Thanks to my English 7 and 6 students, I've been able to learn some new words! 

1) Do you know what  Bedraggled means? ..... .think about this word..... try to recall it from the depths of your memory..... you don't know this one, do you? ..... well neither did I up until I saw it in Wuthering Heights. It means : " to be similar to something that was DRAGGED on mud".
That clearly doesn't mean clean (e.g. : "the beggar's bedraggled clothes", and "scarecrows in battered hats or draggled skirts"") ... actually, it means dirty!!

2) Now, what about the word scoundrel? Is it an easier one? This one I knew prior to Wuthering Heights, but I don't think I ever called anybody a scoundrel. Why is that? Because scoundrel means nothing less than a REALLY evil-doer! I don't know anybody like that! Anyway, I  hope you enjoyed the "difficult" words of the week! 

Expression of the day: Extration meaning "family background"

 As I was reading about the Gullah people I came across a very nice expression and I'll be writing a bit about it! The expression of the day is  "extraction"  and it means "descent"; this is something I found so interesting that I had to share! As an example, let me use this one : " That actress is of french extraction" I know it sounds silly ( the example)  but I found it a nice piece of vocab and worthy-sharing with my students. See y'all!

New words coming!!!!

                       Dear readers, I’m not sure if you've realized  it, but I’ve got this secret (or maybe not so secret) passion for learning different words and expressions in English and this obsession has led me to the study of big words that are (usually) only found in literary texts. This Thursday I was in my English 6 class and a friend of mine, Patricia, knowing about my little interest in more complex vocabulary, advised me to write a blog listing all the difficult words I came across as a learner of EFL. Because not only would it be productive for me but also to many people, namely my friends ( lol), I acquiesced to her opinion and started thinking about writing a section in my blog on rarely-used words in English.
                       As a homage to my friend, the first word to be presented is “wherewithal”. Patricia showed us this word this week and its definition is as it follows: “the necessary means, especially financial means to do something  (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/wherewithal)”. Therefore, I believe that every and single person has the wherewithal to access this blog since it’s free (unless you don’t have any internet connection or computer at home) and easy to be found. Anyway, this is it for this week! I don’t know which word I should talk about next. Maybe it will be “conundrum” since Patricia loves this word and this week’s section is entirely dedicated to her… Anyway, I still have a whole week to think about which word to share. See you next week!

Dia das crianças: uma reflexão

Galera, como o dia das crianças é algo que se festeja no Brasil acho que este post será melhor se for escrito em Português mesmo. Como já dito, hoje é o dia das crianças e isso me fez pensar, o que eu devo falar nesse dia tão especial para todos nós? Pensei em escrever algo contra a pedofilia, que infelizmente é algo que tem se tornado mais e mais comum, ou sobre o show do Justin Bieber no globo, mas acabei decidindo falar sobre algo que é bem íntimo: o que eu desejo para essas crianças de hoje. Semana passada, ao conversar com uma amiga religiosa minha, descobri que minha amiga acha que se o mundo todo fosse religioso teríamos um mundo melhor por que todos viveriam debaixo da vontade de “Deus” e não haveria mais guerras e o planeta seria um lugar melhor para se viver. Durante essa semana, foi a vez de sair com dois amigos meus que são ateus e que comentaram que os seus sonhos são ver um mundo todo racional e sem crença alguma em um “ser superior”. De fato, eu não acredito em religião alguma, portanto concordei com meus amigos ateus, mas ao ponderar com mais cuidados sobre a situação resolvi que acho que estava equivocado. Um mundo só de cristãos, mulçumanos ou só de ateus, além de utópico, é algo impossível de se tornar realidade. O bom mesmo é a diversidade. Querer um mundo cheio de pessoas iguais a nós mesmos é algo cruel se formos parar para pensar nisso. Os nazistas procuravam uma raça, os Puritanos em Massachusetts queriam que todos seguissem a sua religião e acabaram queimando várias pessoas acusadas (em vão) de bruxaria, os Portugueses impuseram a sua língua aos índios , enfim, todos procuravam trazer uma certa uniformidade a suas comunidades. Então meu recado é tentar criar um mundo uno não é nada mais nada menos que uma agressão. Tentar converter alguém a qualquer custo é uma agressão, tentar criar uma sociedade de casamentos heterossexuais apenas é uma agressão, desmoralizar alguém por causa das suas crenças religiosas é outra agressão. Portanto, espero que as crianças de hoje aprendam o valor da diversidade e do respeito ao próximo. É esse o meu desejo.

Why so intolerant?

There are three things in the world that get on nerves so bad that I have to count to 1000 just to keep myself under my own grip. Those are: people trying to convert me using the argument: “my religion is the correct path to heavens”, people who are too lazy to study anything, and those who do not agree with gay marriage. I live in Brazil and as every nice citizen should feel, I felt extremely proud of my country when on May 05th the legal union for homosexual couples was allowed. What I heard from people, however, is that such a thing should have never been allowed, and such a thing was an “abomination” to “God”. Then, full with indignation, I decided to write a post on this controversial theme showing some of the reasons why every person who considers himself or herself a RATIONAL being should agree with gay marriage despite of his or her religious background. First, marriage itself is not religious but a social institution. Christianity has indeed preached for years that only men and women have the right to wed, but what most people forget is that there are many other groups out there that are not Christian and they want to have the same rights as anybody else! And for all those who think that marriage among homosexuals should not be allowed based on the “fact” that the bible condemns it , I’m sorry but I have some news for you: our country is not under a theocratic regimen, but under a democracy. And to all those religious simpletons who were raised in a church and think they know the bible just because they have read it once: people are not obligated to live under the rules of a book they don’t even believe in! I wonder how they would like if a Buddhist told them that Christian couples can’t get married just because Buddha said so! (No offences to the Buddhists, I just used them to represent any religion other than any bible-oriented ones) Another “argument” that aggravates me is when people say: “I don’t agree with gay marriage because I wouldn’t like to see two men kissing in a public place”, or, “I don’t support gay marriage because I’m afraid of what will become of our children”. To all those who feel offended when they see two men or two girls kissing when they only want to show AFFECTION, you should simply stop staring at them and let them be happy! Why is it that people have to meddle with other people’s business? If you feel so bad when you see a gay couple kissing, imagine how much worse they feel when they want to say “ I love you” to the person they love and they simply CAN’T or when they see other (straight ) couples are kissing and they can’t do the same! Now here comes the question: why can straight people show affection and gay people can’t if they both pay the same amount of taxes and they both contribute to the development of our society just as much? All in all, what I’m trying to get across is: let other people be happy and do never try to impose your religious view on other people because I’m sure that you wouldn’t like if they did the same to you! I am not much a religious person myself, but I do reckon that the bible, as any other religious book, has many nice messages that are indeed worthy learning and following and one that I think is interesting is this one that is on Matthew 7: 12, it goes like this: “ (..) In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets”. For those who might have problems understanding what is written here, I guess that this message applies in our context in the sense that we should not try to take away other people’s right to be and live their lives whichever way they want because we would not enjoy if they did the same to us.

Disrepect

When will people understand that I have my own opinion on religions and I will never change it simply because I do not want to change it? Today I was riding the bus home when I saw an old friend of mine. She is prostestant and out of the blue she started asking me questions on my religious life. I myself had been a Christian many years before; therefore, I sort of knew what being Christian is like. When I had answered her that I was no longer a Christian and that I was “really happy this way ” the tantrum was set! It was preaching time and I did not know it.
Sincerely, in 20 years I had NEVER felt that my right as a citizen to choose my own religious paths were so violented. The girl and her many companions started telling me off in front of the whole bus! Things like “ there is only one God and this God is the one I worship” were the least offensive things she said. All I could say was “Thanks for sharing your point of view with me” for I wanted to be extremely polite , but instead of soothing the girl's temper she got even more euphoric and started saying things like “ I am not talking about points of view, I am talking about following the only TRUE path”. When I thought the preaching was over the girls started to attack my own private life! Not only did the girl hint that I was unhappy but she also said that I was living a miserable life! Most people would have told the girl and her companions ( who were mocking me, by the way) to f**k off, I however expressed my thankfulness by only nodding and saying “ I am sorry but I don't quite agree with you”. Finally my bus stop had arrived and I could finally jump off the bus while I still had to listen a “ your life is not fine” instead of a simply “it was nice to see you again”.
What I am trying to say is: why won't people simply reckon that human beings are different from one another ? When will people understand that there are different religions and that they ALSO should be respected? I am sorry ladies and gentlemen who are out there trying to convert people, but you all should know a little something: how to respect people who have different creeds! I am a 20-year-old ESL teacher, who go to college and try every day to be as critical as possible, I am very sorry indeed, but I am not the kind of person who will believe every single word a pastor or priest say on a book that was written many centuries ago. I frankly think that people do have the right to believe in whatever they want ( and even not to believe in whatever they please), but trying to coerce people on the streets and trying to compel them to share the same set of beliefs that you do is just wrong ( let alone to theaten people by saying that they will go to hell). From the bottom of my heart I would like to ask people to think more before they start to follow a religion, mainly if that involves impelling other people to be converted.

New York City rocks!!!

Fun. If I could summarize my weekend in a few words, this would be the right one. We left Gadsden in the evening of the September 2^nd to go to NYC. We drove all night long, crossed the states of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey so as to reach New York City. All was done so we could attend to one of the most important Brazilian Celebrations in the United States of America: Brazilian Day.

Wow, New York City is just the sweetest spots on the whole planet! It is huge to say the least, and to say the truth, if I had gone to the Big Apple only for the sake of seeing it, it would have been totally worth the trip. We visited the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Times Square and had a quick look at the Central Park. This was wild!

The concert itself took place on 48^th Street, with the presence of great Brazilian artists, among which there were : Dj Malboro, Margarete Menezes, Zeze de Camargo e Luciano , Ana Maria Braga and Luciano Hulk. Dear readers, I so must confess I never thought that there were so many Brazilian people in NYC. The city was packed with people from my country, everywhere we went there were guys speaking Portuguese (I even commented with Brian that I felt like Sao Paulo instead of New York!)

All in all, my weekend was so cool that I have no words to say what I felt during my stay in NYC. Tomorrow I will start tutoring in the Alabama Language Institute and I hope everything goes well as I start teaching. Ate mais amigos e ate a proxima!!