His Forty Thieves , or Popeye Meets Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp .

Q.8- What is Popeye's favorite saying?

There are 2 that come to mind: I yam what I yam ! and I've had all I can stand, I can't stands no more!

Q.9- What's the deal with Swee'pea? Whose kid is he anyway?

First, he is neither Olive nor Popeye's child. There are two versions of his origin. In his first appearance, he is sent as protection from the Demonians who want him because of a group of moles on his back that look like the number 7 on a pair of dice. The other story is that he has been made Crown Prince of Demonia and an uncle wants to kill him so he is again sent away. In any case, he appears to be Demonian in origin and is adopted by Popeye. He first appears on July 28, 1933.

Q.10- Who is Popeye's good friend?

J. Wellington Wimpy, who first appears (nameless) as a referee in one of Popeye's fights. he eventually was given a name and became famous for his phrase, I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.

Q.11- Bluto or Brutus? Which is it?

Bluto appeared as a minor character in the strip in 1932. He became famous in the Fleischer cartoons where he was quite nasty. Brutus was created later because King Features Syndicate thought Paramount owned the copyright to Bluto (which was not true since he appeared in the strip). Thus when made-for-TV cartoons were created, Brutus was the villain.

Q.12- What are the words to the Popeye song?

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man I'm Popeye the Sailor Man I'm strong to the finich Cause I eats me spinach I'm Popeye the Sailor Man I'm one tough gazookus Which hates all palookas Wot ain't on the up and square I biffs 'em and buffs 'em An' always outroughs 'em An' none of 'em gets nowhere If anyone dasses to risk me fisk It's "boff" and its "wham", un'erstand So, keep good behavior That's your one life saver With Popeye the Sailor Man. I'm Popeye the Sailor Man I'm Popeye the Sailor Man I'm strong to the finich Cause I eats me spinach I'm Popeye the Sailor Man 
Be sure to catch the great version of this song by face to face on the compilation CD, Saturday Morning , MCA.

References for the information on Popeye

  • Popeye, the First Fifty Years , Bud Sagendorf, Workman Publishing, 1979.
  • Thimble Theatre 1928-1930 , Elzie C. Segar, 1977, Hyperion Press.
  • Of Mice and Magic , Leonard Maltin, 1980, New American Library.
  • Popeye , Fred Grandinetti, 1994, McFarland and Co. (NOTE: This is an incredible book-- it has capsule summaries of most of the cartoons and all the info you could possible want.)


quarta-feira, 5 de fevereiro de 2014

Black Thursday!


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