Adir Ferreira Idiomas

Posts Tagged ‘blog’

Geralmente aprendemos que ao acrescentar a letra “y” a certos substantivos, os tornamos adjetivos. Por exemplo com comidas (salty, spicy, greasy, juicy, etc.) e com palavras relacionadas ao clima (sunny, rainy, cloudy, foggy, etc.)

O runner-up do programa American Idol, Adam Lambert, disse que sua performance de Black and White, de Michael Jackson, foi um tanto shouty (gritado).

Há vários substantivos que, ao acrescentar o “y”, tomam um significado completamente diferente.

ANTSY - very nervous, anxious or unpleasantly excited: It was a long drive and the children started to get antsy. / I always get antsy about meeting my husband’s boss.

BAGGY - (of clothes) hanging loosely because of being too big or having been stretched: baggy trousers / My T-shirt went all baggy in the wash.

BEEFY – 1. describes someone who looks strong, heavy and powerful: a beefy footballer; 2. powerful and effective: I want to buy myself a beefier computer.

BONY – very thin: She has long bony fingers.

BOSSY – authoritative, always telling people what to do: She’s very bossy. She keeps telling me what to do all the time.

BRAINY – clever, intelligent, smart: She’s a very brainy young lady.

BUBBLY - (especially of a woman or girl) attractively full of energy and enthusiasm: Who’s that bubbly girl over there?

CHEEKY - slightly rude or showing a lack of respect, but often in a funny way: She’s got such a cheeky grin. / Don’t be so cheeky!

CHUBBY – (especially of children) fat in a pleasant and attractive way: chubby legs / chubby cheeks

CHUNKY – 1 describes clothes that are thick and heavy, or jewellery made of large pieces: a chunky sweater / a chunky necklace; 2 describes a person who is short and heavy

CLASSY – stylish or fashionable: What a classy car you’ve got!

CLINGY – 1. an emotionally dependent person: Her boyfriend is so clingy, he never leaves her side. ; 2. clothes that show off your curves: That dress is really clingy, my boyfriend will never let me wear it.

CLUMSY – 1 awkward in movement or manner: The first mobile phones were heavy and clumsy to use, but nowadays they are much easier to handle. / My attempts to apologize were very clumsy.; 2 describes someone who often has accidents because they do not behave in a careful, controlled way: That’s the third glass you’ve smashed this week, – you’re so clumsy!

COCKY – describes a young person who is confident in a way that is unpleasant and sometimes rude:
He’s a bit cocky for my liking.

COMFY – comfortable: a very comfy chair

CORNY – 1. (especially of jokes, films, stories, etc.) lacking new ideas and sincerity; too often repeated and therefore not amusing or interesting: corny jokes / I couldn’t watch the whole movie – it was just too corny.; 2. overly sentimental: That song is so corny…

CRABBY / CRANKY – easily annoyed and complaining: You’re very crabby today. What’s upset you?

CREEPY – strange or unnatural and making you feel frightened: a creepy film / a creepy smile

CUDDLY - liking to cuddle, or making you want to cuddle: a very cuddly child

CURVY – containing a lot of curves: a very curvy road

CUSHY – (usually said of a job) very easy: That was a very cushy job.

CUTESY - artificially attractive and charming, especially in a childish way: She sent me one of those awful birthday cards with a cutesy kitten on it.

Hello, everybody!

I was reading a little article by AJ Hoge: The Key to Excellent Speaking, and he brings a very interesting way for us, teachers, to improve our speaking skills using movies, check it out:

Only watch one scene or segment per week (maybe 2-3 minutes). Follow this method:
a) First, watch the scene with subtitles in your language. This will help you understand the general meaning.
b) Second, watch the scene with English subtitles. Pause. Use a dictionary to find new words you don’t understand. Write the new sentences in a notebook.
c) Listen to the scene a few times, with English subtitles. Do not pause.
d) Listen to the scene a few times, without subtitles.
e) Repeat a) – d) everyday for one week.

How do you watch movies? Do you have your little vocabulary notebook beside you? If not, then do it! Every new expression is important!

See y’all soon!

Guys, today I ‘stole’ a text from my good friend Denilso de Lima.

Denilso writes about some ingrained and old-fashioned concepts about using Portuguese in the English class.

Denilso has some books published and you can check out his texts on his blog.

Here’s his text:

Durante o mês de fevereiro tenho estado em vários locais e mantido contato com professores de inglês e espanhol de diferentes estados brasileiros. Isto tudo para poder dar a estes profissionais capaciatação na Abordagem Lexical e suas Implicações Metodológicas, Aquisição Lexical, Ensino da Gramática através do Vocabulário e demais assuntos envolvendo o ensino/aquisição lexical.

Nestes meus treinamentos falo muito sobre o uso da língua portuguesa em sala de aula. Ou seja, sou totalmente contra o que a maioria das redes de ensino diz: em uma aula de inglês o professor deve falar apenas em inglês. Sou e sempre serei totalmente contra esta tese retrógada e ultrapassada.

Acredito piamente que a língua materna do aprendiz é, sem dúvida, o caminho mais rápido para que ele – o aprendiz – entenda algo. Isto significa que na hora do sufoco o professor não só pode como deve sim fazer uso da língua portuguesa.

Já presenciei aulas em algumas escolas onde o professor gastava cerca de 10 a 15 minutos da aula apenas para que os alunos entendessem algo que estava sendo ‘explicado‘ em inglês. Geralmente, o aluno que capta a mensagem mais rapidamente e entende o que está sendo explicado acaba traduzindo para os demais o que o professor está dizendo. Isto me faz perguntar o seguinte: se os alunos podem traduzir, por que o professor não pode?

Geralmente, uma aula de inglês tem entre 1 hora a 1 hora e meia. Os professores reclamam que o tempo é curto demais para cumprirem o programa; porém, não percebem que gastam tempo considerável tentando explicar algo complexo em uma língua que os alunos ainda não compreendem 100%.

Outro fato interessante nisto é que os professores muitas vezes procuram explicar em inglês teorias gramaticais aos alunos. Outra pergunta: se já é difícil para nós – falantes nativos da língua portuguesa – entendermos teoria gramática da nossa própria língua imagine então ter de entender teoria gramatical de uma língua que estamos aprendendo (e pior temos de nos virar para entender em inglês).

A maioria das escolas de idiomas do Brasil se vangloriam com slogans marketeiros do tipo:

• “nossas aulas são 100% em inglês”
• “desde o primeiro dia de aula, você só vai ouvir inglês na sala”
• “desde o início seu professor só vai falar inglês com você”

Cuidado com isto! Muita gente já perdeu a vontade de estudar inglês em escolas de idiomas por causa desta crença absurda e antiga. Atualmente, os pequisadores [linguistas] têm percebido que o uso da língua portuguesa em sala de aula é válido e extremamente necessário. na aquisiçaõ de outra língua. Só pra você ter uma idéia até mesmo muitos livros [inclusive gramáticas] são hoje publicadas de forma bilingue para facilitar a vida de quem quer aprender inglês.

Um exemplo de gramática que segue a linha bilingue é a famosíssima “Essential Grammar in Use” de Raymond Murphy, que tem uma edição em português. Na capa lemos: “Essential Grammar in Use Gramática Básica da Língua Inglesa – com respostas“. Que progresso, hein? Enquanto as grandes editoras seguem esta linha de raciocínio as grandes escolas de idiomas no Brasil preferem continuar no método arcaico.

Portanto, queridos leitores não se assustem ao encontrar uma escola ou outra na qual a língua portuguesa é utilizada em sala de aula. Não se assustem se manusearem o livro do curso de inglês e nele conter algumas coisas em português. Do ponto de vista dos cientistas em aquisição de segunda língua isto é totalmente necessário e eficaz. Para nós isto é um progresso e não um retrocesso!

See you! Take care!

I found this on the Russian version of the SpeakUp Magazine, which is called Speak Out, for some reason.

Students in New Zealand can now write their exams in the language of text messaging! Some teachers approve of the idea, some don’t.

Now, how good is your SMS English? Take a look at a composition written by a 12-year-old girl from Scotland.

MY SUMMER HOLIDAYS

My smmr hols wr CWOT.

B4, we used 2 go 2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3:-@ kds FTF.

ILNY, its gr8.

Bt my Ps wr so {:-/ BC o 9/11 tht they dcdd 2 stay in SCO & spnd 2 wks up N.

Up N, WUCIWUG – 0.

I ws vvv brd in MON.

0 bt baas &.

AAR8, my Ps wr – they sd ICBW, & tht they wr ha-p 4 the pc%qt…

IDTS!!

I wntd 2 go hm ASAP, 2C my M8s again.

2day, I cam bk 2 skool.

I feel v O:-) BC I hv dn all my hm wrk.

Now its BAU…

OK, so would anyone like to translate this into “real” English (so to speak)?

Yo, people! How’ve you all been?

I’m going to be teaching this pronunciation course next month via Aulavox and I have done a lot of research and come across some very interesting sentences to practice some sounds. They’re like tongue-twisters.

Voiced T practice

Betty bought a bit of better butter. But, said she, this butter’s bitter. If I put it in my batter, it’ll make my batter bitter.

‘SH’ Practice

Joe’s weather machine shows a sharp drop in air pressure, especially offshore.

Ships in motion on the ocean should be sure to use caution.

‘J’ Practice

A German judge and jury have charged and jailed a strange giant, who sat on the edge of a bridge throwing jelly onto large barges.

Well, these are only some examples. Want some more? Sign up for my newsletter on my website to have news on the Pronunciation Course in March.

Now, as I’m a very generous guy, click here for lots of tongue twisters.

Take care, y’all!

Yo, sup everybody?

ELLLO (English Listening Language Lab Online) is a must-see!

There are hundreds of listening practice exercises, with transcripts, exercises, slides, quizzes and it is updated every week, so there’s always something new.

I use it a lot with my intermediate and advanced students because it brings a plethora of accents and they talk about so many interesting subjects.

You can also print out activities and download the audio files to your computer.

In a nutshell, it’s a gem!

See you next time!

Guys, how’ve you all been?

I came across this very good workshop on teaching kids, by a British teacher in Japan.

He’s very lively and motivated and we can learn (and review!) a few things about kids. There are six parts and the first one is here for you.

Check it out and tell me what you think!

See you next time!

I’m reading this very good book, “Eat that Frog” and it talks about how to stop procrastinating and getting things done.

In a particular chapter the author, Brian Tracy, writes about the role of learning in our personal growth.

I have found some interesting things and I quote,

“Continuous learning is the minimm requirement for success in any field.”

“Everything is learnable. And what others have learned, you can learn as well.”

“The more you learn, the more you can learn. Just as you can build your physical muscles through physical exercise, you build your mental muscles with mental exercises. And there is no limit to how far or how fast you can advance except for the limits you place on your own imagination.”

That’s fantastic, isn’t it? I got so pumped when I read it and I hope you get too because as teachers, we’re always students.

Take care and see you next time!

Hello, there!

I also teach kids, 1st to 4th graders and we always have to come up with interesting and motivating things in the classroom.

Kids motivation entails doing something with a purpose and when such thing is accomplished successfully they need to be rewarded: a candy, a hug, a kiss on the cheek, and so forth.

But sometimes you need to give that something extra, that something special for that student who did extremely well, a proof of your recognition. And that’s where today’s website tip comes in:

123 Certificates is a website where you can customize and print out the cutest certificates, ranging from special dates (Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, etc.) to dinosaur-themed certificates.

If you teach kids, and even young teens (11-12 year olds), take a look because I’m sure you’re going to love it!

Have a great and productive week!

Hey everybody! After two extremely rainy days here, I am back, at full blast!

Let me share with you a technique I learned last year and it’s working miracles with my adult students.

Take a text with the grammar topic you are studying, for example, the Simple Present, about daily routines. (I just made this up, ok?)

I get up at 7 am, I brush my teeth, then I have breakfast. Next I get dressed in five minutes and drive to work. I start work at 8. At 12 I go to the cafeteria on the corner to have lunch.

Then ask questions (lots of them!) like this and have them give complete answers:

1. What time do you get up? Do you get up at 7 am or do you get up at 7 pm? Do you get up early or do you get up late?

2. What do you brush? Do you brush your teeth or do you brush your hair?

3. Next, do you have breakfast or do you have lunch? Do you have breakfast in the morning or do you have breakfast in the afternoon? Do you have breakfast at night?

Notice that you can practice verb tenses (do/does/third person), prepositions and lots of question words and you don’t necessarily have to give them the translation because you will give them options.

You can also have them write the answers in full, if time allows.

Yeah people, we’re all starting all school year and I really hope to see lots of comments about how you used this and other tips in your classes.

Take care and make sure you come back!