Tag Archives: ensino de língua Inglesa
Our Halloween party 🎃
🍬 🍭 🍫
Our Easter Activity 🐣
We prepared a basket, folding the paper very carefully, then we put a handle and next we glued the eyes, the nose, the ears, and the whiskers of our bunny.
How did you like it?
How to Prepare for a Job Interview
Do you have a job interview in English coming up soon? These tips will help you to get ready and impress your potential employer.
If you’ve been invited to a job interview, it’s a good sign. It means the company thinks you have potential and they want to know more about you.
Interviewers can sometimes ask unpredictable questions, but you can increase your chance of success by preparing well! Here’s how.
Study the job description
The job description says what skills, experience and personal characteristics the company needs.
Think of examples of your past work that demonstrate your strengths in these areas. You may have other skills too, but focus on those mentioned in the job description.
Anticipate questions and prepare answers
Here are some common questions to prepare for.
- Why do you want this job?
- What can you bring to this role?
- Why did you leave your last job?
- Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- What challenges could you face in this job?
Your answers will be more persuasive if you include real examples of your work. For instance:
Q: What can you bring to this role?
A: Good time management. It’s one of my strengths. In my last role I organised our office relocation, which was a huge project involving over a hundred staff in only three months. I delegated work within my team to save time. I set deadlines for completion of the project stages and I monitored progress regularly. Because of this, the relocation was completed on time and on budget. I feel confident I can bring these skills into this role.
Some questions may ask you to talk about weaknesses, failures or challenges. Nevertheless, be optimistic. For example, if you have to talk about a failure you experienced, you can also say what you learned from it or how you avoid repeating it.
Look at your CV and guess what interviewers will want to know. For instance, if you have any gaps between jobs, they may ask what you did during that time.
Research the company
Find out as much as you can. Check the company’s website, LinkedIn and social media, and ask your friends and colleagues.
You can use this information in the interview. If you know about the company’s current activities, for example, you can say which ones you are keen to be involved in. It will show your interest in the job.
Practise English
Here are some suggestions for vocabulary practice:
- positive adjectives to describe you (e.g. determined, resilient) and your work (e.g. innovative, successful)
- verbs to describe your achievements and actions (e.g. coordinate, direct, develop, create)
- words to describe projects and goals (e.g. objective, success criteria, implementation)
- words to describe professional development (e.g. training, qualifications)
- technical terms in your field
- phrases for social interaction (e.g. Nice to meet you; It’s my pleasure).
Also check the pronunciation of any technical terms, the company’s name and the interviewers’ names.
Practise speaking English aloud until you feel comfortable and confident. It’s a good idea to do a practice interview – ask a friend to ask you some questions and practise responding in English.
Prepare your own questions
You may have a chance to ask your interviewers some questions. This is a good way to show your interest as well as to find out more about the job. Here are some suggestions.
- What do you think the challenges will be for this role?
- What’s the next step in the recruitment process after this interview?
- When will you notify candidates about the outcome of the interview?
- Will there be any support for training and development in this role?
Prepare the practicalities
Decide what clothes you will wear and get them looking smart. Pack in your bag anything that you need to bring, such as your ID card or certificates. Take a bottle of water too. Arriving late makes a bad impression, so plan to arrive at the venue early.
For online interviews, find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. Turn on your device’s camera and check that the picture is clear and the room lighting is not too bright or dark. Check that the microphone picks up your voice clearly too. Have a look around the interview platform (e.g. Zoom or Skype) and get familiar with the controls (how to mute, share screen, etc.). Also prepare any notes that you want to refer to.
Good luck in your interview!
Toddlers Learning English
Children can learn a second language easily and enjoy it a lot.
Classes have to be funny and with hands on activities.
Interrogative Pronoun
Do you know how to use all the possibilities of How.
Here are some.
10 Childhood Benefits Of Being Bilingual
By Nikita Gupta / July 12, 2021
Photo credit: www.growingupgupta.com
“Having your child learn two languages at the same time will confuse them, won’t it?” “You know that teaching your child multiple languages is just going to cause a speech delay?”
Have you heard these assertions too? These are common questions that many of us raising bilingual kids hear. The answer is “No” to all of the above. Learning two languages at the same time does not negatively affect speech development. On the contrary, it might help the child overcome the problem faster. To give you some assurance, here are ten benefits of being bilingual.Photo credit: www.growingupgupta.com
Benefits of Being Bilingual from a Young Age
1. Better concentration
When a bilingual child tries to speak, both languages compete to be spoken. The child has to quickly pick and suppress the other and switch between them in a second. This ability helps kids to focus better in a noisy class and mute all other irrelevant sounds.
2. Arithmetic and problem-solving
Bilingual kids have better mental alertness, which helps them to solve problems much easier. A study by psychologists Ellen Bialystok and Michelle Martin, shows that bilinguals have an easier time dividing objects by shapes and colors than their monolingual peers.
3. Creativity and ability to hypothesize
Since their brains are used to decoding and interpreting two or more languages, bilingual kids have an easier time coming up with and explaining scientific ideas.
4. Better language and vocabulary
Bilingual kids do better in word reading and spelling because of their understanding of sounds and tenses. This gives them an advantage over others when they start learning languages in class.
5. Brain exercise
In a bilingual child’s brain, both sides are always on alert and active even when they are speaking one language. The brains work a little bit more than a monolingual brain, which enhances their cognitive abilities.
6. Better communication
Multilingual kids have mastered the art of interpersonal understanding and listening, which makes them better communicators. This is more of a benefit of growing up in a multilingual environment where you have to listen to other’s perspectives and understand them.
7. Better memory
Learning two languages means you have to retain a lot of information and be ready to produce it at will. This helps kids with memory in school work as well as other important stuff like directions.
8. Faster response
Have you ever noticed that children take a while before responding to a command or an incident? Learning multiple languages forces the brain to quickly switch from one language to another, depending on who is speaking to you. As a result, the brain gets used to quick response and shorter reaction time.
9. Improved social life and better family connections
Speaking a second or third language opens up a whole new world out there to enhance your social skills. Being able to communicate with people from different cultures is a confidence boost and an ice breaker. It also helps to relate better with family members from that culture.
10. Open-mindedness
Multilingual kids are more open-minded and adaptable because you have already exposed them to a different level of tolerance. They are also more accepting and understanding of others, which translates to compassion and empathy.
At a young age, bilingual acquisition is as natural as learning how to walk or crawl. Kids who learn decoding skills in one language will easily translate to English or any other language. Multicultural parenting may not be the easiest, but it comes with many benefits for the children. As we have seen, there are multiple benefits of being bilingual.
A step-by-step guide to learning English with songs
Whatever type of music you’re into, learning English with songs will help you improve your listening and speaking skills, vocabulary and pronunciation.
1. Choose a song that’s in English
It can be any song at all. A song that you like, that you’ve listened to several times before. Have you found it? Great! Now …
2. Listen to the song
Do you understand all of the lyrics?
Probably not! But don’t worry – people hardly ever understand every word of a song the first time they hear it. The words have to fit the rhythm of the music, so they are often difficult to understand.
3. Read the lyrics
Find the lyrics online. Many music streaming services have a setting where you can listen and read the lyrics at the same time.
Listen to the song again while you read. Now it starts to make a bit more sense!
Make a note of new or interesting words and phrases. You don’t have to look up every single word in the dictionary. Try to learn five to ten new words per song.
4. Notice pronunciation
You may notice some strange-looking words! Some words in songs are written as they are pronounced.
‘Wanna’, for example, is an informal spelling of ‘want to’.
What about ‘gonna’ and ‘gimme’? What are these informal spellings of?
As you listen, notice how phrases are pronounced. This really helps you understand people when they’re talking fast.
5. Listen again and join in
As you listen, start to join in with the easier parts. Sing as quietly or as loudly as you want!
The chorus – the part of the song that is repeated several times – will probably be what you can sing along to first.
6. Sing along
Listen to the song a few more times, and each time join in with a little bit more.
By now the song is really in your head! You’re really feeling the rhythm of the music and the lyrics.
Tomorrow, next week or whenever you feel like learning a new song, do the same thing again. But don’t forget to come back to the old songs, especially your favourites.
Let’s Learn about the Calendar
How to Implement the Calendar Routine
As parents, we are busy – especially in the morning! It can be difficult to establish a consistent calendar routine this time of day.
1. Keep it simple. Don’t try to achieve too many things with your calendar routine or you won’t be consistent. Start with the basics. If you need to, do your calendar routine the night before when things are calmer in the house.
2. Add your calendar routine to you child’s morning job chart. Check off the tasks on this chart each morning so you don’t forget any of them. This signals that the calendar routine is important and, if it is on the morning job chart, you will do it consistently. For more on morning routines, check out this post:
3. Start with a ‘days of the week’ song. See the videos below if you need more ideas. I’d like to give a shout out to Blanca Stingl, an amazing kindergarten teacher with a great calendar routine. I got many of these ideas from her. Give your child a pointer and allow him/her to point at the days of the week as you sing. When you introduce letter sounds, have your child look for the day of the week that starts with the ‘mmm’ sound (Monday).
4. Help your child select the number for the date. By doing this repetitively, your child will soon recognize numbers to 30.
5. Sing a ‘months of the year’ song. You may only want to do this a couple of times each month. If your child is getting bored or fidgety, keep your calendar routine shorter. Create a dance or let your child use the pointer for the months of the year to keep him/her moving.
6. Sing “What’s the weather like today?”. Then, look out the window and decide. Put up the appropriate weather label.
7. Finally, mention the season. You may want to read a book about ‘winter’ when the season changes. Discuss winter clothing, activities, and changes in the environment. You can do this each time a season changes. This can be a starting point for some great seasonal learning activities.
Earth Day today!
Let’s celebrate!
Earth Day, which was established in 1970 in the US, is celebrated on 22nd April each year. It is a day to think about our planet and what we can do to keep it special; to think about saving water and energy, reducing pollution, recycling, protecting our animals, trees and plants, and generally getting kids interested in protecting their environment.
“Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.
Kenyan proverb
Here are some quick ideas for celebrating Earth Day with your children:
- Plant a tree
- Go for a bike ride or a long walk (leave the car behind)
- Hold a nature “scavenger hunt” (send the kids out into the garden or park in teams to collect – or spot – various items on a list you provide – we have some scavenger hunt printables you can use here!)
- Print out some of our posters and place in strategic positions around the house. Talk about saving water when brushing teeth and saving energy by turning off the lights when you leave a room
- Bake your favourite cookie or biscuit recipe and let the kids decorate with icing to look like the planet earth
- Gather family and friends together and combine a picnic or other excursion with a litter clean-up
- Set up a recycling centre in your home or school
- Look through your shelves and find some books to give away via your local charity shop or library
- Delve into your craft cupboard and tackle a recycling craft for fun!
Source: https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/earth-day?awt_a=8YG5&awt_l=5S26Y&awt_m=IpVSHZyq2VDtG5
Paula Lyra ELT School 