UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul) established in Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, is a century-old institution, recognized national and internationally. There are courses in all subject areas and at all levels, from Elementary School to the Post-graduations. The faculty is composed mostly of teachers with master degree and doctorate. About thirty thousand peoples, in its various campi, for the most qualified education in the Country. UFRGS is a public institution in the service of society that respects the differences and prioritizes your engagement with education and knowledge production, inspired by the ideals of freedom and solidarity.

The course of Letters is located at Instituto de Letras, Campus do Vale, av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500 - São José. To get there, the students rely on six bus lines, which come and go, as well, to all over the city. By getting a bus pass, named TRI, specific to students, they can have a 50% discount on the ticket, which means also a 50% discount on movies and theaters. Besides the academic restaurant and libraries located at that campus, there are others located downtown, on other campus, and the students can use them all as well.

We have some facilities on our campus: a post office, four banks, a bookstore, a drugstore, a stationery and photocopying services. At the time of eating, we can choose between two diners or two restaurants, one is a university restaurant, which offers meals at very affordable prices to students. The university has a bookstore and its own publishing house, a monthly newspaper serving, a radio that can also be heard online, a TV channel that can be accessed either by those who have cable TV or on the website www.youtube.com . In addition, it has a museum that has been developing exhibitions and special projects of scientific, technological, artistic and cultural diffusion.

Maybe. A little. Kind of. Sort of.

Hi, i'm a barbie pomba-gira. Literature enthusiast. No-sugar coffee. Compulsive reader. Inconstant. Groucho Marxist. Glitter way of life. Bettie Page feelings. Videogame addicted. Lover of debate. Bathroom singer. Giuliano's mom. Alice's mom. Cranky as usual, cute on occasion but that's ok.

I'm light, thunderbolt, star and moonlight. I'm a liar. Supreme Dictator in company Myself. Polipolar. I really like creating things - without any pretense of being artistic - like to turn things into other things. La Llama que llama. The seventh trumpet of the Apocalypse.

Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name. Kinda funny if you think about it.

Writing in English

We did an amazingly extensive research and sum up what we had learned into four principles and five tips.
First Principle: Clarity.
Writing to serve people, not to impress them.
Second Principle: Simplicity.
Writing is not something you have to embroider with fancy stitches to make yourself look smart.
Third Principle: Brevity.
Short sentences are better than long sentences. Don’t say anything in writing that you wouldn’t comfortably say in conversation. Writing is talking to someone else on paper.
Fourth Principle: Humanity.
Be yourself. Never try in your writing to be someone you’re not. You will need influences, but your writing should be your voice.

The Tips are:
1. Read in English
The easiest way to get started with reading in English rather than your own language is to pick up a non-fiction book on a familiar topic. Non-fiction tends to be easier to follow than fiction (fiction authors use tricky words to touch their readers’ feelings) and reading about a familiar topic makes it easier to guess what the author is trying to say to you when you don’t quite understand the words he’s using.
2. Listen to native speakers
The Internet comes to rescue here through podcasts and videos from speaking events. Pick your favorite speakers and listen to them deliver their message.
3. Write
Write in different styles: lists, humorous, serious, interviews, just to get more practice.
4. When writing in English, think in English
This is one of the most important tips that separate a decent foreign language writer from a lousy one. The lousy writer thinks in his own language and then tries to translate his thoughts to English. It doesn’t work: the idioms, grammar rules, and cultural differences make text written in this manner sound clumsy and unnatural.
Pretend to be a native speaker of English until the work is done.
5. Study spelling and grammar
Learning to spell is integral to good writing, because correct spelling ultimately helps you communicate your message to others. Since language is shared, then your spelling must follow the accepted standard pattern. Correct spelling gives writing credibility.
Good grammar prevents ambiguity. Make sure you at least know the parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Know the difference between the active voice and passive voice.

Bonus Track (God’s advice):
You shall never steal other people's work around the internet.


“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
from Samuel Beckett’s Worstward Ho

Intro the Blog

“... how it’s not free x’s no communist right which says where I can take a double album or to find out no and big great no bored teen diary but not no boring political globs and no to be no my treasure or pleasure killer and art fashionthing no and no, i’ts a blog about learning English strategies tips oh no.”
excerpt from Anti-Ulysses, by Negative James Joyce

Hi.
This blog is about learning English, strategies and tips for non-native speakers of English or ESL students (students with English as their second language). We are students from UFRGS, faculty of languages and linguistics, located in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The project is coordinated by Anamaria Kurtz de Souza Welp.
Learning or adding, welcome.

Hey!

The name: André. The age: 30. The place: Porto Alegre, Brazil. The university: UFRGS. Why am I doing this? Because I was obligated. What I’ve to write about myself: Nothing. And it doesn’t matter, just read my posts or get lost. If the text is great (it won’t be the case here), you shouldn’t care if the writer is nice, interesting or just a scum. The post is the (lousy) star, not me.
Bye.

... but Who is Maiara?

To answer this question, a good starting point would be who she is today: “I’m a 23 year old girl who study Languanges and Literature at UFRGS. I have to deal with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and, probably like everyone else, have given up on my first dream.” She currently studies to be a translator, learned how to cope with ADHD, and gave up the dream of being a professional swimmer, due to the lack of discipline, “and I don’t regret“, she puts it.

Actually, Maiara never had time to regret anything. Her busy life started in March 10th, 1988. Three months later she was adopted. She found a physical and emotional home with her adopted mother, Mara, and her new sister, Marília. At school age, things got complicated again: “I was hyperactive due to an undiagnosed ADHA. And, once I found out what was wrong, another crisis set in, because I feared that, if I treated it, nothing good would be left.” She successfully controlled the condition. All this before college.

First it was Ritter dos Reis, a place Maiara never felt comfortable “because the other students were different from me. They didn’t care about education, or learning, just for social politics. I didn’t like the campus either, so I felt like a fish out of water.” But six months later, on her second attempt, Maiara passed the UFRGS’s exams. “It was a relief. Everything is the complete opposite to what I had experienced in Ritter. I specially love all the green surrounding the campus.”

The future is already planned, and it’s a simple one: working with translation, finding a partner to share life with (kids not included), a home of her own, traveling... Just a stable life. “There was a time when I felt pessimistic, but I suddenly realized that I had overcome a lot of challenges. So far, I’ve been able to achieve every goal I’d put to myself. There’s still a long way to go and a lot to improve, but I’ve learned the most important lesson: We can learn everything.”

Fin

Interviewing a Classmate

Pay attention girls: Here is a "paulista" in the Bachelor course at UFRGS. His name is Vítor Fernandes. He was born in Jales (S.P.) and two months ago he came to Porto Alegre and now he is living with two friends. Most important: He doesn't have girlfriend yet! Address? I don't know, but I can discover.

Well, Vítor told me that he does not only like the English Language but all the foreign languages, including the Japanese Language.

He hasn't been abroad yet, but he would like to know a lot of countries as Germany, England, Japan, Russia and Finland.

When he has time, he likes to see movies or listen to music. He seems like a good person, calm, responsible and studious.

What I really admire in Vítor is that he's only 17 years old, he is an only child, and left his parents in Jales to come to Porto Alegre to study.

I'm sure that he will be an excelent translator like he desires.