ROBOT Rule!

A Speakup tem alguns artigos interessantes e que podem ajudar no aprendizado de inglês. Alguns deles vêm até com áudio. Esse é um exemplo: http://www.speakup.com.br/materias/Ed269/ed269.html.

Enjoy!

President Obama on the Protest Situation in Egypt

Memory Game: Clothes

É bobinho, mas é interessante até. Um jogo de memória sobre roupas. É só combinar as imagens com as palavras. Olha aí:

http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/language-games/find-the-pairs/clothes

Wh-questions

There are eight wh-questions - what, when, where, which, who, whom, whose and why and to this list we usually add how as they are all used to elicit particular kinds of information.

You use what when you are asking for information about something. (O que, Qual)
You use when to ask about the time that something happened or will happen. (Quando)
You use where to ask questions about place or position. (Onde)
You use which when you are asking for information about one of a limited number of things. (Qual dentre as opções)
You use who or whom when you are asking about someone's identity. (Quem)
You use whose to ask about possession. (De quem)
You use why to ask for a reason. (Por que)
You use how to ask about the way in which something is done. (Como)

...

Então, dá uma olhada nesses testezinhos:

Teste 1
Teste 2

Enjoy!

Personal English agora no Facebook também

Confira a página no Facebook também:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Personal-English/173279812714661

Justin Bieber, 51 year old pedophile

It's a joke, of course.

Enjoy!

The Onion

Conhece o The Onion? É um site de notícias falsas. Divertido. E tem muitos textos, o que proporciona bastante prática de leitura.

Então, vai lá: http://www.theonion.com/

Financial Terminology Quiz

Alguns termos que lidam com negócios podem ser bem complicados, uma vez que podem pertencer a uma linguagem bem específica.

Então, teste seus conhecimentos com esse quiz:

http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blvocabquiz_money1.htm

Word of the day: appalling

Appalling - adjective - /apaling/ - shocking and very bad - appalling injuries; Prisoners were kept in the most appalling conditions.

...

Ou seja: apavorante, espantoso.

Internet Acronyms

Assim como abreviamos as palavras em português na internet, o inglês também o faz. Seguem alguns exemplos:

BRB – be right back
BIO – going for bio break (washroom break)
AFK – away from keyboard (I am gone for a few minutes)
BTW – by the way
KK – OK (commonly used by online gamers to acknowledge that a message has been received)
TTYL – talk to you later
BFN – bye for now
TTFN – ta-ta for now
CYA – see ya (or it could also be: cover your a*s)
CUL8R – see you later
IBTL – in before the lock (for when you post a message prior to the administrator locking the heated discussion thread)
IMHO – in my humble opinion
IMNSHO – in my not so humble opinion
FMV – fair market value (for selling items online)
LOL – laughing out loud
MT – mistell (commonly used by online gamers to say that they made a mistake and mistyped their last message)
NWT – new with tags (for selling items online)
NWOT – new without tags (for selling items online)
OOAK – one of a kind (for selling items online)
PMSL – P*ssing myself laughing (a common UK expression)
QFT – quoted for truth (a compliment to another person on the forum)
ROFL – rolling on floor laughing
ROFLMAO – rolling on floor laughing my a*s off
RTM – read the manual
RTFM – read the f***ing manual (to show frustration at someone’s ignorance of basic knowledge)
GG – good game
THX – thanks
TX – thanks
TY – thank you
NP – no problem/you’re welcome
PLZ – please
W/E – whatever
ASL – age / sex / location?
RL – real life
IRL – in real life

Source: http://www.eversun.ph/seo/?page_id=185

Inglês no mercado de trabalho

Interessante este artigo, pois ele traduz em números a vantagem que as pessoas que dominam o inglês têm no mercado de trabalho sobre as que não o dominam.

Então olha lá: O mercado prefere quem sabe inglês.

Common Telephone Phrases

Aí estão algumas expressões que podem ser úteis em uma conversa por telefone em inglês:

Introducing yourself
This is Ken.
Ken speaking

Asking who is on the telephone
Excuse me, who is this?
Can I ask who is calling, please?

Asking for Someone
Can I have extension 321? (extensions = ramal)
Could I speak to...? (May I - more formal)
Is Jack in? (informal idiom meaning: Is Jack in the office?)

Connecting Someone
I'll put you through (put through - phrasal verb meaning 'connect' - transferir a ligação)
Can you hold the line? Can you hold on a moment?

How to reply when someone is not available
I'm afraid ... is not available at the moment
The line is busy... (when the extension requested is being used - a linha está ocupada)
Mr Jackson isn't in... Mr Jackson is out at the moment...

Taking a Message
Could/Can/May I take a message?
Could/Can/May I tell him who is calling?
Would you like to leave a message?

...

Viu? Então dá uma olhada nesse vídeo só pra ilustrar e adicionar um pouco mais:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUaFgvCiaVw

Winklevoss twins sue Facebook's Zuckerberg again

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's former colleagues in Harvard University, are suing the young billionaire once again over a supposed miscalculation of the social network's actual value, according to The Daily Mail.

The twins, first made famous by Ben Mezrich's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires and more recently by the David Fincher movie The Social Network, earlier claimed that Zuckerberg stole the idea of Facebook from them.

The brothers sued Zuckerberg in 2008, and reportedly received a settlement worth $65 million.

However, the Winklevosses now claim that the settlement should have been higher due to a supposed miscalculation of Facebook's actual value at the time of the first lawsuit.

According to Forbes Magazine, Zuckerberg has an estimated net worth of $6.5 billion at just 26 years of age. - KBK, GMANews.TV


Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/207943/winklevoss-twins-sue-facebooks-zuckerberg-again

In, on, at

Preposições são um problema, ainda mais o in, o on e o at.

Então, encontrei este resuminho na internet:

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-at-in-on-time.htm

...

Olhou?
Então dá uma olhada nesse quiz:

http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_prep3.htm

Have fun!

NY times: Grêmio wants Ronaldinho

Grêmio said Wednesday that Ronaldinho would end his contract with A.C. Milan, clearing the way for his return to the Brazilian club.

Grêmio said Ronaldinho and his agent and brother Roberto Assis were traveling to Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday to meet with the A.C. Milan vice president Adriano Galliani and complete his release from the Italian club.

The Grêmio spokesman Vitor Rodríguez said that Ronaldinho and Assis were expected to return to Porto Alegre to complete the deal with the club where he started his career in 1998.

Four clubs, including the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer, were trying to sign Ronaldinho, but the two-time FIFA player of the year has said his main desire is to play for Grêmio again. (AP)

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/sports/soccer/06premier.html?scp=1&sq=Ronaldinho&st=cse

Joel Santana speaking English

It's old but it's still funny!

Word of the day: budget

Budget - /bãdjet/ - an estimate, often itemized, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future.

...

Ou seja, orçamento.

Pronunciation: -ous suffix

Muitas pessoas aprendendo inglês pronunciam o sufixo -ous, como em ridiculous como o som seria em português /ous/. Porém, o som correto é /ãs/, assim, uma palavra como ridiculous deve ser pronunciada como /ridíquiulãs/.

Aqui tem alguns exemplos desta pronúncia: http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com/dictionary/ous

Happy New Year

Happy new year, everyone!