segunda-feira, 13 de junho de 2011

Contextualising


I’ve been received e-mails, mostly from Brazilians students asking me for why I don’t write in Portuguese. First of all most of the tips I’m not the owner, I use some websites to promote the best contents and mostly are in English.
Anyways, as you know you can use a good dictionary, secondly there is a Google, even I don’t recommend about the usage of this tool, that’s because it’s one of the major problem is literal translation, not recommendable for grammarians and experts, instead, the most important is understand the context, I mean, interpretation is the best way to contextualising, otherwise sometimes the literal translation doesn’t make sense. I also recommend you visit both Denilso de Lima a.k.a as Doctor Descomplica, his blog's content is in Portuguese but really useful http://www.denilsodelima.blogspot.com as well as Ulisses Whelby and your amazing Teclasap http://www.teclasap.com.br Teachjer Bruno http://teacherbruno1.blogspot.com/ and the list goes on.
 Usually, of course you can getting started to use labels to construct your vocabulary and getting started to write short compositions, about 10 lines.  Start to describe about your job, friends and your daily routine and make up the sentence, you can create them.
I could see another problem, basically about the usage of grammar, and particularly I think that the best way is studying grammar using lyric songs http://www.englishexercises.org I think it’s one of the best website developed for ESL teachers excellent also for ESL students.
OK, that’s all for today and I think the base of the language firstly is communicating understand and being understood. See you around. 

Jacob Riis: A Reporter Who Fought for the Poor in Old New York

Source: www.manythings.org/voa/people

Jacob Riis: A Reporter Who Fought for the Poor in Old New York



I'm Shirley Griffith. And I'm Ray Freeman with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA.
Every week at this time, the Voice of America tells about someone important in the history of the United States. This week we tell about Jacob Riis. He was a writer who used all his energy to make the world a better place for poor people.
(MUSIC)
In the spring of eighteen seventy, a young man traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City. The young man came from Denmark. His name was Jacob Riis. He was just twenty-one years old.
His first years in the United States were difficult, like those of most immigrants at that time. It was difficult to get a job. Jacob Riis went from place to place seeking work. He did any kind of work he could find. Farming, coal mining, brick-making. He even tried to earn money as a peddler. He went from house to house selling things. Many times he slept wherever he could.
Soon he was beginning to lose hope. He decided to leave New York. He started to walk north. After a time, he arrived in the Bronx, the northern part of New York City. His feet burned with pain. And he was hungry.
"I had not eaten a thing since the day before. I had no breakfast, and decided to have a swim in the Bronx River, instead. But that did not help. I was just as hungry when I came out of the water.
"Then I walked slowly to Fordham College, which was not far from where I was. The doors to Fordham College were open, and I walked in, for no reason. I was just tired and had nothing else to do.
"Fordham is a Catholic college. And an old monk came to me and asked in a kind voice if I was hungry. I still remember in my dreams at night the beautiful face of that old monk. I was terribly hungry, and said I was, although I did not mean to do so. I had never seen a real live monk before. My own religious education as a Lutheran did not teach me to like Catholic monks.
"I ate the food that was brought to me. But I was troubled. I was afraid that after giving me food, the churchman would ask me to change my religious beliefs. I said to myself: 'I am not going to do it. ' But when I had eaten, I was not asked to do anything. I was given more food when I left, and continued on my way. I was angry with myself for having such bad thoughts about the Catholic churchmen at Fordham College. For the first time, I learned something about how to live with people of different religious beliefs."
(MUSIC)
Later, Jacob Riis learned more about liking people, even if they are different. This time, it happened while he was working on a railroad with men who did rough work and looked rough.
"I had never done that sort of work, and it was not the right job for me. I did my best to work like the other men. But my chest felt heavy, and my heart pounded in my body as if it were going to explode. There were nineteen Irishmen in the group. They were big, rough fellows. They had chosen me as the only 'Dutchman' -- as they called me -- to make them laugh. They were going to use me as part of their jokes.
"But then they saw that the job was just too hard for me. This made them feel different about me. It showed another side to these fun-loving, big-hearted people. They thought of many ways to get me away from the very rough work. One was to get me to bring water for them. They liked stronger things to drink than water. But now they suddenly wanted water all the time. I had to walk a long way for the water. But it stopped me from doing the work that was too hard for me. These people were very rough in their ways. But behind the roughness they were good men. "
At last, Jacob Riis got a job writing for a newspaper in New York City. This was his chance. He finally had found a profession that would lead to his life work -- making the world a better place for poor people.
The newspaper sent him to police headquarters for stories. There he saw life at its worst, especially in a very poor part of New York which was known as Mulberry Bend.
"It was no place for men and women. And surely no place for little children. It was a terrible slum -- as such places are called -- where too many are crowded together, where the houses and streets are dirty and full of rats. The place began to trouble me as the truth about it became clear. Others were not troubled. They had no way of finding out how terrible the lives of people were in Mulberry Bend. But as a newspaper reporter, I could find the truth. So I went through the dark dirty streets and houses, and saw how the people suffered in this area. And I wrote many stories about the life there.
"I did good work as a police reporter, but wanted a change. My editor said, 'no'. He asked me to go back to Mulberry Bend and stay there. He said I was finding something there that needed me."
The words of Jacob Riis' editor proved to be very true. Riis started a personal war against slum houses, the sort he saw in Mulberry Bend. He learned to use a camera to show the public clearly what the Mulberry Bend slum was like. The camera in the eighteen eighties was nothing like it is today. But Riis got his pictures.
"I made good use of them quickly. Words could get no action to change things. But the pictures did. What the camera showed was so powerful that the city's health officials started to do something. At last I had a strong partner in the fight against Mulberry Bend -- my camera. "
(MUSIC)
Jacob Riis continued the fight to clean up the slums for many years. There were not many people to help him. It was a lonely fight. But his camera and fighting words helped to get a law passed which would destroy the Mulberry Bend slum. Finally, the great day came. The slum housing was gone. The area had become a park.
"When they had fixed the ground so the grass could grow, I saw children dancing there in the sunlight. They were going to have a better life, thank God. We had given them their lost chance. I looked at these dancing children and saw how happy they were. This place that had been full of crime and murder became the most orderly in the city.
"The murders and crimes disappeared when they let sunlight come into the Bend. The sunlight that shone upon children who had, at last, the right to play. That was what the Mulberry Bend Park meant. So the Bend went. And I was very happy that I had helped to make it go. "
That was not Riis' last battle to make life cleaner and better for many people. He had great energy. And his love for people was as great as his energy.
He started a campaign to get clean water for the state of New York. He showed that water for the state was not healthy for people. State officials were forced to take actions that would clean the water.
He also worked to get laws against child labor, and made sure that these laws were obeyed. In those days, when Riis was a fighting newspaper reporter, laws against child labor were something new. People did not object to making young children work long hours, in places that had bad air and bad light. But in the United States today, child labor is not legal. It was because of men like Jacob Riis that this is so.
He was also successful in getting playgrounds for children. And he helped establish centers for education and fun for older people.
His book, "How the Other Half Lives," was published in eighteen ninety. He became famous. That book and his newspaper reports influenced many people. Theodore Roosevelt, who later became president of the United States, called Riis the most useful citizen in New York City.
Riis continued to write about conditions that were in need of major reform. His twelve books including "Children of the Poor" helped improve conditions in the city. The books also made him popular as a speaker in other cities. Jacob Riis's concern for the poor kept him so busy writing and speaking around the country that he ruined his health. He died in nineteen fourteen.
(MUSIC)
This Special English program was written by Herbert Sutcliffe and produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Ray Freeman. And I'm Shirley Griffith. Listen again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.

domingo, 12 de junho de 2011

Maganews Take a Subscription


I recommend this wonderful magazine for Brazilians teachers and students, all content is in English and you can check out the affordable price visiting the website http://www.maganews.com.br . Every month I update on my blog texts from Magazine, they are very useful and Brazilians and foreigners students have been searched for the content. Keep in touch and take out a subscription. It worths it do that...I recommend. 

Recomendo para professores e alunos, esta maravilhosa revista todo o conteúdo é em inglês e você basta da uma olhada no site e conferir os preços acessíveis. Todos os meses atualizo o meu blog com os textos da revista, são muito úteis e tem sido fonte de pesquisa para estudantes do Brasil e do exterior. Entre em contato e faça já uma assinatura, vale apena, recomendo. 

Submit your e-mail and receive my daily updating



Click on the title please it's a beautiful message I found out on http://waiterextraordinaire.blogspot.com/


First of all I am just passing here in order to thank you for visiting my blog, as well as for those interested to receive English tips updating submit your e-mail on my Feed burner and daily you'll receive my tips. Thank you for you kind support telling for friends using the social networking sites. For sure you'll see all content here is appropriated for all ages, I've been received e-mails of parents congratulate and telling me that their children love English tips, and of course I'm so glad for that. I am going to bed and I desire a wonderful day for my friends from Asia and night for the rest of countries. See you tomorrow and keep it mind how much you are important to me, keep promoting and spread English tips around the world. That's all for today, good night everyone.

THE WORLD OF ENGLISH







Well I have talked before the most important, for us Non-Native English Speakers is communicating, that's because there are a great diversity of accents, but there is a Standard to follow up. How different people, from different countries, accents and dialects communicating themselves, understand and being understood? Check it out and telling about your experience, have you been lived abroad in an English Speaking Country? Telling for us your experience abroad.




SOURCE: SPEAK UP
Speaker: Ben White
Standard: British Accent



THE WORLD OF ENGLISH

20 Years Later

You may be well under 20, or maybe you have a grandchild older than that. But whatever your age, you’re sure to agree that 20 years is a considerable amount of time. This year your favorite magazine is turning 20 –that’s something, for sure! To celebrate this Historic event, Speak Up offers some excerpts that show how the magazine looked (and sounded) way back when. For starters, he’s part of an article that was published in our inaugural issue. It was the first installment of a series called “The World of English” –and you’ll notice that our musical style was a lot different two decade ago…

(Original speaker introduces the pilot audio cassette) No Transcript audio

The World of English – part I One of an introduction and survey of the English Language and its native speakers, in which you will hear example of practical English in action as the international language of the modern world, plus the history and development of the language, from Old English to Modern English, with examples of its evolution drawn from its greatest literature through the ages, performed by leading professional actors of the English speaking theatre, television and films. No here is Richard Gale to introduce you to the World of English:

English contains many variations of accent and even dialect, but unlike Italian or German, the dialects are rarely different enough to make comprehension impossible. True, a London Cockney would have a very difficult time in a conversation with a steel worker in Glasgow, and a Carolina cotton picker might find difficult to understand and be understood by a sheep farmer from Australia, but a businessman from, say, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. would have few problems dealing with a businessman form Dublin, Ireland or Sydney, Australia, Auckland, New Zealand, Liverpool in England, Johannesburg, South Africa or Kingston, Jamaica. A reasonably educated Standard English allows comprehension and communication all over the English-Speaking world. Can you guess where these native English speakers come from?

Voice number one
…”and often breakfast cereals like porridge and cornflakes” was an English-speaking South African.

Voice number two

…”often even the boss is Mike or John and not Mr. So-and-so” was from the Republic of Ireland.

Voice number thee

…”I grew up only speaking English” was a West Indian from Dominica.

Voice number four

…”at least it’s certainly true where I come from” was an American from the East Coast of the United States.

Voice number five

…”these are foreign concepts, so we have to use the foreign words” was from Australia.

But the geographical spread of the English-Speaking world cannot entirely account for English beings the “lingua franca” of the modern world. The industrial and technological achievements, mainly of Britain and the United States, has made English the international language of many different fields, like:

International air traffic control:

Lufthansa pilot: Bahrain Tower…this is Lufthansa 146 cleared to descend to 1,500 feet.

Bahrain tower: This is Bahrain Tower. Roger
Lufthansa pilot: Turning into final approach, runway three zero.
Bahrain tower: Wind three two zero degrees. One five knots. You are cleared to land – runway three zero.
Sea navigation (Morse code between ships)
The complex jargon of computers and space technology:
Armstrong: Houston, this is Tranquillity. We’re standing by for a go for cabin depress, over.

Mission Control: Tranquillity Base, this is Houston. You are go for cabin depressurization.

Armstrong: O.K., the hatch is coming open…
O.L. Houston, I’m on the porch.

Mission Control: Roger, Neil. O.K. Neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now.

Armstrong: I’m at the foot of the ladder. I’m going to stepoff the L.M. now…that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. 


Like this article? Please help to promote an Educative blog, thanks for spreading love worldwide.

YOU ARE MY LOVE

                           



Happy Valentine's day, telling for your wife/fiancee/Girlfriend you love her, I already talked to my fiancee I love her




You are my love
You are the one that I adore
You are my love 
you are the one I've waited for 
you are my love 
you are the one that I adore 

Ohhhh you are my love 
Ohhhh you are my love 

You are my day 
you changed my winter into spring 
you came my way 
And then my heart began to sing 


Ohhhh you are my love 
Ohhhh you are my love 

Times were getting lonely 
I was thinking only yesterday 
of all the friends I thought I had 
But no one came to call on 
never were around to close the door on 
never thought things would get that way 

you are my love 
you are the one I'll always need 
you are my love 
for you I'll get down on my knees 

Ohhhh you are my love 
Ohhhh you are my love 

sábado, 11 de junho de 2011

Happy Valentine's day


                                 Me and my fiancée Gerlane

Who’s the owner of your hear?

Well let me talking about the owner of my hear, she’s 38 years old, brunette and live in the capital. Her name’s Gerlane. It’s turning 3 years we celebrate this year, since the first time we called. That’s right, I met her through a cell phone’s chat and I decided to call her. It was love at first calling, since then I fell in love with her.

I’m just sharing with you because tomorrow we celebrate the Valentine’s day, quite different from your country, isn’t it? Tomorrow is the Wedding’s saint…Santo Antonia from Lisbon, Portugal. Anyways I desire all sweethearts a wonderful Valentine’s day in particular my girlfriend….I love her so much. You don’t realise how much I need her, I love and I cannot live without her. Well that’s it for today and do not forget to say I love you, for your girlfriend or wife, telling how much she is important in your life. Well I’m far from 219 kilometres but I enjoy the opportunity to say….Gerlane I love you so much. Well now as I posted last week check it out the Maganews honor for Valentine's day check it out the entry please...

Love
The origin of Valentine's Day
Brazil celebrates the date in June, but in other countries the date is celebrated in February. Learn why


     Brazil celebrates Dia dos Namorados on 12th June, but in Europe andNorth America this date is celebrated on 14th February. The probable origin of Dia dos Namorados is Ancient Rome. In the 3rd Century Emperor Claudius II believed that single soldiers were more efficient than the married ones, and so he decided to prohibit weddings during a time set aside for wars. But there was a priest called Valentim who had the courage to celebrate various weddings. One day the emperor discovered this fact and had Valentim killed. The priest died on 14th February and became a saint. In the 17th Century the French and English decided to celebrate, on the same day (14th February) Saint Valentine’s Day and Dia dos NamoradosIn the following century the USA adopted “Valentine’s Day”.

Traders profit from the date

  In Brazil the origin of this date is less noble and romantic. In 1949 the advertising executive João Dória returned to Brazil after spending time in Europe. He returned with the idea of introducing Dia dos Namorados to the country. But instead of the date being celebrated in February, the month chosen was June. The reason: the traders always complained about not selling much in June and Dia dos Namorados would make a great excuse to improve sales. The 12th was chosen because it is the eve of Saint Anthony’s day, the “wedding saint.”

Vocabulary
1 Ancient Rome – Roma Antiga
2 emperor – imperador
3 single soldier – soldado solteiro
4 set aside for – destinado às
5 to have something done - mandar fazer algo
6 trader – comerciante
7 to profit – lucrar
advertising executive – publicitário
9 to complain – reclamar
10 to sell – vender
11 excuse – no texto = estímulo
12 eve – véspera
13 wedding saint – santo casamenteiro

Matéria publicada na edição de número 25 da Revista Maganews

Foto (casal André Dias e Daise Rodrigues): André Dias