Jokes - 13

Joke of the Week

Mother: "Did you enjoy your first day at school?"
Girl:       "First day? Do you mean I have to go back tomorrow?"

Grammar - Irregular Verbs

Grammar

Irregular Verbs

Infinitive	Simple Past	Past Participle	Translation
arise	arose	arisen	surgir
awake	awoke	awoken	despertar
be	was/were	been	ser, estar
bear	bore	born	dar a luz
beat	beat	beaten	bater
become	became	become	tornar-se
begin	began	begun	começar
bite	bit	bitten	morder
blow	blew	blown	soprar
bring	brought	brought	trazer
catch	caught	caught	pegar, capturar
choose	chose	chosen	escolher
come	came	come	vir
cost	cost	cost	custar
cut	cut	cut	cortar
do	did	done	fazer
draw	drew	drawn	desenhar
dream	dreamt	dreamt	sonhar
drink	drank	drunk	beber
drive	drove	driven	dirigir
eat	ate	eaten	comer
fall	fell	fallen	cair
feel	felt	felt	sentir
fight	fought	fought	luta
fly	flew	flown	voar
forbid	forbade	forbidden	proibir
forgive	forgave	forgiven	perdoar
get	got	gotten	obter
give	gave	given	dar
grow	grew	grown	crescer
hang	hung	hung	pendurar
have	had	had	ter
hear	heard	heard	ouvir
hide	hid	hidden	esconder
hit	hit	hit	bater
hold	held	held	segurar
hurt	hurt	hurt	machucar
keep	kept	kept	manter
know	knew	known	saber, conhecer
lay	laid	laid	colocar, depositar
lead	led	led	conduzir, levar
learn	learnt	learnt	aprender
leave	left	left	partir
lend	lent	lent	emprestar
let	let	let	permitir, deixar
lie	lay	lain	repousar
light	lit	lit	acender, clarear
lose	lost	lost	perder
make	made	made	fazer
mean	meant	meant	querer dizer
meet	met	met	encontrar
pay	paid	paid	pagar
put	put	put	pôr, colocar
read	read	read	ler
ride	rode	ridden	andar de
ring	rang	rung	tocar, soar
rise	rose	risen	erquer-se
run	ran	run	correr
say	said	said	dizer
see	saw	seen	ver
seek	sought	sought	procurar
sell	sold	sold	vender
send	sent	sent	enviar
shake	shook	shaken	sacudir
shine	shone	shone	brilhar
shoot	shot	shot	atirar (com um arma)
show	showed	shown	mostrar
shut	shut	shut	fechar
sing	sang	sung	cantar
sink	sank	sunk	afundar
sit	sat	sat	sentar
sleep	slept	slept	dormir
smell	smelled	smelled	cheirar
speak	spoke	spoken	falar
spend	spent	spent	gastar
stand	stood	stood	permanecer
steal	stole	stolen	roubar
sting	stung	stung	picar, ferroar
stink	stank	stunk	cheirar mal
strike	struck	stricken	golpear
sweep	swept	swept	varrer
swim	swam	swum	nadar
take	took	taken	pegar, tomar
teach	taught	taught	ensinar
tear	tore	torn	rasgar
tell	told	told	dizer, contar
think	thought	thought	pensar, achar
throw	threw	thrown	atirar, jogar
understand	understood	understood	compreender
wake	woke	woken	acordar
wear	wore	worn	usar
wed	wed	wed	casar
weep	wept	wept	chorar
win	won	won	vencer
write	wrote	written	escrever

Practice some exercises on the following links:

http://www.grammarnet.com/gnav/exeverbs.php

http://www.englishpage.com/irregularverbs/interactiveirregularverbs1.htm

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/irregular-verbs

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/verbs.htm

http://www.chompchomp.com/irregular01/irregular01.htm

 

Pronunciation Tips

Tip 1
Do not confuse pronunciation of words with their spelling! For example, "wear" and "where", although spelled differently, are pronounced the same. Also, identical letters or letter clusters in words do not always produce the same sound. For example, the "ough" in "though" and "through" represents a different sound in each word. Learn to practice what you hear, not what you see.
Tip 2
Imagine a sound in your mind before you say it. Try to visualize the positioning of your mouth and face. Think about how you are going to make the sound.
Tip 3
Listen to and try to imitate native speakers of English. In addition to listening for specific sounds, pay attention to pauses, the intonation of the speaker's voice and patterns of emphasis. This can be just as important as the pronunciation of sounds.
Tip 4
The English language has many different dialects, and words can be pronounced differently. It is important, however, that you pronounce words clearly to ensure effective communication.
Tip 5
Finally, you must practice what you are learning! Remember that you are teaching your mouth a new way to move. You are building muscles that you do not use in your own language. It is like going to the gym and exercising your body. Use the links below to exercise your mouth a little bit each day.

http://www.pronunciationtips.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/

http://www.soundsofenglish.org/activities/index.htm

The Cure - Friday I'm in Love

Song of the Week

Friday I'm in Love

The Cure

For the ones who have difficulty with the days of the week, a great song to practice them.

Telling the Time - Video of the Week

Video of the Week

Telling the Time

A Journey to the Center of the Earth - Book of the Week

Book of the Week

A Journey to the Center of the Earth

by Jules Verne

A Journey to the Center of the Earth (French: Voyage au centre de la Terre, also translated under the titles Journey to the Centre of the Earth and A Journey to the Interior of the Earth) is a classic 1864 science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The story involves a German professor (Otto Lidenbrock in the original French, Professor Von Hardwigg in the most common English translation) who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth. He, his nephew Axel (Harry), and their guide Hans encounter many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy.
From a scientific point of view, this story has not aged quite as well as other Verne stories, since most of his ideas about what the interior of the Earth contains have since been soundly refuted. However, a redeeming point to the story is Verne's own belief, told within the novel from the viewpoint of a character, that the inside of the Earth does indeed differ from that which the characters anticipate. One of Verne's main ideas with his stories was also to educate the readers, and by placing the different extinct creatures the characters meet in their correct geological era, he is able to show how the world looked a long time ago, stretching from the ice age to the dinosaurs.

To download a free PDF version of this book, click on the following link:

http://www.planetfreebook.com/Classic_collection/classic_books_author_TUV_PDF_edited_filenames/Verne.%20Jules!Journey%20to%20the%20Center%20of%20the%20Earth.pdf

For an audio book, click on this link:

http://librivox.org/a-journey-to-the-interior-of-the-earth-by-jules-verne/

For the classic movie, watch:

For a modern 3D movie preview, watch:

Shepherd's Pie - Recipe of the Week

Recipe of the Week

Shepherd's Pie

This is a typical British dish. Try it at your home (in Brazil) and feel as if you were in London.

Make this simple supper of a wintry evening, sprinkling over a little grated cheese before cooking for good measure.

Ingredients

• 50g/2oz dripping
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 2 tnsp olive oil
• 900g/2lb minced lamb
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 4 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tsp anchovy essence
• 2 small tins chopped tomatoes
• 4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 450ml/16fl oz chicken, beef or lamb stock
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the mash

• 700g/1½lb potatoes
• 55ml/2fl oz milk
• 75g/3oz butter
• 1 free-range egg yolk

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
   
2. In a large non-stick casserole dish heat the dripping. Add the onion and cook for five minutes.
   
3. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat a little olive oil and fry the mince, stirring, until browned all over. While the meat is frying, break up any lumps with the back of the spoon.
   
4. Stir the onions and add the flour (this helps to thicken the juices) and stir. Mix well and add the bay leaves, thyme and the anchovy essence and stir.
   
5. To the onion mix add the chopped tomatoes, stock (keep a little aside, for putting into the mince pan to de-glaze the pan) and Worcestershire sauce.
6. Add the cooked mince and then pour the stock mixture into empty mince pan, scraping off any bits of mince left in the pan. Pour the remaining stock into the pan containing the sauce mixture.
   
7. Bring the mixture to the boil, adding a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper and let it simmer for about 45 minutes.
   
8. For the mash, boil the potatoes, then drain them in a sieve and place into a clean bowl. Add the milk, butter and egg yolk, and mash together. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
   
9. Pour the meat into an ovenproof dish and spread the mash on top, smooth over and mark with a spatula.
   
10. Put the dish into the oven and cook until the surface is bubbling and golden-brown.