QUARESMA E PÁSCOA: LENT AND EASTER: TIME FOR PRAYING AND CELEBRATING JESUS'S RESSURECTION

Lent is a forty-day season of preparation for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. The season begins on Ash Wednesday, when pastors mark the foreheads of Christians with ashes as a reminder that we are created from dust and to dust we shall return.

During Lent we follow Jesus from his adult ministry through his suffering during Holy Week to his crucifixion and death on Good Friday. And we read the Psalms that foretold what happened during that week.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, also called the Sunday of the Passion, and continues through Holy Thursday (when Holy Communion was instituted at the Last Supper) and Good Friday, when Jesus was tried, crucified, and buried.

Because the Last Supper was celebrated during the Feast of the Passover, which is calculated on the phases of the moon, Easter is called a movable feast. Lent is scheduled backwards from Easter. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon after the spring equinox. The forty days of fasting and penitence during Lent do not include Sundays. Christians always celebrate Sunday as the day Jesus rose from the dead, so it is never a day of fasting.

Many Northern Europeans celebrate the day before Ash Wednesday, mardi gras (French for Fat Tuesday, also called Shrove Tuesday), by eating up everything good in the house that medieval Christians believed was inappropriate to eat during Lent (eggs, butter, cream, meat). This celebration has expanded into all sorts of festivals all over the world, although most modern Christians do eat some - or all - of those foods during Lent.

Lent is a time of stripping down to essentials, as each Christian focuses on his or her individual relationship with God. It is a time when Christians remember our baptisms, when Jesus washed away our sins, giving us newness of life to celebrate in the triumph of Palm Sunday and the glory of Easter. Many early Christians were baptized on Easter Sunday, so Lent became a special time of study and prayer in preparation for their baptisms. Later the entire congregation joined in the study and prayer as they looked forward to the anniversary of their baptisms on Easter.

SOURCE: http://www.sundayschoollessons.com/lent.htm

 HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaf_X9qSeVY

Just a simple video to ilustrate International Women's Day, showing the importance of women in our modern society and how things have changed for most of us.

Happy IWD!!!!!!!

Carmen

I LOVE JOKES!!!!!

Eu amo piadas... e em inglês, então, dá ainda mais prazer, porque às vezes requer muita atenção para entendê-las, já que muitas piadas envolvem trocadilhos, conhecimento de certos fatos históricos, etc. Mas com certeza ler e ouvir piadas em inglês é também uma forma de ampliar vocabulário, melhorar sua compreensão de texto, e se divertir, é claro!!! Seguem algumas piadas de um site bem bacana que é específico para quem está aprendendo inglês, e o link vai no final, para quem quiser ver mais. E há também podcasts em MP3 para você ouvir as apiadas, melhorando também sua habilidade de compreensão auditiva.

A: Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger?
B: Yes I am, I married the wrong woman.

 
Teacher: Maria please point to America on the map.
Maria: This is it.
Teacher: Well done. Now class, who found America?
Class: Maria did.


A: Did you hear that a baby was fed on elephant's milk and gained twenty pounds in a week.
B: That's impossible. Whose baby?
A: An elephant's.

A man inserted an 'ad' in the classifieds: "Wife wanted".
The next day he received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: "You can have mine."


Fred is 32 years old and he is still single.
One day a friend asked, "Why aren't you married? Can't you find a woman who will be a good wife?"
Fred replied, "Actually, I've found many women I wanted to marry, but when I bring them home to meet my parents, my mother doesn't like them."
His friend thinks for a moment and says, "I've got the perfect solution, just find a girl who's just like your mother."
A few months later they meet again and his friend says, "Did you find the perfect girl? Did your mother like her?"
With a frown on his face, Fred answers, "Yes, I found the perfect girl. She was just like my mother. You were right, my mother liked her very much."
The friend said, "Then what's the problem?"
Fred replied, "My father doesn't like her."

Did you have a good time?  So click on the links below and read more!
http://iteslj.org/c/jokes.html
http://www.ejokx.com/2010_08_01_archive.html
http://www.angelfire.com/on/topfen/jokes.html
http://www.englishclub.com/esl-jokes/index.htm


And remember: laughing is the best remedy for a long life!

Carmen

INGLÊS COM MÚSICA!

 Todo mundo gosta de música. Como professora, em todos esses anos, sempre ouvi pedidos para que trouxesse músicas para a sala de aula, e assim as usássemos como ferramenta para aprender inglês. Bom, para quem não conhece, a TV Cultura tem um programa chamado Inglês com Música, e que vai ao ar aos sábados ao meio dia. É muito interessante e divertido, e não é novidade. Este programa era exibido entre as décadas de 60 e 80, e a TV Cultura recentemente retomou o projeto com grande sucesso. A professora Marisa Leite de Barros é ótima, e a cantora (Amanda Acosta, ex-Trem da Alegria) é uma graça. Os alunos que participam no auditório são de escolas públicas de São paulo, e batem um bolão.
Confiram o vídeo, e tem muito mais no Youtube. Você também pode assistir aos programas pela Univesp TV.
É só clicar no link:
http://tvcultura.cmais.com.br/inglescommusica


Enjoy it!

INTERCÂMBIOS CULTURAIS - parte I

Muito bem, então você pretende fazer um curso de inglês fora do Brasil? Sem dúvida, é uma experiência fabulosa, tanto do ponto de vista profissional, pois pode render pontos no currículo, como do ponto de vista cultural. Conviver com pessoas que não apenas falam outro idioma, mas que pensam diferente, tem outros hábitos e costumes, traz um enriquecimento pessoal muito grande. Mas sempre surge a dúvida: qual o intercâmbio mais indicado para cada pessoa? Existem diversos tipos de intercâmbio, com durações diferentes. O mais comum é o indicado para jovens, que dura um ano, e onde o adolescente fica hospedado em casa de família e cursa um ano do ensino médio em países como os EUA, Canadá, Inglaterra e Austrália. Há os promovidos pelos clubes de serviço, como o Rotary Club,ode o jovem deve apenas aracar com as despesas de viagem e gastos pessoais,  e há os intercâmbios pagos, em que a família que recebe o jovem é remunerada para isso, e as agêncais cobram valores um tanto salgados pela hospedagem e educação dos teens. Também tornou-se mais conhecido o sistema conhecido como "au pair", geralmente para garotas (mas que aceita garotos também) entre 18 e 25 anos. Nesse sistema, o jovem torna-se responsável pela(s) criança(s) da casa, como um "irmão mais velho", e deve cumprir um certo número de créditos em cursos conforme o país onde ele irá viver, também por um ano. A grande vantagem de fazer intercâmbio como au pair é que além de desembolsar uma quantia pequena para a agência que organiza o programa, o jovem deverá arcar apenas com os custos de sua passagem, e ainda será remunerado semanalmente pela família que o hospedará. O valos costuma ser suficiente para cobrir os gastos pessoais do jovem, e se ele ainda for do tipo econômico, poderá fazer pequenas viagens em seus dias de folga.
Ficou curioso? clique nos links a seguir para ler mais em inglês sobre essa modalidade de estudo tão desejada, ou aguarde novas postagens. Em breve trarei mais informações para vocês.

http://www.helpful.com/how-prepare-student-exchange-program_1411
http://www.rotary.org/en/studentsandyouth/youthprograms/rotaryyouthexchange/Pages/ridefault.aspx


See you!

Carmen

TO P. DA VIDA! 

Hi Guys

you girls will certainly understand what I mean. You know those days when you're in a bad mood because your period is close? It's called TPM in Portuguese, and in English we say PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome). Well, in such occasions, you get angry because of anything, or even for no reason at all. Then we can say that in many ways. The best one in Portuguese is p. da vida!

I get really ticked off when people don't understand I'm in my PMS and don't just leave me alone!

I get peeved when I'm trying to explain something really important in the classroom and a student keeps talking.

And, finally, the word  that best expresses this feeling, although it's a rude way of speaking: I get sooo pissed off when people disrespect me!(this last one is rude, don't ever use it with your boss, mother or teacher!)

And there are many ways you can tell people to deixar em paz, não encher o saco in English:

Get lost! You're annoying me! 

Don't piss me off! (don't use this one, it's really rude and offensive!)

Get off my back! 

Leave me alone!

Stop pestering me!

for more information on PMS, click on the link below!

http://laaalaaalaaa.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/pms-and-how-to-deal-with-it/

Have a great weekend!

Carmen

MARDI GRAS: CARNIVAL IN THE USA

For those who believe that Carnival is exclusively Brazilian, you should know about Mardi Gras. It's a celebration that happens in the State of Louisiana, and is most famous in New Orleans. Just like in Brazil,  celebration starts about two weeks before the Fat Tuesday (Terça-feira Gorda), the day before the Ash Wednesday (Quarta-feira de Cinzas), and  they have one major parade each day. People wear masks and costumes, just like it used to be in Brazil in the past.

 But the last 5 days are the most important, with larger parades, and with parties and balls in traditional clubs and night clubs. If you believe that naked women in Carnival is also a Brazilian invention... you should take a look at Mardi Gras pictures all over the internet. It's a tradition women showing their breasts, just lifting their shirts as you can see in the poster below:

Oh, yes, Mardi Gras is considered a celebration where everything is permitted... Men can wear women's clothes, people drink a lot, go wild, lose their inhibitions, and ladies show their boobs! Some of them do that to receive  Mardi Gras beads, which are necklaces of different colors. But it's not something they must do, and it happens specifically on Bourbon Street. Look at the picture:

But the music people listen during Mardi Gras isn't samba, of course. They listen to classic jazz, rock, New Orleans Mardi Gras folk music, soul. The lists may be have many types of traditional american music.
 Children also take part in the celebrations, wearing masks and going to parades. Look :

And, if you liked this traditions, you can visit these websites and read more about History, Tradition and the Celebration of Mardi Gras in the USA.
http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/
http://pessoas.hsw.uol.com.br/festival-de-mardi-gras.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/mardi-gras

Happy Mardi Gras!

Carmen