Curious poem about how to read English words…

Ration only sometimes rhymes with nation,
Say prefer, but preferable,
Comfortable and vegetable.
B must not be heard in doubt,
Debt and dumb both leave it out.
In the words psychology,
Psychic, and psychiatry,
You must never sound the p.
Psychiatrist you call the man
Who cures the complex, if he can.
In architect chi is k
In arch it is the other way.
Please remember to say iron
So that it'll rhyme with lion.
Advertisers advertise,
Advertisements will put you wise.
Time when work is done is leisure,
Fill it up with useful pleasure.
Accidental, accident,
Sound the g in ignorant.
Relative, but relation,
Then say creature, but creation.
Say the a in gas quite short,
Bought remember rhymes with thwart,
Drought must always rhyme with bout,
In daughter leave the gh out.
Wear a boot upon your foot.
Root can never rhyme with soot.
In muscle, sc is s,
In muscular, it's sk, yes!
Choir must always rhyme with wire,
That again will rhyme with liar.
Then remember it's address.
With an accent like posses.
G in sign must silent be,
In signature, pronounce the g.
Please remember, say towards
Just as if it rhymed with boards.
Weight's like wait, but not like height.
Which should always rhyme with might.

Now you just have to practice!

L'opéra-rock "La Révolution française"

L'opéra-rock "La Révolution française", qui avait triomphé sur scène en 1973, après un million d'albums vendus, avec Alain Bashung, Gérard Blanc et Daniel Balavoine, sera remonté en 2012 à Paris, a annoncé à l'AFP le service de presse des nouveaux producteurs Marc Lumbroso et Catherine Naubron.

A Day with a Special Guest

 Last Monday, on the 11th October, the 11th grade had a different class. It was with great pleasure that we received an American teacher, named Sara Roffino. She came to talk to us about her life as a student and her life experiences in other countries.


She was born and raised in New York, United States of America. There she began her educational life, and later she moved to Ohio to study arts in a university. She said she enjoyed her life, living with other students in the campus. Then, she used this situation to talk about how her life changed; she explained how she began to be more independent and responsible.

Afterwards, she explained how the educational system in America worked and how it’s easy to change your major subject in the middle of one’s university studies. She herself started in arts and later changed to another field on teaching. She continued her educational life in other countries, like Costa Rica, Brazil (where she had her first contact with the Portuguese language, because she lived during six months with a Brazilian family), Spain and Portugal, where she’s currently staying. She has been here since last year both as a student and a teacher.

She explained to us how useful it was for her to know English, which gave her a huge advantage. She said that learning the official language of each country helped her learning and understanding their culture. At the end of this outstanding experience, the students asked her some questions regarding the educational system in other countries and how it was to study abroad. She also shared with us that life in general is faster in the USA and that people don’t have as much free time as Portuguese do, and that students in the States generally read and write much more.

Written by

Filipe Quaresma and André Biléu

11th Grade 14/10/2010

KEY TO THE LANGUAGE FACT QUIZ

The quiz previously published is only one of the three that the 9th graders made under the supervision of their English teacher Helena Melo.
The quizzes were a success! We still don't have a winner but we're counting the points...
If you want to know the answers to all quizzes you can check them on the board near the canteen.
In the meanwhile we'll leave you with the key to the quiz we presented before:

1. What’s the second most spoken language?
a) Spanish (Considering the number of native speakers – Source Wikipedia)

2. In how many countries is Portuguese the official national language?
a) 8 (CPLP members - Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).

3. How many languages are spoken in Japan?
a) 7 main dialects, but there are dozens more.

4. Which is the most difficult language to learn?
a) Basque is pointed out as one of the most difficult languages in the world.

5. How many dialects are there?
a) Most certainly over 7000

6. How many languages is the Bible translated to?
a) Around 2400

7. In what position is Portuguese ranked as the most spoken language?
a) 6th

8. What’s the official language of Senegal?
a) French

9. What’s the meaning of Portuguese regional expression «breca»?
a) Cãibra

10. What is the oldest language in Europe?
a) Welsh is pointed out as most certainly one of the most ancient.

11. How many languages are spoken in the European Union?
a) 25 – Official languages of 27 Member States.

12. How many languages are spoken in Spain?
a) 9 main languages - Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician, Aranese, Asturian and Lenonese and Aragonese (among others).

13. The least spoken language is:
a) Oromo (Eat Africa)

14. Which of these languages have some more similarities with Arabic?
a) Spanish and Portuguese

15. What’s the country with more living spoken languages?
a) Papua New Guinea (over 850 indigenous languages and at least as many traditional societies).