quinta-feira, 13 de janeiro de 2011

Robert Storr



Source: Speak Up
Language level: Advanced
Standard: American accent


THE ARTS

An American in Venice

The Venice Biennial is a major contemporary art exhibition which, apart from an interruption in the Second World War, has been staged every two years since 1895. This is the 52nd edition and it is directed by an American for the first time. The man in question is the art critic Robert Storr, who talked earlier in the year to Speak Up about his plans for the event, which will run until November:

Robert Storr:

Standard: American Accent

I think Biennales are about art, they’re not about news. Some art is news and some is not. Art is an experience that happens fast or slow, according to what the artist intends and according to what the artist makes and it also is according to how the viewer wishes to engage with the art.

In the Biennale there will be art from literally all over the world, there will be art of all media. There’ll be drawings, there’ll be cartoons, there’ll be films, there’ll be videos, there’ll be sculptures, there’ll be paintings, there’ll be art of all about generations. The oldest artist s 95 years old and the youngest artist is in his 20s. There are no dead old masters, there are only artists who are of the present.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Storr was then asked whether being an American posed any particular difficulties when it came to working with the locals:

Robert Storr:

Making these exhibitions is difficult no matter who you are. I don’t know whether being are American makes it more difficult of less, perhaps it’s more difficult for Italians to deal with an American, who knows! But in any case, the point is it’s a great honor to do it, it’s an extremely complicated process altogether, but we’re going to get there and it’s going to be, I think a very good show and it will be a collaborative effort. I would say that I have very much relied on the expertise of the permanent staff of Biennale, the people who work there all the time, and particularly the staff who’s involved in the exhibition production and the press relations and so on, they’re very, very good and they’ve made it possible.

THE MEANING OF ART

In conclusion Storr was asked to explain this edition’s slogan, “Think with the Senses – Feel with the Mind. Art in the Present Tense.”

Robert Storr:

There is a tradition that is as old as Plato and as recent as Marcel Duchamp, to suggest that there is a categorical or decisive separation between what the senses tell us about the world and what exists as an idea. Plato believed, of course, that the senses misrepresented a more perfect reality of the mind. Marcel Duchamp believed that art was an idea before it was an object or a thing and one should concentrate on the idea and not spend too much time on the visual experience.

These kinds of divisions, I think, are fundamentally flawed, fundamentalist wrong, that all visual art is also addressed to the mind and all conceptual art is also addressed to at least one of the senses: it could be the sense of touch, it could be the sense of  sound, it could be the sense of vision, it’s usually more than one and very often four or five.

Exhibition Details (no audio)

THE 52nd edition of the Venice Biennale’s International Art Exhibition will run until November 21st. Other related Biennale events include the 5th International Festival of Contemporary Dance, the 39th, International Theatre Festival, the 64th International Film Festival and the 51st International Festival of Contemporary Music. For further information, visit: www.labiennale.org

The last laugh

Source: Speak UP
Language level: Advanced
Standard: American accent

Bs: This joke is not updated ‘cause Bush was the President of USA yet.

The last Laugh

Mr. President...

A plane is about to crash. There are five passengers on board, but there are only four parachutes. So the passengers have to make a very quick decision: which one of them will make the ultimate sacrifice?

The first passenger says:

“I am Ronaldo, the best soccer player in the world. The sporting world needs me, and I cannot die on my fans.” He grabs the first parachute and jumps out of the plane.

The second passenger, Hillary Clinton, says:

“I am the wife of the former president of the United States; I am a senator for the state of New York and I have a good chance of being the next president of the United States.”

She grabs a parachute and jumps off the plane.

The third passenger, George W. Bush, says:

“I am the current president of the United States of America, I have huge responsibilities in the world. Besides, I am the smartest president in the history of my country and I can’t shun the responsibility to my people by dying.”

He grabs a pack and jumps off the plane.

The fourth passenger, the Pop, says to the fifth passer, a young boy:

“I am old. I have lived my live as a good person, as priest should, and so I shall leave the last parachute to you; you have the rest of your life ahead of you.

To this the little boy replies:

“Don’t worry, old man, there is a parachute of each of us! The smartest president in American history took my schoolbag.”

Amazonia, the most precious place on the planet

Source: www.maganews.com.br
Amazonia, the most precious place on the planet


Amazonia is home to the world’s largest tropical forest and has an incredible diversity of animal, plant and tree species. Learn more about this region, which has been devastated by man in recent decades, and which is fundamental to our planet’s climate


       Amazonia is one of the largest and most important regions in the world. It stretches into nine countries:  Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Suriname, Guiana and French Guiana. About 60% of the total area of Amazonia is in Brazil, covering about 5.5 million square meters. Brazilian Amazonia stretches to the States of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima, Pará, Maranhão, Mato Grosso and Tocantins. At least 55% of the indigenous population of Brazil lives in the Amazonian region.
     In terms of volume of water, the Amazon is the world’s largest river. The region also has other great rivers, such as the Negro. Twenty percent of all the fresh water on the planet passes through the rivers in Amazonia. The region is also home to the largest tropical forest in the world. In the rivers and undergrowth of the region live millions of fish, birds and mammals. The plant wealth of the Amazonia is awesome. There are 200 different types of tree per hectare. The region also has the biggest mineral reserves on earth.
* Source – Amazonia Surveillance System (Sivam)

Você pode ler a matéria completa sobre a Amazônia na edição de número 35 da Revista Maganews

Vocabulary
forest – floresta

tree - árvore
to stretch into – se estender por
mammal – mamífero

quarta-feira, 12 de janeiro de 2011

Speak up in Class, The Isle of Mull

Please listen  to the post http://englishtips-self-taught.blogspot.com/2011/01/isle-of-mull.html after that do the exercise, for more information keep in touch and I'll give the answers E-mail: carlosrn36@gmail.com or comment here with your e-mail, I really apprecitate. 

Source: Speak Up

The Isle of Mull

Before you start

1.   Talk to a partner

1.   Can you name any island off the coast of Scotland?
2.   What do you think life is like on these islands?
3.   What is the climate like?
4.   What wildlife do you think you can see there?

Listen and answer

2.   Read listen (without reading) and choose the correct answer.

1.   The Isle of Mull is near the Hebrides.
a)  True b) False c) The article doesn’t say.
2.   It’s a very small island.
a)  True b) False c) The article doesn’t say.
3.   Tobermory is
a)  The island’s main street. b) The island’s main town. c) The name of the ferry.
4) The wildlife you can see on and around the island consists of
a) Many species of birds b) Seals, dolphins and whales c) All of these.
Read and answers
3.   Read the article and answer the questions with a partner.
1.   What do visitors like about Mull?
2.   Why is Mull home to many species of birds?
3.   How can you get to the Isle of Mull?
4.   Why did a Spanish galleon arrive in the bay?
5.   Why is tere an annual music festival on the island?
Learn it! Use it!
4.   Complete these sentences with words from the glossary. (You may have to adapt the expression to some way) e.g. change the tense, or change from singular or plural.)
1.   Let’s go down to the_______________ and buy some fish from the fishing boats.
2.   The police are___________________ for two escaped prisoners.
3.   If an egg is fresh, it will________________ in a bowl of water.
4.   The picture we bought is a ___________________painting of forests and mountains.
5.   Luckily there was nobody in the factory when the gas cylinder_______________.
6.   _____________________ are the largest sea mammals.

Take it further

5.   Complete this extract from an e-mail message Write one word for each space.
We______________ (1) at Tobermory three days ago_____________ (2) ferry. Our hotel room looks on _____________ (3) a harbor with lots of yachts and fishing________________ (4). Yesterday we _________________  (5) on a wildlife tour.  We drove___________ (6) the mountains and we _______________ (7) some golden eagles. Tomorrow we’re going_____________ a boat trip to some nearby islands. We_____________ (9) to see some whales and dolphins. Perhaps we_____________ (10) be lucky.

Write about it.

6.   Imagine you are a British tourist in Brazil. Write a similar e-mail message in a friend about the tourist location your are visiting.
Well, after you do the lesson keep in touch with and I’ll give the answer through e-mail carlosrn31@yahoo.com.br

Master of Sands



Source: Speak Up
Language level: Intermediate
Standard: American Accent


Master of Sands

“No snow? No problem! Sand Never Melts! In the US, sandboarding already has some 14.000 fans. The sport has been called a cross between “dry surfing and hot snowboarding.” Sandboarders use the same equipment as snowboarders, but you don’t need any snow, you just need a good sand dune.

Josh Tenge, 27, is a pioneer of the sport and one of the best riders in the States. He’s based in Florence, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest region and he first came to sandboarding from snowboarding. As he explains, he was in Nevada at the time:

Josh Tenge:

(Standard American accent):

My name’s Josh Tenge: I’ve been sandboarding for about six years. I got involved through some friends that were working with me at Diamond Peak Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe. I was teaching snowboarding there, and some people I rode with said, “Hey, come out and try this new sport, it’s called sandboarding, it's much like snowboarding." And so (I) came out and gave it a whirl. The second time we did a TV show and…we managed to start doing front flips at that point, and then no-one had ever done that before. So that kind of how I got into it, and she sponsors picked me up from there and then I’ve been competing ever since.

ANCIENT OR MODERN?

So how long has sandboarding been around? It is possible that the ancient Egyptians slid down the desert slops on whatever was to hand. Others say the sport was invented by Brazilian surfers on a windless day, sometime in the last century, using doors, planks of woods or cardboard. In the US, some of the best sand dunes are in the seaside town of Florence, Oregon. Here, at the world’s  first sandboarding park, you can hire boards, take lessons, try out your maneuvers and buy your gear from boards to goggles, wax and T-Shirts. It’s still a small scene, so anybody who wants to can get a lesson from air master and four times world champion Josh himself, whose trophies line the wall of the shop.

THE CHAMP
Josh still divides his time between teaching snowboarding in the winter and sandboarding in the summer; that is if he’s not competing in Brazil or Peru, or practising for the World Championships in Germany. Josh is already in the Guinness Book of Records, for the longest-distance back flip. Recently, he has been sandboarding in Dubai and Egypt, to film front flips, back flips, and rail slides for the Discovery Channel. In true American spirit, Josh Tenge wants to see how far he can go:

Josh Tenge:

I feel like I’ve got a pretty good background at what I’ve been doing and I constantly try to keep pushing myself and I keep trying to learn new maneuvers, and to stay fresh. And I like to do new things with sandboarding because no-one’s really done it, so there’s no limits; and there’s no-one saying, “Oh, well, you can’t do that,” and it’s more like, what can I think of, my imagination, it's free for my imagination to run free in this sport, so it’s…it’s  really inspire to me.

Lesson One (no audio)

Our first sandboarding lesson takes place on a large dune. We watch as Josh Tenge, our instructor, comes down the school, whooshes past us and swings down the sandy slope. This is how it should look, then

Josh shows us how to rub wax onto our boards, ease our feet into the Velcro bindings and jump up and down, left and right, to soften the board. Off I go, taking Josh’s hand and slowly moving down the dune.

Thankfully, sand is much slower than snow, so you have more time to find your balance. So after a couple of false starts, I’m at least able to progress a few metres, even if it doesn’t look very graceful. The problems begin when I reach a bend and promptly fall over, landing softly in the sand. I never did mast that bend in my first session, but I definitely enjoyed myself!

History of English part II

Source: www.voanews.com


Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry in France
Photo: Getty Images
Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry in France. The cloth, over 68 meters long, tells about the Norman conquest of England, the event marking the beginning of French influence on the English language

STEVE EMBER: This is Steve Ember.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And this is Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program, EXPLORATIONS. Today we present the second of our two programs about the history of the English Language.
(MOVIE)
STEVE EMBER: Last week, we told how the English language developed as a result of several invasions of Britain. The first involved three tribes called the Angles, the Jutes and the Saxons. A mix of their languages produced a language called Anglo-Saxon, or Old English. It sounded very much like German. Only a few words remained from the Celts who had lived in Britain
Two more invasions added words to Old English. The Vikings of Denmark, Norway and Sweden arrived in Britain more than one thousand years ago. The next invasion took place in the year ten sixty-six. French forces from Normandy were led by a man known as William the Conqueror.
The Norman rulers added many words to English. The words “parliament,” “jury,” “justice,” and others that deal with law come from the Norman rulers.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Over time, the different languages combined to result in what English experts call Middle English. While Middle English still sounds similar to German, it also begins to sound like Modern English.
Here Warren Scheer reads the very beginning of Geoffrey Chaucer’s great poem, “The Canterbury Tales” as it was written in Middle English.
WARREN SCHEER: Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heath


STEVE EMBER: Chaucer wrote that poem in the late thirteen hundreds. It was written in the language of the people. The rulers of Britain at that time still spoke the Norman French they brought with them in ten sixty-six.
The kings of Britain did not speak the language of the people until the early fourteen hundreds. Slowly, Norman French was used less and less until it disappeared.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The English language was strongly influenced by an event that took place more than one thousand four hundred years ago. In the year five ninety-seven, the Roman Catholic Church began its attempt to make Christianity the religion of Britain.
The language of the Catholic Church was Latin. Latin was not spoken as a language in any country at that time. But it was still used by some people.
Latin made it possible for a church member from Rome to speak to a church member from Britain. Educated people from different countries could communicate using Latin.
Latin had a great effect on the English language. Here are a few examples. The Latin word “discus” became several words in English including “disk,” “dish,” and “desk.” The Latin word “quietus” became the English word “quiet.” Some English names of plants such as ginger and trees such as cedar come from Latin. So do some medical words such as cancer.
STEVE EMBER: English is a little like a living thing that continues to grow. English began to grow more quickly when William Caxton returned to Britain in the year fourteen seventy-six. He had been in Holland and other areas of Europe where he had learned printing. He returned to Britain with the first printing press.
The printing press made it possible for almost anyone to buy a book. It helped spread education and the English language.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Slowly, during the fifteen hundreds, English became the modern language we would recognize. English speakers today would be able to communicate with English speakers in the last part of the sixteenth century.
William Shakespeare's portrait on the First Folio edition
Getty Images

William Shakespeare's portrait on the First Folio edition
It was during this time period that the greatest writer in English produced his work. His name was William Shakespeare. His plays continue to be printed, acted in theaters, and seen in motion pictures almost four hundred years after his death.
STEVE EMBER: Experts say that Shakespeare’s work was written to be performed on the stage, not to be read. Yet every sound of his words can produce word pictures, and provide feelings of anger, fear and laughter. Shakespeare’s famous play “Romeo and Juliet” is so sad that people cry when they see this famous story.
The story of the power-hungry King Richard the Third is another very popular play by Shakespeare. Listen as Shep O’Neal reads the beginning of “Richard the Third.”
SHEP O’NEAL: Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths; 
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures


SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The development of the English language took a giant step just nine years before the death of William Shakespeare. Three small British ships crossed the Atlantic Ocean in sixteen-oh-seven. They landed in an area that would later become the southern American state of Virginia. They began the first of several British colonies. The name of the first small colony was Jamestown.
In time, people in these new colonies began to call areas of their new land by words borrowed from the native people they found living there. For example, many of the great rivers in the United States are taken from American Indian words. The Mississippi, the Tennessee, the Missouri are examples. Other Native American words included “moccasin”, the kind of shoe made of animal skin that Indians wore on their feet.
This borrowing or adding of foreign words to English was a way of expanding the language. The names of three days of the week are good examples of this. The people from Northern Europe honored three gods with a special day each week. The gods were Odin, Thor and Freya. Odin’s-day became Wednesday in English, Thor’s-day became Thursday and Freya’s-day became Friday.
STEVE EMBER: Britain had other colonies in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and India. The English language also became part of these colonies. These colonies are now independent, but English still is one of the languages spoken. And the English language grew as words from the native languages were added.
For example, the word “shampoo” for soap for the hair came from India. “Banana” is believed to be from Africa.
Experts cannot explain many English words. For hundreds of years, a dog was called a “hound.” The word is still used but not as commonly as the word “dog.” Experts do not know where the word “dog” came from or when. English speakers just started using it. Other words whose origins are unknown include “fun,” “bad,” and “big.”
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: English speakers also continue to invent new words by linking old words together. A good example is the words “motor” and “hotel.” Many years ago some one linked them together into the word “motel.” A motel is a small hotel near a road where people travelling in cars can stay for the night.
Other words come from the first letters of names of groups or devices. A device to find objects that cannot be seen called Radio Detecting and Ranging became “Radar.” The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is usually called NATO.
Experts say that English has more words that explain the same thing that any other language. For example, the words “large,” “huge,” “vast,” “massive,” and “enormous” all mean something really “big.”
STEVE EMBER: People often ask how many words there are in the English language. Well, no one really knows. The Oxford English Dictionary lists about six hundred fifteen thousand words. Yet the many scientific words not in the dictionary could increase the number to almost one million.
And experts are never really sure how to count English words. For example, the word “mouse.” A mouse is a small creature from the rodent family. But “mouse” has another very different meaning. A “mouse” is also a hand-held device used to help control a computer. If you are counting words do you count “mouse” two times?
(MUSIC)
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Visitors to the Voice of America hear people speaking more than forty different languages. Most broadcasters at VOA come from countries where these languages are spoken. International organizations such as VOA would find it impossible to operate without a second language all the people speak.
The language that permits VOA to work is English. It is not unusual to see someone from the Mandarin Service talking to someone from the Urdu Service, both speaking English. English is becoming the common language of millions of people worldwide, helping speakers of many different languages communicate.
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: This Special English program was written and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Steve Ember.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And this is Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program, on the Voice of America
.

Technologies and English, part I


Good morning dear readers,

Today I decided to write about English tips, and how much it can be used for English learners and people interested to keep in touch with the Language. Speak English is not difficult; it depends on your willpower and dedication. This days I talked about how much the technologies could be useful approach each other and make friends around the world is easier due this technology.

As matter as fact, this technology have been used and continues used in order to improve and practice a language, in particular English. Thanks to this language communication became easily after the Babel Tower Fell down a long time ago. You cannot figure out, if we don’t have English for communicate how much difficult would be?

Anyways, change a bit of subject I’m so glad when I receive comments thankful for sharing my tips, articles, videos and websites and blogs’s tips. Teach by yourself known as Self-taught today is not difficult. You can use MP3, iPods, Notebooks using podcasts in order to improve your English, as well as access websites and blogs in English.

This blog receive a lot of visitors from Asia, mostly are friends, bloggers and teachers, of course students worldwide. I always encourage them to continue practice English overcome his/her difficult.

Finally, I have no words to describe how much happy is when you come, share, comment or suggest me, thank you so much Insya Allah (For God willing) we’re meeting tomorrow and the day after tomorrow until the day I dying. Next topic I’m going to talk about and share why did I decide to practice English and how I did that, what methodology I used for. See you tomorrow.