sexta-feira, 28 de março de 2014

GET INVOLVED Video: 8 secrets of success by Richard St. John

8 secrets of success by Richard St. John

Before watching


Is success important to you? In your opinion, what are the steps of success? 
Example: hardwork


altertanive link to video on TED.com click here

After you watch, please leave a comment below answering the two questions (alternatively, email us on contato@ceoenglish.com.br):

1) According to the video, what are the 8 steps of success?

2) How would you personally describe success?

GET INVOLVED Project April 2014

World Cup Brochure



Let's help our tourists? Take part in the project of developing a brochure about Recife to help the tourists who will come for the World Cup.

It is easy to participate, just answer the questions below with your recommendations:

Step 1

1) What is your favorite restaurant in town?

2) What is your favorite bar?

3) What is your favorite tourist attraction?


Soon you will receive step 2 via email.

GET INVOLVED Book Club: April 2014

Animal Farm - George Orwell


Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose slogan becomes: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." This 1945 satire addresses the socialist/ communist philosophy of Stalin in the Soviet Union.

(review from www.goodreads.com)

Download free here
Paperback available at C.E.O. To pick from our library, leave comment below
Let us know you are reading the book (email luciano@ceoenglish.com.br or leave a comment below) so that we can send you some interpretation questions

GET INVOLVED Website of the week

Premiere Skills English

Football English

The British Council and The English Premiere League created a website for English learners who are crazy about football. Check it out here.

GET INVOLVED News of the week 31/03/14

S&P downgrades Brazil

Not junk, not great






Mar 25th 2014, 14:39 by J.P. | SÃO PAULO

DILMA ROUSSEFF may say she is committed to monetary and fiscal orthodoxy but few are convinced. Standard & Poor’s (S&P), for one, isn’t buying the Brazilian president’s attempts to shake off her anti-market vibe. On March 24th the agency cut Brazil’s credit rating. Debt denominated in local currency, the real, and foreign-currency bonds both fell by a notch, to BBB+ and BBB-, respectively.


Discussion:

1) Do you agree with the downgrade? Why?

2) Do you agree with the opinions stated in the artcle? Why

GET INVOLVED Event: Outback

Outback April 11th at 12 p.m.




Where: Outback Shopping Recife
When: April 11th at 12 p.m.

Leave a message on the comments below or send us an email confirming your presence and see you there!

GET INVOLVED Poll April

Poll: What is your opinion about the World Cup in Brazil in 2014?



Recently Jornal do Commercio asked people from Recife their opinion about the World Cup. Now, we'd like to know your opinion. Please write your answers in the comment box (feel free to skip any of the questions).

1) Are you pro or against the protests that have been taking place in Brazil?

2) Are you pro or agains protests taking place in Recife during the World Cup?

3) Are you pro or against the World Cup being held in Brazil this year?

4) Are you going to watch the World Cup matches?

5) Where are you going to watch the matches (home, friends'/relatives' homes, bars/restaurants, public spaces, somwhere else)

6) Are you going to watch any matches at Arena Pernambuco?

7) Which country do you think will win the World Cup?

8) Will you support the Brazilian national team during the event?

9) Do you think the public infrastructure work will be ready in time for the World Cup?

10) What benefits do you think the World Cup will bring the country after the event is over? (none, more jobs, improve the economy, ...)

GET INVOLVED Song of the week 31/03/14

Pharrell Williams - Happy


Watch on youtube

Complete the lyrics (use comment box below):


"Happy"


[Verse 1:]
It might seem crazy what I’m about to say
Sunshine she’s here, you can take a break
I’m a hot air balloon that could go to 1) __________
With the air, like I don’t care baby by the way

[Hook:]
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what 2) __________ is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do

[Verse 2:]
Here come bad news talking this and that, yeah,
Well, give me all you got, and don’t hold back, yeah,
Well, I should 3) __________warn you I’ll be just fine, yeah,
No offense to you, don’t waste your time
Here’s why

[Hook]

Hey, come on

[Bridge:]
(happy)
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
My level's too high
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
I said (let me tell you now)
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
My level's too 4)__________
Bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down
I said

[Hook 2x]

Hey, come on

(happy)
Bring me down… can’t nothing…
Bring me down… my level's too high…
Bring me down… can’t nothing…
Bring me down, I said (let me tell you now)

[Hook 2x]

Come on

Dicussion

1) What is happiness to you?

sábado, 22 de março de 2014

Inglês para Negócios e C.E.O. na CBN, com Julius Fialho da Orbe Consultoria

Entrevista realizada com nosso aluno, Julius Fialho, na CBN Recife em 22.0314.




Julius Fialho: Administrador pela Universidade Federal de Pernambuco e Consultor parceiro da Orbe Consultoria conversou com Júlia Arraes na CBN Recife sobre Inglês para Negócios.

1-JULIA: Bom dia Julius, o nosso assunto hoje é o mercado de Inglês para Negócios ou “Business English”, certo? 
JF: Bom dia JULIA. Bom dia ouvintes da CBN Recife. Justamente JULIA. O Inglês para Negócios também conhecido como Business English, tem foco no vocabulário em Inglês que um profissional utiliza para conduzir os negócios dentro do ambiente corporativo; nas relações comerciais com empresas e governos de países de língua inglesa, bem como empresas multinacionais que utilizam o Inglês como língua oficial.

2-JULIA: Julius, e qual seria a diferença do Inglês para Negócios em relação ao Inglês convencional?
JF: A principal diferença JULIA, é que o estudo do Inglês para Negócios procura desenvolver as habilidades profissionais para redigir e-mails, criar relatórios, fazer apresentações, conduzir e participar de reuniões, como também auxilia o profissional nas negociações com os clientes e fornecedores no idioma. Ao contrário do Inglês convencional utilizado para socialização, o objetivo do Inglês para Negócios é a comunicação eficiente entre as partes em situações relacionadas ao mundo dos negócios.

3-JULIA: Quais os fatores que levaram ao surgimento desse mercado no Brasil?
JF: Além do impulso econômico gerado pela realização de grandes eventos esportivos como a Copa do Mundo este ano e as Olimpíadas em 2016, em pouco mais de dez anos, os investimentos estrangeiros diretos no Brasil tiveram um crescimento significativo, saltando de R$ 32bi para R$ 65bi. Entre outras palavras, houve um aumento na participação de empresas estrangeiras no Brasil. Em Pernambuco, ainda temos como fator atrativo o Porto de Suape.

4- JULIA: Julius, o Brasil está preparado para este cenário?
JF: JULIA, de uma forma geral, ainda temos um longo caminho a percorrer. De acordo um estudo realizado em 2013 pela GlobalEnglish, empresa que atua com Inglês para Negócios em organizações de todo o mundo, foi medida a habilidade com o idioma de mais de 200 mil funcionários de empresas ao redor do mundo que não têm o inglês como língua materna. Dentre os 77 países pesquisados o Brasil aparece na 71º posição com 3,27 pontos. A boa notícia é que melhoramos no ranking em relação a 2012 quando obtivemos apenas 2,95 pontos, entretanto, nesse quesito, ainda estamos atrás de alguns países emergentes como Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul.

5- JULIA: E como anda o mercado de Inglês para Negócios em Pernambuco? 
JF: Em forte expansão. No Recife, existem escolas de Inglês para Negócios que oferecem aulas tanto em seus escritórios quanto dentro das empresas clientes. A exemplo da C.E.O. (Corporate English Office), que oferece cursos de Inglês para Negócios com material didático específico para a área. Segundo Luciano Lapa, diretor pedagógico “Qualquer idioma é um meio, e não um fim. As pessoas aprendem para utilizá-lo na prática, na vida real. Se existe a necessidade de se falar o Inglês no trabalho, então o idioma deve ser contextualizado em situações profissionais para que seja relevante e útil.” Já na opinião de Cristiano Andrade, diretor de negócios da Optimum Technical Language, escola que oferece cursos de língua inglesa para diversos segmentos profissionais: “Qualquer contexto profissional requer desenvoltura e conhecimento no que se diz, de modo a passar credibilidade e profissionalismo. Esta situação, portanto, não é diferente quando se usa a língua Inglesa em ambientes corporativos.”

6- JULIA: Interessante, e qual é o perfil dos alunos nessas escolas? 
JF: O perfil desses alunos é composto por homens e mulheres entre 25 e 50 anos que administram o próprio negócio ou atuam em empresas multinacionais desde analistas até diretores. Dentre as razões que os levam a procurar estes cursos estão: a exigência profissional, principalmente para aqueles em cargos de chefia; a busca por diferenciação, onde essa motivação pode partir de oportunidades perdidas, por exemplo, uma promoção. Interessante JULIA é um estudo recente realizado pela consultoria Catho mostrando que o domínio de um idioma estrangeiro pode aumentar o salário em até 51,89%.

JULIA: Julius, obrigado por suas informações.
JF: JULIA, eu que agradeço a você e aos ouvintes pela atenção e desejo a todos um excelente fim de semana! Apenas lembrando, essa entrevista será postada no site da ORBE, www.orbeplan.com.br. Bom dia a todos.

Link para o post original no blog da Orbe, clique aqui

segunda-feira, 10 de março de 2014

Feeling sad? Teach something!

Not long go I was watching a great video on how your body can shape your mind. It sounds rather obvious, but the conclusion is hard to believe: standing for two minutes in what is called a ‘high power pose’ can actually trigger the production of testosterone and therefore make you more confident to deal with stressful situations. (Link here: Your body language shapes who you are)

Of course I immediately started to think how this could be applied to the classroom.

Then I started thinking about those days that you don’t really feel like teaching. Every teacher has been there, secretly wishing that his/her one-to-one student doesn’t show up, or even worse when you actually feel like calling all your students to cancel a lesson.

I figured this wasn’t a feeling that belonged only to myself. I actually heard from a teacher trainer I had, in a moment when she was getting off her chest, who told me she wished the administrative staff understood that teachers need to be 100% to deliver a good lesson. That, unlike other professions, we’re just not good enough when we’re on a 70% level, for example. This conversation is of course used here without context, I’m not actually trying to crucify her or anything. I actually agreed to the statement at the time.

But what I realized with time is quite the opposite. Every time I had to teach a lesson when all I felt like was going home, the lesson proved to be a great mood twister. Invariably I left the classroom feeling great, many times wondering how much my mood had changed so much in so little time.

I think I may have found a reason for that. As a teacher, our goal is to deliver great lessons, making sure students engage, participate and learn something from the time we spend together. Our students don’t have anything to do with our mind set. They don’t have anything to do with our problems. They’re paying to get great service, so I guess the old ‘leave your problems at home’ do apply for us.

But after I watched this video, I wondered if by forcing myself to smile and be ready for my students actually had the power to make me feel better. After observing this phenomenon for a while, I am quite sure it does. I do believe that when you make an effort to keep you troubles aside in order to provide a great lesson for your students, you are actively working on your troubles. I would even say you might find some good answers after making teaching a good lesson.

I’ll go a bit further and reveal something about myself. When I first started teaching, I was actually recovering from a quite long and severe depression. At the beginning, many were the times when I felt like quitting because I felt I wouldn’t be able to deliver a decent lesson. Many were the times when I stood facing the director’s office, almost knocking on the door to reveal my weakness. But something always convinced me that I should go on and teach the lesson, and in case I felt like that at the end of it, then I would quit. Glad I did it, as never did I feel like quitting the job after a lesson. Quite the contrary, I actually thought to myself how I could possibly have thought about it some hours earlier.

Teaching can be a really challenging experience at times. It makes you turn all the engines on and makes sure your students are getting what they paid for. And I think this drive to excel and do a good job is a powerful tool for those days when you’re too comfortable feeling idle and miserable.

So my suggestion is simple: feeling a little bit under the weather? Teach someone.