Diary of a Wimpy Teacher (Chapter 1)

Before the beginning

Hello, my name is Richard Smith and I am an English teacher in a small city from Brazil. I am going to tell you everything about my life as a teacher and a little bit of my life a person, too! But I wasn't a teacher since my childhood, sure. First I worked in an accountant office! But I wasn’t an accountant; I was an office-boy. But now any one, the best one! Well…not really! I enjoyed my life as an office-boy. It was funny for me. I was used to meet all of my friends around the city and talk to them personally (not by facebook) and know what was going on in the city and the things were about to happen, specially the parties, where I could meet the “chicks”! Yes! I had dates and went out with my friends a lot! All of my salary (not much) I spent with nice clothes and going out. My family wasn’t rich but we had no problems about money. I just started to work to have my own and spend with the things I appreciate better. Remember I am a teacher nowadays, but as I am starting to tell you about my life some year before I became an English teacher. Just to show that a teacher is also people like you and have a normal life, with not normal friends and not so normal situations.

The promotion!

Working for 3 years as an office boy, walking every day to the bank and clients around my city, talking to my friends and learning many kinds of super funny jokes I was promoted! That’s right! I was promoted! But it was in that moment the worst thing that happened to my life. Imagine, my life became (me + a desk + a calculator + a computer) there weren’t (daylight + friends + beautiful girls + walking + jokes) anymore. I really didn’t enjoy my “promotion”. It was promotion of work not a promotion of my job! And the money was pretty much the same I had before. Well, it was depressing! Oh yeah, it was! I was there sitting on my desk pushing buttons all day long looking at the window and seeing the other office-boys walking and chatting around; beautiful girls smiling on the streets, the stores I could enter and check the things I liked were there and I was sitting in my cubicle pressing buttons and calculating taxes! SO BORING! If I had a gun I would have probably killed myself. No…just kidding. It wasn’t so boring. I had coworkers and they were nice guys.

My coworkers

At first I have to present a girl that showed and taught me everything since the first day I entered in that office in a summer afternoon wearing a baseball cap backwards and she wearing a very nice red dress that I as if it were yesterday. Tammy was her name! She was one the loveliest person I have ever met in my life and we worked together for about 3 years and it was great. She had a boyfriend for many years and I had a crush on her for many more years. But I will tell you more about that later, ok? As a coworker I had more six women working at the office and a new boy, the new office boy Robson, or just Bob, “the player” because he was also or simply wanted to be a soccer player and that was his passion. So as mine! I loved soccer and we had a great time talking about our favorite soccer teams. He was a funny guy that loved cookies and milk, every time he had the chance he went to the kitchen’s office to eat some cookies and iced milk and sometimes there were some leftovers for me, too. Good. About the other 6 women I won’t waste time talking about them, just imagine six women having their periods at the same day of the month every month, with a jerk husband and some clothes to wash when at home. Do you want to know the secret to handle with them? Praise every painted nail, new clothes or trim of hair they did. You were the champion around them. Now it is time to work and sometimes check “a new thing” called internet some Nerds have just created and it was completely addictive! 

(To be continued...)

"Wood Face" ?

Peanuts (Charlie Brown)

Welcome Back Students!

Well...it's time to come back to school after having some rest at home or after traveling to a different place far from our same old spot. I am happy to see everybody again ready to start over. I hope you are also happy to see me again, too! I am sure we will have a great semester, full of new jokes, stories, discussions, ideias and ...English! So...see you around! And don't forget to give me a UPAAAA when you see me, ok?

:)

The importance of Personal Marketing by Harvey!

Foo Fighters - Walk (Enjoy!)

Protection?

O cone do aprendizado!

Você se esquece daquilo que escuta, se lembra daquilo que vê e entende aquilo que faz. Hoje ao navegar pelo blog FatorW encontrei a explicação científica para esse famoso ditado. A teoria que deu origem ao ditado foi criada pelo educador Edgar Dale na década de 1960 e se chama “Cone of Experience”, em bom Português, Cone do Aprendizado.

Em seu trabalho, Dale apresenta o conceito de que quanto mais próximos da prática maior será a capacidade de absorção do conhecimento. Veja abaixo a representação gráfica:

Algumas pessoas questionam a exatidão dos percentuais apresentados na imagem acima. Mas uma coisa é certa, nada melhor do que a prática (doing the real thing) para aprender efetivamente!

See you people!

Source: http://www.englishexperts.com.br/2008/01/11/o-cone-do-aprendizado/

Easter around the English-Speaking world!

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. Some Christians celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday), two days after Good Friday and three days after Maundy Thursday. The chronology of his death and resurrection is variously interpreted to be between AD 26 and 36, traditionally 33. Traditionally the Easter Season lasted for the forty days from Easter Day until Ascension Day. The first week of the Easter Season is known as Easter Week or the Octave of Easter. The week from Palm Sunday to Easter is known as Holy Week. Easter also marks the end of Lent, a season of fasting, prayer, and penance. Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. It occurs during the spring, in and around the month of April. Secular customs, such as the Easter Bunny and Easter egg hunts, have become part of the holiday's modern celebrations and are often observed by Christians and non-Christians alike. There are also some Christian denominations who do not celebrate Easter. (See section below.) Throughout the English-speaking world, many Easter traditions are similar with only minor differences. For example, Saturday is traditionally spent decorating Easter eggs and hunting for them with children on Sunday morning, by which time they have been mysteriously hidden all over the house and garden. Other traditions involve parents telling their children that eggs and other treats such as chocolate eggs or rabbits, and marshmallow chicks (Peeps), have been delivered by the Easter Bunny in an Easter basket, which children find waiting for them when they wake up. Many families observe the religious aspects of Easter by attending Sunday Mass or services in the morning and then participating in a feast or party in the afternoon. Some families have a traditional Sunday roast, often of either roast lamb or ham. Easter breads such as Simnel cake, a fruit cake with eleven marzipan balls representing the eleven faithful apostles, or nut breads such as potica are traditionally served. Hot cross buns, spiced buns with a cross on top, are traditionally associated with Good Friday, but today are often eaten well before and after. In Scotland, the north of England, and Northern Ireland, the traditions of rolling decorated eggs down steep hills and pace egging are still adhered to. In Louisiana, USA, egg tapping is known as egg knocking. Marksville, Louisiana claims to host the oldest egg-knocking competition in the US, dating back to the 1950s. Competitors pair up on the steps of the courthouse on Easter Sunday and knock the tips of two eggs together. If the shell of your egg cracks you have to forfeit it, a process that continues until just one egg remains. 

April Fool's day

1000 Awesome things!

Have you heard about the weblog www.1000awesomething.com?

No? So...it's your time to check it out and enjoy it!

1000awesomethings is a regularly updated, Webby Award winning blog written by Neil Pasricha (from Canada), which posts one awesome thing in life each weekday. The site was launched on June 20, 2008 with #1000 Broccoflower and is counting down until it hits #1. The topics covered on the blog are varied, and range from #981, Wearing underwear just out of the dryer, etc. 

An awesome thing is posted every weekday and thus #1 will be posted on April 20, 2012. The website has a live stats counter on it and has approximately 17 million hits.  The author says that at the time of starting the site "if you flipped open the newspaper it was filled with the same stuff every day. The polar ice caps were melting, there were pirates storming the seas, the economy was on the verge of collapse, and there were wars going on all over the world." As a result, he created a website discussing "popping bubble wrap, or snow days, or the smell of a bakery."

Awesome!

Como aprender 400 palavras em inglês em 1 minuto?

O texto abaixo foi extraído de um email que circula na Internet e tem algumas informações interessantes. Vale a pena conferir! Como aprender a escrever 400 palavras em Inglês em apenas um minuto. Comece logo a estudar Inglês que, diferentemente do que você pensa, é extremamente fácil de aprender. Bastando apenas a seguir regrinhas elementares.

Mas, antes de tudo, quero explicar que as regras abaixo apresentam uma ou mais exceções, o que demonstra duas coisas: primeiro que tais exceções só servem precisamente para confirmar as regras e, segundo que é bem preferível, errar numa ou noutra ocasião e aprender 400 palavras em inglês num minuto, do que ficar preocupado com a rara exceção… e não aprender nada.

Regra 1

Esta regra não funciona para palavras como: verdade, idade, felicidade. Lembre-se que existem milhares de exceções para as regras aqui publicadas.

Para todas as palavras em português que terminem em DADE (como a palavra cidade) retire o DADE e coloque em seu lugar TY e assim CIDADE passou a ser CITY. Vejamos agora um pouco das cento e tantas palavras que você já aprendeu nestes primeiros vinte segundos de leitura deste artigo:

CIDADE = CITY
VELOCIDADE = VELOCITY
SIMPLICIDADE = SIMPLICITY
NATURALIDADE = NATURALITY
CAPACIDADE = CAPACITY

Regra 2

Mais algumas exceções, esta regra não funciona para palavras como: coração, refeição, ação e por aí vai.

Para todas as palavras em português que terminem em “ÇÃO” (como a palavra NA-ÇÃO) tire fora o “ÇÃO” e coloque em seu lugar “TION” e assim a palavra NAÇÃO passou a ser NATION (as respectivas pronúncias não importam no momento, e além disso você estaria sendo muito malcriado querendo exigir demais num curso de inglês grátis pela internet!). Vejamos agora algumas das centenas de palavras em que a imensa maioria delas se aplica a essa Regra:

SIMPLIFICAÇÃO = SIMPLIFICATION
NAÇÃO = NATION
OBSERVAÇÃO = OBSERVATION
NATURALIZAÇÃO = NATURALIZATION
SENSAÇÃO = SENSATION

Regra 3

Exceções: demente, futuramente entre outras.

Para os advérbios terminados em “MENTE” (como a palavra NATURALMENTE), tire o “MENTE” e em seu lugar coloque “LLY” (e assim a palavra passou a ser NATURALLY. Quando o radical em português termina em “L”, como na palavra TOTALMENTE, acrescente apenas “LY”). Veja agora abaixo algumas delas:

NATURALMENTE = NATURALLY
GENETICAMENTE = GENETICALLY
ORALMENTE = ORALLY

Regra 4

Para as palavras terminadas em “ÊNCIA” (como no caso de ESSÊNCIA), tire o “ÊNCIA” e em seu lugar coloque “ENCE”. Eis algumas delas abaixo:

ESSÊNCIA = ESSENCE
REVERÊNCIA = REVERENCE
FREQÜÊNCIA = FREQUENCE
ELOQÜÊNCIA = ELOQUENCE

Regra 5

Para as palavras terminadas em “AL” (como na palavra GENERAL) não mude nada, escreva exatamente como está em português e ela sai a mesma coisa em inglês.

Veja alguns exemplos:
NATURAL = NATURAL
TOTAL = TOTAL
GENERAL = GENERAL
FATAL = FATAL
SENSUAL = SENSUAL

Let's go nessa?

Oscar 2011 (The 83rd Academy Awards)

The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 and took place February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) were awarded in 24 competitive categories. The ceremony was televised in the United States on ABC. Actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway co-hosted the ceremony, marking the first time for each.

The King's Speech won four awards, all in major categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay. Inception also tied with four awards, all in the technical categories. Other multiple winners included The Social Network with three awards and Alice in Wonderland, The Fighter, and Toy Story 3, with two awards each. In addition, Black Swan, In a Better World, Inside Job, and The Wolfman each received one award; the non-feature films God of Love, The Lost Thing, and Strangers No More each won in their respective short-subject categories.

In related events, the Academy held its 2nd Annual Governors Awards ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center on November 13, 2010. On February 12, 2011, in a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Marisa Tomei. Clips from these ceremonies, in which honorary awards were presented for creative and technical achievement, were televised during the February 27 Oscar broadcast.

83rd Academy Awards
Date	Sunday, February 27, 2011
Site	Kodak Theatre Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Pre-show	Tim Gunn Maria Menounos Robin Roberts Krista Smith
Host	James Franco Anne Hathaway
Producer	Bruce Cohen Don Mischer
Director	Don Mischer
Highlights
Best Picture	The King's Speech
Most awards	Inception and The King's Speech
Most nominations	The King's Speech
TV in the United States
Network	ABC
Duration	3 hours, 16 minutes
Viewership	37.63 million

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/83rd_Academy_Awards

Você consegue fazer o mesmo?

Este vídeo foi feito por alunos do curso de comunicação da universidade canadense (LIPDUB) em 2009, pois seu professor havia lhes pedido para representarem sua geração na forma de um vídeo  Este é o resultado...dê uma olhada:

 

Não se preocupe ao chegar na parte final do vídeo...você não está bêbado...lembre-se que eles também falam francês no Canadá!

Funny Valentine's day!

Generation Z?

Valentine's day is coming!

Saint Valentine's Day (commonly shortened to Valentine's Day) is an annual celebration held on February 14^th celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering chocolates, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19^th century, handwritten valentines cards have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.
The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint — is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.

 In Brazil, the Dia dos Namorados ("Boyfriends'/Girlfriends' Day") is celebrated on June 12, when couples exchange gifts, chocolates, cards and flower bouquets. This day was chosen probably because it is the day before the Festa junina (Saint Anthony's day), known there as the marriage saint, when traditionally many single women perform popular rituals, called simpatias, in order to find a good husband or boyfriend. The February 14's Valentine's Day is not celebrated at all, mainly for cultural and commercial reasons, since it usually falls too little before or after Carnival, a major floating holiday in Brazil — long regarded as a holiday of sex and debauchery by many in the country— that can fall anywhere from early February to early March.

In most of South America the Día del amor y la amistad and the Amigo secreto ("Secret friend") are quite popular and usually celebrated together on the 14 of February (one exception is Colombia, where it is celebrated every third Saturday of September). The latter consists of randomly assigning to each participant a recipient who is to be given an anonymous gift (similar to the Christmas tradition of Secret Santa).

More information at: http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day accessed in 06/062010.

Take care with the pronunciation!

Let's get it started!

Hello everybody who enjoys studying, learning and practicing English around Rio do Sul and our cities from Alto Vale do Itajaí. It is a pleasure for me to create this space as a mean of communication among all people who like the English language. I hope you can see this as an opportunity to learn more and meet people with the same objectives. Speak English correctly! All of you are welcome to join us here as a meeting point in order to be in touch with English, and have classes with Teacher Ricardo Silva!

Enjoy it and see you around!