English from Brasil #17 | Children’s book for English practice?
Yay or nay?
Na edição anterior: English from Brasil #16
Hello, hello!
Um causo
A primeira vez que peguei um trem sozinha na Holanda (durante o meu primeiro intercâmbio) eu quase entrei em pânico devido à barreira linguística. Não porquê eu duvidava do meu inglês, afinal, eu estudei inglês por uns dez anos e já tinha até dado aula.
Acho que estava com medo do desconhecido, das diferenças culturais, da exposição. Sei lá! Era a primeira vez que eu pegava um trem sozinha do outro lado do oceano, eu nem sabia quais eram as coisas que podiam dar errado. Lá, basicamente todo mundo fala inglês, apesar da primeira língua deles ser o holandês.
Eu sabia o que esperar: o fiscal passaria, pediria meu bilhete, carimbaria o mesmo, devolveria para mim e seguiria fazendo o mesmo com todos os passageiros.
Na minha vez, simplesmente invés de entregar meu bilhete para ele, eu disse “I’m sorry! I don’t speak Dutch. Can you speak English?”. A minha memória me diz que eu falei isso pelo menos umas três vezes como prova de que eu não estava entendendo o homem. E cada vez minha sensação de pânico aumentava.
Até que ele disse claramente e em bom volume: “Miss, I AM speaking English!”
Isso foi o suficiente para eu lhe entregar o bilhete (minha única tarefa na interação), ele o carimbou, agradeceu, me devolveu e seguiu viagem. Eu também.
A quote
“A lifetime is not too long to spend in learning about the world.”
― Caroline Pratt
A lesson
Some people believe that reading children’s stories is helpful for English learning. Of course it is!
However, not all stories will help everyone. We think they are simple and easy, as they are written for kids, and the language shouldn’t be too advanced. The problem is that some stories have made-up words. Made-up words are not real! This means that we might not know when it is a made-up word and when it is a word we just have not learnt yet.
Today’s lesson is not a “real lesson” (hang on, everything can be a lesson!). It is a kids’ story read by a child. In addition, understanding a child can also be a bit challenging (in any language, right?), and that’s why I chose it today. It is now a lesson, I hope you learn, practice or revise something!
Here are some of the more advanced words from the story. Do you know all them?
crawling - mashed - wriggling - poked - itchy
lying - yawned - cuddle - cheerful
Now, watch the video and see if you understand each word in context.
This exercise is NOT about the story. It is about the vocabulary.
Complete the sentences with the words below.
(You will see the correct answers at the end)
Exercise
Fill in the gaps with the appropriate words from the list: crawling, mashed, wriggling, poked, itchy, lying, yawned, cuddle, cheerful.
The mother gave her child a warm _______ before bedtime.
The little baby was _______ on the floor, trying to reach his toy.
After being bitten by a mosquito, her arm felt very _______.
He _______ his friend to wake him up from his nap.
She _______ the potatoes until they were soft and smooth.
The worm was _______ in the soil, making its way through the garden.
They were _______ on the grass, looking up at the stars.
He _______ loudly after a long and tiring day.
Despite the rainy weather, they remained _______ and optimistic.
And now?
My suggestion is for you to go on YouTube and search for other “read along stories”. You will probably learn new vocabulary, or how to pronounce words you do not know. Also, you can literally READ ALONG and practice pronunciation, fluency, etc.
A question
Do you have any favorite stories from your childhood?
(Aproveita a pergunta para praticar o seu inglês nos comentários!)
FIVE Random Things
👓 Don't compare your mess with…. [link]
😠 how to deal with bad feelings [link]
☑️ What type of things do you have on your to do list? [link]
✨ New item for my wish list [link]
🤫 A website with anonymous secrets [link]
Se você gostou dessa edição, encaminha para os amigos?
See you next week! 👋🏽
Karen Rito
English from Brasil 🌎✨
RESPOSTAS DO EXERCÍCIO:
cuddle, 2. crawling, 3. itchy, 4. poked, 5. mashed, 6. wriggling, 7. lying, 8. yawned, 9. cheerful
I absolutely loved the 5 random things. And great note on the made up words!