Beer is bad for you. Or is it ?

In my opinion, beer has always been good for you - as a reason for socialising, and because of that first cold sip that washes down the heat and off the load of a day's work, and if consumed moderately.
But now, it's scientific.
Some very clever graduate students have come up with a kind of beer that can actually extend your life.
Beer is officially off the black list.
But don't take my word for it. Go check out the Discovery site.
Click on the post title, or copy the link below and paste onto your browser.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/10/beer-cancer-health.html

Self-learning Tips for English Learners

Every so often, a student comes up to me and asks me what they can do to improve their English. There are far too many things they can do on their own, without a teacher's assistance. I usually repeat the one I think most effective, and therefore, important: read in English, specially the classics, since they are the best and most reliable source of language.
But today, as I was preparing a list of tips, I decided to post them here. This way, I think we'll save paper, for only those who really mean to read them will print them.

So, here goes.
Dear Student,

Here are some tips on ways to improve your English independently:

1). Try to make it A MEANS TO AN END - an instrument - rather than an end in itself; especially to do something you love with it. Try a new recipe from the web, find out how to say what you want to that gringo boy/girlfriend, read about that car or motorbike, search for new gadgets for your fishing tackle box, discover the latest fashions, watch that episode of your favourite series before it's on your cable channel.

2). MAKE IT FUN for yourself: find something relaxing and good to do using your English:
- read books if you like to read them; find one you like, or go for the classics, always a good, reliable source of language.
- read magazines – the one of your preference
- watch movies with the subtitles in English or without subtitles
- listen to music (for music lyrics, google lyrics + name of song/band/singer)
- find someone to chat or exchange e-mails (see pen pals on E-practice)
- play games, do crosswords

3). In the spirit of making it fun, try to feel at ease while using the language, both in and out of class. Students usually know more than they think they do, but tension will interfere with their ability to use what they know. So, relax, breathe, smile, and SPEAK YOUR MIND...

4). Focus on what YOU KNOW rather than on what you don't. Instead of asking "how do you say... ", try explaining what you mean. This is an invaluable strategy when the aim is to communicate.

5). USE IT as much as you can:
talk to your classmates in English in and outside the class, while waiting for class to begin; use it when travelling, talk to English-speaking tourists around town/the country;
prepare a presentation to bring to class about something you like or about a hobby of yours, or an experience you’ve had (e.g.: wine drinking: how to choose the right wine; travelling abroad: the best/worst trip of your life, taking photos: the best tips; horse-riding: why do you like it so much)

6). Exercise your curiosity: asking questions in English is an art, with all those inversions, auxiliary verbs... isn't it? Well then, practice makes perfect. ASK AWAY – ask as many as you can, to whomever is available. Write to international websites; write e-mails to hotels abroad asking for information.

7). KEEP IN TOUCH with English on a daily basis: the world is at the tips of your fingers now, and it speaks English. There are innumerous things you can find to keep in touch with the language

a). Find a newspaper or magazine website, or a blog, and make a habit of reading a little bit every day.

Most newspapers, both broadsheet and tabloids, have an online version that can be browsed for free. Check out (www.): nytimes.com, thetimes.co.uk, observer.guardian.co.uk, thesun.co.uk, thestar.co.uk.
The same goes for women's magazines, which usually have US (.com) and UK (.co.uk) versions (e.g.: vogue.com, elle.co.uk, marieclaire.co.uk or marieclaire.com cosmopolitan.com or cosmopolitan.co.uk, goodhousekeeping.com) or any other magazine for that matter - sportsillustrated.com, playboy.co.uk, horseandhound.co.uk.
Blogs exist for whatever might tickle your fancy.
My favourites? Here are some: postsecret.blogspot.com (people send their secrets anonimously), justjared.buzznet.com (celeb gossip), ffffound.com (pictures, pictures and more pictures), decor8blog.com (decoration), toofatforfashion.blogspot.com (fashion beyond sample sizes).
Never mind what it is, as long as you can trust it's good English, and YOU LIKE IT!!!

In case you don't know exactly what you are looking for, use search engines (google, yahoo, altavista, askjeeves, etc.) and type in keywords for the subject.

Now if you want your virtual experience to be more directly educational, go to the infallible giants dsc.discovery.com and bbc.co.uk - for a wealth of general knowledge for your enjoyment and maybe help you help your kid, or kid sister/brother with their homework.

Now if you're going for some English self-study online, you can't miss these:

www.culturainglesa.net (for students only, visitors can take a test, and find info)
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
www.cambridgeesol.org (Cambridge examinations)
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/homeworkhelp/english/english_homework_help.html
http://www.eslcafe.com/students/

When browsing the web, keep on the look out for interesting podcasts in English, for sources of listening material. Here is one http://www.escribacafe.com/podcast-in-english-no1-the-secret-power-of-the-music/

b). Carry some light reading material in English with you, it makes for much better use of time than reading a page of Caras (the Brazilian version of People magazine) at the doctor's, or for reading your bank statement over and over when in line. There are plenty of graded readers which come with audio CDs. Check out www.sbs.com.br, best possible shop for books in English. I recommend the Macmillan series, very affordable.

c). Instead of reading the shampoo labels, read something in English - keep a magazine in English in your toilet reading box. Every little minute counts.

Well... there you have it: a lot, and yet, not everything to be said about the topic.
I think the most important is that you keep yourself open to learning the language, be positive and persistent.

English IS everywhere, and you already know a lot. Now, use the lot you know to find out about the other lot.

Cheerio for now!!

A lesson on money

Tomorrow I have to start a lesson with the topic 'Money', so I looked up a few quotations about it.

Here are some I found most interesting:

There's no money in poetry, but then there's no poetry in money, either. ~Robert Graves

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money. ~Cree Indian Proverb


No matter how hard you hug your money, it never hugs back. ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

A Rock Poem

Nothing hits me hard
as that old rock song
that guitar I long to hear
vibrating inside me, right here,
in the middle of the afternoon.
You know that it would be untrue
But I am not a liar
The time to hesitate is through
and my heart's on fire
when it goes boom-boom
boom-boom boom-boom.

Madonna's video's out

Check it out:

Prejudice, vanilla, and a very good song

I have never been a fan of Justin Timberlake.
Maybe because he was too mainstream, whereas I tend to favour alternative; or because he was a member of a boy band and I have never liked boy bands since Menudo was around. It could be because I was under the impression that he was a bit too... vanilla. You know, whishy-washy, watery, innocuous, insipid. To me, he was just like all the other fabricated icons, including another quite different member of the Mickey Mouse Club, scandalous, clueless, ubiquitous Britney.
So, why am I talking about him in this post? Because I am revising my concepts. Justin is now on probation as far as I'm concerned, on his way to redeeming himself as an artist, since he was co-opted onto Madonna's posse. And since I saw this bit:



And heard this song:


I just loved the song. I don't care for this video, though.

For a full review of Madonna's latest album, Hard Candy (could we translate this into Portuguese as Rapadura - que nada mais é que um doce duro?) see the following link: http://dancetechnomusic.suite101.com/article.cfm/madonna_4_minutes_review

For info on Justin Timberlake, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Timberlake

ImprovEverywhere

According to wikipedia, a flash mob is "a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief period of time, then quickly disperse".
The guys from ImprovEverywhere took it a bit further. Their action is unusual, is sudden, but is more than a simple improvisation.
They call them missions. People of all ages and from all walks of life become agents and perform these actions, or scenes of chaos and joy around the world.
There have been many interesting ones, but here's the one that I liked most:

Hugh Laurie as Dr. House

Grumpy has never been so charming.

Hugh Laurie has never been this famous, but he has always been this good. Playing an American was deeply odd for him in the beginning1, but I doubt any yankee could do it better, accent included. Those of you who know him only from House MD should check him out on BlackAdder, Jeeves and Wooster and A bit of Fry and Laurie.

Now, about the character (who by the way seems to be casting his surly shadow over the actor himself if you are to believe the news2), House is everything a doctor shouldn't be: sardonic, blunt, unsociable, surly, bitter, totally sceptical about the human nature, lazy when it comes to ordinary duty at the clinic, sometimes even sleazy. But still... he's irresistible: clever (or rather, absolutely brilliant), passionate about his work, and surprisingly sweet and sexy. His attitude towards people has been summarized in an aphorism which has occasionally become the motto for episodes, and has been stamped on promotional T-shirts: everybody lies. And that was, I think, one of the first House-isms.
I can't wait for the rest of 4th season of the series to come out.

Here are some House-isms
“There’s something freeing about being a loser, isn’t there?”
“I’ve heard not all lawyers are as ethical as the ones we see on TV.”(Both from the episode Games, 4th season)
"You always trust me. It's a big mistake." *(From Detox, Season 1)
Chase:"You can trust me."
House:"The problem is, if I can't trust you, I can't trust your statement that I can trust you. But thanks, you've been a big help." (From Mob Rules, Season 1)
"I ask you, is almost dying any excuse for not being fun?" (From Forever, Season 2)

If you want to know more about Hugh, check out the links below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Laurie
http://www.hughlaurie.net (from which I quoted the photos)
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0491402/

1.http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/laurie%20finds%20playing%20an%20american%20deeply%20odd_27_02_2006
2. http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/11535859.html and also http://backseatcuddler.com/2008/01/20/hugh-laurie-unhappy-in-london-and-los-angeles/hugh-laurie-and-wife-jo-2/