Vocabulary

Where are you from? Countries and nationalities

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Where are you from?

Where did you come from?

We say our nationality with “I’m”. We say which country we are from with “I’m from…”

“I’m…” + nationality
“I’m from” + country

I’m Russian. 
I’m from Russia. 

We use “she’s”, “he’s”, and “they’re” to talk about other people’s nationalities.

NationalityCountry
I’m Turkish.I’m from Turkey.
He’s English.He’s from England.

⚠️ Learners of English often confuse the words for nationality and country. ⚠️

We can tell the difference between nationality and country by looking at the ending of words. Many nationalities end in “-ish“, “-an” and “-ese“.

Nationalities ending in “-ish“:

NationalityCountry
EnglishEngland
TurkishTurkey
PolishPoland
SpanishSpain

Nationalities ending in “-an“:

NationalityCountry
Americanthe USA
RussianRussia
BrazilianBrazil
MexicanMexico

Nationalities ending in “-ese”:

NationalityCountry
ChineseChina
JapaneseJapan
PortuguesePortugal

If you haven’t seen your nationality or country this lesson, you can look them up.

Look at a dialogue between two people.

Dialogue

Sofia: Hi, I’m Sofia. You’re Alex, right?

Alex: Hello Sofia, yes I’m Alex. Are you from the USA?

Sofia: Yes, I am! Are you American too?

Alex: No, I’m not American, I’m from Russia!

Now the listening practice:

Next, some more language for those who feel that can go a little further.

Anna interviews tourists on the National Mall in Washington, DC. She learns about where they are from and the languages they speak. Listen carefully and write down what you hear.

What are you thankful for?

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Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on November 25, the biggest and the most important holiday in the US, even more than Christmas or the Fourth of July.

It officially marks the beginning of the holiday season, the period between Thanksgiving and New Year.

Do you want to know when the first Thanksgiving happened?

And are you ready for a dose of American culture while building your English vocabulary? Let’s first look at some words.

Next, there is a little more advanced video. If you feel that the listening is too fast, change the setting.

Now it’s your turn. What are the things you are thankful for, the things you are most grateful for this year?

I’m sure you have a list of things to be grateful for:

  • your family
  • close friends
  • good health
  • your home
  • your job
  • healthy food
  • your pets

How was your long weekend?

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Este foi um feriadão, um feriado prolongado para você?

Todos rapidamente sabem dizer feriado em inglês, HOLIDAY, public holiday e também bank holiday (no inglês britânico). Mas e feriadão?

Para se referir à fim de semana prolongado ou feriadão, você pode usar as expressões LONG WEEKEND ou THREE-DAY WEEKEND (feriado na sexta ou na segunda), e FOUR–DAY WEEKEND (feriado na quinta, com recesso na sexta, ou na terça, com recesso na segunda).

A expressão DAY OFF, significa dia de folga, mas dependendo do contexto (sempre ele!), pode ser vista no sentido de feriado.

E as perguntas mais comuns antes e depois de um feriado prolongado são a respeito de seus planos com relação à ele: 

As duas primeiras, são as construções mais utilizadas pelos alunos, pela semelhança com as estruturas da língua portuguesa.

  • What are you going to do this long weekend? or What did you do this long weekend?
  • How is your long weekend going to be? or How was your long weekend?

As seguintes, são as utilizadas pelos falantes nativos:

  • How are you going to spend your three-day weekend? or How did you spend your three-day weekend?
  • Where are you going to spend your long weekend? or Where did you spend your long we

Agora pratique, completando as frases com as palavras ou expressões que faltam:

1- Monday was a _____________________.

(Segunda-feira foi feriado.)

2- It was a ____________________________________.

(Foi um feriado de três dias.)

3 – It was ________________________________.

(Foi Proclamação da República.)

4 – There are many ____________________in Brazil.

(Há muitos feriados nacionais no Brasil.)

5 – Next long weekend, Christmas, ________________ a Saturday this year.

(O próximo feriado prolongado, Natal, cai em uma sábado este ano.)

5- On Friday, I was in a __________________.

(Na sexta-feira eu estava em clima de feriado.)

7- I _______________ the holiday at home.

(Passei o feriado em casa.)

Confira suas respostas:

1 – holiday; 2 – a three-day weekend; 3 – Republic Day; 4 – national holidays; 5 – falls on; 6 – holiday mood; 7 – spent

Conteúdo Extra

Aos que já possuem o conteúdo desta lição suficientemente trabalhado, aqueles alunos com os quais praticamos estas estruturas diversas vezes, vamos lá ampliar os limites!

English from the streets! Australian accent!

Listen carefully and take notes of all the extra possibilities not discussed in this lesson.

Clique em  feriado e feriado prolongado, se quiser ouvir as expressões mencionadas na primeira parte da lição.

Covid-19 vaccine side effects

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It’s a good idea, when you travel abroad, to know how to describe what you are feeling, in case you need to go to an emergency medical service.

So, we started with the most common health problems, ways to ask about someone’s health, and typical responses.

Next we looked at simple conversations between doctor and patient, and we worked on a dialogue in which a patient visits his doctor because he has many of the classic Covid-19 symptoms.

Then, working with a student, she told me that she had a hard time with the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Forty-eight hours after she took it, she had a rash / she broke out in a rash on her neck and forehead. She didn’t have a fever, but her blood pressure went down / dropped / decreased. Then, she called the doctor, and the doctor prescribed her an anti-allergic medication/drug. She took the medication and rested. ‘It was weird,’ she said.

Here is a piece of news which is a good listening and reading practice, as it brings the vocabulary related to this problem.

I also had / got / experienced side effects / suffered from side effects from the Covid-19 vaccine. I had / experienced fatigue, a fever, a headache and, body aches.

In case you need to go to an emergency service, one of the questions they may ask you is: Are you allergic to any medicine/medication?

You should respond:

Yes, I’m allergic to…

No, not that I’m aware of / not that I know of.

PRACTICE

What about you? Did you have / get / experience side effects or suffered from side effects from the Covid-19 vaccine? What did you have?

Nota: O intuito desta lição, é oferecer soluções lexicais, para caso necessite, você possa comunicar com segurança e tranquilidade, seus sintomas. Ao que tudo indica, o tema não deverá, tão cedo, desaparecer da nossa realidade.

At the doctor’s office – Covid

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In this animated dialogue, a patient visits his doctor because he has many classic Covid-19 symptoms. 

But first, you may need to look at the most common health problems, ways to ask about someone’s health, and typical responses.

Then, it might be necessary to check some simple conversations between doctor and patient. 

Okay! Now you’re ready for this simple but useful dialogue in times of pandemic. Listen carefully, and after doing that, practice here. Look up the words you don’t know and enjoy this unique lesson!