Vamos a comer?

Llegó el momento de aprender el vocabulario de los alimentos.

Adelante!







Buen apetito!

Usagui to Kamê

Minasan konnichiwa!

Kyouwa Usagui to Kamê no kamishibai wo mite kudasai!

Kamishibaiwa (História contada com imagens de cartão-show).



Jya mata raishuu made!

Inflexyon

Étudiants étrangers qui sont à Lyon pour apprendre le français.

Interpretative Dance - Absolutely Hilarious!

Check this Britney Spears song too. Just awesome!

---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ1BfI5y91s&feature=relmfu

BODY PARTS....Inter 4

   Hey, people....How are u???

My students from Inter 4 are reviewing body parts vocabulary...

Take a look at these pictures... :)

See u...

5 words your students won't find in the dictionary.

Do your students think the dictionary is the end all be all when it comes to language resourses? Have you seen students that are linguistically paralyzed if you say no doctionaries allowed?


These are the words your students won't find in the dictionary:


Slang: Slang is always a big red flag for English as a second language students. Because language is always changing, because it is a living and fluid thing, there are always new words being born into English. After a piece of slang becomes more commonly used and is used by a larger portion of the population, it may gain status by being added to the dictionary. For example, in recent years the expression “ginormous” (a combination of giant and enormous) gained some popular usage. Most English speakers would say it is obviously slang, but it now appears in the dictionary, labeled as informal language.


New Technology: Slang is not the only place language changes. With scientific advances moving forward every day, language moves right along with it. Words are added to English with many scientific discoveries or technological advancements. Because of this, the dictionary will not reflect these recent additions to the language, even if they seem like legitimate words. For example, if someone were to ask you what a netsurfer is, you could probably tell him or her it issomeone who browses the internet for entertainment. You will not, however, find this word in the dictionary.


Loanwords
What do you think of when you hear the word fahrvergnugen? How about joie de vivre? In fact, both speak of the joy of life, of living the good life, and neither of these expressions is English, not in the traditional sense, anyway. When two languages have natural contact with one another, whether through business or social relationships or another means, the speakers of these languages at times will use words from the language not their own. With continued use by those original speakers and then the adoption of the foreign word by other native speakers, what was once a foreign word becomes a part of (in this case) the English language. These words borrowed from one language into another are called loanwords. 


Acronyms
In this age of text messages, perhaps the most necessary “words” your students will need to enable communication with native speakers are acronyms. An acronym is a word that is composed of the initial letters of the words or the important words that make up a larger phrase. Some acronyms become commonly used words over time and make their way into the dictionary in their own right, radar and FBI for example.


Finally, as anyone who has ever had a lesson on the dictionary knows, the valuable reference books do not include proper nouns and names among their entries. Most students will expect this to be the case, and they will not depend upon dictionaries to understand these words.


See ya guys o/

Zehr lustig Lied !!!

Viel Spaß !!!

Dónde está la paz?

No habrá paz mientras no haya tolerancia.

Empecemos por nuestra casa.





Renato Aires

Crazy story...

Hey,there...

Last class my students from Inter 6 made up a story like Stand up comedy... They had to start with "I traveled to" and when I showed an object they must use it in the story. Let's see what we got:

I traveled to England with my father and my sister. We visited my uncle and my aunt. We were walking in the park when my sister found a ruler and she played with it. My mom didn't travel with us, because she lost the ticket. So she went in September. We went to Big Ben... (Larissa) It was a crazy experience, my parents loved that place. My sister bought a monkey and we went back to my uncle's house. My mother was preparing lunch for us, but my father wanted an egg, so my mom went to the supermarket to buy it. (Alcione) Then, after this wonderful trip, we decided to go to the beach in Brazil. In our lunch, at the beach, we decided to eat with a spoon, because it was easier. In the afternoon, we noticed that we forgot our toothbrushes in London and we decided to go shopping. After we bought them, we ate... (Vanessa) pizza with some friends and my friend Silvana gave me an Equequo, because I'm not lucky this year. After eating, we decided to do the dishes but there isn't a sponge. So we went back to the supermarket... (Eliel) and we bought it. But we didn't have much money, only some cents. But instead of buying a sponge we bought a yellow balloon. As we were so hungry we went to the supermarket again and we bought a green apple and we were so happy. (Elder)

Thanks dear students =)

See ya!!!

Differences Man x Woman

Hey!
My Inter 6 students are studying the differences between man and woman, and I found on youtube this really cool videos enhancing this difference:







Enjoy it and have a nice weekend!

xoxox
Teacher Bel

Teens 4 PIZZA

Hi, we prepared some delicious pizza!!! Take a look at our waiters, cooks and customers!!!

Kanji (Ideogramas)

Minasan konnichiwa!

Kyouwa tchotto kanji no ohanashiwo shimashou!


Os kanji ou ideogramas foram criados na China há mais de 3500 anos. No início, não passavam de desenhos que, com o tempo, foram esquematizados em imagens pictográficas até adquirem formatos atuais.

Há diversas teorias sobre como e quando os kanji foram introduzidos ao Japão. O mais provável é que os japoneses tenham conhecido os kanji, já evoluídos até os formatos atuais, por volta do século IV a V, e tenham adaptado para transcrever a sua língua, criando leituras próprias. Assim, um único kanji possui várias leituras.

O kanji considerado o campeão de leituras variadas é o “生” que significa “vida, nascimento, vigor, pureza”, podendo ser lido sei, shô, nama, ki, i(kiru), u(mareru), ha(eru), o(u). Como pode ser observado, os kanji além de serem símbolos gráficos com idéias, podem ser utilizados como representações fonéticas. Assim, poderemos brincar de escrever os nomes estrangeiros em kanji.


Por exemplo, “Mário” pode ser escrito 真理男 (lê-se 真=ma, 理=ri, 男=o) 真significa verdade, ,理 a razão ou lógica e , 男o homem, ou seja, homem lógico ou com a razão verdadeira. Ainda, “Miriam” pode se escrever 美理案(lê-se 美=mi, 理= ri, 案= an), 美significando beleza, ,理a razão ou lógica e,　案a idéia, ou seja, bonita com idéias lógicas.

Por se tratar de representação gráfica de idéias, existem milhares de kanji. Porém, como são combinações de dois ou mais caracteres básicos, se souber os caracteres básicos, não são letras tão difíceis. Por exemplo: os radicais que representam o elemento semântico do kanji, basicamente, são em torno de 250 ou pouco mais.

Exemplo de alguns radicais:

シ= significa água
Exemplo de alguns radicais

海mar　 湖lagoa　　池represa　　沼represa　　

木= significa árvore
Exemplo de alguns radicais

林bosque 　　森floresta 　　机escrivaninha 　　松pinheiro

心= significa sentimento, coração
Exemplo de alguns radicais

恋amor 　　悪maldade 　　恩gratidão 　　恥vergonha

Omoshiroidesho!

Jya mata raishuu made!

The Lion King is back !!!

A young lion prince is born in Africa, thus making his uncle Scar the second in line to the throne. Scar plots with the hyenas to kill King Mufasa and Prince Simba, thus making himself King. The King is killed and Simba is led to believe by Scar that it was his fault, and so flees the kingdom in shame. After years of exile he is persuaded to return home to overthrow the usurper and claim the kingdom as his own thus completing the "Circle of Life".

Do you remember this movie?!

Now, Disney’s “The Lion King” is coming to Disney Diamond Edition Blu-ray and DVD...

I have been a big fan of The Lion King since year 2001. When I was younger, I used to watch it almost every single day. I remember almost everything about this movie..... :)

This is by far one of my favorite classic Disney movies....

what about u ?

xoxox

I SPEAK AMERICAN!

The language of freedom!

What do you get when you have the stars from the movie series Harry Potter speak with the American accent? Find out for yourself.

Pocoyo auf deutsch

Das ist eine Kindersendunge!!



Das ist sehr lustig.

Tschüss

Delicious Sandwiches...

Hey, there...

My students from Inter 2 prepared special sandwiches yesterday... Take a look at the photos:

HUMMMMMMM!!!



Have a great week!!!



See ya =)

El ombligo del Mundo

(CUZCO)



El Cuzco[1] (quechua sureño: Qusqu, Qosqo, pronunciado [ˈqo̝s.qɔ]), o Cusco (grafía oficial reciente), es una ciudad del sureste del Perú ubicada en la vertiente oriental de la Cordillera de los Andes, en la cuenca del río Huatanay, afluente del Vilcanota. Es la capital del Departamento del Cuzco y además, está declarado en la constitución peruana como la capital histórica del país.



Antiguamente fue la capital del Imperio inca y una de las ciudades más importantes del Virreinato del Perú. Declarada Patrimonio de la Humanidad en 1983 por la Unesco, suele ser denominada, debido a la gran cantidad de monumentos que posee, como la "Roma de América";[2] actualmente es el mayor destino turístico en el Perú, con una afluencia anual de cerca de un millón de visitantes en el 2008.[3]



Cuenta con una población estimada de 358,052 según el censo peruano de 2007,[4] lo que la ubica entre las ciudades más pobladas del país.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States. Sculpted by Gutzon Borglum and later by his son Lincoln Borglum, Mount Rushmore features 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents (in order from left to right) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres (5.17 km²)and is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level.

South Dakota historian Doane Robinson is credited with conceiving the idea of carving the likenesses of famous people into the Black Hills region of South Dakota in order to promote tourism in the region. Robinson's initial idea was to sculpt the Needles; however, Gutzon Borglum rejected the Needles site and chose the larger Mount Rushmore. Borglum also decided the sculpture should have a more national focus, and chose the four presidents whose likenesses would be carved into the mountain. After securing federal funding, construction on the memorial began in 1927, and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. Upon Gutzon Borglum's death in March 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum took over construction. Although the initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, lack of funding forced construction to end in October 1941.The U.S. National Park Service took control of the memorial in 1933, while it was still under construction, and manages the memorial to the present day. It attracts approximately two million people annually.

The Simpons

Hello!

Daviana, from Inter 1, has written some sentences about the famous TV series The Simpsons.

Check it out:



Homer is Marge´s huband.

Homer is Abraham's son.

Lisa is Marge's daughter.

Jackie is Clancy's wife.

Bart is Ling' cousin.

Selma is Maggie's aunt.

Ilha de Okinawa

Minasan genki desuka?

Okinawa wa doko?
Ikitai desuka?
Takusan kireina basho ga arimasu. Mite ne!

Tanoshiiyo!
Jya mata ne!

Picnic

My students from Kids 2 made a Picnic last week. Let's see the pictures:

On n'est pas à une bêtise près.

Bonjour tout le monde!!!



Comment allez-vous?

Moi, Je suis Beto, professeur d'anglais dans l'école de langues, International House. Maintenant vous pensez, probablement: Mais porquoi est-ce qu'un prof d'anglais parle Français? Je vous explique. J'AIME BIEN LE FRANÇAIS!...Et c'est tout. J'étudie le Français depuis 3 ans. J'aime voyager, j'aime la culture et la cuisine Française, et encore la musique Française.

Le Français c'est une belle langue et beaucoup des personnes dans le monde le parlent, c'est donc, très utile pour se communiquer. J'écoute de la musique très variée; parfois de la musique Française, parfois de l'Américaine. J'aime le pop, le rock, la musique classique, n'importe quel genre!

Ceci c'est ma musique préférée.

À bientôt,

Prof. Beto.

Past Perfect short stories by Inter 6

My Inter 6 students are reviewing the Past Perfect structure. In order to practice it, they created in pairs short sories that began with this structure. Then, I swaped the stories and another pair had to finish it. Here's the result!



--> By the time we arrived at school, we'd had so much fun because the "Cultural Break" had been very exciting. The teachers were rocking on the dance floor when a student started to record them, and posted it on Youtube.

(Beginning by Núlia, Milena and Mariana; ending by Felipe and Fabiana)









--> When I called my mother, I had decided that I would buy a motorcycle. When I told her, I didn't have much money then I decided to work and buy the motorcycle. After a while, I bought a beautiful motorcylce and was very cheap, but I discovered that it was stolen =(

(Beginning by Carol and João Victor; ending by Nathalia and Bruna)









--> When we got to the airport, we had already lost the plane. After the bad news, we tried to buy another tickets because if we couldn't get them we would lose the shows of Rock in Rio. But we found other tickets and went to Rock in Rio.

(Begining by Nathalia and Bruna; ending by João Victor and Carol)







--> When my dad got to my house, I hadn't cleaned the mess of the party yet. So, he kicked me out of the house and I slept in the garden with the street dogs :)

(Beginning by Felipe and Fabiana; ending by Mariana, Núlia and Milena)







Which was your favorite story? Leave you comment!



xoxox,

Teacher Bel

THE WORLD IS JUST!

Hi ya`ll.

Today my inter-10 class will have their final class about law and punishment. Here are some funny cartoons on the subject I found on the internet.

And my favorite:

Why is Reading so important?

Everyone knows reading is important, but have you ever asked yourself why is it so important? Here I list out 8 reasons why reading is important. Hope you can really find out the reason why reading is so important for you, so you got a brand new will to explore the world of reading.



1. Explore Yourself to New Thing

Through reading, you explore yourself to new thing, to new information, new ways to solve a problem, new way to achieve one thing. Who knows you might find your new hobbies within it? Who knows you might actually explore to one thing you really like and thus it become your career and success in the future? Exploration starts from reading and understanding.



2. Self Improvement

Reading does help you form a better you, isn’t it? Through reading, you understand the world more; through reading you get to understand more on a topic that interest you, for example: How to build self confidence, how to make a better planning before action; how to memorize things better and more. All these self develop starts from reading; through reading, you structure the path towards a better understanding and better actions to take in the future.

3. Improve Understanding

The more you read, the more you understand one thing, the A to Z of a thing. Let me give an example here: reading allows you understand about crocodile and it’s habits, that you need to beware of places it usually appear, in the purpose of stay away from being harm and bite. Or perhaps you can try by real life experience, in approaching the crocodile, to see what’s happen. It does help you find out the truth of something right? Reading also increases the understanding of the rules of life, in order for you to adapt, adopt and accommodate into the society better. To play well in a game, you first need to understand the rules well enough.



4. Preparation to Action

Before you take action on anything, where do you seek for help and guidance? Reading is essential way which can help you out. In today’s world, getting reviews and feedback from other people is a big impact on what’s your next decision, the pros and cons of one thing. Read about how to cook a meal; how to play chess; which place is nice for holiday family trip; read the menu before order food, read the manual before using a new gadget. These all can helps you become more prepare before really get into it.

Read > Learn > Do > Achieve

5. Gain Experience from Other People

When you are reading, you are actually gaining the knowledge and experience of someone. It can faster up your success towards one thing, as you don’t need to repeat the same mistake while focus on the right path in achieving one thing. It’s like a mountain of gems for you to discover in books, of people’s success, failures and advices. Life is too short for you to keep repeating mistakes that had been done by other people in the past, in order for you to reach the results that someone might had already reach. As I share in my previous article Famous Failures – Video , there are four thousands plus billionaire and 12 million millionaires today. To become one of them, the first thing is to learn and get to know their past, what they did in the past that makes them where they are today. Reading is a great path to get to know them, and learn from these great people.

The art of reading is in great part that of acquiring a better understanding of life from one’s encounter with it in a book.



6. Tools of Communicating

It is the most important tool of communicating, through reading, you communicate, through reading, you understand more, and thus you can communicate better with people. As if a person that know nothing, he won’t has anything to share, and he probably don’t even understand what people are sharing. Through reading, you build a more solid bridge of communication. It is one of the most important tool we use everyday to connect with each other. Whereas if you don’t read, you can’t even connect with the world and what people are talking about out there, including to understand what this article is all about. Reading connects you with the world.



7. Connecting Your Brain

When reading, you’re in full silence, where reading connects directly to your brain. In silence, you seek for more; in silence, your brain is clear and focuses, thus you learn and grow, and therefore you feel and see from the point of view of the author, about everything in life. Hence you shape a better self.

8. Boost Imagination and Creativity

Reading exposes you to a world of imagination, showing you nothing is impossible in this world. By reading, you exploring a different angle to see a thing you’ve knew, on how different action leads to different results. Books are beyond imagination, it’s like a huge spider web, where you keep linking to more and more, to things you knew, and things you just learn, structuring a new solution and answers.

So in your opinion, why is reading so important ???

What's your favorite job?!

Hello....

My students from Tenns 2 talked about their favorite jobs...

engineer....Top Model...

composer...architect...writer...etc

What's your favorite job?!

See u !!!!

Challenge...

Hey, people...

Only 55 people in 100 can read this....

Can u?! :)

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of thehmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng istaht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyastghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed this forwrad it FORWARD ONLY IF YOU CAN READ IT.

Hope u like it !!!!

xoxox

The Alphabet pronunciation...

Hey, there...

My students from Inter 1 learned the alphabet last week... Take a look at this video and learn how to pronounce the alphabet... It's very interesting...

Have a wonderful week!!!

See ya =)

Descubre Perú - Los Uros

Hay un pueblo que vive en las aguas del lago Titicaca. No te gustaría saber cómo logran hacerlo?

Catalão in Inter 3's point of view

hi guys!



In inter 3 there's a lesson related to places in the world, including our beloved Rio.

Some natives discussed about their places' features in this lesson.

So did my Inter 3.



In the reception hall you can see their reviews on Catalão.

They wrote about the pros and cons of our city. Probably, most of you have already seen the pieces of paper on the wall.



check out the photos above.

Changing Education Paradigms

Hello Everyone!

This week my students from Inter 4 started a new lesson: Education. We could widely discuss this subject, but today I'm only posting a video I particularly believe it's unbelievebly mind-provoking.

Check it out and think about it.

See ya o/

I Do !!!!

Hey, people...

Long time no see.... :)

My Inter 3 did an activity with this video.....The song is called I Do !!!

Have u ever heard this song?!

Take a look....

Hope u like it !!!!

What's up?

What's up was shorten from, "What are you up to?".

Basically, "What are you doing?".

It also became the meaning for, "What is going on?" or "What is Happening?".

ADELE

これ それ あれ

Minasan konnitiwa!

Vamos revisar a aula passada.



Jya raishuu made!

DON`T DOWNLOAD THIS SONG

EVERYBODY NOW!

This week in my Inter-10 classes we are talking about crime and punishment.

Furniture

Think about it!

The Lazy Brothers

Well, since this has been the most played song here in the school so far this semester, I offer you a new version of it. What do you think?

AKKUSATIV

Tschüs

I'll be there for you...

Hey, guys...

My students from Inter 5 talked about Friends in the lesson 1. They learned a lot of different expressions when we are talking about friendship: click right away, hit it off immediatelly, have a lot in common, become close friends, drift apart, get along very well together, have ups and downs and a friend will always be there for you. Last class we listened to this song and discussed some expressions to improve our English...

Now, enjoy it...

Have a nice week!!!

See ya =)

Countable and Uncountable nouns

So, on wednesday my students and I were making pizzas and also learning about countable and uncountable nouns, oh and by the way the pizzas were delicious And if you want to know more 'bout this check this site here http://www.inglesvip.com/grammar/countable-and-uncountable-nouns.html in this site you can count with explanation and some examples. see ya next time.

Earth Hour - 2012

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries/territories participating. Global landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, CN Tower in Toronto, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

In March 2009, hundreds of millions of people took part in the third Earth Hour. Over 4000 cities in 88 countries/territories officially switched off to pledge their support for the planet, making Earth Hour 2009 the world’s largest global climate change initiative.

On Saturday 27 March, Earth Hour 2010 broke new records for participation with 128 countries and territories joining the global display of climate action. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Asia Pacific to Europe and Africa to the Americas switched off. People across the world from all walks of life turned off their lights and came together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common – our planet.

And Earth Hour just keeps growing. On Saturday March 26th, Earth Hour 2011 became the biggest Earth Hour ever. 135 countries took part, many for the first time including Lebanon, Jamaica, Iran, Uganda, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Chad, Azerbaijan, Gibraltar, Palestine, Suriname, Uzbekistan, Trinidad & Tobago and Lesotho.

Earth Hour 2011 marks the beginning of a new era, with individuals, organisations and governments asked to go beyond the hour by committing to ongoing action for the planet. Visit our Beyond the Hour platform to share your stories and to get inspiration from the actions our supporters have shared with us already.

This year’s event has illustrated without question what can be achieved when people unite with a common purpose and rally to action.

Earth Hour 2012 will take place on Saturday 31st March at 8:30 PM - so save the date and keep coming back to earthhour.org to find out what’s in store and how you can get involved.

Create you own virtual lantern! ---> http://www.earthhour.org/kids/MakeALantern.aspx

Practice switching off the lights ---> http://apps.facebook.com/lightswitch/

Stick Stuck Stuck

To all of you who though there could never be a fun way of learning the past participles, I introduce MC Fluency:

Online book

Hey guys, students teachers...take a look at this web site! It`s a book about shops in a town, it`s very interactive, you can hear the words and then do some actvities IT`S FANTASTIC!

Cantora em forma de Holograma

Minasan konnitiwa!

Para aqueles que gostam de tecnologia e música, os japoneses resolveram unir ambos em uma coisa só: uma cantora em forma de holograma. E com direito a shows!

Em um país cujo governo está dizendo aos quatro cantos que, se for eleito o país-sede da Copa do Mundo de 2022, exibirá os jogos ao vivo em hologramas espalhados por estádios no mundo inteiro, a última novidade é Hatsune Miku - um tipo de personagem de anime que canta no mundo real.

Miku tem 16 anos e sua voz foi gravada por artistas reais. Ela tem feito tanto sucesso que está no meio de um tour pelo Japão.

A cantora já atrai muitos fãs a seus shows, pessoas animadas que não param um minuto sequer enquanto a quase real artista canta suas músicas. Depois de robôs humanóides, hologramas em apresentação perfeita, o que mais falta inventar na terra do sol nascente?



Jya mata raishuu made!

The Sweet Escape

Students form Inter 8 have listened to the song above and now they share why the'd like to escape from routine.



INDIARA

It's boring to do things that I don't want.



EDUARDO TAVARES

I'd want to escape from my routine becaue it's boring.



LAURA

To start again, kind of erase things I did wrong in the past.



MANUEL NETO

I have to study for Vestibular.



FÁBIO

The reaon is: I wake up at 5 a.m.



EDUARDO ROCHA

Because it's so boring to do the same things on the same time every single day.



RAMON

Everyday I see the same faces.



BRUNA

Because we need a break from our routine.



ANA

I don't want to worry a lot about my school and homework.

Die Kirche

Arquitetura alemã Igreja, Imagens Edifícios Igreja alemã, Igrejas da Alemanha

Environment

Hey, everybody...

My students from Inter 4 talked about Environment last class... We discussed about many issues like global warming, recycling, renewable energy, pollution and what we can do to make this world a better place... Now, watch this video showing the human impact on the environment...

What can we can do to save the planet?

Have a nice week!!!

See ya =)

The baby says no

Hello people,



Peço desculpas aos teachers de inglês, mas achei o vídeo muito bom e por isso resolvi postá-lo.



E ainda consegui aprender a fazer perguntas com Do.

Día del Padre en Brasil

Hoy celebramos nuestro padre. Ojalá tengamos cada día más y más padres responsables y especiales.



Qué todos seamos felices!

THERE IS THERE ARE - VIDEO

Hey!



This one goes for all the Inter 2 students who are studying about this topic, and it is also useful for those ones who might want to review the topic.





Hope you like it!



See you!!!

=)

Washington monument

The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington. The monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, is both the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk, standing 555 feet 5 /₈ inches (169.294 m). There are taller monumental columns, but they are neither all stone nor true obelisks. It is also the tallest structure in Washington D.C.. It was designed by Robert Mills, an architect of the 1840s. The actual construction of the monument began in 1848 but was not completed until 1884, almost 30 years after the architect's death. This hiatus in construction happened because of co-option by the Know Nothing party, a lack of funds, and the intervention of the American Civil War. A difference in shading of the marble, visible approximately 150 feet (46 m) or 27% up, shows where construction was halted for a number of years. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848; the capstone was set on December 6, 1884, and the completed monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885. It officially opened October 9, 1888. Upon completion, it became the world's tallest structure, a title previously held by the Cologne Cathedral. The monument held this designation until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris, France. The monument stands due east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial.

The Washington Monument was originally intended to be located at the point at which a line running directly south from the center of the White House crossed a line running directly west from the center of the Capitol. Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant's 1791 "Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of t(he) government of the United States ..." designated this point as the location of the equestrian statue of George Washington that the Continental Congress had voted for in 1783. However, the ground at the intended location proved to be too unstable to support a structure as heavy as the planned obelisk. The Jefferson Pier, a small monolith 390 feet (119 m) WNW of the Monument, now stands at the intended site of the structure.

Pronunciation Tips - Great Website

Hi guys!

Your pronunciation in English is very important, but it's difficult to be corrected by your teacher. We can't interrupt you in every little mistake you make to correct your mispronunciation. If we did so, the conversation wouldn't flow at all!

But you can help yourself with self-correction, self-monitoring and self-improving your pronunciation skills! In order to do so, here's a great website to help you in your studies: Pronunciation Tips.



Many teachers, especially if they are new to teaching ESL classes, may be a little intimated by the prospect of having to teach pronunciation. But, just like almost every thing else, if the process is broken down into small manageable steps, the task is not all that daunting. This site is an attempt to do just that- to break the process of teaching pronunciation down into smaller steps.



Why is proper pronunciation important? Because without correct pronunciation- no matter how vast the students vocabulary may be, no matter how well the student understands and uses grammatical rules, no matter what their level of reading or writing skills may be- if they don't use correct pronunciation it may be very difficult for listeners to understand what they say. And that is a huge hindrance to communication. In addition, some research indicates that if a student can not pronounce a word correctly, they may not be able to hear it when spoken by another person either, which furthers hinders communication.

(...)



Mastering proper pronunciation is not just a matter of learning individual sounds. Many students can hear and make the different sounds for all the vowels and consonants in English. Unfortunately, they also have to contend with the sound changes that occur with different letter combinations resulting from linking or reduction of vowels and consonants, not to mention stress, pitch, and intonation differences between their native tongue and English.



That's basically all there is to teaching pronunciation- giving feedback and ensuring that the student uses the feedback to improve their speaking skills. That along with providing adequate practice to the students to hear the sounds AND practice making the sounds. Remember (as some research implies) if a student can't say a sound, they won't be able to hear it either.







Even a King must know how to speak properly!



Have a nice weekend, fellows!



xoxox,

teacher Bel

The Raccoon Story - Calvin and Hobbes

Hundreds of comic strips have been published in newspapers. The majority are terrible, and almost all the rest are mediocre. There have been maybe four or five good comic strips in the history of the world. So saying that Calvin and Hobbes is the best comic strip ever doesn't really hold a lot of weight. Nevertheless, Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes has been a worldwide favorite since its introduction in 1985. The strip follows the richly imaginative adventures of Calvin and his trusty tiger, Hobbes.

Calvin

Calvin, named after the 16th-century theologian John Calvin, is an impulsive, creative, imaginative, energetic, curious, intelligent, hypocritical, selfish, rude, and ill-tempered six-year-old, whose last name is never mentioned in the strip. Despite his poor grades in school, Calvin demonstrates his intelligence through his sophisticated vocabulary and a philosophical mind.

Hobbes

From the other characters' perspectives, Hobbes is Calvin's stuffed tiger. From Calvin's point of view, Hobbes is an anthropomorphic tiger, much larger than Calvin and full of independent attitudes and ideas. When the perspective shifts to any other character, readers again see merely a stuffed animal, usually seated at an off-kilter angle and blankly staring into space. Watterson explains:

"When Hobbes is a stuffed toy in one panel and alive in the next, I'm juxtaposing the 'grown-up' version of reality with Calvin's version, and inviting the reader to decide which is truer."

The Raccoon Story

"...but don't YOU go anywhere."

What makes Calvin and Hobbes the greatest ever is its ability to make you laugh your ass off, and identify with it. What makes it one of the great treasures of our culture is its ability to invoke emotions that you never thought you’d spend on a comic strip.

This one’s is positively touching and also my favorite strip of all times.