Pronunciation app

What's up, guys? Today I'm showing you a tip to work on your pronunciation using your cell phone =)

There are plenty of pronunciation apps available on Play Store - including books and phonetic symbol charts with exercises - but if your concern is how to pronounce some specific sounds in English, Pronunciation Training is the app for you.

This is a free app and it needs the internet to load. After downloading it, when you open the app, you'll see a screen where you have to choose if you'll take a lesson, practice the exercises or share the app with a friend:

Choose lessons in order to learn how to make the correct sounds. A new page will open, with a lot of trouble-maker sounds, such as TH, RL, H and ED :

You'll choose one and download the lesson. Once you do it, the lesson will be saved in your phone and you won't need the internet to use it again (unless you delete it xD). Then, everything you need to know on how to do this sound will be there for you:

Including the correct position of your mouth and the movement of your tongue:

And even videos and audios teaching you:

And finally, when you finish your lessons, it's time to practice! There, you'll find sentences and words that you have to listen and record. According to what you say, the app gives you a score and tells you what you mispronounced:

So, that's my tip for you today! Hope you like it and share with your friends =) 

And please leave a comment on our blog to say what you think of Pronunciation Training! Is pronunciation a big deal for you?

See ya!

Talking about friendship

Hey guys! =)

How many words related to FRIEND do you know? Here we've got some useful vocabulary for you!

Source: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanEnglishatState?ref=ts&fref=ts

The Semester Has Begun!

Heey English learners! So that's it, the classes are about to start and I'm sure you enjoyed your vacation to learn some English, didn't you? No?! Well, time to wake up and smell the coffee!

 

Let's talk about "idiomatic expressions" or just idioms. They are expressions whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings from its elements - in other words, the meaning of the sentence is totally different from what it seems to be.

TO WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFE

We're bringing more idioms soon! Comment and share, peace out!

Time to study

Welcome back to a new semester! Don't forget to drink a cup of coffee before leaving home, 'cause we don't want any sleepy student ;)

Later this week we'll be posting some nice links to practice pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary for the ones who are up to study a little more. See you guys around!

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Learning English

How’s everything going, English speakers?! I’ve been gathering some mistakes English learners use to make – especially Portuguese speakers.

Take a look at this list and brush up your English!

1. "I have 18 years old"

It must be the most common mistake for beginners and it happens because people associate English with their first language and forget about some important differences. In this case we use the verb “to be” to talk about someone’s age. So, it should be said: “I am 18 years old”

2. "R" sound and "H" sound

It's a big challenge for some people to pronounce these two sounds accordingly to their real pronunciation in English. They are NOT the same. There’s a big difference between “red” and “head”, “rose” and “hose”, “rug” and “hug”, etc.

If you want to improve your skills with these sounds, I recommend that you watch this video: http://www.engvid.com/pronunciation-h/

3. "Have a car in front of my garage"

This is a very common mistake, people think in Portuguese first, and later translate to English, if you do that, you got to stop as soon as possible! You can see that in this context the verb “have” doesn’t make any sense. We should use “There is/ There are” to say that something is located in a place or exists. 

“There is a car in front of my garage” should be used.

4. Then VS Than

A picture is worth a thousand words! ;)

5. Fewer VS Less

People usually don’t know when to use these two words properly. 

Use “Fewer” when referring to objects that can be counted. 

• E.g.: "I have fewer friends nowadays" 

Use “Less” when referring to quantities or qualities that cannot be counted. 

• E.g.: "I have less money than I wanted" 

What about you? Is there anything you’d like to know? Comment and let us know! Hope to see you soon! 

Procrastination

Do you ever feel like not doing what you have to?

Like when you have a lot of homework to do, but decide to watch just one more video on Youtube, and this video leads you to another, and another and another... and when you look at the clock it's late night and you hadn't even started your homework.

I'm sorry to tell you, but if you do it you are a procrastinator.

A procrastinator is a person who leaves things for the last minute, not worrying about anything. Someone who leaves everything for the last minute. I must say I sometimes procrastinate... what about you?

Welcome!

Hey guys! Welcome to the very first post of our new blog. Are you enjoying your vacations?
Today we're going to talk about some nice places to visit during this time of the year.

If you are an adventurous traveler you can visit campings in the countryside. Cities like Boituva, Socorro and Itu offer people the opportunity to practice some extreme sports such as rafting, hiking, camping and waterfall bathing. The countryside is also a very nice place to relax and enjoy your time while you have a delicious ice-cream.

Tips:
Rafting - http://www.riosdeaventura.com.br/
Hangliding - http://www.paraquedismoskycompany.com.br/
Hiking - http://www.paranapiacabaecotur.com/
Waterfall - http://www.campingdoalemao.com.br/

What about you? Send us your tip for a nice vacation!