Elio Moreno

Minor differences

elio — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:54:06 +0000

In this image there is a woman, a man, a dog and a nerd. Why do they see differently? Do you know how to pronounce the colours? Click on the play button and listen!

P. S. Imagem pequena e difícil de ler? Segure “Ctrl” e aperte “+”! Para diminuir o tamanho é só apertar “-” no lugar de “+”.

Differences

Qual a melhor pronúncia?

elio — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:05:48 +0000

Achei interessante a discussão contida neste vídeo:

O autor do vídeo teve que explicar o motivo pelo qual pronunciara a palavra apple daquela forma. E estava correto na forma em que pronunciou! No entanto, porque foi criticado?

A preocupação em “estar certo” pode acabar levando aprendizes de uma nova língua a ignorar as variações que ocorrem num idioma e buscar alguma forma ideal. Pense, por exemplo, na língua portuguesa. É errado falar “seish” (6) como no Rio de Janeiro? É errado falar “tera” (terra) como no Rio Grande do Sul? Ou falar “ródando” (rodando) como na Bahia? Que dizer das vogais como são pronunciadas em Portugal? Os portugueses estão errados? São apenas variações! O mesmo ocorre na língua inglesa: em Liverpool, a pronúncia mais comum de “bus” não é “bás”, mas “bôs”. Quem está certo? Quem fala assim, assado, ou quem pega o ônibus?

Há muitas variações de pronúncia, tanto entre os que falam inglês como língua materna, como entre os que falam inglês como língua estrangeira. Se você tem a vontade de ficar o mais próximo possível de um falante nativo, você não está fazendo nada de errado, mas seu estudo poderá ser mais difícil. Se você está preocupado somente em estabelecer comunicação clara, e não acha que ter sotaque é errado, você também vai ter sucesso. Claro que, para todos nós, estudar a pronúncia é importante. Procure sempre saber qual a pronúncia padrão, há vários dicionários online com pronúncia, inclusive o thedreedictionary.com e o merriam-webster.com. Além disso, saber a pronúncia individual das palavras não é garantia de pronúncia natural. Como estudar pronúncia será assunto para outro post.

Um abraço e bons estudos!

Choosing a profession

elio — Sun, 15 May 2011 18:44:24 +0000

How do you choose a profession? There are many different possibilities. You may follow the profession of your parents, or talk to a psychologist to discover your talents. Some people discover what they like vey early in life, and just do this as a profession.

This video gives some interesting ideas about it:

Getting to know you!

elio — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 21:01:44 +0000

Do you have a youtube channel? More and more people have youtube channels, and they use it to interact with people. We call people who make videos for youtube “youtubers”. Youtubers talk about everything! Do you have favourite youtubers? Here is a video in which a youtuber asks questions to people. This video can help you with your English because of the questions it contains. Take a look, and maybe be inspired to answer the questions!

Rap battle

elio — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:48:35 +0000

Since laughter is the best medicine, here’s a little comedy to help you practice your English. One great thing is that there are subtitles to most vidoes of this channel, so it’s easy to follow the lyrics. Enjoy!

A great composer

elio — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 20:52:10 +0000

Do you know anything about Beethoven? This video contains a short story of his life. There are a few language mistakes, can you spot them?

Best book ever!

elio — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:39:56 +0000

The best book I have ever read was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It revolves around moral dilemas and the anguish it caused to a young man called Rodion Raskolnikov.

Rodion was interested in Nietzsche’s idea of the superman: someone above human morals and values, someone above humankind. He then plans a crime and commits it, as if he wanted to put this idea of superman to the test.

Of course there are other people involved and a lot happens in the book.

Take a look at this review:

Goodbye, Ronaldo

elio — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:52:11 +0000

Footballer Ronaldo retired from football on 14 February 2011 (retire is stop working).

During his career, Ronaldo had many difficult moments and many happy moments, this is normal in life. What is special about Ronaldo’s career is the fact that he was one of the best and most respected players in the history of football. He scored 15 goals in World Cups, a record. He also was FIFA player of the year three times. Only one more player won it three times too, French footballer Zanedine Zidane.

Ronaldo will certainly be missed by all football fans.

A blog filled with secrets

elio — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 14:37:28 +0000

Everybody has secrets. Regular people, musicians, film stars, members of your family… Everybody!
It’s very hard to keep secrets, but if you tell your secrets, then they are not secrets anymore. So what do you do with them?
Frank Warren, an American man, had a good idea: he started a blog called “postsecret”. It’s a simple and good idea: people send their secrets to him, – via mail, in the form of postcards – and he posts them in his blog!
It’s a huge success, and every Sunday there are new secrets to be read. Why don’t you take a look?

www.postsecret.com

Happy January? – Inglês nível básico

elio — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:47:01 +0000

Do you know the origin of the name of the first month of the year? It’s the name of a Roman god! Well, this is not a surprise, is it? xD

Well, the story: the Roman god Janus (Ianus) was the protector of gates, doors, entrances… He was the god that represented change, transition.

Images representing Janus had two faces, one to the front and one to the back. This shows he had the ability to look ahead (to the front, to the future) and behind (to the back, to the past) at the same time (simultaneously).

In the film The Chronicles of Riddick the “bad guy” has a helmet (an object to protect the head) that is similar to the image of Janus. Watch the video below, you can see him at 0:30