Christmas with the Mafia, Joke

Source: Speak Up

Speak: Chuck Rollando

Language level: Proficiency

THE LAST LAUGH

Christmas with the Mafia

The young son of Mafia loss is sitting at his desk, trying to write a Christmas list to send to Baby Jesus. He begins: “Dear Baby Jesus, I have been a good boy the whole year, so I want a new…”

He looks at the letter, but realises it is no good. So he crumples it up into a ball and throws it away. A few minutes later he gets out a new piece of paper and starts writing again:

“Dear Baby Jesus, I have been a good boy for most of the year, so I want a new…” Again, he looks at the letter and throws it away.

The little boy then gets an idea. He goes into his mother’s room, takes a statue of the Virgin Mary, puts it in the closest and locks the door.

He takes another piece of paper and writes: “Dear Baby Jesus, if you ever want to see your mother again…”

A Question

Question: Santa Claus, one smart and one stupid policeman are walking together when they spot a hundred dollars on the ground. Who will take the money?

Answer: The stupid policeman because Santa Claus and the smart policeman don’t exist. 

Pro-jovem, part 36, Inglês Vip

Source: Inglês Vip, visit the link and find more videos there http://www.ingvip.com/curso-de-conversacao.htm 

Julia: Hi guys! What are you doing here?

Pedro: We are going to have  lunch(1). Do you want to join us(2)?

Julia:  Oh, not now(3). I am not hungry. Besides(4), I need to finish(5) this first. But why you don’t go ahead(6) and I'll meet you there(7) in 30 minutes.

Mariana: You look worried(8) with this project, Julia.

Julia: I am. The goal(9) of this project is to develop a selective recycling(10) at our neighborhood, I have two months to finish it. Otherwise(11), It won’t be working by the end of this year.

Mariana: Why don’t we help you?

Julia:  That would be great!(12)

Pedro: Tonight(13) I will call Lucas and see if he can help us too…

Mariana: Great! Good.

Julia: Hi Guys! It’s so nice to have you here. We will learn a lot(14) with this project. On the other hand(15), I want you to know(16): It’s not going to be easy.

Mariana: Cheer up(17), Julia! We are here to help you.

Lucas: So, What are we going to do?

Julia:  We have two months to go. These are the things we will have to finish by the end of this week. Lucas, you will be in charge of(18) this research here. I’ll help you with that, ok? Pedro and Mariana you can start with this.

Mariana:  I have one idea! Why  don’t we bring some posters to put up(19) around our neighborhood, explaining(20) why recycle is important?

Pedro: That’s a good idea. Even though(21) we will have more work to do, it’s going to be good for the project!

Julia: People, I can’t thank you enough(22). Working with a group can be hard(23) sometimes(24). However(25), we can have other thoughts(26), other views(27) we can count on(28).

Pedro: Julia, I have a friend who works at recycling center. Do you want me to call her(29) and see if she can help us?

Julia: Of course.  That will be a great help.

Pedro: Hello, cousin. How are you doing? My friend and I are going to develop a selective recycling at our neighborhood. Therefore(30), I thought it would be interesting(31) for us to know how the recycling center works…

Cousin: Sure(32), cousin. It’s gonna be a pleasure. We have a lot of interest in project like yours. And it is nice to know the young people, stand up for(33) causes like recycling. Are you free tomorrow afternoon?
Pedro: Ok, we will be there at four. Bye, bye. All set(34), guys.

 

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                                      Vocabulary

 1. Have lunch  = almoçar
 2. Do you want to join us? = Vocês querem se juntar a nós?
 3. Not now = agora não
 4. Besides  = além disso
 5. Finish = terminar
 6. Why don't you go ahead?  = por que você não vai na frente?
 7. I'll meet you there = Eu vou te encontrar lá
 8. You look worried  = você parece preocupado(a)
 9. Goal = objetivo
 10. Selective recycling = reciclagem seletiva
 11. Otherwise = do contrário
 12. That would be great! = Isso seria ótimo!
 13. Tonight = esta noite
 14. Learn a lot = aprender muito
 15.  On the other hand = por outro lado
 16. I want you to know = Eu quero que vocês saibam
 17. Cheer up = anime-se
 18. In charge of = encarregado de, responsável por
 19. put up = colocar, afixar
 20. Explaining = explicando
 21. Even though = mesmo que
  22. Enough = o suficiente
  23. Can be hard = pode ser difícil
  24. Sometimes = às vezes
  25. However = contudo
  26. Thoughts = pensamentos
  27. Views = visões
  28. Count on = contar com
  29. Do you want me to call her? = você quer que eu ligue para ela?
  30. Therefore = portanto
  31. Interesting = interessante
  32. Sure = certo, claro
  33. Stand up for = lutar por
  34. All set = tudo marcado

Yummy, Leeds

Source: 

http://www.mylifeinleeds.co.uk

Yummy Leeds! (no áudio)

The northern city of Leeds is in an unusual position. On the one hand, it is “the gateway” to Yorkshire, England’s largest (and, some people would say, most beautiful) country, And yet Leeds is not really on the tourist trail: the nearby city of York is smaller and more picturesque. In terms of size and history, Leeds is more similar to its Lancashire rivals Liverpool and Manchester, but they enjoy greater cultural recognition (because of their associations with respectively, The Beatles, and the “Madchester” scene).

FESTIVAL FEVER

Leeds is therefore working hard to put itself on the map. This could explain why it organised the “Leeds Loves Food” festival in July. The festival revolved around two main areas: there were entertaining cookery demonstrations (by celebrity chefs” like James Martin, a Yorkshireman) in the city’s Millennium Square, and there as a splendid food fair, organised by the Harvey Nichols department store, in the historic Victoria Quarter. This was a showcase for such Yorkshire delights as seafood (see interview, bellow), beef and ham, but also for more ethnic produce. Kitchen Guru, for example, is a company that makes pre-packaged spices for fans of Indian cuisine. Leeds has many fine Indian restaurants (such as The Bird, near the Royal Armouries) and diversity is one of the strong points of the British culinary experience. One of Leeds’ “hottest” restaurants these days is Casa Mia (in Chapel Allerton), run by an engaging Neapolitan who has made Yorkshire his home.

Source: Speak Up

Language level: Upper intermediate

Speaker: Mark Worden

Standard: British accent

It’ Getting Better!

This summer Speak Up attended the “Leeds Loves Food Festival” in Yorkshire. Britain doesn’t exactly enjoy a good culinary reputation around the world and many continental Europeans might find the idea of a British food festival strange. And yet attitudes to food in Britain have definitely changed over the last few years. We spoke to one of the festival’s participants, Jonathan Batchelor, of the Ramus Seafood emporium in Harrogate. He talked about improving British attitudes towards food:

Jonathan Batchelor

(Standard: English/Yorkshire accent)

The nation has changed, I think, a little bit. People are interested in good food, they might have gone abroad to places like Spain and Italy and France and eaten there and seen the culture over there. Whereby good food is not just something that you do at mealtimes, it’s something that you experience as part of your life and your enjoyment and people have brought that back home with them and also, you know, we’re waking up to the availability of great produce in our own country. You just have to look on television to see the number of food programmes promoting product. I mean, we’re here today promoting seven fantastic British seafood products that we should be absolutely proud of and everybody should be eating and there are things like that, you know, all over the country, you know, little local independent suppliers of this, that and the other, and we should be celebrating the great product that we have in this country and I think more and more we do, people are much more willing to eat and there’s much more of a café culture developing and, you know, it’s changed, I think, dramatically in the last 20 years.

Happy International Women's Day

                                  Me and my Wife

Happy International Woman’s Day 

Early morning I called up to my Wife and of course it is not very common. So, I told her how much I love her, how much she is important to me and I told: I don’t live without her.

The most important thing: I remind her today is The International Women’s Day, but not just a single day to express how much she and women are important in our lives. For many reasons…I am just here ‘cause my mom gave birth a long time ago. (She passed away), because you (women) are different and special, and in conclusion there are many other reason, but I have only word to say to you…I love you honey. To homage Women around the world, continue struggling against racism, violence and discrimination.

Today, 8^th March Happy International Women’s Day, God bless you. Promote this message and "Say no to violence against the Women." Twit this for your friends.

Learning English, Lesson 1

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohJCdihPWqc

You should improve your English using the internet resources, sites, blogs, YouTube videos, Facebook among others, keep focusing to improve your communication skill and never give up, keep accessing this blog and promoting give opportunity for Students worldwide. 

A plan to boost tourism

Source: www.maganews.com.br

A plan to boost [1] tourism

Brazil wants to take advantage of the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 to double the number of visitors to the country

In July the Brazilian Tourism Company (Embratur) announced the launch of a major marketing campaign to promote Brazil in 100 countries on four continents:  Europe, Asia, Africa and America. This campaign was christened [2] “Plano Aquarela 2020”.  The aim is to double the number of foreign tourists in the country by 2020.  The president of Embratur, Jeanine Pires, has revealed that in addition to this goal [3], there are two other ambitions: to make tourists spend longer [4] in the country (spending [5] more money here) and then to return to Brazil another time to visit other parts of the country. In 2009 Brazil was visited by about 4.9 million foreign tourists. In all, they spent US$5.3 billion.  Embratur has forecast [6] that Brazil will be visited by eight million foreign tourists in 2014 and over eleven million in 2020.  If this happens, in 2020 Brazil could earn [7] up to US$17.6 billion, according to the Embratur forecasts. Brazil is ranked 41^st in the world’s leading tourist destinations. While it attracted 4.9 million foreign tourists in 2009, France was visited by ten times [8] as many tourists in the same year. If Embratur’s plan works, in 2020 Brazil could climb [9] the ranking, to at least 15^th place.

Primeira parte da matéria, publicada na edição de número 56 da Revista Maganews.

Foto – Pedro Kirilo / Riotur

Áudio – Haley Alcântara (from New Zealand)

Vocabulary

1 to boost – expandir / “turbinar” / aumentar

2 to christen – batizar / colocar um nome

3 goal – meta

4 to spend longer – passar mais tempo

5 spending – gastar / gastando

6 to forecast – prever / projetar

7 to earn - faturar

8 ten times – 10 vezes mais…

9 to climb - subir

Carnival in São Paulo

Popular Culture

Source: Visit the website www.maganews.com.br

Carnival in São Paulo

The Carnival in São Paulo takes place from the 4th to the 11th of March and is

 one of the biggest parties in Brazil. São Paulo, the largest city in Latin America, organizes the most important Brazilian cultural gathering full of creativity and beauty. Five nights of parades for almost 120,000 people sharing their joy and way of life. Because of the Carnival, the city of São Paulo hosts 30,000 tourists, generating R$ 51,000,000 income. It is expected that 20% of these visitors come from abroad. São Paulo City Council is the main sponsor of the Carnival 2011, the revenue from this is used to support almost 100 samba schools and to cover the required infrastructure costs.

Sambódromo history

Polo Cultural e Esportivo Grande Otelo, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, is one of the largest outdoor event venues in the city. Also known as Sambódromo (Sambadrome), it is administrated by São Paulo Turismo and holds an average of 30 great events a year is held at Sambódromo, such as Carnival parade, and festivals like Nokia Trends, Skol Beats and Oi MegaRampa. This venue has recently received several international concerts and shows, like Carlos Santana, Jack Johnson, Black Eyed Peas, Elton John, Kiss and others. Sambadrome was first open in 1991 for 10,000 people. In 1992, this number doubled after had some bleacher modules finished. In February 12, 1996, with all sectors finished, this center was finally opened and affectionately name Sambódromo, with its real capacity of 30,000 people. Additionally to the whole required conception for large parades, Sambódromo has the whole necessary conception for samba schools, but also offers an infrastructure for concerts, events and parades, like Sete de Setembro parade (Independence Parade) since 1998.

Pictures (Carnival 2010 – Mancha Verde and Rosas de Ouro) – Photos by Caio Pimenta / SPTuris

Image.net