22/12/2011

THIS IS IT !

Good morning people! Today is very special for me...
It's my last day as a WISE UP teacher and I've decided to post about it! I have been their teacher for more than 3 years and I've never hidden from anyone the most beautiful and the most terrible moments there! It was not always easy, there were days I thought I would kill someone, but I ended up solving most of the problems and overcoming bizarre situations. There were also fantastic days, most of them with fantastic workmates, friends who helped me, teased me and also annoyed me (it's sometimes necessary, I know). I'll never forget the training with many teachers and my future friends Louie, Dani (in Puerto Rico now, married and happy) and Chris (this one has vanished somehow, he's maybe back to his Netherlands), or the day I was hired...Throughout the years, I've met various teachers who were part of my routine, some of those were memorable, like Carol, Little Carol, Victor, Cinthia... some were even better, like Henry, Erica, Beatrix, Walter, Jackie... and some are more than special, like Fran (my sis!), Sann (my nephew!), Sam, Louie (my good brother!), Letícia, Tereza, Rafael, Lulu (my niece!), Sandra, Nathalia and Laís!


Jamais esqueceria das muitas outras pessoas que passaram pela Wise Up e que me ajudaram, com coisas pequenas e grandes, tais como as meninas da recepção, administração e operacional: Danne Levy, Raquel, Priscila, Yanna, Bete, Lud, Lidiane, Cláudia (vulgo Cráudia), Mayra, Helena, Patrícia e Cristina. Além delas, ressalto com enorme prazer a amizade, a camaradagem e os papos de futebol com o grande Ale!


Agradeço também ao franqueado, Jorge Américo, o já folclórico "J", pela oportunidade que me foi dada, sou grato e não me esquecerei.


Para fechar com chave de ouro (with golden keys, como já diria minha coordenadora), exibo em primeira mão o vídeo da entrega das minhas últimas provas corrigidas na WISE UP! Espero que gostem, take a look:




Não vou dizer que é um "até breve", pois se tomei a decisão de sair, foi para me dedicar aos meus projetos pessoais e profissionais, mas vou dizer que Niterói é uma cidade pequena, que não me custará muito passar para um "oi" e para marcar uma cerveja, ou pizza, aqui e acolá.


Thank you for everything,
stay tuned to THE TIME OUT PROJECT, I will be here full time!


Cheers, abraços,


Gustavo Caldas Brito

15/12/2011

ONE FOR THE REAL ADVANCED ENGLISH STUDENTS or TEACHERS...

Woody Allen is one of my biggest inspirations, not so much for his personal life but his PROFESSIONAL success!
So, nothing better than using him to test you guys with a very challenging LISTENING activity:
Watch and PAY ATTENTION to the video. Try to LISTEN to it for at least 3 times, but, BEFOR you do that, read the questions below, so you can focus on what you have to answer!
1)How does he describe his wife?
2)Why did he describe her that way?
3)Why did he say it was also his fault that they got divorced?
4)When they were deciding their lives they had 2 options. What were these options?
5)Why did they choose what they have chosen?
6)What would they need to prove to get a divorce in NY?
7)What did he convince her to do?
Remember that LISTENING is like PHYSICAL EXERCISE...There's no point in doing it once in 3 weeks...IT MUST BE DONE EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!


Good luck and Keep visiting us!

08/12/2011

DESCRIBING YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

Hello people!
Today I have a SPECIAL exercise for BASIC 1 students:


DESCRIBING A NEIGHBORHOOD!


Pay attention: I am going to DESCRIBE the NEIGHBORHOOD using PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE!


In my neighborhood THERE IS a POST OFFICE NEXT TO the FIRE STATION. There is a HOSPITAL BEHIND the SCHOOL and a POLICE STATION IN FRONT OF the BLUE HOUSE. There is a LIBRARY NEAR the SCHOOL too!

I used 4 PREPOSITIONS: NEXT TO - BEHIND - IN FRONT OF - NEAR

Now, THINK about YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD and WRITE a SIMILAR DESCRIPTION, using the 4 PREPOSITIONS!
It is an excellent PRACTICE for TESTS!

Send your DESCRIPTIONS to the email, I correct them:
thetimeoutproject2011@gmail.com

STUDY and HAVE FUN!


07/12/2011

thank you FRAN and SANN!

Good evening everybody!
Tonight is a very different night. Our blog is going under reconfiguration, we are preparing a lot of nice surprises for you to enjoy in 2012 and we expect you to stay with us next year!


2012 brings a lot of changes and with big changes come big responsibilities and big losses too...


You may have noticed that our co-authors, FRAN SARTOR and SANN WYLL, no longer have their photos here. It doesn't mean they're not co-authors anymore, it just means they're going to participate in our posts less frequently, sometimes, now and then, whenever they have the time to it! ;)


FRAN has her personal projects and many different activities going on. As the author of the TIME OUT PROJECT, I was feeling bad for making her even busier than she is, so now, as an occasional co-author, she'll have more time to produce and will not feel pressured to deliver! hehehehehe!


SANN is a young teacher at WISE UP and his professional and personal obligations keep him busy for most of the time. He's also dedicating his time to professional growth and I felt it would be unfair of me to demand posts or videos from him when he is in such an important moment of his life....I am sure that, as an occasional partner, his productions and posts will be even better, because they'll be produced whenever he can and not under pressure!!!!ahahaha!


FRAN and SANN are much more than co-authors for me, they're my SISTER and my NEPHEW, my good friends and brilliant co-workers! I hope they keep producing here with me, posting videos, sharing ideas and making me feel lucky to have them onboard!


Thank you guys, I hope we can record many CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN with FRAN SARTOR and CHRONICLES FROM MY SHAVING CREAM with SANN WYLL in 2012!


CHEERS!


GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO

29/11/2011

REVIEWING MODAL VERBS!

What's up guys??
December is coming and with it many students will be tested in english. Today, our post is an opportunity for INTERMEDIATE students who are desperate because of MODAL VERBS!

The most famous are CAN & COULD
They express POSSIBILITY, ABILITY...
Check the video:

WOULD is a modal verb that expresses hypothetical situations,
it is a reference to something ideal but not real...
Let's watch the video?


If you are looking for a modal verb to give suggestions, SHOULD is the perfect one for you, since it expresses ADVICE!
The video gives you another chance to understand it:




Next Thursday I will post more videos about MODAL VERBS for INTERMEDIATE students! Stick around!!!
Cheers

23/11/2011

ENGLISH vs EMBROMATION - Featuring Mr. Adriano Rougemont!

Good afternoon everybody!!!
We have been talking about fluency lately and today we continue discussing the topic...But in a very different way!
THE TIME OUT PROJECT 2011 is pleased to feature ADRIANO ROUGEMONT, also known as the "Brazilian Ewok"drunk and singing JEREMY, from the grunge band PEARL JAM!
Why did I decide to post it? Well, first of all, I laugh my ass off listening to it. Secondly, it reminds us of how important it is not to EMBROMATE, but how nice it is to try to imitate the sounds and the intonation! Finally, ADRIANO's bizarre interpretation helps us understand how important it is to dedicate time to learning english properly!
Check it out:



ENJOY!!!!!!

21/11/2011

WHAT IS FLUENCY ABOUT?

Good evening guys!
As you may have noticed, this last month things got slower here at THE TIME OUT PROJECT...We have been working a lot to prepare many surprises and new video series for you to study, so we are saving the posts for a better moment. However, we will continue posting here, as frequently as possible, so keep visiting us! We will have a retrospective week with many videos about VERB FORMS and MODAL VERBS, so if you are going to have tests by the end of the year, stay tuned!
Today we keep looking at FLUENCY. I have prepared this animation for you to understand what kind of ingredients you need to develop a good level of fluency. If you need help with different exercises and some state-of-art techniques to learn english, don't hesitate! Send us an email: thetimeoutproject2011@gmail.com


Take a look at the animation:

REMEMBER: THE TIME OUT PROJECT is also an ENGLISH COURSE! We are preparing the SCHEDULE for 2012 and if you're interested in PRIVATE or SMALL GROUP CLASSES, contact us by email or call us! The phone number is on the top of our BLOG!
Cheers!!!

15/11/2011

IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?

Good morning everyone!!!
First of all, I'd like to apologize for being absent lately, the last months of 2011 have been crazy for me, with plenty to do, so I was away from the blog for a week or two. But I'm back, and today I'm back with a question: IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?
This is for all of you, english students seeking for the HOLY GRAIL:
F L U E N C Y
The next videos expose different levels of it, choose the one you want and study for it!


have fun!!!!!!!

04/11/2011

Teaching kids...

Hello again guys!
I am back here to talk to you about some recent experiences I'm going through lately: TEACHING KIDS!
Most of you know me teaching adults, but I also teach 7 to 11 year-old kids (boys and girls)...both English and French.
I had to prepare totally different strategies to make my teaching work with them and one of the videos that inspired me was this one here:
As a teacher and as a future father (god knows when, but it'll happen one day), I'm concerned about how to reach kids, because
if I can manage it, I can manage pretty much everything!
If you have kids or if you are a teacher out there, looking for tips, don't forget to become a follower of our blog here or to follow TED.COM!
Thank you and have a nice weekend!!!!

31/10/2011

TIME OUT LIVE! TIME OUT LIVE? YEAH! CHECK IT OUT!

Hey! What's up guys???
E aí galera, tudo bem???
If you read the title and had problems to understand, let me explain it to you: By DECEMBER 2011, I am going to launch TIME OUT LIVE, my own ENGLISH PROGRAM for BASIC, INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED students!
Se você leu o título e teve problemas para entender, deixe-me explicar direitinho: A partir de DEZEMBRO de 2011, estarei lançando TIME OUT LIVE, meu próprio PROGRAMA de AULAS de INGLÊS para alunos de nível BÁSICO, INTERMEDIÁRIO e AVANÇADO!
The idea is to provide SPECIAL TAILOR MADE classes, connecting the exercises to my students personal interests, creating and using NEW techniques to develop the most important LANGUAGE SKILLS. My objective is to show you how easy and funny english can be. 
A idéia é fornecer AULAS SOB MEDIDA, conectando os exercícios aos interesses pessoais dos alunos, criando e usando NOVAS técnicas para desenvolver as habilidade LINGUÍSTICAS mais importantes. Meu objetivo é mostrar o quão fácil e divertido pode ser o inglês.
As you might know (or may not know), learning english will depend on YOU. However, It is my job to create new strategies, new tools, to help you UNDERSTAND + ANSWER = SPONTANEOUSLY!
Como vocês devem saber (ou não devem saber), aprender inglês vai sempre depender de VOCÊ. Entretanto, é meu dever criar novas estratégias, novas ferramentas, para ajudá-los a ENTENDER + RESPONDER = ESPONTÂNEAMENTE!
TIME OUT LIVE will be avaiable in JANUARY 2012, with INDIVIDUAL and GROUP (no more than 4 students per group) CLASSES. Avaiable SCHEDULE: Early Mornings & Early/Late Evenings! EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK! 
TIME OUT LIVE estará disponível em JANEIRO de 2012, com aulas INDIVIDUAIS e em GRUPO (não mais do que 4 alunos por grupo). HORÁRIOS disponíveis: Manhã e Noite! TODOS OS DIAS DA SEMANA!
TIME OUT LIVE WILL TEACH YOU AT HOME if you prefer.
In public places if you are an outdoor classes lover! In TIME OUT headquarters if you really feel like coming over here!
TIME OUT LIVE VAI TE DAR AULAS EM CASA se você preferir. Em lugares públicos caso você seja um amante das aulas ao ar livre! No QG do TIME OUT caso você realmente queira nos visitar!
CALL TIME OUT LIVE at 21 79115301
GARANTEE your classes for 2012!!!
LIGUE PARA TIME OUT LIVE no número 21 79115301
GARANTA suas aulas para 2012!!!

24/10/2011

CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT - Episode 9: FUTURE PERFECT

Hi there guys!
It is monday, the perfect day to start a brilliant week of work!
We have surpassed 4000 visits and now we have a new goal: 5000 by the end of November...Help us!
Today we have something special for you: CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT, Episode 9!
We are going to explore the last verb form in our series: FUTURE PERFECT!
If you have sensibility, if you see yourself as a Nostradamus, future perfect is perfect for you! Take a look:
Remember guys: FUTURE PERFECT is, like any other verb form, 
the best way to express actions, so practice will help you make automatic in your oral and written speeches. Get to it!!!


THIS WEEK:
We will have a new SERIES starting this week:
IDIOMS!!!
AMERICAN & BRITISH IDIOMS!!!
We will act, like actors, and help you understand how to use common EXPRESSIONS! Get ready for a lot of fun!


Cheers!
GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO
FRAN SARTOR
SANN WYLL

15/10/2011

IT's SATURDAY NIGHT!!!

Good evening everybody!
This rainy weekend is tearing our plans apart...
No beach, no outdoor sports, nothing.
Well, worry no more! We're here to entertain you with another video! 
This is special for ADVANCED students willing to practice DATA ANALYSIS!

Remember the 3 main STEPS to analyse graphs in a very objective way:

1) COLLECT ALL THE INFORMATION POSSIBLE, PAY ATTENTION TO ALL THE DATA, TAKE NOTES!

2) ANALYSE THE DATA COLLECTED, ATTENTION TO CONTRASTS AND DRASTIC INCREASES OR DECREASES, HIGHLIGHT THE MOST IMPORTANT TRANSFORMATIONS!

3) TRY TO CONCLUDE FROM THE GRAPH, USING RATIONAL ARGUMENTATION, CULTURAL AWARENESS!

Guys, graph analysis exercises are not only BRILLIANT for those who work with it but also EXCELLENT for those students who want to practice different techniques to ABSORB, DECODE, EXPLAIN AND ARGUE.

Don't miss this opportunity, send us your analysis!
thetimeoutproject2011@gmail.com

09/10/2011

VIDEO PRACTICE!

Good Afternoon guys!
It's sunday and we don't want to give you too much work,
but this video, by TIM BURTON, is an excellent exercise 
because it gives you the chance to work with listening skills, 
vocabulary, british expressions and pronunciation!
take a look and try to answer the questions about it:



1. How old is Vincent Malloy?
 He's eight years old
 He's seven years old
 He seven years old

2. Who does he want to be like?
 Vincent Price
 Vincent Slice
 Edgar Allan Poe

3. Vincent Price was...
 A musician
 A politician
 An actor

4. Does Vincent Malloy have any pets?
 Yes, a dog and cats
 Yes, a dog and a cat
 No, he doesn't

5. What is the name of his dog?
 Roomba
 Sauna
 Abercrombie

6. What does he imagine doing to his aunt?
 Dipping her in wax
 Dipping her in chocolate
 Dipping her in cream

7. Who is Vincent's favourite author?
 Vincent Price
 Stephen King
 Edgar Allan Poe

8. What poem does he quote before "dying"?
 The Navel
 The Raven
 The Tomb

9. Who is the author of the poem?
 H.P. Lovecraft
 Arthur Conan Doyle
 Edgar Allan Poe



Have a brilliant weekend, we see you with the week plans and new videos for you!!!
Cheers


GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO
FRAN SARTOR
SANN WYLL

04/10/2011

CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD

Hello people!
You are probably wondering what is this title about...We have taken it from Garcia Marquez (Crônica de uma morte anunciada)!
The reason why we took it as a title for our post is because today we are going to talk about our OPEN CHRONICLES CONTEST.
We have given you, STUDENTS, TEACHERS and FRIENDS, two weeks to send us videos, talking about features of english grammar. The objective was to give you the chance to expose your qualities, your problems, and to share information. 
Unfortunately, the only video we got was this one, take a look:
We can't say we are sad or frustrated just because we haven't received videos from you. It was kind of expected. We know how hard it is to record videos, how difficult it is to find time to do it and how shyless you need to be in order to expose yourself like that. All in all, we had what we wanted: FEEDBACK.
Negative feedback for some, Positive for others.
We hope you can commit next time and come participate with us in future contests or activities!
Have a nice week!
Cheers!!!!


GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO

30/09/2011

DEBATING POLEMIC TOPICS

Good morning people!
Today we have prepared something for INTERMEDIATE and ADVANCED students who want to practice DEFENDING POINTS OF VIEW and EXPRESSING OPINIONS.
We have some interesting and polemic videos for you! Watch and analyse them, send us your text expressing your ideas, we will correct it for you!
Family Guy is an adult cartoon, they often talk about very polemic issues...this short video proposes a debate about religion and its importance. What do you think about religion, is it something that positive or an opium for society, as Marx used to say?
South Park is one of the most polemic cartoons ever! This edited video is about evolution...The teacher is a creationist (he believes we came from Adam and Eve) but he has to teach Darwin's theory of evolution...What's your point of view about that?
This video here is special: Homer's evolution process. It took him thousands and thousands of years to become a "couch potato"! Is this video some sort of criticism? Can you feel or extract criticism from it?
This one is a must! If you haven't identified criticism with the Simpsons, Pearl Jam's videoclip above will expose it obviously!
Do you agree that we're walking toward our death?


Have fun and remember, you still have 3 days (today included) to send us your video for the OPEN CHRONICLES CONTEST! Don't miss this opportunity!!!

26/09/2011

OPEN CHRONICLES CONTEST + CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT 8!!!

Hello guys!!!
After a long period waiting for the videos, here we are again
with a new episode of CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT, by
GUSTAVO! Now he is going to explore PAST PERFECT! Take a look, don't miss this opportunity to review VERB FORMS!







He also talks about our OPEN CHRONICLES CONTEST!
YOU STILL HAVE ONE WEEK TO SEND US YOUR VIDEOS,
DON'T LET US DOWN, C'MON!!!!


Enjoy!


THE TIME OUT PROJECT 2011

19/09/2011

THE OPEN CHRONICLES CONTEST is ON!!!!

Good morning guys!
It's monday morning and today we are happy to announce our first TIME OUT OPEN CHRONICLES CONTEST!
The objective is to help STUDENTS & TEACHERS make videos of themselves speaking english and talking about specific grammar topics... TAKE A LOOK AT THE COMPETITION RULES:


1-Each student or teacher can record 1 video, maximum of 3 minutes
2-Students or Teachers have to create the name of their chronicles and say it on the video: CHRONICLES FROM MY __________
3-The videos must be about PREPOSITIONS, PRONOUNS, VERB FORMS, PHRASAL VERBS and IDIOMS;
4-The first 7 videos sent to thetimeoutproject2011@gmail.com will be exposed for 1 week;
5-Blog visitors will be able to watch and VOTE for the best video;
6-The author of the best video will receive, as a prize, the book: WHO IS AFRAID OF PREPOSITIONS? very nice to clear doubts about the topic!


Prepare your videos! Don't worry about EDITING, you can send it to our email and we will edit it for you! JUST REMEMBER: CLEAR SOUND and GOOD IMAGE OF YOU FACES is VERY IMPORTANT to facilitate the COMPREHENSION!


Have fun, we are waiting for your CHRONICLES!


GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO
FRAN SARTOR
SANN WYLL

15/09/2011

HERE IT IS! SANNY's BIG DEBUT: CHRONICLES FROM MY SHAVING CREAM!

Good morning people!
The moment you all have waited for has arrived! Today is Sann's very first video contribution to our TIME OUT PROJECT: his CHRONICLES FROM MY SHAVING CREAM!
The first episode is about PRESENT PERFECT, a very polemic verb form, mainly for brazilians who tend to use SIMPLE PAST all the time! 
This is a huge chance to finally understand the VERB FORM and practice, so don't miss this opportunity!
The video was recorded by Sann and edited by Gustavo Brito, so we hope you have lots of fun!


Cheers and see you soon!

GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO
FRAN SARTOR
SANN WYLL

14/09/2011

SCHOOLS KILL CREATIVITY!

Hello people!
While we wait for our co-author Sann Wyll to post the new video from his new CHRONICLES, we have decided to post this long video by TED. We have highlighted how good is this website and today, Ken Robinson explains how creativity can be murdered by schools! It is almost 20 minutes, but really interesting so we suggest you watch it!




If you prefer to watch it with english subtitles, go to the link below:
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
there are subtitles avaiable in 51 languages!


It is impressive how our schools stigmatize mistakes, how mistakes are understood in our society...Ken Robinson inspires us to think about "TAKING A GO", "TAKING RISKS", because if we don't take risks, we never come up with ANYTHING ORIGINAL!
So take risks, if you don't know, TRY! Don't go running to dictionaries. THINK, ASSOCIATE WORDS, INVENT! Don't kill your creativity and don't let schools do it!

11/09/2011

SUNDAY MORNING SHAKE UP!

Hello everyone! It's been a long time we don't post here! 
We had some trouble with internet connections and because of that we delayed our second post of the week. Sorry! 
But today we're up to the challenge again, with a very funny combo of videos!
Last friday we had the KICK-OFF of THE RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011, everybody knows the author is a big fan of the sport so today the post is a TEASER for those who love and those who have never heard about RUGBY!!
The three videos are very funny and the accents are very different: The first video is from the All Blacks (New Zealand), the second is from the Waratahs (Australia). Try to understand them and have a nice laugh!
AWESOME ISN'T IT?
THESE GUYS ARE RETARDS!
LOVE RUGBY!
SEE YA MONDAY!

06/09/2011

CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN!!! Episode 4: SIMPLE PAST & PAST CONTINUOUS!

Good morning people!!!
As we have promised yesterday, today we have FRAN SARTOR's CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN, with an episode (4) about SIMPLE PAST & PAST CONTINUOUS!
This is a great opportunity for students of all levels to practice and finally understand when to use them!
Little suggestion: Try to take notes of all the verbs she has used, and then try to create dialogues with them! It's an excellent way to exercise it!
Take a look:




Have fun and remember: NO PAIN, NO GAIN!
If you really want to perfect or learn ENGLISH you need DEDICATION and COMMITMENT!!!


See you next time!


GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO
FRAN SARTOR
SANN WYLL

05/09/2011

WHAT's ON FOR THIS WEEK???

Good morning everyone!!!
Asking yourself about what will you find here at TIME OUT?
Wait no more, here is our schedule for the week:


TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY: Gustavo is finally going to shoot the first interview for the CHRONICLES FROM MY EMPTY JACCUZZI with Mr.Clóvis Langer! and it is very likely that FRAN SARTOR will post her video about SIMPLE PAST and PAST CONTINUOUS in her CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN!


THURSDAY & FRIDAY: Gustavo is going to shoot an interview with TIME OUT new co-author SANN WYLL! He is actually going to present his series of videos, called...CHRONICLES FROM MY ....it's a surprise, you'll know later!! Hehehehehe!


Enjoy the week!!!
Have a nice day you all!

31/08/2011

THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING

Good evening guys!
Tonight I have prepared something really special for you...The majority of my students complain about listenings. They say they can't listen clearly, that the quality of the sound system is bad...Most of the times, the problem is that they simply don't have the habit of listening...Let's take a look at this brilliant video about it?




Fantastic wasn't it? People, let me remind you of something really important: Listening is something you have to work on a every day basis, it is impossible to expect improvement, development of listening skills if you don't practice regularly! So, don't miss the opportunity I'm giving you. Since we have the new series about VERB FORMS with CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT and CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN, let's explore the SIMPLE PRESENT & PRESENT CONTINUOUS in this videoclip:


Try to identify as many sentences in the SIMPLE PRESENT and PRESENT CONTINUOUS as you can...If they're in the affirmative, change them to negative and interrogative as a practice. Finally, select some of the phrases and create a dialogue, it will help you create CONTEXT!


Good luck,
Study harder if you think you study too much!
Never give up!


VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO MY FIANCÉE, NATALIA CALDAS, WHO GAVE ME THE TIP ABOUT www.ted.com
THANKS SWEETIE!!!


GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO

29/08/2011

CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT - Episode 7: VERB FORMS 1 & 2

What's up guys???
It's still monday night and we have a brand new BLOG SERIES for you, about VERB FORMS! From now on, GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO and FRAN SARTOR will be exploring and explaining different verb forms, so students can understand better and practice! Today we have GUSTAVO and his CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT, talking about SIMPLE PRESENT & PRESENT CONTINUOUS! We hope you like it!!! Take a look:




Don't forget that Fran is also going to explore VERB FORMS in her CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN, so check our blog everyday, we want you to be our FOLLOWER!!!
Cheers!


PS: Did you guys find out who the hell is that kid next to our co-author SANNY???

WHAT's ON? OUR PROGRAM FOR THE WEEK!

Good Morning!
We don't post anything since last Friday, when we introduced our new co-author, Sann Wyll...Today we're back to present you the program we have prepared for you, take a look:


TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY: We are going to post the first video of the NEW SERIES about the VERB FORMS, so get ready because the CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT (Gustavo Caldas Brito) and the CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN (Fran Sartor) will develop the topic and it might help you a lot!!! Also on tuesday, Gustavo is going to record the first interview with the very first guest of the CHRONICLES FROM MY EMPTY JACCUZZI, with Mr.Clóvis Langer!
THURSDAY & FRIDAY: We are going to post, late Thursday or early Friday, a song to help you practice verb forms in general and enrich your vocabulary! You just can't miss it!!!


So, are ready for this week? Remember, if you don't practice english, you might kill your abilities and previous knowledge!
See you next time!


GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO
FRAN SARTOR
SANN WYLL 

25/08/2011

OUR NEW CO-AUTHOR!!! SANN WYLL

Ladies and Gentlemen! THE TIME OUT PROJECT is extremelly proud to present our second CO-AUTHOR, SANN WYLL!
This young man has been teaching english for the last 3 years in different places, to different people, at different time! The classroom experience he's been gathering helps him build a huge network of fans and friends, so we hope he can contribute with his brilliant ideas and make us even stronger!
WELCOME SANNY!!! We are proud and happy to have you with us!


PS: Check the right side of our blog, now we will always have a new picture of an international celebrity when he/she was a kid...Your objective is to identify who is it! Have Fun with the first one!


GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO
FRAN SARTOR

23/08/2011

BEHOLD!!! THE CHRONICLES FROM MY EMPTY JACCUZZI IS ON!!!

Good evening people!!!
As we have promised, today we post the second video of the week and a very special one:
It is the PILOT of...CHRONICLES FROM MY EMPTY JACCUZZI!!!
I would like to remind you that it's the first episode of the series of interviews that we are going to shoot in my empty jaccuzzi, so you need to keep visiting us not to miss the second official episode.
Our objective with this new series is to interview a lot of people, from students to teachers and coordinators, friends and family, why not? 
We hope you enjoy the PILOT,  Take a look at this TEASER:




We hope you have fun with this first episode and send us an email with your list of favourite people to be interviewed by GUSTAVO!!!!
Cheers, have a blast!









22/08/2011

LAZY MONDAY!!!

Hello guys, 
Isn't today one of those lazy days??? When you feel like doing nothing the whole day, with your pj's on watching  movie and eating popcorn?! Yep I think so! So, because of that I remembered this song in which our author GUSTAVO made a really clear participation! Why don't you guys check this song watch the video, find out where is GUSTAVO and learn some new vocabulary!


So did you guys find out who is GUSTAVO and what does he like to do on his free time with his classic inseparable shirt??????  
Why don't you check the lyrics of this song below? Send your doubts to thetimeoutproject2011@gmail.com


The Lazy Song
by Bruno Mars


Today I don't feel like
doing anything
I just wanna lay in my
bed
Don't feel like picking
up my phone
so leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm
not doing anything
I'm gonna kick my feet up,
then stare at the fan
Turn the TV on, throw my
hand in my pants
Nobody is gonna tell me I can't
Nahh
I'll be lounging on a couch,
just chilling in my snuggie
Click to MTV so they can
teach me how to douggie,
'cause in my castle I'm
the freaking man
Ooohhh
Yes I said it
I said it
I said
I said it 'cause I can!
Today I don't feel like
doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like picking up my phone
so leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm
not doing anything
(Nothing at all)
Huhull, Huuhul
Nothing at all
Huhull, Huuhul
Tomorrow I wake up
Do some p90x
Meet a really nice girl
Have some really nice sex
And she's gonna scream out
this is great, Oh my god this is great
Yeeeaaahh
I might mess around
and get my college degree,
I bet my old man will be
so proud of me.
But sorry paps you'll just
have to wait
Oooohhh
Yes I saidt it! I said it
I said it 'cause I can!
Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like picking up my phone
so leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not
doing anything
No ain't gonna comb 
my hair.
'Cause I ain't going anywhere
No, no, no, no, no
no, no, no, no, oooooh
I'll just strut in my birthday suit
and let everything hang loose
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeeeeyyyaaaahh
Oooh, today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like picking up my phone
so leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything
Nothing at all
Huhul, Huhuuuul
Nothing at all
Huhul, Huhuuuul
Nothing at all

19/08/2011

CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN!!! Episode 3: TO BE WILLING TO!

Good evening ladies and gentlemen!
To finish our series of MODAL VERBS & LEXICAL MODALITIES, we are very proud to present FRAN SARTOR and her new CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN!
She has finally decided to be in her kitchen, talking about "to be willing to".
This is your last chance to study a little bit more, so pay attention, take notes and practice, THE TIME OUT is ON FIRE!



We have currently 1937 visitors over the past 4 months! Help us get to 2000 before the end of AUGUST! Come on guys, we can do it!!!
See you next week with some nice surprises!!!!

GUSTAVO CALDAS BRITO
FRAN SARTOR

17/08/2011

CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT - Episode 6: MAY & MIGHT

Hey there english students!!!
We are back after that amazing motivational video about AYRTON SENNA...We hope you have enjoyed! But now we are ready to post
the sixth episode of our beloved CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT with Gustavo Caldas Brito driving his powerful car and talking about MAY and MIGHT!
We expect you to watch carefully and keep track of our posts, the CHRONICLES are back for good! Have fun!




Remember MAY & MIGHT are not commonly used in real life situations, so, if you want to practice, it is vital to CREATE contexts in which they can be inserted!


DEDICATE, COMMIT, TAKE ENGLISH AS A VERB and ENGLISH YOURSELF!

14/08/2011

DEDICATION & COMMITMENT: Learning with AYRTON SENNA

Good Afternoon everyone!!!
Today is FATHER's DAY and we have decided to take a short break from the CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT and CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN to post a little something personal...for me, GUSTAVO, the author of the TIME OUT. 
My father has passed on to me many things such as responsability, sense of commitment, honesty and freedom. He has also passed on to me two of my biggest passions, football and car races...So, to honnor him, today I'll post videos of my biggest car races driver: AYRTON SENNA!
My father had the chance to talk to him in Angra once, in the early years of his F1 career, when he was a promissing driver for Toleman. My father still remember him saying: I WILL BE A WORLD CHAMPION
Ayrton was such a commited person that his level of concentration was beyond normal levels. Not only because he was talented, but also because he had driven himself to that level, by practice and dedication.
Formula 1 racing and learning are completely different things, they have different levels and different complexities. However, both activities demand two common things: COMMITMENT & DEDICATION.
As Senna said: "making mistakes and learning with them is what made me faster".
Learning english, or anything else, demands self-correction abilities, self-awareness. Do not be afraid to make mistakes, take risks. IT's THE ONLY WAY TO REALLY LEARN.


Let's be inspired now by this short video and never forget the importance of AWARENESS to your personal growth! Thank you SENNA for the lesson of humility and passion, Thanks DAD for making me learn from him and F1 races!




See you on TUESDAY with a new episode from one of our CHRONICLES!!!

09/08/2011

CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN!!! Episode 2: TO BE SUPPOSED TO!

Good morning guys!!!
After a short break without new videos, FRAN SARTOR comes back with her second episode of CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN...Notice that she REFUSES to record the videos in her kitchen, I believe it's because she doesn't want to be stereotyped as a housewife...hehehehe!
Anyway...the topic of the new episode is about the LEXICAL MODALITY TO BE SUPPOSED TO. We hope you can take advantage of this new post to reinforce your english skills and to practice at home!



Remember that if you want to contact us, you can always leave a comment here on the blog or send us an email: thetimeoutproject2011@gmail.com
Have fun and study!!!


Video credits:
Recorded by Fran Sartor and Paulo Herédia
Edited by Gustavo Caldas Brito


08/08/2011

Just a little break from the videos!

Good afternoon guys,
today we're going to interrupt the sequence of videos we have been posting for a quick exercise with comics!
We are currently editing and shooting the next episodes of CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT & CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN, so don't worry, we have a lot of videos still to be posted, and a new one will be posted very soon!!!
But now let's go back to the comic strips: To celebrate the big number of visitors we have, we're going to post a strip from CYANIDE and HAPPINESS, the first comic ever to appear here!!!


Take a look at this new strip:

This comic strip is very funny and it gives us the nice opportunity to explore an interesting characteristic of MODAL VERBS + PERFECT...If you pay attention, you can see the combination of the modal verb MUST plus HAVE BEEN (present perfect). What does it mean? 
Guys, MUST is a modal verb for OBLIGATION and ASSUMPTION remember? in this case here, MUST + Perfect expresses a past assumption: "it must have been my good twin"means = I believe, I have the impression, it was my good brother, my good twin. 
When we associate MUST + Perfect, we always have a PAST ASSUMPTION, something you're not sure, not 100% certain that has happenend, but you believe it has...got it? If you have doubts, please, send  us emails: thetimeoutproject2011@gmail.com


Cheers, see you next post with a new video,
if not mine (Gustavo), hers (Fran).

03/08/2011

THE CHRONICLES FROM HER KITCHEN are ON! Episode 1: TO BE ABLE TO

Good evening guys!!!
Tonight you're in for a special gift! After posting 5 episodes of the CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT, by GUSTAVO BRITO, we are proud to post the first episode of CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN, by FRAN SARTOR! This first of many will be about a specific lexical modality, so you should watch it and practice!
You will be able to feel all the drama of FRAN, our Co-Author/Teacher/Photographer/Housewife, who didn't have water!!! It's brilliant, hilarious, tragic!!! Take a look:



Have fun and stick around, the CHRONICLES FROM MY COCKPIT & THE CHRONICLES FROM MY KITCHEN will be posted every week, with nice chances for you to study!!!
Cheers!


GUSTAVO BRITO
FRAN SARTOR