Monday, April 7, 2014

The History of the English language

HISTÓRIA DA LÍNGUA INGLESA

INTRODUÇÃO
A língua inglesa é fruto de uma história complexa e enraizada num passado muito distante.
Há indícios de presença humana nas ilhas britânicas já antes da última era do gelo, quando as mesmas ainda não haviam se Stonehengeseparado do continente europeu e antes dos oceanos formarem o Canal da Mancha. Esse recente fenômeno geológico que separou as ilhas britânicas do continente, ocorrido há cerca de 7.000 anos, também isolou os povos que lá viviam dos conturbados movimentos e do obscurantismo que caracterizaram os primórdios da Idade Média na Europa.
Sítios arqueológicos evidenciam que as terras úmidas que os romanos vieram a denominar de Britannia já abrigavam uma próspera cultura há 8.000 anos, embora pouco se saiba a respeito.
OS CELTAS
Guerreiros celtasCelt womenA história da Inglaterra inicia com os celtas.
Por volta de 1000 a.C., depois de muitas migrações, vários dialetos das línguas indo-européias tornam-se grupos de línguas distintos, sendo um desses grupos o celta. Os celtas se originaram...

Friday, April 4, 2014

Let`s get together and speak English?



Here`s the first attempt to put in practice an idea...
I have been repeating for some years now, mostly to my students, the fact that learning English in Brazil is something quite unique.
The fact is that a great percentage of the economically active population of Brazil have studied English before, and yet, the percentage of those who actually can speak is to a minimum.
Some factors contribute for this status quo, among them are; the poor quality of the schools we have in our country, the lack of professional teachers and mostly the very fact that most of people don`t speak English and therefore those who are in the language acquisition process don`t have opportunities to practice their English on a daily basis.

The atmosphere of an English school can be perceived as a sanctuary of the English language, due to its condition to allow learners to interact in English even if it is only for some hours a week.

The idea referred above takes this scenario under consideration, a population of people who need English and have studied English and yet strive to learn and/or practice English has motivated  this endeavor. It is meant to be a gathering of people who want to change this scenario and get together to make English more active in their lives by using it more often and therefore changing this situation where the cons beat the pros in their quest to learn the language!

Join us! and let`s speak up and about!

Click on the link below if you share the need for more practice of the language and be  part of this idea;
http://www.meetup.com/JundiaiEnglishPractice/





Monday, March 24, 2014

Suit Up!

Law English



This very good TV show from USA Network features 2 up and coming lawyers who work in in NYC.
In this show you can find many law-related technical terms in context!
Enjoy it! 


Suits (2011– )
TV Series  -   -  Comedy | Drama

Creator:

 

While running from a drug deal gone bad, Mike Ross, a brilliant young college-dropout, slips into a job interview with one of New York City's best legal closers, Harvey Specter. Tired of cookie-cutter law school grads, Harvey takes a gamble by hiring Mike on the spot after he recognizes his raw talent and photographic memory. Mike and Harvey are a winning team. Even though Mike is a genius, he still has a lot to learn about law. And while Harvey may seem like an emotionless, cold-blooded shark, Mike's sympathy and concern for their cases and clients will help remind Harvey why he went into law in the first place. Mike's other allies in the office include the firm's best paralegal Rachel and Harvey's no-nonsense assistant Donna to help him serve justice. Proving to be an irrepressible duo and invaluable to the practice, Mike and Harvey must keep their secret from everyone including managing partner Jessica and Harvey's arch nemesis Louis, who seems intent on making Mike's life as ...Written by USA Network






Back I am!

Finally after a long period without any activity on this blog I find myself wondering what took me so long to get back at it.
Well, aside professional limitations on time availability, I actually don`t have many reasons to it. So here I am, and hope to get back on track strongly.