This week’s expression is:

ruthless=  having no pity; merciless; cruel.

Ex:  <Felines are wild in nature, even the most sociable and gentle house cat remains, at heart, a ruthless predator.>

This week’s word is:

dillydally (verb) =  to waste time, especially by being slow or by not being able to make a decision.

Ex:  <Don’t dillydally, just get your things and let’s go!>

This week’s word is:

zaftig =  having a full rounded figure; pleasingly plump.

Ex:  <Beauty changes from time to time. Zaftig women were once considered beautiful.>

Every week a new word or expression will be posted here with its definition and a usage example. Don’t pass on this opportunity to improve your vocabulary a bit! Check it out!

This week’s expression is:

out of the blue =  without previous notice; unexpectedly.

Ex:  <Suddenly, out of the blue, I had the most brilliant idea!>

Easter in the UK

In the UK Easter is one of the major Christian festivals of the year. It is full of customs, folklore and traditional food. However, Easter in Britain has its beginnings long before the arrival of Christianity. Many theologians believe Easter itself is named after the Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn and spring – Eostre.

In Britain Easter occurs at a different time each year. It is observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. This means that the festival can occur on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Not only is Easter the end of the winter it is also the end of Lent, traditionally a time of fasting in the Christian calendar. It is therefore often a time of fun and celebration.

The Friday before Easter Sunday and the Monday after are a bank holiday in the UK. Over Easter schools in the UK close for two weeks, just enough time to digest all the chocolate.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter. Christians remember it as the day of the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and established the ceremony known as the Eucharist. The word Maundy” comes from the French word, “Mande,” meaning “command” or “mandate” and is taken from the command given by Christ at the Last Supper, “love one another as I have loved you.”

In Britain, the Queen takes part in the Ceremony of the Royal Maundy, which dates back to Edward 1. This involves the distribution of Maundy Money to deserving senior citizens (one man and one woman for each year of the sovereign’s age), usually chosen for having done service to their community. They receive ceremonial red and white purses which contain coins made especially for the occasion. The white purse contains one coin for each year of the monarch’s reign. The red purse contains money in place of other gifts that used to be given to the poor.

Good Friday

On the Friday before Easter, Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It is a day of mourning in church and special Good Friday services are held where Christians meditate on Jesus’s suffering and death on the cross, and what this means for their faith.

Calling it ‘Good Friday’ may seem a bit bizarre, but some people think that it was once called God’s Friday or Holy Friday.

Symbols of Easter

Many of the symbols and traditions of Easter are connected with renewal, birth, good luck and fertility. These include the Egg, the Bunny, the Cross. Some symbols which are more traditional in the UK are:

Palms The week of Easter begins on Palm Sunday. Why Palm Sunday? Well, in Roman times it was customary to welcome royalty by waving palm branches, a bit like a ticker-tape parade. So, when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on what is now known as Palm Sunday, people welcomed him with palm branches carpeting the streets and waving them. Today, on Palm Sunday, Christians carry palm branches in parades, and make them into crosses and garlands to decorate the Church.

Morris DancingMorris dancing is a traditional English form of folk dance which is also performed in other English-speaking countries such as the USA and Australia. The roots of morris dancing seem to be very old, probably dating back to the Middle Ages. In the dance men dress up in costumes with hats and ribbons and bells around their ankles. They dance through the streets and one man often carries an inflated pigs bladder on the end of a stick. He will run up to young women in the street and hit them over the head with the pigs bladder, this is supposed to be lucky (men)!

Hot Cross BunsHot cross buns, now eaten throughout the Easter season, were first baked in England to be served on Good Friday. These small, lightly sweet yeast buns contain raisins or currants and sometimes chopped candied fruit. Before baking, a cross is slashed in the top of the bun. After baking, a confectioners’ sugar icing is used to fill the cross.

Usando dicionários inglês-inglês você pratica e melhora seu vocabulário.

Segue abaixo links de dicionários on-line que você pode utilizar:

www.dictionary.cambridge.org

www.macmillandictionary.com

The whole world is Irish in St. Patrick’s Day! March 17^th

Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide by those of Irish descent and increasingly by people of other ethnicities as well, notably in Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and North America. Celebrations are generally themed around all Irish things and, by association, the colour green. Both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish food and/or green foods, imbibing Irish drink (such as Irish stout, especially Guinness, Irish Whiskey or Irish Cream) and attending street parades.

 Green ribbons and shamrock, a three-leaved plant, were worn in celebration of St Patrick’s Day as early as the 17th century. He is said to have used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a common feature of the day.

 In Uruguay and in Argentina, and especially in Buenos Aires, all-night long parties are celebrated in designated streets, since the weather is comfortably warm in March. People dance and drink only beer throughout the night, until seven or eight in the morning.

Birmingham holds the largest Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Britain with a massive city centre parade over a 3 km route through the city centre. The organisers describe it as the third biggest parade in the world after Dublin and New York. There are St. Patrick’s Day parades in many other British cities: London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, etc

 In New Zealand as in Australia, Saint Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated. It is tradition for people to wear green items of clothing, and the streets are often filled with revellers drinking and making merry from early afternoon until late at night. As many people in New Zealand are of Irish descent, it is widely seen as a day to celebrate individual links to Ireland and all Irish things.

Today, Saint Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated in America by Irish and non-Irish alike. Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green-coloured clothing and items. Traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched, usually affectionately.

The 150-strong Irish community in Sao Paulo, Brazil celebrates with a St Patrick’s Day shindig at the Bridge Restaurant, Rua Ferreira De Araújo, 741, Pinheiros. Traditional Irish stew is on the menu, to be washed down with generous volumes of Guinness and Irish whiskey.

If you’d like to celebrate this day in a traditional Irish Pub, drinking Irish beer, check out www.brejas.com.br in Campinas or www.orilley.com.br in Brasília.

Estamos muito satisfeitos em informar que nosso curso para crianças e adolescentes foi todo reformulado.

Saiba um pouco mais sobre o aprendizado do inglês desde cedo:

1 - Quais as vantagens de se começar a aprender uma segunda língua ainda criança?

Quando estimulamos as áreas do cérebro de uma criança, na fase em que estão em desenvolvimento, estabelecemos uma aprendizagem mais efetiva e duradoura. Há teóricos, lingüistas e pedagogos, que digam que somente aqueles que iniciam a aprendizagem durante este período é que conseguem, de fato, tornar-se proficientes em uma segunda língua. Adultos, eventualmente, também podem tornar-se fluentes, mas precisam despender de mais tempo e dedicação.

2 – Qual a melhor idade para se começar a aprender uma segunda língua?

Muitas pesquisas na área da lingüística e do desenvolvimento da fala indicam que a idade ideal para o início do aprendizado de uma segunda língua seja ainda em idade escolar, pois é até esta idade que as áreas do cérebro responsáveis pela linguagem estão em pleno desenvolvimento.

3 – Que expectativas posso ter em relação ao aprendizado do meu filho, quando ele estará falando inglês?

Como na aquisição da língua mãe, a habilidade de ouvir e compreender vem antes da habilidade de falar e, assim como na língua mãe, há os mais e os menos falantes!!

Mas no geral, o início do aprendizado da segunda língua na infância acelera RELATIVAMENTE a chegada ao nível avançado. O foco não está no aceleramento do aprendizado e sim na qualidade do mesmo, que se torna mais natural, real e também, mais tranqüilo.

4 – Quais tipos de atividades há em sala de aula?

As atividades em sala de aula são planejadas de acordo com os interesses e possibilidades cognitivas da faixa etária em questão. São atividades propostas pelo material didático ou vídeos, músicas, jogos e estórias que estimulam os alunos e tornam o aprendizado gostoso e divertido.

5 – As crianças e adolescentes, hoje em dia, já têm tantas atividades… Há lição de casa?

A partir dos 7 anos, de acordo com a necessidade, pode haver sim lição de casa, mas sempre de uma semana para a outra, dando mais tempo para que possam ser feitas.