The King's Speech

The King's Speech was the winner of the best movie yesterday, in the Oscar. So, here's a little bit more about the movie:

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The King's Speech is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. It won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Picture and the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award. It was nominated for fourteen BAFTAs, of which it won seven; twelve Academy Awards nominations, of which it won four; and seven Golden Globes, with Colin Firth winning for Best Actor.

Firth plays King George VI, who, to overcome his stutter, is introduced to Lionel Logue, an unorthodox speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. The two men become friends as they work together, and after his brother abdicates, the new king relies on Logue to help him make a radio broadcast at the beginning of World War II.

David Seidler began reading about George VI after overcoming his own stutter during his youth and, using informed imagination, wrote about the men's relationship. Nine weeks before filming, Logue's notebooks were discovered and quotations from them were incorporated into the script. Principal photography took place in London and other locations in Britain, in December 2009 and early January 2010. The film was released in the United States on 24 December 2010 and in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2011. It was initially classified with a "12A" rating in Britain, due to strong language in a speech therapy context.

The King's Speech was the highest earning film for three weekends in a row at the British box office until Tangled took over. The film has been widely praised by film critics for its visual style, art direction and acting. Other commentators discussed the film's representation of the historical events it portrays, in particular the reversal of Winston Churchill's opposition to abdication.

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King%27s_Speech

Great Movie Scenes

Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day

Hoje é Valentine's Day, que é o equivalente ao dia dos namorados. Segue uma explicação sobre o dia:

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs, Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It was deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI, but its religious observance is still permitted. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

Source: Wikikepdia

Picture Dictionary

Tem o http://www.pdictionary.com/, que é um dicionário ilustrado na web. Ele pode ser muito útil, especialmente para objetos, animais, frutas, enfim, coisas físicas que podem ser muito difíceis de descrever apenas com palavras.

Então, dá uma olhada lá: http://www.pdictionary.com/

Word of the Day: sunday driver

Sunday driver – noun - a person who drives a car inexpertly, especially slowly or overcautiously, in the manner of one who drives infrequently.

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É o equivalente ao que chamamos no trânsito de barbeiro.

American Spelling x British Spelling

Existem muitas diferenças entre o inglês americano (AmE) e o inglês britânico (BrE). Dá pra fazer um paralelo com as diferenças entre o português falado no Brasil e o português falado em Portugal. Existem diferenças no vocabulário, na pronúncia e também na forma em que muitas palavras são escritas. Aqui vamos falar um pouco da grafia: a principal diferença é que o americano, na maioria dos casos, deu uma simplificada nas palavras. Olha aí alguns casos:

• A combinação -our no BrE no fim ou no meio de uma palavra é mudada para -or no AmE: colour – color, favourite – favorite, honour – honor, neighbour – neighbor, etc.

• Verbos terminados em -se no BrE normalmente levam -ze no AmE: analyse – analyze, criticise – criticize, memorise – memorize, etc.

• Um L no BrE muitas vezes vira dois L no AmE: enrolment – enrollment, fulfil – fulfill, skilful – skillful, etc.

• A combinação de letras -re no fim de substantivos no BrE vira -er no AmE: centre – center, metre – meter, theatre – theater, etc.

• O final -ogue no BrE vira -og no AmE: dialogue – dialog, catalogue – catalog, analogue – analog, etc.

• Algumas palavras perdem o E quando no BrE terminam com -ge: ageing – aging, judgement – judgment, etc.

• Os substantivos terminados em -ence no BrE são normalmente escritos com -ense no AmE: defence – defense, licence – license.

• Também há algumas inconsitências entre palavras específicas como:
   BrE         -     AmE
- jewellery     – jewelry ;
- draught       – draft;
- pyjamas      – pajamas;
- plough        – plow;
- programme – program;
- tyre – tire 
...e muitas outras.

A boa notícia é que as duas grafias são consideradas certas. Claro que quando escrevendo um texto, por exemplo, buscamos consistência na linguagem, então não é ideal misturar grafias.

Irregular verbs crossword

Verbos irregulares podem ser um problema. Como não há regra, o negócio é decorar as formas.

Então, aí está uma cruzadinha com verbos irregulares. Vai lá: http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/irregular_verbs/crossword_simple_past2.htm