Akinator, the web genius!

This is just an interesting game to play and enjoy. http://en.akinator.com/
As the new year's coming... should be a good way to start making some wishes!
Happy New Year 2009 for all of you! See you next year!
Kisses,

Teacher Luciana

Este exercício foi feito com aguns alunos em sala de aula, devido ao vocabulário e a proposta, achei interessante deixá-lo aqui disponível aos interessados. Lembrando sempre que podem contar comigo para quisquer dúvidas, mandar emails com as composições, perguntas etc. Todas elas me enriquecem também e, faço questão de responder.

Um grande abraço!

Teacher Luciana S. Santos


Leia sobre o encontro com uma pessoa famosa:
* O que você faria se você visse uma pessoa famosa na rua? a) Say "hello"! b) Ask for an autograph c) Stare and say nothing d)Ignore the person
At the ATM:
** Roberta nos conta a estória sobre quando ela viu uma pessoa famosa. Leia a passagem e responda as perguntas.

I was on fifth avenue, when I realized that I didn't have any money. I wen to the bank machine, as usual, there was a line. A couple minutes later, I noticed the guy standing in front of me. he was thin, blond, and a little taller than me. he turned around, and I saw his face. Was it possible? Brad Pitt? I looked at the people around me. Nobody seemed to notice. Maybe it wasn't him. Well, it it wasn't him, it sure looked like him! I glanced again at the people behind me. There was a forty-year-old woman, two old men, and a little girl. When I saw the girl's face, I realized that it had to be Brad Pitt: she was staring at him with her mouth open. It was Brad's turn at the ATM. He withdrew his money, and said goodbye with a smile. That smile... no doubt about i. It was him!

EXERCISES:
Responda TRUE ou FALSE de acordo com o texto acima.
1. Brad Pitt was at the ATM of a bank. a) true b) false
2. The little girl asked Brad Pitt for his autograph. a)true b) false
3. Everybody in the bank knew it was Brad Pitt. a) true b) false
4. Brad Pitt said goodbye. a) true b) false

VOCABULARY:

ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) - Caixa eletrônico
Bank machine - Caixa eletrônico
Guy - cara
Line - fila
Look like - parecer-se com
Realize - entender algo que se ignorava antes
Withdraw - virar-se

EXERCISE 2:

Look aroud you! Há várias maneiras para se falar a respeito de como você olha as coisas. Veja algumas. Você pode encontrar algumas destas palavras na estória?
Gaze - olhar para alguém ou algo por um longo tempo;
Glance - olhar para algo rapidamente;
Look (at) - olhar para algo;
Notice - perceber; Stare - olhar fixamente;
Watch - olhar com atenção.

Espero que aproveitem... Best regards for all!!!

Can you find any mistakes? (between & among)

Read a paragraph by Student Carlos:

Nowourdays the violence is a principal cause of death betwen youth people. They are always around the corner, causing accidents of traffic. The violence can be seen also in the home, where there are a sort of opportunities which are allowed to raise the violence, like having gum, collecting boozes, growing superficial relationships. We need to end up this situation.

** Correct it and leave me a message in this blog, or by email, please!

Between or Among:

Carlos says: between youth people
The correct preposition is: AMONG young people.

* This is because we use BETWEEN when we are talking about two things, and AMONG when we are talking about three or more things.

Here are some examples with BETWEEN:

BETWEEN you and me, I think he's an idiot.
The US is BETWEEN Mexico and Canada;
When you go to the movies, the kids sit between thir mother and father.

Here are some more examples about AMONG:

Oranges are very popular fruit among Americans.
Among my freinds, you are the one I trust most.
Suicide is a leading cause of death among young people.

Vocabulary:

*Booze: (slang) School;
* Suicide: the act of killing yourself;
*Violence: behavior that can hurt people physically;
* gun: a firearm;

A movie: What is comedy?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZE2ZBKhXGc
This link above, is about a movie I found accidentally in Youtube site, but it´s a nice exercise to improve your English as well!
Kisses for all!
Teacher Lu(A)

Sites úteis de consulta (dictionaries)

Hi there students!

Here I´m writing those sites (as on-line dictionaries) I always tell you about, hope you enjoy and it´s useful to you! Chose the best for you, and the most suitable in your level. Anyway, I recommend you:

Begginers: English/ Portuguese dictionaries: Altavista/Google/Babylon/Bussola escolar/Yahoo buscas/ Dicionário universal/ Freedict;
Inermediate and advanced: Merriam/ Freesearch/ Your Dictionary/ Slang UK;

Amount of kisses for all.
Teacher Lu.

Dictionaries: In order that I often use:
Merriam: http://www.merriam-webster.com/mw/home.htm;
Freesearch:
Your dictionary: http://www.yourdictionary.com/
Slang UK: http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/a.htm
Altavista: http://babelfish.altavista.com
Google ferramentas de diomas: http://www.google.com.br/language_tools?hl=pt-BR
Babylon on-line: http://www.babylon.com/definition/braiding/Portuguese - esse é mais complicadinho. Para traduzir a palavra que se quer no próprio link acima, troque a palavra pela palavra desejada e ENTER. Para dicionário Ingles/Ingles digite: ENGLISH no lugar do PORTUGUESE e ENTER. (esse é um dos dicionários mais completos que achei);
Bussola escolar: http://www.bussolaescolar.com.br/dicionarios.htm;
Yahoo buscas (dicionários): http://br.search.yahoo.com/search?p=dicion%C3%A1rio+on+line&fr=fp-today (esse é o resultado de uma busca que fiz, mas que apareceram sites bem interessantes);
Dicionário Universal: http://www.dicts.info/ud/portuguese.php?k1=&k2=&w=&w2=
Freedict: http://www.freedict.com/onldict/por.html

* As much as I find more suitable dictionaries, I post it here!
** If you find something interesting, please send me to post here too!

Blog's recommendation - in português/English

Hi Dear students,
I´m posting another blogger's address from a student of mine that's now in Vancouver.
Hope you enjoy his funny language and his English topics....
His talking about his adventures since he arrived there, and you could notice and enjoy how is this process going on!

Kisses for all of yoU!
Teacher Lu.

http://tutacucapetaaa.blogspot.com/

Blog´s reccomendation

Hi there, Dear students!
As you know I´m always interested you get some more information and enjoy to learn English, so take a look at this link http://luenglishteacher.blogspot.com/

Kind regards!
Teacher Luciana S. Santos

Inglês na Ponta da Língua: Como dizer "DE NADA"?

Pessoal, dêem uma olhada nesse blog, que voces vão achar dicas bem divertidas para falar inglês.
Inglês na Ponta da Língua: Como dizer "DE NADA"?

* agradecimentos: aluna Dulce.

Desafio para os alunos

Pessoal:
Abaixo deixo o link de um vídeo do Luiz Felipe Scolari - sobre o Chelsea, que recebi de um dos meus alunos e, gostaria que vocês prestassem a atenção e, me retornem dizendo os erros que vocês encontraram no vídeo. Essa é a melhor maneira de eu saber como vocês estão acompanhando o curso de Inglês. É um tipo de avaliação melhor do que uma prova, em minha opinião:

"Eu achei legal a coragem dele em falar desse jeito em frente a tantas pessoas e cameras, o cara é bom! Legal que ele tenta, vai assim mesmo e não desanima! Levando-se em consideração que, o mais importante ali é a negociação dos jogadores e, todo o resto sobre esse assunto, ele realmente não precisa se preocupar demais com o Inglês, é meio "tupiniquim" mas parece que todos ali entenderam o que ele disse e, ele entendeu as perguntas. É assim mesmo! Nota dez pra ele pela ousadia!"

Time!!!

"A stitch in time saves nine." - proverb



"Time is of the essence." - idiom



"Time heals all wounds." - proverb



Time is an important word in English, and we have a lot of expressions to talk about it, and a lot of things to say about it. However, there´s some confusion about how to express time in English, specially, using prepositions: IN and ON. Here´s a short guide to help save time!





IN - used with: months, years, decades, centuries, and epochs:





E.G.: She was born in september;


She was born in 1958;


She was born in september 1958;


Ernest Hemingway lived in Paris in the 1920s;


Healthcare is much better today than it was in the 1700s;


In the Ace Age, many animals became extinct.

We also use "IN" with morning, afternoon, and evening:

I usually get up early in the morning.

In the afternoon, I like to take a short walk.

I sometimes go out in the evening.

"IN" is also used to talk about a period of time from the present to some period in the future, which can be anything from a second to thousand of years:

I´ll come help you in a second.

My brother is coming to visit me in a few days.

I´ll call you back in an hour.

She´s going to Japan in six months.

Her goal is to be a multimillionare in ten years.

I expect that in 100 years the world will be very different.

"AT" is used with specific times of day:

we have a meeting at two o' clock.

My train is at 4:30.

We also use "AT" with night and words like dawn and sunset:

- Seth like to look at the stars at night.

-Our baby wakes up at dwan and starts screaming and crying.

- The sky is beautiful at sunrise.

- I love to look out over the ocean at sunset.

Vocabulary:

extinct: describes something (frequently animals) that no longer exists

dawn/sunrise: when the sun comes up and starts the day.

sunset: When the sun goes down and starts the evening;

to scream: to make very loud and high sound like when you´re scared.

A good destination for a lot of people: Fucking in Austria

Please, don´t think i´m a bad teacher... I´m just giving you an advice for your next trip to Europe. As you can see in this link, Fucking is a city, in Austria. I´ve never been there before, but it is true!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5AkDN1Xr6Y&feature=related
http://fuckinggreatstuff.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3oT_hyRPms a funny video from an american program calling for someone in Fucking!!
** My friend said they usually have a problem with their shapes on the road, because most of them are steal.
Imagine the shape: WELCOME TO FUCKING! And the t-shirts from them: I´ve been in Fucking! or I love Fucking!
It´s true! (lol)

sufixo: "-ish"

Este material recebi de um site chamado Parlo.com, muitos anos atrás, quando eu estudava inglês para a escola, ou simplesmente para dificultar minha mãe de ler os meus diários adolescentes. Não sei se ainda existe o site e, se o material é disponível - não executei pesquisa.
O assunto é interessante, gramatical, pouco usado, mas a dica é boa, pois se ouvires alguém falando alguma coisa com o "ish" no final, vai saber do que se trata!

MODERATE MODIFIERS

1- Se uma pessoa é: childish, ela é?
a) young;
b) immature;
c) small.
* respostas no final desta postagem, tente pensar e chutar uma das alternativas!

2- Feeling sick - dialogue

Tom: Are you okay? You look a bit yellowish!
Jerry: Yeah, I´m fine! I was sick a little bit last week, maybe that's why.
Tom: I´m feeling kind of sick myself. I think we both could use some rest.

What means yellowish in this case? Think about it before read the answer below.

O sufixo "-ish" pode ser usado no final de um adjetivo para dizer: um tanto quanto/de certo modo ou mais ou menos.

E.G.: "you look a bit yellowish!" você parece amarelado, mas não muito!

E.G.: " She´s prettyish with brown hair and eyes" - esse é um elogio que nenhuma mulher gosta muito de ouvir... o tal do "bonitinha" - feia arrumadinha! (lol)

O sufixo "-ish" também pode ser usado no final de um substantivo para formar um adjetivo que descreve com o que a pessoa, coisa ou ação se parece:

E.G.:"He has boyish charm."
EG.: " Peter is really childish sometimes."

Você pode ainda usar o "-ish" para falar sobre a idade aproximada de alguém, ou uma hora do dia:

E.G.:"Jacob is thirthyish and handsome."
E.G.:"I´ll see you around sevenish, then."

Exercises: Forme os adjetivos combinando com "-ish":

3- around eight o'clock: -----
4- somewhat old: ------
5- Like a fool: -----
6- around twenty years old: -----
7- somewhat gray: -----
8- like a man: ----

Vocabulary:

Charm: charme;
depressed: deprimido;
disappointed: decepcionado;
fool: boba;
immature: imaturo;
rude: grosso/rude.


*resposta: 1-b (uma pessoa é childish quando ela age como criança e, por isso é imatura!
** resposta: 2 - amarelado/ amarelo/sem graça sem cor;
3- eightish; 4- oldish; 5- foolish; 6- twentyish; 7- grayish; 8- mannish

# espero que acrescente algo à vocês! Qualquer dúvida contatem-me pelos telefones, emails, este blog no ícone: comentários, MSN, skype, o que você achar melhor!
Happy day! Teacher Luciana.

Most annoying grammar mistakes in English

Most Annoying Grammar Mistakes in English
by Karen Bond
Which of the following grammar mistakes annoys you the most?

1. Third conditional

"If I would have known about the party, I would have gone to it."

This is INCORRECT, although commonly used, especially in American English.
The correct form is:
If + had + past participle, would + have + past participle
* "If I had known about the party, I would have gone."
This is CORRECT.
2. Don't vs Doesn’t
"
He don’t care about me anymore."
This is INCORRECT.
Doesn't, does not, or does are used with the third person singular - words like he, she, and it.
Don't, do not, or do are used for other subjects.
* "He doesn’t care about me anymore."
This is CORRECT.
3. Bring vs Take
"When we go to the party on Saturday, let’s bring a bottle of wine."
This is INCORRECT.
When you are viewing the movement of something from the point of arrival, use “bring”:
* "When you come to the party, please bring a bottle of wine."
This is CORRECT.
When you are viewing the movement of something from the point of departure, use “take”:
* "When we go to the party, let’s take a bottle of wine."
This is CORRECT.
4. Fewer vs Less
Sign at the checkout of a supermarket: “Ten items or less”.
This is INCORRECT.
You can count the items, so you need to use the number word “fewer”. These nouns are countable.
*
"Ten items or fewer."
This is CORRECT.
If you can’t count the substance, then you should use “less”. These nouns are uncountable.
* "You should eat less meat."
This is CORRECT.
5. However
"We were supposed to go to the dance last night, however, it was cancelled because of lack of interest."
This is INCORRECT.
A semicolon, rather than a comma, should be used to link these two complete sentences:
* "We were supposed to go to the dance last night; however, it was cancelled because of lack of interest."
This is CORRECT.
It should be noted that there ARE situations in which you can use a comma instead of a semi-colon:
* "The match at Wimbledon, however, continued despite the bad weather."
This is CORRECT.
There is only one complete sentence in this example. It is not a compound sentence.
6. Have vs Of
"I never would of thought that he’d behave like that."
This is INCORRECT.
It should be would have:
* "I never would have/would’ve thought that he’d behave like that."
This is CORRECT.
It’s the same for should and could:
"He should of come with me."
This is INCORRECT.
* "He should have/should’ve come with me."
This is CORRECT.
"She could of had anything she wanted."
This is INCORRECT.
* "She could have had anything she wanted."
This is CORRECT.
7. Double negative

"I'm not speaking to nobody in this class."
This is INCORRECT.
Since 'not' is a negative, you cannot use 'nobody' in this sentence:
* "I'm not speaking to anybody in this class."
This is CORRECT.
8. Present perfect
"He has took
the train."
This is INCORRECT.
The correct form for the present perfect is:
would + have + past participle
* "He has taken the train."
This is CORRECT.
9. Went vs Gone
"I should have went to school yesterday."
This is INCORRECT.
The correct form is:
should + have + past participle
*
"I should have gone to school yesterday."
This is CORRECT.
10. Its vs It's
"Its going to be sunny tomorrow."
This is INCORRECT.
It’s is the contraction of It is:
* "It’s going to be sunny tomorrow."
This is CORRECT.
"What’s that? I can’t remember it’s name."
This is INCORRECT.
Its is a possessive pronoun that modifies a noun:
* "What’s that? I can’t remember its name."
This is CORRECT.

** Agradecimentos: Jean Meinheardt.