Every time you open that grammar book you have in your shelf the same thing happens: you just find that the stories in it are kind of… artificial. When you think it can get any better – let’s listen to the CD the book comes with! –, it gets even more disappointing: they pronounce everything so slowly that you’re actually falling asleep. They were important before, sure, but now you are starting to think that the dialogs are superficial. How are you going to improve your listening for real? Maybe you have to choose more advanced English sources now that you’ve already mastered the basics. But, really, you don’t have any time, you think to yourself. Not when you’re swamped with work from college or studying engineering, for example! How are you supposed to learn English then? Well, how about kill two birds with a stone and learn both at the same time?

It’s time you paid a visit to the YouTube channels made by the world’s elite universities. If you thought you’d never get a chance to watch one of the classes they have there, it’s time to think again. For example, in the Stanford University’s channel, you can watch courses of Classical Mechanics and Computer Systems. And if you are a person who prefers letters than numbers, Columbia University’s channel has videos like the World Leaders Forum. And, well, we wouldn’t be talking about elite universities if there’s no Harvard University. Here’s one of the videos you can find on their channel:

Se você recebe as dicas por email e não conseguiu visualizar o vídeo acima, clique aqui para assistir.

Other universities which are on YouTube are Yale, University of Chicago and New York University.

This way, you can improve your English listening and study the topics you have taken a liking to – be it for your career or simply in order to be knowledgeable on the hot topics by specialists on the matter. Nice way to spend some of those minutes you have to chill out, and not feeling guilty about doing nothing – remember, you’re learning English AND another relevant subject! Feel proud of your hard work! After all, you haven’t gotten to this level by a miracle, right? And when you’ve seen one video of your interests, your well-earned rest will be more rewarding.

One warning before you go exploring: some videos have subtitles. Some don’t. Well, challenges are nice, aren’t they? Maybe you can brag about how you know simply everything about some-war-in-some-country-nobody-knows to your buddies. Just kidding, showing off isn’t really the nicest thing to do – but you could give them a one hundred percent free class and exchange comments among yourselves. How does that sound?

This is my tip. So, here are some questions: what are your main interests – Politics, Economy, History, Computers, Science, Engineering? What’s your favorite channel among those? Do you have another intellectual channel to recommend?

That’s all folks! Have nice studies and until next time!

Sobre a Autora: Mariana Fonseca é estudante de Jornalismo. Paulistana, tímida, leitora ávida e nerd até dizer chega. Fez alguns anos de curso de inglês, mas passou boa parte de seus estudos como autodidata. Atualmente, escreve crônicas e outros textos literários em seu blog pessoal, o Literando.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Improving your English and your general knowledge at the same time.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Let me tell you a story that might bring this into focus a little better. I had a student that worked for an American multinational inBrazil. This student was one of the best students I’d ever taught. An excellent student, in fact. One day at work he was given the task of receiving a visiting manager from theUS. This student’s English was excellent, so he seemed the logical choice for the job. He was asked to pick up the American at the airport and take him to his hotel inSão Paulo. Simple enough… The problem was my student was entirely unprepared for the kind of normal interaction that was expected on a drive into town with a complete stranger. In other words, my student wasn’t prepared for small talk. You know, chit-chat… introducing oneself, asking polite questions, commenting on the weather, asking about the flight, commenting on the traffic and so on. He knew all about grammar and word formation and syntax, but he wasn’t prepared for a two-hour idle chat with a stranger. Why? I think it’s because his knowledge of English came from a classroom, and despite the best efforts of his teachers, he had never had the opportunity to just “shoot the breeze” in English. Here’s where immersion comes in.

One of the undeniable advantages of an immersion course is the sheer number of hours you have to practice your English in an English-speaking environment. If we subtract 10 hours a day for sleep and downtime, an immersion weekend still comes to 28 hours of interaction, and all in English! How many weeks would you spend in an English course to reach 28 hours? Let’s see, 2 hours a week at the language school times how many weeks? I think you get my point. Then there is the kind of interaction you get in an immersion course. None, or very little, of the interaction is in an artificial environment. Rather, all the interaction is typical of real-life encounters. At meal times you sit at the table and get to practice saying things like “what’s for lunch today?” and “pass he salt” and all while shooting the breeze with your new friends around the table. This is the kind of everyday fluency that my student lacked when he was stuck in the car for two hours with the visiting American. Of course, immersion courses are more than just shooting the breeze. Usually there are structured activities, sports and even workshops where participants can learn a new skill or just use an old one. Which brings me to the next really cool thing about immersion courses …. the fun factor!

Immersion courses are fun! Rather than sitting in a classroom you get to go out on a hike, learn how to cook, visit a park or museum, play soccer or volleyball, play charades or tell jokes over a beer at the end of the day. An immersion course is designed around activities that promote social interaction. It’s all about meeting new people and doing fun things. Some immersion courses go even further and offer thematic weekends where students can learn to ride a horse, go mountain biking or hiking or, in the case of my immersion course, learn how to sail on the ocean. Believe me, it’s a lot more fun than sitting in a classroom on a sunny morning!

The final point I want to make is about value. Students are often unsure of the value of an immersion course: “Is it really going to improve my English?” “Am I going to learn something new?” In an immersion course you get the chance to really put your language skills to use. It’s a chance to practice and consolidate what you have already studied more than learn new things. Of course you will learn new things during the immersion course, but that’s not the point. Immersion courses are a chance to practice what you know and develop fluency. It’s hard to describe the value of an immersion course to someone who has never taken one. I remember a student called Sergio that took a weekend immersion course with us. He was so shy on the first day that getting him to speak English was like pulling teeth. Incredibly, by the end of the weekend he wouldn’t shut up! What happened, in fact, was that Sergio just needed a little time listening to English spoken around him so his brain could switch into “English mode”. When it finally switched, there was no turning it off!

Sobre o autor: Mark Nash é colaborador do EE e está lançando um curso de imersão em Ubatuba. Você pode entrar em contato por email mnash [arroba] ig.com.br ou facebook

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: What does an English immersion course really offer?.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Three months after a very enjoyable vacation to Orlando you are looking at your latest credit card statement, and are shocked when you see three new charges from the rental car company in Orlando, for “Traffic Fines, Orlando, FL” – $740.00”, “ Late Fees Traffic Tickets – US $120.00” and “Processing Fees Traffic Tickets (4 ea.) – US $200.00”, all with the notation of “See paragraph 26.c.1 rental contract”, suddenly you feel very sick.

Some things you need to know are:

1. In the U.S., notification of speed enforcement is not required and is never given, your speed can be clocked by radar, laser, timing with a stopwatch, aircraft or a police car (marked or unmarked) pacing your car from the front or rear.
2. NEVER EVER (sic) pass a stopped school bus from either direction if its red lights are flashing. In Florida this violation requires a mandatory court appearance with a fine of up to US$500.00, and as an out of state driver you will be required to post an appearance bond of $500.00 in CASH.
3. Fines in a school or construction zone are doubled.
4. Stop lights mean stop at all times, never stop and then go even late at night, some cities use automatic cameras to record violations and mail a citation to the owner of the car.
5. When a traffic light changes to yellow stop, but only if you can do so safely.
6. Stop signs and flashing red traffic lights mean come to a complete stop then proceed if there is no hazard.
7. Turn on your windshield wipers AND HEAD LIGHTS when it is raining.
8. When making a right turn at a red light always look for a small sign saying “NO TURN ON RED” or “NO RIGHT TURN ON RED”.
9. “HOV LANE” or “HOV” means “high occupancy vehicle lane” you must have at least two people in the car to use the lane.
10. Move over and or slow down when passing any stopped vehicle with blue, red, or yellow flashing lights, (Police, Fire, Ambulance, and Service Vehicles).
11. Do not follow too closely, allow at least two to three seconds separation between your car and the one in front of you.
12. Never drive on the shoulder or between lanes, even if you are on a motorcycle.
13. If you have mechanical trouble, pull of the road onto the shoulder, raise your engine hood and place a cloth (red or yellow is preferred) outside the drivers window, this is a signal asking for help.
14. Remember that in the U.S.A. a police officer’s word carries much more weight in court than a citizen’s word does.
15. If you follow these suggestions your vacation in America will be much more enjoyable and safer.

For many more see:

• Foreign Visitors Driving in the U.S.
• Driving Tips in the U.S.

Boas Férias!

Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Driving in the USA.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

The waitresses and cooks communicate in a special “lingo”, or language made up of mnemonic devices, which allows the staff to serve a large number of customers in a short period of time. In most cases the orders are not written down for the cooks, who start cooking the food and placing markers on the plates as soon as the waitress call out the order in a very loud voice. This “lingo” is part of the charm of the diner, and is gradually being lost along with the diners, as they are replaced with McDonalds, Burger Kings, and other fast food restaurants. “Diner Lingo” is virtually unknown outside the USA, some phrases are tongue-in-cheek, some are humorous, some are ribald and all are effective. While the actual phrases used vary from diner to diner, all use some. The following is a list of a few of these phrases. I hope you enjoy reading about this small part of America. (A quiz follows.)

• Atlanta special – Coke a Cola (Coke headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia)
• Bun pup, Tube steak, Groundhog, Coney Island – Hot dog
• Burn one – Cook a hamburger
• Check the ice – Look at the pretty girl who just came in
• Doc – Dr. Pepper soda
• Drag it through the garden – Any sandwich with all toppings and condiments on it
• Drag one through Georgia – Coca Cola with chocolate syrup
• Fish eyes – Tapioca pudding
• Flop two – Two fried eggs
• Forty weight – Typically very strong coffee, favored by truck drivers to keep them awake
• Frog sticks – French fries (A play on the derogatory name of Frog for a Frenchman)
• Give it wings – Serve it quickly
• Houseboat – Banana split
• Let it walk, On Wheels, Give it shoes – An order to go
• Life preservers, Sinkers – Doughnuts
• Moo juice, Cow juice, Baby juice, Baby – Milk
• Nervous pudding – Jello
• On the hoof – Any kind of meat served very rare
• Pittsburgh – Any item cooked very well or burned (Reference to Pittsburgh, PA, a steel producing town with excessive smoke from the steel plants)
• Shake one in the hay – Strawberry milkshake
• Shit on a shingle, S.O.S – Chipped dried beef in gravy on toast (both a loved and hated staple in US Army dining facilities)
• Throw it in the mud – Add chocolate syrup
• Virgin soda – Any soda with cherry syrup added. (Virgin Coke)
• White cow – Vanilla milkshake
• Wreck’em – Scrambled eggs

For fun translate these into English from Diner Lingo:

1. Flop two medium, shit on a shingle, forty weight with baby, and give it wings.
2. Burn one, drag it through the garden, frog sticks, and a virgin Atlanta special.
3. Burn two, one on the hoof, one Pittsburgh, shake one in the hay, one white cow, double frog sticks, and let it walk, then check the ice.
4. Flop two two and wreck’em, add two sinkers for the forty weight.

For many more see:

• Diner Lingo
• Restaurant Diner Lingo

Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Diner Lingo: American Small Restaurant Slang.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

1. If you don’t stop that crying, I’ll give you something to cry about! (Usually followed by a spanking, which increased the crying)
2. If a bull frog had wings he wouldn’t bump his ass when he jumped! (A response to using ifto an excessive degree.)
3. Your ass is grass and I’m the lawnmower!  (You are going to get a good spanking from your parents or beating from another kid.)
4. Close that “NEWmonia” hole. (Close the window, used especially in cold weather.)
5. Don’t you make eyes at me boy. (Mom’s response when we rolled our eyes sarcastically after being corrected.)
6. She has forty eleven kids. (She has more kids than I can count.)
7. The price is a dollar, three ninety eight. (I have no idea what the price is.)
8. He is so clumsy he would trip over a cordless phone.
9. She is so clumsy she can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.
10. He’s dumber than a pet rock.
11. She can’t carry a tune in a hand basket. (She can’t sing!)
12. He’s as handy as a back pocket on a shirt. (He is worthless.)
13. He’s busier than a one legged man at a butt kicking contest.
14. Higher than a Georgia pine tree. (Very drunk.)
15. We better get on the stick. (We better get started.)
16. He / she was beat with an ugly stick. (Very ugly man / woman.)
17. That house is just down the road a piece. (The house is down the road a short distance, but a piece can be anywhere from a few feet to several miles.)
18. That wall is catawampus. (That wall is crooked or out of line.)
19. She’s older than dirt. (She’s very old.)
20. Give me some sugar. (Give me a kiss.)
21. He’d complain if you hung him with a new rope. (A person who is never satisfied.)
22. He’s happier than a dog with a belly full of piss and a mile of fire hydrants. (He’s very happy.)
23. He can break rocks with a rubber hammer. (He is very mean / tough.)
24. Fish or cut bait. (Either do it or shut up.)
25. He’s an egg sucking dawg. (He’s a low life [ Malaco ].)
26. You ain’t whistling Dixie. (You are speaking the truth.)
27. If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride. (Don’t wish your life away.)
28. If that don’t beat all. (Something very amazing or unusual.)
29. We were like two peas in a pod. (We were very close, or always together.)
30. Happier than a tick in deep fur. (Very happy and secure.)
31. Colder than a well diggers butt. (Very cold indeed.)
32. Do you want me to open a can of whup-ass? (Do you want me to beat you?)

And the one I most hated to hear was, “Boy go cut me a switch.” (A switch is a small, long, limber branch – weeping willows make the best / worst – with the leaves removed and used to spank a child’s bare bottom.)

Also see

• Slang and Idioms
• American Slang

Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: 32 American Southern Colloquialisms.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

In the first installment of “Linking Words” I covered; Giving Examples, Adding Information, Summarizing and Sequencing Ideas. In this installment, as promised, I shall cover the following: Giving a Reason, Giving a Result, and Contrasting Ideas. If by chance you have not read the first installment I suggest that you do so before studying this one.

Giving a Reason

• Due to / due to the fact that
• Owing to / owing to the fact
• Because / because of
• Since
• As

Due to and owing to must be followed by a noun. “Due to the rise in wholesale prices we have to raise our retail prices.”

If you want to follow due to and owing to with a clause you must add the words “the fact”. “Due to the fact that the union has gone on strike we can not fulfill our orders.”

Because of must be followed by a noun. “Because of snow in Sao Paulo, the city was paralyzed.”

Since and as mean because. “Since (as) the streets are covered with snow, nobody is driving.”

Giving a Result

• Therefore
• Consequently
• This means that
• As a result
• So (Informal and not normally used in written communications.)

“The price of crude oil is rising on a daily basis, therefore (or any of the phrases above) the cost of gasoline is increasing and as a result many people can not afford to drive their cars, and consequently the use of the public transportation system has also increased.”

Contrasting Ideas

• However
• Although / even though
• Despite / despite the fact that
• In spite of / in spite of the fact that
• In theory / in practice
• Nevertheless
• Nonetheless
• While
• Where as
• Unlike
• But (Informal and not usually used at the beginning of a sentence, instead use However at the beginning of a sentence.)

Although, despite and in spite of introduce ideas of contrast and you must have a compound sentence. Despite and in spite of must be followed by a noun, and if followed by a clause you must add the words the fact that. “Despite the earnest efforts of the management team, the company lost money last quarter.”

In theory / in practice show an unexpected result. “In theory stock market predictions are simple. However in practice they are very difficult and unpredictable.”

Nevertheless / nonetheless mean in spite of that or anyway. “It was blistering hot, but nevertheless he went for a run.”
While, whereas and unlike are used to show how two things are different.

“While my four brothers have brown hair, mine is black.” “Social security taxes have gone up, whereas the benefits have gone down.” “Unlike the USA gasoline in Brazil is expensive.”

Bill has worked hard to learn Portuguese. “However, he has not mastered the language.”

While this is not a complete list of linking words, some of the more common ones are included.

For more information see

• Linking Words
• Transitions & Linking Words (PDF)

Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Linking Words (Words that connect) – Part 2.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

In English there are seven main groups of linking words and they are used to; first Give Examples, second Add Information, third Summarize, fourth Sequence Ideas, fifth Give a Reason, sixth Give a Result and seventh Contrast Ideas. I will divide this posting into two segments due to the length of the subject matter.

Giving Examples

• For example: The most common way of giving an example is to use for example or for instance.
• For instance: The consequences of not turning in assignments on time in my class are extremely severe, for example (or for instance) those students not completing their assigned essay will receive a failing grade for the year.
• Namely: Namely refers to something or someone by name. – At this time I have two students that have not completed their essay assignments which are due tomorrow: namely, Joseph and John.

Adding Information

• And: We went to dinner, the movies and for a walk. Note: There is no comma before “and”.
• In addition: I filled your windshield washer reservoir and checked your tire pressure, in addition to changing the oil.
• As well as: In one semester Allison completed her required studies, as well as half of the next semester’s.
• Also: I want you increase quality, but also you are to reduce costs.
• Furthermore: Your business plan for the next year is excellent, furthermore it points to the next five years success.
• Moreover: Can be used instead of furthermore in the immediately preceding example.
• Apart from: Apart from Mexico City, Sao Paulo is the largest in the Americas.
• Besides: Can be used in place of apart from.

Summarizing

• In short
• In brief
• In summary
• To summarize
• In a nut shell
• To conclude
• In conclusion

These phrases are normally used at the beginning of a sentence to indicate that we are tying up a thought or thoughts with a summary, such as: “In summary (or any other phrase, above), to this point we have discussed linking words that, give examples, add information, and summarize ideas.”

Sequencing Ideas

• The former, the latter
• Firstly, secondly, finally
• The first point is
• Lastly
• The following

The former and the latter are useful when you desire to reference or two points as in; “While both Jones and Smith attended the university only the latter graduated, while the former quit after one year.” (Jones is the former and Smith is the latter.)

Firstly, secondly, and finally are good ways to list ideas, note that thirdly, fourthly etc. are not normally acceptable, instead try using the first point, the second point, the third point, … and the last point.

The following is a good way to introduce a list, for example; “The following supplies are required for this course, one compass, one pair of dividers, one straight edge, one set of drafting triangles, and one mechanical drafting pencil”.

Due to the length of this subject I have decided to divide it into two separate posts on the Blog pages. Please check back latter for the followings sub-subjects: Giving a Reason, Giving a Result and Contrasting Ideas, as well as a list of links for more study.

See also

• Linking Words (Words that connect) – Part 2

Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Linking Words (Words that connect) – Part 1.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

The following list, with explanations and examples, will help you in determining which words to use if you want to be correct in your writing and speaking, and you will be using a more correct form of English than many “Professional” writers. An added benefit of learning the differences in these words will be a marked increase in your vocabulary.

Homonyms – Words that sound the same

Accept – Except: Accept means to receive and Except means excluding or to exclude.

• I will ACCEPT all the results EXCEPT the last one.

Affect – Effect: Affect means to influence while Effect means result or to bring about.

• The drug caused adverse side EFFECTS, and did not AFFECT the infection.

Allusion – Illusion: Allusion is an indirect reference and Illusion is a misconception or misunderstanding.

• In my speech I made an ALLUSION to the Presidents speech. The magician’s ILLUSION was complete in that he appeared to make an elephant disappear.

Bare – Bear: Bear has many meanings including the animal, but bare has only one meaning and that is without clothing or covering. Never write “Bare with me”, as you are inviting someone to get naked with you.

• Please BEAR with me while I take a picture of the BARE ground.

Capital – Capitol: Capital refers to a city or wealth while Capitol refers to a building where lawmakers meet.

• The Senate meets in the CAPITOL building in the CAPITAL city of Washington.

Climactic – Climatic: Climactic is derived from climax meaning the high point and Climatic is derived from climate and refers to long term weather conditions.

• The drastic CLIMACTIC changes caused the end of the CLIMATIC period of the dinosaurs and their extinction.

Elicit – Illicit:  Elicit means to bring about or to evoke. Illicit means unlawful.

• During questioning the detective was unable to ELICIT information regarding the ILLICIT actives of the suspect.

Emigrate from – Immigrate to: Emigrate means to leave (Exit) a country or region and Immigrate (Into) means to enter another country with the intention to reside there.

• In 1907 my grandfather EMIGRATED from Italy and IMMIGRATED to the United States.

Principal – Principle: Principle means a basic truth, law or belief, while Principal is a person or a sum of money.

• As a matter of PRINCIPLE I could not lie to the High School PRINCIPAL.

Than – Then: Than is a conjunction used in comparisons, and Then is an adverb denoting time. (Then tells when)

• I told my girlfriend that I preferred hamburgers rather THAN pizza, THEN she ordered pizza anyway.

There – Their – They’re: There specifies a place, or is an expletive, There is a possessive pronoun and They’re is a contraction of they are, and normally is not used in informal English.

• THEIR keys are right THERE on the table while THEY’RE going crazy looking for them.

To – Too – Two: To is a preposition, Too is an adverb, and Two is a number.

• When you play golf, TOO many of your shots hook TO the left, but the last TWO were better.

Your – You’re: Your is a possessive pronoun and You’re is a contraction of you are.
YOU’RE going to get hurt if you don’t move YOUR foot inside the golf cart.

Other Problem Phrases and Words

Supposed to – Suppose to is incorrect keep the “d”
Used to - Use to is incorrect again keep the “d”
Toward – Not Towards there is no “s”
Anyway - Never Anyways again there is no “s”
Couldn’t care less - To say I could care less is wrong when you mean you do not care at all.
Chest of drawers - Never chester drawers, Chester is a man’s name.
Going to - Never use Gonna, it is a non standard word.
Want to – Never use Wanna, it is again a non standard word.

For more misused words and some good laughs see: Commonly Misused Words in the English Language.

Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Common Misused Words and Phrases.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

I will expound on several examples of this perceived reluctance or fear that I have personally been involved with, starting with Junior, my brother in law. Junior is a well educated man who has a degree in computer engineering, but when I first met Junior and asked him “Voce fala Ingles?”, he replied with the very common “So so.”. Upon meeting one of my nieces, who is a medical doctor I received the same reply. A friend of my wife, who teaches English, gave a better, but still confusing reply of “A little.”. I was beginning to think that I was not from the United States and speaking English, but that I was from Mars and speaking Martian gibberish.

After a ruminating on this problem for a considerable amount of time I realized that I was actually intimidating all of these people with what they erroneously perceived as perfect English. Upon reaching this conclusion I rapidly developed the theory that my new friends and relatives were afraid of being embarrassed by their; accent, poor pronunciation, improper construction, or poor selection of words. I then vowed to try and understand what they meant rather than what they were literally saying, to never ridicule or laugh at them for errors in English, offer gentle suggestions to improve their English and most importantly to always to emphasize that their English is much better than my Portuguese. To my surprise it worked and all of them opened up and started to speak English to me, even with an English class that I was invited to talk to, by my wife’s friend.

In my humble opinion the only way to correct this problem is to speak English at every opportunity, especially with a native English speaker. In order to accomplish this, one must seek out places and times to practice your English while; never becoming discouraged, accepting any criticism gracefully, and learning from any suggestions. Remember, a non native speaker will probably always have at least a slight accent, which most Americans will find exotic and delightfully fascinating, therefore you have little to worry about.

If any of my friends on English Experts feel uneasy about speaking English to an American native English speaker you need to put away your fears, then go ahead and talk. My professor of public speaking taught me a humorous aside and a secret tool; if one is speaking to a group you can imagine that the individuals (Americans in this case) are nude, and in your mind, but never out loud, laugh at them, because it is impossible to be intimidated by someone who you are laughing at. Above all do not let fear dictate any of your actions.

Words to improve your vocabulary

• Encounter
• Reluctant
• Conversationally
• Phenomenon
• Perceived
• Gibberish
• Ruminate
• Intimidate

Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Fear of speaking English.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Why should we be concerned with the construction and content of a paragraph? As in all studies of grammar the ultimate goal is to improve our abilities to communicate effectively. Paragraphs accomplish this by allowing us to fully express a single thought, and to explain that thought in detail. Learning how to write good paragraphs improves our ability as writers, and communicators.

An essay is simply a series of paragraphs, with a central theme, an opening paragraph, body paragraphs and a concluding paragraph. If this sounds familiar, it should, I used the same terms to describe a paragraph. As paragraphs can be condensed into a sentence an essay should be able to be condensed into a single paragraph and then into a single sentence. In other words properly combined sentences make paragraphs and paragraphs make essays, or book chapters and so on.

Up to this point I have discussed; the ellipsis, agreement of nouns and verbs, types of sentences, and now the paragraph and essays. If you put all these together you will begin to communicate with your English writing much more effectively. As you can see I am working to present different aspects of the English language in small doses that you can use to improve your skills. English can be fun and easy!

Words to improve your Vocabulary

• Punctuation (second definition)
• Expounds
• Conclude

See also

• Grammar Help — Paragraphs
• Guide to Grammar and Style — P
• Things NOT to do in an introductory paragraph
• Concluding Paragraphs

Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Paragraphs and Essays.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Regular Verbs and Nouns, the easy ones.
Nouns that end in “s” are most often plural, and verbs that end in “s” are most often singular, some examples are:

• The boys jump on a trampoline. (plural) The boy jumps on a trampoline. (singular)
• The athlete runs every day. (singular) The athletes run every day. (plural)
• John swims five days a week. (singular) John and Mary swim every Monday.(plural)

Irregular Verbs and Nouns, the hard ones, that even educated native English speakers have trouble with, and which are especially exacerbating for non native speakers. Unfortunately there is no easy way to determine plural from singular, and the only remedy is to memorize these words, or to consult your dictionary often. Some recommended sites to assist you are:

• Lista de Verbos Irregulares
• List of English Irregular Verbs
• Irregular Nouns
• Problems with Verbs
• Irregular Noun and Verbs Practice

It is very important to master the skills that will allow you to ensure nouns and verbs agree in your speaking and writing. Devoting the time and effort to this endeavor will allow you to “stand head and shoulders above” your fellow students and many native English speakers.

Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Agreement of Nouns and Verbs.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Simple sentences contain an independent clause, and can be as short as two words or can be as long as twenty words or more. A simple sentence can have compound subjects or compound verbs. Some examples of simple sentences are:

• John ran.
• John and Judy ran and walked, respectively.

Compound sentences consist of two or more simple sentences joined by; a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, for, nor, yet, or so) or a semicolon, or a comma, but only when the sentences are being treated as items in a series. Some examples of compound sentences are:

• John ran but Judy walked.
• John ran; Judy walked.
• John ran, Judy walked, John Jr. skipped, and baby Jane crawled.

Complex sentences consist of a combination of an independent clause and a dependent or a relative clause. Some examples of complex sentences with the dependent or relative clause underlined are: (Note that the relative or dependent clause can be removed from the complex sentence and the remaining clause remains a complete sentence.)

• The baby that was being held cried loudly. (Relative)
• A teenager who is hungry will never pass up a pizza. (Relative)
• Baby Jane cried loudly, although she was being held.
• Because baby Jane cried so loudly, her big brother John Jr. could not sleep.
• Baby Jane, although she was being held, cried loudly.

Compound-Complex sentences consist of a combination of a compound sentence and a complex sentence, an example is:

• Baby Jane, in spite of being held by John Jr., cried loudly, while John ate a pizza and Judy ate a fish sandwich.

For your writing, to maintain the readers interest, it needs to have a variety of the four different types of sentences, however one should not become so enamored with complex and compound sentences that your writing is not clear and concise, also please avoid run on sentences. For more information and some exercises see:

• Harcourtschool
• Advanced Composition for Non-Native Speakers of English
• Quiz on Sentence Types
• Identifying Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences

Words to improve your vocabulary:

• Insure – Ensure – Assure
• Enamored

Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

At its most basic level, informal English is the day to day spoken language, and formal English is the written form especially in business and academic settings or when a formal letter is required.

In informal spoken English many of the rules of grammar are relaxed, and some are even ignored, which makes learning the language even more confusing to students, especially adults. While in formal English the rules of grammar should be rigidly abided by in most cases.

So, what does all this mean? If speaking to a friend of about the same age and social status as you, then informal English is perfectly acceptable, but if speaking to a person who is older, or who is in a much higher social standing than you are, you should use a more formal spoken English. Some examples are:

• To a friend it is acceptable to say, “Hey Jack, how’re you doing buddy?”
• To a Governor you would say, “Good afternoon Governor, how are you doing today?”
• To your girlfriend, “Do you want to grab a bite to eat? I need to ask you something.”
• To your girlfriend’s father, “Mr. Jones, would you care to have dinner with me tonight? I would like to talk to you about your daughter, and myself.”
• To a coworker, “ Morning Joe.”
• To your boss or a client, “ Good morning, Mr. Smith or Good morning, sir.”
• To a friend, “Man! Was that movie really cool or what, we need to see it again!”
• To your drama professor, “Professor Bogart, the motion picture which you assigned us to watch was one of the most impressive that I have ever seen. In fact, I am going to view it again tonight!

Always use formal English when writing; a business letter, an essay, or other papers for work, school or publication.

You can use informal English when writing a letter to a close friend or a relative, when quoting informal usage, or in a novel or script, etc. Otherwise it is much less risky to use the formal form, especially if you have any doubts about the acceptability of the informal form, or if you need to be very clear or specific. Remember that you will never look or sound foolish by using proper grammar.

For more information see:

• Main Differences between Formal and Informal English

I hope you like it!

Sobre o Autor: Bill Slayman tem 66 anos é americano e mora em Pensacola, Florida, USA. Ele atuou no exército americano e hoje está aposentado. Suas paixões são: andar de Harley Davidson, motocicletas, fotografia e qualquer coisa brasileira. Bill é um dos maiores colaboradores do EE.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Formal or Informal English: That Is The Question.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

This one is about an event that happened here in Chicago (Millennium Park). It’s cool because she had posted a previous video on youtube with an invitation for people to appear in front of the bean sculpture. She would be carrying a yellow umbrella in order to be recognized. So, she had no idea how many people would be there… I looove the part people cheer when she walks up with the yellow umbrella. :)

Se você recebe as dicas por email e não conseguiu visualizar o vídeo acima, clique aqui para assistir.

While this other video is about adoption. It’s so common to see families around here with adopted children. I love the part he runs to them, when the couple gets back. Just beautiful. :)

Se você recebe as dicas por email e não conseguiu visualizar o vídeo acima, clique aqui para assistir.

Hope it inspires you in 2011! :)

Sobre a Autora: Andrea Faber é leitora do EE desde 2008, mora atualmente em Chicago e mantém um ótimo blog de decoração, o White Inspirations (whiteinspirations.com).

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: New Year’s Resolution: two inspirational videos.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

- I’ll have a BLT.
- ASPA or PDQ?

Or suppose your American friend texts you this: 143.

Pretty crazy, hu? Not really. That’s why I’d like to share with you guys something so common here: abbreviations. This is highly used at work, ads (advertisement signs), blogs, text messages (torpedos), usually in a casual conversation context. It can be hard to understand the full meaning of a phrase if you’re not familiar with. Some of these abbreviations you’re probably already used to seeing around… Oh, one more thing, you need to read it letter by letter (or number by number), don’t try make it a new word. So, let’s get to know some of them, shall we?

1. 143: I love you. I explain: I (1 letter) love (4 letters) you (3 letters)
2. AKA: Also known as
   You can use this one to explain a nickname.
   Ex: EnglishExperts website aka (you read “ei-kei-ei” or “also known as”) EE is awesome!
3. ASAP: As soon as possible
   Ex. Please, this report needs to be done asap!
4. BLT: Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich
5. DIY: Do it yourself
   You’ll find a lot of diy stuff on my website.
   Ex: This is a diy project. My diy mirror.
6. FYI: For your information
7. LOL: Laugh out loud
   It would be like someone is laughing really hard (gargalhada).
8. OBO: Or best offer
   Craigslist has tons of “obo”.
   Ex: I’m selling this crib (berço) for U$100 obo.
   For sale: dresser (cômoda) and mirror. Cash and pick up only. U$ 150.00 obo for both.
9. PDQ: Pretty darn quick
10. R.I.P.: Rest in peace (Halloween tombstones)
11. TLC: Tender loving care
    You’ll find this one for everything that needs “tender loving care”. Ex:
    1- When I took Sophie (my cute dog) to the vet because I thought she was sick, the vet said “oh, Sophie is fine, she just needs a little bit of TLC”.
    2- On Real Estate (corretora de imóveis) listings, I mean, let’s suppose you read an ad (anúncio) from a house that’s seen better days. So usually the realtor writes “This house needs a bit of TLC but has tons of potential”.
12. TGI Friday: – Thank God it’s Friday! WooHooo
    TGI Friday’s is a restaurant too.

Hope you had some fun with this post! See ya!

Sobre a Autora: Andrea Faber é leitora do EE desde 2008, mora atualmente em Chicago e mantém um ótimo blog de decoração, o White Inspirations (whiteinspirations.com).

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: 12 Useful Abbreviations in English.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

So, today’s post is about where to shop in US to get the best deals. If you’re coming to US thinking about brands like Calvin Klein, DKNY, Gap, Guess, YSL, Polo Ralph Lauren, Nike, Puma, Sony, etc, I have suggestions for you to get what you want for less $$.

Check out the closest Prime Outlet, go to their website, then “locations” and you’ll be able to see if there are any around you. All things are new but it’s either past season or they don’t have all the sizes available anymore. At Sony, you will find new and refurbished notebooks, PS3, cameras, etc.

Other stores I like are: TJMAXX and Marshalls. Just do the same thing, go to “find a store” and put the name of the city you’re to find the closest ones. TJMAXX and Marshalls have absolutely everything. They sell household things, clothes, shoes, purses, perfumes… Only detail, you have “to dig” to find what you want. They usually have things from all these famous brands but mixed with “no brand” stuff and they do sell them for half of the price around. What happens is the same as described for Prime Outlets or they bought some store stock items.

Another tip: follow signs as “clearance” or “on sale”. All stores have a clearance section, usually, in the back of the store or ask an associate to point it out. Clearance section = more discounts! :)

One more tip, Americans have a “coupon fever”. Like most of us, they do not like to pay full price. Before shopping always google it. Put the name of the store you’re going to and add “coupon” to your search. You might score some more discounts. Gotta love a deal! :)

Sobre a Autora: Andrea Faber é leitora do EE desde 2008, mora atualmente em Chicago e mantém um ótimo blog de decoração, o White Inspirations (whiteinspirations.com).

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Shopping in the USA.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Thinking of how easy it is to learn some English simply by being in touch with simple daily words , I decided to make a list about cooking vocabulary. What could be more daily than that?

Alright…a bunch of things, considering that not everyone here cooks.Still, we could give some credit to our cooking skills and start having a go at it by following recipes written in English, making the most of them to learn new words . And even if cooking is not exactly your cup of tea, you’re still very likely to learn a great deal from that, plus, it’s always good to be independent, knowing how to fix yourself something when you’re hungry.

My suggestion is – you click in one of the links of my suggested websites to get a recipe that is interesting for you or you could also simply type in English on google.co.uk or google.com whatever you’d fancy eating to find you a recipe.

• BBC Food Recipes
• Peta Vegetarian-living
• 101 Cookbooks

After you’ve found it, just flip back the page and go back to English Experts, so you can finally see my list (I’ve noticed that making lists is a quite often habit from the EE collaborators, from time to time I see a list being posted here, not bad, isn’t it? I guess we’ve already got a wide range of lists filed) and hopefully use them in case you need some cooking vocabulary.

Mince: moer (e.g- mince meat – carne moída)
Stir: misturar
Fry: fritar
Stir-fry: refogar
Deep-fry: fritar algo mergulhando no óleo (e.g Deep fried chips always make me feel sick, but my friend Raquel just loves oily food.)
Dry-fry: fritar algo sem usar óleo
Dice: to dice something (cortar em cubinhos)
Piping-hot: fervente, borbulhante (ex: It’s piping hot, I can’t eat ir now.)
Boil: cozinhar algo em água fervente, borbulhate (e.g: I eat boiled eggs every morning.)
Simmer: cozinhar algo no estágio em que a água está fervente, mas não borbulhante. (e.g – Simmer the soup gently for about an hour.)
Chop up: cortar algo em pedaços. (e.g – Do you know that Chinese meal that is made of noodles and literally chopped up vegetables and meat, which in Brazil is called yakisoba? In English we call it chop-suey.)
Whisk: bater. (e.g. This time I’m not talking about a drink but when you mix liquids, eggs etc., very quickly. To do so, you only need a fork or a proper whisk.)
Bake: assar
Slice: fatiar
Peel: descascar
Grate: ralar (e.g. the object we use to grate a cheese, vegetable, etc., is called a grater)
Grind: moer (e.g. fresh-ground meat, coffee, pepper, pepper grinder

Thanks for reading this feature and good luck with your studies!

Proofread by Adir Ferreira

Sobre a Autora: Gabriela Dias é leitora ativa do English Experts e participa diariamente do fórum, onde tem título de Expert.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Cooking vocabulary.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Let’s see how well you know these common collocations. Match the intensifiers in column A with the words in column B.

Some other common substitutes for “very” in English are:

Terribly

I’m terribly sorry to disturb you, but I need to ask you something.
She’s terribly busy right now.

Horribly

We were horribly late to the wedding.
Jack was horribly drunk when he got in last night.

Awfully

He seemed awfully interested in the proposal.
Jane is awfully nice to offer her beach house for the weekend.

Absolutely

Are you absolutely certain it was John who took the laptop?
I’m absolutely delighted with the new sound system.

Utterly

I’m utterly exhausted from the hike this morning.
What an utterly ridiculous thing to say!

Also: entirely, absolutely, astonishingly, frightfully, tremendously, extremely etc.

We are waiting for your participation. The 3 first to answer correctly will win a brand new book.

Update 03/08/2010

Answers:

1) i
2) j
3) f
4) a
5) h
6) b
7) e
8) d
9) g
10)c

Winners:

Rogerio (comment number 1 – 17:10)
Luis Fernando Jr (comment number 2 – 17:11)
Patrícia (comment number 5 – 17:14)

Sobre o autor: Mark, canadense, reside no Brasil há quatorze anos. Possui mestrado em Teoria da Comunicação pela McGill University, bacharelado em Antropologia e Estudos Culturais e graduação em Semiótica pela Trent University. Autor de diversos livros da série Michaelis.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Mini-teste: Collocations.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

The Grand City and its Parks

When we think of European cities we frequently think of the grandeur of the past and London certainly delivers in this expectation. The palaces, the grand houses, the impressive museums, they are all there. Yet, it is also an accessible and family friendly city.

If you have not been to London before the video below should give you a quick overview.

…and the following shows you some of the chaotic life of the city but also the slow life in London that we enjoy as a family.

Amongst all the grandness of the city we particularly enjoy the fact that it is a very green place with many large parks dotted all over the city. Some of our favourite places within the city that we would like to recommend for a Sunday walk or a romantic picnic are:

• Kew Gardens – for a grand festival of colour in the spring and summer, truly beautiful place to spend an entire day. Kids love the colourful flowers. One of the times we visited there was an exhibition by a famous glass maker – the glass sculptures were all over the park in-between the trees and flowers and in the lake – fantastic.

• Richmond Park – you can find two different types of dear running around free. Within the park there is Henry VIII’s Mound from where you can see St Paul’s Cathedral some 15 km away. You can see a corridor all across the city as there is a law that protects the view so no building can be built that will interfere with this ancient view. It is a small thing with a big impact on the development of the city, but at the same time it is small things like this that make cities special.

• Bushy Park – near Hampton Court Palace – great place to get close to the dear and the ducks – kids love it.
• Hyde Park – remember the roller skating around the city – it starts from here.
• Regents Park – beautiful rose gardens and it has a great outdoor theater operating in the summer where you can watch a play while having a barbecue and drinking your own wine.
• Hampstead Heath – in the north part of town with good views of the city. You can also swim on the ponds within the park – very popular in the summer and a few swim even in winter.
• Greenwich Park – a very pleasant place for a walk or for great views of the city or just to let the kids feed the squirrels. GMT sounds familiar? This observatory in the park is where it comes from.

There are many others, but the above are just some of our favourites.

Museums

There are many museums all over the city. All government museums are free and many offer great places to just hang around or good public places to meet friends. Like the Tate Modern with its cafeteria in one of the upper floors with great views of the river and St Paul’s Cathedral. Some of our favourite ones are:

• British Museum – a great museum but also a great city space. The concept is that museums are not just places where you display objects but also urban spaces for the the people of the city to congregate and interact.

• Victoria and Albert Museum – there is a nice coffee shop within the museum, a good place to meet friends. Ok, not the best coffee but a great venue none the less.
• Natural History Museum – this is definitely the favourite one for the whole family. The building is truly amazing and if you take the time to look at the detail you will see little animals carved that appear to be crawling up the columns – a beautiful design. It is a great place to take the kids on a rainy day as you can spend the whole day looking at the dinosaurs or at the activity centre in the basement floor. Our little boys love it. As all the other museums it is free and you can take your own food as there is an area in the basement where you can have a picnic with your kids so it is a very cheap and enjoyable day out, not to mention educational as well.

• Tate Modern – a fantastic urban space inside and out. It is a converted factory with a large atrium that is used for a variety of rotating displays. The art can be pretty weird, but regardless of your taste in art, the place is fantastic.

So, yes a grand city in a traditional way but also a nice place to live with many green areas and activities for the kids. Yes, a pleasant city to live.

A Centre for Design Excellence

When people think about great design they think of Milan or Paris but actually, today London is one of the major centres for design of all types – from fashion to motor cars and everything in-between. Some of the greatest brands of cars have design offices in the centre of London and today London is synonymous with great avant-garde design in most disciplines, be it advertising, jewellery design or architecture. The Royal Academy of Arts for fine arts or The Royal College of Arts for modern design such as automotive – if you like design, good places to visit. Even great American icons of the automotive world have been designed in London in some pretty obscure designs studios below the railway arches.

Some great modern architecture and great architects in London such as Norman Foster or Zaha Hadid – see below.

Pubs ad Wine Bars

Just like the list of clubs there is a great variety across London – so it depends what you like. We like pubs as most of them tend to be family friendly so you go and have a drink and take your kids along. Some of our favourite ones in London are:

• Gordon’s Wine Bar near Embankment – a basement wine bar since 1890 with a wide variety of wines. Has an outdoor terrace next to the park so it is nice in summer as well.
• The White Horse in Parsons Green – nice upmarket pub
• The Captain Kidd in Wapping – relaxed atmosphere right on the river with an outdoor area for summer barbecues.

• The Roebuck on Richmond Hill road – nothing special as a pub but you can buy your beer and take it outside across the road and sit in the park and have some of the best views of the river in London. If you are in Richmond, take a walk up the hill and cool down with a few nice beers. Some of the famous people like Elton John, Madonna, Mick Jagger, some of the Who members and many others live in the area and it is not unusual to see them around the neighbourhood. Like I said, not the greatest pub but they are relaxed about you taking your glass of beer across the street and sit anywhere in the park. Everyone just returns the glass by the steps leading up to the road.

Well, there are literally thousands of pubs and wine bars in London and the above are just but a taste. Make sure you explore in which ever area you happen to be and you are bound to find an old pub with lots of history and character. In the past few years there has been an explosion of Gastropubs that serve very good food along with good beer in a nice setting.

There is a pub in East London where the captain of the Mayflower used to sleep and from where the boat was said to have parted for America. It is in an ugly area of town so only worth visiting if you are passing by.

A note about Pubs. Many pubs are tied up to a brewery and serve a certain range of beers connected with that specific brewery. However, if you see the sign “Free House”, it means that there is no connection with a brewery and they will have a different range of more unique beers. There are hundreds of beers in England, some of them only sell regionally and many in London serve beer from their area of London. If you like Ales, I don’t buy my husband does, then you can enjoy trying the hundreds of beers across the city as different pubs will serve different beers. Ales are not like lager beers, the best ones tend to be made in an artisan manner in small batches and do not have preservatives or any type of additives to keep them for a long time. A good Ale will only last for about 2 weeks and if not consumed it gets thrown away – little chance of that happening as beer drinking is one of the national British sports. A Real Ale will always be pulled by hand.

Remember, when you go to a pub you can always ask to taste the beers before you buy one. So try 2 or 3 before you choose.

If you want to find out about Ale, visit sites The Real Ale Campaign site: www.camra.org.uk It has a long list of beer festivals around the country – but make sure you don’t order a lager or you’ll be ushered out… ;-)

Just Hanging Out

But best of all, London is a great city to just hang out and to stroll through the great parks or next to the river. On a Sunday you can walk on the outside of Hyde Park to see the different painters selling their work or go to one of the many markets to see some creative people selling their wares. Or maybe just go to your local pub and have a drink and maybe a nice meal if you pick the right gastropub. Even if it is cold and rainy outside, you are bound to find something to do, a coffee at the grand coffee shop in the V&A or maybe a brunch with live music at the National Gallery, or even a walk in the rain followed by a nice Ale by the fireplace at some old pub.

Oh, better stop……there is so much more to write about, the many unusual shops, the great deli’s across the city, the unusual spots to hide away for a break…..but I may write about these in the future.

Just to end….not in London but a short drive away. If you ever dreamt of a castle when you were a small kid, then go to Leeds Castle about 1.5 hrs drive away, as if you were driving to catch the ferry to France. The whole setting is out of a fairytale, if you do go, make a day out of it and soak up the atmosphere, take a picnic and just relax by the lake.

But that would be a whole new article, what to visit within easy reach of London.

See you soon !

Sobre a Autora: Meu nome é Luciana, sou professora de Inglês, leciono em São Paulo e recentemente criei o Inglês Interact. Morei e trabalhei por alguns anos na Inglaterra (Londres e Cambridge) e espero poder aqui no EE contribuir e ajudá-los com questões que envolvam a Língua Inglesa.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: London: off the tourist trail – Part 2 of 2.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

London, one of the great cities in the world, in my opinion I don’t think there can be much debate about it. So, I will not dwell on the obvious things that make London a tourist destination, but rather I will discuss some of the more off the tourist path things that my family and I enjoy about London.

However, in an effort to thinly masquerade or pretend that this is a balanced article ;-), I should start with the bad things about the city. First, it is a big city with all the normal big city problems that dwellers must face such as horrendous traffic, pollution, overcrowded public transport and expensive housing, and it certainly not a city blessed with good weather. So, those things out of the way, back to the main objective…

A Diverse City

London is a big and sprawling city with a metropolitan population of over 11 million (depending on where you draw the line) and it offers both visitors and residents an amazing array of diversity on anything form culture to food or activities for young people or families with kids.

If you are thinking of going to London to study English you have a great opportunity to not just practice your English but also, or maybe even more importantly, to explore new ways of life and new ways of thinking. If you are going to take full advantage of a city like London, you must travel there with an open open mind and ready to accept, or at least analyse and try to understand, new ideas.

In my previous article I touched on the subject of cultural diversity and certainly, from my point of view, this is an important factor in making London a fascinating city. This diversity is not just about the obvious racial diversity but it extends to all forms of thought and as a result the city is highly tolerant and an incubator for new ideas and ways of thinking. When you visit, make a point of soaking this diversity into your thinking.

A Safe City?

One could compare all sorts of statistics for violent and petty crime and come up with a figure that says that London, for its size, is a relatively safe city. However, just as important is how you feel when you move about the city, specially if you are a woman travelling on your own. Most large cities can be intimidating and aggressive but I have found London to be a place where I have never felt threatened or worried about ending up on the wrong side of town.

The London Bobby (nickname for the police) does not carry guns while out on the beat (on patrol). If the police need extra force, then there is a special unit that is called into service if guns are needed. I have found the police on foot in different areas of London to be approachable, friendly and helpful. It is also nice to see that many of the police walking the city are women. Police without guns, umm…that tells a story in itself.

Yes, there is violent crime in London, and of course there are serious encounters when the police uses excessive force. However, as a whole and certainly for its size, London is a safe place and when I have had to travel on public transport and walk home late at night on my own I have never felt threatened. My husband and I have also been out to clubs in areas that are considered dangerous such as Brixton but we happily walk at night from the tube station and, other than being offered all sorts of illegal stuff to buy, one never feels intimidated.

Food

This is certainly one of my favourite subjects and like many of us, I love my plate of rice and beans with a good piece of beef stake. However, when I spend time in London I like to explore new cuisines, new flavours and unusual foods. There is such a variety of choice, from Vietnamese restaurants east of Liverpool St station, to our favourite Pakistani restaurant behind the East London Mosque or the small Vegetarian food place near Covent Garden that is probably one of the few paces were you can eat well for a decent price in that area of London. Spanish, Thai, Cambodian, Peruvian, Venezuelan, Brazilian, South African, Jamaican, Burmese, etc, etc…are only but few of the cuisines represented – be adventurous and experiment new flavours, new textures, new combinations and most importantly experience new ideas through your taste buds.

However is not all about ethnic foods, London is also full of top quality restaurants, from the multi Michelin Star rated restaurants to top class but decently priced family run establishments. If you are prepared to go out to eat on a Monday or Tuesday and maybe go out for lunch rather than dinner you can eat at some top rated restaurants at a big discount, 2 for 1 deals as well as well priced set menus. There is a wide choice and you can use sites such as wwww.lastminute.com or www.london-eating.co.uk but there are many others. The deals change all the time so go back and check regularly and try different places.

Sunday Breakfast – there are lots of places for a nice Sunday brunch but a particularly pleasant venue is the restaurant in the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square. Most Sundays they have a live jazz band or a string quartet up until lunch time. Another choice just around the corner is at the restaurant at the top of the National Portrait Gallery where you can have a champagne breakfast with a “Marry Poppins” view of the city as you are just above the city rooftops and all the chimneys – a very typical London view.

Other Restaurants with a View – if you want to splurge and impress you girlfriend, then take her to the restaurant at the top of the Oxo tower for a fantastic view of the city – but you better have a fat wallet before you go.

For also a great view of the city at a fraction of the price then go to the restaurant at the top of the Tate Modern or just for a walk and a drink along Butlers Wharf.

Markets – The food markets in London also offer a wide variety of produce from all over the world. There are great markets such as Borough market behind Southwark Cathedral as well as many other open air markets around the city. Many of the neighbourhood markets specialise in ethnic foods depending on where they are located – if you look for it, you can find pretty much anything you want.

Cheese – Did you know that Britain has as wide a variety of cheese as France? Go to Neal’s Yard where cheeses from all over Britain are aged to achieve the optimum maturity. If you love cheese, well then, this is the place to go.

Coffee – Did you know that London is one of the top centres for speciality coffee in the world along with cities like Sydney and Seattle? No, I am not talking about the junk that Starbucks or other chains serves but truly outstanding Single Estate coffees from all over the world (Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Indonesia, Brazil, Bolivia, etc, etc) can be found in speciality coffee shops across London which are supplied by some of the best micro-roasters in the world. Some of our favourite ones include Dose, Fernandez & Wells, The Espresso Room, Monmouth, Kaffeine, Flat White and many others. A quality coffee made by an experienced Barista is like eating a dessert on every cup, it is a delight of an experience. Sadly despite Brazil producing over 35% of the world’s coffee we have hardly any places that serve outstanding coffee made with loving care.

Having Fun in the City

Well, this is entirely up to you and limited only to your own creativity and how much money you got in your pocket. London is an exciting city that offers something for most people. I want to keep it short so here goes a few of the places and things you may not read about on a guide book:

• Jazz – The 606 Club or Ronnie Scott’s for some of the best jazz in Europe.
• Theatre – yes, of course, the West End theatres but for something more unusual try The Tricycle Theatre for all sorts of unusual stuff including troops from Brazil.
• Guide – Timeout (http://www.timeout.com/london/) it is a good City guide. It is a London publication but now they do it for cities all over the world, including SP.
• Opera – no, I am not into it but you can sign up online for a ticket lottery which sells the tickets for £10. The building is amazing and the sound incredible so even if you don’t like Opera but you like performing arts, it is worth a trip, even if it to see the pomp spectacle.
• Dancing – well, there is truly endless choice and many with good live bands. From our very own forró to dancing the night away to the sound of a 12 piece Cuban salsa band or to experiment new dance rhythms from Angola or Zaire or maybe Caribbean sounds (all live bands). For something old fashion but lots of fun, go dancing on a Sunday during summer at the Royal Festival Hall public performing area where they play ballroom music. It is free, but make sure you make an old man or lady smile by asking them to dance. Lots of other free events at South Bank in and around the Royal Festival Hall – great area.

• Film – make your way to the British Film Institute (BFI) on South Bank Centre for pretty much anything you want to watch form anywhere in the world. Many libraries have a BFI centre where you can watch any film for free in a small booth.
• Live music – all over the place and all kinds, check Timeout or the local newspaper in the area where you live. The last one we saw was a Gypsy group from Paris at a small pub near Battersea park. Most are free as long as you consume a few beers. Or head to the Jazz Cafe in Camden for a wide variety of music styles.

• The Weird and the Wonderful – try Shunt which is an amazing venue underneath the railway arches near London Bridge tube station. It is like a subterranean wonderland of the weird and amazing performing arts. It is run by an artist cooperative and the best way to describe it is that you are bound to see anything and everything that you will see nowhere else. But hurry, it is due to close in June of this year….but then again, it has been closing for the past 2 years and it is still going strong and as weird and wonderful as ever. Definitely not for everyone and you never know what is going on – don’t go if you are not open minded.

Well, this all for the moment. I am afraid it is but a tiny drop in the ocean of stuff to do in London. I could go on and on but risk putting you to sleep.

Will leave you with one of the unusual and most fun ways to see the city during the day or the evening.

Do you know how to in-line skate?

If you do, then make your way to The Serpentine in Hyde Park and join the group that skates across the city. They follow a different route every week and some of them are at night.

Skating across the city, is there a better way to see and connect with the city?

They do the same in Paris. Both London and Paris events are completely free and all you need is to know how to skate well so you can negotiate all the obstacles in the city and to keep up with the group. They have minders to control the traffic and it is all pretty safe. However, if you fall and crack you head, you will not be able to sue the city or anyone (as you would do in America – sorry, could not help myself ;-). On the serious side, does anyone know if this is done in any American cities?

On a nice summer’s evening you can have several hundred or thousand skaters going across the city – and yes, traffic has to stop for them. Some of them have a guy on a bicycle pullig a great big set of speakers playing music for the skaters. It is all pretty well organised, it has to be to stop traffic in the centre of London, and it is all run by volunteers. Great fun – if you are in London, give it a try..!!

Here is a video to the sound of a band from California (not the best video but gives you an idea of what it is all about).

Ok, that is it for now, I shall continue on the next article and will touch on:

• A Centre of Design Excellence
• The Grand City
• Pubs and Wine Bars
• Just Hanging Out

I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about London. Remember, variety is the spice of life – if you travel to London, make sure you fill your time there with new experiences that you may not have a chance to experience back in your home town.

See you soon !

Sobre a Autora: Meu nome é Luciana, sou professora de Inglês, leciono em São Paulo e recentemente criei o Inglês Interact. Morei e trabalhei por alguns anos na Inglaterra (Londres e Cambridge) e espero poder aqui no EE contribuir e ajudá-los com questões que envolvam a Língua Inglesa.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: London: off the tourist trail – Part 1 of 2.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

How can one prepare oneself for studying in the United States or another country?

“[This is] the URL for a culture site I turn to when advising students on such matters:  It is a database on the world’s cultures; students can see what is written on their own countries (and correct misinformation) and learn about other countries (kind of a cultural wikipedia). One thing that was suggested to us in learning other languages: live with a safe host family where the understanding is that only English will be spoken in the home. It can, of course, be hard to establish what constitutes “safe” in today’s world, but having someone already in the country to act as a “big brother/sister” to the learner is also a very good idea. If students are going together to a country, they should schedule weekly meetings (might this be handled using Skype?) to talk with their fellows and compare experiences and notes. Also, another thing we have always done in language learning: involve yourself with children’s activities–they love the attention and are patient with learners.” J. Randolph Radney, PhD, who has a great deal of cross-cultural experience with an organization called SIL, International, a UNESCO-recognized non-profit concern that works with minority languages of the world in translation and curriculum development.

Living abroad can be a rewarding, life-changing experience

To have a successful experience, it is recommended to be prepared to acclimate yourself to the new environment with realistic expectations, an open mind, a strong focus on your goal, and a willingness to try new things. Be an active participant in extracurricular activities (clubs, churches, associations, programs). Take advantage of the orientation sessions and planned social activities of the school where you are studying.

Whenever one makes a decision on where to study, it is important to find out as much as possible about the choices available. That is one good thing about the English Experts blog and forum–it provides information from Brazilians who have already experienced living, studying, or working in the United States or Britain. People have shared their experiences in an honest way that gives the blog readers who are contemplating a stay in Britain or the United States insights that we cannot find by googling for information on home stays, EFL programs, Study programs, English Language Schools, etc. at official sites.

When looking into a study abroad or immersion experience, it is helpful to decide on a goal for your trip. In the English Experts forum Flávia shared a detailed chronology with suggestions on how to best learn English by thoughtfully setting up a plan with a timeline, goals, monitoring your progress, and revising the goals as needed.

I recommend investing some thought in creating such a study travel survival plan, if you are going to spend time in a foreign country. If you have never left home, it may be a surprise how much of our well-being is based on a built in support system that we may not even be aware of.

Know what makes you feel good about yourself. Will you be able to find that in the place that you are going to visit? What activities do you enjoy in your daily life? Will you be able to continue them in the city where you will study English? Do you engage in activities that bring you into contact with other people who share a common interest, for example, playing soccer or chess?

When choosing your language school, it is important to see if:

1. Their program is reliable and of high quality. The reliable programs are accredited. That means they have been tested by an independent agency and that they meet industry desirable standards, esl-guide.com has examples.
2. The program offers organized activities that you can participate in simply by showing up, without you having to organize something yourself or find out what there is to do in the town.
3. It has a good housing situation conducive to being able to study in peace when you want, but also in a safe area where you can participate in cultural or recreational activities without fear for your safety.
4. It has access to the kinds of activities that form your support group at home in your country (church, sports team, karate club, gym, choir, special interest hobby, etc.).

One blog forum reader, Hugo Girotto, went through some preparations before leaving on a month long trip to Canada. Another reader, luferom, spoke about the discouragement he felt (A má vontade de ingleses e americanos) when trying to speak with native speakers. But compare that with the very positive experience of another reader, Vivi Reis, who gave a very positive and inspiring report. Studyusa.com gives another foreign student’s checklist of her experience studying at an American university.

I suggest that anyone who travels to another country to learn the language enroll in a good program, and also not have unreasonable expectations that everything will be easy. Make contingency plans (back up plans, plan B) for every day, outlining what you will do if nothing good spontaneously happens. Be active and involved, (don’t passively wait around) in reaching out for what you need or want to achieve.

I came across a very helpful series of youotube videos by Dan Fishel, taped during an orientation session for international students. I will recap them here, but recommend that people who want to plan a study trip abroad watch them for their full effect.

International Student Experience

Phase One

1. When you first arrive, you are in the honeymoon phase.
Everything seems fantastic and you are excited about the
wonderful opportunities awaiting you.

Phase Two

2. What am I doing here phase?
Feeling misunderstood. He felt that Americans are always saying they are happy, even if they are not.

3. Developing negative and simplistic views of Americans.

4. Seeking the company of people from your country

5. Extreme homesickness (saudades)

Phase Three

Where is Happy hour? Successful adaptation took an average one semester, beginning happy, crashing into homesickness for a while, the eventually mood rising and leveling off at well adjusted and happy again.

What helped him adjust was understanding the “American phrase book,” the cultural meaning behind the literal words. He gives very good, authentic examples in the videos.

The orientation for foreign students is well researched and includes charts of student progress and examples of slang and helpful cultural tips.

His advice (and mine as well): Challenge yourself. Make every day count. What you put in is what you get.

It’s like Khalil Gibran wrote:

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens”.

I wish all of you success in your English learning here on the blog, and cross my fingers (wish you luck and a great experience) for everyone who studies abroad.

Have a nice trip!

Webliography of videos I watched to research this topic

• International Student Experience Part 1: Culture Shock
• International Student Experience Part 2: Culture Shock
• International Student Experience Part 3: Social Adjustment
• International Student Experience Part 4: American Handshakes
• International Student Experience Part 5: Academic Adjustment
• Claudia, an international student at Georgia Perimeter College
• International students at Northern Michigan University
• Diversity: What is American Culture?
• Advice for study abroad- American stereotypes
• Kun from China explains how she chose the U.S. for study: why she chose the US
• Size of school and quality of school need to be a good match. Bring things that you will need to feel comfortable.
• International Students in USA Tutorial Chapter 2 – College Etiquette Tips
• Information on studying abroad
• Prizewinning videos to win a scholarship for travel abroad

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: How to prepare to study abroad.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

What is a total experience? Well, when you are considering a destination to study English, I believe it is important that you consider all aspects of life of what will be your host city or country. You should take the opportunity not just to learn English but also to take this travel opportunity to expand your horizons and experience a way of life, a different reality, than the one that you know today. So, from my perspective destination matters as much as the quality of the school where you will study. After all, variety is the spice of life so I urge you to strive for the best possible experience when you choose a destination.

Following is a very personal perspective of America vs Britain from a view point of a foreign student who will stay in the country 1 to 6 months. It is only my opinion but one that is based on several years of living in each of the countries and having travelled extensively in both regions. Of course, as any opinion it is biased towards my own preferences in life so I give you the material and let you make up your own mind.

Cities

The USA is a vast country with sprawling cities that feel like carbon copies of each other with little, if any, in terms of interest. They tend to be filled with endless rows of fast food places, large shops and even larger shopping centres, and oh yes, some very large people in some very large cars as well. After you get over the initial amazement at the size of it all, most cities have very little to keep a foreign student entertained or engaged. This is of course a generalisation as cities in the north-east and north-west coast do tend to have a lot more to offer. If you don’t have a car, it is simply impossible to see American cities, again, with a few exceptions in the regions previously mentioned. As a foreign student, unless you have the money to travel far and wide, you will be confined to a very narrow set of experiences.

I saw this film on the internet the other day, it won the Oscar for best short film last year. To me, it is a pretty good representation of American cities where everything is branded and logos and large corporations dominate the landscape. If you have ever been to America – this film will make lot of sense. It is brilliant in its capture of a certain, but large, aspect of American cities.

Part of the film

Official trailer

The UK in contrast is a tiny and very crowded place but with an amazing variety of experiences to be found by travelling only a few kilometres away from wherever you may be staying. You don’t ever need a car to enjoy the UK and if you know where to find the right deals you can travel across the county for a few pounds. In some of the cities like York, Bath or the small towns of the Cotswolds you just simply feel transported in time. My husband and I particularly enjoy the old pubs, specially those in the countryside where one can have a good beer after a good brisk walk while sitting in a beautiful stone building, surrounded by ancient wood and with a roaring fireplace – what a great British experience..!! There is an old pub just outside Oxford that has been an Inn or Pub for over 1,000 years. It is located next to the river, close to where the River Thames is born. It is said that Lewis Carroll would frequently stay there while writing Alice in Wonderland (1865) and, if you have read the book, when you walk in the surrounding countryside you can see the relationship.

Why does all this matter? I certainly hope that if you made the effort and expense of travelling abroad to study you will not be confined to your room and your classroom. Your chances of having much more interesting city experiences are grater in the UK than the USA, or so I believe from my own experiences.

Society

Britain, as most of Europe, is a far more gentler society than the USA. This stems from the basis of socialism where egalitarianism is seen as desired goal and not as an evil political ideology as it is seen in America. It is a far from perfect system but it does provide for better social integration. Many of the new property developments include social or low cost housing that is government subsidised so you end up with fancy and expensive apartments next to apartments for people that are on government benefits. This means that people of different economic classes may play in the same playgrounds, take the same tube to work or simply drink a beer in the same pub – all of this helps in the social integration. As a foreign student this also means that your opportunities for meet different peoples and integrate to your local neighbourhood are much greater than in America where, relatively speaking, the sense of community is practically absent and the rich and poor live very far apart.

One thing that pleasantly surprised me the first time we went for a walk in the British county side was the concept of “right of way”. This is an ancient law that allows walkers or horse riders to pass through private land on what used to be ancient trails, some of them dating back to the Romans. The fields may be planted or full of cattle or sheep but you still have the right to walk through them as long as you don’t disturb the crops or animals. This allows people access to any coast or places of natural beauty that are held in private land. In America if you enter a private farm, well, it is highly likely you will get shot at. If the bull attacks you or you fall of the cliff because the trail was not well maintained, well, in Britain that is your own problem, as it should be.!!! In America, no, you blame others and you sue for lots of money.

How will this matter to your experience? I believe that it is, relatively speaking, a lot easier too integrate into UK society due to the socialist nature of the society which puts a much higher emphases on communal living than American society which is based more on individualism.

Healthcare

The UK has the NHS which is a socialised health care system. The quality of this varies from hospital to hospital but you can get obtain some of the best health care in the world and it is 100% free. As a foreign student with a student visa you qualify for any type of treatment while you are in the country. Actually, even illegal people can’t be denied treatment.

In contrast, if you go to the USA, you better make sure you have some good insurance in Brazil that will cover you during your trip. In America you can, and will, be refused treatment if you can’t prove you can pay the exorbitant prices. It is interesting how the policies that Obama is now introducing in America, and that so many on the political right so fervently oppose, no Conservative Party of any European nation would even consider them as they would be seen as too right-wing, too uncaring and inappropriate for civilised modern European society.

Is free quality healthcare a human right or a benefit? Well, I am sure we all have our opinion, but regardless, it is something that you should carefully take into consideration.

This is now getting to long for one post so we will divided into two sections. The second part will discuss:

• Newspapers & Evening News;
• Music;
• Safety;
• Diversity and Internationalism;
• and some conclusions.

See you soon !

Sobre a Autora: Meu nome é Luciana, sou professora de Inglês, leciono em São Paulo e recentemente criei o Inglês Interact. Morei e trabalhei por alguns anos na Inglaterra (Londres e Cambridge) e espero poder aqui no EE contribuir e ajudá-los com questões que envolvam a Língua Inglesa.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Studying Abroad: In search of the full experience, American vs British perspective – Part 1 of 2.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

One area that struck me right away when arriving in Britain was the sharp sense of ironic humour of many of the people that I met. It was a dry but highly witty humour even from people that appeared outwardly boring. I have since come to really enjoy British humour and comedy and frequently look at some of the old comedy programmes on the internet such as The Black Adder or Fawlty Towers and of course Mr Bean.

British humour is very ironic and a lot of it is directed at educated or informed people but it can also be very rude in an indirectly implied manner. It does require that you are aware of current events as well as a keen understanding of irony as a lot of it tends to be very subtle and you need to fill in the gaps to get the joke. In England you can easily be made fun of and not know it as so much of it depends on double meaning. It is said that Americans don’t get British humour, and in my experience most don’t.

In contrast American humour tends to be much more “in your face”, in the slapstick tradition, and thus a lot more physical at times such as the Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey or Ben Stiller films. It is pie in the face sort of stuff, which is OK when you are young but lacks wit and interest as you get older. American TV comedy programmes assume that the audience is stupid and does not know when to laugh, the jokes are telegraphed at the audience you are given many clues that you must laugh at a certain time. Also since characters are always broadly caricatured so it is difficult to empathise with them.

A great way to see the difference between the two styles of comedy is in the programme “The Office” which is originally a British comedy which was remade in the USA a few years later. The British version was a world wide success.

The British version is very funny and very intelligently written. It is subtle and at times it take some time to get the joke and at others it is hard to watch as you cringe in expectation of what is going to happen. However, you can relate to some of the people in the programme as they appear to be more real, just like people you would know at work.

The American version was also very successful but it lacks the wit and sharpness of the British original, it is much more “in your face” and telegraphed. Furthermore, the characters in the programme appear unreal, certainly not like any of the people I met in America.

Look up both versions on the internet, watch them and then send us your comments to discuss.

I also like the British political satire, a good programme to watch is The Thick of It. It is brilliant, but you do need to be up to date with your knowledge of world and British politics and characters.

The same applies to stand up comedy. England is big on stand-up comedy, people really love it. Watch the ones below as these also give you an idea of a range of British accents.

Milton Jones:

Michel McIntyre:

Rhod Gilbert:

Se você recebe das dicas por email e não conseguiu visualizar o vídeo acima, clique aqui para assistir.

Some others programmes to watch:

• Extras
• The Green Wing
• Vicar of Dibley

Look these up on the internet. It is a good way to learn English as well and if you ever go to Britain you will be prepared to deal with their sarcastic but witty sense of humour.

On printed media there are some very smart cartoons such as Dilbert or The Far Side – check them out on the internet.

In summary, there is a lot of great comedy on both sides and the styles reflect the culture of each country. Best of all, it is a fun way to practice your English – enjoy.

See you soon !

Sobre a Autora: Meu nome é Luciana, sou professora de Inglês, leciono em São Paulo e recentemente criei o Inglês Interact. Morei e trabalhei por alguns anos na Inglaterra (Londres e Cambridge) e espero poder aqui no EE contribuir e ajudá-los com questões que envolvam a Língua Inglesa.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Comedy and Humour: How are they different between America and Britain?.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

In order to make sense of it all, teachers may want to turn to practical methodology books for guidance. One well-established series is the Oxford University Press Resource Books for Teachers. For years, these practical handbooks have provided teachers with a wealth of activities and classroom ideas within a wide array of topics such as dictation, storybuilding, speaking, CLIL and exam preparation.

The latest addition to the series, a title that caught my attention recently, is Images, by Jamie Keddie. In this interview, Jamie Keddie talks to us a little about his life and his book.

1. Jamie, tell us a little about your life previous to teaching English. Where did you grow up and what’s your educational background?

Well, I grew up in Scotland – in and around the capital, Edinburgh. I did a degree in biochemistry at Aberdeen University in the north of Scotland. After that, I had a mini crisis because I realized that what I really wanted in life was to be a musician. So I went to Leeds College of Music in England and spent 4 years there. That led to my dream job – playing piano on a ship. But it only lasted a few weeks. Unfortunately, I played too much and started to get pains in my arms. It was tendonitis. The doctor told me to stop playing for 6 months. I didn’t know what to do with myself during that time so I did a TEFL course in Barcelona. That was in 2001. Nine years later, I’m still here in Spain. Unfortunately, I think I’ve forgotten how to play the piano.

2. Where did the idea of writing Images come from?

It’s quite strange really. When I first started teaching, I think that I was obsessed with texts. Perhaps this was something to do with my scientific background! Anyway, one day it occurred to me that my classes lacked almost any visual element. I found (as many teachers do) that when we combine words with pictures, the whole learning experience becomes more engaging, memorable and productive. So in a sense, the book is a reaction against the way I used to teach. To quote from it:

“Words and images are inseparable. We read or hear words and think of images. We see images and think of words. If we merely focus on one over the other, we will inevitably miss out on the full picture and in turn overlook learning and teaching opportunities.”

I should say that I am absolutely aware that this idea is not original. Language teachers have been using images for years.

3. So what parts of the book are original?

Well, I really like chapters 5 and 6, which look at image activities for teaching grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation (chapters 1 – 4 contain image activities for listening, reading, writing and speaking). Let me tell you a bit about them.

The activities in Chapter 5 re-examine an old favorite teaching aid – the picture flashcard. However, it has been given a technological makeover. You see, the images that we flash at our students can be digitally obtained, digitally stored and digitally displayed. No paper or card at all! So for the activities in chapter 5, we talk about Flash Images instead of flash cards.

Flash images are also different to picture flashcards because of the type of picture we use. Imagine a standard flashcard to teach the word dog. I’m sure you can imagine the type of thing that I am talking about – perhaps a cartoon dog that has been drawn especially for the classroom. Now compare that with the picture below:

The point is that the pictures we obtain from the Internet can be more funny, interesting, engaging and stimulating than the traditional picture flashcards that were created specifically for teaching language.

To find the above image, I typed the word ‘dog’ into Google Image site and looked for a good Image. For learners of English, an image search site can be regarded as the biggest picture dictionary the world has ever seen.

Chapter 6 deals with activities that get students drawing and creating their own picture flashcards. Teachers of young learners will probably be more familiar with this than teachers of teen and adults. But drawing is for everyone. Look at the three images below. They were created by two adult students of mine: Miguel and Roser.

“He wouldn’t have walked into the wall if had had looked where he was going.”

“I would have won the gold medal if I hadn’t been injured.”

“I wouldn’t have felt bad if I hadn’t eaten so much chocolate.”

Do you see the language point? It’s the third conditional. I took a few examples of this structure out of a course book – one for every student in the class – and wrote them on the blackboard. I then gave students pieces of scrap paper and asked them to choose a sentence to draw. In this activity, when a student decides what he/she is going to draw, he/she wipes the sentence from the board so that no one else can draw it. Finally, we put the images up around the classroom walls and number them. Students have to look around the ‘gallery’ and write down a third conditional for each picture. Can they remember the specific sentence? It is fun and it can be quite effective. This is an example of the type of activity in chapter 6. By the way, Roser and Miguel didn’t like the idea of drawing at first but now there’s no stopping them!

4. You also have a website, TEFLClips.com. Tell us how it works.

I am a bit of a YouTube addict and I use online video a lot in the classroom. Two years ago, I decided to create the website to share all these video lessons that I have written. There are now approximately 60 lesson plans. They can be downloaded on PDF and they are all free. The most recent one uses a funny phone call from the US comedy series Sienfeld: How to respond to a telemarketer:

5. Thanks very much Jamie

Thanks very much English Experts!

Jamie’s site: TEFLclip

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Entrevista com Jamie Keddie do TEFLclips.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Air is the messenger of the spoken word. Air carries everything you say to one set of ears—or to many. But the airborne journey of the spoken word doesn’t start outside your lips. It starts deep inside you—as air leaves your lungs, passes through your vocal chords, and grabs hold of what you say before heading out your mouth for the ears ahead.

By picturing speech in this way, we see that we need to breathe right to speak right. Many stage actors, public speakers, and voice-over professionals take advantage of this insight. But others don’t give breathing much thought. Having done it every hour of every day of their lives, these people take breathing for granted. And they never imagine that they might be doing it wrong.

To speak well you need to breathe well—and that means doing what you did instinctively the day you were born. To practice, lie down on your back and relax. Let your stomach rise and fall as your diaphragm pulls air into you.

Finally, remember that speaking with deep, full breaths is not the same as shouting. Stage actors don’t shout when they perform a play. Public speakers don’t shout when they give a speech. And voice-over professionals don’t shout when they record in front of a microphone. The goal isn’t volume; the goal is resonance. If a weak and shallow chest breath grabs hold of your words, then your words will sound weak and shallow. If a strong and deep full-body breath grabs hold of your words, then your words will resonate inside every ear that hears them.

Pronúncia

Confira o áudio do texto:

[Visite o blog para ouvir o audio]

Note from the author: I am going to continue my series on tongue-twisters next week. This article is a “sneak peak” at an article I have written for Speak Up this month. You can read and hear the full article in issue 266 of Speak Up, which reaches newsstands this week.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Vocabulário: Breathing.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

1. GRAB

• As soon as Tom saw another guy looking at his girlfriend he grabbed her hand. (Assim que o Tom viu outro cara olhando para sua namorada ele agarrou a mão dela.)
• Sarah grabbed the magazine from me before I even had a chance to look at it. (A Sarah tomou a revista de mim antes mesmo de eu ter uma chance de vê-la.)
• Our trip took a little longer because we stopped to grab some lunch. (A nossa viagem demorou mais um pouco porque nós paramos para almoçar rapidamente.)
• When Rick realized how cold it was he ran back inside the house and grabbed his coat. (Quando o Rick reparou o quanto estava frio ele correu de volta para a casa e pegou seu casaco.)
• One thing dictators do better than anyone else is grab power. (Uma coisa que os ditadores fazem melhor do que ninguém é tomar o poder à força.)
• Some public officials see no problem in grabbing public funds and using them for personal purposes. (Alguns funcionários públicos não vêem problema em pegar fundos públicos e usá-los para fins pessoais.)
• The book grabbed my attention from the very first line. (O livro chamou a minha atenção desde a primeira linha.)
• The plot of the film didn’t really grab me. (O enredo do filme não chamou a minha atenção tanto assim.)

2. UP FOR GRABS

• Now that the marketing director has resigned, the position is up for grabs. (Agora que o diretor de marketing se demitiu, o cargo está disponível.)
• The prize is for the students only. It’s not up for grabs for the teachers. (O prêmio é só para os alunos. Não é para os professores ganharem.)

Now it’s time for you to grab your chance to leave a comment!

Tchau!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Vocabulário: Grab.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Here’s a little trick I wrote about in issue 211 of Speak Up magazine. It also appeared in Jornal do Brasil late last year. Essentially, it’s a fun way for teachers to show students how to pronounce the English th.

The problem with the English th is that you must do something with your tongue that you don’t have to do when you speak Portuguese. You must place the tip of your tongue lightly against your upper front teeth and then let air pass between your tongue and your teeth to make the sound.

(demonstration: soft th)
(demonstration: hard th)

Coincidentally, this is the same thing that happens to people who suffer from a lisp (língua presa). They mispronounce the letter s by placing their tongue lightly against their upper front teeth.

In Brazil, the most famous lisp belongs to President Lula. So why not let President Lula help us improve our English?

Ask your students the following question: How would Lula say sopa?

They should answer, Thopa!

Next, tell them to pay attention to what they did with their tongues. Then ask them to repeat the word thopa three times for practice.

Thopa! Thopa! Thopa!

Finally, remind your students that they can use the same tongue position to correctly pronounce English words such as brother, three, and thank you.

Listen:

[Visite o blog para ouvir o audio]

See you next week!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Aprenda a pronúncia do TH com o presidente Lula.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

EVERY MINUTE COUNTS
This expression is simply another way of saying time is important. It’s used quite frequently in situations where time is very limited.

• In emergency rooms, doctors are well aware that every minute counts.
• The exam was very long and we had only an hour and a half to complete it; so as you can imagine, every minute counted.

A MILE A MINUTE
We use this expression to talk about something that is very fast. It’s most commonly used with the verbs: go, talk, move, travel .

• While Claire was telling me about her trip to India she was so excited that she was talking a mile a minute.
• The guy was going a mile a minute on his bicycle and almost ran me over.

UP TO THE MINUTE
When something is “up to the minute” it means that it is the most recent, current.

• Rachel’s good about sending me up-to-the-minute data on how our product’s doing on the market.
• Nowadays most news websites are up to the minute.

WAIT A MINUTE
Aside from its literal use, which is to ask someone to wait for a short period of time, “wait a minute” can also be used to interrupt someone to say something important that you’ve just thought of.

Jane: Let’s see, I’ve fed the dog, shut all the windows, turned the heater off…
John: Wait a minute, did you lock the back door?
Steve: He’s one of my best friends from college, tall, blonde, green eyes…
Sarah: Wait a minute, what did you say his name was?

Whoops! I’ve got to go. I wanted to write some more, but I often wait until the last minute to write my articles, so…until the next one!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Idioms with the word MINUTE.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

But what about pronunciation? When I was a kid, spelling bees (competições de soletrar) left me in cold sweats. Because of the complex history of the English language there are 24-27 consonant sounds and 14-20 vowel sounds, yet there are only 26 letters in the alphabet. And, unfortunately, English speakers don’t have the benefit of accents as Portuguese speakers do. So you can imagine winning a spelling bee was no easy feat (não era nada mole, não)!

Take a look, for example, at the letter combination “ough” in this sentence:

“Although I have a rough cough, I can still climb through the boughs of the tree”, thought the man.
(“Embora eu tenha uma tosse seca, eu ainda consigo trepar nos galhos da árvore”, pensou o homem.)

Let me give you an idea of how to pronounce the various oughs in the above sentence:

• In “although” it’s similar to that of “oe” in “toe” (dedo do pé).
• In “rough” it’s similar to that of “uff” in “puff” (sopro).
• In “cough” it’s similar to that of “off” in “coffin” (caixão).
• In “through” it’s similar to that of “ue” in “true” (verdadeiro).
• In “bough” it’s similar to that of “ow” in “how” (como).
• In “thought” it’s similar to that of “o” in “hot” (quente).

Others will tell you there are even more pronunciations to this letter combination, but these are the most commonly used. And as far as I’m concerned they’re enough (“uff” as in “puff”)!

Tchau for now!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: The Pronunciation of OUGH.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

IT’S ABOUT TIME

When something finally happens that should have happened a long time ago you can use the expression “it’s about time”. You can also use it to express that it is nearly, or almost time to do something.

- It’s about time the Richardson’s got a divorce. They’ve been unhappy in their marriage for years! (they’ve finally gotten a divorce)
- Don’t you think it’s about time we buy a new car? Ours is falling apart! (it’s nearly time to buy a new car)

ALL SET

The expression “all set” is another way of saying that you’re ready.
- We were all set to go to the beach when it started to rain. (we were all ready to go)
- All set? (another way of asking “are you ready?”)

A BITE TO EAT

When you want to get “a bite to eat” it means that you want to get something to eat, usually something that is quick or convenient.

- The play’s going to be long, so maybe we should grab a bite to eat before it starts. (we should get some food quickly)
- We’ve been on the road for four hours now! Can we stop to get a bite to eat? (can we stop and eat some food?)

CALL IT A DAY

If you’re finished with your work and are ready to go home you can use the expression “call it a day”.

- We’ve been working on this project for six hours and still haven’t finished it! I think we should call it a day. (we should quit working on the project and go home)

- The soccer team decided to call it a day after the center-back broke his leg during practice. (the team decided to stop playing soccer and go home)

A CLOSE CALL

When a dangerous situation almost happened you can call it “a close call”. You can also call an election or competition “a close call” when more than one person has a good chance of winning.

- I managed to swerve the car just in time to miss hitting the dog. However, it was a really close call. (I almost hit the dog)
- Today’s F1 race is a close call between Britain’s Jenson Button, Brazil’s Rubens Barrichello, and Australia’s Mark Webber. Who will win it is anyone’s guess! (they all have a good chance of winning)

And now it’s about time for me to call it a day. I’m off to go get a bite to eat! Até o próximo!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Five Useful English Idioms.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

One mistake I noticed across the board was the use of “believe in”, “acreditar em”. I would often find my students making comments like, “I was late for work because the traffic was terrible, but I don’t think my boss believed in me.”; or if he or she said something that surprised me the response to my surprise was, “You don’t believe in me?!”

At first I didn’t get it. I thought to myself, “Wow, there are a lot of undervalued people in this country!” However, the more often I heard this mistake, the more I realized that in colloquial Portuguese “acreditar em” a maioria das vezes simply means to believe.

A little confused? See, in English “to believe something/someone” and “to believe in something/someone” have different meanings. For example, if your teenage daughter comes home at 3 a.m. smelling of alcohol and tells you she was at a friend’s house “just watching movies”, you would say, “I don’t believe you!” However, if you were to tell her, “I don’t believe in you”, well, you’d be considered a pretty lousy parent; for if there is one thing a parent should never do, it is to stop believing in their children.

When you “believe someone” it means you accept that what this person is saying is true. In the above situation, your daughter is not telling the truth, so you don’t believe her. When you “believe in someone” it means you accept the existence of or recognize the value of that person. So, if you don’t believe in your daughter, or son, or whomever, then you simply don’t recognize that this person exists. He or she means nothing to you, holds no value for you.

When a father tells his son that Santa Claus will arrive on Christmas Eve to leave tons of presents under the tree, if the son no longer believes in Santa then he will not believe his father.

If a friend confesses to you one day that she has seen a ghost, and you tell her that you too have seen one, then you believe her; and therefore the two of you can say you believe in ghosts.

Have I clarified the difference for you? I hope so! Now, can anyone else think of examples of how to use these terms correctly?

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Believe vs. Believe in.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

I remember in my early days of teaching being confused by some of my intermediate and advanced students’ desires to become “fluent” in English. They were perfectly capable of holding a conversation, and they had no problem understanding me. In my book that meant fluency. However apparently for them fluency meant making no mistakes.

I began to understand this desire as I gained more fluency in Portuguese. I found myself sometimes avoiding conversations not because I was afraid I couldn’t get my point across, but because I would make a mistake. People would compliment me on my Portuguese, I would hear my friends tell others that I was fluent, yet I still hesitated before speaking. I felt like my students, wanting desperately to speak Portuguese accurately; otherwise I couldn’t consider myself fluent.

This begs the question…if fluency in a language equals speaking it accurately, that is, with no mistakes, then is anyone fluent, in any language? I mean, as much as I’d like to think that I, as a native speaker of English and as a teacher of this language, speak English perfectly, do I? In fact, I sometimes feel like I’m just as much a learner as my students are.

What are the ingredients that make up fluency when speaking another language? Do you translate in your mind what a person says as he or she is saying it? Do you find yourself getting lost in a conversation with more than one person? Do people give you a blank stare when you speak to them? If you’ve answered no to these questions, then I would say you’re fluent. In my opinion accuracy is just an optional ingredient of the many that distinguish fluency.

Writing fluently in another language, on the other hand, é outra história completamente. I might have proudly placed myself in the category of speaking Portuguese fluently, but brave enough to write in this language? Maybe an e-mail or two, but certainly not a blog!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Fluency vs. Accuracy.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

“There is another kind of composition more frequent in our language than perhaps in any other, from which arises to foreigners the greatest difficulty. We modify the signification of many words by a particle subjoined…”

Dr. Johnson was one of the first lexicographers to pay close attention to what is referred to in Modern English as the phrasal verb; and he couldn’t have been any more accurate in stressing just how frequently we use them, and how dumbfounded foreigners are by them.

I’ve had quite a few students in my years of teaching English ask me if there is a trick to learning them, to which I have responded, “If there is I haven’t discovered it and if you find one, please let me know”. One day, though, an advanced student of mine asked me something I myself had never pondered: where do phrasal verbs come from? Why do they exist if there are already perfectly good single-word verbs that possess the same meaning? I really had no retort for him, but I became obsessed in finding the answer.

The search delivered me to various sites whose material was long and dry, but from which I was able to gain some sort of insight. I’ll try to make what I found short and interesting for you.

Apparently phrasal verbs have been present in the English language for centuries. Their ancestors can be found in Old English (mid 5th century to mid 12th) in the form of a prefix verb, meaning the particle always came attached to the verb as a prefix. Post verbal particles did exist; however they were relegated to stressing only direction, place, or physical orientation, as in “to grow up(ward)” (direction) or “to stand by” (place).

Many shifts and influences occurred in the English language which gave rise to the use of the phrasal verb during its Middle English phase. By late Middle English there were a myriad of phrasal verbs in different forms, from “understand” and “overtake” (remnants of Old English) to “take up” and “write-off”.

By early Modern English (late 15th century to mid 17th) phrasal verbs had exploded onto the scene. This is evident in the works of Shakespeare who employed them widely throughout his plays. In fact they were used quite extensively in dramatic texts from this time due to their varying shades of meaning and capacity to form new idioms. Their Latin or Old English based single-word verb roots were delegated to essays and academic writing, i.e. more formal works; a rule of thumb that exists until today.

To give you an example, the phrasal verb “to break up” is synonymous with the Latin based verb “to destroy”. Whereas “to destroy” is somewhat limited to its literal meaning, which is to ruin or demolish something completely, “to break up” has various shades of meaning, from taking something apart to ending a relationship.

Over the last four hundred years phrasal verbs have truly fixed themselves in colloquial English. However have no fear, English hasn’t abandoned its perfectly good single-word verbs…they’re just not as fun to use!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: The Origin of the Phrasal Verb.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Acredito que encontrei uma utilidade para o sistema, o que você acha de receber micro-dicas de inglês na sua conta do twitter? Pois é, eu resolvi atualizar o twitter sempre que eu estiver estudando inglês. Isso quer dizer que se você acompanhar o EE no twitter vai saber o que eu estou estudando em tempo real.

Clique aqui para seguir o EE no twitter

Espero que você aprenda bastante, envie críticas, sugestões e perguntas. Agora também no twitter! Como diz o glorioso Chapolim, “siga-me os bons”.

See you tomorrow!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Micro-dicas de inglês no Twitter.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

This video is my first contribution to the session. One of the tasks for the first week is to introduce yourself and to add a few words about your general use of images for education, and also to show a picture from the window of the house or apartment where you live. This video is my way of completing this task.

This year is the best so far, with 20 different sessions, providing teachers with the possibility of learning new skills from “Internet for Beginners” to “Tips and tricks for Online Teachers” and many, many more. This is the end of the first week, but many workshops accept latecomers.

Best wishes,

Mike to EE from France

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: The Electronic Village Online.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

The paradox is simply that by writing in English only, Maria is following her own advice, forcing students to look for meaning in context, and to use those English – English dictionaries. But what are the beginner’s reactions to Maria’s text in English only? The points she brings up should be understood by beginners, which is impossible without translation.

So, the broad range of “Intermediate” students will be challenged in varying degrees, and the courageous will make sense of it all in the end. This is Maria’s “reward” and the end of the paradox. Thanks to her post, some students will understand the importance of changing their habits, and getting their brains into “acquisition mode” by remaining in English-only environments, and by making “wonderful mistakes” which are part of communicating in the target language.

Why is it that the people in the Netherlands and in Scandinavian countries don’t have the same problem as the French and the Brazilians? They generally begin speaking English when they are very young, as if bilingualism were natural. I will not try to answer this complex question.

Language schools like my own, and certainly many in Brazil, “gently enforce” the English-only rule. Although all of our English teachers are from native English-speaking countries, and are all fluent in French, they systematically *make believe* that they don’t speak or understand French.

Therefore, many students who come to learn English with us actually believe they have entered a world where they HAVE TO speak English (The student’s first reaction is probably “My teacher is an idiot. She doesn’t even speak French!”).

It works, even with beginners. When a beginner speaks to us in French, we answer only in English, and keep the student concentrating on the task at hand. And during the break, when all the teachers and students are in the kitchen for coffee, the student who speaks in French is never ignored, nor admonished. He simply hears a reply in English.

After a few sessions, we hear more and more “English with mistakes”, even from the most timid students, and there is a silent sigh of relief from the teachers, often with a correction without “correcting”, simply by replying with a sentence which leads to correct usage instead of repetition of the student’s mistake.

It’s a complex affair because it goes against the grain. New habits are hard to learn, old habits hard to forget, but all the teachers understand, as a group, that they have to break down the students’ old habits.

The simple fact that the students really like their teachers, helps the teachers to “win the battle” in the end, with all-English anguish, slow acquisition, and finally a realization of significant accomplishment on both sides.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Basic questions about learning.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

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.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Learning English by reading about it in Portuguese: why isn’t it effective?.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Hi folks, a lot of people ask me how I’ve been able to learn English and how some people never develop a deep understanding of the language. The answer to this is quite long, but I can tell you one thing:

If you concentrate ONLY on what you are good at, how can you be good at everything?

What I mean is: If you’re good at understanding English, you should also practice writing. If you are very good at reading, you should practice more your speaking abilities, etc.

Remember, if you concentrate on your difficulties and explore them, soon, you will have NO difficulties. And that’s great. :)

Now, let’s listen to this!

[Visite o blog para ouvir o audio]

O EE tem mais textos em inglês aqui.

See you!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: A chave para o sucesso, em inglês com áudio.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

1. Measure
2. Mix
3. Bake

The ATM module shows how you can withdraw money from an ATM machine. The site also offers free training for MS Word, Powerpoint and other software programs.

Click here to access

I hope you have fun trying out the modules.

Tia Mary from USA

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Free Online Training.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

You can listen to the pronunciation at www.m-w.com.

Similarly another, cover, other, brother, hover all have the short vowel sound heard in ‘up’ .

Clover and Rover have a long o sound like in the word ‘over’.

I hope you like it!

Mary from USA

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Pronunciation: Discover.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

To see what time it is in your city, please click here.

To enter the classroom:

1. Go to www.study.com

2. Click on the link English Classes

3. The click on the link CLICK HERE FOR CLASSROOM ONE

4. Let the software install. It is for the classroom.

5. To speak with a microphone, press the ctrl key.

I am a new teacher there, so my class is not listed in the official schedule yet. Last week we talked about Learning English using the Learners’ Lives As Curriculum lesson plan, which was written by Lead Teacher Erica Runkels.

One of the participants said:

“Domingo fiz minha primeira aula … a melhor professora que você pode encontrar dá aula de domingo às 11h. Pode count me in todo domingo.” -Fabio Sacco

Mary Ziller from USA
See you!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: New Class at www.study.com.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

“HAVE SPILLED” IS CORRECT IN SENTENCES THAT DO NOT IMPLY A SPECIFIC TIME.

I have spilled coffee on my shirt many times.
I have spilled coffee on my shirt before.

I hope you like it!

Mary Ziller from USA

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: I spilled coffee on my shirt…(not have spilled).

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Atualmente means “currently, today.”

We say, “Where are you currently employed?” or “Where are you currently working?”

We do not say, “Where are you actually working?”

That would mean the the speaker does not believe that you are working where you said you work. He is asking where you really work (na verdade).

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: False Friends: Actually.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Meu nome se soletra “M- A-R-Y- Z-I-double L-E-R.”

Alguém tem problemas para soletrar palavras em inglês? (Does anyone have problems spelling in English?). Quando se dobra as letras? (When do you double the letters?)

Vamos ver alguns exemplos:

Let’s look at a couple (a few) examples:

1.balloon: inflatable rubber bag

*A balloon is a ball.

2. balance: to bring to equilibrium

* It’s hard to balance a lance.

See you!

Mary Ziller from USA

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Spelling.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Hello, everyone. How are you? Alessandro and I were talking about whether English students should learn Grammar or not… Well, I think that when you first start learning a language, you should concentrate on learning communicative sentences.

I suggest that you go to sharedtalk to talk with native speakers in the English room. Notice the sentences they use to talk to each other. Then write down the sentences that you want to use yourself in a chat. Since native speakers said them, they will be grammatically correct and you can just plug them in to your own conversation. We can learn a new language like a child learns.

If a child makes a mistake and says , “Mommie, I goed outside!” the mother does not say, “No, sweetheart, you can’t say, “I goed outside because the verb “to go” is irregular and the past tense of ‘to go’ is I went”. Mommie will just correct her and say, “No, honey, you went outside.” “Oh yeah, I went outside, Mommie.” Using grammar can come later, when you reach an intermediate stage. Native speakers at sharedtalk will correct you if you want, and if they do not understand you, they will try to help you be clearer. For beginners, it may be helpful for the speaker to translate the sentences you do not understand, typing bilingually.

I hope this helps.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Should Beginners Learn Grammar?.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Course rhymes with horse, and curse rhymes with worse.

(Course rima com horse, e curse rima com worse. )

Course (aula) sounds exactly like coarse (grosso).

The vowel in ‘course’ has the same sound as in the word ‘or’ .

To have an English course is a good thing.

To have an English curse (maldição) would be a bad thing.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Pronunciation: Course.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

STEAL SOMEONE’S THUNDER
On the third episode of the fifth season (The One Hundredth also known as The One With the Triplets), Phoebe is in the hospital, about to deliver her brother’s triplets, whom she is carrying as a surrogate mom. Suddenly, Joey doubles over in pain. Phoebe thought at first that it was nice that Joey had “sympathy pains”, but then she became upset because he was trying to “steal her thunder”. In this case, to “steal someone’s thunder” means to do something that takes attention away from what someone else has done. Depending on the context, this phrase can also mean that someone is taking the credit and praise for something you did or winning praise for themselves by preempting your attempt to impress.

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Inglês em filmes: Go Commando / Steal Someone’s Thunder.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Overwork means to work too much.

I feel overworked means I feel exhausted.

Overdo means to do too much of something.

I overdid it when I was working out. Now my muscles are sore. That means that I exercised too much or too strenuously.

I overslept means I slept too long.

When you oversleep you may be late for work.

See you soon!

Mary Ziller from USA

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Prefix Over.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

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!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Business English Expressions I – Starting a Meeting.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Here is a jingle (poem) we use to teach children not to use double negatives.

Don’t ever use NOT and NEVER together.

Don’t say, “We don’t never have fun” because you’ll be using two negatives and you need to be using just one.

You will always be in trouble in your negatives are double!

From Up, Up and Away: a Book About Adverbs by Ruth Heller.

See you!
Mary Ziller from USA

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Double Negatives.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.