[AMERICAN ENGLISH IDIOMS] WHAT DOES FEEL THE PINCH MEAN?

I know that there is been a long time since I last published an entry here, but I have been pretty busy dealing with many things related to my professional life.

Now that I’m back, I would like to share with you some of the new (and not so new) expressions I’ve learned recently.

Have you guys ever heard of the American (it might not be American only) idiom FEEL THE PINCH*?

*(Third-person singular Simple Present feels the pinch, Present Participle feeling the pinch, Simple Past and Past Participle felt the pinch).

Let’s read it in context first:

The government raised taxes so much that even the rich began to feel the pinch.

When we had to pay for the university education of all three of our children at the same time, we really felt the pinch.

In case you still have no idea of what FEEL THE PINCH is, I will provide you with its definition.

DEFINITION:

When you feel the pinch, it means that you have less money than you used to have, and less than you feel is necessary.

I hope you have both learned and enjoyed this entry.

TO FEEL THE PINCH and STRAPPED FOR CASH are synonyms.

 See you around!

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People, peopling and peopled: The verb People.

“Whether in the Sunday paper or in a critically acclaimed graphic novel, comics have become a distinctive American art form. Comic strips, comic books, and the characters that people them, are reflections of the country’s culture from the end of the 19^th century.”

Have you noticed that? I’m talking about this, say, unusual verb. Well, at least, I have never seen ‘people’ as a verb. I mean, some people are using a great deal of words - nouns especially - as verbs. It is the case of GOOGLE. Now it is not only the name of the company, but also a verb. Don’t you believe me?  Just google it.   

Reading again “Comic strips, comic books, and the characters that people them”, you will realize (if you have not already done it) that people here is a verb and not the plural form of person.

You can also use ‘peopling’ (gerund) and ‘peopled’ (past form of the verb ‘people’).

ORIGINS:

Middle English, from Anglo-French popler, poeplier, from pople

First Known Use: 15th century

PRONUNCIATION POINT. -ED - PAST SIMPLE.

Para formar o passado dos verbos irregulares, acrescenta-se “-ed” à sua forma básica. A pronúncia, porém, frequentemente gera confusão, porque na verdade existem três sons finais diferentes: /Id/, /d/ e /t/. Mas, para identificá-los, temos alguns macetes. A pronúncia dos verbos terminados com /t/ ou /d/ têm o som /Id/, exemplo: needed /ni:dId/, wanted / wantId/. Se um verbo termina com uma vogal ou um som sonoro (ou seja, se você sente a vibração do som na garganta) o som final é /d/: served, opened /aupand/. Para os verbos terminados com um som surdo (sem vibração na garganta), o som final é /t/ como em watched /wat ʃt/ e worked /w3:kt/.

Vejam esse ótimo vídeo sobre a pronúncia dos verbos no passado em inglês:

[Teaching English as a Second Language]

Irregular Verb Wheel Game.

Spin the wheel to test your knowledge of irregular verb forms. It’s addictive!

SITE: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/verb-wheel/

Learning English by playing Games.

O jogo da semana ficará postado ali no lado esquerdo do blog e os alunos poderão jogar e aprender inglês após clicar sobre a imagem do mesmo. Para entender o jogo, além da leitura das instruções, recomendo assistir esse trailer:

A ideia para a inclusão dessa nova ferramenta veio por meio da leitura do livro PRACTICE TEACHING: A REFLECTIVE APPROACH do Professor e Linguista, Jack C. Richards, que trata o assunto da seguinte forma:

A further important component of professional knowledge in today’s classroom has been termed “technological pedagogical content knowledge”, or TPCK (Mishra and Koehler 2006) – that is, the ability to incorporate and integrate technology into teaching.

Indo mais além, o próprio Jack acrescenta sobre o uso da tecnologia no ensino:

The use of technology in teaching becomes more important in present times because teachers also have to be able to keep up with the technological knowledge of their students. Young learners today have more access to information and more tools available to them to manage their own learning. 

Ainda mencionando o Professor, gostaria de registrar aqui a minha felicidade por ter me encontrado com o mesmo no Cambridge Day 2012. Jack Richards, autor, entre muitos livros e artigos, da série “INTERCHANGE”, mostrou-se uma pessoa de fácil acesso e bastante engajado no ensino de língua inglesa. 

Jack C. Richards and Bruno Coriolano. 

Richards, Jack C.. PRACTICE TEACHING: A REFLACTIVE APPROACH / Jack C. Richards, Thomas S. C. Farrell. Cambridge University Press. 2011.

Caso você procure pelo link mais adiante e o jogo postado ali ao lado já seja outro e não esse indicado na postagem, clique aqui >> LINK << para ser direcionado à página do mesmo. 

WARM UP ACTIVITIES FOR ENGLISH LESSONS.

Fact or Fiction

In this game, one person tells a short story about themselves or someone they know or heard about. Usually it is something funny or crazy. It can be a true story, or something made up.

Example: Josh tells a story about his Uncle Leo who sleeps in the nude. One day Uncle Leo was sleepwalking and he went outside and took his dog for a walk. The next door neighbor was coming home late from work and saw him! She called the police and he got arrested for being naked in public.

Everyone around the room has to say whether they think Josh's story is FACT (true) or FICTION (made up). Josh reveals the truth when everyone has guessed. Members can take turns telling a story.

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[FALSE FRIENDS/FALSOS COGNATOS] O que significa SODA em inglês?

Essa palavra pode causar um pouco de confusão para alguns estudantes nos níveis iniciais, e até mesmo nos mais avançados. Trata-se de outro falso cognato, aquele grupo de palavras que nem sempre têm o mesmo significado em duas línguas diferentes, mas têm escritas parecidas.

O termo SODA é aplicado nos Estados Unidos para referir-se a REFRIGERANTE de forma bem geral. É um sinônimo para SOFT DRINK.

Portanto, da próxima vez que for pedir por uma SODA em inglês, lembre-se de que você estará pedindo por refrigerante. Para pedir por SODA LIMONADA, usa-se o termo LEMON SODA.

A: Can I have a lemon soda, please?

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O que "Not beat around the bush" significa?

Not beat around the bush. “não bater ao redor do arbusto”. Essa frase vem do mundo da caça, e quer dizer “sem rodeios”. Os beaters (literalmente “batedores”) são auxiliares que manejam bastões pela floresta para assustar os pássaros, que saem voando, dando assim aos caçadores a chance de disparar. To beat around the bush que dizer, portanto, “dar voltas sem ir direto ao ponto”. Mas se você quer expressar o conceito de “ir direto ao ponto”, existe esta frase que vem do mundo mágico do cinema: to cut to the chase. The chase vem de car chase, ou “perseguição de carros”, a dramática cena final de um filme: se o diretor vai direto para ela, deixa de fora todo o preambulo. Portanto, se numa reunião você quiser ir direto ao ponto, pode dizer: I’m not going to beat around/about the bush here, I’m going to cut to the chase: we want to buy your company: “Sem rodeios, vou direto ao ponto: queremos comprar a sua empresa”.  

FROM: SpeakUp EXPLAINS. 

Curta nossa página no Facebook [LINK].

English Language Teaching: Activities.

You ever tried getting your haircut in a foreign language? Or what about describing other people's hair?

O que significa TO LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG em inglês?

Nos mercados e feiras livres medievais, alguns comerciantes inescrupulosos costumavam colocar um gato no saco, em vez de um leitãozinho, para tentar enganar o freguês incauto. O comprador prudente sempre pedia para abrir o saco a fim de verificar o conteúdo e, se fosse revelada a fraude, literalmente ele deixava o gato sair do saco – he let the cat out of the bag.

Esta expressão quer dizer: revelar um segredo; revelar uma fraude.

He let the cat out of the bag about the company’s new policy.

[Ele revelou o segredo sobre a nova política da empresa.]

Referência: “Why do we say that? Por que dizemos isso? – A origem e o significado de palavras e expressões do inglês do dia a dia”, de Jack Scholes – Editora Campus/Elsevier, 2009.

Queremos continuar ampliando nossas matérias. Ajudem-nos na divulgação do mesmo, mande suas sugestões, críticas e opiniões. Temos explicações sobre vocabulário, piadas, provérbios, gírias, entrevistas, tira-dúvidas e muito mais.

Nossa proposta é levar conhecimento a todos os interessados em aprender e aperfeiçoar suas habilidades referentes à Língua Inglesa. Podem contar com o PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA.

Se você gostou dessa postagem, poderá gostar das opções que aparecem aqui logo abaixo. Deixem suas sugestões ou críticas. Ajudem-nos a fazer um blog melhor. Em breve, teremos mais novidades para nossos leitores. Aguardem. 

HOW TO CREATE A WINNING LESSON.

1.   KNOW YOUR PEOPLE:

Before you can make any kind of effective lesson plan, you have to know your students.

2.   KNOW YOUR PLAN:

Officially, you should know your learning objectives. These are the language specific objectives for your lesson. If you are teaching content, think about ways to tie it to reading, writing, listening and speaking for your English students.

3.   KNOW YOUR PRIORITIES:

What are the most important things your students should know from the lesson you are planning? For example, in a speaking class learning a specific set of vocabulary may be secondary. Learning cultural nuances may be a third level priority. When you define your priorities at the start of your lesson planning, you can be sure that your students will learn what they need to learn by the end of your class.

4.   KNOW YOUR PIECES:

Just like any good story, a good lesson plan needs a beginning, middle and end. Plan a way of introducing the subject that will get your students thinking about what they already know, making connections in the brain. Plan more than one activity to introduce and practice new material.

5.   ANTICIPATE YOUR PACE:

One of the hardest tasks for a new teacher is determining how much time a given activity will take. Make sure you are ready for anything in your class by over planning activities for each lesson. Be ready for anything, and after you present your lesson make note of how long you spent on each activity.

6.   PROCESS YOUR OUTCOME:

It is always beneficial to spend a few moments after a lesson evaluating how it went, but your evaluation does not have to be a complicated process. This will not only help you the next time you go through the same material with a future class, it will help you plan upcoming lessons better for the class you have now!

This entry was adapted from BUSY TEACHER. Read the full version >>here<<

So What Book Are You Using? How to Select (or Not Select) a Great ESL Textbook.

Often when in the teacher’s room, another teacher will ask me, “So what book are you using?” I used to smile at this: “What book are you using?” not “Who are your students?” or “What level of class do you have this semester?” It seemed a pretty shallow question.

However, through experience, I no longer view it this way: what book a teacher uses—or doesn’t use—reveals a lot about her teaching style and curriculum.

For example, a teacher who uses Azar’s grammar series, with its clear charts and explanations of grammar points, probably takes a rather traditional, structured approach to grammar. The teacher’s colleague who uses Molinsky and Bliss’s “Side by Side” series probably takes an audiolingual approach to language instruction, with a focus on oral language and repetition of patterned drills. If I’m not familiar with the textbook the teacher names, I can find out about from him, perhaps look over a copy if he has one, and I might decide to try it next semester for my own class. Traditionally, in fact, before the electronic revolution, the textbook was considered the cornerstone of a class, much of the curriculum and instruction based on it.

So how do you go about choosing an excellent textbook for your class? There is a process that will ensure picking out a strong, if not ideal, textbook.

How to Select (or Not Select) a Great ESL Textbook

ü  Get to Know Your Students

ü  Get to Know Publishers and Their Websites and Representatives

ü  Select Options

WRITTEN BY Stacia Levy.

Dr. Stacia Levy teaches writing and reading skills at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California to both native and nonnative speakers of English. 

She also has taught academic and creative writing at the University of California, Davis. However, she began her teaching career twenty years ago as an instructor ESL in adult education programs and still primarily defines herself as an ESL teacher. 

Publishing credits include two academic works based on her dissertation, several short stories, and a novel, California Gothic, a story of romantic suspense.

Read the full version by clicking here (LINK). 

Who can teach EFL?

I did my CELTA course more than ten years ago, and during that time I have gained experience abroad and within TEFL and ESOL. I have also met various teachers who have entered EFL teaching through different routes, and with varied academic backgrounds.  Some had come into the profession as volunteer teachers in their local communities and built up their experience that way, some had been working in their local community college for many years, and had never had any formal training, but had years of experience. Many did not have a degree, while others had been to university and had a CELTA, and with any profession there were varying degrees of good and bad teaching.

TEFL qualifications too short?

So, from my experience a wide range of people can be teachers, but despite this knowledge I often feel that many people are given the impression that our line of work is easy, because, after all you only need to do a one month course, and you can even do one online or over a weekend! I mean how easy must that sound to so many people?  When I lived in Italy I met teachers who had no training at all in teaching and landed a teaching job in a private language school, purely based on the fact that they spoke English.

In my opinion the brevity of the of the CELTA course, and the ease at which people can secure a teaching job abroad hides the fact that teaching EFL requires a wide range of skills and knowledge; knowledge of language acquisition, dealing with group dynamics, aspects of linguistics, syllabus planning, testing, specialist knowledge about teaching children a foreign language, and not forgetting bags of creativity.

Do we undervalue our job?

I am a member of an international teaching organisation and the regular journals and special interest literature I receive from them illustrate to me time and time again, that our profession is not to be taken lightly. There are serious issues teachers need to consider when entering a classroom. I am not suggesting that only CELTA qualified people make good teachers, from my experience it does not work like that. However I think that the ease at which unqualified people can get a job abroad and perhaps the brevity of the initial CELTA qualification causes people to undervalue the qualification and what we do. We as EFL teachers are also guilty of undervaluing our job. I believe is connected not only to low pay, but also to the fact that many well qualified and experienced teachers often watch others with much less, or no experience whatsoever entering into EFL teaching so easily. This would make anybody question the value of their job.

EFL teachers old and new are welcome to comment on these issues in the comments section below:

http://www.tefljobsnetwork.co.uk/tefl-advice/who-can-teach-efl/?goback=%2Egde_140261_member_117102198

[American Idioms] Como se diz “queimar o filme” em inglês?

Às vezes essas certas situações são muito desagradáveis, mas elas também são corriqueiras nas nossas vidas. Outro dia eu estava passando por ai e ouvi, sem querer, uma conversa ao telefone (a pessoa estava gritando, então suponho que não era um segredo). A mesma estava falando mal de alguma pessoa, ou seja, estava “queimando o filme” de alguém.

Como eu digo “queimar o filme” de alguém em inglês?

Burn the movie? Não.

LEIAM ESSES EXEMPLOS:

“Be careful what you say to him”, John said. “You do not want to burn your bridges, right?”

[“Cuidado com o que diz”, João disse. “Você não quer ‘queimar seu filme, não é?”]

Luiza, who lived in Canada, smiled to the cameras because she did not want to ‘burn her bridges’.

[Luíza, que morava no Canadá, sorriu para as câmeras porque ela não queria queimar o próprio filme.]

Fica ai mais uma dica do blog. Essa postagem marca a visita número 50.000 nesse blog. Esperamos que vocês tenham gostado. Deixem suas opiniões sobre essa postagem. Curtam nossa página no Facebook.

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Learning English from Cartoons: Sitting On Their Hands.

This cartoon by Schrank from The Independent uses a visual metaphor to comment on the situation in Syria, where opposition groups are being brutally repressed by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Barack Obama, David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy, and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, are shown sitting on their hands as they watch TV images of Assad raising his blood-covered fists.

EXPLANATION

If you sit on your hands, you do nothing about a problem or a situation that needs dealing with.

 • Every day the crisis worsens and yet the government seems content to sit on its hands.

FROM: theenglishblog. 

Learning English from Cartoons: Off The Beat.

This cartoon by Paul Thomas from The Daily Express relates to news that Paul McCartney is to headline the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace this summer. 

In the cartoon McCartney is backed by Prince Philip on drums and Prince Harry on keyboards. The ex-Beatle tells Philip, "Do you know you're just off the beat?" To which Philip replies, "I don't know any of your solo stuff ..."

EXPLANATION

If a member of a group is 'off the beat', they are not playing in time with the rest of the group. The joke is that Philip is 'off the beat' because he is only familiar with The Beatles' tunes, and McCartney must be playing one of his solo songs.

Source: theenglishblog.