All about Christmas

Christmas is coming almost all over the world and some words are very typical from this season. So let's check some of them:

1 - First, we have to remember that above the delicious Christmas' family supper, Christmas is a Christian holiday, then:

                                     THE HISTORY:

a) Christmas - The annual Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ (Christmas Day is on 25 December), He was born in the city of Bethlehem, a small town in the Middle East believed to be his the birthplace. We usually make a Nativity scene in our houses, with figures to represent: Holly Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus laying down on a manger. The magi were the three wise men from the East who brought gifts (Frankincense, Gold and Myrrh).

b) Christmas Carols - a religious song or popular hymn that people sing at Christmas.

There are many famous Christmas songs, in this playlist, you can listen to some of them:

2 - Trimming the tree - Some people like to gather all the family in order to make their Christmas tree, we usually use Christmas lights, ornaments and at the top of it, goes the star. Traditionally  we also put the gifts under the tree and by the door, a Christmas wreath. 

3 - At this time of the year, we all live through the Christmas spirit, and celebrate at work, school and home with the popular Secret Santa. Along with the gift, we can also give a Christmas card.

4 - In many countries, Christmas is a cold season, with snow  (water vapor from the sky that falls as white flakes and covers the group) and it's very common children go out and make snow man, play with snow balls, slides in sleighs. And also, the clothes are warmer.

5 - Christmas Food - Family get together on December 24 in the evening for the Christmas supper , in many countries, people have turkey, egg-nog (a traditional Christmas drink made of alcohol with beaten eggs and milk), gingerbread cookie. 

This video presents us with English Vocabulary about Christmas food, it's excellent! Check it out:

6 - Santa Claus - Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and simply "Santa", is a figure with legendary, mythical, historical of many western cultures that visit the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24. He rides on a sleigh with reindeer.

7 - Some people like to spend Christmas at home, with family and friends. So, music and sometimes movies are a good way to have fun: 

a) Christmas Movies:





Die Hard - 1988 - OK, it's an action movie, but Christmas spirit is all over John McClane (Bruce Willis) when he decided to save his wife from a group of terrorists. And it finishes with a classic Frank Sinatra song: Let it snow.

Home Alone - 1990, we all know, laugh and have fun with Macaulay Culkin, who is left alone by his family by accident and now he has to defend his home from thieves.

A Christmas Carol - 2009 - the classic novel written by  Charles Dickens about a miser (perfect Jim Carey), who goes on a journey of self-redemption.

I found a very good list of Christmas movies at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christmas_films.

b) Christmas Songs - A little different from caroling, many famous singers usually release a Christmas album or some Christmas songs:

* LAST CHRISTMAS - By George Michael, but it was also recorded by Ashley Tisdale and it's very nice.

* Let it snow - By Frank Sinatra - it's a classic one.

* All I want for Christmas is you - Mariah Carey 

8 - Christmas Expressions - You can say to your friends:

• Merry Christmas!
• Happy Christmas
• Happy New Year!
• Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
• Wishing you a prosperous New Year
• All the best for the coming year
• Seasons Greetings!

fonte:www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/festivals-christmas.htm.

THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE - PART II

               A REVIEW:

1 - A brief history of the origins of English:

The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. 

fonte: http://www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm

In the first chapter of this video talking about the history of English language, it is a good start to understand the origin of the modern words we use today:

2 - OLD ENGLISH :

The Old English language, also called Anglo-Saxon, was the earliest form of English. It is difficult to give exact dates for the rise and development of any language, because changes in languages do not occur suddenly. However, Old English was in use from about 600 AD to about 1100.The greatest Old English poem is Beowulf, which belongs to the seventh century. It is a story of about 3,000 lines, and it is the first English epic (a story in poetry of the adventures of a brave man or men). The name of its author is unknown.

fonte: http://www.anglik.net/oldenglish.htm

                                      BEOWULF

                                                This presents a summary of the poem:

3 - MIDDLE ENGLISH:

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

Geoffrey Chaucer(1343 – 25 October 1400), is considered the greatest English poet of the Middle English Period. He was an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer. Some of his works  include  The Book of the Duchess and The House of Fame, but he is best known worldwide for the famous The Canterbury Tales.

4 - EARLY MODERN ENGLISH - THE TRANSITION:

a) Boundaries of time and place

The early modern English period follows the Middle English period towards the end of the fifteenth century and coincides closely with the Tudor (1485–1603) and Stuart (1603-1714) dynasties. The battle of Bosworth (1485) marked the end of the long period of civil war known as the Wars of the Roses and the establishment of the Tudor dynasty under Henry VII (1485–1509), which brought a greater degree of stable centralized government to England. Not long before, the introduction of the craft of printing in 1476 by William Caxton marked a new departure in the dissemination of the written word.

b) Variations in English

During the Middle English period numerous regional dialects existed in England and Scotland. Middle English manuscripts, even copies of the same work, differ linguistically from one another to a greater or lesser degree. In the later Middle Ages London gradually emerged as the seat of administration and the court. The speech of the capital acquired social prestige and written forms of it became usual in official documents and literature, though it could only loosely be called a ‘standard’. Since printing was based in London this form of English was adopted by the early printers. But Caxton himself was acutely aware of variation and change within English.

How can you use the degrees of comparison?

Olá, pessoal!

Para dá um help aos meus dear students, aqui vai um resumo sobre os graus de comparação dos adjetivos. Observe os quadros abaixo:

Não esqueça que você deve sempre observar a diferença entre os adjetivos curtos e longos:

CURTOS: Short, hot, cold, young, tall, fat, big, small, thin, faster

LONGOS: Modern, expensive, excellent, intelligent, handsome, beautiful

Quando usamos a forma do Superlativo, devemos lembrar:

fonte das tabelas: http://youronlinenglishclass.com.pt/category/grammar/page/6/

Que tal praticar um pouco?
Observe alguns recordes mundiais e complete usando os comparativos corretos:

fonte: http://www.englishexercises.org/buscador/buscar.asp?nivel=any&age=0&tipo=any&contents=comparatives#a

Para encerrar, assista a esse vídeo resumo e bons estudos:

Bibliografia básica

Nós, professores de inglês sabemos que nunca estamos 100% preparados, professores conscientes sabem que devemos nos atualizar sempre. Por tanto, ler, pesquisar na internet, conversar com outros colegas, são alguns recursos úteis para ajudar-nos. 

Um bibliografia básica de livros, também faz parte do processo de atualização e refreshment. Neste primeiro post, apresento alguns livros de estudos com seus respectivos links disponpiveis na internet para fazer o download, todos retirados do http://www.4shared.com/  , no segundo post desta série sobre bibliografia, postarei alguns livros com ideias para sala de aula. Aqui estão alguns deles:

1 - Livros sobre linguística:

- English as a Global Language - David Crystal - Cambridge University Press 1997

Nesta obra, ele nos fala do futuro da lingua inglesa como lingua franca, o inglês nos tempos de internet e de um possível surgimento de uma família da língua inglesa. 

   

http://search.4shared.com/q/CCQD/1/books_office/english+as+a+global+language

- The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language - David Crystal - Cambridge University Press 1997

Bibliografia básica para o professores e estudantes da lingua inglesa. É uma obra praticamente completa na minha opnião, apresenta a história desde old english até a linguagem moderna de hoje,  vocabulário, gramática, a lingua escrita e suas variações, o sistema sonoro e muito mais. É o livro essencial para ser consultado sempre.

http://www.4shared.com/rar/KUToC76U/The_Cambridge_Encyclopedia_of_.htm

2 - Sobre Metodologia:

 - Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning - Stephen D. Krashen - Prentice-Hall International 1988

Explora a relação entre o ensino de uma segunda língua e o que se conhece a cerca do processo ensino aprendizagem, também apresenta um resumo da teoria de aquisição da segunda língua, a aplicação da mesma e descreve as características que os material deveriam incluir.

http://www.4shared.com/office/Casu8ZcO/Krashen_Principles_and_Practic.htm

3 - Gramática:

- English Grammar in use - Raymond Murphy - Cambridge University Press 2002

Uma das gramáticas mais populares entre alunos e professores, a coleção do Murphy é composta de série English Grammar in Use- elementary, intermediate, upper intermediate and Advanced, todas com Cd-room e exercícios. Vale a pena ter toda a coleção.

http://www.4shared.com/office/WSRtsk7I/English-Book-Basic-Grammar-in-.htm

4 - Sobre pronúncia:

- American Accent Training: Grammar - Ann Cook -Barron's Educational series - 2009

Áudios com aplicação da gramática em exrcícios para pronúnicia, ditados para 

prática, bom para alunos e professores.

http://www.4shared.com/office/iDjO__PO/American_Accent_Training.htm

How do you say....?

Na minha última viagem de férias para Natal, fiz uma das coisas que mais adoro: Passei horas viajando nas maravilhosas livrarias da cidade, comprei muitos livros, dentre eles  um  chamado: "COMO SE DIZ CHULÉ EM INGLÊS?" de Ron Martinez, que apresenta muitas curiosidades da língua inglesa. Aqui vão algumas:

 0800 -  A FUNCTION WITH/AN OPPORTUNITY FOR FREE FOOD

Essa expressão se refere aquelas ligações as quais não pagamos por elas, mas também usamos popularmente para dizer que algo é de graça (Free of charge). Pode-se referir a boca livre, comida de graça. 

Pedro: Let's go to Samuel's house tonight!

    Augusto: Cool! I love a function with free food!

CANTADA DE PEDREIRO - CATCALL

On her way to work, Letícia always heard catcalls from the construct workers next to her house.

         

       

          

Use phrasal verbs e aumente o nível do seu inglês!

Quando sabemos usar os phrasal verbs, nosso inglês torna-se mais rico, moderno e atualizado. Eles são essenciasi para a conversação e compreensão da língua.

 

Mas o que são PHRASAL VERBS?

Os "verbos frasais"  são formados pela união de um verbo e uma preposição que modifica seu significado criando um novo verbo. São bem característicos da lingua inglesa e muito utilizados. Podemos indentifica-los em músicas, filmes e séries. E na verdade já conhecemos muitos deles só não sabíamos qual era sua classificação. Afinal de contas, na sala a TEACHER sempre fala:

                                                              Please, sit down. 

                                                        What time do you get up?

Então, de acordo com o site ESL About.com, segue uma lista com alguns phrasal verbs para você:

Ask out: ask someone to go on a date – Antony asked Alice out

Call back: return a telephone call- I'm busy now, let me call you back, ok?

Call off: cancel - I have to call off the afternoon at the mall.I have to study.

Call up: call on the telephone - She's calling up her mother.

Catch up with: reach the same position or level as someone - You have to study hard, if you want to catch up with your friends.

1- Situations with Phrasal verbs: SOCIALIZING - Se você quer convidar alguém: ASK OVER. E como forma de gentileza, você levar alguns petiscos: BRING ROUND:

Katy: We're having a party tonight, I'd like to ask you guys over to my place.

Susan: That would be great! Thank you. We'll bring some snacks round. 

2 - Situations with Phrasal verbs: FEELINGS - Quando você quer levantar o astral de um amigo: CHEER UP.

You don't have to be so sad, cheer up, everything will be just fine.

Calm down! Losing your temper won't solve the problem.

3 - Situations with Phrasal Verbs - Uso do verbo GET - um verdadeiro coringa da língua inglesa, ele assume vários significados diferentes de acordo com a preposição que o acompanha:

            fonte da imagem:http://profa.angelacarvalho.zip.net/

 Para encerrar, muitas músicas fazem uso de Phrasal verbs, esta eu aprendi a muito tempo atrás em um programa de TV:

 

Literature goes to the movies

Este mês de Maio tive o imenso prazer de ministrar um Mini- Curso sobre Literatura e Cinema na Universidade Estadual do Piauí - UESPI. Aqui está um breve resumo sobre o assunto, que BTW (by the way), my dear friends, é maravilhoso ,tanto para quem é professor como para nós eternos aprendizes da língua inglesa. Quando falamos de Literatura não estamos apenas nos referindo aos clássicos, como Jane Austen, Shakespeare, que sabemos são fontes inesgotáveis de inspiração mas também de obras contemporaneas. Tais obras encontramos no cinema e na televisão, onde vários livros, alguns com até pouco sucesso de vendas e relativamente desconhecidos do grande público como The Vampire Diaries, que foi lançado em 1991 e As crônicas de Sookie Stakhouse que virou big hit na série True Blood. O que eu acho mesmo é que o importante é ler e assistir filmes ou séries, porque sempre aprendemos muito com todos. Have fun!