#6 - Weekly Songs to Practice: Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5

Check the lyrics [here]

#5 - Weekly Songs to Practice: The Cure - Friday I'm In Love

Check the lyrics [here]

#4 - Weekly Songs to Practice: Sesame Street - Usher's ABC Song

Check the lyrics [here]

#3 - Weekly Songs to Practice: Roxette - How Do You Do!

Check the lyrics [here]

#2 - Weekly Songs to Practice: Suzanne Vega - Luka

Check the lyrics [here]

#1 - Weekly Songs to Practice: Aqua - Barbie Girl

Check the lyrics [here]

Movie: Avatar

Game: Batman - Arkham knight

Cultural Immersion: Moscow (Russia)

▪ The country (Russia)

Flag of Russia - Read more

Russia, country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northen Asia is, by far the largest country in the world, it covers nearly twice the territory of Canada (the second largest). (Read more)

Map of Russia

Moscow

Moscow is the capital of Russia and is located in Russia’s Central Federal District along the Moskva River and covers a big area . Is the largest city in the country and also the top ten “largest cities in the world”.

Due to its size, Moscow is one of the most influential cities in Russia and dominates the country in politics, economics and culture among other things. (Read more)

▪ Tourist spots

▪ Kremilin

The Moscow Kremlin is one of the most ancient parts of the city and symbolises the whole of Russia. It is both a cultural sight, as well as the centre of the Russian state and the residence of the President of Russia. (Read more) 

▪ Metro

The Moscow metro is famous for the beauty architecture stations called “undergound palaces of Moscow”. The old, pre-war stations symbolise the industrialization of Russia and also victory and pride of the nation. Some of them are also protected by the state as valuable cultural objects. ( Read more) 

▪ Historical Museum

 The historical museum of Moscow has a vast collection representing every phase of the Russian history. The museum is situated on Red Square and  it has multiple exhibitions. The museum is one of the most popular  in Moscow. (Read more) 

▪ Saint Basil’s Cathedral

 Located on the opposite side of the Voskresensky Gate of the Red Square, the Cathedral was built under the rule of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible in 1554 in honour of conquest of the Kazan Khanate. (Read more)

▪ Central House of Artist

The Central House of Artist (CHA) is the largest exhibition centre in the country. Opened in 1979, it consists of 27 halls with 60 galleries which is part of the famous Tretykov Gallery. (Read more)

▪ GUM Department Store

The Gum Department Store is a huge shopping, one of the largest shopping in Europe, it’s also the most famous place to shop in Moscow. The GUM is also known for the beautiful architecture. The shopping is also a cultural centre, with art photo exhibitions and it’s one of the venues of the international art festival Chereshneviy. (Read more)

▪ Cuisine

▪ Borsch/Borscht

This beet and cabbage red soup is a delicious belly warmer on Moscow’s colder days, served with or without meat, potato, herbs (usually dill) and a dollop of smetana, Russian sour cream. (Read more) 

▪ Russian Pancakes

Blini are Russia’s version of the thin French crepe and a staple on most Moscovian menus, Typically made with buckwheat for savoury fillings or white flour for sweet toppings. You’ll see accompainiments  of smoked salmon, creamy mushrooms, sour cream, jams and condensad milk.(Read more)

▪ Shashlik/Shashlyik

If sami-raw marineted fish doesn’t suit your tastes, these roasted meats and fish on skewers are hard not to like. As the name suggests, this dish is a form of shish kebab, although the Russian version is served with chunkier portions of Lamb, beef, chicken or salmon and served with an unleavened Bread. (Read more) 

▪ Pelmeni

Pelmeni are a pastry dumpling typically filled with meat. They can be served alone, slathered in butter, topped with sour cream or served in a broth. (Read more)

▪ Pirog

Pirog are Russian pies that are filled with savory or sweet fillings, the pies are beautifully decorated in floral patterns. (Read more)

▪ Solyanka

Solyanka is a heartier soup and looks more like a stew. You can basically found three varieties: fish with vegetables or murshroom. Solyanka can also be prepared with meat and fine cut pickles, onions, herbs and spices all mixed with sour cream. (Check out the recipe)

▪ Medovukha

Medovukha is a type of alcoholic mead made from honey. It’s also the most famous drink in Suzdal. Wild honey farming was one of the first Slavic trades and they discovered that it could be fermented. (Read more)

▪ Habits

Russian has a rich tradition of folk tales thats devire from a number os Slavic myths and traditions.  Russian folk characters are very colorful, and they also betray ancient pagan roots: for example, the Baba Yaga is a witch-like old woman who lives in the Forest in a house that rests on chicken legs and surrounded by skulls and bones. (Read more) 

▪ Cost of living

Is fact that the cost of living in Russia is high, most expats will find themselves in the cities of Moscow or St Petersburg, and can expect essentials like accomodation, food and education to eat into their budget in a big way, expats outside of the urban centres will find the cost of living to be less. (Read more)

▪ Climate

Moscow is one the Host Cities for 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, a lot of people will want to know what the weather will be like. During the months of June, July and August yo are most to experience good weather with pleasant average temperatures. (Read more)

▪ Music

▪ Folk Music

Russian music dates back as far as the middle of the first millennium, some Slavic tribes was also known for their love of music. Even today, many Russian Folk songs have very distinct styles, depending on the region, one aspect they all had in common was that mainly had pagan ties rather Christian references. (Read more)

▪ Famous Personalities

      

                                          Julia Volkova                               Anna Kournikova

                                      Singer (TATU band)                   Professional tennis player

▪ Extra

The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas

Author: John Boyne

Genre: Historical fiction, Tragicomedy, Postmodern literature.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2006 Holocaust novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. Unlike the months of planning Boyne devoted to his other books, he said that he wrote the entire first draft of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in two and a half days, barely sleeping until he got to the end. As of March 2010, the novel had sold more than five million copies around the world. In both 2007 and 2008, it was the best selling book of the year in Spain, and it has also reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list, as well as in the UK, Ireland, and Australia. The book was adapted in 2008 as a film of the same name. (Read More)

Don Quixote

Author: Miguel de Cervantes

Genre: Satire, Romance.

Complete and unabridged, Don Quixote is the epic tale of the man from La Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza. Their picaresque adventures in the world of seventeenth-century Spain form the basis of one of the great treasures of Western literature.

Don Quixote, formerly fully titled The history of the valorous and wittie Knight-Errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha, is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Published in two volumes, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published, such as the Bokklubben World Library collection that cites Don Quixote as authors' choice for the "best literary work ever written". (Read More)

Movies: Godzilla 2014

Movies: The Legend of Tarzan

Games: Prey

Games: Rocket League

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the king

Author: J. R. R. Tolkien

Genre: fantasy, action, adventure, epic.

The Return of the King is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, following The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. (Read More)

Concluding the story begun in The Hobbit, this is the final part of Tolkien's epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, featuring an exclusive cover image from the film, the definitive text, and a detailed map of Middle-earth. The armies of the Dark Lord Sauron are massing as his evil shadow spreads ever wider. Men, Dwarves, Elves and Ents unite forces to do battle agains the Dark. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam struggle further into Mordor in their heroic quest to destroy the One Ring.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Author: J. R. R. Tolkien

Genre: fantasy, action, adventure, epic.

The Two Towers is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings.  (Read More)

Continuing the story of The Hobbit, this is the second part of Tolkien's epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, featuring an exclusive cover image from the film, the definitive text, and a detailed map of Middle-earth. Frodo and the Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard, Gandalf, in the battle with an evil spirit in the Mines of Moria; and at the Falls of Rauros, Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape the rest of the company were attacked by Orcs. Now they continue their journey alone down the great River Anduin — alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Author: J. R. R. Tolkien

Genre: fantasy, action, adventure, epic.

The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three volumes of the epic novel The Lord of the Rings by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King. It takes place in the fictional universe of Middle-earth. It was originally published on 29 July 1954 in the United Kingdom. The volume consists of a prologue titled "Concerning Hobbits, and other matters" followed by Book I and Book II. (Read More)

Continuing the story begun in The Hobbit, this is the first part of Tolkien's epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, featuring an exclusive cover image from the film, the definitive text, and a detailed map of Middle-earth. Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power - the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the One Ring - the ring that rules them all - which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

Cartas aos iniciantes: Leonardo Dotta

Queridos alunos,

Há vários motivos que podem ter te trazido aqui - necessidade, vontade própria, trabalho, faculdade - todos nós temos uma ou duas razões para correr atrás desse sonho de entender e dominar este lindo idioma que é o Inglês, mas o fato mais interessante sobre esse curso não são as coisas que te levará a fazê-lo, mas sim as coisas que farão você desejar que ele nunca acabe. Acredite ou não, bem no finzinho você sentirá bastante falta do curso !

No começo não é um mar de rosas para todos, dificuldades surgirão, você se verá empacado mais vezes do que imagina, dúvidas aparecerão, mas independente do bloqueio, nunca pare de tentar ! Seu professor é seu amigo e o ajudará até você entender de verdade ... não hesite em pedir ajuda !

A fluência e o domínio parecerão alvos distantes, quase inalcansáveis, a influência do português o confundirá bastante, mas quando você menos esperar, você estará pensando, lendo e falando em inglês e esta é uma das coisas mais empolgantes que você experimentará durante o curso !

É como estar cego e magicamente poder ver o mundo de uma forma totalmente nova. A sensação de pegar um texto complexo nas mãos e ser capaz de lê-lo como você faria com sua língua materna não tem preço, esse sentimento alimentará sua vontade de aprender mais do que qualquer outra coisa, então você se sentirá invencível.

Tenha em mente que ser um lobo é mais que apenas frequentar as aulas, ser um lobo indica que você está pronto para criar um marco na sua vida e pronto para fazer toda a alcatéia orgulhosa de você, porque agora você está levando consigo um grande legado, então dê o que você tem, dê o seu melhor !

Leonardo Dotta

Carta original em inglês

Cartas aos iniciantes: Cristopher Araujo

Queridos Novatos,

Eu estava pensando sobre toda a minha jornada até o momento em que escrevo esta carta, pela minha mente passam muitos momentos, pelos quais serei sempre grato.

Sou muito agradecido por tudo que aprendi durante esse período e tudo que consegui, pois eu sempre fui um grande sonhador, uma pessoa positiva, e esse curso me ajudou a alcançar um dos meus maiores sonhos: meu estágio.

Olhando para trás, sei que quando decidi fazer um curso de inglês e fazer parte de tudo isso, fiz uma de minhas melhores escolhas.

Eu realmente quero agradecer, sei que isso não é o fim, mas o começo do melhor que ainda está por vir. Todo o conhecimento, os jogos e as conversações me ajudaram muito.

A você que é um novo aluno da Alpha, quero que saiba que você vai aprender e mudar os possibilidades da sua vida, tenho certeza de que as portas se abrirão para você e você caminhará por novos caminhos.

Então, estude bastante e divirta-se !!

Cristopher H. Araujo

27/10/2017

Carta original em inglês

Madame Bovary

Author: Gustave Flubert

Genre: Literary realism, erotic literture
Flaubert, Gustave

Both embodiment and victim of the self-satisfied nineteenth-century French bourgeoisie, Emma Bovary lives in pursuit of something more, like the world depicted in the romance novels that have come to define her. Emma is oblivious to the realities of life, and her romantic delusions and search for transcendence through sex, money, and social position serve only to drive the increasingly troubled woman into an irreversible moral, emotional, and spiritual decline.
Madame Bovary (1856) is the French writer Gustave Flaubert's debut novel. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life.
When the novel was first serialized in La Revue de Paris between 1 October 1856 and 15 December 1856, public prosecutors attacked the novel for obscenity. The resulting trial in January 1857 made the story notorious. After Flaubert's acquittal on 7 February 1857, Madame Bovary became a bestseller in April 1857 when it was published as a single volume. The novel is now considered Flaubert's masterpiece, as well as a seminal work of literary realism and one of the most influential novels. The British critic James Wood writes: "Flaubert established, for good or ill, what most readers think of as modern realist narration, and his influence is almost too familiar to be visible."
(Read More)

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland And Through The Looking Glass

Author: Lewis Carroll

Genre: Children's fiction, fantasy

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre. (Read More)

2nd Semester: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

▪ The country (Brazil)

Flag of Brazil - Read More

Brasil is the largest country in South America and fifth largest in the world. Famous for its football (soccer) tradition and its annual Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Recife and Olinda. It is a country of great diversity, from the bustling urban mosaic of São Paulo to the infinite cultural energy of Pernambuco and Bahia, the wilderness of the Amazon rainforest and world-class landmarks such as the Iguaçu Falls, there is plenty to see and to do in Brazil. (Read More)

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil, on the South Atlantic coast. Rio is famous for its breathtaking landscape, its laid back beach culture and its annual carnival.

The harbour of Rio de Janeiro is comprised of a unique entry from the ocean that makes it appear to be the mouth of a river. Additionally, the harbor is surrounded by spectacular geographic features including Sugar Loaf mountain, Corcovado Peak and the hills of Tijuca. These features work together to collectively make the harbor one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. (Read More)

▪ Tourist spots

▪ Cristo Redentor

Is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ, created by French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by the Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with the French engineer Albert Caquot. Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida fashioned the face. A symbol of Christianity across the world, the statue has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, and is listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. (Read More)

▪ Pão de açúcar

Seen from the peak of Pão De Açúcar, Rio de Janeiro is undoubtedly a marvelous citty. There are many good times  to make the ascent, but sunset  on a clear day is the most rewarding. At the top, the city unfolds beneath you, with Corcovado mountain and Cristo Redentor of the West , and Copacabana Beach to the south. (Read more)

▪ Copacabana Beach

Copacabana Beach is one of the most famous and most beautiful beaches in the world. The atmosphere is very vibrant and the people are colorful and fun loving. 

(Read more)

▪ Ipanema Beach

The beach at Ipanema is known for its elegant development and its social life. There are always circles of people playing football, volleyball, and footvolley, a locally invented sport that is a combination of volleyball and football.

In the winter the surf can reach nine feet. The water quality varies from clear light-blue water to a more murky green after heavy rains. 

The Travel Channel listed Ipanema Beach as the sexiest beach in the world. (Read more)  

▪ Sambadrome

The Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí is a purpose-built parade area built for the Rio Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the place where samba schools parade competitively each year during the Rio Carnival. The parades attract many thousands of Brazilians and foreign tourists each year, and the structure is also used as a multi-purpose performance venue. The structures of the Sambadrome were designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer (1907–2012), and represent his first major work after the end of the Brazilian dictatorship of 1964–1985. (Read more)

▪ Cuisine

▪ Feijoada

Feijoada, a flavorful stew of beans and pork, is called the national dish of Brazil.Typically served at noon on Wednesdays and Saturdays, this hearly meal is a thick mixture of beans, fresh and smoked meats plus seasonings. (Read more)

▪ Canjica /Mugunzá
Canjica is a Brazilian sweet dish, a porridge or corn mush made with whole maize kernels (canjica), cooked with milk, sugar and cinnamon until tender.coconut and  coconut milk are common ingredients and part of the original recipe. (Read more)

▪ Açaí
Of all the thousands of fruits from the Amazon, açaí is the best known, thanks to its super-food status. Traditionally eaten by indigenous tribes for energy, the hard purple berry is also used in Amazonian cooking, as a sauce with fish. A clever marketing campaign in the 80's thrust it into the spotlight as the energy snack of choice for surfers in glamorous Rio de Janeiro. Served as a sweet, gloopy, frozen sorbet, sometimes topped with granola and slices of banana, or whizzed up in juices, it can found in every café, bakery, juice bar and supermarket across the country. (Read more)

▪ Empada

Empadas are mini pies that are sold in nearly all snack bars. The most typical flavors are dried meat, chicken with cream cheese, prawns with cream cheese or heart of palm. (Check out the recipe)

▪ Beijinho de Coco

 The name literally translates to little kiss of coconut wich fits perfectly with this mouth-sized dessert. Made with condensed milk and butter mixed together before being rooled up into little balls and covered in coconut flakes. (Check out the recipe)

▪ Coxinha 

This hearty snack is a heap of shredded chicken wrapped up in a gooey, warm dough before being battered and fried. Some even mix the chicken inside with cream cheese. With its crispy outside texture and soft, fluffy inside. (Check out the recipe)

▪ Caipirinha

Caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça (sugarcane hard liquor), sugar and lime. Cachaça, also known as caninha, or any one of a multitude of traditional names, is Brazil's most common distilled alcoholic beverage. Although both rum and cachaça are made from sugarcane-derived products, in cachaça the alcohol results from the fermentation of fresh sugarcane juice that is then distilled, while rum is usually made from refinery by-products such as molasses. (Read more)

▪ Habits

Sun-drenched beaches, tropical palm trees,and exotic samba music set the perfect scene for Holiday.If you’re traveling in Brazil, it’s hard not to fall in love with the country, culture and people. (Read more)

Local residents are very smiling, cheerful and friendly people. They are very responsive and are always ready to help, so foreigners will literally feel in Rio like at home. The city is home to immigrants from different countries and this is the reason why visitors here are very friendly to newcomers. However, this is also the reason for a taboo for the local people – all talks about race are banned. Any manifestation of neglect concerning this topic can be viewed as racist behavior. (Read more)

 

▪ Music

▪ Bossa Nova

 Bossa Nova began on the tropical beaches of Rio de Janeiro in the late 1950s, when s small group of mainly middle-class students, artists and musicians came together to create a new sound. Bossa Nova was a soft samba based on traditional Brazilian music and rhythms, American jazz and a new style of Portuguese lyrics. (Read more)

▪ Climate

The climate in Rio de Janeiro is tropical, with a relatively cool season from May to October, and a hot and muggy season from December to March. Although the average temperatures are not very high, and thankfully the breeze usually blows, sometimes in summer very hot days can occur. The bets time to visit Rio de Janeiro is winter, from May to October, the tenmperature is generally pleasant with quite rare rains. (Read more)

▪ Cost of living

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most stunning settings, however simillar to the others largest cities (São Paulo and Brasília), the city is also considered to be one of the most expensive cities to live in Brazil. (Read more)

▪ Famous Personalities

             Gisele Bundchen                   Neymar da Silva Junior                       Adriana Lima
                Model, Actress                           Football player                             Actress, Model 

▪ Travel Guide