Meu nome é Rafael de Carvalho Pullen Parente, trabalhei por 10 anos como professor de ingles, coordenador e diretor e hoje faco um doutorado em educacao internacional em Nova Iorque.
1995-1997: Primeira experiência como professor de inglês. Aulas de conversação individuais e para pequenos
grupos (em geral para executivos).
Class English Course
1998-1999: Professor e coordenador. Aulas para crianças, adolescentes, adultos e "melhor idade".
Responsável pela seleção e treinamento de novos professores, seleção de livros didáticos, planejamento e confecção
de aulas e provas, organização de eventos e criação de novos cursos.Northlake Idiomas
2000: Professor e diretor acadêmico. Aulas para crianças, adolescentes e adultos.
Responsável pela criação do Centro de Línguas e Informática do Candanguinho (CLIC). Dentre outras tarefas, criação da equipe, seleção e treinamento
de pessoal e planejamento estratégico.CECAN e Candanguinho
2001-2002: Professor e coordenador. Aulas para crianças, adolescentes e adultos.
Responsável pela criação do Centro de Línguas do NDA Júnior e coordenador da cadeira de línguas estrangeiras
do NDA Pré-Vestibular. Também fui responsável pelo gabarito de vestibulares (Unb, UniCeub, Católica,
...), pela autoria do material didático e pela produção de simulados.NDa Júnior, Pré-vestibular e Faculdade
2003: Professor do Ensino Médio. Do primeiro ao terceiro ano.
As apostilas utilizadas pelos alunos foram preparadas por mim.
Ícone Referência em Ensino
2003-2004: Professor. Aulas para todas as idades e níveis. Criei e coordenei o projeto CTJ Moview Theater.
Apresentei um workshop sobre a utilização de apresentações de powerpoint na sala de aula no 3o Seminário para professores de inglês.
Casa Thomas Jefferson
2004: Professor. Aulas para executivos e servidores públicos. Do nível básico ao avançado (incluindo inglês para negócios).
Centro de Línguas da ESAF
2005: Professor. Aulas para alunos de todos os níveis e idades.
Cultura Inglesa
2004-2005: Professor. Aulas para alunos de todos os níveis e idades.
Number One
2005-2006: Mestrado em administracao e supervisao educacional na PACE University, Nova Iorque.
Alem disso, trabalhei como assessor de direcao na PACE High School.
PACE University
2006-hoje: PhD em Educacao Internacional na Universidade de Nova Iorque.
NYU
Voce sabe pontuar as frases corretamente em ingles?
Muita gente, mesmo alunos avacados e pessoas fluentes, ainda nao entendem pequenas diferencas entre a pontuacao em ingles e portugues, como a colocacao de virgulas antes de "and", ou a posicao das aspas depois da pontuacao. Alguns exemplos sao:
According to the article, the value of the dollar in developing nations is "strongly influenced by its aesthetic value, rather than its face value."
Nesse caso, as aspas seriam fechadas antes do ponto final se a frase estivesse em portugues.
The fruit basket contained apples, bananas, and oranges.
Apesar da ultima virgula nao ser utilizada no portugues, ela aparece antes do and no ingles.
Muita gente tambem tem duvidas sobre a utilizacao do apostrofe e nao sabem, por exemplo, que ele pode indicar uma citacao dentro de outra citacao: Ali said, "Anna told me, 'I wasn't sure if you wanted to come!'"
O artigo "How to Use English Punctuation Correctly" da wikiHow, da dicas excelentes:
* If you write in a professional capacity, be sure to follow any guidelines or style guides provided by your employer. In some cases, their rules can be at odds with what you read here or elsewhere, but their rules always take precedence. For example, some companies use serial commas (a, b, and c) and others do not (a, b and c).
* Many grammar experts believe that parentheses and commas are often interchangeable when setting off information. While this is sometimes true, there are some cases where a set of parentheses might be more suitable, such as in indicating one's personal thought.
* Although dashes and parentheses have similar uses, remember that parentheses indicate a stronger "side notion" than dashes.
* There are exceptions to the hyphen-dash rule. In making compound words, when one of the words is itself composed of two words, use an en dash ( ¿ ) rather than a hyphen, as in, "He took the Paris¿New York route." En dashes are also used between numbers, as in page numbers or years, to denote a range. ("A discussion on personal finance is found in pages 45¿62.")
* The placement of punctuation marks before or after a closing quotation mark varies. American English leaves the punctuation mark inside the quotation if it is part of the quotation, "like so." (Commas and periods (full stops) are always put inside the quotation marks for a sentence in American English, regardless of whether the quotation has punctuation at the end. Other types of punctuation marks are put outside the quotation if they are not part of the quotation.) British English tends to leave the punctuation mark outside the quotation, "like so".
o At times, British English will switch back and forth between the inside and outside, depending on the context. For example, interrogative quotations may keep the question mark inside the quotation, as in, "Do you like this question?"
* In formal writing, try to avoid excessive use of question marks and exclamation points. Most of your sentences should be declarative statements.
* Dashes are usually considered to be informal. You might want to replace the use of a dash with a set of parentheses, or even commas. Similarly, limit the frequency of dash use in your writing; they should be reserved to emphasize a couple of important points.
* If you decide against the serial comma in your work, make sure that the meaning of the sentence can stand without its use. Think about the classic example of a sentence in which the serial comma is needed: "My heroes are my parents, Mother Teresa and the Pope."
* If you find that a sentence seems to drag on, find a way to add a comma or two, so that it is easier on the reader's eyes. If a sentence becomes too long, then consider splitting it into two or more sentences.
* Never be afraid to have short sentences in your writing by splitting up long sentences that contain several points. Your reader will appreciate writing that is clear and concise with briefer statements, as opposed to a one-page paragraph with twenty words per sentence.
Eu recebi esse exercicio por email da Esl.About.com. Para fazer um quiz sobre o texto, clique aqui.
Joseph Pulitzer
This reading comprehension includes difficult vocabulary (in bold) defined at the end, as well as a reading comprehension quiz to check your understanding.
Joseph Pulitzer (April 10, 1847 - October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American publisher best known for posthumously establishing the Pulitzer Prizes and (along with William Randolph Hearst) for originating yellow journalism.
Pulitzer was born in Makó, Hungary, Pulitzer sought a military career, but was turned down by the Austrian army for frail health and poor eyesight. He emigrated to the United States in 1864 to serve in the American Civil War. After the war he settled in St. Louis, Missouri, where in 1868 he began working for a German-language daily newspaper, the Westliche Post. He joined the Republican Party and was elected to the Missouri State Assembly in 1869. In 1872, Pulitzer purchased the Post for $3,000. Then, in 1879, he bought the St. Louis Dispatch for $2,700 and merged the two papers, which became the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which remains St. Louis' daily newspaper. It was at the Post-Dispatch that Pulitzer developed his role as a champion of the common man with exposès and a hard-hitting populist approach.
In 1882 Pulitzer, by then a wealthy man, purchased the New York World, a newspaper that had been losing $40,000 a year, for $346,000 from Jay Gould. Pulitzer shifted its focus to human-interest stories, scandal, and sensationalism. In 1885, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, but resigned after a few months' service. In 1887, he recruited the famous investigative journalist Nellie Bly. In 1895 the World introduced the immensely popular The Yellow Kid comic by Richard F. Outcault, the first newspaper comic printed with color. Under Pulitzer's leadership circulation grew from 15,000 to 600,000, making it the largest newspaper in the country.
In 1890 Pulitzer's already failing health deteriorated rapidly and he withdrew from the daily management of the newspaper, although he continued to actively manage the paper from his vacation retreat in Bar Harbor, Maine, and his New York mansion.
In 1895, William Randolph Hearst purchased the rival New York Journal, which led to a circulation war. This competition with Hearst, particularly the coverage before and during the Spanish-American War, linked Pulitzer's name with yellow journalism.
After the World exposed a fraudulent payment of $40 million by the United States to the French Panama Canal Company in 1909, Pulitzer was indicted for libeling Theodore Roosevelt and J. P. Morgan. The courts dismissed the indictments in a victory for freedom of the press.
In 1892, Pulitzer offered Columbia University's president, Seth Low, money to set up the world's first school of journalism. The university initially turned down the money, evidently unimpressed by Pulitzer's unscrupulous character. In 1902, Columbia's new president Nicholas Murray Butler was more receptive to the plan for a school and prizes, but it would not be until after Pulitzer's death that this dream would be fulfilled. Pulitzer left the university $2 million in his will, which led to the creation in 1912 of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, but by then the first school of journalism had been created at the University of Missouri. Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism remains one of the most prestigious in the world.
Joseph Pulitzer died aboard his yacht in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina in 1911. He is interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. In 1917, the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded, in accordance with Pulitzer's wishes.
In 1989 Pulitzer was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
Vocabulary
unscrupulous - not scrupulous; unrestrained by scruples; conscienceless; unprincipled.
evidently - obviously; clearly
linked Pulitzer's name with - connected Pulitzer's name with
libeling - act of publishing false accusations or statements
to indicte - to be charged with in a legal court
fraudulent - false; incorrect
to expose - make something public that was previously hidden
coverage - press or media reporting of news
mansion - extremely large and luxurious home
vacation retreat - a home that one goes to on vacation in order to relax
to withdraw - to leave; stop working
to deteriorate - become worse
failing health - health that is becoming worse
circulation - (in this context) amount of newspapers sold
investigative journalist - journalist who investigates news stories in-depth
immensely - extremely
to recruit - to find someone to work for you
sensationalism - media technique that takes advantage of articles that appeal to public opinion to sell newspapers
human-interest - focused on information about human situations
shifted its focus - changed its main idea
populist - appealing to the public
hard-hitting - very forceful
exposès - news story
champion of the common man - someone who tries to help normal people with their needs / problems
to merge - to combine two or more companies into one
to settle - to move to and begin to live in a community
to emigrate - to move and settle in a new country
frail - very weak
to seek - to actively look for
yellow journalism - Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers
posthumously - after the death of someone
will - final document stating who will receive money, property, etc. after someone dies
prestigious - very famous and important
yacht - luxury boat
to inter - to put in prison
in accordance with Pulitzer's wishes - as Pultizer wished to do
to be inducted into - to be included in an important instution (usually a hall of fame)
Tambem recebi por email esses tongtwisters:
Nível Básico - Para Iniciantes:
Três bruxas olham para três relógios swatch. Qual bruxa olha para qual relógio swatch?
E agora em inglês:
Three witches watch three Swatch watches. Which witch watch which Swatch watch?
Agora para especialistas:
Três bruxas suecas e transexuais olham para OS botões de três relógios Swatch suíços. Qual bruxa sueca transexual olha para qual botão de qual relógio swatch suíço?
E em inglês:
Three Swedish switched witches watch three Swiss Swatch watch switches.
Which Swedish switched witch watch which Swiss Swatch watch switch?
Da pagina da BBC, Brasil. Para exercicios e material relacionado a pronuncia de palavras em ingles, clique AQUI!
Good pronunciation is very important for good spoken communication. However you do not have to speak like a native English speaker to have good pronunciation.
There are many different natural varieties of English pronunciation in Britain and around the world. The activities and resources in this part of the site are designed to give an introduction to certain features of standard British English pronunciation, which is sometimes called Received Pronunciation (RP).
There are interactive and downloadable activities and materials which can be used for self-study or for teachers with lower-intermediate students.
LearnEnglish is a portal which links to all the British Council's websites for teachers and learners of English - just one web address to remember.
LearnEnglish e um portal que conecta todos os sites do Conselho Britanico para professores e alunos de ingles - so um endereco da internet pra se lembrar.
Peguei mais uma dica da comunidade do TECLA SAP do orkut. Por falar nisso, uma dica antes da dica: O professor Ulisses, que criou essa comunidade, tambem criou um blog com otimas dicas de ingles. Vale a pena conferir!
O fonetiks.org e um excelente site gratis que te ensina as diferencas entre pronuncias de uma mesma vogal, de sotaques diferentes e ate de idiomas diferentes. Ele se descreve como um guia para a pronuncia de 9 variedades do ingles e outros 9 idiomas com som instantaneo (e so passar o mouse por cima das palavras). Ha exemplos de pronuncia de mais de 40 falantes e mais de 600 paginas.
Nao se esqueca de ver os atalhas na direita da tabela. Ha muitas paginas interessantes, como a que trata de diferencas pequenas na pronuncia (sheep x ship). E muito bom mesmo!
Um novo (em todos os sentidos) movimento foi lancado ontem e eu decidi apoia-lo aqui no blog, para estimular todos os leitores a participarem (mesmo isso nao tendo nada a ver com ingles):
"O Quero mais Brasil é um movimento que convidará o restante da sociedade brasileira para se dar as mãos e fazer com que o eterno país do futuro se torne o Brasil do presente. É um movimento sem nenhuma ligação partidária.
Ele nasce da iniciativa de brasileiros desejos de fazer algo mais do que simplesmente votar de dois em dois anos e já conta com o apoio de uma parcela significativa da sociedade, representada por 140 das mais variadas associações de classe.
Querer mais Brasil é participar deste movimento ao lado de vários brasileiros, empresários, artistas, líderes, trabalhadores, pessoas que vão usar a cidadania para construir uma cidade, um estado e um país melhor. É descruzar os braços.
Querer mais Brasil é querer transparência nos gastos públicos de todos os governos. Não é ser contra nenhum partido ou político. É ser a favor do Brasil, dos Estados e de todos os municípios.
Querer mais Brasil é exigir que todos os governos, das cidades, dos estados e do país, não gastem mais do que arrecadam. Sem dívida crescente, sem juros excessivos, sem gastos mal feitos. É exigir menos gasto na máquina pública e mais serviços sociais e investimentos.
Querer mais Brasil é exigir a mesma eficiência dos orgãos públicos que se exige da iniciativa privada: incompetentes fora, profissionais competentes e premiados e corrupção eliminada.
Querer mais Brasil é não ficar calado. É descruzar os braços e construir juntos."
"Secretaries are responsible for a wide variety of office tasks. These include using the computer to wordprocess documents, answering the telephone, managing schedules, making reservations and more. Bosses rely on secretaries to get all the small details taken care of so they can focus on the big picture for the company."
Foi-se o tempo em que as unicas mulheres de um escritorio eram as secretarias, ne? Entao, antes de mais nada, quero dar PARABENS a todas as mulheres pelo dia de hoje.
Essa e mais uma dica do site about.com. Eles tem um dicionario visual de profissoes que ajuda bastante os alunos de ingles de nivel basico. Confira!
Para aqueles interessados em programas de intercambio ou uma experiencia no exterior sem ter que gastar muito dinheiro, o TERRA NOTICIAS traz um artigo bem interessante sobre o "au pair", entre outras informacoes interessantes.
"A forma mais barata hoje de fazer um intercâmbio no exterior é o au pair, programa mais vendido na maioria das agências. Esta forma de conhecer uma nova cultura, aprender um idioma e também juntar dinheiro requer, entretanto, algo que não é para qualquer um: gostar e saber cuidar de crianças. O au pair trabalha como babá na casa de uma família, que arca com suas principais despesas.
Para quem quer ler mais a respeito disso, clique AQUI!
Essa e pra todo mundo que tem duvidas sobre a pronuncia de palavras ou frases em ingles. O site Oddcast oferece uma excelente ferramenta, com uma senhora irresistivel que fala tudo pra voce! Experimente!
* Encontrei essa dica na comunidade do Tecla SAP no orkut.
Ever had grammar problems in your English class? Felt bad about it? Well, you'll feel better when you read these...
In a Tokyo Hotel: Is forbitten to steal hotel towels please. If you are not person to do such thing is please not to read notis.
In another Japanese hotel room: Please to bathe inside the tub.
In a Bucharest hotel lobby: The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.
In a Leipzig elevator: Do not enter the lift backwards, and only when lit up.
In a Belgrade hotel elevator: To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order.
In a Paris hotel elevator: Please leave your values at the front desk.
In a hotel in Athens: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 A.M. daily.
In a Yugoslavian hotel: The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.
In a Japanese hotel: You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.
In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery: You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday.
In an Austrian hotel catering to skiers: Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension.
On the menu of a Swiss restaurant: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.
On the menu of a Polish hotel: Salad a firm's own make; limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten up in the country people's fashion.
In a Hong Kong supermarket: For your convenience, we recommend courteous, efficient self-service.
Outside a Hong Kong tailor shop: Ladies may have a fit upstairs.
In a Rhodes tailor shop: Order your summers suit. Because is big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.
Similarly, from the Soviet Weekly: There will be a Moscow Exhibition of Aets by 15,000 Soviet Republic painters and sculptors. These were executed over the past two years.
In an East African newspaper: A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers.
In a Vienna hotel: In case of fire, do your utmost to alarm the hotel porter.
A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest: It is strictly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.
In a Zurich hotel: Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.
In an advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist: Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.
A translated sentence from a Russian chess book: A lot of water has been passed under the bridge since this variation has been played.
In a Rome laundry: Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.
In a Czechoslovakian tourist agency: Take one of our horse-driven city tours -- we guarantee no miscarriages.
Advertisement for donkey rides in Thailand: Would you like to ride on your own ass?
On the faucet in a Finnish washroom: To stop the drip, turn cock to right.
In the window of a Swedish furrier: Fur coats made for ladies from their own skin.
On the box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong: Guaranteed to work throughout its useful life.
Detour sign in Kyushi, Japan: Stop: Drive Sideways.
In a Swiss mountain inn: Special today -- no ice cream.
In a Bangkok temple: It is forbidden to enter a woman even a foreigner if dressed as a man.
In a Tokyo bar: Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts.
In a Copenhagen airline ticket office: We take your bags and send them in all directions.
On the door of a Moscow hotel room: If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it.
In a Norwegian cocktail lounge: Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.
At a Budapest zoo: Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.
In the office of a Roman doctor: Specialist in women and other diseases.
In an Acapulco hotel: The manager has personally passed all the water served here.
In a Tokyo shop: Our nylons cost more than common, but you'll find they are best in the long run.
From a Japanese information booklet about using a hotel air conditioner:
Cooles and Heates:
If you want just condition of warm in your room, please control yourself.
From a brochure of a car rental firm in Tokyo: When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.
Two signs from a Majorcan shop entrance:
- English well talking.
- Here speeching American.
Special Restaurant, where every day is 'special'...
Bom, sem sombra de duvida a Cris e a leitora mais frequente e participativa desse blog. Entao, nada melhor do que agradece-la novamente e trazer mais dicas dela!!!
O site http://grammarnet.com/ e realmente um excelente site de gramatica. Ele tem explicacoes da gramatica inglesa (incluindo tempos verbais e tudo mais), materiais para ajudar os professores de ingles, exercicios e jogos. Muito bom mesmo!
Em segundo lugar, mais um textinho engracado sobre o idioma:
THIS CRAZY ENGLISH LANGUAGE
We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice;
yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
but though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.
Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted.
But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?
Have noses that run and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wiseguy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
If Dad is Pop, how's come Mom isn't Mop?
Do livro "A Guide for Americans - and of course, others"
Bom, para quem precisa de traducoes, os melhores sao: Stars21 e Look Way Up.
A UFRJ tem uma lista bem legal com a traducao de palavras, frases e exprecoes uteis para quem precisa delas urgentemente. Confira aqui!
Para quem ja sabe ingles (pelo menos um pouco), o melhor mesmo e forcar a barra e tentar um dicionario ingles x ingles. O dicionario da Cambridge e melhor em relacao ao numero de expressoes, girias e vocabulos dificeis. Ja o dicionario da Merriam-Webster tem um recurso excepcional que e a possibilidade de voce ouvir a pronuncia da palavra. Confira!!!
Estou participando de um projeto muito legal aqui em NY. Por agora nao posso dar muitos detalhes, mas ja quero adiantar uma coisa. Tive que pesquisar sobre a historia do Bumba meu Boi e escrevi uma versao hiper politicamente correta para criancas americanas. Quero a opiniao de voces, OK?
I'm going to tell you a true story that happened in Brazil a long time ago. Do you know where Brazil is? It is a very big country not very far from the United States. In this country, there is a big rainforest called the Amazon Forest where millions of different birds, monkeys, snakes, and other animals live. It is a very important forest because of these animals and because of all the plants that live there. Scientists have been studying these plants to create new medications. This forest is also very important because if it is destroyed, the climate of the entire world is going to have very bad consequences.
Well... let's go back to the story. A very long time ago, there was a very rich farmer who understood how important the forest and the animals were. He also respected the Indians a lot, because he knew that their families lived there much before his family did. So, he understood that the Indians were the owners of his farm too, and they knew the secrets of the forest much better than he did. This big farmer was known as "Captain", and he had many people working for him.
Captain had a lot of animals in his farm, but there was one that he liked the most. It was a big beautiful ox. Every time he could, Captain asked his employees to bring the ox for him to see. He admired the animal¿s strength, happiness, and movement. Sometimes he would ask everybody to leave him and the ox alone. It is said that Captain liked the ox so much because the animal was magical and could talk to him, but nobody had ever heard the ox talking.
One of Captain's best employees was called Frank. Frank was married to Catherine, who worked on the farm too. They were very happy because they were about to have their first child.
One night, when the sky was clear and the full moon was shining over the farm, Catherine had a dream. She dreamt that she was eating the tongue of Captain's favorite ox. It was delicious! When she woke up, she talked to her husband and told him she needed to eat that tongue!
- I can't do that, Catherine! I can't kill Captain's favorite ox!
- You have to do it, Frank. If you don't do it, our son is going to be born with the face of an ox!!!
After a lot of discussion, Frank was convinced, and went after the ox. He found the ox sleeping, hit him in the head, and cut his tongue. Then, he hid the ox in the middle of the forest. Catherine cooked the tongue, but it was not as tasty as it seemed to be in the dream.
On the following day, Captain called Frank and told him that he had had a nightmare. He asked Frank to bring the ox to the front of his big house. Frank, desperate, told Catherine what had happened and they ran away.
After some hours of waiting, Captain called his other employees and told them to look for Frank and the ox, but they soon came back saying that Frank, the ox, and Catherine were not inside the farm. Very angry and impatient, Captain ordered that they had to go inside the forest and that they couldn't come back without the ox. The employees looked all over, but didn't find anything.
When they went back to the farm, Captain was even angrier, but he had an idea. He told them to find the Indian girls and bring them to talk to him.
- What happened, Captain? - The Indian girls asked.
- I need your help. I'm desperate!
- Calm down and tell us the problem.
- Well, Frank and his wife disappeared. I think they took my ox. My favorite ox! - he said, almost crying.
- Don't worry, Captain. We will find them for you.
The Indian girls were very smart. They had grown up in a tribe, inside the forest. They knew all of it very well. It didn't take long until they found Frank, his wife, and the dead ox.
- What have you done?
- Please don't tell Captain we are here. I'm sure he's going to kill us when he knows what I've done to his favorite ox. You know, my wife is pregnant too!
- But why? Don't you know that you shouldn't kill the animals of the forest? It's not because it's Captain's favorite ox, but all the animals are part of nature, like we are. You are not more important than a single bird in this forest, you should know better!
- I know, I had never done any harm to the animals. I love them, it's true! OK, then. We can go back to the farm and tell Captain that a bigger animal killed the ox. Could we do that, please?
- Oh, don't be a fool. Telling lies will be even worse! Lying never helps!
Frank told the Indian girls about the dream. The Indians promised to him that they wouldn't let Captain do anything to him or his wife. Then, all of them went back to the farm, carrying the ox.
When they all got to the farm and told the Captain the true story, he couldn't stop crying next to the ox. He had his employees bring a doctor to his farm to see if something could be done.
- Captain, the ox is dead. I'm sorry, but there's nothing left to do.
- Oh, come on! You studied so hard to tell me that??? You have to be careful with what you say because you will never know everything. Making people lose their hopes and dreams is the worst thing that a person can do.
Then, Captain sent the doctor away and had a priest come to his farm. He needed a real miracle.
- Only God knows how important this ox is to me! I know we can pray together and bring him back!
The priest prayed, prayed, and prayed, but the ox was still lying on the floor. Captain sent him away and told everybody to leave because he wanted to stay alone, with the ox.
But the Indian girls didn't leave. They got closer and asked Captain if they could call the magician from their tribe. They knew that only the magician, the oldest and wisest Indian would be able to do something. As he had nothing to lose, Captain agreed with their idea.
The Indian girls left and only came back after they could bring the magician, who had a bag with some plants, roots, seeds, flowers, and water from the river. He said:
- Captain, you thought a doctor and a priest would help you more than I. Maybe you should give more credit to the older people. But I know you have a good heart. You love this ox and you respect the forest, your animals, and the Indians. Tell me: do you believe the forces of nature can bring your ox back?
- Yes, I do. I was stupid of not thinking about you first. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.
- Do you understand that even after a thousand years men will never be able to control nature, even with all the modernity?
- Yes, I know that!
- So come, and sing with me!
And they sang:
Ox, oh beautiful ox,
We know you are sleeping now
But if you come back to life
No harm to the nature we will allow
While they sang, the magician started throwing everything he had brought in the bag on the ox. Something amazing started happening. The ox started wagging his tale as if he were hearing the song. After some moments, the ox opened his eyes and stood up! Captain couldn't believe his own eyes. It was too good to be true. He hugged the ox, kissed the magician and decided:
- We need a party. We need a huge party to celebrate all this beautiful nature that surrounds us. Call all the Indians of the forest, all my employees and all the animals on this farm.
Frank got closer to Captain and apologized:
- Captain, I promise you that I will never do anything to hurt you again.
- Don't worry, Frank. Being angry at you is not good for anybody. I understand you did all this to please your wife and I forgive you. But tomorrow you are the one who will clean and organize all the mess, OK?
- Sure, Captain! Thank you! Thank you so much!
The party lasted for many hours. People, Indians and animals danced together all night long. Until today, Captain's family fights for the preservation of the forest because they know how important nature is to mankind.
Outro site muito util para dicas para alunos e professores e o "ABOUT.COM". E um site que fala de tudo, mas tem muita coisa legal sobre a aprendizagem do ingles, tambem. Como exemplo, ai esta a lista das 250 palavras mais comuns do ingles:
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