Many self-taught learners of English, especially beginners, choose to read about English grammar and vocabulary in Portuguese, for they feel insecure about reading a text in English. They think: I should start by reading explanations in Portuguese, and as I progress, I might introduce some English readings in my studies… This is a mistake, for several reasons.

When you read grammar explanations, you are exercising a process called learning, which is an auxiliary – and therefore secondary - process. In other words, you are learning “about” English rather than actually “learning English”. In order to become fluent in a language, whatever it may be, one should aim at acquisition, which is the process that makes you assimilate and master a language. It is a subconscious process, which takes place while your brain solves tasks and tries to communicate in the target language. It is the same process through which children learn to speak.

If you read about English in English, your brain has to deal with two kinds of information: the learned information – the grammar rules or patterns you are reading about, and the acquired information – the new patterns and vocabulary you acquire while reading the text. You are most likely to forget the former than the latter, since the brain lets go first of information it is spoon-fed, rather than information it has to figure out for itself.

If all this applied linguistics babble isn´t enough to convince you, maybe common sense will: the only way to learn how to surf is surfing, the only way to learn how to swim is actually getting into the water, the only way to learn how to drive is actually getting behind the wheel. It´s no use trying to learn how to stand on the surf board on the sand, it´s no use trying to learn how to drive by reading the car´s manual of instructions…

That doesn´t mean that the mother language – Portuguese – doesn´t play an important part in the process; it is a mistake to think it should be totally left aside. By contrasting new patterns and expressions of the target language (English) with known patterns and expressions in the mother language, the learners raise their linguistic awareness, which is extremely positive for their learning.

This means the learner should first deal with new information in the target language, and then associate it with the correspondent information in the mother language. For instance: you were reading a text in English and came across the sentence: “I was going on a date last night but the guy stood me up”. You should try to infer the meaning from the context, from the sentences before and after it, or resort to a monolingual dictionary. By doing this, you would understand the expression means the guy never showed up, I was alone waiting for him and he didn´t come. Then, I can contrast with Portuguese and make an association: “ah, stood me up quer dizer me ‘deu um bolo’…!”. This will help my learning and the next time I see this expression used in this context, I will remember its equivalent in Portuguese.

All in all, this is what the learner should know: the progress you will make by studying English through material written in Portuguese is limited. You should take the plunge and study monolingual material, as hard as it may seem at first. As your brain gets used to the new patterns, it will become easier. But remember: if your brain has to work hard to understand something, it will be less likely to forget it.

O professor Mike do Real English enviou mais uma dica, na verdade é um desafio. Você encara? As 4 pessoas abaixo têm o mesmo sobrenome. (These 4 people have the same last name.) Por que?

Para descobrir o segredo, assista ao vídeo abaixo sem legendas (watch the video without subtitles):

Agora assista ao vídeo com legendas (watch the video with subtitles):

Tip: It’s always a good idea to listen without reading the first time, so go back to the version without subtitles before watching this version! Your pronunciation will be better.

Confira a resposta:

Jess Mariscal e Louis Mariscal são irmãos (are brothers).
Kathy e Louis são casados (are married).
Jess e Susan são casados (are married).

Agora mais alguns exemplos, em inglês é claro.

Two examples of in-laws in the Mariscal family:
Susan is Louis’s sister-in-law and Jess is Kathy’s brother-in-law.
What about Louis, for example? Is he Kathy’s brother-in-law?

Definitions:

An in-law is a relative by marriage:
brother-in-law - a brother by marriage
daughter-in-law - the wife of your son
father-in-law - the father of your spouse
mother-in-law - the mother of your spouse
sister-in-law - the sister of your spouse
son-in-law - the husband of your daughter

What’s a spouse? A husband, a wife, or both?

See you next time!

Caros leitores, como de costume, deixo abaixo 3 perguntas para reflexão.

1. Qual foi a sua principal realização em 2008?
2. Olhando para trás, qual foi o maior obstáculo que você teve que superar esse ano?
3. Complete a frase: Daqui a exatos 365 dias eu estarei…

Eu já respondi nos comentários, agora é a sua vez!

Abraços,

Se você pretende passar uma temporada em Sydney não pode perder a indicação de hoje. O site Australia Network é mantido por um canal de TV, como o próprio nome diz, Australiano. Ele possui muitos recursos para quem gosta de estudar inglês através de vídeos com boa qualidade.

No menu Learn English você vai encontrar diversas seções feitas para diversos níveis, confira algumas:

Living English: é um programa de TV e website para estudantes de inglês do nível básico. Através de lições fáceis ele apresenta situações do dia-a-dia (everyday situations) que vão ajudar bastante quem precisa usar o inglês em conversas informais.

English Bites: é uma forma divertida de melhorar os conhecimentos de inglês através de histórias publicadas todos os dias da semana. Apresenta uma análise detalhada da linguagem, termos e formas de uso do inglês através de notícias atuais. Indico para estudantes do nível intermediário.

Business English: se você utiliza o inglês no trabalho não pode deixar de visitar essa seção. Através de vídeos de ótima qualidade o visitante vai aprender diversos termos utilizados em situações de trabalho como reuniões, apresentações e negociações. Imperdível!

Clique aqui para acessar o Australia Network

Por hoje é só, espero que tenham gostado da dica. Estou preparando uma surpresa para vocês. Adianto que será um curso gratuito aqui no EE, portanto tenham paciência que vem coisa legal por aí.

Quase ia me esquecendo, agradeço ao leitor Eduardo por ter enviado a dica de hoje.

Abraços,

Oi pessoal, para fecharmos os estudos, hoje vamos falar sobre third conditional, que é usado para falar de situações imaginárias como no second conditional, mas só que no passado e a sua conseqüência. A estrutura usada é: if + had + past participle, would + have + past participle. Vejam abaixo alguns exemplos:

Ex.: If the weather had been better, I would have gone too. (Se o tempo tivesse sido melhor, eu teria ido também.)

Ex.: If you’d told me, I would have taken a taxi. (Se você tivesse me falado, eu teria pegado um táxi.)

Ex.: You would have gone to university, if you have stayed here. (Você teria ido para a universidade, se você tivesse ficado aqui.)

Espero que tenham tirado as dúvidas.

See you!