domingo, 28 de novembro de 2010

Advent and Christmas

Advent is the beginning of the Church Year for most churches in the Western tradition. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, which is the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve (Dec 24). If Christmas Eve is a Sunday, it is counted as the fourth Sunday of Advent, with Christmas Eve proper beginning at sundown.
The Season of Advent brings Anticipation and Hope.The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God. That is a process in which we now participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate.
Advent also symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and a congregation, as they affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power.

To know more about Advent click here
So, it's Christmas time!
Well, don't forget to wish Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to your teachers and classmates when your English classes are all over.

Here are some sentences to learn and practice in class or with your friends!

1. What do you want to get for Christmas? (O que você quer ganhar de natal?);
2. I usually see my family at Christmas. (Eu costumo ver minha família no natal);
3. Christmas is coming. (O natal está chegando);
4. We´ll spend Christmas abroad. (Nós vamos passar o natal no exterior);
5. What are you going to ask Santa Claus for Christmas? (O que você vai pedir ao Papai Noel?);
6. Santa Claus exists/doesn´t exist. ( O papai noel existe/não existe);
7. We get together to celebrate Christmas. (Nós nos reunimos para comemorar o natal)
8. What are you going to do on Christmas break? (O que você vai fazer no recesso de natal?);
9. We´re doing the Christmas shopping. (Estamos fazendo as compras de natal);
10. It’s the Christmas spirit! (É o espírito de natal!);
11. I love Christmas time. (Eu adoro a época de natal);
12. We´ll hold a Christmas dinner. (Vamos fazer uma ceia de natal);

Feliz natal!
 Feliz Ano novo a todos!
 Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year everyone!

Nayla

quinta-feira, 25 de novembro de 2010

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!!


In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn't until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.


The First Thanksgiving

This harvest meal has become a symbol of cooperation and interaction between English colonists and Native Americans. Although this feast is considered by many to the very first Thanksgiving celebration, it was actually in keeping with a long tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops. Native American groups throughout the Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Creek and many others organized harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in North America.
Historians have also recorded other ceremonies of thanks among European settlers in North America, including British colonists in Berkeley Plantation, Virginia. At this site near the Charles River in December of 1619, a group of British settlers led by Captain John Woodlief knelt in prayer and pledged "Thanksgiving" to God for their healthy arrival after a long voyage across the Atlantic. This event has been acknowledged by some scholars and writers as the official first Thanksgiving among European settlers on record. Whether at Plymouth, Berkeley Plantation, or throughout the Americas, celebrations of thanks have held great meaning and importance over time. The legacy of thanks, and particularly of the feast, have survived the centuries as people throughout the United States gather family, friends, and enormous amounts of food for their yearly Thanksgiving meal.

The Pilgrim's Menu  

What foods topped the table at the first harvest feast? Historians aren't completely certain about the full bounty, but it's safe to say the pilgrims weren't gobbling up pumpkin pie or playing with their mashed potatoes. Following is a list of the foods that were available to the colonists at the time of the 1621 feast.
Foods That May Have Been on the Menu
Seafood: Cod, Eel, Clams, Lobster
Wild Fowl: Wild Turkey, Goose, Duck, Crane, Swan, Partridge, Eagles
Meat: Venison, Seal
Grain: Wheat Flour, Indian Corn
Vegetables: Pumpkin, Peas, Beans, Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots
Fruit: Plums, Grapes
Nuts: Walnuts, Chestnuts, Acorns
Herbs and Seasonings: Olive Oil, Liverwort, Leeks, Dried Currants, Parsnips
Surprisingly, the following foods, all considered staples of the modern Thanksgiving meal, didn't appear on the pilgrims's first feast table:
What Was Not on the Menu
Ham: There is no evidence that the colonists had butchered a pig by this time, though they had brought pigs with them from England.
Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes: These were not common.
Corn on the Cob: Corn was kept dried out at this time of year.
Cranberry Sauce: The colonists had cranberries but no sugar at this time.
Pumpkin Pie: It's not a recipe that exists at this point, though the pilgrims had recipes for stewed pumpkin.
Chicken/Eggs: We know that the colonists brought hens with them from England, but it's unknown how many they had left at this point or whether the hens were still laying.
Milk: No cows had been aboard the Mayflower, though it's possible that the colonists used goat milk to make cheese.
However, the only two items that historians know for sure were on the menu are venison and wild fowl, which are mentioned in primary sources. The most detailed description of the "First Thanksgiving" comes from Edward Winslow from A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, in 1621:
"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, among other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed upon our governor, and upon the captain, and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

Seventeenth Century Table Manners

The pilgrims didn't use forks; they ate with spoons, knives, and their fingers. They wiped their hands on large cloth napkins which they also used to pick up hot morsels of food. Salt would have been on the table at the harvest feast, and people would have sprinkled it on their food. Pepper, however, was something that they used for cooking but wasn't available on the table.
In the seventeenth century, a person's social standing determined what he or she ate. The best food was placed next to the most important people. People didn't tend to sample everything that was on the table (as we do today), they just ate what was closest to them.
Serving in the seventeenth century was very different from serving today. People weren't served their meals individually. Foods were served onto the table and then people took the food from the table and ate it. All the servers had to do was move the food from the place where it was cooked onto the table.
Pilgrims didn't eat in courses as we do today. All of the different types of foods were placed on the table at the same time and people ate in any order they chose. Sometimes there were two courses, but each of them would contain both meat dishes, puddings, and sweets.

More Meat, Less Vegetables

Our modern Thanksgiving repast is centered around the turkey, but that certainly wasn't the case at the pilgrims's feasts. Their meals included many different meats. Vegetable dishes, one of the main components of our modern celebration, didn't really play a large part in the feast mentality of the seventeenth century. Depending on the time of year, many vegetables weren't available to the colonists.
The pilgrims probably didn't have pies or anything sweet at the harvest feast. They had brought some sugar with them on the Mayflower but by the time of the feast, the supply had dwindled. Also, they didn't have an oven so pies and cakes and breads were not possible at all. The food that was eaten at the harvest feast would have seemed fatty by 1990's standards, but it was probably more healthy for the pilgrims than it would be for people today. The colonists were more active and needed more protein. Heart attack was the least of their worries. They were more concerned about the plague and pox.

Surprisingly Spicy Cooking

People tend to think of English food at bland, but, in fact, the pilgrims used many spices, including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, pepper, and dried fruit, in sauces for meats. In the seventeenth century, cooks did not use proportions or talk about teaspoons and tablespoons. Instead, they just improvised. The best way to cook things in the seventeenth century was to roast them. Among the pilgrims, someone was assigned to sit for hours at a time and turn the spit to make sure the meat was evenly done.
Since the pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians had no refrigeration in the seventeenth century, they tended to dry a lot of their foods to preserve them. They dried Indian corn, hams, fish, and herbs.

Dinner for Breakfast: Pilgrim Meals

The biggest meal of the day for the colonists was eaten at noon and it was called noonmeat or dinner. The housewives would spend part of their morning cooking that meal. Supper was a smaller meal that they had at the end of the day. Breakfast tended to be leftovers from the previous day's noonmeat.
In a pilgrim household, the adults sat down to eat and the children and servants waited on them. The foods that the colonists and Wampanoag Indians ate were very similar, but their eating patterns were different. While the colonists had set eating patterns—breakfast, dinner, and supper—the Wampanoags tended to eat when they were hungry and to have pots cooking throughout the day.

The Turkey Song (Except for the Turkey) A Funny Thanksgiving Song by Br...

Thanksgivng Day (Ação de Graças)

Novembro é o mês de Ação de Graças nos EUA 
(The 4th Thursday in November) 

Tudo começou em 1620 quando o navio "Mayflower" transportou cerca de 102 famílias da Inglaterra para a América do Norte. Eram peregrinos puritanos que, fugindo da perseguição religiosa, foram buscar a terra da liberdade. Chegando ao continente americano, fundam treze colônias, semente e raiz dos Estados Unidos da América do Norte. 
O primeiro ano foi muito doloroso e difícil para aquelas famílias, com frio extremo e animais selvagens. Cortaram árvores, fizeram cabanas de madeira, e semearam o solo, confiantes. Os índios, conhecedores do lugar, ensinaram a melhorar a produção. No outono de 1621, a colheita da colônia de Plymouth, no Massachusetts, foi abundante. Emocionados e sinceramente agradecidos, os colonos reuniram os melhores frutos, e convidaram os índios da tribo Wampanoag, para juntos celebrarem uma grande festa de louvor e gratidão. Nascia o "Thanksgiving Day", um feriado celebrado até hoje nos Estados Unidos, na quarta quinta-feira de novembro, data estabelecida pelo George Washington em 1789.
A ceia original da festa era bem diferende com a servida atualmente nos lares americanos. No ano de 1621 eles ainda não contavam com o peru e com as tortas atuais, mas já baseavam sua ceia em alimentos fortes e nutritivos como o milho, a batata-doce e a vagem.
Além de ser o tradicional dia de Ação de Graças, o Thanksgiving é também o início da temporada de festas que vai até o Ano Novo. Festa também para o comércio com suas grandes liquidações após cada um dos feriados desse período.
Apesar de a primeira festa datar do século XVII, sua origem provavelmente vem dos festivais de colheita que eram tradicionais em várias partes do mundo desde a idade antiga. Muito antes de os europeus estabelecerem-se na América do Norte, no leste europeu já eram celebrados os festivais de colheitas. Nas ilhas britânicas, no dia 1º de agosto se comemorava a colheita do trigo. Se a safra não tivesse sido boa, o feriado era cancelado.
Outro importante precursor do Dia da Ação de Graças era o costume que protestantes ingleses tinham de escolher datas especiais para agradecer às graças divinas. Isso, no entanto, não acontecia regularmente; eles faziam essas comemorações em épocas de crise ou logo após um período ruim ter passado. Essas comemorações eram ocasiões religiosas sérias e pouco se assemelhavam às atuais festas.
Atualmente, a festa é uma celebração doméstica, centrada na família e no lar. As manifestações públicas têm espetáculos e paradas.
O embaixador brasileiro Joaquim Nabuco, participando, em Washington, da celebração do Dia Nacional de Ação de Graças, falou em tom profético: "Eu quisera que toda a humanidade se unisse, num mesmo dia, para um universal agradecimento a Deus". Estas palavras moveram consciências no Brasil. No governo do Presidente Eurico Gaspar Dutra, o Congresso Nacional aprovou a Lei 781, que consagrava a última quinta-feira do mês de novembro como o Dia Nacional de Ação de Graças.
Porém, em 1966, o Marechal Humberto Castelo Branco modificou esta Lei, dizendo que não a última, mas a quarta quinta-feira do mês de novembro seria o Dia Nacional de Ação de Graças, para coincidir com esta celebração em outros países.

domingo, 21 de novembro de 2010

Nirvana-Come as you are lyrics

Nirvana - Come As You Are

Uma canção cheia de contradições sobre como agimos e o que pensamos do que a sociedade acha que devemos fazer. Sobre como agimos em contrastes e como a sociedade deve achar que devemos agir, a falta de confiança nas pessoas - "eu prometo que não tenho uma arma". Como as pessoas pensam o que você é o que você deve ser e finalmente o que você realmente é.
Obs:1-A tradução de Come... tendo em conta as obsessões sexuais de Kurt poderá também ter óbvia conotação orgástica e o tempo verbal "vem"poderá sem compromisso do significado da letra ser substituído pela sua forma reflexiva "vem-te". paralelamente o flirt constante de Kurt com a bisexualidade poderá neste caso tornar plausível quer o gênero feminino quer o masculino do destinatário.
2-A tradução de I don't have a gun... como "não estou armado..." pretende manter o duplo sentido de gun que para além do significado corrente de arma ou pistola poderá também significar em calão americano "pênis", tal como foi usado por Jimmy Hendrix, ou então como "seringa hipodérmica". Após 8 de abril de 1994, a grande ironia!



quarta-feira, 17 de novembro de 2010

A travel to Brasil



 
It's nice to see our country on scene!
Enjoy the lesson!
Be comfortable to learn!!
Fasten your seat belts and good travel!! Good reading, too!! 

Why English is simpler than Portuguese
By Michael Jacobs 
  
"Certa vez, enquanto viajava de avião sem ter ninguém ao lado para bater papo, li o aviso em português e inglês afixado na parte de trás dos assentos. Fasten seat belt while seated – Use seat cushion for flotation (“Mantenha os cintos atados enquanto sentado – Use o assento da sua poltrona como bóia”).

cinto_de_seguranca


Uma tradução bem razoável, concluí. Não tendo muito a pensar naquele exato momento, mas sem perder a minha mania de analisar os nossos idiomas, resolvi contar as palavras de cada aviso. Resultado? Inglês 10 x 14 Português. Aí, deduzi que o português precisava de 40% mais palavras para dizer a mesma coisa (não precisa ser formado no ITA para concluir isso). Não contente, contei ainda as sílabas. Inglês 16 x 32 Português. O dobro!
Se até aquele momento a minha mente estava andando como se estivesse em segunda marcha, a partir de então ela começou a acelerar e engatei a quarta.
Já escrevi em algum lugar que o inglês é, até certo ponto, uma língua paradoxal. A maioria das palavras, pelo menos nos dicionários, deriva do latim e do grego. São palavras compridas, cheias de sílabas.
Só que, no inglês do cotidiano, utilizam-se palavras de origem anglo-saxônica. Curtas (mas não grossas), de poucas sílabas. E, no simples aviso à minha frente, havia uma prova viva disso.
Aí, comecei a me lembrar das queixas dos meus alunos. “Eu estudo inglês há tantos anos. Domino a gramática, entendo tudo o que os meus professores falam, mas, ao chegar ao exterior pela primeira vez, não entendo nada!” Acredito que, na análise do aviso do assento na minha frente, temos uma boa explicação para esse dilema.
Por ser o inglês composto de palavras curtas, é natural que se consiga emitir mais palavras em menos tempo. Claro, isso não é boa notícia para aqueles que têm dificuldade com a listening comprehension. Mas, pelo menos em grande parte, explica um dos motivos das dificuldades. Já nos textos escritos, mais eruditos, normalmente são utilizadas palavras latinas, muitas vezes similares às do português. Donde o fato de a maioria dos alunos dizer que ler é mais fácil que falar/ouvir.
gettysburg_address
Em contrapartida, vamos dar uma espiada num dos grandes discursos já feitos, The Gettysburg Address,* proferido por Abraham Lincoln em 19 de novembro de 1863 em… Gettysburg (Estados Unidos), claro. Esse discurso – calma, não precisa fechar o livro agora! –, que obviamente não vou reproduzir aqui, contém somente 268 palavras, dois terços das quais com apenas uma sílaba. O cúmulo da simplicidade.
Need I say more?
* Eu soube de um jornalista que mencionou esse discurso numa reportagem e recebeu a maior bronca do editor. Também, pudera: ele o traduziu como “O Endereço de Gettysburg”. Address, nesse caso, é “discurso”, mesmo.
Referência: “Tirando Dúvidas de Inglês” de Michael Jacobs, Disal Editora, 2003.

segunda-feira, 15 de novembro de 2010

Correcting Yourself

Para reforçar que aprendemos o tempo todo em qualquer língua, em qualquer lugar, vejam falhas que acontecem com todo mundo; o importante é corrigir e seguir adiante com naturalidade.
Abaixo, segue outro vídeo em que a atriz, naturalmente, erra e, imediatamente, se corrige, pois é assim que acontece no mundo real.

In this scene from "Ugly Betty" the actress makes a mistake, corrects herself and the scene looks normal, because this happens in real life:
Mr. Dunne:  And you're obviously passionate about fashion.
Betty:  Yes, I do. I mean, yes I am.
"Remember that the fact that everybody makes mistakes is not an excuse for you not to try to speak correctly. Of course you should do your best to speak English well. When you’re studying, practicing, modeling, do your best. Repeat the structures many times, practice pronunciation, do exercises. However, when you’re talking to someone, don’t think about that. Just try to communicate and, if you make a mistake, relax. That’s OK. Don’t kill yourself for that. Go ahead and trust yourself."
Carlos Gontow

Learn English with Steve Ford - Peppy 19 -Eye Idioms


Esta semana o professor Canadense de Inglês Steve Ford está lançando uma série de vídeos nos quais ele nos dá dicas imperdíveis sobre as partes do corpo. Essas dicas são quentíssimas e verdadeiramente muito importantes para todos os que desejam ter boa fluência no Inglês, pois são relacionadas a expressões utilizadas o tempo todo entre os nativos da língua inglesa. Ao final do vídeo, o Steve ainda nos propõe um exercício para ajudar a memorizar o assunto aprendido.



sexta-feira, 12 de novembro de 2010

Lyrics Training // Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

 Gente, este site de lyrics é muito legal!!!
A música e o video vão rolando e a gente tem que completar as letras... Muito, muito, muito legal!!!
Faça seu login e comece a praticar!
Beijinhos,
Teacher Jô

Lyrics Training // Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

Treine a compreensão do inglês com músicas no Lyrics Training 

 
Se você gosta de estudar inglês com músicas não pode perder a dica de hoje. O site Lyrics Training apresenta um método fácil de praticar a compreensão do inglês a partir de músicas. Nele o visitante pode ouvir os trechos de uma música escolhida e tentar preencher os espaços em branco com aquilo que entendeu.
É possível escolher o seu nível, dessa forma quem está no nível básico deve preencher 10% da letra, que está no nível intermediário deve preencher 25% da musica e quem encarar o desafio pode preencher toda a música no nível avançado. Após o término do clip da música você obtem a pontuação.
Com certeza uma ótima forma de entretenimento e aprendizado.
I hope you like it!


quinta-feira, 11 de novembro de 2010

Learn English with Steve Ford - Peppy 18-Prepositions Lesson


O professor canadense Steve Ford responde hoje uma pergunta a respeito de preposições. Vale à pena assistir, pois o vídeo trata de assuntos que atrapalham alunos de todos os níveis. Neste vídeo, Steve nos dá uma imensa ajuda para que possamos compreender e utilizar corretamente as tão difíceis preposições em Inglês (“to” e “for”, “in” e “at”, etc.).


This video deals with prepositions of location as well as prepositions which are commonly misunderstood given there similarity to prepositions in other languages.
Steve is now accepting a few new students to study English online for: http://privateenglishportal.com/conta...


quarta-feira, 10 de novembro de 2010

Good for all ages. It's all-inclusive!

 
ABC phonics song/sounds of the letters - American version

Idiomatic Expressions in Portuguese?

Expressões idiomáticas ou idiomatismo são expressões que se caracterizam por não identificar seu significado através de suas palavras individuais ou no sentido literal. Não é possível traduzi-las em outra língua e se originam de gírias e culturas de cada região.
Nas diversas regiões do país há várias expressões idiomáticas que são chamados dialetos. Não há um motivo lingüístico para que se considerem essas formas superiores ou inferiores às outras. Cada região valoriza e pesquisa nos últimos tempos o que pode ser feito para diminuir preconceitos linguísticos. No modo cultural, as expressões usadas por uma pessoa que têm acesso à escola e aos meios de instrução formal são bastante diferentes das expressões usadas pelas pessoas privadas das escolas. Essas pessoas privadas das escolas desenvolvem expressões para que o determinado grupo social as compreenda e as usem. Assim origina as gírias.

Veja algumas expressões idiomáticas e seus significados abaixo:

Amarrar a cara: Fechar a cara e ficar zangado;
Bafo de onça: Mau hálito;
Chorar de barriga cheia: Reclamar sem motivo;
Dar com a língua nos dentes: Contar um segredo;
Estômago de avestruz: aquele que come qualquer coisa;
Ficar de olho: Vigiar;
Lavar as mãos: Não dar mais opinião;
Pé na jaca: Cometer excessos;
Quebrar o galho: Improvisar;
Trocar as bolas: Confundir-se;
Uó: Pessoa, coisa ou lugar desagradável;

Por Gabriela Cabral
Equipe Brasil Escola

Imagem inserida neste blog.
_________________________________________________________________________________



Veja como é "dar com a língua nos dentes" em inglês, clique no gatinho


Lembrando o post de 3 de novembro, aqui do nosso blog,
"Para aprender os idioms não tem outro jeito a não ser aprender a expressão toda em inglês. Palavra por palavra não dá certo! (...) " expressões idiomáticas (idioms) são essenciais para quem quer falar inglês fluentemente. Você jamais aprenderá todos os idioms existentes em inglês, porém deve estar preparado para ouvir e compreender alguns deles. Para isto, somente estudando e melhorando cada vez mais e mais o seu vocabulário." 
Em Português, também, quantas expressões idiomáticas precisam de um contexto para serem entendidas. Vocês não conhecem todas as que existem e nem têm ideia das que estão surgindo por aí. Como é bom, diante de tudo isso, aprender Inglês, Português "at the same time", não é?
Viram, como é tudo igual: Português ou Inglês, línguas, em geral mudam "o tempo todo no mundo, como uma onda no mar..."
Gente que fala e vive intensamente a comunicação no/do dia a dia, cria o tempo todo.
Agora, para não perder a oportunidade de saber mais sobre "idioms or idiomatic expressions" in English go to: http://www.learn-english-today.com/idioms/idioms_proverbs.html

See you, and have a nice day!
Nayla

terça-feira, 9 de novembro de 2010

Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)

Everybody... Rock your body!!!
Backstreet Boys... They were so cool!!!
Just a few years ago, Justin Bieber was Backstreet Boys, Lady Gaga was Brittney Spears, Icarly was Drake and Josh, Hannah Montana was Lizzie Mcguire, and Wizards of Weaverly place was Phil of the future... Yeah...
Time runs fast, guys!!!



The Backstreet Boys: Backstreet's Back- Lyrics

segunda-feira, 8 de novembro de 2010

Steve-Peppy talking about false friends

 
English, Spanish and French at the same time!
 Good for our students at The Language Center -Cetep-Barreto.
I hope you like it!

domingo, 7 de novembro de 2010

What does 'bring home the bacon' mean?

"Bring home the bacon" is an idiom.  And what does 'idiom' mean?

Well, an idiom is a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in keep tabs on. It also can be understood as a regional speech or dialect, or a  specialized vocabulary used by a group of people; jargon: legal idiom. 

In Portuguese, we can understand "bring home the bacon" as "trazer o pão para casa", "sustentar a casa", "manter a casa", etc.


Meaning

To earn money, especially money for one's family; to be successful, especially financially successful.

 

Origin

Bring home the baconThe origin of the phrase 'bring home the bacon' is sometimes suggested to be the story of the Dunmow Flitch. This tradition, which still continues every four years in Great Dunmow, Essex, is based on the story of a local couple who, in 1104, impressed the Prior of Little Dunmow with their marital devotion to the point that he award them a flitch [a side] of bacon. The continuing ritual of couples showing their devotion and winning the prize, to considerable acclaimation by the local populace, is certainly old and well authenticated. Geoffrey Chaucer mentions it in The Wife of Bath's Tale and Prologue, circa 1395:
But never for us the flitch of bacon though,
That some may win in Essex at Dunmow.
The derivation of the phrase is also muddled by association with other 'bacon' expressions - 'save one's bacon', 'cold shoulder', chew the fat' etc. In reality, the link between them is limited to the fact that bacon has been a slang term for one's body, and by extension one's livelihood or income, since the 17th century. Of course, the source of that 'body' meaning is from bacon coming from the body of a pig or, more accurately, a pig's back and sides.
An additional invented explanation that links 'bringing home the bacon' with the culinary habits of mediaeval English peasantry is given in the nonsense email 'Life in the 1500s'. That, and all the other supposed derivations above, ignores the fact that 'bring home the bacon' is a 20th century phrase that was coined in the USA.
One field of endeavour in which one's body, i.e. bacon, is the key to one's fortune is boxing, and it is in that sport that the expression first became widely used. 


Bring home the baconJoe Gans and 'Battling' Oliver Nelson fought for the widely reported world lightweight championship on 3rd September 1906. In coverage of the fight, the New York newspaper The Post-Standard, 4th September 1906, reported that:
Before the fight Gans received a telegram from his mother: "Joe, the eyes of the world are on you. Everybody says you ought to win. Peter Jackson will tell me the news and you bring home the bacon."
Gans (on the right in the picture) won the fight, and The New York Times printed a story saying that he had replied by telegraph that he "had not only the bacon, but the gravy", and that he later sent his mother a cheque for $6,000.
A month later, in October 1906, The Oakland Tribune reported another boxing correspondent, Ray Peck, predicting the result of the impending Al Kaufmann/Sam Berger fight in California like this:
Kaufmann will bring home the bacon. [He did]
There are no newspaper records, or any other printed records that I can find, of 'bring home the bacon' dating from before September 1906, but there are many, most of them boxing-related, from soon afterwards. That's not exactly proof that the expression was coined by the good Mrs Gans, but we can say at least that she was the one who brought it into the public arena. 
So, according to some dictionaries we have these following definitions: 


bring home the bacon
Fig. to earn a salary; to bring home money earned at a job. I've got to get to work if I'm going to bring home the bacon. Go out and get a job so you can bring home the bacon.
See also: bacon, bring, home
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idios and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill 
Companies, Inc.

bring home the bacon  (informal)
1. to earn money to live on If Jo's going to be at home looking after the kids, someone needs to bring home the bacon.
2. to do something successfully, especially to win a game or race Racegoers crowded the stand to see him bring home the bacon. (= win the race)
See also: bacon, bring, home
Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2nd ed. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006. Reproduced with permission. 

bring home the bacon
1. to earn money to live on If Jo's going to stay at home with the kids, someone else will have to bring home the bacon.
2. to do something successfully Holtzman pitched poorly, and he was followed by McNamara, who didn't bring home the bacon either.
Usage notes: usually said about playing sports
See also: bacon, bring, home
Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006. Reproduced with permission. 

References in periodicals archive

They're five of a growing breed of househusbands who juggle cooking, chores and their egos while their wives bring home the bacon.
They're five of a growing breed of house husbands who juggle cooking, chores and their egos while their wives bring home the bacon.
Throughout time, Shimano has covered to assist all anglers out there by leaving some of the best fishing reels they could find Ever since they opened in 1921, Shimano has staid on to bring home the bacon some of the most functional, regular, and top-notch Shimano Reels clear

See you, guys and gals!
Teacher Jô Piantavinha

sábado, 6 de novembro de 2010

The Police - Every Breath You Take

  
 If you want  karaoke, please click here!
Then you can select a game model
Fill in the blanks in different levels (beginners/intermediate/expert)

Learning English (Hello/Goodbye)

  

Enjoy learning English with Mr.Ducan!
I hope you like that!
See ya!
Nayla

Nativos Digitais - Food for thought

Sounds, songs, rhythms and English

Se você gosta de estudar inglês com músicas não pode perder a dica de hoje. O site Lyrics Training apresenta um método fácil de praticar a compreensão do inglês a partir de músicas. Nele o visitante pode ouvir os trechos de uma música escolhida e tentar preencher os espaços em branco com aquilo que entendeu.
É possível escolher o seu nível, dessa forma quem está no nível básico deve preencher 10% da letra, que está no nível intermediário deve preencher 25% da musica e quem encarar o desafio pode preencher toda a música no nível avançado. Após o término do clip da música você obtem a pontuação.
Com certeza uma ótima forma de entretenimento e aprendizado.
Source: From English Experts.com.br

    segunda-feira, 1 de novembro de 2010

    Everly Brothers - All I Have to Do is Dream + Cathy's Clown

    Now, watch the original video...
    It's so sweet... So romantic!
    The Everly Brothers (1961) 
    The lyric is right after the video.
    Hope you enjoy it!!!



     

    All I Have to do is Dream 
    Roy Orbison / Everly Brothers  
    When I want you in my arms
    When I want you and all your charms
    Whenever I want you, all I have to do is dream
    Dream, dream, dream
    When I feel blue in the night
    And I want you to hold me tight
    Whenever I want you, all I have to do is dream

    I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
    Anytime night or day
    Only trouble is, gee whiz
    I'm dreamin' my life away

    I need you so that I could die
    I love you so and that is why
    Whenever I want you, all I have to do is dream
    Dream, dream, dream, dream
    Dream, dream
    Whenever I want you, all I have to do is dream

    I need you so that I could die
    I love you so and that is why
    Whenever I want you, all I have to do is dream
    Dream, dream, dream, dream
    Dream, dream
    Whenever I want you, all I have to do is dream

    Dream, dream, dream
    Dream

     

    Trini Lopez- If I Had A Hammer

    Trini Lopes (1965)
    Wow, guys and gals!
    I'm going so deep inside the 60's today. After I found
    Rita Pavone's song ("Datemi un Martello"), guess what?!
    I discovered that the "Italian" song, actually is an American folk music named "If I had a hammer"... I got so surprised! There are lots of versions of it like folk, country, rock, R&B, reggae... Ufa!!! Anyway, I chose the one I like better to post here. It's the Trini Lopes' version. Trini Lopes used to sing rock with his Latin style, just as Ritchie Valens did. After Ritchie Valens death, Trini started to sing Valens' great hit, "La Bamba", and he became himself a successful singer. Anyway, in this video we can watch the great Trini Lopez performing his hit "If I Had A Hammer" on "Hootenanny", December 21, 1963. Dick Brant is on bass, and Mickey Jones on drums. You may recognize Jones from his recurring role as Pete Bilker on the "Home Improvement" television series.




    If I Had A Hammer

    Trini Lopez

    If I had a hammer
    I'd hammer in the morning
    I'd hammer in the evening
    All over this land
    I'd hammer out danger
    I'd hammer out a warning
    I'd hammer out love between
    My brothers and my sisters ah-aaah
    All over this land
    If I had a bell
    I'd ring it in the morning
    I'd ring it in the evening
    All over this land
    I'd ring out danger
    I'd ring out a warning
    I'd ring out love between
    My brothers and my sisters ah-aaah
    All over this land.
    If I had a song
    I'd sing it in the morning
    I'd sing it in the evening
    All over this land
    I'd sing out danger
    I'd sing out a warning
    I'd sing out love between
    My brothers and my sisters ah-aaah
    All over this land.
    I got a hammer
    And I got a bell
    I got a song to sing
    All over this land
    It's the hammer of justice
    It's the bell of freedom
    It's the song about love between
    My brothers and my sisters
    All over this land
    All over this land
    All over this land
    All over this land
    All over this land