With this blog I intend to help students improve their English skills. However, I will write a little about Portugal. I love the English language, but I am also very proud of my mother tongue and of my cultural heritage.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Cape Town : Portugal vs Spain
Portugal is going to play against Spain in this beautiful city today.
The Portuguese team is known as the Navigators in homage to the first Portuguese who reached these coasts in the fifteenth century and opened the sea route to India and to the East.
These Portuguese were led by Bartolomeu Dias(1488), a great Portuguese explorer and navigator. Some years later (1497-1499)Vasco da Gama sailed through these same waters and succeeded in arriving at India by sea. This was a time of great feats …
Let’s hope the Portuguese can once more beat their opponents and conquer the route to victory.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (born on this day ,110 years ago) )
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a French writer and aviator who was born on the 29th June 1900 and who died on 31st July 1944 during a reconnaissance flight over the Mediterranean during World War II.
He is best remembered for his novella The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince), and for his books about aviation adventures, including Night Flight and Wind, Sand and Stars.
I read The Little Prince many years ago and I found it superb! The simplicity of life and the purity of thought are revealed through the eyes of a child, the Little Prince. His vision of the world contrasts deeply with the grown-ups' vision and he fails to understand why we are turning our magnificent world into such a mess ...
Below you have a chapter of the book which illustrates what I said before (chapter VII). I advise you to read the whole story- http://wikilivres.info/wiki/The_Little_Prince
VII
On the fifth day — again, as always, it was thanks to the sheep — the secret of the little prince's life was revealed to me. Abruptly, without anything to lead up to it, and as if the question had been born of long and silent meditation on his problem, he demanded:
"A sheep — if it eats little bushes, does it eat flowers, too?"
"A sheep," I answered, "eats anything it finds in its reach."
"Even flowers that have thorns?"
"Yes, even flowers that have thorns."
"Then the thorns — what use are they?"
I did not know. At that moment I was very busy trying to unscrew a bolt that had got stuck in my engine. I was very much worried, for it was becoming clear to me that the breakdown of my plane was extremely serious. And I had so little drinking-water left that I had to fear for the worst.
"The thorns — what use are they?"
The little prince never let go of a question, once he had asked it. As for me, I was upset over that bolt. And I answered with the first thing that came into my head:
"The thorns are of no use at all. Flowers have thorns just for spite!"
"Oh!"
There was a moment of complete silence. Then the little prince flashed back at me, with a kind of resentfulness:
"I don't believe you! Flowers are weak creatures. They are naïve. They reassure themselves as best they can. They believe that their thorns are terrible weapons..."
I did not answer. At that instant I was saying to myself: "If this bolt still won't turn, I am going to knock it out with the hammer." Again the little prince disturbed my thoughts:
"And you actually believe that the flowers — "
"Oh, no!" I cried. "No, no, no! I don't believe anything. I answered you with the first thing that came into my head. Don't you see — I am very busy with matters of consequence!"
He stared at me, thunderstruck.
"Matters of consequence!"
He looked at me there, with my hammer in my hand, my fingers black with engine-grease, bending down over an object which seemed to him extremely ugly...
"You talk just like the grown-ups!"
That made me a little ashamed. But he went on, relentlessly:
"You mix everything up together... You confuse everything..."
He was really very angry. He tossed his golden curls in the breeze.
"I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman. He has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved any one. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures. And all day he says over and over, just like you: 'I am busy with matters of consequence!' And that makes him swell up with pride. But he is not a man — he is a mushroom!"
"A what?"
"A mushroom!"
The little prince was now white with rage.
"The flowers have been growing thorns for millions of years. For millions of years the sheep have been eating them just the same. And is it not a matter of consequence to try to understand why the flowers go to so much trouble to grow thorns which are never of any use to them? Is the warfare between the sheep and the flowers not important? Is this not of more consequence than a fat red-faced gentleman's sums? And if I know — I, myself — one flower which is unique in the world, which grows nowhere but on my planet, but which one little sheep can destroy in a single bite some morning, without even noticing what he is doing — Oh! You think that is not important!"
His face turned from white to red as he continued:
"If some one loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. He can say to himself, 'Somewhere, my flower is there...' But if the sheep eats the flower, in one moment all his stars will be darkened... And you think that is not important!"
He could not say anything more. His words were choked by sobbing.
The night had fallen. I had let my tools drop from my hands. Of what moment now was my hammer, my bolt, or thirst, or death? On one star, one planet, my planet, the Earth, there was a little prince to be comforted. I took him in my arms, and rocked him. I said to him:
"The flower that you love is not in danger. I will draw you a muzzle for your sheep. I will draw you a railing to put around your flower. I will — "
I did not know what to say to him. I felt awkward and blundering. I did not know how I could reach him, where I could overtake him and go on hand in hand with him once more.
It is such a secret place, the land of tears.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
24 th June: the great festival of São João (Saint John)
São João is celebrayed in many Portuguese cities, such as Porto, Braga( my hometown), Figueira da Foz and many others ...
Madredeus with English subtitles
Madredeus (vocalist:Teresa Salgueiro)
Music from the movie Lisbon Story (Wim Wenders 1995)
The 7 Natural Wonders of Portugal
Portugal is currently voting for its 7 Natural Wonders. There is a list of the 21 finalists in 7 different categories which range from protected zones to caves and which can be voted at www.7maravilhas.sapo.pt.
The winners will be announced in the Azores (itself a nominee) in September 2010.
I have already voted! And you?
The wonders of Portugal
Pictures of Portugal. Music by Madredeus (Portuguese group)
On July 2007 the New 7 Wonders of the World were announced in a spectacular ceremony at the “Estádio da Luz” in Lisbon.
On that same day, in the same location were also announced the 7 Wonders of Portugal, which had been chosen by the Portuguese during the seven previous months.
Portugal has such a rich historical heritage (the initial list included 793 national monuments); consequently choosing the 7 final ones was not an easy task.
Here are the 7 finalists!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Portugal is celebrating ...
World Cup 2010:
Raul Meireles celebrates the first of many. Seven, to be precise. Photograph: Lars Baron/Getty Images
Watch the best moments
Portugal 7-0 North Korea -
Raul Meireles celebrates the first of many. Seven, to be precise. Photograph: Lars Baron/Getty Images
Watch the best moments
Portugal 7-0 North Korea -
Saturday, June 19, 2010
José Saramago, the Portuguese writer who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998, died yesterday ...
José Saramago (1935 - 18th June 2010)
Considered by Harold Bloom as the "most gifted novelist alive in the world today" Saramago has combined in his work history of Portugal, myths and surrealistic imagination. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998.
José Saramago was born in Azinhaga, a small village in the province of Ribatejo. In 1924, Saramago's family moved to Lisbon, where his father started working as a policeman. A few months later, his brother Francisco died. Although Saramago was a good student, due to financial problems, he was forced to leave school in order to earn his living. Saramago was educated as a technician, and before becoming a journalist, translator, and writer, he did a number of manual jobs.
He joined in 1969 the Communist Party of Portugal, which was forbidden during the military dictatorship, but he also criticized the party. In the 1970s Saramago supported himself mostly by translation works, and since 1979 he has devoted himself entirely to writing. The author was living on the Canary Islands when he died on 18th June 2010.
Below we can find a list of some of his works.
(Many of his works have been translated into many different languages)
Prose
Memorial do Convento: romance. Ed. Caminho, 1982, Círculo de Leitores, 1984 (English)
O ano da morte de Ricardo Reis: romance. Ed. Caminho, 1984
A jangada de pedra: romance. Ed. Caminho 1986, Círculo de Leitores, 1987 (English)
História do cerco de Lisboa: romance. Ed. Caminho, 1989
O evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo: romance. Ed. Caminho, 1991 (English)
Ensaio sobre a cegueira: romance. Ed. Caminho, 1995
Todos os nomes: romance. Ed. Caminho, 1997
Terra do Pecado : romance. 1947. 2. ed. Lisboa : Caminho, 1997
O conto da Ilha Desconhecida / desenhos: Pedro Cabrita Reis. Lisboa : Assírio & Alvim, 1997
A caverna : romance. Lisboa : Caminho, 2000
O homem duplicado : romance. Lisboa : Caminho, 2002
Ensaio sobre a Lucidez : romance. Lisboa : Caminho, 2004
Read the all article at : http://www.lisbon-guide.info/celebrities/jose-saramago
Friday, June 18, 2010
National exams ...
National exams are taking place in all Portuguese secondary schools for all the students who have finished their eleventh and twelfth grades.
The exams students are taking depend on the course they are attending. My science students are taking: Chemistry/Physics and Biology or Geometry. My art students are taking: Geometry and History of Art. Finally, my language students are taking: a foreign language and Geography.
Today was the day of the foreign languages: English, French, Spanish and German. Students arrived at school loaded with all sorts of dictionaries.
Below you have the links to some national exams. Try them ...
English Exam
Spanish Exam 1
Spanish Exam 2
French Exam
German Exam
Portuguese for foreigners 1
Portuguese for foreigners 2
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Magic of Football ...
The eyes of the world are concentrated on South Africa and on the World Cup 2010.
We are celebrating the magic of football. It's amazing to see the power Football (Am. Soccer) has in bringing the world together.
I hate seeing violence and fanaticism, but I like the sharing of experiences, of cultures and fair play.
I hope the magic of football and fair play will win this competition.
Good luck to all teams.
Portugal, my heart is with you!
http://www.marca.com/deporte/futbol/mundial/sudafrica-2010/calendario.html
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Portugal and the Portuguese ...
In this month edition of the magazine Activa, I read a very interesting article about the Portuguese people. The article was written by Catarina Fonseca.
I found it so fun and interesting that I decided to present some ideas.
Free translation
We,Portuguese, are:
fanatic for football
bad at deciding one’s priorities in life- We have a jeep, but we may not have a tooth, because we don’t feel like spending money at the dentist. We have a smartphone, but our dinners are just bread with butter. We spend our holidays at Varadero, but our house mortgage is at risk.
conciliators- There is always a solution for anything. If someone has a car accident, people say : “It could be worse. He/she could have died”. If someone dies, people say: “It was better this way than sit all life on a wheelchair.”
always late- In every classroom or in every workplace there is always someone whose alarm clock failed to ring. Many think: “Why arriving on time?” Then we’ll have to wait for the others. No one likes waiting, we become restless and start thinking about life…
modest- We are incapable of accepting a true appraisal. If someone tells us: “What a nice skirt!” we immediately reply “ I bought it on the sales or “ It’s so old.”
adventurous- Since the moment we set foot on a caravel during the time of the Great discoveries, we feel unable to stop. There is a Portuguese in every corner of the world, no matter how far, hidden or dangerous it is. In fact, the more dangerous the place, the more adrenaline we feel…
sensitive- We always have a tear in the corner of the eye. There is a (bad) poet in every Portuguese. We may have several defects but we have a heart of gold. In fact, we love misfortunes. We are so soppy. We adore love poems (that others write, because we are too macho)
envious- The moment we see someone getting successful and rich, we try to pull him/ her down. If a woman has success, she has reached it horizontally … If a man earns much money, he has licked his employer’s boots. Politicians are all corrupt; laywers are all thieves… Footballers are the ones who may earn more in a second sleeping than we all life working, because they are our reason to be living; besides they are respected abroad.
pessimist- There are no greater supporters of Murphy’s law. Everything that may go wrong, will surely go wrong…
able to find a solution for everything- there is nothing that will not function again if a Portuguese is there. The true Portuguese is the one that had dismantled four laptops, five mobiles and fourteen radios to see what they had inside (when he was only four years old).
insecure- We are afraid of trying, because we are afraid of what people may say about us. We always think that the others will say something negative. Improbably, someone will say: “It was so good you did it, I’m so glad”. No. They will, surely, criticize us. This creates in us a fear that paralyses us. It makes us prudent. Society becomes a litlle bit paranoic. People are too conscious about themselves …
patriotic- We can’t stand hearing someone saying bad things about us. The only people who can criticize us are we, the Portuguese. Obviously.
dangerous at the steer wheel- More than dangerous, we are a totally mortal people: more people die in Portuguese roads than in the battles of Afonso Henriques (The first King of Portugal).
solitary- Catastrophes are our speciality. No one raises funds as quickly as us. We truly like helping. We are good at crisis. We are bad at routines. It’s the destiny of heroes…
addicted – To café (if we don’t drink one in the morning we get furious and start seeing aliens everywhere and start to listening to voices in the elevator; to mobile phones (we have at least four); to food, hmmmmmm!
Free translation
10th June: Portugal Day ...
On the 10th June, we celebrate Portugal Day (Portuguese: Dia de Camões, de Portugal e das Comunidades Portuguesas ("Day of Camões, of Portugal, and of the Portuguese Communities").
Camões, who died on the 10th June 1580, wrote Os Lusíadas ( The Lusiads), Portugal's national epic poem celebrating Portuguese history and achievements. Although it is only officially celebrated in Portugal, Portuguese citizens and also Portuguese immigrants throughout the world celebrate this holiday.
The poem mainly focuses on the 16th century Portuguese explorations, which brought fame and fortune to Portugal. Camões' poem, considered one of the finest and most important works in Portuguese literature, became a symbol for the great feats of the Portuguese nation.
Camões was an adventurer, lost one eye fighting in Ceuta, wrote the Portuguese epic poem Os Lusíadas while traveling, and survived a shipwreck in Cochinchina (present-day Vietnam). According to popular folklore, Camões saved his epic poem by swimming with one arm while keeping the other arm above water.
Although Camões became a symbol for Portugal nationalism, in the year of his death the Spanish king Philip II, known also as Philip I of Portugal, sat on the Portuguese throne. Because Philip was the only heir at the time, Portugal was then ruled by three generations of Spanish kings. Sixty years later, in December 1, 1640, the country regained its independence once again by expelling the Spanish and making John of Bragança, King John IV of Portugal. Spanish kings tried many times to re-establish power over the Portuguese but failed. Since then, because Camões' date of birth is unknown, the date of his death is celebrated as Portugal's national day.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal_Day
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Practicing is the key to success ...
My students are moving to the 12th grade, and next year they won’t have English at school.
But the English language will always accompany them throughout their personal and professional life, so they should never put it aside.
If you want to master this language, you have to continue listening to it, speaking it whenever possible and reading a lot.
I found in the web a good site http://www.world-english.org/how_to_learn_english.htmwhich can be helpful to any student of English. Have a look at it.
There you can also find some testimonials of well- succeeded stories.
Speak without Fear
The biggest problem most people face in learning a new language is their own fear. They worry that they won’t say things correctly or that they will look stupid so they don’t talk at all. Don’t do this. The fastest way to learn anything is to do it – again and again until you get it right. Like anything, learning English requires practice. Don’t let a little fear stop you from getting what you want.
Use all of your Resources
Even if you study English at a language school it doesn’t mean you can’t learn outside of class. Using as many different sources, methods and tools as possible, will allow you to learn faster. There are many different ways you can improve your English, so don’t limit yourself to only one or two. The internet is a fantastic resource for virtually anything, but for the language learner it's perfect.
Surround Yourself with English
The absolute best way to learn English is to surround yourself with it. Take notes in English, put English books around your room, listen to English language radio broadcasts, watch English news, movies and television. Speak English with your friends whenever you can. The more English material that you have around you, the faster you will learn and the more likely it is that you will begin “thinking in English.”
Listen to Native Speakers as Much as Possible
There are some good English teachers that have had to learn English as a second language before they could teach it. However, there are several reasons why many of the best schools prefer to hire native English speakers. One of the reasons is that native speakers have a natural flow to their speech that students of English should try to imitate. The closer ESL / EFL students can get to this rhythm or flow, the more convincing and comfortable they will become.
Watch English Films and Television
This is not only a fun way to learn but it is also very effective. By watching English films (especially those with English subtitles) you can expand your vocabulary and hear the flow of speech from the actors. If you listen to the news you can also hear different accents.
Listen to English Music
Music can be a very effective method of learning English. In fact, it is often used as a way of improving comprehension. The best way to learn though, is to get the lyrics (words) to the songs you are listening to and try to read them as the artist sings. There are several good internet sites where one can find the words for most songs. This way you can practice your listening and reading at the same time. And if you like to sing, fine.
Finally
Have fun!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Art is needed... A message to you
Yesterday I went to Serralves in Porto and I had the opportunity to see an art exhibition and some dance performances.
I am glad I did! It was fun, entertaining and relaxing. The landscape was amazing and the shows were worth seeing.
We need art to have meaningful lives. In fact, life without art is like a flower without scent. Music, dance, acting, poetry, literature, painting, cinema are the spices of life.
Artists are so generous. They use their talent and genius to communicate their feelings and make a difference in our life. They take us to a wonderful world and help us to see life from a new perspective. They open our eyes to new realities.
Teachers must be artists too. We have to be generous and touch the hearts and emotions of our students. Sometimes it’s hard to find the time and the inspiration to do that.
I have students who told me I succeeded in touching their hearts and that I motivated them to learn. It was so rewarding to listen to them.
I have students who are artists too. They are actors, singers, musicians, painters, dancers, sportlers, etc.
Thank you for sharing your talent with us. The world has become more interesting and exciting because of your inspiration and commitment.
The school year is going to finish tomorrow and many meetings are going to take place during the next days. But this was a worthwhile year. I had such interesting and dedicated students. I have learned a lot with them too. Unfortunately, this was their last year of English.
My message: I wish you the best of luck! You're unique!
Friday, June 4, 2010
The future ...
In our last topic: the future, we talked about students' plans and worries about the future.
Many of my students already know what degree they want to take or what they want to do for a living. However there are others who still have many doubts about what they want to do later on. But as they are going to stay another year at school (in the twelfth grade) they still have some time left to reflect upon their future ...
I have students in very different areas, such as sciences, art, literature and languages; so they are interested in being: doctors, engineers, environmentalists, biologists, architects, designers, photographers, lawyers, journalists, etc…
As for their worries about the future, they have a long list. They worry about the economic situation “the crisis”, as well as the environmental situation, about unemployment, criminality, violence, corruption, uncertainty in the world of work, etc…
Nevertheless when I ask them if they are optimistic or pessimistic about he future, they say they are still optimistic and feel that today’s situation will get better.
I am glad they are optimistic because we need people who believe and fight for a better world.
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