The Olympic Rings

"These five rings -- blue, yellow, black, green and red -- represent the five parts of the world now encompassed by Olympism and ready to compete against each other. Moreover, the six colours (including the white background) thus combined represent those of all nations, without exception. The blue and yellow of Sweden, the blue and white of Greece, the French, English, American, German, Belgian, Italian and Hungarian tricolours, the yellow and red of Spain are side by side with the new Brazilian and Australian flags, the old Japan and the new China. It is a true international emblem."

Coubertin (Selected Writings II, p. 460, 1913).

Gíria - Wannabe

WANNABE
[pessoa que deseja ter sucesso ou fama]

Wannabe actors usually go to this club.
Quem quer ser ator costuma ir a essa boate.

A palavra wanna reproduz a forma com que se pronuncia want to.
Wannabe é uma corruptela de want to be e designa a pessoa que está tentando alcançar sucesso ou fama, normalmente sem nenhum êxito.
A expressão se tornou popular com o sucesso de Madonna, quando os fãs dela declaravam:

I wanna be like Madonna!
Eu quero ser igual a Madonna!

(www.teclasap.com.br/blog)

Podcasts para aprender inglês

Você pode aperfeiçoar o seu listening ouvindo podcasts - que nada mais são do que conversas informais gravadas em formato mp3, e disponível em algum site para você baixar para seu computador ou mp3 player e sair ouvindo por aí.

The Word Nerds - São dois professores americanos, que discutem vários assuntos e dicas de inglês. Nas palavras deles, é um podcast sobre as palavras que usamos em inglês e porque as usamos. São arquivos MP3 de 45 minutos, e eles falando o tempo inteiro. Assim você não precisa ficar gravando rádios online.

ESL Pod - Neste podcast existem mais de 200 episódios sobre assuntos variados como negócios, entretenimento, turismo, dentre outros. Cada episódio é sobre um assunto como: pedir aumento, dando boas notícias, carta de amor, etc. Este é altamente recomendado.

English Idioms and Slang - Em cada episódio é apresentada um idiom (expressão idiomática) ou ainda uma gíria em inglês. Infelizmente o último episódio foi em setembro/2006, ou seja, corra e baixe para seu computador os episódios existentes ainda no site!

http://mapple.podomatic.com/ - Este é de um professor americano que deu aulas de inglês no Japão e criou um site para compartilhar dicas de pronúncia com seus alunos, e com todos que conhecem o site. Ele ensina como se fala o inglês do dia-a-dia. Por exemplo, você sabia que algumas letras são “comidas” na pronúncia do dia-a-dia? E que existem algumas regrinhas simples para isso? Infelizmente ele não tem mais atualizado o site, mas recomendo a todos que baixem os mp3s que existem no site porque são preciosos!

Podictionary - Cada episódio é bem curto, e fala-se sobre uma palavra. Algo como um dicionário audível.

The Bob and Rob Show - Uma coisa legal deste podcast é que é feito por um americano e um britânico, o que deixa as discussões mais interessantes. Eles vivem e ensinam inglês no Japão.

Wicked Good Podcast - Este podcast é mantido por um casal de americanos que vivem no estado de Massachusetts (onde fica a cidade de Boston por exemplo), na famosa região de New England nos Estados Unidos. Nesta região chegaram os primeiros ingleses que colonizaram o país e é onde se fala o inglês com características mais “puras” comparado ao restante dos Estados Unidos. Este casal fala sobre o que eles acham de como é viver em Massachusetts, falando sobre todos os assuntos, desde lanchonetes a shoppings, mas também de outros assuntos como videogames, programas de televisão americanos, e uma infinitude de assuntos. Este podcast não é criado especificamente para aprender inglês, por isso ele tem um atrativo a mais: eles falam o inglês comum do dia-a-dia, sem “facilitar” para as pessoas aprenderem esta ou aquela expressão. Às vezes pode parecer meio sem graça alguns assuntos, mas no geral ele é muito bom para aprender as expressões atuais do inglês, e os assuntos em evidência nos Estados Unidos.

(http://www.inglespraque.com/)

Aprender Inglês com Música

Pra quem gosta de aprender inglês com músicas, aí vai uma ótima dica:
O site de letras de música do Terra. (www.letras.terra.com.br)
Escolha a música que você gosta e clique no ícone "ouvir". Assim, aparecerá o vídeo da música, e você poderá escutar e ler ao mesmo tempo!

Exemplo: Clique no link abaixo, e depois clique em "ouvir":
http://letras.terra.com.br/the-beatles/95/

Vocabulário para Festa de Aniversário

Vocabulário de festa de aniversário - birthday party!

Para ir a uma festa - seja de aniversário ou não - você precisa de um invitation (convite). Se você ganhar um, poderá dizer "I was invited to João's birthday party" (Fui convidado para a festa de aniversário do João). Você vai à birthday party levando um gift (presentinho) para a pessoa!Toda birthday party tem de ter um birthday cake (bolo de aniversário). Geralmente, as pessoas colocam candles (velas) sobre o bolo. Depois de cantar o "happy birthday to you" (parabéns pra você), o aniversariante deve make a wish (fazer um pedido) e blow out the candles (soprar as velas).

Não podemos esquecer a decoration (decoração), geralmente feita com muitos balloons (balões). Pode ainda incluir hats (chapéuzinhos), banners (baners), blowouts ou blowers (língua de sogra), cutouts (recortes), streamers (serpentina) e muito mais.

No final da festa você pode ganhar uma favor (lembrancinha). Pode ganhar também um thank-you note (cartão de agradecimento) por ter comparecido à festa.

(www. denilsodelima.blogspot.com)

Books

Livro em inglês todo mundo sabe, não é mesmo? Uma frase com livro todo mundo também sabe! Afinal, quem não conhece o clássico “the book is on the table”?
Mas o que dizer quando tiver que falar “livro abrangente”, “livro agradável”, “livro de agradável leitura”, “livro digno de confiança”, “livro consciente”, “livro indigesto”, “livro sem originalidade”, etc? O que dizer ainda para “folhear um livro”, “encadernar um livro” e outros verbos?

É neste momento que você tem de saber que palavras combinam com “book” em inglês. Ou seja, é preciso conhecer as collocations. Para ajudar um pouco, anote aí algumas combinações comuns com “book”.

ADJETIVOS
abrangente (comprehensive), agradável (delightful), cativante (engrossing, enthralling), chato (dull), com poucas páginas (thin), comovente (moving), consciente (sensible), de agradável leitura (readable), de difícil leitura (unreadable), digno de confiança (reliable), fino (thin), grosso (thick), indigesto (unreadable), polêmico (controversial, thought-provoking), respeitável (authoritative), sem originalidade (trite)

VERBOS
banir (ban), censurar (censor), encadernar (bind), escrever (write), fazer a revisão (proofread), folhear (thumb through), ler rapidamente (flick through, skim through), plagiar (plagiarize)

FRASES
- este livro trata de…
this book touches on…
- estar absorto com o novo livro
be engrossed in the new book
- estar bastante entretido com o livro
be deep in the book

(http://denilsodelima.blogspot.com/)

Are You An Organized Manager?

Here’s a quick test to see if you are an organized manager.

1. Is your door always open? Can anybody just walk in to see you when they have a problem? Now that may sound like you are being a good ‘caring and sharing’ manager but it’s not good at all. As a manager, you need a time for acting and a time for reacting. When you are reacting, an open door is a good thing. You want to know how you can help people with their problems. However, when you want to be active – to get on with your own creative work – you have to free yourself up and not allow any interruptions, except for real emergencies.

2. Are you always busy or do you get things done? It’s easy enough for a manager to appear busy. There are always people to talk to, decisions to be made, visits to be made. But do you really need to be involved in deciding what brand of toilet paper you buy? You need to concentrate your energies where they are most needed. And you need to finish things off completely – you need to see a result.

3. Do you try to do everything? Not all aspects of your job are equally important. You need to prioritize. If something is important or urgent, you need to deal with it. The unimportant and non-urgent tasks can be left for another day.

4. Do you let other people get on with their own jobs? Just as you need to have an uninterrupted spell for your active time, so do your subordinates. You cannot expect them to produce good creative work unless you give them the personal space in which to do it.

5. Do you plan your work? You need to spend a few quiet minutes every day thinking about what you have to do and deciding on the priorities. There is no point in rushing around like a headless chicken, constantly reacting to each new crisis. Plan some active time and some reactive time and try your best to stick to it. Decide what jobs are important and make sure you deal with them before they become urgent. It’s the important and urgent jobs that will really stress you out.

We all go through periods of disorganization when we feel we cannot cope. When there is so much to do it can seem like we will never cope. But put a few minutes aside to think calmly about what you have to do and how you can best organize it. Those few minutes could save you hours of stress.

(http://thesmallbizconsultant.com/)

Celebrating Mother's Day

One the best way to celebrate Mother's Day (May 11th, 2008) is to give your mom the day off. Let her take it easy and relax while the rest of the family does the work.

Many families begin Mother's Day with breakfast in bed. Usually Dad and the Kids will let mom sleep late as they go into the kitchen and prepare her favorite meal. A Mother's Day breakfast can consist of anything your mom likes.

After the food is cooked arrange everything nicely on a tray. Don't forget the vase with a single flower. With spring here, the children can pick a tulip or daffodil from the garden outside. When everything is ready carefully carry the tray and mom's favorite sections from the newspaper up to her bedroom. Cards and small presents from the children can be placed on the tray before it is presented to mom in bed.

Many Families make a special Mother's Day dinner or take mom out to her favorite restaurant for a meal. It is a good day to let your mom relax and let her see what a wonderful family she has.

HaPpY MoThEr'S DaY !!!!

(http://www.holidays.net/)

Dicionário on-line

Um dicionário on-line muito bom, que merece destaque no nosso blog é o

www.answers.com

É só escrever a palavra (em inglês!) que você não saiba, e clicar em "Search".

Além da definição, ele mostra sinônimos, antônimos e aplicações em frases. É possível também ouvir a pronúncia da palavra.

A tradução é disponibilizada para mais de dez línguas, incluindo o português.

Outra função muito interessante deste site é a seguinte:

Se você procurou uma palavra, está lendo sua definição, e se depara com outra palavra que não conhece... é simples! Basta apenas dar um duplo clique na palavra desconhecida, e uma pequena caixa com sua definição se abrirá sobre a tela.

Comics 2

Men and Women

Why men die younger
- Why do men die before their wives?
- They want to.

Blonde jokes
Q : Why are blonde jokes so short?
A : So men can remember them.

Women talk more than men
A husband, proving to his wife that women talk more than men, showed her a study which indicated that men use on the average only 15,000 words a day, whereas women use 30,000 words a day.
She thought about this for a while and then told her husband that women use twice as many words as men because they have to repeat everything they say. He said, "What?"

(www.aprendendoingles.com.br)

Curiosidades - Expressões em Português

1. QUASE NUNCA

"ONCE IN A BLUE MOON"

[Muito raramente]

I see him once in a blue moon.
Eu o vejo muito raramente.

Dizem que na atmosfera acima da troposfera existem partículas minúsculas de poeira que causam um efeito raríssimo. Elas dão um tom azulado à Lua para quem está observando da Terra. Esse fenômeno é tão raro que deu origem à expressão “once in a blue moon”, significando “muito raramente”.

2. ONDE JUDAS PERDEU AS BOTAS

THE BOONDOCKS

[A roça, o mato, onde Judas perdeu as botas]

They live way out in the boondocks.
Eles moram lá onde Judas perdeu as botas.

Do tagalo, língua nacional das Filipinas, bondoc significa “montanha”. Em 1898, os americanos derrotaram os espanhóis e assim começou a ocupação americana das Filipinas. Os militares americanos usavam a palavra boondocks para designar qualquer lugar bem distante da cidade, seja montanha ou selva, algo como a expressão em português, “onde Judas perdeu as botas”.

(Referência: “OK! Curiosidades divertidas do inglês” de Jack Scholes - Editora Campus/Elsevier, 2003.)

Comics

AGREE TO x AGREE WITH x AGREE ON

In general, we “agree to” something and we “agree with” someone.

He agreed to the proposal.
Ele concordou com a proposta.
My wife agreed to our suggestion.
A minha esposa concordou com a sua sugestão.
It’s a good idea to agree with your boss most of the time, don’t you think?
Você não acha que é uma boa idéia, na maioria das vezes, concordar com o chefe?


However, we can also “agree with” an idea, an opinion, an analysis, etc. and “agree on” a subject of discussion.

I agree with your views on that matter.
Concordo com o seu ponto de vista sobre o assunto.
They agreed on a date for the next meeting.
Definiram a data da próxima reunião.

(www.teclasap.com.br/blog)

To think about!

Don’t make promise when you are in joy.
Don’t reply when you are sad.
Don’t take decision when you are angry.
Think twice… act wise.

.

Time is like a river.
You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Enjoy every moment of life…

.

When you wake up in the morning, you have two simple choices.
Go back to sleep and dream, or wake up and chase those dreams.
Choice is yours…

Be careful. It's April Fool's Day!!!

Some funny April Fool's Day Hoaxes of all time...

Instant Color TV

In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.

Alabama Changes the Value of Pi

The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.

The Left-Handed Whopper

In 1998 Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."

Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity

In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.



Big Ben Goes Digital

In 1980 the BBC reported that Big Ben, in order to keep up with the times, was going to be given a digital readout. It received a huge response from listeners protesting the change. The BBC Japanese service also announced that the clock hands would be sold to the first four listeners to contact them, and one Japanese seaman in the mid-Atlantic immediately radioed in a bid.

(www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/)

When you're feeling stupid read this

"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff." --Mariah Carey






"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life," -- Brooke Shields, during an interview to become Spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign .





"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body," -- Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward .






"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country," --Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, DC.




"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president." -- Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents.




"That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it," --A congressional candidate in Texas .






"Half this game is ninety percent mental." --Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark





"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." --Al Gore, Vice President
And ...
"We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur." -- Al Gore, VP




"I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix." -- Dan Quayle







"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need ?" --Lee Iacocca






"The word "genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." - --Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst.





"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people." -- Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor .








"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." --Bill Clinton, President






"Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas." --Keppel Enderbery





"Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances." --Department of Social Services, Greenville, South Carolina





"If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record." --Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman

U2 - With or Without you

Vocabulary: colors

Em algumas expressões em inglês, as cores nem sempre seguem a mesma “lógica” do português. Observe as expressões a seguir e suas respectivas traduções.

GRAY HAIR
cabelos brancos

BLACK EYE
olho roxo

BLACK AND BLUE MARK
mancha roxa (hematoma)

IN THE BLACK
no azul (diz-se da empresa próspera)

IN THE RED
no vermelho


(www.teclasap.com.br/blog)

Happy Easter!!

May Easter this year
Be your happiest yet,
May it bring you
Bright moments
You'll never forget,
May its beauty and meaning
Bring pleasure to you,
And may loved ones share
In your happiness, too.

Learn Chinese in 5 minutes (You MUST read them aloud)

Thought

"Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world."

Buddha

International Women's Day

International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.

The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies.

Happy Women's Day!!!

Did you know...

1. A rat can last longer without water than a camel can.

2. About 3000 years ago, most Egyptians died by the time they were thirty.

3. A male emperor moth can smell a female emperor moth up to 7 miles away.

Do you wanna know more about MOTH? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moth

Curiosity: Unique dining experience

Would you try this? Certainly not my idea of a restful meal

Any one interested in having a unique dining experience. You can have breakfast, lunch, dinner or cocktail or invite your boss for a meeting while enjoying your meal. 50 meters above ground dining event arranged by a professional event arranger of Benji Fun company. It provides 22 seating complete with Chef, server, musician and you can select your own location without limitation. Guarantee safety with the hoisting crane which can accommodate the whole band of musician, or making an automobile presentation to your customers. This restaurant is in Belgium.

Welcome!

Hello,

Welcome to ASN Successful English's blog.

Now we can show our news and post some extra exercises, interesting texts, games, curiosities and links for you!

Enjoy this new way of communication and write your opinion.

Thanks!