8º Festival de Cinema de Maringá

The 8º Festival de Cinema de Maringá started last friday (20) and this year's edition approachs a very important  subject: Education. It is shown the way education is made in schools, in people's houses and neighborhood, on the streets and everywhere around.
In the agenda, we can find a lot of good stuff, such as short-films, feature-films, discussions on specific themes and workshops about cinema. The films are showing our culture, art and history in a very peculiar way and making every small actor or even ordinary people look like movie stars. It is a good way to spend the time, especially to see how cinema and education easily walk on the same road.

Pery de Canti organises the festival one more time and, different from the previous editions, it is happening in more than just one place this year. It is possible to watch the sessions in Vila Santo Antônio (on the square), Jardim Alvorada (at the Social Center), Shopping Catuaí and UEM (near Restaurante Universitário). UEM is still the main scenary for the event and the only place where the presentations start at noon and the discussions happen.

In the end of the Festival, all the films compete: there are 35mm and digital short and feature-films, fiction, documentary, animations and experimental films. In 2010 212 films were subscribed, 183 short-films and 29 feature-films; 37 were chosen.

The Festival ends up on May 27th.

Welcome to a paradise

João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba, is the third oldest city in the country and was classified by the ONU in 1992 as one of the greenest cities in the world. It offers to the tourist 10 beaches of clean and calm waters. It has a rare historical patrimony. The city is the eastern extreme of the Americas, where the day comes earlier than anywhere else in Brazil.

There are many hotels, hostels and inns in João Pessoa, the city has camp sites too. So, everybody can find a good accomodation because there are many options.

People can stay in the beaches every morning, playing football and frescobol that is like a beach tennis, walking near the sea, sunbathing, eating or drinking something in a bar near the beaches.

Young people can go out at night to the bars in the beaches or to a nightclub. There are also many shopping centers where they can watch a movie or eat something. In January, occurs the “Summer Festival Paraíba”, the best shows that warms up your summer in the biggest and best summer festival of Brazil. It’s a good option to the young people.

Older people can visit some of the important buildings in the baroque style that exist in the old town center and the Station Science, Culture and Arts, designed by Oscar Niemeyer that was inaugurated in 2008.

Every evening, on the bars near the Paraíba River, you can see the sunset with the sound of Ravel’s Bolero.

There are fairs with local crafts and the famous “Craft Market” that has more than 120 stores which attracts the tourists.

The “Mangai” is an obligatory stop for tourists who visit João Pessoa because this is the best restaurant of typical food of the region. There you can find many exotic dishes.

Certainly, João Pessoa is a very good choice of holiday because there are many beaches, bars, shoppings, important buildings and tourist points. You can relax and enjoy a lot a trip like this.

Mad Men

I’m not exactly a TV series lover, actually I hardly ever watch TV. That’s why I had to do some researches on the Internet in order to find any series that I could possibly enjoy and, as a part of my English class activities at university, report my experience with it here. Guess what? I’ve found what I was looking for!

“Mad Men” might not please everyone’s taste; it is set in an advertising agency during the 1960’s, which means it has lots of historical references, old-fashioned vocabulary and its characters have some odd and unacceptable behavior for nowadays patterns. But the possibility to get to know more about one of the most influential decades to the western civilization’s behavior is exactly what got me interested in watching it.

Women were confronting the hollowness of their housewife lives, they were looking for career opportunities; whereas men were sexist, adulterous, racist and homophobic. The show description is very clear: "Ethics in the workplace, smoke-free environments, sexual harassment and ethnic diversity were workshops of the future." But all of that were about to change during the 1960’s, a decade of transformations.

Mad Men is an adult drama, an anthropological and character study but, of course, it has some moments of dark humor. For me, it’s been worth watching it.

http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men

We are the future

Today I was wondering how I could contribute in this blog without writting too much and doing things in a tiring way. The thinking process which made me choose what I choose is not something which someone would get interest. So let us go to the point.

As things goes on in our classroom and University I believe that education has to be thought and re-tought on and on. I'll post a link about "It's noon" network. I have presented a seminary about this at UEM but unfortunately just few fellows understood what it was about. "It's noon" is a new way of realizing the education process - by using technology and all the tools available.

This video is about a workshop for English teachers that took place in London. http://www.youtube.com/user/ProjetoEGO?feature=mhum#p/c/1/sHa9k0hX-Zk


At http://itsnoon.net/eletrocooperativa/ you can find something interestin for your life as teachers.

Gilmore Girls

There is a TV series called Gilmore Girls that tells the story about a single mother and her teenager daughter. Even though it seems a common story, it's not. The main character named Lorelai Gilmore is a unique person, with a strong personality, and looks more like the sister and not mother of Rory Gilmore. Lorelai was born in a rich family, but she got pregnant with only 16 years old. So, instead of getting married like her parents wanted to, she ran away from home to live in Stars Hollow. Which is also a unique town.

This is a very special serie for me. When I started watching I was 11 years old and lived with my also single mother. It ended when I was 16 years old, and until today I watch it whenever I have some free time. Through the years, Gilmore Girls has taught me so much in the matter of American culture than any trip I've made. It was because of this amazing series, and it's complex and unstoppable dialogue that today I have a much bigger knowledge of the U.S.A and its culture.

The characters are my role models. Lorelai is always fun, without forgetting her responsibilities. And Rory is a cute girl, who wishes to major in English in Harvard. She studies very hard to achieve that, and because of her mother, she also developed a fun personality. I guess, in a way I studied very hard to be majoring in English at UEM because of Rory.

I chose this series because it has influenced my life in so many ways, that I can't even describe in such a small text. Its dialogue is one of the things that most amazes me, and that will be my focus for the English class project.

I hope people can see what I see when I watch Gilmore Girls. If not, at least have fun with the episodes.

Off the Map

I have been watching TV series for some years now, and I started watching because I wanted to improve my English and maybe I learn something interesting. I watch many series, but for the past few months I have been watching a new TV series called Off THE MAP. It’s a new medical drama that tells a story about seven doctors who try to help people in South America. Each of them has their own personal tragedy and that´s why they are running from their past. So far my favorite character is Dr. Ryan Clark, because she is still a mystery to me, and I still don’t know anything about her past. I have always liked medical shows, such as Grey’s Anatomy and House but I don’t know why. Although I do not like hospitals or anything that relates to that, I like seeing the gorgeous scenery and how the doctors save people’s lives. I think it’s so rewarding. However, last week I found out that they are thinking about canceling the show, since it’s not getting too many hits. I hope they keep it! This has come to be of one of my favorite shows and I look forward to watching it every week.

If you feel like watching; you can go to this site
http://www.ch131.com/

Curious untranslatable words

Translation...what comes to your mind when you think about that?
Today, we were studying at our Translation class at college how to translate (or not ) the puns. That silly little group of words that are mostly ambiguous, which means, you´ll probably have two ways of understanding it.
My point here is, sometimes we cannot translate a word! How do we react when our students come to us and just ask: Teacher, how can you translate SHRUG? (the act of shaking your shoulders). – You may give a definition or even a non-verbal explanation, but how would you translate? (This example was a little stupid, I must confess. Just couldn´t think of a better one!)
I found a really nice ‘article’ about untranslatable words. It worths the click.
Just for the record: I didn´t know that there isn´t a translation for ‘cafuné’. Have you ever thought about that?

http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/20-awesomely-untranslatable-words-from-around-the-world/

Image source: Google Images