Let's have some fun

Hello guys,

This week I am sharing some links of a very nice channel I follow on youtube: GMM (Good Mythical Morning).

It is authentic English, so it is a great way for you all to practice!

I hope you enjoy it!

Mythology

Hello guys,

For those of you who enjoy mythology, here are some videos you may appreciate.

Remember you can activate the "CC" (Closed Captions) and read the subtitles in English!

Have lots of fun!

Great apps to play with English words

Hello dear students,

Here are some apps for you to play word games such as crosswords, word search...

Word games can be a great tool for you to improve your vocabulary, writing, language perception and to improve your brain performance as a whole.

(Beware! There are many other games like these ones- FREE- so explore your Google Store or Apple Store for more!)

Enjoy yourselves!

Literal translation

We use a lot of expressions that are not TRANSLATABLE! 

Think for a moment about these expressions:

"Chega!" ("Arrive": atingir o termo de uma trajetória, de um percurso de ida e/ou de vinda /alcançar ou tocar um determinado ponto no espaço ou no tempo.- Porém normalmente usamos com o sentido de "Pare, basta!"- fica difícil traduzir literalmente essa expressão)

"Me deu bolo!" ("(Someone) gave me a cake!": literalmente é "Alguém me deu um bolo" não existe no inglês essa expressão no sentido de alguém não compareceu no compromisso!)

"Que mala!" ( "What a briefcase!" - essa sequer faz sentido em inglês! heheh)

Some other expressions:

- Amigo da onça

- Tá bombando!

- Viajando na maionese!

- Pagar mico!

- Pega leve!

- Que droga!

- Quebra meu galho!

- E aí, cara!? (And there, face! hehehe Este é terrível mesmo!)

and so on and so forth (e assim por diante)

Part of being fluent in a language is to understand what kind of expressions in our own language can't be translated literally.

It is definitely something fun to do: take a moment and think of some common expressions we use in Portuguese, and how they sound if we take them literally!

This is not privilege of Portuguese only! All languages have some fun expressions!

Check the videos below and have fun practicing! 

LITERAL JOHN (João Literal)

GREAT VIDEO!

Learn English with the World’s Best Videos

https://www.englishcentral.com/videos

APP: English Central

(Android and iOS- Free)

Listening Practice Online

Hello dear students!

Here is a great website for you to practice and improve your listening skill and English comprehension!

http://www.esl-lab.com

Learning Tips: 

• Set realistic goals. Expectations should meet reality.
• Understand the context to anticipate what you will listen.
• Be patient.

Have a great practice!

Vocabulary Builder APP

This is an amazing APP to improve vocabulary!

There is also the website:
https://gre.magoosh.com/builder/vocabulary

Enjoy it! 

Working on Mistakes

In the following video Gavin talks about some verbs that exist only in Portuguese.
It is comum for students to misuse them. Specially "know+ place" (conhecer+lugar) and "pass"(passar).

How to say "passar" in English?

http://www.teclasap.com.br/como-se-diz-passar-em-ingles/

Columbus Day- October

Columbus Day is an annual celebration that remembers Christoper Columbus’ arrival to the Americas on October 12th, 1492. Columbus Day is held each year on the second Monday of October. 

• Instead of landing in the Indies, Columbus landed at what is now the Caribbean Islands; called Guanahani by the Indians and deemed San Salvador by Columbus. Columbus, however, believed he had reached Asia. He died in 1506 still believing he had found a route to the New World.
• Columbus was searching for a new route that would allow ships to bring spices from Asia to Europe.
• He sailed with a 90 man crew on three ships which were called the Santa Maria, the Nina, and the Pinta. They sailed for two long months that were filled with sickness, famine, and exhaustion.

• The first commemoration of Columbus took place in 1792
• Many people do not like this holiday, because the European settlement in the Americas led to the destruction of the history and culture of the people that were native to these lands.
• In 1866, the Italian population of New York organized a celebration of the discovery of America.
• In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ landing.
• In 1937, every October 12 was proclaimed as “Columbus Day” by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• In 1968, Columbus Day was declared a federal public holiday on the second Monday in October by President Lydon B. Johnson, however, 22 states don’t celebrate Columbus Day.

Here is a video about the criticism over this holiday:

Video: How our friendship survives our opposing politics

Hello dear students,

The bipolarization that proceeds in the USA (Democrats vs. Republicans) happens here too.(in terms of different political position)

Here is an amazing video of two women who became friends before sharing their political positions and they tell how they manage to maintain their friendship and respect their different points of view.

Hallmarks:

"We have chosen to be genuinely curious about each other's ideas and perspectives and to be willing to listen to one another even when we disagree... and by putting aside our ego and preconceived ideas we've opened ourselves up to limitless learning... but remember, the goal isn't to win (the "debate"), the goal is to listen and to understand and to be open to learn something new."

If you have any problem following what they say, please press CC for English Subtitles/ Closed Captions

(Se você tiver qualquer problema seguindo o que elas dizem, por favor, pressione CC para Legendas em Inglês/ Closed Captions)

How to activate CC?

(Como ativar CC?)

Press CC in the bottom right corner of the video.

(Pressione CC no canto inferior direito do video)

Future Tenses

Hello guys,

Today I am sharing with you a great video, from a great channel.

This video illustrates in a very intelligent way the uses of future in English.

Have fun!

English Accents

Hello dear students,

This week I am sending you some videos to show you the different accents that you can find within English language.

Enjoy it!

American Accents

European Accents

Canadian Accents

Australian Accents

And this is just for fun... this guy alone speaks 24 accents!

Language Exchange App

CONVERSATION EXCHANGES WITH NATIVE SPEAKERS 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.tandem&referrer=utm_source%3Dwebsite%26utm_medium%3DAndroidButton

Hello dear students,

Here is another great app for you all!

More English practice!

Have lots of fun practicing!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lamark.eng.vivo.app&hl=en

English Conversation App

If you need to practice your English more and if you want to practice having conversations but you have a hard time finding someone to practice English with here is a great app for you!

In order to improve your English conversation, you need to improve your listening, understanding, and speaking. This app provides hundreds of lessons designed to give you great English conversation practice.

Practicing Simple Past Irregular Verbs

Hello dear students,

This is a great app (free) for you to practice the irregular verbs of Simple Past!

You will work meaning, written form in a very fun and intelligent way!

Enjoy it!

PlayStore link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nikitadev.irregularverbs&hl=en

English Practice Website

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/

This is a German website with lots of material for you to practice English. No German there, don't worry!

Have fun practicing!

Living Small... Experiencing Big

Hello dear students,

Today I am bringing you a new concept that is spreading in some countries.
People are living in tiny mobile houses so they can change address... experiencing new places and life styles.

The video I am sending you today is about Jenna. She lives in a beautiful tiny house. In the video she first explains about how the house works (mostly outside structure) and after she shows the interior of the house.

I think the topic is interesting and is also a very good way to practice English.

Enjoy!

Life Lesson

Mandy Harvey is deaf!

She lost her hearing at the age of 18.

She is now 29 years old... She is a musician and singer!

She wrote a beautiful song... this is truly an inspiring story!

Her song with lyrics

English Practice- website

Hello everyone,

This website is very good for those who want to study specific topics on English grammar!

https://www.englishpractice.com

Here are the topics that you can research:

English at the Gym

Hello dear students!

Many people like to exercise the muscles. Why not exercise both your muscles and your English?
There are many videos on the internet for those who want to do physical exercises at home.
So here are some videos that will help you ;)
Have fun!

ENGLISH VOCABULARY- AT THE GYM

YOGA FOR BEGINNERS

Watch and listen... the instructions correspond to what will be done right after or at the time!

PILATES BASICS

HOMEWORK OUT

Fun Time!

Guessing Words from Brazil!

Library of Congress

Practice makes perfect... so let's read a bit in English!

Here is a website where you can find English classic books that are free for your entertainment!

http://www.read.gov/books/

Tips to Improve Comprehension and Pronunciation

We all need to understand English in order to communicate with others, but we also need to have a good pronunciation. (by "good" I mean understandable- and not "without accent")

The following videos are really helpful.

1. Seth (Amigo Gringo) tells us ways to practice and improve your comprehension/fluency.

2. Gavin (Small Advantages) helps English learners with the word connections in some sentences. 

I guess it is all about listening more English... some of these connections will come naturally at some point, but why not start practicing them right now ;)

3 steps to be yourself in English

Essa semana que passou o Gavin postou um vídeo muito legal, reportando algo que toda pessoa que está aprendendo uma nova língua (no caso de vocês, o inglês) enfrenta: como ser EU mesmo na nova língua?

Isso acontece porque não conseguimos responder da mesma forma que responderíamos no Português, nem brincar da mesma forma, nem interagir da mesma forma... seja por falta de vocabulário ou de noção de estruturas, seja por medo de errar, seja por desconhecer contexto para aplicar nosso conhecimento.

Neste vídeo o Gavin fala muito bem sobre o assunto e acho absolutamente útil para nós que aprendemos outra língua!

Have fun!

English Texts - APP

English Topics is an application which can help you easily improve your English. It is a handbook containing various short English texts(topics) on different subjects with different English levels. The variety of subjects will help you increase your English vocabulary.

Culinary

For all of those who love cooking (or eating) and would like to enjoy it with some English practice here are some great tips for you all guys:

* http://allrecipes.com

On "All recipes" you can browse recipes by ingredients ( and you can also exclude ingredients you don't like, don't have or even those you can't eat)

* http://www.jamieoliver.com

Jamie Oliver has a FANTASTIC YouTube Channel - homonymous - for those who love cooking. 

Does he speak fast? Yes.

Can we follow the recipe just with the video? Yes.

Have lots of fun guys! And if you try any cool recipe, don't forget to invite the teacher! heheheh

Só Língua Inglesa

http://www.solinguainglesa.com.br

Hello dear students,

Here it goes... Another website for you to study English!

You can register for free and use all the website features!

HAVE FUN!

Barbecue

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barbecue

DEFINITION:

Barbecue (BBQ)

I apologize to my vegetarian students. This is a bit of culinary vocabulary for the meat eaters.

AMERICAN TYPICAL BARBECUE

Meat, bread, BBQ (barbecue) sauce and sometimes salad. 

They don't have our traditional garlic bread and no, there is no "mayonnaise"salad.

HERE IS THE VIDEO THAT EXPLAINS THE DEGRESS OF STEAK DONENESS: