Thursday, December 2, 2010
what does "kick in " mean?
When something kicks in, it begins to operate or have an effect. For instance, if a law kicks in, you have to start obeying it. If you are sick, you might start to get better once your medicine kicks in. Or if an emotion kicks in, you suddenly start to feel it.
Has anything new kicked in for you recently?
"WHEN I WAS IN THE USA, I HAD A LIME DEASE, SO I HAD TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!they prescribed me an antibiotic" "THE MEDECINE HAD A SIDE EFFECT, IT MADE ME SLEEPY, BUT IT HADN´T KICKED IN TILL THE NEXT DAY"
Portuguese translation: to Kick in: fazer efeito!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Go with the Flow!
1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.
“Joel and I are not big planners. We just kind of go with the flow with things.”
- TV personality Nicole Richie talking about her relaxed approach to life.
Definition
Significado: Levar com a barriga!
accept whatever happens, not cause problems, be easy-going
Use - Learn how the slang is used.
If you are swimming and you try to swim against the current, you will have to struggle. But if you relax and go with the flow of the water, you’ll have a much easier time.
When you let life take you wherever it wants to go, like a river, you go with the flow. You don’t worry too much about making plans and following them precisely. If a problem comes up, you don’t stress. You just relax and let the problem work itself out on its own.
It’s not too surprising to hear The Simple Life star Nicole Richie say that she and her fiance Joel Madden like to go with the flow. She has a laid back look that suggests that she isn’t uptight. Nicole and Joel are getting married soon, but they aren’t stressing out over wedding plans. They are just taking it easy and going with the flow.
Do you go with the flow, or do you make lots of plans and get stressed if they don’t work out?
Examples
Hear some example sentences.
“I’m a go with the flow type of guy. It helps me get along with everyone.”
“I don’t really like Italian food but everyone else wanted to go to La Trattoria, so I just went with the flow.“
“I’m tired of arguing with you. Could you please just go with the flow for once in your life?”
Thursday, October 14, 2010
TOP OFF
This has been a hard year for Michael Douglas. In the spring his son was arrested on drug charges, and now the actor has announced that he has throat cancer. But Douglas thinks the year will end better than it began. 2010 will be topped off with the release of his new movie,Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. In other words, the year will finish with something positive.
When you top something off, you finish or conclude it. Imagine a suitcase that is almost completely full of clothes. When you put one last shirt on top of the rest, you finish filling the suitcase. You top off your packing, or complete it.
It’s common to use the expression top off in relation to filling your car up with gas. When your tank is nearly completely full, and you shake those last few drops of gas out of the pump, you top off your tank.
How would you like to top off 2010?
When you top something off, you finish or conclude it. Imagine a suitcase that is almost completely full of clothes. When you put one last shirt on top of the rest, you finish filling the suitcase. You top off your packing, or complete it.
It’s common to use the expression top off in relation to filling your car up with gas. When your tank is nearly completely full, and you shake those last few drops of gas out of the pump, you top off your tank.
How would you like to top off 2010?
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Today let´s talk a little about American traditions!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Fonetic tips!
Dicas de Fonética
“Bom, falemos um pouco sobre fonética.
Ao mencionar este assunto, a primeira coisa que provavelmente vem à cabeça é o som de
th em Inglês. Infelizmente não tem uma regra, mas há palavras em que o th tem um som
soprado de língua presa, como think, (cuidado pra não falar sink, que significa outra coisa,
afundar) e há outras palavras em que o th tem um som vocalizado como em there.
Muitas vezes os alunos me perguntam qual é o som adequado de determinada palavra. Digo-
lhes para não se preocupar muito e tentar soltar as palavras para ir ganhando fluência.
Dou-lhes como exemplo a palavra porta, em Português, que tem uma pronúncia no
RJ diferente da de Porto Alegre e as duas são diferentes de cidades do interior de SP, como
Sorocaba, Piracicaba, Ribeirão Preto.
Entretanto, não posso deixar passar alguns casos, pois aí a pessoa estará falando algo
completamente errado e pode ser até motivo de chacota ao falar.
Por exemplo: em Português é horrível ouvir "adevogado", "menas", "pobrema" e por aí vai.
Em Inglês precisamos saber que alguns casos são importantes e devem ser memorizados:
a - Não passe o seu sotaque regional para o Inglês. No Rio, colocamos som de x nos
plurais terminados em S. Não podemos nunca fazer isso em Inglês. Devemos forçar de início,
para perder esta característica, e falar walls, desks, tables com som de S mesmo.
b - Em Português, o som das vogais é mudado por acentos gráficos. Temos naturalmente o
som de A como A mesmo, que é intensificado com o acento agudo e transformado, mudado,
com o circunflexo ou til. Um erro muito comum é colocar todo som de A em Inglês como EI,
como é o som da letra A no alfabeto. Os sons mudam muito e, pior, não há explicação para
isso.
Então, temos como som das letras do alfabeto, em Inglês:
a = ei, e = i, i = ai, o = ou, u = you
O que muitos alunos fazem, erradamente, e normalmente no começo do aprendizado,
é colocar sempre o som da letra no alfabeto nas palavras normalmente. É um erro muito
grave, pois é um raciocínio de língua portuguesa aplicado erradamente na língua inglesa.
Aí você se pergunta: como eu vou saber qual o som certo se não existem regras? A solução é
ouvir CDs e ver filmes com áudio e legenda em Inglês, para ir se acostumando aos poucos.
Veja alguns casos em Inglês:
vogal a - famous (som de ei, o som da letra no alfabeto), apple (som de é), talk (som de ó),
bread (som mudo).
vogal i - like (som de ai, o som da letra no alfabeto), live ( se for o verbo morar, viver, som de,
mas se for "ao vivo", som de ai )
vogal u - university (som de you, o som da letra no alfabeto), umbrella (som de â), busy (som
de i), bury ( som de é).
c - Muito cuidado com o som os verbos no passado. Sabemos que os verbos que têm passado
regular, recebem como sufixo as letras ED, ou seja, elas entram no final dos verbos.
Ex: work - worked, play - played, need - needed, listen - listened
Mas, ATENÇÃO, só pronunciamos o E do sufixo ED se ele vier depois de D e T.
Então:
Palavra: wanted - Pronúncia: wanted
Palavra: needed - Pronúncia: níded
Agora, em listened, traveled, offered, fixed, worked etc vamos sempre omitir o E do ED no
som. Caso contrário, estaremos falando algo semelhante a "adevogado" e isso é o pior som
que nos chega ao ouvido em Inglês.
“Bom, falemos um pouco sobre fonética.
Ao mencionar este assunto, a primeira coisa que provavelmente vem à cabeça é o som de
th em Inglês. Infelizmente não tem uma regra, mas há palavras em que o th tem um som
soprado de língua presa, como think, (cuidado pra não falar sink, que significa outra coisa,
afundar) e há outras palavras em que o th tem um som vocalizado como em there.
Muitas vezes os alunos me perguntam qual é o som adequado de determinada palavra. Digo-
lhes para não se preocupar muito e tentar soltar as palavras para ir ganhando fluência.
Dou-lhes como exemplo a palavra porta, em Português, que tem uma pronúncia no
RJ diferente da de Porto Alegre e as duas são diferentes de cidades do interior de SP, como
Sorocaba, Piracicaba, Ribeirão Preto.
Entretanto, não posso deixar passar alguns casos, pois aí a pessoa estará falando algo
completamente errado e pode ser até motivo de chacota ao falar.
Por exemplo: em Português é horrível ouvir "adevogado", "menas", "pobrema" e por aí vai.
Em Inglês precisamos saber que alguns casos são importantes e devem ser memorizados:
a - Não passe o seu sotaque regional para o Inglês. No Rio, colocamos som de x nos
plurais terminados em S. Não podemos nunca fazer isso em Inglês. Devemos forçar de início,
para perder esta característica, e falar walls, desks, tables com som de S mesmo.
b - Em Português, o som das vogais é mudado por acentos gráficos. Temos naturalmente o
som de A como A mesmo, que é intensificado com o acento agudo e transformado, mudado,
com o circunflexo ou til. Um erro muito comum é colocar todo som de A em Inglês como EI,
como é o som da letra A no alfabeto. Os sons mudam muito e, pior, não há explicação para
isso.
Então, temos como som das letras do alfabeto, em Inglês:
a = ei, e = i, i = ai, o = ou, u = you
O que muitos alunos fazem, erradamente, e normalmente no começo do aprendizado,
é colocar sempre o som da letra no alfabeto nas palavras normalmente. É um erro muito
grave, pois é um raciocínio de língua portuguesa aplicado erradamente na língua inglesa.
Aí você se pergunta: como eu vou saber qual o som certo se não existem regras? A solução é
ouvir CDs e ver filmes com áudio e legenda em Inglês, para ir se acostumando aos poucos.
Veja alguns casos em Inglês:
vogal a - famous (som de ei, o som da letra no alfabeto), apple (som de é), talk (som de ó),
bread (som mudo).
vogal i - like (som de ai, o som da letra no alfabeto), live ( se for o verbo morar, viver, som de,
mas se for "ao vivo", som de ai )
vogal u - university (som de you, o som da letra no alfabeto), umbrella (som de â), busy (som
de i), bury ( som de é).
c - Muito cuidado com o som os verbos no passado. Sabemos que os verbos que têm passado
regular, recebem como sufixo as letras ED, ou seja, elas entram no final dos verbos.
Ex: work - worked, play - played, need - needed, listen - listened
Mas, ATENÇÃO, só pronunciamos o E do sufixo ED se ele vier depois de D e T.
Então:
Palavra: wanted - Pronúncia: wanted
Palavra: needed - Pronúncia: níded
Agora, em listened, traveled, offered, fixed, worked etc vamos sempre omitir o E do ED no
som. Caso contrário, estaremos falando algo semelhante a "adevogado" e isso é o pior som
que nos chega ao ouvido em Inglês.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
I´m back hom from my trip to the USA!
Hi everyone!
I´m back home from my trip to the USA! it was very exciting for me!
It was one of the best experiences I´ve been through!
If you guys have any questions or comments on anything just go ahead and ask!
I´m back home from my trip to the USA! it was very exciting for me!
It was one of the best experiences I´ve been through!
If you guys have any questions or comments on anything just go ahead and ask!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Existence in English
Rule 2: Existence (There Be)
Perhaps the most comment mistake made by Brazilian students of English is when they express the idea of 'existence'.
This is due to the variety of forms that Portuguese offers to express existence:
Há...; Tem...; Existe...
In English, There (Be) is used to express Há.. (houve, haverá); Tem... (tinha, terá); Existe etc.
The subject 'There' is used to fill the subject position of the sentence.
The linking verb 'Be' is conjugated for tense and modality to introduce the predicate.
Subject + (Be) + Predicate
Ex. (There) is (a problem). (present tense)
There are several mistakes in the text. (present tense/plural)
There was a bad accident on the highway last night. (past tense)
There were many exercises to do in our English class yesterday. (past tense/plural)
There has been a dramatic increase in sales this quarter. (present perfect)
There will be an audit of this department next month. (future)
Note 1: Contraction of 'there is' and 'there are'; 'There has been' and ' there have been'
In spoken English, it is very common to contract 'There' and 'is' or 'are' and say:
There's. There's is used even if the predicate noun is plural or singular:
Ex. There's a letter on the shelf for you. (singular noun)
There's some spaghetti in the pot for you. (non-count noun)
There's many decisions to make before we can continue. (informal plural)
You can also contract 'there has been' and 'there have been' in a similar way:
Ex. There's been a great improvement in your work recently. (singular)
There's been days when i just wanted to quit. (informal plural)
Note 2: 'There is' not 'Have '
Portuguese speakers often use 'Have' to express the same idea as 'There is'. This is because the verb 'Ter' is often conjugated and used as the verb of existence.
'Ter - tem'; 'Haver - há'; 'Existir - existe' are classified as impersonal verbs and therefore don't have subjects in Portuguese. But, in English, the subject is constant when a verb is conjugated so English gave this function to the subject 'There', making it a constant when we express existence.
Ex.
Tem - There is/are
Tinha - There has/have been
Teve - There was/were
Terá - There will be/There's going to be
Teria - There would be
Deve ter - There should be
Pode ter - There could be/There may be
Tem que ter - There has to be/There must be
Poderia ter tido - There could have been
Note 3: When students make this translational mistake in class, then I often remind them of the following: "Se ninguem tem, então não use 'Have' em inglês." (If nobody has something, then don't use the verb 'Have' in English. This is because 'have' often represents possession and never represents existence. Also, any conjugation of the verb 'have', must have a subject.
Note 4: Question Forms
When we ask about existence, then the first auxiliary/linking verb takes first position in the sentence, inverting with the subject.
Affirmative Interrogative
There is... Is there...?
There was... Was there...?
There has been... Has there been...?
There will be... Will there be...?
There would be... Would there be...?
Note 5: Negative forms
When expressing negative existence then we negate the first auxiliary/linking verb.
affirmative negative
There are... There aren't...
There were... There weren't...
There have been... There haven't been
There will be... There won't be...
There would be... There wouldn't be...
Perhaps the most comment mistake made by Brazilian students of English is when they express the idea of 'existence'.
This is due to the variety of forms that Portuguese offers to express existence:
Há...; Tem...; Existe...
In English, There (Be) is used to express Há.. (houve, haverá); Tem... (tinha, terá); Existe etc.
The subject 'There' is used to fill the subject position of the sentence.
The linking verb 'Be' is conjugated for tense and modality to introduce the predicate.
Subject + (Be) + Predicate
Ex. (There) is (a problem). (present tense)
There are several mistakes in the text. (present tense/plural)
There was a bad accident on the highway last night. (past tense)
There were many exercises to do in our English class yesterday. (past tense/plural)
There has been a dramatic increase in sales this quarter. (present perfect)
There will be an audit of this department next month. (future)
Note 1: Contraction of 'there is' and 'there are'; 'There has been' and ' there have been'
In spoken English, it is very common to contract 'There' and 'is' or 'are' and say:
There's. There's is used even if the predicate noun is plural or singular:
Ex. There's a letter on the shelf for you. (singular noun)
There's some spaghetti in the pot for you. (non-count noun)
There's many decisions to make before we can continue. (informal plural)
You can also contract 'there has been' and 'there have been' in a similar way:
Ex. There's been a great improvement in your work recently. (singular)
There's been days when i just wanted to quit. (informal plural)
Note 2: 'There is' not 'Have '
Portuguese speakers often use 'Have' to express the same idea as 'There is'. This is because the verb 'Ter' is often conjugated and used as the verb of existence.
'Ter - tem'; 'Haver - há'; 'Existir - existe' are classified as impersonal verbs and therefore don't have subjects in Portuguese. But, in English, the subject is constant when a verb is conjugated so English gave this function to the subject 'There', making it a constant when we express existence.
Ex.
Tem - There is/are
Tinha - There has/have been
Teve - There was/were
Terá - There will be/There's going to be
Teria - There would be
Deve ter - There should be
Pode ter - There could be/There may be
Tem que ter - There has to be/There must be
Poderia ter tido - There could have been
Note 3: When students make this translational mistake in class, then I often remind them of the following: "Se ninguem tem, então não use 'Have' em inglês." (If nobody has something, then don't use the verb 'Have' in English. This is because 'have' often represents possession and never represents existence. Also, any conjugation of the verb 'have', must have a subject.
Note 4: Question Forms
When we ask about existence, then the first auxiliary/linking verb takes first position in the sentence, inverting with the subject.
Affirmative Interrogative
There is... Is there...?
There was... Was there...?
There has been... Has there been...?
There will be... Will there be...?
There would be... Would there be...?
Note 5: Negative forms
When expressing negative existence then we negate the first auxiliary/linking verb.
affirmative negative
There are... There aren't...
There were... There weren't...
There have been... There haven't been
There will be... There won't be...
There would be... There wouldn't be...
Friday, September 3, 2010
Tips to speak English Fluently!
A lot of my students ask me how to speak English fluently. It's kind of a "buzz word" in non native speaking countries. I've probably been asked it over 1000 times in my life. I used to just say stuff like "practice more, don't be shy, learn new words and use them" but then I realized I was just being lazy and not really helping anyone with my advice. I noticed some students could speak well while others almost made no improvement. I finally decided to think carefully about what made the difference.
1. Fluent English speakers study every day. They are super consistent. The students who study hard right before the test and then do nothing for the rest of the time never seem to speak well.
2. Another thing I noticed is that students who learned how to speak fluently challenged themselves and didn't just follow the boring textbook. They didn't make excuses about how boring the class was, and instead found some system that worked for them.
There are a bunch of more things these "successful" students did and I spent the afternoon writing about it. I wrote 7 articles that if you follow, you'll be able to speak like a native speaker soon. Trust me.
1. Fluent English speakers study every day. They are super consistent. The students who study hard right before the test and then do nothing for the rest of the time never seem to speak well.
2. Another thing I noticed is that students who learned how to speak fluently challenged themselves and didn't just follow the boring textbook. They didn't make excuses about how boring the class was, and instead found some system that worked for them.
There are a bunch of more things these "successful" students did and I spent the afternoon writing about it. I wrote 7 articles that if you follow, you'll be able to speak like a native speaker soon. Trust me.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
A split can be a good thing or a bad thing. If you split a piece of cake, you take part of the slice and someone else takes another part. That’s good. If you split the bill with someone, you each pay a portion of the check at a restaurant. That’s OK, too.
But when a couple splits up, they go their separate ways. They end their relationship, or break up. That’s not so good.
The actor Jerry O’Connell and his model wife, Rebecca Romijn, have twin toddler girls. He says that raising twins is really hard. He even jokes that he and his wife would split up if only they could agree on who would take the kids, since neither of them would want to keep them! Since there are two of them, one solution would be to split up the girls. Then each parent could take one kid. And one toddler has to be better than two.
Have you ever split up with someone? What made you end the relationship?
“I can’t believe Ellen and Tom split up; I thought they would be together forever.”
“Annie decided to split up with her boyfriend when she found out he had cheated on her.”
But when a couple splits up, they go their separate ways. They end their relationship, or break up. That’s not so good.
The actor Jerry O’Connell and his model wife, Rebecca Romijn, have twin toddler girls. He says that raising twins is really hard. He even jokes that he and his wife would split up if only they could agree on who would take the kids, since neither of them would want to keep them! Since there are two of them, one solution would be to split up the girls. Then each parent could take one kid. And one toddler has to be better than two.
Have you ever split up with someone? What made you end the relationship?
Examples
1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.
“Splitting up is always hard no matter why it happens.”“I can’t believe Ellen and Tom split up; I thought they would be together forever.”
“Annie decided to split up with her boyfriend when she found out he had cheated on her.”
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Three Kinds of “Chatos” (Portuguese word)
Three Kinds of “Chatos” (Portuguese word)
There are three kinds of “Chatos” = boring, demanding, and upsetting.
In Portuguese, the word “Chato” has a very broad meaning.
1) It can refer to a person who is very boring, as he/she never says anything interesting. He/she always repeats himself/herself.
That movie was very boring. It was very monotonous.
He/She tells you everyday the same thing.
2) It also refers to a person who demands something. He wants you to do it now, such as a child or a demanding boss.
3) It refers to a person who upsets you, who makes you anxious or nervous.
“I don’t like the way you comb your hair”.
So in Portuguese, this word is confusing for people who are learning English. They normally choose the wrong word, for example: That situation was very boring, but they meant to say, that situation was very upsetting.
I hope you understand my examples and this post is mainly for my Brazilian readers.
There are three kinds of “Chatos” = boring, demanding, and upsetting.
In Portuguese, the word “Chato” has a very broad meaning.
1) It can refer to a person who is very boring, as he/she never says anything interesting. He/she always repeats himself/herself.
That movie was very boring. It was very monotonous.
He/She tells you everyday the same thing.
2) It also refers to a person who demands something. He wants you to do it now, such as a child or a demanding boss.
3) It refers to a person who upsets you, who makes you anxious or nervous.
“I don’t like the way you comb your hair”.
So in Portuguese, this word is confusing for people who are learning English. They normally choose the wrong word, for example: That situation was very boring, but they meant to say, that situation was very upsetting.
I hope you understand my examples and this post is mainly for my Brazilian readers.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Hi everyone !
My first and main goal having a blog is to share my knowlodge and also accepting suggestions from other people in order to help one another!
I am always looking forward to come up with new ways of speaking up my mind and help on the English Language for those who are learning it as a second language!
Right now I am living in the USA but my country is Brazil! So I am willing to help those from my country to learn English and show them that it is such a nice language and very simple to learn! I hope you Enjoy my posts and share your experiences!
I am always looking forward to come up with new ways of speaking up my mind and help on the English Language for those who are learning it as a second language!
Right now I am living in the USA but my country is Brazil! So I am willing to help those from my country to learn English and show them that it is such a nice language and very simple to learn! I hope you Enjoy my posts and share your experiences!
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