The Art of Writing & Speaking the English Language

This month, Professor Glaser takes us through the exciting woods of writing. Do you remember your figures of speech? Are you familiar with coherence & cohesion? In one of our encounters, we discussed how to create an effective essay. Would you like some extra tips? Well, check the video below for a humorous lesson.

How to Write an Effective Essay: The Introduction
De: JamesESL | 11/07/2011 | http://www.engvid.com
Learn the method for writing the perfect essay introduction. A good introduction makes writing an essay easy and reading it fun.



Another great writing resource is the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

One of my favorite sections is Punctuation. You can even download Conquering the Comma Powerpoint Presentation (.ppt archive). Fantastic!

Phrasal Verb Cootie Catcher

Maira, Mariana and I tried to find fun ways of presenting phrasal verbs with 'on' to our students. Here is the result of our work: a slideshow with comic strips and a cootie catcher (do you remember your school years?). Enjoy!

Phrasal verbs with on

View more presentations from Paula Carnasciali.

USP Aluno Especial

Dear colleagues,

As discussed in our previous encounter, here are some interesting links for your information:

Aluno Especial - Programa de Pós-Graduação da USP
http://pos.fflch.usp.br/node/148

Calendário USP JupiterWeb
https://sistemas.usp.br/jupiterweb/jupCalendario.jsp

The Academic Phrasebank
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/index.htm
The Academic Phrasebank is a general resource which aims to provide academic writers with examples of some of the phraseological "nuts and bolts" of writing. It is maintained by john.morley@manchester.ac.uk

Idioms and colloquial language

This week we started a new discussion: Why languages have collocations? How do phrasal verbs work? To illustrate the topic, here is a sample video of the "Quite literally" series from PearsonLongmanELT channel on Youtube.

He didn't cut the mustard!

We also had some fun watching the story of John Brown, a man who finds himself at the Pearly Gates explaining the story of his life to a bewildered Saint Peter and Noah Webster using contemporary slang.

1951 Tex Avery's Symphony in Slang

This is the transcript of TEX AVERY – SYMPHONY IN SLANG (1951). It may help if you want to crack some of the idioms and slangs. I don't think all of them are still used nowadays though. 

Saint Peter: 
You may enter. Next Please. 

John Brown: 
Howdy, Dan. What's new? How's tricks? What's cookin'? 

Saint Peter: 
What's cooking? How's tricks? Hmm. What a strange language you bring from the earth. I don't seem to follow you. I shall refer you to the master of the dictionary, Noah Webster. Perhaps he can understand you. 

Mr. Webster, this newcomer's vocabulary is so unusual that I am unable to record his life on earth. Would you mind seeing if you can comprehend his odd manner of speech? 

Now, young man, go ahead with the story of your life. 

John Brown: 
Sure thing, Dad! 

Well, I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth... 

Noah Webster: 
Silver spoon in your mouth ? 

John Brown: 
Yes, silver spoon in my mouth. 

Then I seemed to grow up overnight. One day at the crack of dawn, I got up with the chickens to hunt a job and got a job slinging hash because the proprietor was shorthanded. But I couldn't cut the mustard, so the guy gave me the gate. 

So I went back to my little hole in the wall. I was beside myself with anger. Then I decided to get a train ticket to Texas and there made some dough punching cattle. From there I flew to Chicago. There a beautiful girl stepped into the picture. 

Our eyes met. My breath came in short pants, and I got goose pimples. I was all thumbs. Mary's clothes fit her like a glove. She looked mighty pretty with her hair done up in a bun. She had good-looking pins, too. Finally, she gives me a date. I put on my white tie and tails, and, brother, did she put on the dog! 

We went around together for some time... painting the town red, going to the Stork Club... and a box at the opera. After the opera, I had a cocktail, and Mary had a Moscow Mule. At dinner, Mary let her hair down and ate like a horse. By then, my money was running out on me, so I write a check. It bounced. Brother, I was really in a pickle. The proprietor drew a gun on me, but I gave him the slip and hid in the foothills. In no time, the law was on my heels. 

On the witness stand, the judge tried to pump me, but it seemed that every time I opened my mouth, I put my foot in it. So he sent me up the river to do a stretch in the jug. I was up against it and felt myself going to pot. But I raised a big stink, and they finally let me talk to an undercover man. After going through a lot of red tape, he sprung me. It sure felt good to stretch my legs again, and I went straight to the bus station and caught a Greyhound for New York. 

On arriving, I dropped in on Mary and threw myself at her feet. I asked her to marry me, but she turned her back on me and got on her high horse. I couldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole. She wouldn't say a word. Guess the cat had her tongue. So I walked out on her. 

After that I went to pieces. Feeling lonely, I went down to Joe's Malt Shop where a bunch of the boys were hanging around. Ah, the music was nice. The guy at the piano played by ear. I felt a tug at my elbow. It was the soda clerk. We sat down and chewed the rag a while. 

I heard from the grapevine that Mary was going around with an old flame. That burned me up because I knew he was just feeding her a line. But the guy really spent his money like water. I think he was connected with the railroad. As they danced, I tried to chisel in, but the guy got in my hair, so I left. 

Outside it was raining cats and dogs. I was feeling mighty blue, and everything looked black. But I carried on. I went to the Thousand Islands. There I became a beachcomber. But I still thought of Mary, and a tear ran down my cheek. 

So I send her a cable. Next day, she sends me back a wire. I rushed back to the US on a cattle boat and hotfooted it over to Mary's apartment. But when I opened the door, I noticed quite a few changes. 

Why, Mary, Mary had a bunch of little ones. The groom had his hands full, too. So, all this struck me so funny that I died laughing. And here I am. 

Well, what do you think? Did you follow me? 

Noah Webster: 
Well, I ... uh... 

John Brown: 
What's the matter? Can't you talk? Has the cat got your tongue?

Source: http://learnenglishonline.yuku.com/topic/9187/t/Symphony-in-slang.html

Phonemic Chart Animated (Complete)

Practise your pronunciation of the sounds of English with our animated phonemic chart. For more pronunciation resources visit: www.cambridgeenglishonline.com

Video published by CambridgeEnglish on Youtube | 03/06/2010

AzarGrammar.com - Teacher Talk Blog

Dear colleagues,

Fatima Abbate has sent us a great reading suggestion. A blog on oral production, teaching and assessment: TEACHER TALK BLOG (click here)

Our Mission and Vision

This website’s mission is to support teachers who incorporate a grammar component in their ESL/EFL teaching. Our vision is a global community of ESL/EFL teachers who share resources, learn from one another, and support one another in their work.

Website Goals

Provide teaching support to all ESL/EFL teachers who include a grammar component in their teaching, by offering ideas, information, and materials to help them succeed
Provide textbook support to Azar users
Facilitate community, sharing, dialogue, and mutual support among ESL/EFL teachers
Promote partnership between authors and teachers
Define a grammar-based approach and the pedagogical assumptions underlying the teaching of grammar and the Azar texts

http://azargrammar.com/aboutUs.html

Online resources on pronunciation

Permanent Learner - Content words

View more presentations from Paula Carnasciali.

Dear classmates,

Here are some really interesting online resources on pronunciation for the non-native-speaking teachers of English. Please, feel free to add your own at the end!


http://www.howjsay.com/
A free online Talking Dictionary of English Pronunciation - Copyright © Tim Bowyer 2006-11

http://www.dictationsonline.com/
A graded collection of free online dictations. - Copyright © Tim Bowyer 2005-9

http://www.fonetiks.org/
Online pronunciation guides to 9 varieties of the English language and 9 other languages · Instant sound · Pronunciation samples by over 40 native speakers - Copyright © Tim Bowyer 2000-09

http://www.shiporsheep.com/
English language pronunciation practice with minimal pairs - Copyright © Tim Bowyer 2000-09

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/
English pronunciation resources and lessons for ESL learners. Clicking on a symbol will take you to another page where you can watch a video about that particular sound.

http://www.manythings.org/pp/
American English Pronunciation Practice (For ESL/EFL) - Copyright © 2001-2011 by Charles Kelly

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/
The Phonetics Flash Animation Project site contains animated libraries of the phonetic sounds of English – articulatory diagram, a step-by-step description, and a video-audio of the sound spoken in context. - Copyright © The University of Iowa 2001-2005.

http://www.cambridgeenglishonline.com/Phonetics_Focus/#
Cambridge offers educational resources to help improve pronunciation and knowledge of phonetics. - Copyright © Cambridge English Online Ltd. 2003-2011.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
Free online dictionary with American and British pronunciations - Copyright © 2011 Farlex, Inc.

http://www.real-english.com/
Free site with original videos recorded on the streets of cities like New York and with interactive lessons - Copyright © 2011 The Marzio School

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/pronex/pronex.htm
Perfect Pronunciation - Copyright © 2011 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

http://www.lyricstraining.com/
Lyrics Training is an easy and fun method to learn and improve your foreign languages skills like English, through the music videos and typing the lyrics of the songs. -  Copyright © 2011 LyricsTraining.com

Phonetics and Phonology presentation - April, 2011
Professor Fabricio Ono
Maira Stella, Mariana Malaquias  and Paula Carnasciali