Don't Be Lemming!

Hello Guys!

This one is very interesting so think about it!

Have fun and learn a lot!

Marisol Ferraz.

Greeting Customs Around the World.

Hi there! I'm back. Here goes some interesting data for you!

There’s an amazing diversity of greeting customs around the world. In Tibet sticking out your tongue can be a way of welcoming people. In New Zealand, Maori greet each other by touching noses. Ethiopian men touch shoulders, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, male friends touch foreheads. In many Asian countries, people bow to each other when meeting. And in some European countries, as well as Arab countries, hugs or kisses on the cheek are more the norm. While this wasn’t always true, the most common physical way to greet people around the world is now the handshake.

It’s become so ubiquitous that you may never have thought about why people shake hands. The history of the handshake dates back to the 5th century B.C. in Greece. It was a symbol of peace, showing that neither person was carrying a weapon. During the Roman era, the handshake was actually more of an arm grab. It involved grabbing each other’s forearms to check that neither man had a knife hidden up his sleeve. Some say that the shaking gesture of the handshake started in Medieval Europe. Knights would shake the hand of others in an attempt to shake loose any hidden weapons.

While handshaking is still the most ubiquitous greeting around the world, it may be losing ground in the US. The fist bump was, until recently, a gesture mostly used by athletes and young people. Now it’s becoming more and more common among everyone, including older people. Even the President of the United States is a fan of the fist bump. According to one survey, forty nine percent of Americans sometimes choose the fist bump over a traditional handshake greeting. The fist bump, made by making a fist and lightly touching knuckles, may be a more fashionable greeting, but for many it’s a pragmatic choice. Many survey participants said they preferred the fist bump because they were afraid of catching germs by shaking hands. How do people greet each other in your country? Is the fist bump catching on where you live?

Professional Fist Bumping

That's it, enjoy it!

Marisol Ferraz.

Very Interesting

Can the language you speak make you healthier?

Aprender Inglês e descobrir mais sobre o mundo ao mesmo tempo é divertido! Faça o exercício proposto no link abaixo e aumente sua capacidade intelectual agora mesmo!

http://deepenglish.com/2013/09/can-the-language-you-speak-make-you-healthier-listening-fluency-75/

Open your mind!
Marisol Ferraz.

Seven Colours of the Rainbow

 

 

7 Colours of the Rainbow

Have you ever seen a rainbow? Sometimes when the sun is
shining and it is rainy somewhere at the same time, you can
see a rainbow. It's a huge arch of colours in the sky. It's
caused by the light from the sun being broken up by water
droplets in the atmosphere. The sun's light is "white", but
the water droplets break it up into seven different colours,
always in this order:

RED

ORANGE

YELLOW

GREEN

BLUE

INDIGO

VIOLET

There is an easy way to remember them (a mnemonic):
- Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain

These colours are the "visible" part of the sun's radiation.
But there are many other parts that are not visible to the
human eye. For example:
- immediately below red is "infraRED"
- immediately beyond violet is "ultraVIOLET" (UV)

Word Checker
------------
arch: a curved symmetrical structure
atmosphere: the air
colour (British English) color (American English)
droplet: a very small drop of liquid
infra: below
mnemonic: a device or trick to aid the memory
ultra: beyond
http://www.englishclub.com

 

 

Keep Learning!

Marisol Ferraz.



The Practice of Gratitude.

 

 

 

Did you know that keeping a journal of what you are grateful for can increase your happiness levels?

Find out more in the newest listening fluency lesson:
http://deepenglish.com/2013/09/the-happiness-of-gratitude-listening-fluency-77/

Enjoy the lesson, then talk about it in English with your friends.

Keep Happy!

Marisol Ferraz.

Day and Night - Seven times of the day.

This diagram shows the cycle of a 24-hour day and the words we use to describe its parts. The day starts at midnight (at the bottom of the diagram).

There are 24 hours in a day. The day is divided into "day(time)" and "night(-time)". Daytime is from sunrise (this varies, but we can say approximately 6am) to sunset (we can say approximately 6pm). Night-time is from sunset to sunrise.

Every day starts precisely at midnight. AM (Ante-Meridiem = before noon) starts just after midnight. PM (Post-Meridiem=after noon) starts just after midday. This means that 12am and 12pm have no meaning.

 

That's it!

Marisol Ferraz.

 

 

Learning Engine

 

 

Find out new tools to increase your learning skills by watching the video in the link below.

 

http://learnrealenglish.com/english-learning-engine

 

 

Keep Learning!

Marisol Ferraz

Do You Really Need Food To Survive?

Very Interesting!

 

 

Practice your listening and get information on something new!

 

http://deepenglish.com/2013/08/do-you-really-need-food-to-survive/

That's it!
Marisol Ferraz.

Measurement.

Here are 7 systems of measurement for things like time,
distance and money.






1. TIME

1000 milliseconds = 1 second (sec)
60 seconds = 1 minute (min)
60 minutes = 1 hour (hr)
24 hours = 1 day
7 days = 1 week (wk)
28, 30 or 31 days = 1 month (mth)
12 months = 1 year (yr)
365 days = 1 year
BUT every 4th year = 366 days (a leap year)

Also note:
52 weeks = 1 year (approximately)

People often use the following terms:
48 hours (2 days)
72 hours (3 days)

2. DISTANCE
There are two systems for measuring distance in the English-
speaking world:

a) metric
10 millimetres (mm) = 1 centimetre (cm)
100 centimetres = 1 metre (m)
1000 metres = 1 kilometre (km)

b) imperial/US
12 inches (in) = 1 foot (ft)
3 feet = 1 yard (yd) (approximately 1 metre)
1760 yards = 1 mile (approximately 1.6 km)

3. AREA
Area is the extent of a surface. It is 2-dimensional. Area
is often expressed using the word "square" + the distance.
For example, if a room is 10 metres long and 5 metres wide,
it is 50 square metres (50 sq. m). But we can also use the
distance + the figure 2. Then we would write 50m2.

Here are two examples:

My table is 3 metres long x 2 metres wide:
area = 6 sq.m, or
area = 6m2

My town is 3 miles x 4 miles:
area = 12 sq. miles

We often measure the area of land using:
hectare = 10,000 square metres
acre = 4,840 square yards

Warning!
There is a difference between "square metres" and "metres
square". If my room is 10 feet x 10 feet, it is 100 square
feet but 10 feet square. We can only say this when the
length and the width are the same.

4. VOLUME
Volume is the amount of space occupied by an object or
enclosed in a container. It is 3-dimensional. Volume is
often expressed using the word "cubic" + the distance. For
example, if a room is 5 metres long, 3 metres wide and
3 metres high, it is 45 cubic metres (45 cu. m). But we can
also use the distance + the figure 3. So we write 45m3.

Other measurements of volume are:
- 1000 cubic centimetres (cc) = 1 litre (L or l)
- gallon (approx. 4.6 litres in UK, approx. 3.8 liters in US)

We use litres to talk about fluids like drinks and petrol.
We also use gallons to talk about petrol and other fluids.


5. SPEED
Speed is a measurement that combines distance, quantity,
volume etc AND time. Common ways of talking about the speed
of a car, for example, are:
- 50 miles per hour (50mph)
- 50 kilometres per hour (50kph)

We also use the symbol / when talking about speed:
- 50 people/hour (50 people per hour)
- 1000 l/hr (1000 litres per hour)

6. WEIGHT
There are two systems to measure how heavy something is:

a) metric
1000 grams (g) = 1 kilogram (kg)
1000 kilograms = 1 metric ton (metric tonne)

b) imperial/US
16 ounces (oz) = 1 pound (lb)
14 pounds = 1 stone (British)
100 pounds = 1 hundredweight (cwt)*
20 hundredweights = 1 ton*

*There is a slight difference between British and US
hundreweights and tons. For more detail, see:
http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/weights-measures.htm



7. MONEY
Most countries use a basic monetary unit (for example the
dollar) divided into 100 fractional units (example cents).
They use a combination of paper money (banknotes or notes)
and metal money (coins).

Here are some examples from the world's major currencies:

USA: American Dollar (USD or $)
1 dollar = 100 cents

UK: British Pound (GBP or £)
1 pound = 100 pence

European Union: Euro (EUR)
1 euro = 100 cents

Japan: Japanese Yen (JPY)
1 yen = 100 sen (not used today)

Switzerland: Swiss Franc (CHF)
1 franc = 100 centimes

For a longer list of currencies, see:
http://www.englishclub.com/business-english/money-currencies.htm

Tip!
Words like metre and litre are spelled differently in the
UK and US. The British write metre, kilometre, litre etc.
The Americans write meter, kilometer, liter etc.


That's it!
Marisol Ferraz.

The word continent.

 

Hello!

7 Continents

There are 7 continents.

The word "continent" comes from the Latin "terra continens",
meaning "continuous land".

Like countries, continents are proper nouns. That means they
are "names" and the first letter must be a CAPITAL letter.
Even for the adjective, the first letter is always a capital:

Continent: Africa
Adjective: African
Person: an African

Continent: Asia
Adjective: Asian
Person: an Asian

Continent: Australia
Adjective: Australian
Person: an Australian

Continent: Europe
Adjective: European
Person: a European

Continent: North America
Adjective: North American
Person: a North American

Continent: South America
Adjective: South American
Person: a South American

Continent: Antarctica
Adjective: Antarctic
Person: -

Isn't it strange? We have a word for somebody who comes from
the planet Mars (a Martian), but there is no word for
somebody who comes from Antarctica!

You'll find more about continents and countries at:http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/world-continents.htm

 

That's it. See you soon!

Marisol Ferraz.
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