Eu Loveio Inglês - Advanced: 2013

quinta-feira, 5 de dezembro de 2013

THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH IN 1O MINUTES

quinta-feira, 31 de outubro de 2013

HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween !!

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31. The word Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows' Evening also known as Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve.

Traditional activities include trick-or-treating, bonfires, costume parties, visiting "haunted houses" and carving jack-o-lanterns. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century including Ireland, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom as well as of Australia and New Zealand.

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced "sah-win").

The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops.

The festival would frequently involve bonfires. It is believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which attracted bats to the area. These are additional attributes of the history of Halloween.

Masks and costumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them.

Trick-or-treating, is an activity for children on or around Halloween in which they proceed from house to house in costumes, asking for treats such as confectionery with the question, "Trick or treat?" The "trick" part of "trick or treat" is a threat to play a trick on the homeowner or his property if no treat is given. Trick-or-treating is one of the main traditions of Halloween. It has become socially expected that if one lives in a neighborhood with children one should purchase treats in preparation for trick-or-treaters.

The history of Halloween has evolved. The activity is popular in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and due to increased American cultural influence in recent years, imported through exposure to US television and other media, trick-or-treating has started to occur among children in many parts of Europe, and in the Saudi Aramco camps of Dhahran, Akaria compounds and Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia. The most significant growth and resistance is in the United Kingdom, where the police have threatened to prosecute parents who allow their children to carry out the "trick" element. In continental Europe, where the commerce-driven importation of Halloween is seen with more skepticism, numerous destructive or illegal "tricks" and police warnings have further raised suspicion about this game and Halloween in general.

In Ohio, Iowa, and Massachusetts, the night designated for Trick-or-treating is often referred to as Beggars Night.

Part of the history of Halloween is Halloween costumes. The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays goes back to the Middle Ages, and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of "souling," when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering, whining], like a beggar at Hallowmas."

Yet there is no evidence that souling was ever practiced in America, and trick-or-treating may have developed in America independent of any Irish or British antecedent. There is little primary Halloween history documentation of masking or costuming on Halloween in Ireland, the UK, or America before 1900. The earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English speaking North America occurs in 1911, when a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, near the border of upstate New York, reported that it was normal for the smaller children to go street guising (see below) on Halloween between 6 and 7 p.m., visiting shops and neighbors to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and songs. Another isolated reference appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920. The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but do not depict trick-or-treating. Ruth Edna Kelley, in her 1919 history of the holiday, The Book of Hallowe'en, makes no mention of such a custom in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America." It does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the earliest known uses in print of the term "trick or treat" appearing in 1934, and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939. Thus, although a quarter million Scots-Irish immigrated to America between 1717 and 1770, the Irish Potato Famine brought almost a million immigrants in 1845-1849, and British and Irish immigration to America peaked in the 1880s, ritualized begging on Halloween was virtually unknown in America until generations later.

Trick-or-treating spread from the western United States eastward, stalled by sugar rationing that began in April 1942 during World War II and did not end until June 1947.
Early national attention to trick-or-treating was given in October 1947 issues of the children's magazines Jack and Jill and Children's Activities, and by Halloween episodes of the network radio programs The Baby Snooks Show in 1946 and The Jack Benny Show and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet in 1948. The custom had become firmly established in popular culture by 1952, when Walt Disney portrayed it in the cartoon Trick or Treat, Ozzie and Harriet were besieged by trick-or-treaters on an episode of their television show, and UNICEF first conducted a national campaign for children to raise funds for the charity while trick-or-treating.

Trick-or-treating on the prairie. Although some popular histories of Halloween have characterized trick-or-treating as an adult invention to re-channel Halloween activities away from vandalism, nothing in the historical record supports this theory. To the contrary, adults, as reported in newspapers from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, typically saw it as a form of extortion, with reactions ranging from bemused indulgence to anger. Likewise, as portrayed on radio shows, children would have to explain what trick-or-treating was to puzzled adults, and not the other way around. Sometimes even the children protested: for Halloween 1948, members of the Madison Square Boys Club in New York City carried a parade banner that read "American Boys Don't Beg."

Now, a little Halloween treat:

quarta-feira, 30 de outubro de 2013

Beyond words

... communication is so much more than just words...

domingo, 27 de outubro de 2013

BookCrossing

BookCrossing (click on the name to go to the website)

It's the World's Library. It's a smart social networking site. It's a celebration of literature and a place where books get new life. BookCrossing is the act of giving a book a unique identity so, as the book is passed from reader to reader, it can be tracked and thus connecting its readers. There are currently 2,215,197 BookCrossers and 9,990,333 books travelling throughout132 countries. Our community is changing the world and touching lives one book at a time.

English Learning Websites

Free websites to learn and practice English

LiveMocha (click on the name to go to the website)

Duolingo (click on the name to go to the website)

LIBRARY

Dear student,

Here it goes! The list of books that is available for you to rent :)

Pre-Intermediate

* Go, Lovely Rose: o livro contém 3 histórias curtas, exercícios e glossário.

Not Available - Since October 28th 2013 (A.P.)

* Forrest Gump: um livro para alunos pré-intermediário de inglês sobre o famoso filme Forrest Gump.

AVAILABLE

* The Schemer: Uma história de investigação. Contém CD de áudio, exercícios práticos (com respostas para conferir), glossário bilíngue e teste final de compreensão.

AVAILABLE

* "Gibis" Digest Magazine: 5 Editions

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

Not Available - Since March 22 (S.F. e A.F.)

Advanced

* A Tale of Two Cities: After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille the aging Dr Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are all drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.

AVAILABLE

* Presumed Innocent: When a woman is found brutally murdered in her apartment, sadly, it's another day on the job for prosecutor Rusty Sabich. When that woman turns out to be a colleague, things start looking grim, and when that woman, Carolyn Polhemus, is identified as Rusty's lover, things become downright complicated. Scott Turow'sPresumed Innocent is a stunning depiction of betrayal and murder that plumbs the hidden depths of the heart.

AVAILABLE

* The Thorn Birds: A panoramic family saga set in the Australian outback. The Thorn Birds tells the story of Maggie Cleary and the man who loves her - Father Ralph Bricassart. His struggle with ambition and love is at the heart of the story. A blockbuster! Compulsive reading from start to finish.

AVAILABLE

* Eat Pray and Love: A #1 New York Times Bestseller -- By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls "Anne Lamott's hip, yoga-practicing, footloose younger sister") is poised to garner yet more adoring fans. This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali.

Not Available - Since January 30, 2015 (F.B.)

* The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: This gripping collection includes many of the famous cases-and great strokes of brilliance-that made the legendary Sherlock Holmes one of fiction's most popular creations. With his devoted secretary, Dr. Watson, Holmes emerges from his smoke-filled rooms on Baker Street to grapple with the forces of treachery, intrigue, and evil in such cases as "The Speckled Band," in which a terrified woman begs Holmes and Watson's help in solving the mystery surrounding her sister's death, and "A Scandal in Bohemia," which portrays a European king blackmailed by his mistress. A spine-tingling treat for anyone who loves a classic whodunit, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes shows the inimitable detective at his best.

AVAILABLE

* The Notebook: Every so often a love story so captures our hearts that it becomes more than a story-it becomes an experience to remember forever. The Notebook is such a book. It is a celebration of how passion can be ageless and timeless, a tale that moves us to laughter and tears and makes us believe in true love all over again... At thirty-one, Noah Calhoun, back in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted by images of the girl he lost more than a decade earlier. At twenty-nine, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer, but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tragedy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle...

AVAILABLE

* Mikhail S. Gorbachev, An Intimate Biography: This book reveals little not found in Christian Schmidt-Hauer's Gorbachev ( LJ 9/1/86) and Mark Frankland's The Sixth Continent ( LJ 11/15/87). Treatment of Gorbachev's early years relies on hearsay, his reminiscences, and those of fellow student Zdenek Mlynar. The period between 1956 and accession to the Politburo in 1980 is thinly sketched, and circumstances linking Gorbachev's rise with politicians Suslov, Kulakov, and Andropov are frustratingly vague. Recent sources help depict a sharper portrait of an outstanding orator and energetic leader. The chapter on the 1987 Washington summit is the best. Readers will find none of the promised intimacy, but may enjoy the match of the authors' style with Gorbachev's celebrity.

AVAILABLE

* Freedom at Midnight: First published in 1975, this 2009 edition is a new edition of the best-selling book described as irreplaceable by Le Monde, Paris. It is a poignant reminder of the defining moments of the end of the British Raj, the independence of 400 million people, their division into India and the newly created Pakistan. Time Magazine raised a poetic salutation to this brilliantly written book, hailing it as the Song of India . . . illuminated like scenes in a pageant .

AVAILABLE

* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: This is the complete and unabridged story of The Wizard of Oz, in which Dorothy, together with her companions the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and the cowardly Lion, makes her journey along the Yellow Brick Road in search of the wonderful wizard.

Bringing together traditional handicraft with cutting-edge book design, the Penguin Threads series has already created a huge buzz among the art and book-collecting communities. This latest set features cover art by painter and illustrator Rachell Sumpter, who brings a unique, whimsical sensibility to the Threads. With vivid colours and ambitiously intricate details, these additions to our innovative series commissioned by award-winning creative director Paul Buckley are rich works of art to be cherished and shared.

AVAILABLE

* Blood and Breakfast: 4 contos políciais com mais de 60 exercícios práticos, testes completos e vocabulário com mais de 400 palavras.

Not Available - Since November 25, 2014 (A.R.L.)

* Soft City: In the city we can live deliberately: inventing and renewing ourselves, carving out journeys, creating private spaces. But in the city we are also afraid of being alone, clinging to the structures of daily life to ward off the chaos around us.

AVAILABLE

* The Men I didn't Marry: Hallie’s husband, Bill, doesn’t even wait until they get home from dropping off their youngest daughter at Yale to announce that he’s leaving–for fitness trainer Ashlee (two e’s, perky breasts, and shiny hair to boot). After first succumbing to an Oreo-induced coma, Hallie is determined to get her life back. An unexpected call from an old college boyfriend sets a plan in motion. Whatever happened to all those men she didn’t marry?

First up is Eric, now an international businessman and number 277 on Forbes’s “Richest People in the World” list. He and Hallie used to put a nickel in the piggy bank every time they made love. Now Eric would like to renew the investment. Next she finds Rav Jon Yoma Maharishi–formerly known as Barry. Her onetime backpacking boyfriend has become the spiritual leader at the Heavenly Spirit Retreat Center, and their reunion would be a little smoother if he weren’t in the midst of a three-day silent meditation. Kevin, the sexiest man she ever met, is now a scuba-diving photographer working on Angelina Jolie’s latest movie. When he seduces her into joining him at his beachfront paradise on Virgin Gorda, Hallie can overlook his gaggle of bikini-clad friends, but can a woman survive on a steady diet of sex, sharks, and air tanks?
Back at home with her best friend, Bellini Baxter, Hallie visits an all-night spray-tanning salon and Soho’s legendary Cellulite Exorcist, whose secret weapon looks suspiciously like an Oreck vacuum cleaner. Hallie’s college-age children are protective of their mom but embarrassed to have her back in teenage territory–the world of dating and condoms. Finally, Hallie confronts the great love she swore she’d never see again and resolves an old family secret.

Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger tell a heartfelt and hilarious story about moving forward by looking back. By turns poignant and laugh-aloud funny, this is a must read for every woman who’s ever wondered about the men she didn’t marry.

AVAILABLE

domingo, 20 de outubro de 2013

Guessing game (online)

http://en.akinator.com/personnages/

This website is great! Think about any famous person and there is a great chance that (by answering yes or no questions) the Akinator will find out who this person is!

You don't need to create a user, just insert a nickname, age and gender so Akinator knows if the "famous person" is you ;)

Have fun!!!