Sunday, September 20, 2009

at the beginning vs in the beginning

Começo da rodoviaThose who are confused about when to use the time expressions “at the end/beginning”, and “in the end/beginning”, please, raise their hands. Um hum, that’s what I thought. I might not be able to see you, but I imagine that most of you raised your hands!

Os que estão confusos sobre quando usar as expressões de tempo “at the end/beginning”, e “in the end/beginning”, por favor, levantem as mãos. Um, hum, é isso que pensei. Talvez eu não consiga vê-los, mas eu imagino que a maioria de vocês tenha levantado as mãos!

As usual, it’s the prepositions which ruin everything! LOL! I actually like them, exactly because changing one in an expression or after a verb can change the entire meaning of what you want to say! But, of course, I’ve been speaking English my entire life…so let me help you!

Como sempre, são as preposições que estragam tudo! Rsrs! Na verdade, eu gosto delas, justamente porque trocá-la em uma expressão ou depois de um verbo pode mudar inteiramente o significado do que você quer dizer! Mas, claro, eu tenho falado inglês a minha vida inteira…Então me deixe ajudá-los!

At the beginning

The first part of something (street, book, film, etc.); the starting point in a process; the start of a period of time

A parte inicial de algo (rua, livro, filme, etc.); o ponto de partida em um processo; o início de um período de tempo

Let’s read out loud the examples given at the beginning of chapter 10. / Vamos ler em voz alta os exemplos dados no início de capítulo 10.

The horse fell right at the beginning of the race. / O cavalo caiu logo no início da corrida.

I’m traveling to Mexico at the beginning of June. / Vou viajar ao México no início de junho.

In the beginning

At first
No princípio

In the beginning I didn’t like living in Chicago, but now I love it! / No princípio eu não gostei de morar em Chicago, mas agora eu amo!

Learning Japanese was really difficult for me in the beginning. / Aprender japonês foi muito difícil para mim no princípio.

I was in the beginning of my studies when I had to quit college to help out my ailing mother. /Eu estava no início dos meus estudos quando eu tive que desistir faculdade para ajudar a minha mãe enferma. (“in the beginning” aqui quer dizer no início, mas já tendo iniciado.)

At the end

The end part of something (street, book, film, etc.); the finishing point in a process; the end of a period of time

A parte final de algo (rua, livro, filme, etc.); o ponto que marca o término de um processo; o final de um período de tempo

My house is at the end of the street on the left. / A minha casa é no final da rua à esquerda.

The contractors were at the end of constructing the new subway line when the earthquake hit. / As empreiteiras estavam no final de construir a nova linha do metrô quando aconteceu o terremoto.

Sarah and John will be moving back to Canada at the end of the year. / A Sarah e o John vão se mudar de volta para o Canadá no final do ano.

In the end

Finally
Finalmente

We looked at four different churches for our wedding. In the end we decided to get married in the back yard of our house. / Nós vimos quatro igrejas diferentes para nosso casamento. Finalmente nós decidimos nos casar no quintal dos fundos da nossa casa.

Tony complained so much about the hotel room that, in the end, they gave him an extra day for free. / O Tony reclamou tanto do quarto de hotel que eles finalmente lhe deram mais um dia de graça.

I watched so many films over the weekend. In the end I couldn’t even remember which ones I liked! / Eu vi tantos filmes no fim de semana. No final eu nem conseguia lembrar de quais deles eu gostei!

You are now at the end of my blog. Until the next one!
Agora você está no final do meu artigo. Até o próximo!


Taken from: Englishexperts.com.br

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Still on Wordsmart

Did you ever wonder why we are not usually asked to wait on the line or dial another extension when we are calling to inquire about a potential purchase? It's a no brainer, right? Sales representatives will go out of their way to push us all sorts of unnecessary things they are not even familiar with. On the other hand, though, whenever we try to get a hold of the tech support or costumer service we are in for a bit of a headache.
Remember when I said that some CDs wouldn't work in my computer? After calling them all day long to no avail, I decided to try and fix the pc own my own. As usual, I turned to the master of all masters, "Google", typed my question in and got some great explanations on how to get rid of the problem. Although it killed my whole day, which I could be spending doing any other fun thing, I was able to fix it eventually.
It's funny how intimidating any computer issue can be to a layman... I mean how discouraging it is feeling out of our depth... We shouldn't let this stop us though. The internet got a vast array of information at our disposal. We have to bite the bullet and do things own our own so we can learn more, and save money to boot as we won't have to pay a pro to do that.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Wordsmart

Hi guys,


Just got this program I saw on TV the other day, "Wordsmart". They say it will improve my vocabulary tenfold regardless of my current knowledge. At first I was a bit skeptical but no sooner I started playing with it than I realized it will certainly be a tremendous tool to my English studies.
What sort of amazed me though was the fact that, despite the CD I put in was supposed to be easy, I wasn't familiar with the majority of the words showed.
As mesmerized as I was I couldn't hide my frustration when half of the cds wouldn't work in my computer. Even more upsetting was my finding out that their tech support closes during the weekends and therefore I'd have to wait till Monday to inquiry them about the problem.
I just hope I don't have any headache with this program and that this investment will deliver the goods.
I'll keep you guys updated on it.