I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink...

The Super Teacher is taking a few days off.

I'll probably be back on January 10th.

All the best!

XOXO

It's raining again, oh no!

Someone invites you to do something, you can't go, but would like to do it some other time. What can you say?

You can say: I'll take a rain check on that one.

Muitas expressões tem origens obscuras, mas a dessa é bem simples, até.

Antigamente, quando chovia, devido às condições dos gramados, os jogos (se não me engano de baseball) eram cancelados, mas quem havia pago a entrada ganhava um vale para assistir ao jogo quando fosse possível, ou seja, they took a rain check!

Anything you want, you got it!

To run an errand: sair para fazer algo rápido, como compras ou pagar contas.

I don't care if Monday's blue...

This is a very simple hint (dica) that I hope helps.

If you get confused with Tuesday and Thursday (for speakers of Portuguese that happens quite often) remember this: Tuesday is the SECOND day of the week, it's day number TWO, so "2sday".

Everybody in the whole cell block was dancing to the jailhouse rock!

It's just the first page of a story, but Scott C is so cool you just gotta check it!

When you close your eyes and go to sleep...

REM

Rapid Eye Movement, or Movimento Rápido do Olho.

É um dos estágios do sono, aquele em que os sonhos acontecem. Quer entender o porquê disso? Peça para alguém, de olhos fechados, movimentar os olhos pra esquerda e pra direita.

You could try it yourself, but I'm not so sure that'd work. ;-)

My friend's got a girlfriend and he hates that bitch...

Job vs Work

Muitos confundem as duas palavras, so let me see if I can help.

Job, normalmente, é emprego.
I have a job.
Why don't you get a job?

Work, normalmente, é trabalho.
We have work to do.
Where does she work?

Pode ajudar se pensarmos que, mesmo quem tem um job pode passar o dia sem work.

Two hearts beating in just one mind...

Present.

Como tu pronunciou a palavra acima? /présent/ ou /prisênt/?

And which one is correct?

Well, that depends.

If we're talking about the noun (substantivo) the correct pronunciation is /présent/, but if we mean the verb, surprise, surprise, the correct/prisênt/.

 The same goes for many words such as record (/récord/ and /ricórd/) or export (/éxport/ or /expórt/).
The Super Teacher, helping you tame (domar) the pronunciation monster!

Roxane, you don't have to wear that dress tonight!

Serve!

Sabe quando a gente precisa de algo mas não acha, daí encontramos algo que pode substituir aquilo?

É deste tipo de "servir" que tô falando.

And the expression is "will do".

THere's no need for you to say you're sorry, godbye...

Hi!

Did you know you can read Turma da Mônica in English?

All you got to do is click HERE!

And here is a sample of what you'll find there:

You know my name, look up the number!

Ramones!

Everyone in the band was a fan of The Beatles (well, who isn't?) and they'd heard a story that Paul McCartney, whenever he checked in a hotel, would say his name was Paul Ramone, so the punks decided to adopt this last name as theirs.

There we go, nice and simple, right?

"Never again" is what you swore the time before!

Frequency Adverbs

Always, often, never, usually... no problem there, I guess.

But there's something that might be good to know, and that's how important the verb BE is.

Yeah, the infamous to be. Who'd ever have thought of that?

Frequency adverbs are usually "more important than the verb", and by that I mean they should be placed before the verb:

I usually read something to sleep.

I never walk my dog, 'cause I don't have one.

They always try, but never win.

But when you have the big cheese (chefão) BE around, make sure it goes first:

I am usually listening to music.

She is always trying to be nice.

Click HERE for a simple exercise.

This is the end, beautiful friend

TH

Muitas pessoas tem dificuldade de pronunciar palavras com TH.

Bom,talvez essas dicas ajudem.

Primeiro de tudo: existem duas pronúncias, o famoso "dã" e o não tão conhecido "di" (procure por TH/TH nesta lista), e as pronúncias são diferentes por uma questão de praticidade linguística.

Lembra da regra para saber se o artigo que antecede a palavra é A ou AN? Ela vale aqui também.

You pronounce /dã/ before consonant sounds and /di/ before vowel sounds.

Listen to the first verse (1:18) of this The Doors song for the correct pronunciation of the end: 

E para brasileiros, a pronúncia correta não é fácil de fazer, mas é possível. Imaginem o Lula falando palavras como sopa, sapo, salada, semente. Esse S "de cobra" é a maneira correta de pronunciar palvras como think, through ou thrust.

Agora, se imaginarmos o Lula falando do mesmo jeito palavras em que o s como gostosa tem som de z  (raposa, lustroso, caseira) teremos a pronuncia correta para palavras como there, this, although.

If you have any questions, please, watch this video class with the awesome Dave Sconda:

Money is the root of all evil!

In the US, coins have nicknames.

Of course you can call them one cent, 5 cents, 10 cents, 25 cents and everybody's going to know what you mean but... e se te perguntam Got a dime?

Pois é, então, para não ficar boiando na hora de pegar as moedas, e para não te lograrem, vamos dar nomes aos bois.

1 cent: penny

5 cents: nickel

10 cents: dime

25 cents: quarter

50 cent (as far as I know this one doesn't have a nickname)

There's currently no US$1.00 being used coin in the USA, but there used to be.

They're called silver dollars, and some people even collect them.

Just one look, that's what it took!

More Kawaii Not HERE!

Girls who love boys who love girls

The Smiths

-Duh, Smith is a last name, there's no story there!

-Well, there might be! Smith é, até onde sei, o sobrenome mais comum da língua inglesa, seria o equivalente a chamar uma banda de Os Silvas (coisa que já fizeram. Os Silvas tocam surf music, se não me engano).

-Tá, é isso, então. Uma piadinha pra dizer que os integrantes da banda são pessoas comuns? Porque eu sei que que nenhum tem Smith no nome.

-Mmmkay, podemos ir mais longe do que isso. A origem de muitos sobrenomes vem da profissão que os antepassados das pessoas exerciciam, e Smith é o mais coringa de todos, neste quesito. Arrowsmith, por exemplo, era o sujeito que fazia flechas. Blacksmith era um ferreiro.

Smith, então, era um sufixo para designar uma profissão.

And, as it's usual on Fridays, let's listen to some music!

Don't stop the music!

Start vs Begin

That's a tough one!

Dificilmente a pessoa vai responder sem hesitar qual a diferença entre os dois verbos, já que ambos significam começar ou iniciar.

Basically, they're synomyns, and can be used interchangeably, but there are some differences.

To start pode significar dar a partida, ou seja, ligar um aparelho ou um veículo (There's something wrong with the engine, I can't start the car!) e nesse caso, to begin não funcionaria.

Another thing is, we always start a journey.

To start off  é um phrasal verb, e significa rir, ou fazer alguém rir. (The way he  dances always starts me off)

Mas lembra que começo, o substantivo, é sempre beginning.

E um principiante, alguém com pouca experiência, é sempre um beginner.

Now, as usual, there's always one or two expressions that are collocations, which means they are spoken that way and that's it.

Now, more important than anything: PRACTICE!!!

Don't stop till you get enough!

A few vs Few

Before I start you should know that this topic could follow the any vs some talk we've had, mmmkay? Now, let's get down to business!

Grammarwise, they're both correct. A diferença está na mensagem que queremos passar.

Se eu digo I have a few friends meus amigos não são numerosos, mas eu não me importo com isso. Qualidade x quantidade, blá-blá-blá!

Agora, se minha frase for I have few friends, bom, mimimi! Eu sou muito solitário, quero mais amiguinhos no meu Orkut!

Now, seriously, a few has a positive conotation. It's not much, but it's enough. And the opposite is true for few.

BTW (by the way, ou à propósito), same holds true for little or a little.

Get your kicks on Route 66

Almost ten years ago I got an email with names of cities in RS translated to English. I remember some of them were great and decided to rewrite that list, just for kicks (só por diversão).

The original idea is not mine, though. Unfortunately!

Agua Santa  Water Fag
Agudo  High Pitched
Alegrete  Little Happy
Alegria  Happiness
Alto Alegre  Tall gay man
Alto Feliz  Tall happy man
Alvorada  Dawn
Andre da Rocha  Rock’s Andrew
Anta Gorda  Stupid Fat Person
Arroio Grande  Big Creek
Arroio do Meio  Middle Creek
Arroio do Sal  Salt Creek
Arroio do Tigre  Tiger Creek
Arroio dos Ratos  Rats’ Creek
Arvorezinha  Little Tree
Augusto Pestana  August Nap
Barao do Triunfo  Victory’s Baron
Barra Funda  Deep Bar
Barracao  Big Cottage
Boa Vista das Missoes  Good View of the Missions
Bom Principio  Good Beginning
Bom Retiro do Sul  South’s Good Removal
Cacequi  Hunt Here
Cachoeirinha  Little Waterfall
Caicara  I fell, dude
Campo Bom  Good Field
Candelaria  Chandelier
Candido Godoi  Sweet Godoy
Canela  Shin
Canoas  Canoes
Carahá Face There Is
Carazinho  Little Guy
Caseiros  Homemades
Caxias do Sul  Nerd of the South
Centenario  100th Anniversary
Chapada  Stoned
Charrua  Tea Street
Chuvisca  It Rains a Little
Condor  With Pain
Coxilha  Thigh Island
Crissiumal  Grew Up Bad
Cruz Alta  High Cross
David Canabarro  David Bamboomud
Derrubadas  Droppeds
Dois Irmaos  Two Brothers
Dom Pedrito  Gift Little Peter
Encantado  Nice to Meet You
Engenho Velho  Old Engine
Entre Rios do Sul  Between Rivers of the South
Espumoso Foamy
Estancia Velha Old Ranch
Faxinal do Soturno  Cleaning of the Creepy Guy
Faxinalzinho  Little Cleaning
Feliz  Happy
Formigueiro  Ant Hill
Gentil  Kind
Glorinha  Little Glory
Gramado  Lawn
Gravatai  Tie There
Harmonia  Everything in Balance
Humaita  One And That’s It
Ibiraiaras  And Beer, Iaras
Ibirapuita  And Beer for Ethan
Igrejinha  Little Church
Irai  To Go There
Itaqui  And It’s Here
Ivoti  And I’ll ... you
Jari  I already Laughed
Joia  Neat
Lagoao  Big Lagoon
Linha Nova  New Line
Machadinho  Little Axe
Marata  Sea To Tie
Marau  Sea Dog Bark
Mata  Kill
Mato Castelhano  I Kill Spaniards
Mato Leitao  I Kill Baby Pigs
Minas do Leao  Lion’s Chicks
Monte Alegre dos Campos  Happy Hill of the Fields
Monte Belo do Sul  Pretty Hill of the South
Montenegro  Black Hill
Mormaco  Cloudy But Hot
Morro Redondo  I Die Really Fat
Muitos Capoes  Many Guys Without Balls
Nao-Me-Toque  Don’t Touch Me
Nonoai  No, There Isn’t
Nova Prata  New Silver
Novo Barreiro  New Mud Spot
Osorio  Wow, I Just Laugh
Parai  Stop There
Pareci Novo  I Looked Young
Passa Sete  Seven Pass
Passo Fundo  Deep Step
Passo do Sobrado   Step of the Leftover
Pelotas Balls
Poco das Antas   Stupid Girls’ Well
Pontao  Big Joint Leftover
Portao  Big Door
Porto Alegre  Gay Harbor
Porto Maua  Bad There Is Harbor
Porto Vera Cruz  See the Cross Harbor
Quarai  Bleach There
Rio Grande  I Laugh Big
Rio dos Indios  I Laugh at the Indians
Riozinho  I Laugh a Little
Sao Nicolau  Santa Claus
Sao Valentim  Little Brave Saint
Sao Valerio do Sul  Saint Worth a River of the South
Sede Nova  New Thirst
Segredo  Confidential
Senador Salgado Filho  Salty Son Senator
Sentinela do Sul  I Felt it in Her of the South
Serafina Correa  It Will Be a Thin Chain
Serio  Really
Sobradinho  Little Leftover
Tapera  Ok, Wait
Tapes  Thou Shalt Cover

Taquara  Bamboo
Tramandai  Planning There
Travesseiro  Pillow
Tres Coroas  Three Old People
Triunfo  Victory
Vacaria  Laugh, Bitch
Vale Real  It’s Worth Real
Vera Cruz To See the Cross
Viadutos  Overpasses
Viamao  I Saw the Hand

Rip it out, take my heart!

Kaz again, ladies and gentlemen.