Fala aí

‘Home’, ‘at home’ and ‘from home’

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A student said: “I’ve just arrived at home.”

Home or at home?

His sentence isn’t fine. It should be:

“I’VE JUST ARRIVED HOME.”

Home in this example is behaving like an adverb expressing direction. We do not need a preposition with home when it is used with any verb referring to direction:

  • I will ARRIVE / GO / COME / LEAVE home late this evening.

Note that most verbs expressing direction require the preposition to before the noun:

  • I ran to the theatre so that I wouldn’t be late.
  • I’m going to walk to work from now on. It’s healthier.

Now, once you arrive home, then you are at home, and no more direction is suggested, so at is then the appropriate preposition to use with home:

  • Will you be at home tonight, or are you going out? ~ No, I’ll be at home.

However, even here, at is often omitted, especially in American English.

So AT HOME / FROM HOME / GO HOME / LEAVE HOME are common fixed expressions with prepositions where no article is required:

  • Working from home continues to be a popular choice among employees, even after the pandemic.

PRACTICE 1 – LISTENING: Listen to vocabulary related to working from home, from announcements to buying and setting up computers to work from home.

PRACTICE 2 – SPEAKING: answer the questions

  1. Three years later, what’s the future of remote work?
  2. What kind of work environment do you think employees expect in 2023?
  3. Do you think remote workers are more productive than the ones working in an office?

Studies show promising results for hybrid work, especially for those who enjoy face-to-face interactions and the excitement of office environments.

Long time no see! We have a lot of catching up to do.

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Learning language from students’ genuine experiences and interests create authentic learning opportunities, from their contexts, for using and developing their English skills.

Teaching approaches and methodologies must create authentic opportunities for students to communicate and express their opinions.

So, the first thing I like to do when I meet my students is to catch up on the things that have happened to them since the last time we met.

The first meaning of the phrase to catch up, in the literal sense (/ kætʃ / caught / caught), is to walk faster or run to catch up to someone. 

But, the figurative meaning of to catch up, is to talk with someone you know and you have not seen for some time to find out what they have been doing, or to exchange or to learn the latest news or information.

  • Let’s have a coffee next week and catch up.
  • By the time coffee came, John and Paul had already caught up a little bit.
  • Let’s go for a coffee – I need to catch up on all the gossip.
  • I’ll catch up with you another time, Kevin.
  • It’s always good to catch up with old friends.
  • He used the train journey to catch up with/on the morning news.

As a noun, catch-up means a meeting at which people discuss what has happened since the last time that they met.

  • I’m seeing my boss for a catch-up next week.
  • I’ll leave you two alone – I’m sure you’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

For other meanings, go to https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/catch-up

Adjectives for Feelings

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In this lesson, you are going to learn some adjectives that describe you moods (emotional states), that is, you will learn to express how you are feeling: sad, angry, anxious, and much more.

Imagine the following situation: you met a friend you haven’t seen in a while and, when you say hello (“Hey, how are you?”), He replies (check here for answers): “Oh, I’m OK, but I’m feeling a little bit cranky ”. What do you imagine he means? Is he bored? Tired out? No, no, cranky means “grumpy”. Do you know when you don’t sleep well and wake up angry? So that’s it!

Now, let’s see some more mood adjectives:

Angry (nervoso, bravo)
I’m angry because the bus is late.

Anxious (ansioso, com o coração apertado)
She’s feeling anxious due to the presentation.

Ashamed (envergonhado)
That woman just fell on the street. I bet she is feeling ashamed right now.

Bored (entediado)
Rainy Sundays get me so bored.

Calm (calmo)
They fought yesterday but they seem to be calm now.

Confident (confiante)
My brother studied so hard for the test. He’s confident he will pass.

Confused (confuso)
I’m feeling a little bit confused.

Depressed (deprimido)
After seeing that movie we all got a little depressed.

Disappointed (decepcionado)
His boss was disappointed with his project.

Embarrassed (envergonhado)
Stop it! I get so embarrassed when you do this.

Excited (entusiasmado)
Wow! The new X-Men movie is out. I’m so excited!

Exhausted (exausto)
After hours on the bus, I’m exhausted.

Frustrated (frustrado)
Her sister got so frustrated when she heard about that rumour.

Happy, cheerful (feliz)
She’s feeling more cheerful today. I got a promotion at work! I’m so happy right now!

Impatient (impaciente)
Wow, that man must be really impatient, he is pushing everyone around.

Jealous (ciumento)
Every time he checks her facebook page, he gets jealous.

Lazy (preguiçoso)
I feel so lazy right now. I think I’ll order a pizza.

Lonely (solitário)
There’s no one at home and she’s feeling lonely.

Moody (mal-humorado)
My father woke up so moody today. I bet he had a nightmare.

Nervous (nervoso, ansioso)
He gets nervous before tests.

Relaxed (tranquilo)
When you start doing yoga, you get more relaxed each day.

Relieved (aliviado)
She felt relieved when she saw the test had been cancelled.

Sad (triste)
He told me he was sad because his dog passed away.

Scared (assustado)
The little boy got scared when he saw the lion at the zoo.

Shocked (chocado)
My uncle told me he was shocked after the robbery.

Shy (tímido,envergonhado, reservado) He was a quiet, shy man.

Tense (tenso)
When I left home, my wife was feeling so tense. She has a job interview today.

Tired (cansado)
After a long day of work, I get so tired.

Touched, moved (emocionado)
He was touched by the music. I got touched reading that book you lent me.

Uncomfortable (desconfortável, sem graça, sem jeito)
I got uncomfortable when they started fighting in front of me.

Weird (estranho)
I don’t know, I’m feeling weird.

So now you know how to express what you feel in English in a more diverse way. Remember to use the verb to be to speak how you are. You can also choose to use the verb to feel, which means “sentir(-se)” and to get with the sense of “tornar(-se)”, “alterar o estado”.

Online or face-to-face?

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Todos sabemos como a tecnologia favorece a comunicação.

O online representa conveniência e flexibilidade.

De acordo com o Cambridge Dictionary:

​ONLINE, adjetivo, UK  /ˈɒn.laɪn/ US  /ˈɑːn.laɪn/ , aquilo que está relacionado a um computador, ou está disponível através de um computador ou uma rede, sobretudo a Internet.

an online clothing store / uma loja de roupas on-line

ONLINE advérbio

You can book your tickets online. / Você pode reservar seus ingressos on-line.

FACE-TO-FACE advérbio, adjetivo, /ˌfeɪs.təˈfeɪs/ em pessoa, encontro cara a cara no mesmo lugar.

We’ve spoken on the phone but never face-to-face. / Falamos ao telefone, mas nunca cara a cara.

Mas a prática durante o recente período de pandemia, mostrou-nos e ainda nos tem mostrado, que a comunicação face a face, uma aula face-to-face, não precisa necessariamente ser feita por pessoas no mesmo espaço físico.

Os benefícios do face-to-face também podem ser alcançados através de um ambiente virtual, numa aula online.

Muitos têm compreendido o face-to-face, a comunicação face a face ou frente a frente, além do que o dicionário define, ou seja, apenas como poder ver a outra parte ou partes em uma conversa.

No entanto, devemos concordar, que a comunicação, a aula face-to-face no mesmo ambiente, permite uma troca ainda mais rica, quando tanto o falante quanto o ouvinte, são capazes de ver e interpretar linguagem corporal e expressões faciais, um do outro.

O encontro face-to-face presencial, envia uma mensagem antes mesmo da pessoa dizer uma palavra.

Ambos, falante e ouvinte, professor e aluno, que devem alternar-se nessas posições, se enriquecem, podendo calibrar suas entregas com o que percebem através de tom, inflexão de voz, emoção e linguagem corporal.

Cada um pode ver, perceber melhor, e assim responder melhor, às reações do outro.

Na minha experiência, observo que é mais fácil enfatizar as principais mensagens de uma fala ou explicação, reiterar e expandir ideias, incentivar feedback e engajamento contínuo, gerar e manter o foco, na aula face-to-face no mesmo ambiente.

O encontro, a aula, face-to-face no mesmo ambiente, pode ser o antídoto para nossa era digital de ritmo acelerado, e demasiada interferência de equipamentos entre nós, quando o grande número de canais de comunicação disponíveis nos leva à sobrecarga de mensagens ou desconexão.

Mantenhamos abertas as possibilidades e os esforços, para aproveitarmos o melhor que ambas as experiências, virtuais e presenciais, podem nos oferecer.

Governos, escolas, universidades, empresas, efetivamente sairam da pandemia com alguns modelos de encontros, que em inglês são:

  • fully virtual;
  • hybrid, blended model or schedule;
  • in-person teaching with remote students;
  • teaching online and in-person simultaneously.

A seguir, as muitas combinações possíveis, para nos referirmos aos seguintes temas relacionados à educação:

COURSE

  • in-person, face-to-face, in-class, classroom, classroom-based, traditional, presential, on-campus / online, remote COURSE

CLASS

  • in-person, face-to-face, traditional / online, remote, and remote live CLASS

CLASSROOM

  • in-person, traditional/virtual, remote, online CLASSROOM

EDUCATION

  • in-person / online, virtual school
  • online, distance EDUCATION

LEARNING AND TEACHING

  • in-person, face to face, classroom-based, *traditional / virtual, online, remote, distance / blended *LEARNING/TEACHING

STUDENT

  • in-person/ remote, virtual STUDENT

SCHEDULE

  • hybrid, blended MODEL or SCHEDULE (under)

INSTRUCTION

  • remote, online, and hybrid INSTRUCTION

FORMAT

  • being taught remotely, online or in a hybrid remote/online FORMAT

Veja também as lições Remote classes, Computer problems, e A ‘dead’ battery?

The seasons

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Do you know how to answer these questions?

What/which season is it now?

  • It is …
  • We are currently in …

What is your favorite season? Why?
My favorite season is _____ because _____.

The four seasons, as shown above, are:

  • spring
  • summer
  • autumn or fall
  • winter

Fall is used in American English.
Autumn is used in British English.

IN + Season

We use the preposition IN before a season.

  • People go to the beach in summer.
  • It rains a lot in winter.
  • There are many flowers in spring.
  • Leaves fall from the trees in autumn.

Listen to You’ve Got a Friend, sung by James Taylor, in which he mentions the seasons.

Work on the lyrics while playing the game, and have fun!