O momento de dar um passo adiante.

Nos últimos anos, nosso mundo tem vivido uma grande mudança e uma expressiva aceleração da vida devido à revolução tecnológica e digital. Os atuais profissionais de 30 a 40 anos, onde me incluo, que amadurecem ao mesmo tempo em que esta revolução acontece, são obrigados a se atualizar e se adaptar constantemente a todas as novidades apresentadas dia a dia, movimento que anteriormente acontecia em anos.

Hoje, já trabalhando há 15 anos como professor de inglês, realizei diversas atividades em várias áreas profissionais, desde design e arquitetura, marketing, turismo a administração de empresa, me considero um profissional bem sucedido, e completando 30 anos de dedicação e estudos neste idioma que me encanta tanto desde a infância, e sem o qual eu não teria realizado metade das atividades que desempenhei, sempre busquei e fui ensinado pelos melhores e mais dedicados profissionais das áreas que atuei. 

Sempre muito curioso e bom amante das novidades, atento ao desenvolvimento de minha carreira e do mundo ao meu redor, de forma a não perder nenhum detalhe, com o crescimento profissional e o desenvolvimento paralelo de atividades profissionais, vi meu tempo ser consumido e, para me dedicar melhor, concentrei esforços aprimorando em inglês para sempre poder dar o meu melhor em sala, contudo acompanhando o desenvolver da internet e suas ferramentas, me enriquecendo profissionalmente e aumentando meu conhecimento, nossa principal ferramenta de ação.

Ao concentramos esforços, a vida segue adiante, e me tornei um expectador do desenvolvimento tecnológico e paciente consumidor das novidades, aos poucos me descobrindo defasado em relação à evolução digital e o marketing, principalmente na internet, o mais amplo meio de comunicação hoje. Então frustrado e estagnado, senti um grande desejo de reintegração a este novo mundo, misto de realidade e virtualidade, cujas ferramentas de comunicação, outrora veiculada a grupos, hoje chega direta e constantemente à palma de nossas mãos por vias eletrônicas. 

Como recuperar o tempo para me qualificar enquanto trabalho? Como me reinventar unindo tudo que gosto, voltando a trabalhar somando conhecimento e tecnologia, juntando o útil ao agradável?

Seguindo um conselho recebido, “Ande com os grandes e será um deles”, e também ter tido o privilégio de ser ensinado pelos melhores, resolvi escolher um programa de estudo à distância, onde poderia dedicar de acordo com meus horários mais convenientes e confortáveis.

Matriculei no programa Digital Marketing NanoDegree da UDACITY, uma universidade virtual internacional, criada e desenvolvida pelos mais altamente qualificados profissionais de marketing e tecnologia digital do Vale do Silício, em parceria com as maiores empresas do setor digital e de tecnologia do mundo, através do qual eu aprendo a trabalhar os melhores conteúdos e as mais modernas ferramentas de comunicação social, me inserindo mais rapidamente e na velocidade certa desta vida moderna, acompanhando mais uma vez o desenvolvimento da informação, tomando partido e proveito de todas as benesses e facilidades que nosso mundo moderno oferece. Um passo ousado, mas na direção que vejo como certa e com o sentimento de estar em dia comigo mesmo novamente.

A Brief about the Simple Tenses

SIMPLE TENSES

The simple tenses are used when we relate to actions that happen at the exact instant which the sentences refer to. They are: Simple Present, Simple Past and Simple Future.
In affirmative sentences, we generally use the verbs denoting actions according to the subject of each sentence.
In negative sentences we add “not” right before the verbs to deny the action, and it’s usually introduced by an auxiliary verb that assures the action happens in that circumstance in time.
In interrogative sentences we use the auxiliary verbs before the subjects so we are certain of the time the action is to happen. It’s also possible to make negative questions just by introducing the denial word “not” contracted on the auxiliary verb or immediately after the subject and before the main verb, because it will be denied.
Every time we use an auxiliary verb to determine the circumstances for the main verb, this main verb will come in an infinitive form, since the time of the action is guaranteed by the specific auxiliary verb of each verb tense.
The subjects can be nouns or pronouns, personal pronouns more commonly, because all of the subjects can be reduced to and represented by a personal pronoun.

CONTINUOUS/PROGRESSIVE TENSES

The continuous or progressive tenses are used when we relate to actions that demand some specific period of time to happen, meaning they relate to the moments that surround the simple tenses showing that the actions are being developed at that moment. They are formed by using the verb TO BE (which determines states, feelings and emotions) plus the present participle form of the main verbs (-ING Form) what will show that the action IS HAPPENING for the time being.
The correct presentations and uses of the verb TO BE will determine the verb tenses of the actions since the participle forms are participative in structures remaining timeless, either in the present or the past form.
In affirmative sentences we use the verb TO BE in an affirmative way, having its correct conjugation according to each of the personal pronouns plus the main verb on the –ING Form.
In the negative sentences we use the verb TO BE with “not” (the denial element) also presented according to each of the personal pronouns plus the main verb on the –ING Form.
As the verb TO BE determines specific situations, as said before, it will serve itself as the auxiliary verb in the Present and Past tenses. For that, in the Present and Past verb tenses, we will use it as the auxiliary verb that will be necessary to start the interrogative form.
In the Future Progressive, as in the Simple Future, it will be necessary to use the auxiliary verb “Will” because of its function of determining the future tense for the verbs, so the verb TO BE will constantly be submitted to this auxiliary verb, either for the affirmative, negative or interrogative forms in the sentences.
They are: Present Continuous, Past Continuous and Future Continuous/Progressive.

GENERAL OBSERVATION: It’s important to remember that in the Portuguese Language the verbs are conjugated according to each personal pronoun, which means all the verbs have a great variation in forms and the Portuguese Language has more verb tenses than the English Language.

These many variations of conjugations make possible to determine the subject of the sentences according to the verb tense that is presented which allows the use of a hidden subject.The verb conjugation in English doesn’t vary as in Portuguese. There are just a few variations of the verbs use making impossible the use of the hidden subject, but there is the non-existent subject as in Portuguese.

So it’ll be always necessary to indicate or determine the subject for each sentence, mainly in longer or compounded periods, when there will be a new sentence after each conjunction. That’s when the personal pronouns are used to replace or represent the subjects.

Happy Halloween!

Do you like to scare people? So Halloween is the perfect holiday for you! Do you know what it is about? Let’s see:
This party is realized in US and Europe on October 31st. You can take part in the fun learning a little about the Halloween language and customs. Ten things you should know about it:

1) The celebration of Halloween comes from All Hallows Day or All Saints Day, on November 1st. It originally was a pagan festival to celebrate the dead, which later became a holiday to honor the Christian Saints.

2) The name Halloween comes from an abbreviation of All Hallows Eve (Evening), the day before All Hallows Day, in which night people believed the dead would try to get back to life.

3) Dressing in costume is one of the most popular customs in Halloween, especially among children. According to the tradition, people would dress in costume to keep spirits and creatures away.

4) The most popular costumes in Halloween are vampires, ghosts and werewolves.

5) Trick or Treating is a modern custom in Halloween where children go from house to house in costumes, asking for treats as candies or toys. If they don’t get any treat, they can make a trick with the people that live in the house.

6) The Jack o’Lantern tradition comes from the legend about a man called Jack that tricked devil and had to walk around Earth with a lantern. Jack o’Lantern is made by putting a light candle in a clean pumpkin, carved to look like a face, and is also used to keep the bad spirits away.

7) There are lots of other superstitions associated with Halloween. One of them is believing that the number 13 brings bad luck!

8) The Halloween is also associated with supernatural creatures as ghosts and vampires, that’s why costumes after them are so popular. These creatures are not a part of the natural world. They don’t exist… or, do they?

9) Witches are very popular characters in Halloween because the have magic powers. They generally wear a long, pointed hat and fly on brooms.

10) Bad omens are also part of the celebrations of Halloween. A bad omen is something that is believed to bring bad luck such as black cats, bats or spiders.

Now that you’ve learned what Halloween is all about, choose your costume and meet your friends on October 31st so you can have lots of fun scaring your friends and family for treats or tricks!

Happy Halloween!!

Attitude is Everything

A maioria das pessoas (que não têm conhecimento de causa) vêem a Língua Inglesa e estrangeiros de maneira equivocada e se posicionam de maneira defensiva face ao novo e ao diferente. Todos tememos o desconhecido. Porém, basta uma rápida análise para se perceber sua capacidade de síntese e comunicação e também perceber que, como todos os idiomas no mundo, a Língua Inglesa tem suas próprias características e seu próprio conjunto cultural, trazendo em si a expressão de seus nativos com todas as variações possíveis quanto ao uso de expressões idiomáticas, regionalismos e termos culturais inerentes a cada povo, como temos dentro de nosso próprio país. E o idioma cumpre sua função de comunicação.

Qualquer coisa que façamos, devemos fazer com o coração e sempre com uma atitude positiva para que o resultado seja proveitoso e possamos aprender e crescer com nossos atos, agregando novos valores, revendo conceitos e aproveitar nossas experiências guardando tudo que foi bom e reciclando o que foi ruim, reaproveitando nosso aprendizado e o aplicando de maneira construtiva para não cometermos os mesmos erros anteriores.

Este é um exercício de leitura e interpretação com uma boa mensagem para todos nós. Leiam, reflitam e o aproveitem da melhor maneira possível. Revejam suas atitudes, revisem suas posturas e abram-se para o novo e o diferente com a ótica da curiosidade e comecem a vislumbrar um mundo totalmente novo, diferente e interessante.

Boa leitura!

Attitude is Everything

By: Author Unknown

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply: “If I were better, I would be twins!”. He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?” Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.” I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose to point out the positive side of life. “Yeah, right, it’s not that easy”, I protested. “Yes, it is” Jerry said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life.” I reflected on what Jerry said.

Soon, thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door opened one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins! Wanna see my scars?” I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the door”, Jerry replied. “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live. “Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked. Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes I read, ‘He’s a dead man’, I knew I needed to take action”.”What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me”, said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes’, I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Bullets!’ Over their laughter I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate me as if I am alive, not dead.”
Jerry lived thanks to the skills of these doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all is everything.

Vocabulary:

- Mood: Humor.

- “If I were better, I would be twins!”: Expressão: "Melhor, só se houvessem 2 de mim!"

- Twins: Gêmeos (no texto, completando a expressão dizendo que seria duas pessoas em uma só).

- Several: Vários.

- Employee: Funcionário, empregado.

- I don't get it!: Expressão usada quando não se entende ou compreende algo.

- Went up to (To Go up to): fui até (ir até algo ou alguém).

- Choices: Escolhas.

- (To) Choose: Escolher.

- Cut Away: Cortar fora, retirar por corte.

- Junk: Lixo, bobagem, bobeiras.

- Thereafter: Depois disso.

- Slipped off (To Slip Off): Escorregar por causa de algo; no texto, "errou".

- Panicked (To Panick): Entraram em pânico.

- Luckily: Felizmente, por sorte, com sorte.

- To Be held up at gunpoint: Ser rendido por alguém armado.

- Went through (To Go Through): passou por (passar por, através de).

- Wheeled into (To Wheel): Empurrar para dentro (empurrar algo sobre rodas).

- Burly: Corpolento(a), grande e forte, robusto(a).

- Shouting (To Shout): Gritando.

- Yelled (To Yell): Gritei (synonym for "To Shout").

- Laughter: Risadas, gargalhadas.

- Fully: Plenamente, completamente.

- After all: afinal, no fim das contas.

OBS.: Caso exista alguma dúvida a respeito de qualquer parte, por favor, poste-as como comentário citando a passagem e terei prazer em esclarecê-las. Obrigado.

I Am Able to Speak English!

The English Language is not a nightmare like most of the non-native speakers think. It's a Language which is simple in structure, easy to work with and among other economic reasons, was chosen as the worldwide Language of communication.
The main difference from the Portuguese Language, which is my native one, is that there aren't words for everything, meaning we can use the Language in the same structures in different situations, according to the moment and context we want to express ourselves, being exact in what we say most of the times and being able to give a broad idea of the situation we're dealing with due to the simple structure of this amazing Language.
Another point to be observed is that, if you already speak your native Language and want to study a second one, you'll be in the same process as when you first started learning your native Language with your parents and family at home when you were a child, aside the fact that you already know how to read and probably write in your native Language. Then, it'll be necessary patience and comprehension with yourself since you started the process of learning a Language from the very beginning and only time and dedication will dictate how fast or how well you'll learn this new Language.
You have already learned your native Language, no matter if it were easy or difficult for you, if you learned it well or were properly taught, at school or at home, with family or friends, the important is that you communicate, well or not, but you are able to communicate with other people from your country, other native speakers of your Mother-Language, and you are able to live your life, work, study and accomplish all the things you are supposed to in your native country, using your native Language.
So, to use a second Language, you only have to start practicing and with the appropriate dedication, you'll be able to use this new Language very soon. Nobody is unable to learn anything in the world. Change your thoughts, your attitude, let go of your fear and be brave to say: "I am able to do everything!"

Repeat after me: "I AM ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH!"

Repeat with me: "I CAN DO ANYTHING!"
Repeat with me: "I AM ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH!"

Now let's start! Enjoy your journey!

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Se você conseguiu ler o texto anterior, entendeu tudo ou parte dele, Parabéns!

Se você não conseguiu entender então leia o próximo texto que está traduzido e compare os dois.

Você perceberá que muita coisa é semelhante no que diz respeito à maneira de como a Língua Inglesa é construída em relação ao Português, e com pouca prática você será capaz de identificar a maioria das palavras existentes no primeiro texto, mesmo que não tenha ainda a prática adequada para um bom entendimento direto do texto em Inglês.

LEMBRE-SE E DIGA: "I AM ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH!"

Porque VOCÊ é capaz de fazer TUDO, até falar Inglês!

Agora leia o texto seguinte: