Hi guys, what's up?

First of all, I have to apologize for the long time I don't come here. I have been studying and working a lot these days and there are so many things to do that I stayed too much time without stopping by. Anyway, I miss you all!

Well, yesterday was the Friend's Day here in Brazil. Is there a separated date for friends where you live?

Here in my country people celebrate this day text messaging, giving their friends some gifts, hanging out together... there are many things we can do. I saw that most of people were on Facebook sending and receiving messages during the day. 

When I arrived at work yesterday, there was a glass full of chocolate bars, cookies and candies for me on my table. My boss, a great friend we all have there, put one of that on each of my colleagues' tables. It was really nice. And we also made a surprise for her! We bought a beautiful flower and wrote some messages around her room saying nice things about/to her. We have a good work enviroment because she is a really nice boss/friend.

What about you? Do you have an interesting friend's day story to tell us?

Looking forward to read it!

See you!

Hi everyone!

I would like to invite you all to take part in a research I have done with English students from My English Club about the English learning process. So, please, just answer this questionnaire, if possible.

Thanks in advance,

Joyce Fettermann.

Well, I remember that on September 11th, 2001 I was at school. I was 13 years old and I had heard some teachers talking about something strange. I didn't know what had happened, so some friends and I asked our teacher and she said that planes were attacking the World Trade Center in the USA. In fact, I didn't realize what it was, but I knew something serious was happening. Then, when I arrived home I saw the images on TV and got kind of scared. I felt really bad seeing all those people suffering, everything falling and every channel was showing that.

My most memorable moments from that day were all the people talking about that and the planes crashing with the buildings. That was uncredible.

Here in Brazil, since the beginning of the month, reporters have talked about that day and showed a lot of videos on TV. Americans have been afraid of a new attack but I think that if the terrorists were planning this again, they would not do it when everybody was awaiting. Just an opinion.

Hello guys,

Doing some researches, I saw a very long word in English on the Internet and had the curiosity of asking if you know a longer one. Here it comes... Neuropsychopharmacology. Really long, uh?

So, have you ever seen a word like this in English? If so, I would love to read it! Share it with us!

Take care,

Joyce.

Hello everyone!

This blog is going to be special...

I would like to invite all my friends here to exchange their learning experiences. How did you get to My English Club? What have you learnt here? Do you usually have lots of help from your contacts? Who are they: students, teachers or native speakers?

Do you believe MyEC is a place for learning? Why?

So, if you have other things to contribute... I will love to read about them. Feel free to share what you want here. And if you allow me, I'll use your answers in a research I have done about the learning process on My English Club.

Thank you so much!

Joyce.

Hi there!

I would like to share here a nice experience I had in class yesterday with my Elementary III (adults) group. I have taught them about food, some healthy habits, keeping fit and so on, so I thought: "I should invite one of my friends from My English Club to be interviewed by my students...". So, that's what happened. I logged in and saw Martin, from Slovakia, online, then I invited him to participate in an interview activity and he said YES!!! I got very happy, because I wanted to provide something different in my class and my sts would love it!

So, we set up a time and we chose Gmail to talk, through video. My students got so excited during the interview that they asked him what they were supposed to (about food) and continued making other questions, like how old Martin is, things he likes to do, sports, etc...

It really was a good time!

Thanks, Martin, for your attention. We loved that interchange experience!

This week we had a holiday here in Brazil called Carnival. It's a time when people go to parties to sing and dance all nights and days during five days. Each region in the country has a particular way to celebrate it. In Rio de Janeiro, for example, there's a big parade with samba schools, which spend all the year working hard and preparing everything to do a great job. As the parade is a competition among the schools, unfortunately only one wins and gets an excellent prize that (I imagine) is a great amount of money that they use to continue working for the next year.

The winner this time was Beija-flor de Nilópolis that honored Roberto Carlos, a very popular singer here in Brazil had as a king by many. It was a really beautiful party!

In the Northwest it's kind of different, but a celebration too. In large cities like Salvador, Pernambuco, Recife and others, crowds join Carnival following singers and bands among thousands of people in a long route around the city. They enjoy every little second they have there. 

How about in your country? Is there a holiday like this?

Hope to hear you!     

Hello guys,

Have you learnt something new these days? A new word, expression, sound, something new about English Language?

If so, could you share that with us? It would be amazing!

Let's exchange our language experiences so everyone can learn a bit more...

Thank you so much!!!

Joyce.

Advice for students of English in their teens:

Not necessarily in this order!

1. Don't be shy: most of Brazilian students are very shy in the classroom when learning English, and feel insecure because can make mistakes. Be sure that even teachers make mistakes. So, just relax and let's talk!
2. Read and write in English: try to read and write as much as possible in English. E-mails, invitations, news, story books, novels... if you try, you're gonna have good results.
3. Listen to music in English: teens love music! I've always loved to get my headphones to listen to music and sing together. This is a great exercise!
4. Watch movies in English. If it is too hard for you, just put the subtitles in English, so you can read them. I wish I had watched more movies this way when I was younger, it's very good because you practice your listening/reading skills.
5. Play video games in English: I know many people who are fluent and playing video games helped them a lot. If you are a big fan of games, you should do it!
6. Have a learning partner: teens usually have a lot of friends and some of them like to study English. If you have at least one who likes it, ask him/her to practice the language with you, talk in English when you go out, at school and so on.
7. Connect with foreing friends: if you know someone from another country, enjoy the time you have together online to practice!
8. Practice your English on My English Club: this is an excellent place to learn more and put in practice what you already know helping other people. Don't lose this opportunity!
9. Travel abroad. when it is possible, go to a country where you will feel comfortable to speak English. If you travel with friends or family, agree that you will talk only (or most of the time) in English. When you go back home you can speak your mother tongue again.
10. Enjoy the language. When we learn something we want to, it's much better. Love what you do!

Hi friends!

I have given a workshop in the language school where I work and posted some tips on my other blog Teacher's Café.

I would love if you passed by and left a comment!

Thank you so much!!!

Joyce =)

Hi dear friends!

What do you think of talking about our favorite things?

Well... my favorites are:

- People: God, my husband, mom and dad, sister, friends, students...

- Places: my home, the beach, clubs, the church...

- Food: rice and beans, steak, french fries and salad...I would say feijoada too (it's a typical Brazilian food)

- Dessert: lemon pie (delicioouuussss)

- Activities: surfing the web, traveling, watching a good movie, going out...

- Drink: fruit juice.

- Song: Beautiful Day - U2

Would you like to try? I`ll love to hear from you! And if you want to add other things that are not here, feel free!! =)

Cheers,

Joyce.