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Blog criado por Bruno Coriolano de Almeida Costa, professor de Língua Inglesa desde 2002. Esse espaço surgiu em 2007 com o objetivo de unir alguns estudiosos e professores desse idioma. Abordamos, de forma rápida e simples, vários aspectos da Língua Inglesa e suas culturas. Agradeço a sua visita.

"Se tivesse perguntado ao cliente o que ele queria, ele teria dito: 'Um cavalo mais rápido!"

segunda-feira, 31 de março de 2014

Predictions in English: Reading, speaking, grammar and writing activities. Part one.




Let’s talk about the future in English (predictions). In this very specific case, I would like to share an activity I have used in my lessons about future possibility (will, won’t, may, might, and could).


First of all, I wrote “Life in the future” and “home” on the board. After that, I asked how they think houses will be in the future. Then they talked, firstly in pairs, about what their thoughts are (were) and then shared them with the whole group.


We all read a text about the future called “What Does the Future Hold?”


We spoke to Professor John Williams, futurologist, for his expert predications on life in the next few decades.
  Well, the first thing to say is that I don’t believe we’re all going to be living in treehouses and walking or cycling everywhere. We are going to have to make changes though.
  Unfortunately, it looks quite likely that the climate may change significantly, with hotter summers, colder winters and more flooding. At the same time, fuel for heating or air conditioning will probably become much more expensive. For these reasons, our houses will definitely have to become much better insulated. People are already building so-called ‘passive houses,’ which have little or no central heating at all, relying on the body heat of the people who live there.
  Homes probably won’t be as big, and so we will need more adaptable furniture, such as sofa-beds, and when we are not using our furniture we will be able to fold it away into wall cabinets. Houses could have movable walls so that the same space can be arranged in different ways. Tabletops may double as computer screens or DVD players.
  New technology will make us more self-sufficient. Kitchens may have fish tanks which, as well as providing fish to eat, also produce fresh vegetables. The plants will provide oxygen for the fish. These tanks will be powered by household waste and create energy, which can then be used to run the family car – though we might not all have cars!
  Water will definitely be more expensive and the home of the future will probably be designed to use much less. Washing machines and dishwashers might use sound wave to shake dirt off. We may even take showers using sound waves. What water we do use will be recycled and used again round the house and private swimming pools will become a thing of the past.
  We will also certainly have more robots in our homes, though they won’t look like the ones in films. There will probably be small robots designed to clean the fridge or open the curtains. Clever fridges will tell us when food is about to go out of date and even suggest recipes, and we will be able to communicate with our homes by mobile phone wherever we are.


After reading it, I asked them this quite simple question:


Which of the predictions in the article do you think are likely to happen? Why?

I had to explain the meaning of “likely” to some of them.*


Students all talked about it very enthusiastically and then, they were asked to listen to a listening activity and tick the predictions they think are likely to happen and cross those ones they think are unlikely to happen.


We obviously had to observe the uses of will and won’t. Well, in case you are not aware of their uses, we use will and won’t + an adverb to say how likely something is in the future. However, the positions of will and won’t will certainly vary.



Will comes before the adverb as in “I’ll definitely go” or “I’ll probably stay”. Notice that both sentences are affirmative (positive) sentences.

Won’t, on the other hand, comes after the adverb as in “I certainly won’t go” or “I probably won’t stay”.


Well, what happens if you’re not certain about something? In this case, we should use may (may not), might (might not), or could (but not “couldn’t” for possibility in the future).

Julia may meet us later for a drink or two.

The store might not be open.


Having said and done all above, we started a very good activity in which we had to talk and write about the past (25 years ago).

Students were asked to look at the sentences about twenty-five years ago and change them so that they would make predictions about the next twenty-five years.


  


SENTENCES:

Twenty-five years ago…
Most people had cars.


In the next twenty-five years…
There will probably be fewer cars because of the price of fuel.





Twenty-five years ago…
People wrote more letters.



In the next twenty-five years…
(Students’ answers)






Twenty-five years ago…

Most people watched videos rather than DVDs.

In the next twenty-five years…
(Students’ answers)












Twenty-five years ago…

People didn’t worry about wasting water.


In the next twenty-five years…
(Students’ answers)








Twenty-five years ago…

Most people didn’t have mobile phones.

In the next twenty-five years…
(Students’ answers)









Twenty-five years ago…

People didn’t buy organic food.


In the next twenty-five years…
(Students’ answers)








We checked all the possibilities and then finished this activity by asking students about their plans for the next ten years (2014-2024). They were supposed to use will, may, might, could, and the negative forms if necessary.



In the end of the lesson, learners were asked to write two predictions for people in the classroom. They were told to not write people’s names. Having finished that, they gave me back the pieces of papers I had given them and we read the predictions trying to guess who the predictions were about.


If you liked this activity, share it. It was made to provide teachers with more options. Doing that, everyone will benefit from it.  

This activity has been developed by Bruno Coriolano as part of his lesson plan. In case you want to download it, click here.






PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement.

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much.



quarta-feira, 26 de março de 2014

QUE NOME, EM INGLÊS, RECEBEM AQUELES TORCEDORES QUE VIAJAM JUNTAMENTE COM SEUS TIMES PARA ONDE ELES FOREM?



No hino oficial do Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, podemos encontrar os dizeres:


“Até a pé nós iremos / Para o que der e vier / Mas o certo é que nós estaremos / Com o Grêmio onde o Grêmio estiver /”










Você sabia que damos o nome de Travelling Army aos torcedores que viajam seguindo a delegação de seus times do coração? Bem, suponho que quando os torcedores das seleções que estarão aqui no Brasil durante a Copa do Mundo chegarem, teremos muitos Travelling Armies.




Também conhecidos como decimo segundo jogadores ou decimo segundo homem, o travelling Army já tem feito muita diferença nas história dos clássicos mundiais.


In English:



Travelling army: expression used by commentators for any set of away fans – that is, fans who travelled to the match to support their team. Often a team's travelling army are referred to as the 12th man.



PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement.

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much.


domingo, 23 de março de 2014

Como dizer, na gíria do futebol, “Olha o ladrão”?







Essa é para quem já jogou futebol, mesmo que de forma amadora.

Sabe aquele momento que você está com a bola e acredita estar sozinho para fazer o que bem entender e que não pode acontecer nada para te impedir? Pois bem, de repente, quando você menos espera, vem um carinha e toma a bola que estava contigo.

Isso pode acontecer quando o seu companheiro de time, não grita, “Olha o ladrão”.
O ladrão, nesse caso, é um jogador de um time adversário que está prestes a tomar a bola de você, o desavisado.
Em inglês, grita-se “MAN ON!”.


Man on!: warning shout uttered by players (and fans) to a teammate with the ball to alert him of the presence of an opposing player behind him.


PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement.

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very m


sábado, 22 de março de 2014

If it is true or false, I don’t know, but here it goes: CAR AIRCONDITIONING ALERT!

Do not turn on A/C immediately as soon as you enter the car!






Please open the windows after you enter your car and do not turn ON the air-conditioning immediately. According to a research done, the car dashboard, sofa, air freshener emits Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin (carcinogen- take note of the heated plastic smell in your car). In addition to causing cancer, it poisons your bones, causes anemia, and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer may also cause miscarriage.


Acceptable Benzene level indoors is 50 mg per sq. ft. A car parked indoors with the windows closed will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene. If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level... & the people inside the car will inevitably inhale an excess amount of the toxins. 


It is recommended that you open the windows and door to give time for the interior to air out before you enter. Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidney and liver, and is very difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff. "When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others".


From: http://purplerosee.blogspot.com.br/2009/05/car-airconditioning-alert.html

PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement.

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much.


O que significa “Panenka” no futebol?




Bem, essa expressão pode não ser muito conhecida, mas quem curte futebol já viu muito lance desses. Trata-se da cobrança de um pênalti estilo Loco Abreu (embora não tenha sido esse o seu inventor).



A explicação vem lá do Wikipédia:

Panenka: skill move used when taking a penalty kick wherein the player taking the penalty delicately chips the ball over a diving goalkeeper, rather than striking the ball firmly, as is the norm. Named after Antonín Panenka, who famously scored such a penalty for Czechoslovakia against West Germany in the final of the 1976 UEFA European Football Championship.

Aqui no Brasil, batizamos como a cavadinha, aquele pênalti batido com um leve toque na bola – uma humilhação para muitos torcedores.

Vejam as fotos e os vídeos com alguns exemplos de Panenka (cavadinhas):

Fotos:





Vídeos: 









PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement.

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much.


sexta-feira, 21 de março de 2014

Qual expressão é utilizada em inglês quando o mesmo jogador marca 3 gols em uma mesma partida?


No Brasil, quando algum jogador marca três gols em uma mesma partida, a galera do Fantástico da Rede Globo faz com que o cara faça o pedido de uma música a ser tocada durante a reprise de seus gols.




Bem, a ideia pode ser interessante durante a Copa do Mundo desse ano, pois além de conhecer o gosto musical dos jogadores, estaríamos também mostrado que o nosso mundo esportivo tem um lado bem humano aqui no país. Eu particularmente duvido que a FIFA permita isso.

O leitor já sabe como se diz quando, “a player scores three goals in a single match?”

Evitarei fazer suspense e explicações longas, então, irei direto ao ponto...




Vejam essas frases:

·         Rooney scored a double hat-trick in Manchester United’s 8-4 victory.

·         He memorably scored a hat-trick in an emphatic victory over Chelsea at Old Trafford.


Logo, HAT-TRICK quer dizer marcar três gols.

Existem outros contextos para tal expressão, mas como estamos enfatizando seu uso no futebol, fica aí a resposta da pergunta da postagem.

How would you use hat-trick in a sentence?



PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement.

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much.