FROM A NATIVE SPEAKER

When I speak, write or read my language, English, I feel at home. The words make me feel comfortable or at least most of them do. There are those too exotic for my taste that I treat with respect but when I see them coming, I avert my eyes. They are too splendid. I make a mental note to look them up in a good dictionary. You never know, someone will ask me what they mean one day. Others on the other hand have that welcoming look. They are eager to be used. They are like dogs wagging their tails at me and begging for a chance to be taken for a walk. Then there are times when a word escapes me. I know it in my head but it won't reveal itself. I'll have to make do with another and there's bound to be another coming along. It's like waiting for a bus at a bus stop in the centre of London. A bright red shiny one will drive along any minute. It might not be just the one I wanted but it'll take me on a journey anyhow... And there is so much to choose from.

When the Romans were busy educating the important people in England and teaching them Latin and then some hundreds of years later when the Norman French were teaching the important people's descendants, French, the peasants were eavesdropping and picking up the odd Latin or French crumb. They hadn't a clue what they meant but they liked the sound of them They sounded foreign. They told their children: You remember that one; it'll come in useful one day. And it did and when English started to wake up, it didn't know where to turn. It had a veritable host of words to choose from. And they all had to be used in a particular way. Use it in the wrong way and you commit a faux pas - now there's a couple of foreign words for you. You can also say you made a blunder and that word is from Middle English but even then it probably came from somewhere in Scandinavia. There is such a heritage that choosing the right word is difficult even when it's your native language.

Although I can never aspire to reach the heights, scale the mountains, climb the hills (I'll stop there!), I sometimes dream a bit and try and ape my betters. If I'm feeling really imaginative, I'll momentarily become a mini Shakespeare. If Latin happens to suit my mood, I'll try and be a John Milton but I have to admit that is rare. When I want to go to town with descriptive enthusiasm, I'll play the role of a Charles Dickens. And if the sun is shining and I'm feeling in a good mood, I'll fall under the influence of my good friend, P G Wodehouse. But I shouldn't forget that if I'm being transatlantic, I can chance my arm and dip into American English and have a nice day.

But of course it's quite different for our learners of English. They don't have the advantages I have. They have to learn from the beginning, from scratch. The odd English word may well have popped up now and again before their eyes but it's a different kettle of fish when it actually comes down to writing and speaking the language. This is where I invite you to come into this language pool called English. You don't have to dive in. You can paddle on the edges and see how you go. Soon you'll start wading and before you know where you are you'll be borne up by the sheer force of the water. Don't worry, there are no piranhas here that will gobble you up. You might meet the occasional whale but if you don't bother them, they won't bother you. One day you might feel like having a chat with one of them but leave it for later.

You will bump into a very lively and colourful bunch of fish that call themselves idioms. They're a bit slippery and you won't always find them to your taste. Sample one. You never know, you might like it. One variety that you'll see a lot of and they'll really irritate you I'm sure, are the fish that go by the name of prepositions. They lead you a dance but approach them with caution. Watch them at work and try to work out what it is they are doing. You'll soon figure it out and before long you are bound to follow what they are up to. So come on in, the water's lovely. It's not too cold, honestly. We'll make sure on this site that you won't drown and before you know what's hit you, you'll be swimming like a fish.

Dear Deivis, if you have any questions about this article, please click here.

Best regards,
Alan Townend

MY DAYS OF IDLENESS IS FINALY GONE!!

After two years and a half without a solid opportunity I have the immense pleasure to announce you that I'm back in the job market. After acing a Chemistry test and being scrutinized to the fullest, this afternoon, the longest four-days-wait of my life ended with the following terrific piece of news: "You were selected in our process to be our industrial Chemist".
I mean, isn't that such a thing when God rewards you for your efforts? I truly believe that regardless of faith, color, race and so on and so forth, everyone will reap what they sow. That's the way the cookie crumbles.
A lot of people might come and say that luck is the biggest factor when it comes to achieve your dreams. I always have an answer ready for them though: It is a quotation from Gary Player, "The more I practise the luckier I get". What they call luck, I call the encounter of one opportunity with the right preparation". And that is exactly what happened.
It might sound very bragadocious of me to some but to tell you the truth I had effectively been looking for a job for just two weeks. Isn't that superb?
I'm a great believer that all things happen for a reason. I mean as soon as I got back from the US I sent out a couple of resumes and was called up for a test. I failed miserably at it as it had been about two years that I wouldn't read a thing about chemistry (my major) and stuff. My one and only goal at the time was to brush up my English as much as I could.
It then downed on me that unless I put my English passion in the back burner for awhile and hit my Chemistry books ferociously my outcome on those tests would pretty much be the same…. which would mean a lifetime of studies going down the drain.
Even though I love English and believe that I could possibly afford a decent living out of it, I'd never forgive myself for not taking the most out of my Chemistry studies.
So I was forced to outline a plan to reach that objective in my life. My primary focus at the time was actually getting an approval in an open examination test (concurso) to become a public servant. To be more precise my main target was Petrobras, the way I could rest assured I'd have lifetime stability and fat paychecks. LOL.
However hard I tried though, this path proved to be the most difficult one as after studying for hours on end, every single day, for four months I couldn’t make it. I now understand that in order to be approved in a test of this caliber, one has to be ridiculously prepared. I mean it’s no child’s play dude. After pulling out countless all nighters and burning the midnight oil like crazy to do not even figure among the approved for possible future calls... I have to confess it was a hell of a bummer, a pretty disheartening thing.
All that studies though, along with my last six months at university, gave me a hell of an edge in this last test I took since it wasn’t even near the difficulty of an open examination one. I could remember everything they wanted and put everything on paper. The point is, although my primary focus wasn’t prepare for a company post, had I not taken these last six months to study Chemistry and all the related subjects, I’d probably have failed the test and as a result wouldn’t have gotten the position.
Everyone has a turning point somewhere in life. I mean I was ready bag and baggage to pull up stakes and go live in another State without any job or security. I was willing to leave everything behind, my family, friends, dog, and my cozy and warm house to start from scratch somewhere out there. Even though I’m very confident in myself and also am fully aware that God wouldn’t let me starve, things can be a lot tougher when making the wrong decisions. I’m happy that just two weeks after giving up the idea of doing such a risky thing God rewarded me with this great opportunity. That’s certainly a sign that here is my place and that whatever has to happen, from now on, will happen is His time and His way.

Se eu pudesse voltar o tempo...

Eu faria MUITA COISA diferente. Procuraria mais tempo para as coisas realmente importantes.

Daria mais importância às alegrias do que aos problemas, afinal eles existirão sempre.

Também faria uma peneira para saber qual deles eram problemas e qual eram preocupações. Saberia que todo problema sempre tem solução e que preocupação é quando ainda nem é problema. Teria dormido muito mais tranqüila.

Diria mais as pessoas o que sinto e menos o que penso. Procuraria não resolver tanto os problemas dos outros, somente quando eles me pedissem opinião.

Teria muito mais atenção a mim do que aos outros e nem tentaria moldar as pessoas diante das minhas crenças e vontades. Decepcionar-me-ia menos e amaria muito mais.

Teria uma postura diante da vida de só ir até onde não me fizesse sofrer, nem procuraria motivos para me estressar.

Olharia as pessoas que não alcançaram a felicidade e de mal com a vida com mais compaixão e procuraria trazer a cada uma delas um lampejo de felicidade.

Preocupar-me-ia muito menos com minhas roupas amassadas e muito mais com os que a minha volta não tinha sequer roupas para vestir.

Se eu pudesse voltar o tempo procuraria entender mais meus irmãos do que julgá-los, afinal, no fim das contas, só sobramos nós mesmos.

Teria entendido mais minha mãe por seus defeitos já que os mesmos que criticava na juventude fazem parte de mim agora.

Trataria meu pai e minha mãe com mais carinho ainda do que já dei, hoje sei que nem foi o suficiente diante da saudade que sinto deles.

Jamais levantaria a voz com ninguém porque hoje sei que dentro de mim existem anjos e demônios e que eles crescem e se desenvolvem a medida que eu os alimento.

Não alimentaria nenhuma atitude de julgamento ou preconceito com meus semelhantes, saberia que cada um é exatamente o que está preparado para ser.

Trataria meus sonhos com mais respeito e procuraria traduzir cada um deles, hoje entendo que tive sinais durante minha existência que deixaram prá trás muitos momentos valiosos. Focaria mais nas pessoas e menos em mim, entendo que se assim tivesse feito estaria colhendo frutos mais concretos e efetivamente muito mais Harmonia.

Trataria meus filhos de forma diferente, deixaria que eles errassem mais já que os concertos que tentei impor de nada serviram no fim eles fizeram o que deveria ser feito no momento exato para que buscassem seus caminhos.

Daria somente as pessoas o que elas realmente precisam e procuraria cada dia mais ensinar a pescar ao invés de ter dado o peixe, a isca, o anzol, o barco e em alguns momentos até mesmo cortar os peixes em pedacinhos pequenos e colocar na boca, havia momentos que até os mastiguei para facilitar ainda mais... Aquilo não foi amor.

Teria mais tempo para as coisas que sempre achei que não eram importantes, como dançar, aprender a andar de bicicleta, fazer ainda mais amigos, jogar dominó com meus filhos, aprender a jogar xadrez, investir no meu tênis, viajar sem destino, usar roupas que não são tão bonitas, mas que eram extremamente confortáveis, andar na chuva e bater o pé na enxurrada, cantar alto em casa e dançar sozinha, arriscar fazer coisas ainda mais diferentes.

Eu usaria aquele cabelo vermelho fogo que sempre quis, mas os amigos abominavam, também adotaria uma criança, ou talvez duas, nunca fiz por medo de não conseguir dar conta. No entanto as dificuldades sempre vêm em qualquer circunstância.

Traria minha alegria para os livros que não escrevi por falta de tempo. Aprenderia a tocar violão mesmo que os professores continuassem dizendo que eu não tinha vocação alguma, hoje já saberia tocar pelo menos Detalhes do Roberto e isso me faria muito feliz.

Mas... Ainda há tempo...

Porque hoje eu sei que TUDO POSSO naquele que me fortalece.



Fonte: Jornal Carreira & Sucesso - 400ª Edição

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs

Brazilian Squad Let us Down.

While everyone was against Dunga's call up for this World Cup I've always been very supportive of it. Not that it means anything... Actually my opinion, along with the other 180 million of all the Brazilians around never meant anything to Dunga and his technical commission. The point is that until this afternoon I never doubted his team. I mean Brazil has oodles of talents as far as soccer goes. One might choose one player over the other but at the end of the day mostly everyone will agree on one thing: Brazilian squad will always be the best one no matter what. We got five championships for God sake!
What went wrong then? Why haven't them lived up to the expectations once again? Everyone recalls the fiasco in the last World Cup protagonized by Roberto Carlos when fixing his socks while Etto scored the goal that would shatter our dreams to get the sixth championship of the world.
When I saw Julio Cesar crying on TV I immediately remembered the last cup when the Brazilian players were hardly criticized for taking the loss to France lightly. Some of them even got a grin on their faces. Maybe that was just a lesson learned right? I mean by knowing he would get criticism enough for losing the game he decided to might as well put on an act with all that weeping and sobbing to fool the spectators. Not me though.
I truly believe the reason for all this lack of enthusiasm, motivation and desire to win in the Brazilian squad lies in a very simple word: Security.
Come to think of it… these soccer players are loaded. I mean they don’t feel the need to prove anything to anybody. They have already worked their way to the top. Nothing can jeopardise their humongous incomes. The way I see it, they just pretend they care about the World Cup, about bringing some happiness to the Brazilian people - that have pretty much put their lives on hold to cheer for them, looking to be proud of their nation at least once, but deep down inside they don't give a rat ass for the outcome, for that matter. Their families are pretty much taken care of; they've got the big bucks in their bank accounts; they're fulfilled professionals in all aspects and that’s the bottom line. Let the Joe Blows with all their worries...
Brazilian Confederation should wake up to the fact that even though these guys are good and, if they want to, they can be exceptional, they won’t walk the extra mile. Unemployment, empty pockets, fear of being given the walking papers, desire to build a name and so on and so forth play a great role as far motivation goes. I mean hadn’t Neimar, Ganso and another handful of up and coming brilliant players been left off, the story of this World Cup might have been totally different. Although they pretty much also already got solid careers and stuff, I believe their desire to prove themselves to the world could be effectively exploited, would undoubtedly have played a great factor as far as putting their heart on their feet and showing more respect to all the Brazilians fans rooting for them.
We'll be hosting the next World Cup. Hopefully we can assemble some great players who will take it all in as far as the greatness of wearing the Brazilian Soccer T-shirt, as well as come up with a coach who will pay more attention to the people’s opinion and reign supreme once again.
Let me hear what you think. The floor is all yours...


Deivis.

Shane Carwin vs Brock Lesnar July 3rd

WOW!!! man am I stoked for this fight... Two days from now two freight trains are gonna collide for the UFC heavyweight championship of the world. This is being considered the biggest heavyweight fight ever since two of the highest caliber contenders will finally meet in the octagon. Shane Carwin is pretty much the kind of guy you would never want as your foe. And Brock Lesnar needs no introduction whatsoever. I mean as far as power and athleticism there is nobody like this juggernaut on the planet.
MMA fans are expecting a slugfest as both guys have been saying there gonna come out with guns blazing to knock each other clean out. You know. It's actually been a short time since I began following the UFC. However, I've grown to love this sport so much that I can already consider myself to be a die hard fan. It's a good thing though I can sit back in my place and enjoy the battles on Combat TV. If I had to pay for each and every PPV like I used to back in the US I'd have hit canvas long time ago. Hopefully someday the UFC will be as big as soccer so we can get to watch the events for free on open TV. Until then I'll have to pay for all the channels and just watch a single one.LOL
Before that though, I gotta see the Brazilian squad showcase of talent (hopefully) against Netherlands.
Tomorrow morning at 11am, to be more precise, my country is walking over the Dutch and stamping its passport to the semi finals. Very eventful week uh... I mean for a guy who's been out of work for quite a while now, I cannot complain about the lack of excitement this week.


Deivis.