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.

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.

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