Vocabulary

WORLD: Pronunciation

Posted by

0

Many people have difficulty pronouncing the word WORLD, especially the American pronunciation, because of the two consonant sounds, R and L, one after the other.

A former 12-year-old student put together his idea this way:

What an ingenious idea! Way to go, Rodrigo!

Later, searching for material to create this lesson, I found the video of a teacher who says about the same. Listen carefully.

Another teacher presents the pronunciation of WORLD from a different perspective. She adds some helpful information.

So now you have some valuable information to help you pronounce such an everyday word correctly.

I’m kinda sad!

Posted by

0

Kinda sorta

Hi everyone! The other day I used “kinda“ in a post, which was really appropriate. I think it’s about time for me to tell you what it means. Listen carefully to the following video.

Então, existem duas maneiras diferentes de usar estas palavras em inglês. A primeira é usar kind, sort e type quando você está falando sobre diferentes categorias ou grupos de coisas. E a segunda maneira de usar kind e sort (mas não type) é ao expressar incerteza sobre algo.

1. KIND OF, SORT OF, TYPE OF: CATEGORIAS OU GRUPOS

Essas palavras sempre vêm acompanhadas da preposição “of”: kind of, sort of, e type of . Exemplos:

1. What type of music do you like? (Que tipo de música você gosta?)

2. What are the different kinds of spices in this cake? (Quais são os diferentes tipos de condimentos desse bolo?)

3. That magazine prints fake news and all sorts of other rubbish. (Aquela revista publica notícias falsas e todo tipo de besteira.)

2. KINDA, SORTA: ESTABELECER INCERTEZA

Kind + of = kinda e sort + of = sorta. Essas palavras são usadas no geral para expressar a ideia de “um pouco” ou “meio”. Podemos também usá-las para estabelecer incerteza ou quando achamos que a nossa opinião poderá ofender alguém.

1. Mm, I’m kinda cold, could you please close the window? (Estou com um pouquinho de frio, você poderia fechar a janela?)

2. Do you like tomatoes? Mm, sorta. (Você gosta de tomates? Mais ou menos.)

3. “KINDA-SORTA”: MARCA DE UMA GERAÇÃO MAIS JOVEM

Essa expressão às vezes significa um pouco (1) e outras vezes muito (2). Também, pode mostrar indecisão (3) ou ser usada quando você está com preguiça (4). Independente da forma como é usada, essa expressão é muito popular hoje em dia, então é importante conhecê-la. Essa expressão é usada de diversas maneiras:

1. Who is that actor? / Oh, he used to be kinda-sorta famous back in the 90s. (Quem é aquele ator? / Ah, ele costumava ser um pouco famoso nos anos 90.)

2. How’s my writing paper? / Um, it still kinda-sorta needs some work. (Como está minha redação? / Hum, ainda precisa de muitas melhoras.)

3. So, are you guys, like, together? / Well, we’re kinda-sorta boyfriend/girlfriend. (Então, vocês dois estão, tipo, juntos? / Bem, nós somos meio que namorados.)

4. Do you wanna go out tonight? / Mm…kinda-sorta, not really, maybe, but yeah, okay. (Você quer sair hoje à noite? / Humm, mais ou menos, não muito, talvez, mas tá, ok.)

That’s it! Em que situações você usa kind, sort ou type na sua vida? Please, share it with me!

What’s your zodiac sign?

Posted by

0

Astrology! Do you ever read your horoscope?

Which sign of the zodiac were you born under/in?

Astrology correlates the positions and movements of celestial bodies, such as planets and stars, at the time of a person’s birth with events on Earth, including human personality and natural phenomena.

It is based on the idea that the positions of these celestial objects at the time of a person’s birth can influence their character, behavior, and destiny.

Astrology typically involves dividing the sky into twelve sections or “houses,” each associated with a zodiac sign (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc.), and the positions of celestial bodies within these houses are thought to influence a person’s life.

So, do you know what your zodiac sign is?

or simply:

What is your sign? or

What is your zodiac sign / star sign / sun sign, or astrological sign?

Zodiac signs

ARIES (March 21 – April 19)

TAURUS (April 20 – May 21)

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

LEO (July 23 – August 22)

VIRGO (August 23 – September 22)

LIBRA (September 23 – October 22)

SCORPIO (October 23 – November 21)

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 – December 21)

CAPRICORN (December 22 – January 19)

AQUARIUS (January 20 – February 18)

PISCES (February 19 – March 20)

Depending on the month you were born, you have an animal or some symbol that represents that month.

Are star signs important to you? Do you know the characteristics someone with your star sign should have?

Listen carefully and take note of the adjectives.

Advanced – Personality Traits

Here is a comprehensive list of words for personality traits. Reflect on them. Look them up in a dictionary and decide which is positive, negative or neutral.

  • WORKAHOLIC
  • RESPONSIBLE
  • HUMANITARIAN
  • SOCIAL
  • LOVES RELAXATION
  • GENEROUS
  • IMPULSIVE
  • IMPRESSIONABLE
  • BRAVE
  • FUNNY
  • ENIGMATIC
  • INVENTIVE
  • CARING
  • STOIC
  • SENSITIVE
  • LOGICAL
  • BOLD
  • PERSISTENT
  • OVERLY EMOTIONAL
  • EASY-GOING
  • CREATIVE
  • EASILY-BORED
  • THEATRICAL
  • HILARIOUS
  • SECRETIVE
  • OPTIMISTIC
  • ORIGINAL
  • RELENTLESS DETERMINATION
  • GENEROUS
  • HONEST
  • CONFIDENT
  • PROTECTIVE
  • STUBBORN
  • FAIR
  • AMBITIOUS
  • UNIQUE
  • PROGRESSIVE
  • SYSTEMATIC
  • INDECISIVE
  • PASSIONATE
  • PERFECTIONIST
  • PRACTICAL
  • SPONTANEOUS
  • CHEERFUL DISPOSITION
  • LOYAL
  • JEALOUS
  • IDEALISTIC
  • MOTIVATED
  • VIVACIOUS
  • INTELLIGENT
  • LOVES LUXURY AND COMFORT
  • STUBBORN
  • OUTGOING
  • MOODY
  • EMPATHETIC
  • DIPLOMATIC
  • SELF-CENTERED
  • BIG HEARTED
  • MYSTERIOUS
  • HARD-WORKING
  • DISCIPLINED
  • UNPREDICTABLE

Now watch the video and look at each zodiac sign and the characteristics that belong to which one of them. Hehe.

TIME FOR PRACTICE: SPEAKING!

1 Do you think the information about your own star sign is accurate? Why / Why not?
2 Which star sign do you think would be the best / worst match for you? Why?
3 Do you know the difference between astrology and astronomy?
4 Would you go to see an astrologist?
5 Would you like to know your future? Would that be what you want to know?
6 What would it take to convince you that astrology works?

TIME FOR PRACTICE: GRAMMAR, READING AND WRITING!

For a Beginners practice but good as a review for prices and dates, click:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english/video-series/starting-out/episode-13-horoscopes

What’s the weather like?

Posted by

0

At each change of the season, people notice that, feel and talk even more about the weather. They commonly ask about it by saying:

  • How’s the weather?
  • What’s the weather like?
  • What’s it like outside? (What’s the weather like outside?)
  • What’s the temperature?
  • What’s the weather forecast?
  • What’s the forecast for tomorrow?

We usually use IT IS when we talk about the weather. We use:

It is + adjective or It is + verb-ing

For example:

  • It is rainy.
  • It is raining.

What is the difference?

It is + adjective = A description of the weather

  • It is rainy …. it is describing the weather. How is the weather? It is rainy.

It is + verb-ing = This type of weather is happening now.

  • It is raining …. What is happening now? It is raining.

Let’s look at more examples of these.

It is + adjective

It is + adjective  = A description of the weather

  • It is sunny.
  • It is cloudy.
  • It is windy.
  • It is foggy.

Notice how a lot of weather adjectives end in Y: sunny, cloudy, windy, foggy.

But adjectives to describe temperature don’t normally end in Y:

  • It is hot.
  • It is warm.
  • It is cool.
  • It is cold.

It is + a + adjective + day

Now let’s look at this again… It is hot.

We can give a little more information by using:
It is + a + adjective + day
Or instead of the word day, you can specify the part of the day like morning, afternoon, night, etc.

  • So, It is hot … becomes …
  • It is a hot day.

Another example:

  • It is cold … becomes …
  • it is a cold morning. (Here I specify the part of the day)

Now let’s look at using the verb-ing to describe the weather.

It is + verb-ing

Remember, this describes the type of weather happening now.

  • It is raining.
  • It is snowing.
  • It is hailing.

These three actions are happening now.

IT IS in different tenses

You can also use it is in different tenses.
For example the past tense, perfect tense, present tense, future tense, etc.

  • It was sunny yesterday. (past tense)
  • It has been sunny all week. (perfect tense)
  • It is sunny today. (present tense)
  • It will be sunny tomorrow. (future tense)

Question for you

What is the weather like where you are right now?