Keep walking

Hello Friends, what's up? Today, I'd like to introduce another great student of mine. His name is Leandro de Carvalho Sarmento and he's been studying with me for a couple of years now. His efforts and willpower have been an example of perseverance to me and now I think it's gonna be for you all too. Even though obstacles have come in his way, he's never let them put him down and has never given up studying English.

He's in book 2A and this is his composition:

"My name is Leandro Sarmento. I was born in Sao Paulo and I am married. I started studying in Senai by the age of 14 and, at the same time, started my professional life in Mechanics. I graduated as a mechanical engineer in Unicsul in the year of 2001 and started to work in the Purchasing Department as a technical purchaser. Currently, I work as a teacher in Senai, where I give classes of Mechanical Technical Drawing, Mathematics Applied in Mechanics and Measurement Control. I have studied English with Teacher Marcelo for two years, where I started to enjoy the language. I like his methods because he stimulates the student to want more and more".

My breakfast

I barely woke up and have already learned a new word. Check it out:

QUAGMIRE - 1. A DIFFICULT OR COMPLICATED SITUATION

2. AN AREA OF SOFT WET MUDDY GROUND

The original sentence I saw was : " 10 reasons superpowers get stuck in quagmires".

Killing a giant a day!

Hey guys, here I am again. For those who kept checking this blog for updates, my sincere apologies. It's hard to live in Sao Paulo and have a million things to do..lol That should be no excuse, though.

I'd like to tell my students that the "5-Min activity" has been a great success so far, making me proud of you all. Fabio, Henrique, Ricardo, Renan, Ruiz - Congrats for the results!

I have also learned a lot with the songs I play to my students. Suffice to say this will never stop. There will always be something new to learn, especially when you listen to Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam or Chilli Peppers songs, or read Newsweek Magazine. There's a Giant to kill a day!!!

But that's it, if you want to be a black belt on this and let the old "the book is on the table" aside.

Sometimes I think spending 6 months in London or LA would do wonders to the way I think the language, don't you guys think?

By the way, Jucelia, have a good trip to the States. See you in three months and enjoy your stay!

LONDON CALLING

Hello guys, what's up?

Sorry for taking so long to write here. This has been a heck of a semester!

I would like to tell you all that in no time there will be a new blog where you can be inspired from. A great friend of mine called Fabio who happens to be an English teacher too, has this new blog in partnership with me where you can find even greater things compared to this one.

There's also the thing that there will be two people writing and publishing all the time, so keep on checking. I'll let you all know as soon as everything's set.

Regards,

Marcelo.

Aventuras na Terra do Tuin Tuin Tchun Klain..rs

Oi amigos e familia,
Me perdoem os alunos que esperam ler em Ingles, mas preciso escrever na lingua mae devido aos familiares esperando pra saber como as coisas estao.
Tudo por aqui e muito novo e muito bonito para mim. As paisagens sao coisas que eu so costumava ver em filmes, e poder estar aqui e comprovar tudo que sempre ouvi atraves de alunos e amigos, definitivamente NAO TEM PRECO.
Desde o dia que cheguei, parece que tenho andado nas nuvens. Os carros, casas e pessoas sao totalmente diferentes do Brasil. Sem contar que o alemao e uma linguazinha complicada...simplesmente nao consigo pegar uma so palavra do que falam. Meu amigo Nero e eu, acabamos aprendendo algumas coisas devido ao tempo que estamos aqui, tipo auzgang (SAIDA) e EINBAH (mao unica). Posso tb incluir a palavra DANKE (Obrigado) na historia.
Viena e um espetaculo. Que lugar maravilhoso. Nunca vi uma cidade ter tantas opcoes de transporte que VIena. Ha metros, trens urbanos, mini trens, bondes, metros que vc so compra um bilhete e roda pelos menos tres dias direto. Nao ha catracas, eles confiam na boa indole das pessoas.
Eu e o Edgard temos rodado muito por aqui. Ha dias em que acordamos as 7:00 e rodados das 8:00 ate 20:00 da noite sem parar.
Hoje estamos numa cidade no interior da Austria chamada INNSBRUCK. Por falar em hoje, lembrei do tio Vado, pois visitamos um castelo fortaleza numa cidade chamada SAlzburg. QUe incrivel, sem contar que ontem, pela primeira vez eu tive contato com a neve. Isso fica pra minha historia. Hoje tb visitamos uma estacao de esqui aqui em ZELL AM SEE e ficamos de boca aberta com tanta neve.. Fazia 5 graus la em cima, o que para a Austria e quase calor.
Tivemos uns pequenos contratempos nessa pista, mas vou deixar essa historia pra proxima postagem.
Me perdoem as pessoas que estao esperando pra ver as fotos que eu prometi, mas as melhores delas estao sendo tiradas atraves da camera do Edgard, e ele se esqueceu do cabo pra ligar no computador. Internet tem sido dificil aqui tb. Hoje estamos num hotel que tem um micro exclusivo pra isso, mas ate entao nao haviamos tido uma oportunidade dessas.
De qualquer forma, acho que valera a pena esperar pra ver. Assim que eu chegar ao Brasil, coloco tudo na internet, inclusive os videos que temos feito.
To com saudades de todos vcs ai, alunos, amigos e familia. Essa e a unica parte que acho ruim de tudo isso, a distancia de vcs.
Se tiverem a oportunidade, viajem....Isso aqui muda a vida de vcs.
Amanha seguiremos para MUNCHEN, ou Munique, na Alemanha.
AInda tem Republica Checa, Berlim (Alemanha de novo) e finalmente LONDRES, Inglaterra.
Aguardem e obrigado pelo Carinho.
Marcelo.

Galera, ja to na Austria..
Aqui tudo é muito loko e eu to podre de canceira...Voei durante doze horas pra Frankfurt e mais 2 para Vienna. Nao pude colocar fotos ainda, mas farei assim que possivel.
Beijo pra mae, pai, familia e minha tranquerinha favorita Tali....
Saudades de vcs já...
TUdo aqui e muito diferente...ate esse teclado ta em alemao.... se nao fosse o Ingles estariamos perdidos...
Abraco a vcs

Long time no see

Guys, How have you all been?

I know it's been quite a while since I last wrote, but things have been crazy lately.

With all those texts to read and the trip preparation (yeah...the day is coming...), I just couldn't find some time to catch up.

Well, I'd like to start with an article on one of my students. He has written a very good compositon (mistakes may be found, but that's exactly the way I wanted it to be published, cause he's a low intermediate student and, mistakes are pretty common on that phase). So, there you go and, CONGRATULATIONS HENRIQUE!

- Hello Marcelo, how have you been?

" Dear Robson,

How have you been? We last saw each other at our high school graduation. What have you done since then? I’ve finished my college, and then I’m engineer now. I’ve already started to make an other college since this year and I’ve studied very much, also I have started to study English too, but I haven’t spoken very well yet. How about your English, have you studied a lot lately? Ah, I’ve already got my drive’s license. How about you, have you ever gotten your drive’s license? Have you bought a car? I haven’t yet. I’ve worked since 2007 and I’ve gotten a promotion and this has helped me to earn some money to buy my own car. Next year I was thinking to go to abroad to improve my English. Do you want to help me plan my exchange? You have traveled a lot, right? "

"Henrique Silva" is a student of the Intechange 1, level B series.

A very focused and down-to-earth student, eager to learn and totally hardworking.