terça-feira, 21 de agosto de 2012

Dead End

Aposto que vocês estão bastante familiarizados com a palavra End que quer dizer Fim. Quando uma história acaba ou quando um filme termina vemos aparecer The End. Porém a palavra End não se restringe apenas a este significado. Vejamos na dica de hoje mais algumas formas de utilizar esta palavra.

A primeira delas é “Dead end Street”. O problema com esta expressão é que muitas pessoas tentam traduzir palavra por palavra e acabam se decepcionando com a tradução, so to speak. “Morta fim estrada” ou “ Fim da estrada morta” são um dos significados que podem surgir. “Dead end Street” simplesmente significa rua sem saída.

· I had no Idea where I was when I got in a dead end street.

· She is so full of herself but lives in this dead end street. (Ela se acha tanto, mas mora nessa rua sem saída).

· I was on my way to work when I say written on a round sign [Dead end street]. Ver imagem.

Esta é a segunda forma de usar End. Eu não estou seguro se a primeira vez que ouvi esta expressão ser utilizada foi em um filme ou em algum livro, mas foi mais ou menos assim:

· I can’t believe you want to marry this dead end guy with his dead and job! (Eu não acredito que você vai se casar com esse cara sem futuro com seu emprego sem futuro).

Neste caso se você acha que algo é ‘sem futuro’, que não vale apena persistir, então você pode dizer Dead end + a coisa (substantivo).

  • My view is that you are in a dead end relationship. Only you can’t see that.

quarta-feira, 8 de agosto de 2012

Heartbroken kitten refuses to leave its deceased friend

Somente pessoas desalmadas são capazes de largar seus animais de estimação nas ruas. E pior que não são poucos os casos. Quero que vocês leiam o texto retirado do site http://www.pawnation.com/2012/08/08/heartbroken-kitten-refuses-to-leave-his-deceased-friend/#photo=1 e logo em seguida olhem o vocabulário. Como sempre, para esta primeira leitura eu peço que não recorram a nenhum dicionário. Tentem captar todas as palavras pelo contexto. Depois de ver o vocabulário, volte ao texto e leia outra vez. Is it a deal? So let’s get the ball rolling…

Heartbroken kitten refuses to leave its deceased friend

Take out the tissue and get ready for a tear-jearker. According to the (U.K.) Daily Mirror, a stray kitten refused to leave the side of its dead companion after the latter was hit by a car in China.

An animal lover who witnessed the accident tried feeding the dying orange tabby, but said the poor creature was already too far gone to save. Regardless, the white kitten continued to comfort its friend, keeping it warm and nuzzling its mouth to encourage it to eat.

Sadly, the injured kitten passed away soon after being hit. Those in the area collected the deceased animal in a box to give it a proper burial, but its friend still refused to say goodbye. The grieving cat jumped in the box and stayed with its friend until the body was buried.


Vocabulary

Tissue: Papel utilizado para secar as lágrimas.

A tear-jearker: É normalmente uma história que faz com que você chore.

Stray kitten: Stray designa algo ou alguém que não tem um destino certo, neste caso é um animal Kitten, que é como se chama os gatos pequenos. Logo stray kitten é um gato pequeno que vaga pelas ruas.

Witnessed: testemunhou, por tanto, witness quer dizer testemunha.

Tabby cat: é como são chamados os gatos que tem listras pelo corpo. Veja uma imagem (tabby cat)

Nuzzling: fossar com o nariz.

Passed away: forma mais leve de dizer que algo ou alguém morreu. Figura de linguagem chamada de eufemismo.

Deceased: Falecido

quarta-feira, 1 de agosto de 2012

Both, either e neither: Como usá-los

Quando e como devemos usar as palavras both, either e neither? Para responder essa pergunta, vejamos os seguintes exemplos:

  • ‘Do you want tea or coffee?’ ‘Either. I really don’t mind.’
  • ‘Where is Liz? Is she at work or at home?’ ‘Neither. She is away on holiday.’
  • ‘Where did you go for your holidays – Scotland or Ireland? – ‘We went to both. A week in Scotland and a week in Ireland.’


Antes de tudo quero que vocês reparem uma similaridade entre os exemplos. Veja que todos eles estão sendo usados para DUAS coisas. 1° Chá ou Café 2° No trabalho ou em casa 3° Escócia ou Irlanda 4° Dia 18 ou 19.

Analisemos o primeiro exemplo. A pessoa pergunta se a outra quer chá ou café. Porém qual dos DOIS ela escolheu? Bem, ela não especificou QUAL. Para ela não importava, qualquer um estaria bom. Nisso ela falou “Either. I really don’t mind”. É como se a gente traduzisse “Um ou o outro. Tanto faz”

Agora vamos supor que hoje é o aniversário de um ano de seu casamento. Você resolveu chamar sua esposa para jantar em algum restaurante, só para quebrar um pouco a rotina. Você tem em mente dois lugares: um restaurante chinês e uma pizzaria. Você pede para que ela escolha qual dos dois ela prefere ir:

  • “Do you want to go to the Chinese restaurant or to the pizza parlor?” “Never mind honey. We can go to either.” (“Você quer ir ao restaurante chinês ou a pizzaria?” “Não me importo querido, a gente pode ir para qualquer um”).

Neste caso vamos firmar um acordo que sempre que você estiver entre duas coisas (ou também duas pessoas, certo?), mas que para você não faz diferença ou UM ou o OUTRO, você irá usar Either.

Os exemplos acima estão sendo empregados em frases afirmativas, contudo elas também podem ser utilizadas em frases negativas. Veja o exemplo...

  • I took two books with me on holiday, but I didn’t read either of them.

Lembre-se que em inglês nunca colocamos duas palavras negativas em uma mesma frase, por isso usamos a palavra Either. Entenda ela como sendo uma palavra AFIRMATIVA, está certo? Analise mas este exemplo, e me responda qual palavra devo utilizar...

  • I took five books with me on holiday, but I didn’t read… of them.

Bem, se você disse Either, então você errou, porque se lembre que só usamos either para DUAS coisas e não CINCO.

Vamos agora para o segundo exemplo. A primeira pessoa pergunta: Onde está Liz? Ela está no trabalho ou em casa? No entanto, a resposta foi: Em nenhum dos dois. Ela saiu de férias.

Então qual a diferença entre Either e Neither? A diferença é que usamos Either quando queremos dizer ou um ou outro (se for uma questão de escolha você vai ficar ou com um ou com outro). Porém Neither é nenhum nem outro (se for para você escolher, você não vai ficar com nenhum).

Vamos trazer a situação do aniversário de casamento dada anteriormente. Supondo agora que sua esposa não queira ir para nenhuma das opções, então ela diria.

  • Neither. I don’t like Chinese food and I hate pizza.”

Nossa, acho que exagerei um pouco na resposta, não foi? Tudo bem. O que importa é saber que Neither dá a idéia de nenhum nem outro. Ela não quer ir ai restaurante chinês e também não quer ir à pizzaria. Veja outro exemplo usando a palavra Neither...

  • She has two brothers but neither of them work.

Vejamos agora o terceiro exemplo. Uma pessoa perguntou a outra onde ela foi durante as férias se foi para a Escócia ou para a Irlanda. E qual foi a resposta? Ela foi para os dois lugares. Uma semana na escócia e outra na Irlanda. Ou seja, diferentemente das duas outras palavras Both é utilizada neste exemplo para dizer AS DUAS. Então aqui não tem segredo, certo? Veja o exemplo...

Você sabe falar inglês e alemão, ai alguém que não sabe disse te pergunta: “Can you speak English or German?” “I can speak both. Do you need help?”.

Outro exemplo:

  • “I broght two books for you. Which one do you want to read?” “Oh I like both”.

Ainda podemos utilizar either, neither e both junta com outras palavras.

Both... and...

  • Both Chris and Pat were late. (O que quer dizer que os dois estavam atrasados).
  • I was both tired and hungry. (Além de cansado eu também estava com fome – os dois).

Neither... nor...

  • Neither Chris nor Paty went to the party. (Não só Chris não veio à festa, mas Paty também não).
  • Tom Said He would contact me, but he neither wrote nor phoned. (Ele nem ligou nem escreveu).

Either... or...

  • I am not so sure where Maria’s from. She is either Spanish or Italian. (Ou um ou o outro).
  • Either you apologize or I’ll never speak to you again. (Você vai ter que escolher entre um ou o outro).

Bem pessoa, isso é tudo por hoje, porém vou postar na nossa página no facebook (cliquem aqui) um exercício para que vocês possam praticar o que foi dito na dica de hoje. Caso tenha ficado alguma dúvida (até mesmo no exercício) deixem seu comentário que eu irei responder.

Até a próxima.

domingo, 29 de julho de 2012

Be Deaf To Negativity


Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.

The race began…

Honestly, No one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. The crowd yelled statements such as:

“Oh, WAY too difficult!!!”

“They will NEVER make it to the top.”

“Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!”

The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one. Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher.

The crowd continued to yell, “It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!”

More tiny frogs got tired and gave up. But ONE continued higher and higher and higher. This one wouldn’t give up!

At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top! THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?

A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal? It turned out. That the winner was DEAF!!!


:: Moral of the Story ::

Never listen to other people’s tendencies to be negative or pessimistic, because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you — the ones you have in your heart!

Always think of the power words have. Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions! Therefore, ALWAYS BE POSITIVE!

Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams! Always think: God and I can do this!

Vocabulary

Bunch of tiny frogs – a lot of small frogs

Arranged – organized

Goal - objective

WAY too – very, very difficult

Fresh tempo – good time

gave up – stop doing something

DEAF – someone who can’t hear

Therefore – because of that

Eminem Quote

You may not like his style of music; however you have to agree with his lines.

And to the rest of the world, God gave you the shoes that fit you. So put ‘em on and wear ‘em and be yourself man. Be proud of who you are, even if it sounds corny, don’t ever let no one tell you; you ain’t beautiful.


  • ‘Em – Sometimes this is how people say the word THEM. There are also the words:
  • ‘Cuz – ‘cause – simply meaning because.
  • ‘til – till – meaning Until.
  • ‘head – meaning ahead

Do you want to see this words being used? Just check out the lyrics of some rap singer. They use it all the time.

Corny – if something sounds corny it is too sentimental that can even cause you embarrassment if said in public.

  • "If I could rewrite the alphabet, I would put U and I together." - “Gosh, that’s so corny”

Ain’t – this abbreviation is particularly funny because it doesn’t have a simple meaning. Its meaning depends on the context.

  • I ain’t telling you… (I am not telling you)
  • Don’t let anyone tell you, you ain’t beautiful (You are not beautiful).
  • Ain’t nothing like home. (There is not anything like home).

Notice that according to the English grammar the last sentence (Ain’t nothing like home) is wrong, because we can’t use two negative words in the same sentence).

  • So you’d better say: Ain’t anything like home.

But do you want an advice? Do not use [ain’t] it sounds very informal.


sábado, 28 de julho de 2012

Dica de leitura

Hello guys. Today I am having a lot of fun reading this book. It is called Diary of a wimpy kid.

This is the best way to improve your English. The more you read, the more you will be able to pick up the language you are learning.

Well, if you want to read this book, click here and download it right now. This book is well illustrated and easy to understand. I figured it would be a good idea to share it with you today. I hope you like it.

Tip: you probably will come across a lot of words whose meaning you don’t know, however try not look every single word up in a dictionary, okay? If you do so you will lose the pleasure of reading.

quinta-feira, 26 de julho de 2012

New expressions

Hi everyone! I am Alisson Viana with new How to.

Ok, so two weeks ago I was listening to one of Akon’s song (Right now – Do you know this song?) and I noticed a rather curious expression: the apple of my eye. When I heard it I wondered: How can something be the apple of someone's eyes. So as I am a very curious guy I decided to find out the meaning for this expression. What I found was something that I never thought it would be possible.

I found that to be “the apple of someone’s eye” means to be their “favorite”, special or the best. For example, let’s suppose you are joined by your friend at a Café and he points to a place where many beautiful ladies are and then he says: “Look at that! What beautiful ladies, don’t you think?” And as you are in love with your girlfriend you reply: “Yeah, dude! They are really beautiful. But Katherine is the apple of my eye”. That means that although the ladies are all very beautiful your girlfriend is your favorite one. And that you’ve just got eyes for her.

Yet with this same expression let’s say your father bought himself a new car a week ago and now he has no time for anything else but for his new car, so you say: “My dad’s new car is the apple of his eye now. He doesn’t care about anything else anymore”.

Now Another expression that I normally use in my classroom with teachers or with my classmates to say that something is very easy: “It is as easy as pie”. You might be wondering: "But why pie?" The reason for English speakers to use pie has nothing to do with making the pie, because they are not so easy to make, although I haven’t ever tried it. The easiness comes with the eating which means that it is very easy to eat. One example that I didn’t forget when I heard was when my teacher was giving me my test and saying: “Don’t worry; it's going to be as easy as pie”. Likewise you can say that something is as easy as pie, you can also say that something isn't as easy as pie. For example, let’s suppose you have been studying English for many years, have read many and many books, but even though you don’t think you’ve learnt much. As a result you thought about laying off English then you say, "That's it! I will lay off English. I've been studying it since I was 10 now I am 19 and I do not know much about it. Learn English isn't as easy as pie.”

Well guys, that’s it for today. I hope you like it. And don’t forget to leave your comment. And see you next time.

Vocabulary

Rather: Bastant

Find out: Descobrir

Dude: Cara

The easiness: A facilidade

Likewise: Da mesma forma

Lay off: Deixar

Como dizer: Dormir feito pedra

Hi everyone, how is it going? Well, I hope life has been treating you kind! This is Alisson Viana with a new Dicas de Inglês. Today’s “How to” is all about the expression sleep like a log.

Well, as you may already know July’s coming and that means: Holidays. Yes, that’s just great. Is there any other better thing than that? You don’t need to wake up early, don’t need to keep thinking about tests, like I normally do. Not mention that you can spend hours in front of your computer talking to your online friends and dedicate more time to learn English here with me at Dicas de Inglês.

There is something that you don’t know about me, which is I do like sleeping. When I am on holidays I usually sleep like a log. Even though my mother keeps saying: “Alisson, you should not sleep so much.” Hey, hold on a second! What did I mean by sleep like a log? It sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? Yes, it does. However there is a slightly similar expression in Portuguese, which is: “Dormir feito pedra.” Yes, I bet you’ve heard of it or even said that before.

In English when someone sleeps very soundly that even a thunderstorm wouldn’t wake him up, we say that he sleeps like a log. As you know a log is a thick piece or tree trunk or branch, specially one cut for burning on a fire, and it is not need to say that a log cannot move, right? So, if you are going to do like me and sleep for hours, you probably are going to sleep like a log. Let’s see another example with this same expression.

Everyone in our family sleeps like a log, so no one heard the thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Nothing can wake us up. We usually sleep like a baby.

Well guys I am afraid I have to go now, I hope you’ve enjoyed my tip and learned something new today. Don’t forget that whenever you have any question; just ask me leave me a comment that I will be right there waiting for you. Thank you very much and see you next time.

quarta-feira, 25 de julho de 2012

Como surgiu o primeiro Poço - The first well






There once was a small kingdom around a lake. One very hot summer, it did not rain and the lake dried up. People grew anxious and went to the King. “It has not rained for so long. Our fields are barren!” said the farmers. “There are no fish to catch. How shall we earn a living?” asked the fishermen. “Save us from disaster, good King,” urged the women, as their children cried with thirst.

The King sent his four generals in all directions to look for water. The first general went east, towards the sunrise; the second went south, to the dust and heat; the third went west, where the sun sets; and the fourth followed the North Star.

They searched day and night, night and day; high and low they searched everywhere, but in vain. Three of the generals returned, empty-handed. But the general who had gone north was determined not to fail his King. At last, he reached a cold mountain village.

As he sat at the foot of the mountain, an old woman came by and sat next to him. The general pointed at the horizon and said, “I belong to a beautiful kingdom, where it has not rained for a whole year. Can you help me find water?”

The woman motioned the general to follow her up the mountain and into a cave. “We have no water in our country either,” she said. Then, pointing to the icicles in the cave, she continued: “We call this ice. Take some, and your kingdom will never go thirsty again.” The general broke off a huge piece, loaded it onto his horse-cart and rushed back home.

By the time he reached the court, the enormous icicle had melted into a small lump of ice. Nobody in the court had ever seen ice, so everybody gazed at it with wonder. “This must be a water-seed!” one of the ministers exclaimed suddenly. The King ordered the ‘water-seed’ to be sowed immediately.

While the farmers dug a hole, the lump dwindled in the sun. They swiftly placed the seed in the hole, but before they could cover it up, it had vanished. The farmers there grew confused and worried. They dug deeper and deeper into the earth, all night long, looking for the mysterious seed.

At the break of dawn, the King found the farmers fast asleep around a hole. Curious, he peeped in and cried out in amazement: “Wake up, my worthy men – the water-seed has sprouted! There’s water in the hole!” This is how the first well was created.

quarta-feira, 18 de julho de 2012

Upside down and Get caught


Hello everybody. This is Alisson Viana with a new podcast. For tips, curiosity and other podcasts just go at alissonviana62.blogspot.com.br

So, today I am gonna talk about some new expressions that we can use on our conversations so that it can flow more naturally, okay? And today’s expression’s are: upside down and to get caught.

But just before I start explaining the meaning and usage for them let me tell you guys what happened to me and to my classmates last week. As you may already know I studied in a Federal High School named IFRN where I was supposed to study subjects related to the electronic engineering field. And one of the subjects that I studied there was called hydropneumatic. From pneumatic we understand that it is something operated by air pressure, but please don’t ask me to give more details about it.

Well, the thing is that our teacher Roberto asked us to draw pneumatic circuits, which were on an exercise list. If you have no idea what a pneumatic circuit is just look at the picture, then you will know what I am talking about.

He also told us that one of the drawing would appear on the test that we were going to do on the day next. Since we knew that one of the circuits was going to appear on the test, we knew that the most logical thing to do was to draw them repeatedly. I myself drew twice each drawing and they were twelve, which means that I drew them twenty-four times. At that I was able to draw the circuit upside down.

Life on the less than sunny side of Spain

Quantas e quantas vezes já se ouviu falar de pessoas que migram de um lugar para outro em busca de melhores condições de vida? Muitas vezes essas pessoas são acolhidas pela sorte e conseguem se “manter vivas”, por assim dizer. Contudo, o destino não é tão fiel a todos, como é o caso de Isaak.

A matéria que eu trouxe para analisar no “Dicas de Inglês” mostra, de forma resumida, a história de um homem que mora dentro de uma estrutura metálica junto com outros 4 companheiros.

Como o blog é destinado a dicas, então abordaremos aqui vocabulário, estruturas gramaticais.

Segue o texto:


Life on the less than sunny side of Spain

The agricultural region around Spain’s Almería is home to thousands of illegal immigrants living in slum-like conditions. Amid the economic crisis, many want to return to Africa, but lack the means to get home.

When the sun shines, Isaak’s home turns into an oven. The 30-year-old, who came to Spain from Ghana, sits on a mattress and knocks on the roof of his shelter.

“That’s metal – in the summer you can burn your finger on it,” he told Deutsche Welle.

The shelter is made from an upside down cargo hold of a truck, and is too low to stand up in. Nonetheless Isaak shares it with four other African immigrants.

Rust has eaten away at the metal in some places, so that when it Raíns, the water drips inside.

Each man has his own mattress. Isaak keeps his possessions, which consist of clothing, a bible, toiletries and a photo of his family back in Ghana, in plastic and cloth bags. Next to his bed is a bag of groceries from the Red Cross.

“I don’t have any work, so it’s almost impossible to find anything at the moment,” he said.

Isaak’s shelter is located amid a sea of greenhouses in San Isidro near Almería. The region, located in Spain’s rural southeast, is known as “Europe’s greenhouse.” Huge stretches of land are covered with sheets of plastic, making the area look like a giant mirror in satellite images.

Este texto é de autoria de Stefen Leidel, editor Sam Edmonds – retirado so site Deutsche Welle. Para ter acesso ao texto completo basta acessar o link: http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15728967,00.html – Para que você possa ler e compreender o texto, eu criei uma versão traduzida com um vocabulário que, em minha opinião, é muito importante.

segunda-feira, 16 de julho de 2012

Languages at risk of disappearing

Será que é possível uma língua deixar de existir? Será que você já parou para pensar a respeito de tal fato? A resposta para a primeira pergunta é sim! E é sobre isso que o texto a seguir fala. Algumas línguas que são faladas hoje correm o risco de desaparecerem, isto porque os falantes dessas línguas estão morrendo.

O que acontece quando uma língua desaparece é que toda a cultura por trás dela também desaparece. Tendo em consideração que ela foi falada algum dia por um povo que tinha toda uma história de vida. Para se ter noção basta imaginar a língua portuguesa vanishing from the world (ser varrida do mundo). As histórias, por trás das palavras, suas origens e variedade desaparecem também.

Bem, mas agora vamos ao texto. Veja no final o vocabulário para algumas palavras. Mas não se preocupem o texto é bem fácil de ser entendido.

Of the more than 6,700 languages spoken in the world today, half are at risk of disappearing by the end of this century [source: UNESCO]. Every two weeks, the last living speaker of a language dies, taking the language with him [source: Living Tongues]. A small and declining number of speakers, as well as speakers who are older, point to an endangered language: When those speakers die, they leave no one to use the language. Linguists then consider this language dead, although if the tongue has been recorded, they may call it a "sleeping" language -- one that could be revived later.

Phrasal Verbs

Hello everybody. Welcome again to a new “Dicas de Inglês” here with me Alisson Viana.

And today we’re gonna talk about a very important subject that is called Phrasal Verbs.

So, you might be wondering: Why should I learn phrasal verbs? Well, in my opinion phrasal verbs are very important because if you are speaking with a native English speaker, for example, you’ll hear tones of phrasal verbs being used. And the most interesting about this is that they don’t think about phrasal verbs as we do, because it is part of their language. So phrasal verbs are very important for us to express our thoughts that can’t be expressed otherwise.

So, but just before we start with our lesson of today, let’s read a text and let’s try to comprehend it. Don’t worry I won’t be speaking just in English. I will sometimes speak in Portuguese so you can understand too. Okay? So, let’s get started!

Interviewing a singer

Hello friends. This is Alisson Viana with a new “Dicas de Inglês”. I am very pleased to see how well we are doing to improve our English. It has been a while now that I am writing and sharing my English with you. I know that there are a lot to improve yet, but I believe that we can learn together, right? If you have any suggestion or correction about my writing, speaking or whatever let me now, because just like you I am also learning English. And actually this is the prime reason why I made this blog.

So, let’s stop beating around the bush and let’s get started. Today I brought here a video of a famous artist in the world of singing. I bet you have already heard about her. Many people criticize her for behaving eccentrically just to get attention. For many she is also known for having a bad taste for clothes. Do you know who I am talking about? Yes, I am talking about Lady Gaga.

domingo, 15 de julho de 2012

Expressions with the word Dog


Hello everyone, welcome to a new “Dicas de Inglês” here with me Alisson Viana. And today we are looking at some useful phrases using the word Dog.

So, for everyone Dog is considered to be a man’s best friend, that’s not a secret for anyone, right? What maybe not everyone knows is that the word dog can be used to describe lots of ideas in English. For example, you know that we are living a competitive world. Certainly you’ve heard that being good is no longer enough and that got to be the best one in whatever we get into. There is a good explanation for that. It’s because people are becoming aware of the importance that should be put on education and preparation for work, like dedicating more time to study an perhaps having a superior education grade. If you don’t keep up with the speed that the job market requires from you, you will be left behind. It is because we are living a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same thing. In this example for good jobs.

I have a couple of friends who keep this is mind that they have to work like a dog to be successful in their lives. It is certainly true, though. Nevertheless, they also have to be willing to lay off most of the things that they are used to do like hanging out with friends, going to movies and so on. As a consequence of such hard work is that they are likely to get dog tired. And because of that they won’t be able to enjoy their hobbies. I guess you are quite familiar with this expression. In Portuguese we say: “Cansado feito burro”. Another way of passing the same message is by saying to be sick as a dog, which sounds even worse.

Now, to be really successful people should learn new things to improve their skill at work. However there are lots of people, often older people, who firmly believe that you can never teach an old dog new tricks, because they do not like to be taught by someone else. It means that no matter what you say, they will never change the way they do things. Some people are so convinced of that that they may even get offended if you try to pursue them to think otherwise. The situation happened to me when I was trying to convince my grandmother that she should learn how to use a computer. She told me that it was useless and it would be better not to insist, otherwise I’d be in the dog’s house. What she meant indeed was that I should not keep nagging her about this learning how to use a computer thing.

Common English expressions


Olá a todos! Sejam bem vindos mais uma vez ao “Dicas de Inglês” aqui comigo Alisson Viana. Hoje nós vamos estudar sete expressões em inglês que são bastante utilizadas. Eu tenho certeza que aprendendo estas expressões você vai se dar bem melhor no quesito aprender a ouvir em inglês, porque muitas das vezes a gente não consegue entender o que uma pessoa está falando, porque ela está utilizando expressões idiomáticas, que são uma característica particular de cada idioma. Então eu trouxe para vocês hoje sete expressões que eu tenho certeza que vai ajudar vocês bastante.

quinta-feira, 12 de julho de 2012

Do not make a fool of yourself with false friends!

Segundo Bob, o amigo dele é um adept em previsão do tempo. Adepto? Não, não: é mestre no assunto!

E esse mesmo amigo, de acordo com Bob, amassed uma grande fortuna! E quem quer fortuna amassada? Sossegue, ele acumulou, não amassou…

A Susan vem toda assustada dizer que a mãe ficou dismayed ao saber da notícia. Coitada, ficou desmaiada muito tempo? Você pergunta. Nada disso, a mãe ficou é consternada.

O contador está nervoso, explica Ted, porque as figures não batem. E figura bate em alguém? Não, ele está falando de números…

Vamos resume nossos lugares, pede John. Resumir lugar, como? Nada disso, ele quer que retomemos os lugares, nada mais…

Gail adora futebol e comenta que o Ronaldinho é um jogador terrific. Coitado, você pensa, só porque está com problemas já acham ele terrível!… Engano seu, ela quer dizer que ele é maravilhoso!

quarta-feira, 11 de julho de 2012

Gramática - (Em Inglês)

1. Present Continuous Tense

1.1 Something that is or isn’t happening right now

The present continuous is a tense used to express one action which is happening at this very moment, giving an idea of movement. The present continuous can also be used to express something that isn’t happening. When someone writes using the present continuous tense this person will likely use adverbs of time such as now, right now, at the moment and etc. However in spoken English it is not so used since most of the time the actions are taking place at the moment of speaking.

The structure of this verb tense is simple; as we are talking about present we’ll use the verb to be (without to) to build our sentences and we’ll also use auxiliary verbs when the sentence is in the negative or in the interrogative form. Also in this tense we’ll have a main verb which will be followed by the particle –ING

Look at the following example:

Ex.: My sister is eating ice-cream.

Note that this sentence has the following structure:

Subject + VERB TO BE + MAIN VERB + ING