On the brink of...

ON THE BRINK OF

O que significa esta expressão

By Alberto Queiroz

MAIRO VERGARA

Jan. 15, 2025

Brink é uma palavra de origem germânica que está no Inglês praticamente desde que o idioma existe. Significa “beira”, “borda” ou “margem” – como a “margem” de um rio, por exemplo.
Hoje em dia, a palavra brink não é muito usada nesses contextos – falaríamos de the bank of a river, enquanto que “borda” costuma ser edge ou border. Mas, como tantas outras palavras, brink teve sua existência preservada graças à expressão on the brink of.
E o que significa essa expressão? Bem, à essa altura do campeonato você certamente já adivinhou: significa “à beira de”, “a ponto de” ou “prestes a”.
É comum, por exemplo – e infelizmente! –, você ler um animal está on the brink of extinction – isto é, “à beira da extinção”, “quase entrando em extinção”.
Também frequentes são expressões do tipo: this is on the brink of a disaster – “à beira de um desastre”. E, para seguir à expressão um verbo, coloque-o no gerúndio: They are on the brink of finding a cure. “Eles estão prestes a encontrar uma cura”.
Vamos conferir alguns exemplos.

• Their economy is teetering on the brink of collapse. (A sua economia está vacilando à beira do colapso.)
• Failure to communicate had brought the two nations to the brink of war. (A falta de comunicação havia trazido as duas nações para à beira da guerra.)
• Extreme stress had driven him to the brink of a nervous breakdown. (Um estresse extremo o havia levado à beira de um colapso nervoso.)
• Scientists are on the brink of a major discovery. (Os cientistas estão à beira de uma descoberta importantíssima.)
• These countries are on the brink of a disastrous famine. (Esses países estão à beira de uma fome desastrosa.)
• Many companies are on the brink of ruin. (Muitas companhias estão à beira da ruína.)
• Negotiations between the two countries are on the brink of collapse. (As negociações entre os dois países estão à beira do colapso.)
• What we are seeing now is a country teetering on the brink of civil war. (O que estamos vendo agora é um país oscilando à beira da guerra civil.)
• Not long ago the river otter was on the brink of extinction. (Há não muito tempo, a lontra de rios estava à beira da extinção.)
• The company was on the brink of collapse. (A companhia estava à beira do colapso.)
• The debt crisis led many companies to the brink of bankruptcy. (A crise de dívidas levou muitas companhias à beira da falência.)
• They seem to be teetering on the brink of a major crisis. (Eles parecem estar vacilando à beira de uma crise enorme.)
• Right now, the company is poised on the brink of success. (Neste exato momento, a companhia está colocada à beira do sucesso.)
• In October 1962 the world seemed on the brink of nuclear war. (Em outubro de 1962, o mundo parecia estar à beira da guerra nuclear.)
• We’re on the brink of success with these experiments, I just know it. (Estamos prestes a ter sucesso com estes experimentos, eu simplesmente sei.)
• The company had huge debts and was on the brink of collapse. (A companhia tinha dívidas enormes e estava prestes a entrar em colapso.)
• I was on the brink of selling my car to make ends meet when the tax refund came in the mail. (Eu estava prestes a vender o meu carro para conseguir ganhar um dinheiro quando o reembolso de impostos veio no correio.)
• The two nations are on the brink of war. (As duas nações estão à beira da guerra.)
• Doctors may be on the brink of finding a cure for this disease. (Os médicos podem estar prestes a encontrar uma cura para esta doença.)
• She believed she was on the brink of discovering a cure for cancer. (Ela acreditava estar prestes a descobrir uma cura para o câncer.)
• The crisis brought the two nations to the brink of war. (A crise deixou as duas nações prestes a entrar em guerra.)

Clique AQUI para baixar o PDF com as frases acima.
Clique AQUI para baixar a gravação com todas as frases em Inglês.

Adaptado de: https://www.mairovergara.com/on-the-brink-of-o-que-significa-esta-expressao/. Acesso em: 17 jan. 2025. © Reis Vergara Idiomas 2025. Todos os direitos reservados.

To be short on...

TO BE SHORT ON

O que significa esta expressão

By Alberto Queiroz

MAIRO VERGARA

Jan. 9, 2025

Geralmente, na Língua Inglesa, tendemos a pensar em short no sentido de “baixo” – referência à estatura de alguém. Além disso, short significa “curto” – isso todos também sabemos. Mas algo que escapa à atenção de muitos é que short pode ter um sentido relacionado, mas bem diferente. Vejamos melhor.
Por vir de uma palavra no Alemão antigo que significava “cortar” (scurz), a palavra short manteve em Inglês uma conotação de “fim” ou “falta de alguma coisa”. É daí que temos a expressão cut short, que significa “interromper”, “pôr fim”. É daí, também, que temos to be short on something, que quer dizer… isso mesmo, “ter falta de alguma coisa”.
Na verdade, to be short on tem uma série de traduções, dependendo do contexto, mas o sentido é sempre o mesmo – estamos falando de algo que “falta”.
Para comentar, de forma negativa, que alguém tem “X demais, mas Y de menos”, podemos formular a frase assim: he is long on X, but short on Y.
Além disso, é comum vermos frases como I’m short on time ou he’s short on cash – “estou sem tempo”, “ele está com pouco dinheiro”.
Nos exemplos abaixo, veja como a expressão pode ser usada em situações bem diferentes.

• I’ve always found his movies long on style and short on content. (Sempre achei que os filmes dele têm estilo demais e conteúdo de menos.)
• We’re short on coffee – I’d better get some more. (O café está em falta – melhor eu ir buscar um pouco mais.)
• It seems like kids these days are all short on work ethic. (Parece que esses garotos de hoje em dia todos têm pouca ética de trabalho.)
• What he said was a little short on substance. (Faltava substância naquilo que ele disse.)
• He’s a nice guy, but a little short on brains. (Ele é um cara legal, mas com inteligência de menos.)
• The president’s speech was long on colorful phrases but short on solutions. (O discurso do presidente foi cheio de frases coloridas, mas com poucas soluções.)
• He was very short on enthusiasm. (Ele tinha muito pouco entusiasmo.)
• The proposals were short on detail. (As propostas tinham pouco detalhe.)
• I’m a little short on time now. (Estou um pouco sem tempo agora.)
• They said they were short on cash and wouldn’t be able to help us at the time. (Eles disseram que estavam sem dinheiro e não poderiam nos ajudar no momento.)

Clique AQUI para baixar o PDF com as frases acima.
Clique AQUI para baixar a gravação com todas as frases em Inglês.

Adaptado de: https://www.mairovergara.com/to-be-short-on-o-que-significa-esta-expressao/. Acesso em: 17 jan. 2025. © Reis Vergara Idiomas 2025. Todos os direitos reservados.

ESL WORKSHEET - Environmental issues

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

SAVING THE RAINFOREST

LinguaHouse

Jan. 3, 2025

Level: Upper-Intermediate (B2-C1)
Type of English: General English
Tags: Health and Well-being; Society and Change; International Investment; The Future and Space; Innovation and Product Development; Environment and Nature; Nature; Exam Preparation; Video Talk; Article Based; Challenges; Phrasal Verbs; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old
Publication date: 01/03/2025

In this updated lesson plan, students define vocabulary and read/listen to an article about two environmental projects in Indonesia before identifying their similarities and differences. All activities support students using English in academic contexts and there is an opportunity to explore pronunciation in context. The final activity offers a choice of discussion questions, roleplay or writing and an optional video extension allows students to look back at the early history of one of the projects in the reading. This lesson assumes some basic familiarity with the issue of deforestation and its consequences. (by Stephanie Hirschman)

LinguaHouse is in no way affiliated with, authorized, maintained, sponsored or endorsed by TED Conferences LLC.

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English.

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Saving the rainforest: eyes and ears.
Speaker: All over the world, rainforests are under threat from activities such as logging and mining. As deforestation increases, we lose biodiversity. This issue is important because healthy rainforests play an important role in preventing or slowing climate change. But how can these vital resources be protected? Read on to find out about two communities in Indonesia that guard the rainforest using their eyes and ears.
On the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo, local people are working with the Borneo Nature Foundation (BNF) to maintain a unique combination of tropical forest and wetland, the Sebangu National Park. This environment is under threat from illegal logging and mining activities and under pressure as the growing local population expands their agricultural activities. Farming, along with droughts related to El Niño weather events, have dried out the area and made it vulnerable to fire.
It’s difficult to monitor events on the ground over such a vast and inaccessible region. That’s why drones have become such a valuable piece of kit for this NGO. Standard six-propellor drones have been fitted with thermal imaging cameras which can see both visible light and heat when flown over the park. The infrared cameras can look through smoke to the forest below, and even detect hotspots where fires may be burning underground, as the peat soil in the wetlands burns very easily when dry.
Community patrols have been trained to operate the drones and when fire is detected, they can prioritize areas of action and send information to firefighters on the ground. The video footage they generate is also used in education programs to increase awareness of the need for action. The organization aims to inform locals and assist them in making decisions about how to best manage their land and influence the national government to protect the environment.
During the rainy season (November to February), drones are also used to monitor orangutan populations by counting nest sites, surveying biodiversity generally and mapping habitat loss. Rainforest Connection is an NGO that operates in countries on every continent to halt and reverse deforestation. In West Sumatra in Indonesia, they are using highly sophisticated technology to listen to the forest and detect dangerous sounds like chainsaws, motorbikes and gunshots from as far as a mile away. These noises indicate that miners or loggers are clearing land illegally.
The project originally used recycled cell phones to listen in on the forest but nowadays the equipment installed in the treetops includes a powerful microphone, solar panels and battery packs. The devices are switched on 24/7 and transmit information to the Cloud. Here the data is analyzed using machine learning and if the threat is perceived to be real, rangers are contacted so they can take immediate action in the correct area. This method reduces the number of workers required. In some places, the most efficient way to protect the forest is to monitor the borders of the area.
All of the recordings generated are being used as a digital library. This resource will enable the identification of individual species of animals, birds and insects and can be used to measure the health of the ecosystem over time. It is also hoped that this data can inform effective government policies to enhance the protection available for threatened environments. The project has also launched a free app for everyone to listen to a range of rainforest environments around the world.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Topher White: In the summer of 2011, as a tourist, I visited the rainforests of Borneo for the very first time, and as you might imagine, it was the overwhelming sounds of the forest that struck me the most. There’s this constant cacophony of noise. Some things actually do stick out. For example, this here is a big bird, a rhinoceros hornbill. This buzzing is a cicada. This is a family of gibbons. It’s actually singing to each other over a great distance.
The place where this was recorded was in fact a gibbon reserve, which is why you can hear so many of them, but in fact the most important noise that was coming out of the forest that time was one that I didn’t notice, and in fact nobody there had actually noticed it.
So, as I said, this was a gibbon reserve. They spend most of their time rehabilitating gibbons, but they also have to spend a lot of their time protecting their area from illegal logging that takes place on the side. And so if we take the sound of the forest and we actually turn down the gibbons, the insects, and the rest, in the background, the entire time, in recordings you heard, was the sound of a chainsaw at great distance. They had three full-time guards who were posted around this sanctuary whose job was in fact to guard against illegal logging, and one day, we went walking, again as tourists, out into the forest, and within five minutes’ walk, we stumbled upon somebody who was just sawing a tree down, five minutes’ walk, a few hundred meters from the ranger station. They hadn’t been able to hear the chainsaws, because as you heard, the forest is very, very loud.
It struck me as quite unacceptable that in this modern time, just a few hundred meters away from a ranger station in a sanctuary, that in fact nobody could hear it when someone who has a chainsaw gets fired up. It sounds impossible, but in fact, it was quite true.
So how do we stop illegal logging? It’s really tempting, as an engineer, always to come up with a high-tech, super-crazy high-tech solution, but in fact, you’re in the rainforest. It has to be simple, it has to be scalable, and so what we also noticed while were there was that everything we needed was already there. We could build a system that would allow us to stop this using what’s already there.
Who was there? What was already in the forest? Well, we had people. We had this group there that was dedicated, three full-time guards, that was dedicated to go and stop it, but they just needed to know what was happening out in the forest. The real surprise, this is the big one, was that there was connectivity out in the forest. There was cell phone service way out in the middle of nowhere. We’re talking hundreds of kilometers from the nearest road, there’s certainly no electricity, but they had very good cell phone service, these people in the towns were on Facebook all the time, they’re surfing the web on their phones, and this sort of got me thinking that in fact it would be possible to use the sounds of the forest, pick up the sounds of chainsaws programmatically, because people can’t hear them, and send an alert. But you have to have a device to go up in the trees. So if we can use some device to listen to the sounds of the forest, connect to the cell phone network that’s there, and send an alert to people on the ground, perhaps we could have a solution to this issue for them.
But let’s take a moment to talk about saving the rainforest, because it’s something that we’ve definitely all heard about forever. People in my generation have heard about saving the rainforest since we were kids, and it seems that the message has never changed: we’ve got to save the rainforest, it’s super urgent, this many football fields have been destroyed yesterday. and yet here we are today, about half of the rainforest remains, and we have potentially more urgent problems like climate change.
But in fact, this is the little-known fact that I didn’t realize at the time: deforestation accounts for more greenhouse gas than all of the world’s planes, trains, cars, trucks and ships combined. It’s the second highest contributor to climate change. Also, according to Interpol, as much as 90 percent of the logging that takes place in the rainforest is illegal logging, like the illegal logging that we saw. So if we can help people in the forest enforce the rules that are there, then in fact we could eat heavily into this 17 percent and potentially have a major impact in the short term. It might just be the cheapest, fastest way to fight climate change.
And so here’s the system that we imagine. It looks super high tech. The moment a sound of a chainsaw is heard in the forest, the device picks up the sound of the chainsaw, it sends an alert through the standard GSM network that’s already there to a ranger in the field who can in fact show up in real time and stop the logging. It’s no more about going out and finding a tree that’s been cut. It’s not about seeing a tree from a satellite in an area that’s been clear cut, it’s about real-time intervention.
So I said it was the cheapest and fastest way to do it, but in fact, actually, as you saw, they weren’t able to do it, so it may not be so cheap and fast. But if the devices in the trees were actually cell phones, it could be pretty cheap. Cell phones are thrown away by the hundreds of millions every year, hundreds of millions in the U.S. alone, not counting the rest of the world, which of course we should do, but in fact, cell phones are great. They’re full of sensors. They can listen to the sounds of the forest. We do have to protect them. We have to put them in this box that you see here, and we do have to power them. Powering them is one of the greater engineering challenges that we had to deal with, because powering a cell phone under a tree canopy, any sort of solar power under a tree canopy, was an as-yet-unsolved problem, and that’s this unique solar panel design that you see here, which in fact is built also from recycled by products of an industrial process. These are strips that are cut down.
So this is me putting it all together in my parents’ garage, actually. Thanks very much to them for allowing me to do that. As you can see, this is a device up in a tree. What you can see from here, perhaps, is that they are pretty well obscured up in the tree canopy at a distance. That’s important, because although they are able to hear chainsaw noises up to a kilometer in the distance, allowing them to cover about three square kilometers, if someone were to take them, it would make the area unprotected.
So does it actually work? Well, to test it, we took it back to Indonesia, not the same place, but another place, to another gibbon reserve that was threatened daily by illegal logging. On the very second day, it picked up illegal chainsaw noises. We were able to get a real-time alert. I got an email on my phone. Actually, we had just climbed the tree. Everyone had just gotten back down. All these guys are smoking cigarettes, and then I get an email, and they all quiet down, and in fact you can hear the chainsaw really, really faint in the background, but no one had noticed it until that moment. And so then we took off to actually stop these loggers. I was pretty nervous. This is the moment where we’ve actually arrived close to where the loggers are. This is the moment where you can see where I’m actually regretting perhaps the entire endeavor. I’m not really sure what’s on the other side of this hill. That guy’s much braver than I am. But he went, so I had to go, walking up, and in fact, he made it over the hill, and interrupted the loggers in the act. For them, it was such a surprise – they had never, ever been interrupted before – that it was such an impressive event for them, that we’ve heard from our partners they have not been back since. They were, in fact, great guys. They showed us how the entire operation works, and what they really convinced us on the spot was that if you can show up in real-time and stop people, it’s enough of a deterrent they won’t come back.
So… Thank you. (applause) Word of this spread, possibly because we told a lot of people, and in fact, then some really amazing stuff started to happen. People from around the world started to send us emails, phone calls. What we saw was that people throughout Asia, people throughout Africa, people throughout South America, they told us that they could use it too, and what’s most important, what we’d found that we thought might be exceptional, in the forest there was pretty good cell phone service. That was not exceptional, we were told, and that particularly is on the periphery of the forests that are most under threat. And then something really amazing happened, which was that people started sending us their own old cell phones. So in fact what we have now is a system where we can use people on the ground, people who are already there, who can both improve and use the existing connectivity, and we’re using old cell phones that are being sent to us by people from around the world that want their phones to be doing something else in their afterlife, so to speak. And if the rest of the device can be completely recycled, then we believe it’s an entirely upcycled device.
So again, this didn’t come because of any sort of high-tech solution. It just came from using what’s already there, and I’m thoroughly convinced that if it’s not phones, that there’s always going to be enough there that you can build similar solutions that can be very effective in new contexts.
Thank you very much. (applause)

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/saving-the-rainforest. Accessed on January 17, 2025. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2025. All rights reserved.

ESL WORKSHEET - Asking questions

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

ASKING QUESTIONS

LinguaHouse

Sep. 11, 2014

Level: Pre-Intermediate (A2-B1)
Type of English: General English
Tags: Grammar Practice; Forming Questions
Publication date: 09/11/2014

Questions can be especially tricky for lower level learners. This simple lesson plan is designed to build the students’ confidence when asking questions. The worksheet includes an exercise in which students ask each other questions about the former US President Barack Obama.

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/asking-questions. Accessed on January 17, 2025. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2025. All rights reserved.

Nothing but...

ESTRUTURAS DO INGLÊS

NOTHING BUT

By Ivy do Carmo Figueiredo

MAIRO VERGARA

Apr. 17, 2020

No post anterior, estudamos a estrutura anything but. Neste texto, vamos aprender a expressão nothing but. Será que essas duas estruturas significam a mesma coisa?
Não! Apesar de serem bem parecidas, seus significados são exatamente o oposto. Enquanto anything but significa “tudo, menos” alguma coisa, nothing but significa “nada além de” ou “somente” alguma coisa. Exemplifiquemos:

• I eat anything but fruit. (Eu como tudo, menos frutas.)
• I eat nothing but fruit. (Eu não como nada além de frutas. / Eu como somente frutas.)

Notou como os significados são totalmente opostos? Então, cuidado para não confundir essas duas estruturas. Vejamos agora algumas frases com nothing but, primeiramente com a tradução “nada além de”:

• You’re nothing but a thief. (Você não é nada além de um ladrão.)
• All that money brought nothing but sadness, misery and tragedy. (Todo aquele dinheiro não trouxe nada além de tristeza, miséria e tragédia.)
• They care for nothing but themselves. (Eles não se importam com nada além de eles mesmos.)
• She’d had nothing but bad luck. (Ela não teve nada além de azar.)
• I feel nothing but regret. (Eu não sinto nada além de arrependimento.)
• His death was nothing but an absurd, ludicrous accident. (A morte dele não foi nada além de um acidente absurdo e ridículo.)
• They did nothing but argue for the whole journey. (Eles não fizeram nada além de discutir a viagem inteira.)
• You could walk from there until your feet ached, and still you’d see nothing but sand. (Você poderia andar de lá até os seus pés doerem e, ainda assim, você não veria nada além de areia.)
• Charles was like that because he had known nothing but restriction and discipline. (Charles era daquele jeito porque ele não havia conhecido nada além de restrições e disciplina.)
• There was nothing but salad to eat. (Não havia nada além de salada para comer.)

Agora, veja algumas frases com nothing but sendo traduzido como “somente”, lembrando que o sentido das frases é o mesmo das orações acima, o que muda é apenas a maneira de expressar a ideia:

• They’ve shown us nothing but kindness. (Eles nos demonstraram somente bondade.)
• This car’s been nothing but trouble. (Este carro tem significado somente problemas.)
• He has nothing but praise for the managers at his company. (Ele tem somente elogios para os gerentes de sua empresa.)
• We have about eighty people here who do nothing but research into various family genealogies. (Nós temos cerca de oitenta pessoas aqui que fazem somente investigações sobre várias genealogias familiares.)

Clique AQUI para baixar o PDF com as frases acima.
Clique AQUI para baixar a gravação com todas as frases em Inglês.

Adaptado de: https://www.mairovergara.com/estruturas-do-ingles-nothing-but/. Acesso em: 17 jan. 2025 © Reis Vergara Idiomas 2025. Todos os direitos reservados.

Anything but...

ESTRUTURAS DO INGLÊS

ANYTHING BUT

By Ivy do Carmo Figueiredo

MAIRO VERGARA

Oct. 7, 2019

Este post é inspirado em uma música que eu gostava bastante na minha adolescência, “Anything But Ordinary”, da cantora canadense Avril Lavigne (confira a canção AQUI).
Já ouviu alguma frase com a estrutura anything but? Ela pode soar meio estranha de início, visto que usamos muito a palavra but significando “mas”. Porém, essa palavra também pode significar “menos” ou “exceto”. Veja um exemplo disso na frase a seguir:

• There’s no alternative but to scrap the whole plan and start again. (Não há alternativa exceto descartar todo o plano e começar de novo.)

Notou como a palavra but pode indicar uma exceção? É nesse contexto que entra a estrutura desta postagem. Anything but significa “tudo, menos alguma coisa”, “tudo menos isso”, ou ainda, “nada além de”. No caso da música mencionada, a cantora dizia que aceitaria ser “tudo, menos comum”.
Que tal vermos algumas frases com a estrutura anything but? Repare que, enquanto no Inglês não se usa vírgula nesta estrutura, no Português a colocamos após a palavra “tudo”. Vamos lá!

• She was anything but nice when I met her. (Ela era tudo, menos legal quando eu a conheci.)
• My ex-boyfriend told me anything but the truth. (Meu ex-namorado me disse tudo, menos a verdade.)
• He knows this was anything but a disappointment. (Ele sabe que isso foi tudo, menos um desapontamento.)
• She was anything but friendly the last time I saw her. (Ela foi tudo, menos amigável da última vez que eu a vi.)
• I will be anything but quiet on Saturday night! (Eu serei tudo, menos silenciosa no sábado à noite!)
• At the busiest time of the year, the public will be anything but sympathetic. (Na época mais atarefada do ano, o público será tudo, menos solidário.)
• There is speculation that the progress of this case might be anything but straightforward. (Há especulação de que o progresso desse caso pode ser tudo, menos simples.)
• It doesn’t take a doctor to work out that such exposure is unlikely to make anyone feel anything but bad. (Não é preciso um médico para calcular que tal exposição dificilmente fará qualquer um se sentir tudo, menos mal.)
• One thing is for sure: this series is going to be anything but dull. (Uma coisa é certa: esta série será tudo, menos sem graça.)
• Appearances, in this case, were anything but deceptive. (As aparências, neste caso, eram tudo, menos enganosas.)
• When things go wrong, it’s easy to blame anything but your own shortcomings. (Quando as coisas dão errado, é fácil culpar tudo, menos suas próprias falhas.)
• My vacation was anything but relaxing because the hotel was under construction. (Minhas férias foram tudo, menos relaxantes, porque o hotel estava em construção.)
• He is anything but ambitious for a promotion. (Ele é tudo, menos ávido por uma promoção.)
• Ecologists are anything but optimistic about a change in the government’s attitude towards green issues. (Os ecologistas estão tudo, menos otimistas quanto à mudança na atitude do governo em relação às questões ecológicas.)

Pode-se também terminar a frase com a estrutura anything but, deixando a mensagem subentendida. Neste caso, traduzimos como “tudo menos isso”:

• I thought they were good people, but now I know they are anything but. (Eu pensei que eles eram pessoas boas, mas agora eu sei que eles são tudo menos isso.)
• She can be confident that her 2016 is going to be anything but. (Ela pode estar confiante de que o 2016 dela será tudo menos isso.)
• The Los Angeles police chief was not always so insulated from politicians; anything but. (O chefe de polícia de Los Angeles não era sempre tão isolado dos políticos; tudo menos isso.)
• I thought the play would be great, but it was anything but. In fact, I even left early! (Eu pensei que a peça seria ótima, mas foi tudo menos isso. Na verdade, eu até saí mais cedo!)
• “I suppose the weather in Scotland was terrible.” “Oh no, anything but!” (“Eu suponho que o clima na Escócia estava terrível.” “Ah não, tudo menos isso!”)

Anything but também pode significar “nada além de”. Veja:

• He doesn’t care for anyone or anything but himself. (Ele não liga para ninguém nem para nada além de ele mesmo.)
• No one hearing this case can feel anything but great sympathy. (Ninguém ouvindo esse caso pode sentir nada além de grande simpatia.)
• He was unable to swallow anything but liquids. (Ele não conseguia engolir nada além de líquidos.)
• There’s no evidence that he told her to say anything but the truth. (Não há evidência de que ele tenha dito à ela para dizer nada além da verdade.)

Clique AQUI para baixar o PDF com as frases acima.
Clique AQUI para baixar a gravação com todas as frases em Inglês.

Adaptado de: https://www.mairovergara.com/estruturas-do-ingles-anything-but/. Acesso em: 17 jan. 2025 © Reis Vergara Idiomas 2025. Todos os direitos reservados.

ESL WORKSHEET - Forming questions

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

NEW YEAR QUESTIONS

LinguaHouse

Jan. 8, 2025

Level: Pre-Intermediate (A2-B1)
Type of English: General English
Tags: Celebrations and Special Events; Grammar Practice; Forming Questions; 13-15 Years Old; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old
Publication date: 01/08/2025

This simple and slightly updated lesson plan is designed to build students' confidence when using question structures. It can be used as a New Year alternative to our lesson “Asking Questions”. The worksheet includes an exercise in which students ask each other questions about New Year traditions around the world.

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/new-year-questions. Accessed on January 17, 2025. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2025. All rights reserved.

ESL WORKSHEET - Celebrations

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

CELEBRATIONS

LinguaHouse

Dec. 23, 2024

Level: Upper-Intermediate (B2-C1)

Type of English: General English

Tags: Celebrations and Commemorations; Celebrations and Special Events; Behavior, Feelings and Emotions; Beliefs, Religion and Superstition; Society and Change; Travel and Leisure; Food and Drink; Socializing; Seasons; Paraphrasing and Explaining; Vocabulary Lesson; Article Based; 13-15 Years Old; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old

Publication date: 12/23/2024

In this lesson, students will look at celebrations. There is a listening task based on different festivals around the world, followed by a section on related collocations. This is followed by a section on celebration-related idioms. There is a reading comprehension, opportunities for discussion, and a crossword which reviews the content of the class. (by Joey Vaughan-Birch)

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio (MP3).
• CLICK HERE to download/watch the video (MP4).

AUDIO/VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Narrator: Hello and welcome to this LinguaHouse video about celebrations around the world.
In India, the Festival of Lights, Diwali, illuminates the country with vibrant displays symbolizing the victory of light over darkness. The celebration is associated with various mythological narratives, including the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after defeating the demon king Ravana. People mark the occasion by lighting candles and oil lamps. The festivities are heightened by the crackling sounds of fireworks and the sharing of delectable sweets called ‘ladoo’.
Deep in the Peruvian Andes, the annual Takanakuy festival represents an unconventional approach to conflict resolution. Participants gather in a makeshift ring to engage in friendly, physical combat, settling grievances from the past year. The festival aims to promote community harmony by allowing individuals to release pent-up frustrations through what is supposed to be controlled, consensual fighting. Following the combat, locals throw a party to reinforce the spirit of unity.
On a calmer note, in Japan, the cherry blossom festival, Hanami, transcends mere visual beauty. Families and friends gather in parks to appreciate the fleeting charm of cherry blossoms, which symbolize the transient nature of life and the beauty found in impermanence. People come from all over the globe to revel in the festivities. The Japan Meteorological Agency provides a blossom forecast, predicting the dates when flowers are expected to reach full bloom.
Moving to Mexico, El Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a unique celebration honoring deceased loved ones. Families create elaborate altars adorned with flowers, candles, and photographs, and gather in cemeteries for festivities. The atmosphere is one of both reverence and joy as Mexicans believe that the spirits of the departed return to join the living in celebration. People raise a glass to relatives who have passed on, and it is not uncommon to see people hit the dance floor in traditional costumes.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/celebrations. Accessed on January 17, 2025. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2025. All rights reserved.

ESL WORKSHEET - New Year’s Resolutions

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION

LinguaHouse

Dec. 17, 2024

Level: Mixed Levels (Elementary, A1-A2; Pre-Intermediate, A2-B1; Intermediate, B1-B2; Upper-Intermediate, B2-C1)
Type of English: General English
Tags: Ethics and Conduct; Celebrations and Special Events; Psychology; People and Places; Making Promises; Present Tenses; Future; Speaking; Vocabulary Lesson; 13-15 Years Old; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old
Publication date: 12/17/2024

This updated lesson looks at New Year’s Resolutions. Students will talk about plans and intentions for the future. They will also look at vocabulary connected to the topic of travel. Exercises focus on reading and listening comprehension and give students the opportunity to discuss questions on the topic. (by Joe Wilson)

CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English. (L1)
CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English. (L2)
CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English. (L3)
CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English. (L4)
CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English. (L1)
CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English. (L2)
CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English. (L3)
CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English. (L4)
CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English. (L1-L2)
CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English. (L3-L4)
CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English. (L1)
CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English. (L2)
CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English. (L3)
CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English. (L4)
CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English. (L1)
CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English. (L2)
CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English. (L3)
CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English. (L4)
CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English. (L1-L2)
CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English. (L3-L4)

AUDIO TRANSCRIPTS

L1 (A1-A2) and L2 (A2-B1)
ONE
Speaker: I’m tired of the city. I want to be closer to nature. So next year, I’m going to take my backpack and go to the mountains. I’m going to find a campsite to stay at and go hiking every day for two weeks. I will be happy to spend time by myself.
TWO
Speaker: It’s been a very busy year this year, so next year I want to enjoy myself. I’m taking my daughter to a theme park in Belgium, and we will have so much fun together. We’re staying in a hotel nearby where I’ve already made a reservation, so we will be able to go there early every day.
THREE
Speaker: I can’t wait for next year! In May, my friends and I are staying in a cottage by the beach together for two weeks. It will be so good to wake up and smell the fresh sea air and go to sleep listening to the sound of the waves.
FOUR
Speaker: Next year is going to be fantastic. My brother and I are taking a road trip through Europe. We’re going to start in Oslo in Norway, and drive all the way down to Palermo in Italy. I’m not going to book any accommodation because we want to be free to explore as we drive and go where we want to go.
FIVE
Speaker: I find the winter so difficult because it’s dark and cold for months. I don’t know where I’m going to go when summer comes, but I know that I’m going to go somewhere warmer where I can t and read a book all day.

L3 (B1-B2) and L4 (B2-C1)
Presenter: Good morning! I hope you’ve had a fresh start to your day, and fresh starts are what we’re talking about today. We’ve got Lana Edmundson with us, she’s a psychologist with a particular interest in motivation. Lana, welcome to the show.
Lana: Thank you!
Presenter: Now, we all associate January 1st with trying to be better as people, but when did people start making resolutions?
Lana: It’s funny you should ask as I was just reading a letter by the American author, Mark Twain which he wrote during the Victorian Era in 1863 pointing out how everyone is full of good intentions on January the 1st, only to forget about them 30 days later. But January is actually named after ‘Janus’ the Roman god who had two faces, looking forwards and backwards. The Romans used to promise him to behave better in the coming year. This also fitted in well with the Christian tradition later on of thinking of past mistakes and resolving to do better in the future. So religious practice was probably why it stayed with our culture.
Presenter: How interesting! Why do you think the new year is seen as such a great time to make improvements?
Lana: Well, obviously at that time of year, a lot of people have been indulging themselves with rich food and drink, so it’s a good time to draw a line under it and start a healthier lifestyle. With the festivities over, people like to get ready for better weather in the Spring. But I believe that most importantly, a lot of it is down to the fact that psychologically, we like to break up our lives into chapters like a book. We feel at the start of any of these chapters, including New Year, but also birthdays, marriage, the birth of a child and so on, that it’s easier to change everything that has happened before and start afresh.
Presenter: So does it help to act as though it’s a new time in your life if you want to begin a new habit?
Lana: It does. Research conducted using an app which set goals for people showed that people tended to start after any holiday, or at the beginning of the work week more than any time. They did an experiment where they sent reminders to some people to set a goal for ‘The third Thursday in March’ and some for ‘The first day of Spring’. It’s the same day, but those that received the second one were far more likely to create habitual behavior which improved their lives. So any date you see as a new beginning works better.
Presenter: Is it true that most people break their resolutions shortly after making them?
Lana: It’s better than you probably believe. A government survey found that when people made resolutions, 35% of them managed to attain all of their goals. Of course, it can be hard, but 50% of people managed to stick with some of them, even if it wasn’t all. That’s a lot of change. What does make a difference though is the type of goals you make. For example, people who decide to do something such as increasing the distance they run by 10% per day, or start to swim twice a week, are 25% more likely to find success than those who try to give up something, such as chocolate, or social media.
Presenter: Oh really? So is it a lot harder to give something up than start doing something positive?
Lana: Well, much like when you start, it all depends on how you frame it in your mind. When you try to stop doing something, or an ‘avoidance goal’ as we call it, you’re taking something away that you like and you aren’t replacing it with anything, so you feel the loss much more. If you transfer it into an ‘approach goal’, then you can focus on an action which makes it easier. So for example, if you’re trying to reduce your use of social media, try setting yourself the goal of reading a book for an hour a day. This also means you can track your progress which isn’t easy if you’re trying to stop something. This will be a positive change and will focus on the gain, not the loss.
Presenter: Now I know I find it difficult to keep going. What should people do when they start to lose sight of their goals?
Lana: Yes, it’s often easier to start than it is to persevere three weeks later. Some people respond by thinking they can’t do it or making their goals easier. What’s best though is to start again at a new time. For example, if you start to find yourself losing focus at the end of January, try again on February 1st. Progress isn’t usually a straight line, but includes ups and downs. You may need to have several fresh starts and that’s OK.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/a-new-years-resolution. Accessed on January 17, 2025. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2025. All rights reserved.

ENGLISH - EF-SPeak Platform - 2025

ESCOPO-SEQUÊNCIA - ENGLISH

Materiais Digitais e Plataforma EF-SPeak

1º semestre de 2025

Encontra-se neste LINK a planilha com o escopo-sequência do 1º semestre de 2025 para as aulas de Língua Inglesa, nos anos iniciais (EFAI) e finais (EFAF) do Ensino Fundamental e no Ensino Médio (EM). Nos anos iniciais, serão utilizados os materiais digitais e o material impresso a ser entregue nas unidades escolares que mantêm esse segmento da Educação Básica. No 6º ano, os professores utilizarão apenas os materiais digitais. Esses materiais contêm arquivos de áudio e links de vídeos a serem trabalhados em sala de aula (por isso, os slides devem ser baixados em PPT). A partir do 7º ano, além dos materiais digitais, os estudantes também terão a Plataforma EF-SPeak para desenvolverem suas trilhas individuais de aprendizagem, de acordo com o resultado do teste de entrada (nivelamento), respeitando o ritmo de aprendizado do estudante. Nos demais anos do EFAF e em todo o EM, as aulas terão momentos de trabalho com os materiais digitais e de desenvolvimento das trilhas de aprendizagem.
No escopo-sequência constam os seguintes itens: ciclo (EFAI, EFAF, EM), ano/série, bimestre, número da aula, unidade temática, habilidade, objetos de conhecimento, título da aula, conteúdo da aula e objetivos da aula. Em relação às aulas com o uso da plataforma EF-SPeak, as informações no escopo-sequência estão com um fundo amarelo, de forma a auxiliar o docente na preparação de aulas e na organização de sua agenda de trabalho.

Integração à rotina escolar

O uso da plataforma EF-SPeak é previsto nas aulas de Inglês do 7º ano à 3ª série do Ensino Médio. As aulas desse componente contam com duas metodologias ao longo do bimestre: materiais digitais para trabalhar com o Currículo de Língua Inglesa e leitura crítica, e trilha de estudos que abordam as quatro habilidades linguísticas no nível de proficiência do estudante, construída com base em teste de nivelamento.
A organização das duas metodologias é diferente para cada ano-série e os professores devem seguir o escopo-sequência para trabalhar tanto o material digital quanto a plataforma - isso deve ocorrer de forma complementar e nunca deixar de utilizar um ou outro recurso.

Prática docente

Antes da aula:

• Assistir às ATPCs para compreender as etapas da plataforma e o material digital disponibilizado.

Durante a aula:

• Para as aulas com material digital: 
• conduzir a aula com todos os alunos no mesmo nível de desenvolvimento da Língua Inglesa segundo currículo proposto;
• apoiar nas dúvidas sobre o conteúdo;
• apoiar na identificação de estudantes com maiores dificuldades ou aptidões para auxiliá-los nas aulas niveladas.
• Para as aulas utilizando a plataforma com os estudantes em seus respectivos níveis: 
• organizar os agrupamentos de alunos, podendo ser por nível de conhecimento ou outros que considerar válidos na mediação do aprendizado;
• promover avaliações formativas a partir do acompanhamento dos estudantes;
• mediar dinâmicas de reflexão e apoio aos estudantes enquanto desenvolvem suas atividades de forma personalizada e individualizada.

Depois da aula:

• Estudar o painel de gestão (BI) para entender o engajamento da turma, ou de estudantes que demandam acompanhamento individual;
• Bimestralmente, analisar o painel de gestão para compor parte da avaliação dos estudantes.