VOCABULARY

Studying vocabulary is certainly one of the best ways to improve your understanding. Still, knowing how to do it is very important.

Suppose you are reading a newspaper article and you come across the sentence "the CONSPICUOUS castle could be seen from miles away."
Damn! What "the hell" does CONSPICUOUS mean???

FIRST STEP: Go to a dictionary (do it online, use two dictionaries to compare). Find the definition of that word.
* conspicuous: very noticeable, attracting attention, obvious.
- She was wearing a conspicuous dress.
- The man tried not to look conspicuous and leave the room.

SECOND STEP: Create your own sentences.
- I would look conspicuous in a group of japanese students.
- He drove a conspicuous car.
- Her pants had a conspicuous blood stain.

THRID STEP: Go back to the context you first found this word in. Check the context again.

FOURTH STEP: The first chance you have, put it into practice.

The process gets even easier and simpler when it comes to practicing concrete words, that is, things you can see or make reference to by pointing.

Someone said: "the turnstile is broken again."

Turnstile???

So, Next time you see a turnstile, repeat it in your mind: TURNSTILE. That's the way you can improve and actually memorize new vocabulary.

Best wishes,

André

BASIC LEARNING

A student needs to remember that the learning process is long and endless. It takes a lot of work and dedication to atually learn how to communicate effectively and fluently in the English language. The first steps are the most important ones. Knowing how to use PRESENT, PAST and FUTURE is crucial to creating a substantial and strong knowledge.

You will find a list of links to basic exercises below:

PAST:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/simple_past_statements.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/simple_past_statements2.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/simple_past_negation_sentences3.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/questions/simple_past.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/was_were.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/was_not_were_not.htm

PRESENT:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/simple_present_statements.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/simple_present_statements2.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/simple_present_negation_sentences3.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/questions/simple_present.htm

FUTURE:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/will_future1.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/will_future2.htm

If you want to remember or need the explanation again, click on the links below:

PAST explanation:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/simple_past_form.htm

PRESENT explanation:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/simple_present_form.htm

FUTURE explanation:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/will_future_form.htm

Best wishes,

André

FALSE COGNATES

False cognates are words that confuse us for looking and sounding the same in both Portuguese and English. Learning vocabulary is basically the key to knowing the right choice.

Take a look at the following example:

A DAY AT WORK
In the morning I attended a meeting between management and union representatives. The discussion was very comprehensive, covering topics like working hours, days off, retirement age, etc. Both sides were interested in an agreement and ready to compromise. The secretary recorded everything in the notes. Eventually, they decided to set a new meeting to sign the final draft of the agreement.
Back at the office, a colleague of mine asked me if I had realized that the proposed agreement would be partially against the company policy not to accept workers that have already retired. I pretended to be really busy and late for an appointment, and left for the cafeteria. Actually, I didn't want to discuss the matter at that particular moment because there were some strangers in the office.
After lunch I attended a lecture given by the mayor, who is an expert in tax legislation and has a graduate degree in political science. He said his government intends to assist welfare programs and senior citizens, raise funds to improve college education and build a public library, and establish tougher limits on vehicle emissions because he assumes this is what the people expect from the government.

ATTEND = take part

REALIZE = perceive, notice, understand

PRETEND = suppose, act falsely

There are other false cognates in the text above. Find and look them up in a dictionary in order to distinguish their uses.

Try the following quiz: http://www.esoeonline.org/main-index/index-exercises/vocabexs/falsefriends/ffe.htm

Best wishes,

André