Blumenau is a Brazilian city in the southern state of Santa Catarina, where it’s believed that 30% of the city’s 400,000 residents are of German descent.
Since 1984, Blumenau hosts an Oktoberfest which is seen as the second biggest beer festival in the world, surpassed only by the original festival in Munich.
September 2 was Blumenau’s 172 anniversary.
BUT, BIRTHDAY OR ANNIVERSARY?
Na língua inglesa, essas são as duas palavras a serem usadas quando queremos nos referir à aniversário.
Há um consenso entre os professores de inglês brasileiros, que se for o aniversário de uma pessoa, usamos o substantivo birthday pois, como o próprio nome já diz, refere-se ao dia do nascimento (birth significa “nascimento” e day significa “dia”).
E que usamos anniversary para referir-se à data em que um evento importante aconteceu, como aniversário de casamento, aniversário da cidade, ou a data da fundação de alguma empresa ou instituição. Veja:
Mas nas minhas pesquisas, encontrei diferentes resultados.
Instead of giving rules and exceptions, I’ll show you the result of my search. / Em vez de dar regras e exceções, lhe mostrarei o resultado dela.
Birthday
The anniversary of the birth of a person.
He was in New York to celebrate his 74th birthday.
The date on which someone is born or something is created, more commonly called birthdate or date of birth.
Anniversary
(especially) The date on which a couple married or the date on which a romance began. It also means the celebration which takes place on an anniversary day.
We are celebrating our tenth anniversary today.
Anniversary
A day that is an exact number of years (to the day) since a given significant event occurred. Often preceded by an ordinal number indicating the number of years.
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the war.
Interestingly, even though we don’t usually refer to birth dates as “anniversaries,” we use the death anniversary when referring to death dates. / Curiosamente, embora geralmente não nos refiramos a datas de nascimento como “anniversary”, usamos “aniversário” de morte quando nos referimos a datas de falecimento.
Remembering dad on his death anniversary is a great agony.
The 100th anniversary of the birth of composer Benjamin Britten.
However, unless you qualify the noun anniversary, it is generally taken to mean a wedding anniversary. If you say, Today is my anniversary, unless the context indicates otherwise, you would be speaking of your wedding anniversary.
For other anniversaries, use a qualifier as well. For your employment, you can say work anniversary.
For anniversaries, such as a nation’s birthday, we use a recognized proper name. For the United States, July 4 refers to as “Independence Day.”
These national anniversaries, celebrated in most countries, are called national days. These are the dates of independence or adoption of a new constitution or form of government.
Well, I hope this information was of some help to you. At least I’m sure you have no doubts about how to greet someone on their birthday, right? 😉
Especially means ‘in particular’, ‘particularly’, or ‘most of all’. We use especially to show that what you are saying applies more to one thing or situation than to others.
I like food, but I especially like sandwiches.
He’s often a little late, but he was especially late today.
She looked especially beautiful that night.
I like all of my friends, especiallyMark.
All of the rooms are dirty, especiallythe bathroom.
Our baby cries a lot, especiallywhen he is hungry.
Dave and Mark like football. Dave,especially, watches lots of matches on TV.
Mark: Do you want to live abroad? Jane: Yes, I would especially like to live in France.
When especially relates to the subject of a sentence, you put it immediately after the subject.
Young babies, especially, are vulnerable to colds.
You can also use especially in front of an adjective to emphasize a characteristic or quality.
I found her laugh especially annoying.
We use specially to say that something is done or made for a particular purpose.
This sandwich was specially made.
They had a chair specially designed for her size.
The animals are specially trained to locate the mushrooms.
I bought a bag specially for my computer.
The suit was specially made for me.
I went to New York specially to see the Statue of Liberty.
We can use both, especially and specially, when we refer to a ‘special purpose,’ or ‘specifically.’
I bought this milk especially / specially for you.
The speech was written especially / specially for the occasion.
Practice doing the mini-testat the end of the page.
The end of the year is a great time to look ahead and draw up (make/put together)a plan for what to do next. But first, let’s go back to what happened this year.
What are you most grateful for in 2021?
How did this person/experience/thing impact your life?
What are the other things you’re grateful for in 2021?
Gratitude benefits us on many levels. It’s good for emotional balance and positively affects our personality.
It also helps us appreciate the things we have, do, and are in our lives, giving us the chance to feel good about them rather than focusing on the feeling that keeps telling us we need to have, do and be more.
Cultivating gratitude increases well-being, happiness, energy, optimism, and empathy.
This is what makes it onto my 2021 grateful list:
Being alive: my family and I, and all the people I care for;
My daughter:so proud of her! She’s facing challenges, in a foreign country, all by herself, and beautifully achieving her full potential;
My dear students, former and current ones. Each one is unique, and I’m grateful for the chance to help them with their goals;
Every person or being who made me smile, who offered me help, who taught me something, who showed me a better way to be or to do something;
Food and shelter;
My effort to set the time to make progress in my studies, to think, to self-reflect;
New challenges and accomplishments, although simple for others;
Making the most out of good and bad experiences;
Finding joy in the most simple, tiniest details and this world’s natural beauty;
What has gone and what is yet to come.
This video, A Good Day, was recorded fourteen years ago and watched over 1 million times. It features Brother David, a highly-respected Benedictine monk, author, and spiritual leader, and is a blessing to all those with “eyes to see and ears to hear.” Look, listen, and feel inspired by this powerful message ongrateful living.
And if you want more, Brother David says that the one thing all humans have in common is that each of us wants to be happy. And happiness, he suggests, is born from gratitude. Below is an inspiring lesson inslowing down, looking where you’re going, and above all, being grateful.
It is a listening and reading practice if you work on the transcript. You can find it in English and Portuguese if you need it. Look up the words you don’t know.
