Watch what you write!

Here is a funny example of a real sign written in English. What is wrong with it? How would you re-write it to eliminate the ambiguity?

Here are more examples of ambiguous signs. Can you 'fix' them?

Forró: from Brazil to New York

Five Brazilians and one American meet in New York. The result? Forró in the Dark, a band that mixes traditional forró music from northeastern Brazil with more 'urban' elements. The group has just released a new album, Bonfires of Sao Joao, with Bebel Gilberto, David Byrne and Miho Hatori as guests. Here is an article and an interview with the members of Forro in the Dark, and a sample of their latest work (Riacho do Navio and, believe it or not, the classic Asa Branca in English...)

Portmanteau words

Reporters often refer to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as "Brangelina". The mixture of Spanish and English spoken by many Hispanics in the U.S. is called "Spanglish". These are portmanteau words, made when we blend two words into one. Take a look at this list of portmanteau words used in everyday English. Then play a game clicking here!

A very special cat

T.S. Eliot wrote Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, a series of poems about the sociology and pshychology of cats, which later turned into the famous musical Cats; Ernest Hemingway had a number of polydactyl cats in his Key West home. But the feline that has really made the headlines in the past few days is Oscar, who seems to be able to know when terminally-ill patients are going to die, and keeps them company in their final moments.

The story itself would be interesting to most people, but it also called the attention of editors of The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the most (if not the most) prestigious medical publication. Here's the doctor's account of a day in the life of Oscar the cat. What do you think: is it really just a coincidence or does Oscar possess a special gift?

Song: Vincent (Don McLean)

On 29th July 1890, Vincent Van Gogh, one of the greatest painters of all times, shot himself after a long battle with mental illness. He was only 37, but in the years he dedicated to painting, he produced more than 2,000 works, including some of the most important (and expensive) pieces ever. The Museum Van Gogh in Amsterdam houses many of his paintings, but you can see his work in the most renowned art museums and galleries in the world.

In 1971, Don McLean wrote this beautiful song which captured Van Gogh's life and art beautifully. The slideshow is a collection of some of his paintings. After listening to the song, you can try a reading activity based on his biography. There is also a vocabulary activity about art based on the lyrics.

If you were one of Van Gogh's painting, which one would you be? Do the test and find out! Here's who I am...



Starry starry night
Paint your palette blue and grey
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land

Now I understand what you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They would not listen they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

Starry starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue
Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand

Now I understand what you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

For they could not love you but still your love was true
And when no hope was left in sight on that starry starry night
You took your life as lovers often do
But I could have told you Vincent
This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you

Starry starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget
Like the strangers that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn of bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now I think I know what you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They would not listen they're not listening still
Perhaps they never will

• In your opinion, who are "they" (they would not listen, set them free, etc)?

See also:

Women in Art

Vocabulary: Parts of the body

Aline wrote a post about Grupo Corpo, so how about trying a few activities to revise parts of the body in English? First, take a look at a page where you can find a list of parts of the body with their pronunciation (click on the audio at the top of the page to activate it) . You can use the site to help you with one or more of the activities below:

• a wordsearch for beginner/pre-intermediate students
• a matching activity - choose the right part of the body from the list (pre-intermediate)
• if you prefer, you can also try an activity where you need to write the correct part of the body
• try this fun hangman with 42 words related to the body
• for advanced students, two quizzes: one about body movements and
• one with idiomatic expressions using parts of the body
• finally, learn the names of the human organs
  

Ready? Take your pick and have fun!

Grupo Corpo dances "Breu"

by Aline M.
Grupo Corpo's new choreography, Breu, is about violence and the disappearence of moral principles in modern world. The dancers spend most of the time making caotic movements on the floor and for the public who still have the memory of romantic "Lecuona" in their minds, this new work can be a shock. But the choreographer, Rodrigo Pederneiras, believes it is necessary to talk about the problem and to protest against this values inversion. The atmosphere is completed by the music, composed by Lenine, and the black and white costumes and scenery.

As usual, the dance company presents another choreography before the new one, and this time they will show "Sete ou Oito Peças Para Balé", from 1994. The first performance will be in São Paulo next week, and in Belo Horizonte between 6th and 10th of september. After that, the group will dance in different cities in France and Argentina.

Song: Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel)

Celebrating love and friendship, here's a beautiful song, a 1970 classic written by Paul Simon and performed by Art Garfunkel. And then you can try a fun wordsearch about qualities we want in a friend. There are also a vocabulary activity about negative prefixes in adjectives and some idiomatic expressions on our wiki page.



When you're weary, feelin' small
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all
I'm on your side, Oh, when times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down

When you're down and out, when you're on the street
When evening falls so hard, I will comfort you
I'll take your part, Oh when darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down

Sail on silver girl, sail on by
Your time has come to shine, all your dreams are on their way
See how they shine, Oh if you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind

July 20 - Happy Friendship Day!

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. -- Aristotle

Net toll-free number

by Fernanda

Hi, everybody,
I was told that Net (cable tv provider) is obliged to have a toll-free number which is (0800) 721 0029. Since they don't divulge it, only the pay number, and they make us to wait for hours during each call, I think it's necessary to inform all our friends about it. I tried the number and it works, so it's a safe message.

Is that what he said?

This is a simple - and clever - TV commercial for Maxell tapes I first saw in the late 1980s. Native speakers can have problems understanding their own language too and may end up hearing strange sound combinations (like in the song below, "cheese head" instead of "she said")! Click here to learn more about connected speech.


And here's what the singer actually said:

Get up in the morning, slaving for bread, sir,
So that every mouth can be fed.
Poor me, Israelite.
My wife and my kids,
They are packed up and leave me.
Darling, she said, I was yours to be seen.
Poor me, Israelite.

And here's another funny Maxell advert. But this time the singer simply has terrible pronunciation! :-)

Make or Do?

You do your homework, you make a promise, a criminal does time in prison, some people make a fortune. It is often difficult to know whether to use 'do' or 'make', and it may be best to learn the expressions, without worrying about the grammar rules. Here are a few activities to help you practise:

• a multiple choice activity: choose 'do' or 'make' to complete each sentence;
• put the expressions under 'do' or 'make' and complete the sentences
• a quiz for upper-intermediate students.

Brazil in the news: plane crashes at SP airport

Less than a year after the biggest aviation disaster in Brazilian history killed 153 passengers in the Amazon region, another plane has crashed, this time in a crowded downtown area in the city of São Paulo. The airbus skidded off the runway right after landing at Congonhas airport and hit a building, immediately bursting into flames and killing all 186 passengers and crew members on board, and critically injuring a number of people on the road. If you have been following the story, here's the news on CNN and an updated article by the Associated Press (with video).

Quick listening practice

How about doing some quick listening practice? Here is a question and answer activity (you must select or type your answer in the box) and a more challenging dictation with useful expressions in English. Turn on the speakers and have fun!

Text messaging in English

Sending instant messages (using AOL or MSN, for example) or text messages (using your cellphone) means being economical with words. There is a maximum number of characters we can use, so people have been finding very creative ways of writing words, combining letters, numbers and punctuation. Here is a BBC article about instant messaging in Britain (you can listen too, if you have Real Audio installed in your computer).

Can you read "text message English"? Try this multiple choice quiz and find out! Then take a look at this list of text messages and see how many you can read (pass the mouse over the icon to get the correct sentence).

Still having problems? NetLingo is a great dictionary of internet terms, so I bookmarked it on our del.icio.us page.

Try also:

Text messaging

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

If you are anything like me and do not have any magic powers, you are a 'muggle'. And if you are like millions of muggles around the world, you must be looking forward to the seventh - and final - instalment of Harry Potter's adventures, to be released on July 21st, 10 years after the first book was published. 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' will supposedly answer all the questions that are still unanswered and show the final confrontation between the wizard and his enemy Lord Voldemort.

A lot is already being said about the book and the recently released 5th movie of the series (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), so here's a series of interesting links to articles and activities about the world of Harry Potter:

- How much can we speculate about the new book by analyzing its cover? Here are some interesting ideas to start you thinking;
- Find the names of some of the most important characters in this wordsearch activity (the words may be found across, down or diagonally, in any direction!);
- What do you know about the writer J.K. Rowling? Try this fun quiz and test yourself! Then learn more about her reading her biography and trying a reading activity;
- Here is a question & answer activity to know more about Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who plays in the movies the most famous wizard in the world;
- Have you read any of the other Harry Potter books? Why not write a short review? Click and see what other people have written. The fun part? Your review must have a maximum of 7 words!

How to irritate people!

That was the title of a 1969 mock TV documentary made by John Cleese and his (later) Monty Python friends, which gave practical lessons on how to drive others mad. What makes you lose your temper? Watch the short video below; do things like these drive you up the wall too? How do you react when irritated? What do you do to try and keep calm when something - or someone - is irritating you? Write your ideas in the 'comments' area. And here is a short text (advanced level) to practise the use of prepositions.

Cell phones, hell phones

A recent poll conducted in several countries has revealed that the cellphone is the most hated modern invention, although most of us admit it's difficult to imagine our lives nowadays without one. No longer do we use cellphones simply to call our friends; we can access the internet, listen to our favourite tunes, take pictures, store information, send text messages and e-mails, to name a few possibilities. But how much information about ourselves are we giving away? This article published in the Washington Post discusses some potential problems with keeping your life in a little electronic device.

John Travolta: much more than a woman!

You've seen him hit the dance floor in Stayin' Alive, get in trouble with Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction and play the bad guy in Swordfish. Now, could you picture John Travolta as... a woman? But that's exactly the role he is playing in the film Hairspray, a musical which opens July 20th in the U.S. (and 28 September in Brazil). Unlike some other famous actors, who have played men dressed as women, Travolta will be seen on screen as a real woman - Edna Turnblad - the mother of a teenage girl who is obsessed with a TV show. What made him do it? Read and listen to this interview and find out!

Pan American Games - Rio 2007

Are you ready for the XV Pan American Games? The opening ceremony will take place at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro on July 13th, and the competition continues until the 29th. Learn more about the event and about sports in general trying some of the activities below:

• Find out about the history of the games in this article in Wikipedia;
• Read about the XV Pan American Games and Rio de Janeiro on the games' official website
• Here is an interesting article published last month in the New York Times about the games and how to enjoy yourself in Rio while travelling safe
• Can you spell the names of Latin American countries? Put the letters in the correct sequence and test your knowledge
• How about some vocabulary activities? Here is a hangman game with different types of sports and a more advanced vocabulary quiz about sports. Enjoy!
• Which sports do you use with the verbs go, play and do? Learn more about the right verb-noun collocations clicking here
• What makes great athletes go on competing? Listen to an extract of an interview Michael Jordan gave to Larry King on CNN and find out what motivates one of the greatest basketball players of all times. Click on 'audio' at the top of the page and follow the text.

In the news: Voted New Seven Wonders of the World

The statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro has been elected one of the New Seven Wonders of the World by online and telephone voters around the globe. The final results were announced today by actors Ben Kingsley and Hilary Swank, during the official ceremony in Lisbon (Portugal).

The other six Wonders are The Great Wall (China), Petra (Jordan), Chichén Itzá (Mexico), Machu Picchu (Peru), the Colosseum (Italy) and the Taj Mahal (India).

The event is a private initiative organized by a Swiss foundation and has no official status - UNESCO, responsible for officially awarding the title of World Heritage Sites to places of historical, natural and artistic significance, declined to participate. But the election was a huge success: about 100 million votes have been counted, and the ceremony was broadcast to 170 countries, with an estimated 1,6 billion viewers.

Here is a video about the ceremony, presented by Rhiz Khan for Al Jazeera, and a crossword puzzle about the new seven wonders!

Song: Another Day (Paul McCartney)

This is one of Paul McCartney's biggest hits with his post-Beatles band, Wings. It talks about the life of a girl. Listen to the song and choose the correct verbs in the lyrics (check 'comments' for the correct answers). Then try some pronunciation and grammar activities!



Every day she has/takes a morning bath, she wets/dries her hair
Wraps/Puts a towel 'round her as she's heading for the bedroom chair
I'ts just another day
Slippin' into stockings, steppin' into/puttin' on shoes
Dippin' in the pocket of her raincoat
It's just another day

At the office where the papers pile/grow she has/takes a break
Drinks/Makes another coffee and she finds it hard to stay awake
It's just another day It's just another day It's just another day

So sad, so sad, sometimes she feels/is so sad
Alone in the apartment she'd dwell
Till the man of her dreams comes/arrives to break the spell
Ah, stay, don't stand her up
And he comes, and he stays, but he leaves the next day
So sad... Sometimes she feels so sad

As she writes/posts another letter to the sound of five
People gather 'round her and she finds it hard to stay alive
It's just another day It's just another day It's just another day

So sad, so sad, sometimes she feels so sad...

Every day she has/takes a morning bath, she wets/dries her hair
Wraps a towel 'round her as she's heading for the bedroom chair
I'ts just another day It's just another day It's just another day

Our visitors around the world!

Have you noticed this world map on the right side of our blog? It shows where in the world our readers are. If you click on the original map, a new window will open and you'll see how many different places are represented - almost 3,000 visits since we first started! Can you recognise all the different countries? Do you know our friends' nationalities? Here are a few activities to revise and practice countries and nationalities in English:

First of all, how about a listening activity? Listen to the description of different flags and mark your answers. Pay attention to the colours, whether there are horizontal or vertical bars, etc., but remember that the flags look quite similar!

Another good activity using flags is a reading activity in the form of a guessing game. You will see a flag and the names of four different countries. Decide which country each flag represents. You can ask for help, but the faster you answer, the more points you get. Have fun!

Looking for some activities to revise vocabulary related to nationalities? Here are links to a wordsearch, a hangman and a crossword puzzle. Also, Elena, a teacher in Russia, has sent us a link to a project on Russia/Latin America that she and her students have been working on (visit their website!). Thank you, Elena!

Lots of activities to choose from!

Wild Life Pictures

by Felipe C.

Is it possible to see a picture of an animal in its magnificent performances in nature and not to be amazed? I don't think so. Apart from people who aren't keen on animals or some others who are truely afraid of them, there is no one who doesn't feel excited while seeing that kind of photos. A good tip for those who are fans of this subject is the national geographic website . So visit there to have good samples of excitement and art (photography)!

A big hug and a kiss to you all!

It's been 3 months since our first blog post and I guess this is a good time to thank you, my students, for visiting, commenting and sending your contributions! I hope you are enjoying Project Platypus as much as I am!
And a big hug to all our dear friends - old and new - around the world, who have been accessing our page and bringing their own friends! It's great to have you here and I hope you keep coming back!