Thursday 23 December 2010

Do you know who is Father Christmas?

Before we read:
1. What do you know about Father Christmas (Santa Claus)?

2. Is Father Christmas famous where you live?

3. Is there any other celebrations similar to Christmas in your country?

Now let's discover something about the real Father Christmas.

The ikon you see is St. Nicholas of Myra. He is also known as St. Nicholas of Bari. Bari is a city in Italy in which he is believed to be buried.
St. Nicholas is acknowledged as being the patron saint of Russia, Greece and Norway. He is the patron of night watchmen in Armenia and the acolyte children in Bari.
It is accepted that St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, is probably from Petara, in Asia Minor, also known as Anatolia in Turkey where he would be born in the middle of the 3rd Century and would died on 3rd of December 342.
Under Diocletian empire, Nicholas was imprisoned for refusing to deny his faith in Jesus Christ. After the rise to power of Constantine, Nicholas had to face opposition again, this time inside the Church itself. During a debate with other church leaders, Nicholas stands up and slaps one of his antagonists. This prevents him from being a church leader. Nicholas, however, does not allow himself to be defeated and stands active, providing help to children and others in need.
Several miracles were attributed to him, being from these his popularity all around Europe and his designation as sailormen and tradesmen protector,matchmaker and, mainly friend of children. From St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra (Lycia) in the 4th Century, we have a great number of reports and stories, but it´s difficult to distinguish the authentic from the abundant legends that germinated about this very popular saint, whose image was lately related and changed into Father Christmas (Santa Claus in the USA) icon, an old man crowned with a white beard, bringing in his back a bag full of gifts.
He's considered as welcoming to the poor and mainly with poor children, the first saint of the church to concern about education and moral of both children and their mothers.
Some Orthodox Churches honour him with the last Sunday of the Julian calendar. The coptic and byzantine rites (catholic and orthodox) dedicate him great importance and the celebration of his pastoral life is very remarkable. The Roman Liturgical Calendar, as well as the Byzantine rite churches, catholic and orthodox, that follow the Gregorian calendar celebrates his memory on 6th of December.
The devotion for this saint spread across Europe when his relics, stolen from Myra by 62 soldiers from Bari (Italy), and brought save subtracting them from the Turkish invaders, were placed with great honours in the Cathedral of Bari on 9th of May 1807. The relics were preceded by the fame of the supposed thaumaturge and the colourful legends which rounded his figure.
These religious legends, such as ressurecting people from the grave in Myra, today Demre in Turkey and providing food after a rigorous winter in Spain and also his iconisation as Father Christmas that make St. Nicholas a very known person, but they are also the reason for not having a clear notion about his life.

Article adapted from the original in Portuguese at: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolau_de_Mira and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported


St. Nicholas ikon extracted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nikola_from_1294.jpg and is in public domain because its copyright has expired

After reading:

1. Using your own words, how can you compare St. Nicholas and today's Father Christmas?

2. What could be your dream Christmas?

The answers to the questions may be sent to:
e-mail: eng.4.today@gmail.com
Orkut: http://www.orkut.com.br/Main#Profile?uid=13978883568364259345
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All the answers will commented by the teacher and sent back by email.
Please comment and give suggestion about the lessons and the blog.
This blog is a non commercial, non profit educational website.
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English for Today by Nimlot Logan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.

Look at these sentences:

My mum is driving to work today.


I have an important meeting at work tomorrow. So I'm rather busy.


Would you like to go out for a dinner tonight, Monica?


This dish is really delicious!


But it's quite expensive!

Let's take one sentence as an example and analyse it. There are different kinds of word in it.

"I have an important meeting at work tonight, so I'm rather busy"

I - pronoun; have - verb; an - indefinite article (determiner); important - adjective; meeting - noun; at - preposition; work - noun; tonight - adverb of time; so - conjuction (linking word); I - pronoun; am - verb; rather - adverb of manner; busy - adjective.

As you can see in a simple sentence there are many different types of words involved. The English grammar traditionally classifies these words in 8 parts of speech or words classes. They are:
1. Noun: Any concrete or abstract being.

2. Pronoun: Any substitute for a noun or noun phrase.

3. Adjective: Any qualifier of a noun

4. Verb: Any action or state of an entity
5. Adverb: Any qualifier of a verb, adjective or another adverb.
6. Preposition: Any establisher of relation between two words.
7. Conjuction: Any syntatical connector, connecting two phrases.
8. Interjection: Any emotional exclamation.

Some words can belong to different word classes depending on the role they have in a sentence. Look:
Can I look at your pictures? - In this case look is a verb
I like the look of that jacket. - In this case look is a noun


Now let's practise
1. Look at the examples given and put in a list the word class the words according to their word class.
2. See this paragraph and say what word class the words in bold belong to.

Michael thinks Michelle is amazing. He loves her madly, and he dreams of having her as his wife. But unfortunately she is rather young for him. Today they are at a very famous night club enjoying the night with their friends Frank and Sandy, so Michael thinks it's difficult to talk about his feelings to Michelle. But maybe he can buy her some flowers. Is it a good idea?

The answers to the questions may be sent to:
e-mail: eng.4.today@gmail.com
Orkut: http://www.orkut.com.br/Main#Profile?uid=13978883568364259345
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All the answers will commented by the teacher and sent back by email.
Please comment and give suggestion about the lessons and the blog.
This blog is a non commercial, non profit educational website.

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English for Today by Nimlot Logan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Tuesday 2 November 2010

Grammar - Intermediate - Present Simple and Present Continuous

The Present Simple and the Present Continuous:

Both the present simple and the present continuous are used to talk about actions and states in the present time but each one has its own peculiarity. Let's see what are they?


1. The Present Simple. - (I, you, we and they = verb; he, she, it = verb+s)

 The Present simple talks is used when we want to tell things that are:

a) Permanent states, that is, states that hardly ever change or never change at all.

Ex: I'm Brazilian (And I'll be forever)
John works in a University. (Unless John decides to quit his job, he will work there for a long time)

b) Habits and routines, that is, things that happen frequently.

Ex: Mary walks to work. (It is something she does frequently)
I repair my own car. (It is something I usually do)

c) Permanent facts and truths, that is, things that NEVER change.

Ex: The desert is very hot during the day. (And it'll always be)
Earth is the third planet of the Solar System (And it'll always be)

There are some words called adverbs of time that usually come with the present simple: They are:
usually, today, every day, often, frequently, seldom. rarely, among others.

2. Present Continuous. - Form: (to be + verb + ing) 

Before we start talking about the Present Continuous, let's remember the verb to be in the Present Simple, once it is used to form the Present Continuous.
I am - I'm
You are - You're
He is - He's
She is - She's 
It is - It's 
We are - we're
You are - You're
They are - They're


Basically the present continuous are used when we want to talk about things that are:


a) Actions happening at the moment of speaking, that is, the action happens while the speaker is speaking.

Ex: Look! Fernando Alonso is overtaking Mark Webber.(He is overtaking right now!)

b) For temporary situations, that is, things that are not happening while someone is speaking, but in situations which the speaker hopes to be temporary. Remember! For permanent situations we use the Present Simple)

Ex: I'm having trouble finding a new house to let. (I'm not having this trouble necessarily now, but in a period of time I hope to be temporary).

There are also time adverbs that follow the present continuous and they are:
at the moment, now, at the present, today among others.

Now let's practise all we have seen today:

1. Peter ____________ (work) in a big company.
2. Jennifer's new car ___________(be) very expensive.
3. Michael _______________(talk) to his girlfriend now.
4. Steve _______________(look) for a new flat.
5. I _______________(wear) a raincoat because it might rain.
6. Be quiet! I ___________(think) my mum _____________(sleep) upstairs.
7. I ______________(look) for a new car. Mine _________(be) very old.
8. Look! The police _______________(chase) that motorbike.
9. I ____________(paint) a picture of my brother.
10. We ________________(building) a new robot for the company at the moment.

The answers to the questions may be sent to:
e-mail: eng.4.today@gmail.com
Orkut: http://www.orkut.com.br/Main#Profile?uid=13978883568364259345
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All the answers will commented by the teacher and sent back by email.
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English for Today by Nimlot Logan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Sunday 31 October 2010

Reading: Anoka, MN: The Halloween Capital of the World (American English - Beginner)

Before you read:

1. Is Halloween celebrated in your country?

2. Is there any National celebration in your country? What is it?


Anoka, Minnesota: The Halloween Capital of the World
A Local Legacy

Did you know that Halloween has a capital? Anoka, Minnesota, calls itself the "Halloween Capital of the World," as it is one of the first cities in the United States to put on a Halloween celebration that discourages people from playing tricks or causing trouble.
In 1920, a weeklong celebration was started in Anoka in an effort to take the trick out of trick-or-treat. The Grand Day Parade includes a Mass Band, made up of bands from four high schools. Another featured event is the Gray Ghost 5K Run, inspired by sightings of Bill Andberg, a marathon runner in his 70s whose gray-clad ghostly figure can often be seen running through a local cemetery.
There are many competitions during the week, including a pumpkin bake-off and one for best Halloween house decorations. Most participants wear their Halloween costumes. Do you suppose people wear the same costumes all week long?

Text extracted from America's Story from America's Library website: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/es/mn/es_mn_hallown_1.html and has no copyright mention in the source. This text is used under fair use.


Now that you read it:


1. What happens during the Grand Day Parade?


2. What are the competitions that happen during the week in which Anoka celebrates Halloween?


The answers to the questions may be sent to:
e-mail: eng.4.today@gmail.com
Orkut: http://www.orkut.com.br/Main#Profile?uid=13978883568364259345
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All the answers will commented by the teacher and sent back by email.
Please comment and give suggestion about the lessons and the blog.
This blog is a non commercial, non profit educational website.

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English for Today by Nimlot Logan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Saturday 30 October 2010

Reading: The Scottish Independence (British English - Intermediate)

 Before reading the text answer these questions. Use your own words.

a) What do you know about Scotland?

b) Do you know any other countries that conquered or are still fighting for its independence?

Now let's read the text.

Scotland (dark blue) inside Great Britain
The Scottish Independence


The Scottish independence is a political ambition of political parties, groups pressure and individuals in order to make Scotland separated from the United Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state from his unification in 843 to 1707 when the Treaty of Union was passed by the Parliament of Scotland and led to the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts of Union made the Treaty valid by fusing the two nations through the dissolution of the English and the Scottish Parliaments, and their replacement by the new Great Britain Parliament. As a result of provisions in the Treaty, as well as a much of Scotland's relative isolation, many Scottish institutions remained separate, and the Scottish national identity has remained strong and distinct.

At the period of the parliament union, the measurement was deeply impopular both in Scotland and England. The Scottish treaty signatories were forced to sign the documents in secrecy because the popular revolt and the unrest in the Scottish capital, Endinburgh.

The ones who opposed to the Scottish independence and approved the continuity of a sort of union made a distinction between patriotism and nationalism, believing that being a part of the United Kingdom would be Scotland's national interest, and articulating that cultural, social, political, diplomatic and economic influence and benefits, without compromising its distinctive national identity, outweighed the total loss of Scottish independent sovereignty. Scottish independence supporters argues that the loss of Scottish independent representation is internationally prejudicial for Scottish interests, and, as the British Government acts chiefly at the interests of the whole United Kingdom, they argue that it can be, in specific cases, prejudicial to the specific interests of Scotland.


Article adapted from the original in Portuguese at: htpp://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independência_da_Escócia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Map of Scotland inside the United Kingdom extracted from: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Map_of_Scotland_within_the_United_Kingdom.png and is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported




After reading the text: Please answer the questions:

1. How long had Scotland been an independent country before forming the Great Britain in 1707?

2. Was the union of the Scottish and the English Parliaments well accepted? Why?

3. At the period of the Union. Scotland was divided in two groups, one was in favour of the union and the other against it. What each group argued about the union. Answer using your own words.


The answers to the questions may be sent to:
e-mail: eng.4.today@gmail.com
Orkut: http://www.orkut.com.br/Main#Profile?uid=13978883568364259345
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/English-for-Today/177566135615065?
All the answers will commented by the teacher and sent back by email.
Please comment and give suggestion about the lessons and the blog.
This blog is a non commercial, non profit educational website.


Creative Commons Licence
English for Today by Nimlot Logan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Friday 29 October 2010

About English for Today

***THIS BLOG IS A NON COMMERCIAL, NON PROFIT EDUCATIONAL WEBSITE ***

Hello! I'm Nimlot Logan and I'm based in Brazil.
The aim of this blog is to show how English can be easy to learn if you demystify it.

In the next post we'll see structures, text comprehension,  and grammar practice.

Let's discover English together?
Welcome to English for Today!
English with no complication!

Teacher Nimlot.


Creative Commons Licence
English for Today by Nimlot Logan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.