URUBU LINDO

Urubu lindo

Ave de Rapina

Feio, mas fascina

Pode beliscar

Urubu lindo

Ave de Rapina

Limpa e faxina

Corpos sem vida

Urubu lindo

Ave de Rapina

Ninguém te admira

Mas veio me visitar

Urubu lindo

Ave de Rapina

Limpou meu preconceito 

Mostrando o que há

E o que há 

Na natureza é beleza 

Onde cada bicho 

Tem o seu motivo 

Para habitar

E o bicho homem 

Se for um pouco esperto 

Vai evoluir 

E a tudo preservar

A RECEITA QUE NÃO DÁ CERTO

Ricardo Schütz

Fonte: http://www.sk.com.br

O fenômeno popularmente conhecido como "tradução mental" é uma forma de interferência da língua materna na língua alvo. A tendência de apelar para traduções mentais é a atitude natural de toda a pessoa monolíngüe, ao se deparar com uma língua estrangeira. A persistência deste hábito entretanto é sintoma de que algo vai mal. Revela que o direcionamento, a estratégia de aprendizado está errada.

O monolíngüe é aquele cuja mente só funciona nas formas da língua materna. O aprendizado de uma língua estrangeira como inglês, por sua vez, consiste essencialmente na eliminação da interferência da língua materna - no nosso caso o português. Consiste na substituição das formas (pronúncia, vocabulário e estruturas) do português pelas formas (muito diferentes) do inglês. Se estivéssemos aprendendo espanhol ou italiano, poderíamos aproveitar muito da nossa habilidade lingüística num processo mais de transferência e adaptação do que substituição. Sendo entretanto inglês nosso objetivo, uma língua que apresenta um nível de contraste muito mais acentuado em relação ao português, seu aprendizado implica em reaprender a estruturar nosso pensamento, dessa vez nas formas do inglês. Seria como que, parcialmente, reaprender a pensar.

Portanto, no caso específico de brasileiros aprendendo inglês, o método da tradução prematura, assim como praticado no ensino médio, é contraproducente. O mesmo erro pode ser observado também em cursos de inglês que transferem a idéia da tradução para os exercícios orais dos estágios iniciais. Parece muito fácil, mas vicia e direciona para o lado errado. Ensinar a traduzir rapidamente poderia ser comparado ao ato de ensinar a andar de bicicleta em bicicleta de três rodas.

O depoimento de Marília Conte Daros, uma professora de inglês que iniciou seus estudos no Brasil, ilustra bem o problema:

In my case, I had a hard time becoming fluent in the second language because of the interference of two factors. The first factor was learning strategy, which was translating (L2 to L1 to L2 again) due the fact that my foreign language classes focused on The Grammar Translation approach. It was a slow strategy that caused me a lot of headaches and frustration. I spent a whole year translating while I was an exchange student. The second interference was low self-esteem, the belief of not being able to produce L2, due to the oppressed education I experienced in undergraduate school in Brazil. Professors believed that low grades reflect a hard school (meaning "good"), so nothing was good enough. Undergraduate students got to graduation scared to use the target language. (Disponível em: http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~gurney/LangConn.htm).

Este depoimento revela claramente não só o erro a que nos referimos, como também a incapacidade do aprendiz em perceber o erro do caminho que lhe apontaram. Se uma pessoa inteligente como a Prof. Marília levou anos para perceber a ineficácia da metodologia que seguia, como é que nós, muitas vezes profissionais de outras áreas, vamos conseguir avaliar o método de ensino que nos promete milagres? Isto também demonstra a capciosidade do apelo comercial de cursos que oferecem uma "aula demonstrativa".

Em resumo, a habilidade de se falar uma língua fluentemente, já exige nosso cérebro ao limite. Não há cérebro humano que consiga processar duas línguas simultaneamente. (O caso de tradução simultânea não serve como exemplo porque quando tradutores-intérpretes atuam, eles não estão desempenhando criativamente.) Por isso é que o bom aprendizado de inglês, desde o primeiro dia de aula, não inclui a língua materna.

The Queen's English or The Received Pronunciation

Received Pronunciation, often abbreviated to RP, is an accent of spoken English. Unlike other UK accents, it's identified not so much with a particular region as with a particular social group, although it has connections with the accent of Southern England. RP is associated with educated speakers and formal speech. It has connotations of prestige and authority, but also of privilege and arrogance.

Some people even think that the name 'Received Pronunciation' is a problem - if only some accents or pronunciations are 'received', then the implication is that others should be rejected or refused.When writing his pronouncing dictionary in 1916, phonetician Daniel Jones described RP as the accent "most usually heard in everyday speech in the families of Southern English persons whose menfolk have been educated at the great public boarding schools". Although this description would raise a few eyebrows today, RP is still the accent generally represented in dictionaries which give pronunciations, and it's also used as a model for the teaching of English as a foreign language.

Perhaps for this reason, RP is often thought of as an unchanging accent; a standard against which other accents can be measured or judged. Some people don't even think of it as an accent at all, but rather a way of speaking without an accent.

Speaking without an accent, though, would be like painting without a colour! In fact, there is considerable variation within groups of people who are said to speak RP, the term is differently interpreted by different people, and RP itself has changed considerably over time.

To know further...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/yourvoice/rpandbbc.shtml

A Summary made by Alessandra Tiraboschi

Secrets from the Science of Persuasion

by Robert Cialdini & Steve Martin

What are the factors that influence us to say "yes"?

There are some researches about it. We can think when someone makes a decision consider all available informations, but the reality is very different. Our life is overloaded than we need shortcuts to guide our decision-making.

There are six shortcuts: reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, liking and consensus.

1. Reciprocity: obligation to give when you receive. Be the first to give, personalized and unexpected.

2. Scarcity: people want more of those things there are less of. The benefits are very important but what's unique and what they stand to lose are much more important to persuad.

3. Authority: people will follow credible, knowledgeable and experts. Diplomas, uniforms, credentials and expertise influence people.

4. Consistency: looking for and asking for commitments that can be made.

5. Liking: there are 3 important factors. We like people who:
                - are similar to us
                - pay us compliments
                - cooperate with us

6. Consensus: people will look to the actions of others to determine their own.

Watch the video that inspired this homework!

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That's Not Funny

Experts say that several obvious differences in people affect what they find humorous. The­ most significant seems to be age.

Infants and children are constantly discovering the world around them. A lot of what goes on seems ridiculous and surprising, which strikes them as funny. What's funny to a toddler consists of short and simple concepts, like an elephant joke. Along with the ridiculous and the surprising, children -- much to their parents' dismay -- also appreciate jokes where cruelty is present (it boosts their self-assertiveness) and what we refer to as "toilet humor." To children, a preoccupation with bodily functions is simply another way of exploring their fascinating new environment.

The pre-teen and teenage years are, almost universally, awkward and tense. Lots of adolescents and teens laugh at jokes that focus on sex, food, authority figures and -- in typical rebellious style -- any subject that adults consider off-limits. It is an insecure time of life and young people often use humor as a tool to protect themselves or to feel superior.

As we mature, both our physical bodies and mental outlooks grow and change. Since there is a certain amount of intelligence involved in "getting" a joke, our senses of humor becomes more developed as we learn more. By the time we're grown, we have experienced much of life, including tragedy and success. In keeping with these experiences, our senses of humor are more mature. We laugh at other people and ourselves in shared common predicaments and embarrassments. The adult sense of humor is usually characterized as more subtle, more tolerant and less judgmental about the differences in people. The things we find funny as a result of our age or developmental stage seem to be related to the stressors we experience during this time. Basically, we laugh at the issues that stress us out.

Another factor that affects what we find funny is the culture or community from which we come. Have you ever laughed at a joke and realized that if you were from anywhere else in the world, it just wouldn't be funny? It's a fact of life that culture and community provide lots of fodder for jokes. There are economic, political and social issues that are easy to laugh about, but only the people living in that culture may understand it. For example, a joke from a small country might not have universal appeal because it would be so little understood. The big, influential, much-observed United States might be the exception to this rule.

Thanks to media and movies, most people around the world know what is going on here. So jokes about a situation in the United States can be enjoyed pretty much across the globe.
When people say "That's not funny," theorist Veatch says they mean either "It is offensive" or "So, what's the point?" For someone to find a joke or situation offensive, he must have some attachment to the principle or person being demeaned or put down in the joke. So racist and sexist jokes are offensive to many people who feel strongly about fighting bigotry and prejudice in the world. According to Veatch, when someone says, "So, what's the point?" it indicates the absence of any moral or emotional attachment or commitment to the joke's "victim."

Source: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/laughter2.htm

The Adventures of Alfie in Berlin Part III

I started my ride after the Parliament for the “Platz Der Replublik”, indeed,  it is a simple garden without flowers, just some trees and grass, what really worth over there is the all sight of the Parliament building.

After that, I crossed the street after post this garden and I started my journey at the “Tiergarten”, this one a real garden, or rather a park, I’m not sure, but it should be the lungs of the city, because it’s really huge. The first building that I saw in the middle of trees was an Olympic cauldron, I honestly can’t tell you if it really was, but it looked like one….lolol…A little bit forward, I’ve found the “Haus Der Kulturen Welt”, the place is very beautiful, there are a kind lake in front of the construction, the building resembles a concert hall. But, the biggest and best surprise I had when I crossed the lake and walked around the building, It had a sort of balcony that overlooked to the Spree River and downstairs there was a bar with a gorgeous people, good humored, of course, that I stopped over there for a little time to take some beer and eat a sausage…lol…So I’ve followed my way around the Tiergaten searching the “Siegessaule”, a statue in front of the Brandenburg Tor, in the middle of the Tiergarten. I arrived for the left side of the River, with a wonderful Palace called “Bellevue Palace” which they told me it was the official residence of the German President, any time I will ask for him….lolol…when I turned left I could see the “Siegessaule”, a wonderful statue, huge, well preserved and surrounded by great monuments, a really beautiful place. To get closer to the statue you have to cross through underground galleries, clean and with interactive panels.

 

Still on Sunday, I am sure you can realise that it was a huge and interesting day….lolol….after the visit of the “Siegassaule”, I sat down on stairs to plan my next destination, so I’ve decided to cross the “Tiergaten” through the “Fasaneriealle”, an wonderful diagonal alley that it finished on the Zoo-Aquarium Berlin. It was sunset and the day it was very bright and sunny, the ride became even more pleasant, The Alley was very interesting, a lot of statues and even dedications like to Michael Jackson for example. At the end of the Alley, in front of the exit of the park is the “Spanische Botschaft”, a gorgeous place and, the best, on the other side of the Consulate I found my first “Biergarten” in Berlin, I had only seen in Munich, of course, I did a stopped over there to enjoy the local customs. Then I went back to my way, crossed a bridge over a river, that honestly I didn’t know the name, but I think to be an arm of the Spree River, by the way, an interesting place because the bridge is divided, and a part belongs to the Zoo and another not. 

After the bridge, I turned to the left, walked around part of the Zoo and ended the day making my first contact with the famous “Kurfürstendamm”, where all the luxury brands of the world are. The place is very beautiful, the street is well wooded and pretty much elegant. I was there for some time (I’ll speak better about this place), I got in to know the KaDeWe and then, for the first time in Berlin, I took the Underground (the “Tube” over there) going back to my local home….lolo….

Science declares this is the funniest joke in the world

A new book about humor describes a scientific experiment searching for the joke that is truly the funniest. One million people rated jokes. CNET blogger Chris Matyszczyk wonders if the winner will make you laugh.

by Chris Matyszczyk 

What makes you laugh?

Science is poking its nose into every part of human life.

While some laugh at the very notion of us all soon becoming robots, the Googlies and their ilk continue toward their serious goal of coding humanity.

Sadly, there has to be a collision. Thankfully, science has taken it upon itself to discover which joke is truly the funniest in the world.

As the Huffington Post reports, British researcher Richard Wiseman worked hard to understand the core of humor. His story is told in a new book by Scott Weems called "Ha!: The Science Of When We Laugh And Why."

Wiseman reached some fascinating and very scientific conclusions. The funniest animal is, allegedly, a duck. The Brits apparently prefer their humor dry, while the Americans are allegedly fond of aggression in their humor. Oh, that's funny.

But the most important part of this work was surely the search for the funniest joke in the world. Wiseman asked 1 million people to offer their ratings.

I am conscious of the dangers involved in asking 1 million people about anything. We have often seen the difficult results inherent in any democracy or popularity contest.

Here, though, I present the winner:

" Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He's not breathing and his eyes are glazed, so his friend calls 911. "My friend is dead! What should I do?" The operator replies, "Calm down, sir. I can help. First make sure that he's dead." There's a silence, then a loud bang. Back on the phone, the guy says, "OK, now what?"

(pauses for reaction)

So, your keyboard or screen has now either been covered by a cocktail of coffee and spittle. Or you are sitting there considering the meaning of life and the worth of your fellow man.

I will only offer one small observation about humor. Context means so much. There are times of the day, moments of an evening, when certain forms of humor seem to work.

There are other occasions when the very same joke, even told to the very same people, descends like a stricken owl.

Often, there's no controlling these moments. I was once at a dinner with 20 female professional golfers. They began to tell jokes. Each was a touch more filthy than the last.

When it came to my turn, I had no idea what to do. My pinot noir had every idea. So I told a joke that, I confess, plumbed one or two depths.

When I got to the punchline, there was a pause. Several nanoseconds of fear. Then, laughter.

I was lucky. They were drunk.

I think Wiseman's 1 million would have hated it.

Source: http://www.cnet.com/news/science-declares-this-is-the-funniest-joke-in-the-world/