Suben 16% el precio de los medicamentos/16% increase in medicine

Spanish - English Translation/courtesy of Professor Winn

The good professor also translates Spanish, French, and Portuguese to English.

The following article from Argentine medical blog, BlogSalud (HealthBlog), always is a good read to keep up to date on medical issues and terminology. It is well-written and well-respected. The cost of medical care and medicine continue to affect developed and developing countries alike.

Suben 16% el precio de los medicamentos
16% increase in medicine

Laboratorios logran venia de Moreno y suben 16% el precio de los medicamentos
Laboratories get Moreno’s permission and raise the price of medicine by 16%

El incremento previsto para 2010 se llevará a cabo en tres etapas. Algunas firmas ya pusieron en marcha la primera, con alzas del 6%. El resto sería en julio y octubre.
The expected increase for 2010 will come in three steps. Some companies have already taken the first with a 6% rise. The rest would come in July and October.

La novela por el aumento de las cuotas de la medicina prepaga todavía está lejos de llegar a su fin, aunque por si le faltara algún condimento al segmento de la salud, ahora apareció una nueva disputa.
The saga of increased costs of prepaid medicine is far from over, as if the health sector needed a new dispute.

Los laboratorios comenzaron –y con éxito– una rueda de negociaciones con el secretario de Comercio Interior, Guillermo Moreno, que les permitirá incrementar los precios de sus medicamentos un promedio del 16 por ciento.

Laboratories began – with success – a round of negotiations with Interior Commerce Minister Guillermo Moreno allows increases in the prices of medicine by an average of 16 percent.

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If you are in São Paulo and need English lessons, or Elite English Services including translations (Spanish/French/Portuguese to English), please call Professor Winn at 6214-1511 or send an email to mrenglish101@gmail.com for a prompt evaluation.

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Using Literature in the ESL Classroom

If, as C.S. Lewis once said, literature "irrigates the desert that our lives have already begun,"  then literature has a central role to add spice to your ESL lesson plans.

If you are searching for authentic texts to enliven your discussions with upper level students or to debate topics germane to our daily lives, literature in English (bias toward American) is an excellent way.

The inspiration for this post came after wanting to learn how I could incorporate literature fearing it would be too dense or above the level of non-native speakers. Rubbish!

"Literature in the ESL Classroom" by Sandra Mckay offers great suggestions like focusing on language use and aesthetic reading - where the reader relates his or her real world experiences to the text.

The big key? Selection of an adequate text.

I have chosen Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" to compile an extract for my classes. Of course we do not have time to read the entire "short" story. I remember Beatrice, Giovanni, and Drs. Rappaccini and Baglioni from my own English class in high school.

How have you used literature in your classes? Did the students like your selections? I will update you when I use mine in the classroom.
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If you are in São Paulo and need English lessons, or Elite English Services including translations (Spanish/French/Portuguese to English), please call Professor Winn at 6214-1511 or send an email to mrenglish101@gmail.com for a prompt evaluation.

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Another Caesarian expression in English

Before the Ides of March, circa 44BC, Caesar engendered the wrath of Roman senators because of his military conquests, and resulting fame and fortune. 

In 49 BC, his popularity rivaled the Senate and many feared a dictatorship Roman law prohibited a general to cross the Rubicon River (a mere stream) in northern Italy with a standing army.

After pondering and rejecting Senate demands to cease and desist, Caesar reportedly uttered "the die is cast" and crossed the Rubicon and later seized Rome.

Thus the two expressions are in English till today:

1) the die is cast - a decision has been made that cannot be altered and fate will decide the consequences.
2) to cross the Rubicon - to go forward with not point of return.
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If you are in São Paulo and need English lessons, or Elite English Services including translations (Spanish/French/Portuguese to English), please call Professor Winn at 6214-1511 or send an email to mrenglish101@gmail.com for a prompt evaluation.

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Beware the Ides of March!

It is March 15 - the Ides of March!

Today we mix history and literature to learn a famous expression in English.

In Act III, Scene 1 of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare writes his version of the assassination of the famous Roman in the Senate circa 44BC.

Immemorial in English literature is the last dramatic phrase from Caesar to Brutus, his closest friend and rival - "Et tu, Brute?" (And you, Brutus?).

Brutus answers with a final thrust into his erstwhile friend.

Thus, the phrase "Beware the Ides of March" entered the English language.

Do you know two other expressions in the English associated with the earlier history of Caesar and Rome?

Stay tuned till tomorrow for the answer!
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If you are in São Paulo and need English lessons, or Elite English Services including translations (Spanish/French/Portuguese to English), please call Professor Winn at 6214-1511 or send an email to mrenglish101@gmail.com for a prompt evaluation.

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CELTA Update

I am progressing in my CELTA certification while teaching my regular classes throughout the week.

The first writing assignment is due next Friday when we meet again. There are four pairs of sentences and we must choose one from each to do a thorough MFP - Meaning, Form, and Pronunciation analysis.

I must say that is a useful however tiresome exercise to conduct before presenting a lesson.

I have begun to adopt tips and tactics learned already in the CELTA course in my own classes. Teaching is about experimenting and the learning never stops even as an instructor!  ha.


The intellectual rigor leaves the old teacher tired by the weekend, but greatly gratified at the same time.
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If you are in São Paulo and need English lessons, or Elite English Services including translations (Spanish/French/Portuguese to English), please call Professor Winn at 6214-1511 or send an email to mrenglish101@gmail.com for a prompt evaluation.

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SQ3R Applied - "Toyota Slips Up" Text

After nearly three years teaching English as a Foreign Language, it appears almost every presentation of the language is controversial in the field.

Reading is not an exception.

Last week, I used a prescient article from The Economist - "Toyota Slips Up" (December 12,2009) - as a reading text on a popular issue. Students are aware of the news about Toyota and though in British English (I am American) the article is chock full of vocabulary.

SQ3R Reading Method
I introduced my students to the SQ3R approach to reading. It is an analytic tool and essential to gain a context about any text.

First, students are encouraged to Survey the text. Given the article is only a page, that is simple in this case. At the top of the page is "Leaders" identifying the article as an opinion piece. There is a picture of a banana on wheels (the slip part) of the article's title as in slipping on a banana peel. The important sub-headline mentions "corporate turnarounds" and the two sub-headings are "Falling giants" and "A bit of vroom needed."

Given the good text structure and excellent writing by The Economist, it is easy to create Questions about the text to answer while reading. Reading is about anticipation. What information do you think the text will contain? What do you predict the article will be about? Given the above, we would expect to hear about other big companies who have lost their ways, but were able to turnaround their sinking fortunes. But whom? Were they successful in the end?

Urge students to create these questions and build interest in the article and the discover process of answering them.

Next, students Read the article bearing their questions in mind.

Then, students Recite to themselves orally what they have just read and take notes in their own words from the text.

The final step is Reviewing your notes and questions/answers to keep the information fresh in your mind.

I had wonderful results with my class teaching them a new approach to read smarter!

More information:
Hat tip: Study Guides and Strategies website offers more information on using SQ3R and a review page to help in your text analysis.
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If you are in São Paulo and need English lessons, or Elite English Services including translations (Spanish/French/Portuguese to English), please call Professor Winn at 6214-1511 or send an email to mrenglish101@gmail.com for a prompt evaluation.

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