IT WAS A BIG ASK FOR BOTTOM SIDE VASCO DA GAMA TO TRY AND DEFEAT LEAGUE LEADERS CLUBE DE REGATAS DO FLAMENGO: FOOTBALL LANGUAGE

One of the things I have been working on is the extension course I’ve been trying to offer as extra credits for the students at my workplace. I cannot deny how challenging it has been so far to me to find materials about football and the English language.

On the other hand, I have been learning a lot about football as well as the specific vocabulary (in English) about the most popular sport in the world.

Do you guy happen to know the meaning of ‘a big ask’?

This noun phrase has become pretty popular in many sports around the world recently. It clearly means that something is very hard to do. As thefreedictionary.com puts it, it may also give us the idea of: “a request to someone to do something for you that you know will be difficult for them.”

In football, if a team, for example, Barcelona are losing by 1 or 2 goals in a game, it may be considered a big ask for them to come back and win the game. (Well, if we’re talking about F.C. Barcelona, I would think it is ‘a big ask’ at all!)

From time to time, ‘a big ask’ may be heard when a commentator is talking about a team in a very low position in a football league – obviously, we would have to imagine that the team has not been playing well, for instance.  

Example:

It was a big ask for bottom side Vasco da Gama to try and defeat league leaders Clube de Regatas do Flamengo.  (Actually, it is always a big ask!)

Interestingly, another noun phrase – a tough ask – may also be used to say the same thing. Both phrases have been around since the 1980s. according to the Oxford English Dictionary, such expression originated in Australia.

I hope you have enjoyed this one!

See you around!

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Ad of the Day — Hula Hoops

Here's a new ad for Hula Hoops, the popular UK snack brand, which would be great for teaching a couple of English idioms, and can also be used for some classroom activities (see below for ideas).

TRANSCRIPT

BANK ROBBER: Stop what you're doing. Give me all the money.

BANK CASHIER: Sorry love. I've got my hands full.

VOICEOVER: When it comes to the crunch, it has to be Hula Hoops.

IDIOMS

1. If you have your hands full, you are so busy that you do not have time to do anything else: I'd love to help but I've got my hands full organizing the school play. In the ad, there's a play on words, since the woman literally has her hands full (of Hula Hoops!)

2. When it comes to the crunch is an idiom used when a situation becomes serious or an important decision has to be made: You know that when it comes to the crunch, she will do what needs to be done. Once again, there's a play on words because Hula Hoops are a crunchy snack.

LESSON IDEA — WITNESS

1. Show the ad and tell the students they have to watch carefully as they'll be asked questions after to test their powers of observation and see whether they would make a good witness.

2. Ask the following questions:

·    what colour was the robber's car? (beige)

·    how many people were in the street? (two)

·    what was the name of the bank? (West Heath Bank)

·    what was the robber wearing? (black leather coat, purple polo neck sweater, stocking over his head, a glove)

·    what was the robber carrying? (a black leather holdall)

·    what time was it? (3pm on the clock, 15.03 on the CCTV footage)

·    what was the cashier's name? (Polly)

·    how many police cars arrive? (three)

TRIVIA NOTE

The snack gets its name from the hula hoop, a toy hoop that is twirled around the waist, limbs or neck. See here for photos.

From: http://www.englishblog.com/

PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites are, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. 

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much. 

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement. Please, I strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact me! 

Did you spot a typo?

Do you have any tips or examples to improve this page?

Do you disagree with something on this page?

Use one of your social-media accounts to share this page:

Criamos uma página com os alunos da universidade. A ideia é praticar a língua fora da sala de aula e divulgar informações sobre quem faz a universidade. Sintam-se convidados a curtir a mesma:

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What exactly is a 'box-to-box' player in football?

Does your team have a box-to-box midfielder on the squad?

You can hear the explanation by clicking on the image 

ANSWER:

A box-to-box midfielder is a central midfielder who plays both defensively and attackingly, who runs a lot up and down the pitch. In other words, a box-to-box midfielder is a player with an incredibly high stamina and endurance.

He does a bit of everything: cut off opposition attacks, tackle near his own box, make late runs into the opposition box and carry the ball after receiving it from the back. Since this player covers all areas of the pitch i.e. from his own 18-yard box to the opposition's 18-yard box, he's called a box-to-box player.

PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites are, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. 

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much. 

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement. Please, I strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact me! 

Did you spot a typo?

Do you have any tips or examples to improve this page?

Do you disagree with something on this page?

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Criamos uma página com os alunos da universidade. A ideia é praticar a língua fora da sala de aula e divulgar informações sobre quem faz a universidade. Sintam-se convidados a curtir a mesma:

https://www.facebook.com/Humans-of-Ufersa-1768823170006421/

DO NATIVE ENGLISH-SPEAKERS LEARN ENGLISH GRAMMAR WHEN THEY ARE KIDS?

Adults can learn grammar in two ways: deductively (focus on form) or inductively (focus on meaning). Both have advantages and disadvantages.

Learning grammar deductively is usually easier. It's a top-down approach where you learn the rules and apply them in conversation. The grammar-translation method would be an example of this.

Learning grammar inductively is usually more difficult. It's a bottom-up approach where learners find out the rules of the language from examples and interacting with it. The direct method is an example of this.

By Manuel Aicart, Linguist (on Quora)

BUT WHAT ABOUT KIDS, DO NATIVE ENGLISH-SPEAKERS LEARN ENGLISH GRAMMAR WHEN THEY ARE KIDS?

PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites are, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. 

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much. 

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement. Please, I strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact me! 

Did you spot a typo?

Do you have any tips or examples to improve this page?

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Criamos uma página com os alunos da universidade. A ideia é praticar a língua fora da sala de aula e divulgar informações sobre quem faz a universidade. Sintam-se convidados a curtir a mesma:

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WHAT DOES TO GO WITH THE FLOW MEAN?

You may have seen this one many times in TV shows or movies. Let’s go straight to the point, then.

TO GO WITH THE FLOW means that one takes a relaxed attitude towards life.

This expression has the very same meaning as in like water off a duck’s back; roll with the punches; and take something in stride

LET’S SEE SOME EXAMPLES:

Life has its ups and downs. You shouldn’t spend your time worrying. Just go with the flow!

She said she wishes she could learn to go with the flow more. Whenever she has a problem, she gets all stressed.

It may also mean to do what other people are doing or agree with the opinions of others.

EXAMPLE: When you're new in a school, it's easiest to just go with the flow for a while, and see what people are like.

There is a song by Queens of The Stone Age called Go With The Flow (see here). In Portuguese, it would be something like seguir com o fluxo.

PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites are, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. 

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much. 

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement. Please, I strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact me! 

Did you spot a typo?

Do you have any tips or examples to improve this page?

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Criamos uma página com os alunos da universidade. A ideia é praticar a língua fora da sala de aula e divulgar informações sobre quem faz a universidade. Sintam-se convidados a curtir a mesma:

https://www.facebook.com/Humans-of-Ufersa-1768823170006421/