Hello everybody! How’s everything? I hope you’re all doing well. Well, Alessandro wrote a post about business meetings in English so I thought I’d give him a hand and write some more about it, in a series of five articles. So let’s get down to business! First of all, I’ll give you guys a small dialogue in formal English, then the most important expressions and their definitions ok? I’ve gathered some examples from several sources and materials so if you read something which looks familiar, it is NOT a coincidence! The topic today is “Starting a Meeting”.

On behalf of this company, I’d like to call this meeting to order. This is a meeting of some of the key players in our company: our top managers. Our purpose this morning is to hear a presentation about a new initiative for outreach and marketing, and to discuss this plan with all of you.

This is a presentation that all of us have looked forward to. This initiative marks a new milestone in the evolution of our company. First, it serves as an assessment of where our company is now in terms of communicating its message to its customers domestically and abroad. Furthermore, this plan has the potential to drive our company forward by transforming our corporate outreach and marketing strategies.

We are delighted that all of the major contributors to this initiative are here today. They will use their unique perspectives to talk about the current state of affairs in terms of outreach and marketing, give details about the new proposed initiative, and outline the path for implementation.

On behalf of – speaking in the name of

Call a meeting to order – start a meeting officially

Key players – most important team members

Outreach – communication with people outside an organization

Milestone – a small accomplishment or achievement that is part of a larger project or goal

Assessment – evaluation

In terms of – regarding; with reference to

Domestically – in your own country or city

Furthermore – in addition to, besides

Drive something forward – help something progress and become better

Major – important

Current state of affairs – the way things are today; the status of something at the moment

Outline – describe the main points of an idea or plan

Well, very soon we’ll have more business expressions! And teachers who always log on to English Experts, if you teach business English and know more expressions for starting a formal meeting in English, write us! Take care!

Prof. Adir - www.adirferreira.com

Hello, you guys! How are you doing? Desde 1998 sou assinante da DirecTV (que agora virou Sky) e sempre fui fã dos seriados americanos. Com o advento da TV por assinatura aprender inglês usando fontes reais da língua ficou mais fácil, pois todos os seriados eram legendados (hoje em dia os da Fox são dublados, mas c´est la vie!). Daí, chegou a internet com os programas P2P (peer-to-peer) como Kazaa, Emule e mais últimamente os torrents, que possibilitou o colega que não tem TV por assinatura mas tem conexão de banda larga baixar seu seriado preferido no dia seguinte de sua exibição nos EUA e com legendas em português. Tá, até aí todo mundo já sabe mas olha só, eu encontrei um site francês, chamado SeriesSub, onde você pode achar as legendas também em versão original, ou seja, você pode assistir seu seriado preferido com as legendas em inglês.

Funciona assim, acesse www.seriessub.com. Lá, vá até o fim da página e acesse o link Afficher les 100 derniers fichiers que te leva ao índice alfabético de todas as séries. Escolha, por exemplo Desperate Housewives, haverá as saisons (temporadas, em francês), dentro de cada temporada tem indicando se é VO (versão original) ou VF (versão em francês). Tendo feito isso baixe os arquivos de legenda (.srt) para o seu computador e aproveite seus seriados preferidos com legendas em inglês.

Take care and have a good week!

Prof. Adir - www.adirferreira.com

Hello, guys! Tivemos nossa primeira Grammar Week aqui no English Experts e vamos fechar com chave de ouro (top it off): vou propor um exercício para vocês. Deixo abaixo 10 frases para que vocês, com a ajuda dos posts anteriores, preencham com a forma correta dos verbos que estão entre parênteses, OK? I´ll post the answers soon! Let´s get down to business, then!
1. Would you have gone to the party if she _____ (not – ask) you?

2. This is the third time I _____ (tell) you to clean up your room and you still _____ (not – do) it!

3. What time ____ (she – arrive) from New York?

4. I _____ (not – have) much free time lately. I´ve been working really hard.

5. When I got to the party, everyone ______ (already – leave).

6. The stores ______ (close) by the time we got to Main Street.

7. I _____ (work) at that factory for five years. Then I was laid off and got another job in that other factory.

8. I _____ (work) at that factory for five years. They hired me in 2002 and I´m still working there.

9. George usually _____ (travel) on Monday mornings, but this week he _____ (travel) on Tuesday because his boss asked him to finish up some business on Monday.

10. I _____ ( see – not) since you started taking that night course. We should get together and do something.

Take care and hope to see many posts here soon!

Greetings from hot Bebedouro/SP! O tópico de hoje vai ser as formas do condicional em inglês. Basicamente, funciona como uma equação matemática de acordo com a correlação dos tempos verbais. Veja o esquema:

FIRST CONDITIONAL

Oração com if (if-clause): Simple Present

Oração principal (main clause): FUTURO (will)

If he studies, he will pass the test. OR He will pass the test if he studies. (Se ele estudar, ele passará na prova.)

SECOND CONDITIONAL

Oração com if (if-clause): Simple Past

Oração principal (main clause): WOULD

He would complain if you were late. (Ele reclamaria se você se atrasasse.)

THIRD CONDITIONAL

Oração com if (if-clause): Past Perfect

Oração principal (main clause): WOULD HAVE + PARTICÍPIO PASSADO

If we had gotten to the movie earlier, we wouldn´t have missed the beginning of the film. (Se tivéssemos chegado ao cinema antes, não teríamos perdido o começo do filme.)

NOTAS:

1. Outras palavras podem ser usadas em vez de IF nas orações condicionais.

UNLESS = IF NOT (a não ser que)

I´ll go home soon if the film doesn´t start. = I´ll go home soon unless the film starts. (Vou para casa logo se o filme não começar. = Vou para casa logo a não ser que o filme comece.)

PROVIDED (THAT), ON CONDITION (THAT), AS LONG AS, SO LONG AS (contanto que):

Provided that everybody agrees, we´ll have the meeting on Tuesday. (Se todos concordarem, teremos a reunião na terça-feira.)

(JUST) SUPPOSE, SUPPOSING (THAT), WHAT IF, IMAGINE:

Just suppose it didn´t rain for four months: would we have enough water? (Suponha que não chova por quatro meses: teríamos água suficiente?)

2. O verbo to be na Second Conditional tem sempre a mesma forma: WERE. If I were…, if you were…, if she were…, etc.

Well, como diria o Pernalonga (Bugs Bunny), “That´s all, folks”. Amanhã o post vai ser uma revisão do que vimos nesta Grammar Week. Stop by tomorrow to check out what´s going on!

Prof. Adir - www.adirferreira.com

Hi, y´all! What´s up? Hoje temos um assunto muito interessante que nos ajuda muito na nossa escrita e a falar o inglês mais corretamente: o Past Perfect. Ele é formado usando o verbo auxiliar have no passado (had) + o particípio passado do verbo principal. Quando temos duas ações no passado, uma acontecendo depois da outra, usamos o Past Perfect na primeira ação. Vejamos alguns exemplos:

- The thieves ran away. Then the police arrived. (Os ladrões fugiram. Depois a policia chegou.)

The thieves had run away when the police arrived. (Os ladrões tinham fugido quando a policia chegou.)

- The store closed. Then I got there. (A loja fechou. Então eu cheguei lá.)

The store had closed when I got there. (A loja tinha fechado quando eu cheguei lá.)

- They ate everything. Then I arrived at the party. (Eles comeram tudo. Depois eu cheguei na festa.)

They had eaten everything when/by the time I arrived at the party. (Eles tinham comido tudo quando eu cheguei na festa.)

Agora vamos praticar um pouco, tendo as frases acima como exemplo, forme frases semelhantes usando o Past Perfect.

1. The rain started. Then we left the beach.
2. She left the country. Then I tried calling her several times.
3. Someone took money out of my purse. Then I found it.
4. The stores closed. Then I got into town. (use by the time)

Em breve coloco a resposta para vocês! Take care and come by tomorrow for a new tip!

Prof. Adir - www.adirferreira.com