31/05/2011

Retelling Stories

Hello guys!
Here I am for my third post...I've been searching for some interesting material and this morning something special just came up, take a look:


No text at all!!!!
That's a wonderful opportunity for us to create our own little comic trip!!!
So, I encourage you to follow some steps to create a context for it:

1-Try to answer the following questions, but remember that there's no right or wrong in this case, all I want is for you to CREATE answers to the questions:
WHO?
WHERE?
WHEN?
WHAT?
WHY?
HOW?
2-Then, write a paragraph using all the answers. Don't forget to use connectors to add, contrast and conclude! You'll have reported a story that has only happened in your minds!

Feel free to send me your short stories by leaving a comment!!!

Have Fun!
Cheers!

29/05/2011

Explanations about the first post

Well, thank you all for the visits, 93 for the first 3/4 days isn`t that bad! As I`ve promised, I`ll explain the Verb Forms from the last comic strip:
If you really analysed the comic strip, you should have found four different Verb Forms and a Modal Verb!

On the first square: SIMPLE PRESENT AND SIMPLE PAST
On the second: PAST CONTINUOUS (IMPLIED, SINCE THE SENTENCE IS ABREVIATED)
On the third: PAST CONTINUOUS AGAIN
On the fourth: SIMPLE PRESENT AND PRESENT CONTINUOUS
On the fifth: SIMPLE PAST AND PAST CONTINUOUS
On the last: MODAL VERB WILL

Guys, the verb forms are your friends, they love you (they want you to use them), they`re here to help you express actions in details, exactly like it should be! Bear in mind that we`ve invented the verb forms, so we`re their masters, they`re our slaves.

If your intention is to emphasize an action in the present or a present habit, you can always count on the SIMPLE PRESENT!
The PRESENT CONTINUOUS will give the reader or the person listening to you the idea of continuity or duration, so you should use it whenever you decide to express an ongoing action (action in progress), an action that starts in the present and keeps going on until we don`t know when!
If you want to emphasize an action from the past, if you want to emphasize the past action itself and nothing else, go for SIMPLE PAST...
Now, if your intention is to explicit an action that has started in the past, lasted for some time and then finished before the present, you have to use the PAST CONTINUOUS.
The last square of the comic strip featured the MODAL VERB WILL...Well, modal verbs are a bit different, we shall explore them very soon here, but I won`t leave you without an explanation: WILL is a modal verb that expresses INEVITABILITY or CERTAINTY, so whenever you feel like emphasizing something 100% sure, go for the modal WILL, it`s the most appropriate option.

I hope you`ve enjoyed and understood the explanations, the closer you get to verb forms, the more you should wish to be accurate when picking one to use!

Enjoy your weekend! See ya monday with the next post!
Cheers!

26/05/2011

Verb Forms

Cyanide & Happiness give us not only a wonderful display of fun but also the opportunity to explore different verb forms and how they´re supposed to be used!

Since this is my first post, I'll set the record straight right from the beginning: I'll never ever feed you with answers, my intentions will always be related to the idea of extracting them from you. Therefore, I'll give you two days to comment with answers and questions, and then I'll post the detailed explanations about the comic strip english features ok?





So here we go:

1 - Try to identify all the verb forms used;
2 - Try to explain the reason why they have been selected;
3 - Explore unknown vocabulary and find synonyms.

REMINDER: NEVER USE ENGLISH-PORTUGUESE dictionaries. If possible, avoid all of them, even ENGLISH-ENGLISH! Force yourself to think! We need thinkers here, not doers!

Have fun, i'll post the explanations in two or three days!