Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Translation Task



Hi!

I am posting more pictures and their comments. I really liked the second one.

Well, I am finally posting the translation activity. That's the following: it is the same text and I want you to translate the expressions in bald. They are eight expressions, so each of you have to translate two and the others will say if they agree or if they have a better translation option, ok? Below the numbers of the expressions each one of you have to translate:
* Maythe: 1 and 2
* Jaque: 3 and 4
* Juarez: 5 and 6
* Juliana: 7 and 8
I wanna see your comments on your classmates' translation. It is very important, right?
Thanks again for your help. See ya.

With a slide and a shuffle, the Big Nine Social Aid and Pleasure Club parades past empty houses on Forstall Street in the Lower Ninth Ward. The city’s deep-rooted culture draws many back home despite the risks. “I’ve been in two major floods in 40 years,” says club president (1) Ronald Lewis (not shown). “That’s pretty good odds. I hope we have another 40 years to live our life to the fullest.”

Cut into a cypress swamp (2) in the early 1980s, Maureen Lane, in St. Bernard Parish, was hit by at least 12 feet (four meters) of water when Katrina’s surge blasted over the canal and floodwall. “If I’d gotten all my insurance money (3), I wouldn’t be here now,” says Shirley Calhoun, who owns several properties in the development. “If they don’t do nothing, in 30 years this is all going to be water.”

Struggling with debt and red tape as he rebuilt his cottage in the Gentilly neighborhood, Eric Martin nearly pulled it down in protest and moved to Chicago. Now he’s raising the structure for flood protection (4) and staying put. “Every time I think of leaving,” he says, “I bump into somebody I know.”

New Orleans

A PERILOUS FUTURE

By Joel K. Bourne, Jr.

Photographs by Tyrone Turner

With seas rising, storms getting stronger, and ground subsiding, another disaster like Katrina seems inevitable. Yet some residents would rather run that risk than leave the place they call home.


Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in United States history, was also a warning shot. Right after the tragedy, many people expressed a defiant resolve to rebuild the city. But among engineers and experts, that resolve is giving way to a growing awareness that another such disaster is inevitable, and nothing short of a massive and endless national commitment can prevent it.

Located in one of the lowest spots in the United States, the Big Easy is already as much as 17 feet (five meters) below sea level (5) in places, and it continues to sink, by up to an inch (2.5 centimeters) a year. Upstream dams and levees built to tame Mississippi River floods and ease shipping have starved the delta downstream of sediments and nutrients, causing wetlands that once buffered the city against storm-driven seas to sink beneath the waves. Louisiana has lost 1,900 square miles (4,900 square kilometers) of coastal lands since the 1930s; Katrina and Hurricane Rita together took out 217 square miles (562 square kilometers), putting the city that much closer to the open Gulf. Most ominous of all, global warming is raising the Gulf faster than at any time since the last ice age (6) thawed. Sea level could rise several feet over the next century. Even before then, hurricanes may draw ever more energy from warming seas and grow stronger and more frequent.

And the city's defenses are down. Despite having spent a billion dollars already, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now estimates it will take until after 2010 to strengthen the levee system (7) enough to withstand a 1-in-100-year storm, roughly the size of Category 3 Katrina. It would take decades more to protect the Big Easy from the truly Big One, a Category 4 or 5—if engineers can agree on how to do that and if Congress agrees to foot the almost unimaginable bill. For now, even a modest, Category 2 storm could reflood the city.

The long odds led Robert Giegengack, a geologist at the University of Pennsylvania, to tell policymakers a few months after the storm that the wealthiest, most technologically advanced nation on the globe was helpless to prevent another Katrina: "We simply lack the capacity to protect New Orleans." He recommended selling the French Quarter to Disney, moving the port 150 miles (240 kilometers) upstream, and abandoning one of the most historic and culturally significant cities in the nation. Others have suggested rebuilding it as a smaller, safer enclave on higher ground.

But history, politics, and love of home are powerful forces in the old river town (8). Instead of rebuilding smarter or surrendering, New Orleans is doing what it has always done after such disasters: bumping up the levees just a little higher, rebuilding the same flood-prone houses back in the same low spots, and praying that hurricanes hit elsewhere. Some former New Orleanians may have had enough. More than a third of the city's pre-Katrina population has yet to return. Those who have face deserted neighborhoods, surging crime, skyrocketing insurance, and a tangle of red tape—simply to rebuild in harm's way.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

I will give an example of a sentence which I could'nt understand at all: "Upstream dams and levees built to tame Mississippi River floods and ease shipping have starved the delta downstream of sediments and nutrients, causing wetlands that once buffered the city against storm-driven seas to sink beneath the waves". This sentence has a lot of words I did'nt kwow, and, even when I looked for it in a dictionary, I did'nt get it's complete sense.

In fact, this whole paragraph was difficult for me to understand, because of my absence of some prior knowledge. For example, I did'nt know that New Orleans is part of Louisiana, near to Mississipi River, and that one of it's nicknames is The Big Easy (!). So, the informations on the third paragraph seemed confused. When I looked out for New Orleans at Wikipedia, I could understand the connections between the informations.

To do the article's summary, I had to understand the text - that is, to imagine what is the article's major goal and the smaller goals in its parts. And I believe that we only can imagine the writer's intention when we have sufficient world knowledge and when we can undestand most of the words of the text. That's why I considered this task so difficult.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Still on Katrina


Struggling with debt and red tape as he rebuilt his cottage in the Gentilly neighborhood, Eric Martin nearly pulled it down in protest and moved to Chicago. Now he’s raising the structure for flood protection and staying put. “Every time I think of leaving,” he says, “I bump into somebody I know.”


Guys,

All of you wrote different summaries about the article, but they are very good. That's it.
I just have some questions, right?
1 - Could you find something about the French culture in the article "New Orleans - a perilous future"? Where?
2 - What did you learn from the reading? Juliana said it is a difficult article. I agree with her. So you must have made an effort to understanding it, am I right? Tell us the new words or expressions you learned and also new information about New Orleans.

I am really curious to see your answers.
Lili.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

A difficult task

First let me say that I considered this text very difficult for reading!!! There are a lot of sentences which a could'nt understand completely, even with the dictionary's help.

Well, the informations found in this article are very similar to the informations of Juarez's text. But Juarez emphasizes the city's desolation, and the article shows a kind of "patriotism", the habitant's will not to abandon New Orleans.

So, I would summarize this article by saying, first, that it shows this feeling of New Orleans's habitants, who maintain the strength to rebuild the city, even with so much difficulties. One of the difficulties brought in the article is that "another such disaster is inevitable, and nothing short of a massive and endless national commitment can prevent it"; to show up how much serious is the situation, the article brings some facts about the inevitable changes in the nature of Louisiana and outskirts. Other difficulty brought in the article is the fact that "the city's defenses are down"; to show up this idea, the article brings facts like the absence of money and time - and, most of all, good will by the engineers and the Congress - to protect the Big Easy. (Sorry, the fourth sentence...) So, at the end, the article shows that, even with so much difficulties, the people of New Orleans would never leave their home.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Reading task


Hi everybody!

I am posting now an article about New Orleans. In fact it is just a part of a bigger article.
Please, read it and answer the following questions:

1 - Which information of what Juliana and Juarez wrote about New Orleans you could find in the article?

2 - How would you summarize the main ideas of this text using until three sentences?

There it is! Hope you enjoy the reading. I took it from "National Geographic" Magazine - August, 2007


New Orleans

A PERILOUS FUTURE

By Joel K. Bourne, Jr.
Photographs by Tyrone Turner
With seas rising, storms getting stronger, and ground subsiding, another disaster like Katrina seems inevitable. Yet some residents would rather run that risk than leave the place they call home.

Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in United States history, was also a warning shot. Right after the tragedy, many people expressed a defiant resolve to rebuild the city. But among engineers and experts, that resolve is giving way to a growing awareness that another such disaster is inevitable, and nothing short of a massive and endless national commitment can prevent it.

Located in one of the lowest spots in the United States, the Big Easy is already as much as 17 feet (five meters) below sea level in places, and it continues to sink, by up to an inch (2.5 centimeters) a year. Upstream dams and levees built to tame Mississippi River floods and ease shipping have starved the delta downstream of sediments and nutrients, causing wetlands that once buffered the city against storm-driven seas to sink beneath the waves. Louisiana has lost 1,900 square miles (4,900 square kilometers) of coastal lands since the 1930s; Katrina and Hurricane Rita together took out 217 square miles (562 square kilometers), putting the city that much closer to the open Gulf. Most ominous of all, global warming is raising the Gulf faster than at any time since the last ice age thawed. Sea level could rise several feet over the next century. Even before then, hurricanes may draw ever more energy from warming seas and grow stronger and more frequent.

And the city's defenses are down. Despite having spent a billion dollars already, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now estimates it will take until after 2010 to strengthen the levee system enough to withstand a 1-in-100-year storm, roughly the size of Category 3 Katrina. It would take decades more to protect the Big Easy from the truly Big One, a Category 4 or 5—if engineers can agree on how to do that and if Congress agrees to foot the almost unimaginable bill. For now, even a modest, Category 2 storm could reflood the city.

The long odds led Robert Giegengack, a geologist at the University of Pennsylvania, to tell policymakers a few months after the storm that the wealthiest, most technologically advanced nation on the globe was helpless to prevent another Katrina: "We simply lack the capacity to protect New Orleans." He recommended selling the French Quarter to Disney, moving the port 150 miles (240 kilometers) upstream, and abandoning one of the most historic and culturally significant cities in the nation. Others have suggested rebuilding it as a smaller, safer enclave on higher ground.

But history, politics, and love of home are powerful forces in the old river town. Instead of rebuilding smarter or surrendering, New Orleans is doing what it has always done after such disasters: bumping up the levees just a little higher, rebuilding the same flood-prone houses back in the same low spots, and praying that hurricanes hit elsewhere. Some former New Orleanians may have had enough. More than a third of the city's pre-Katrina population has yet to return. Those who have face deserted neighborhoods, surging crime, skyrocketing insurance, and a tangle of red tape—simply to rebuild in harm's way.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

My dear students

Well, guys!

You know it's been a great experience to be your virtual teacher. I think we will learn a lot together.
I think I don't have to introduce myself since all of you know me, but if you want to ask me any question feel free.
I just wanna write something about all of you.
Juliana is a great friend, she was my classmate at the under graduation course at UNISINOS. We first met in 1999, can you imagine? She is the kind of person who is always ready to help you.
Maythe and Jaque are new friends. Maythe is a very intelligent and dedicated person. I did not know about your job with the kids. Congratulations.
Jaque is a very beautiful and simple girl and she is always smiling. I really like to talk to her.
Well, if you do not know... Juarez is my boyfriend. So it is not easy to say something about him without being too sweet... ehehhehe I can say he is very intelligent and he is also a writer. So pay attention to his English, he chooses the words carefully.

Now about New Orleans,
I am sure you saw something on TV some time ago. You just didn't remember. Girls, if you want, you can ask more information about it to Juarez, ok?
See ya.
I just know a song by The Mamas and the Papas, "Dancing in the street", which mentions the city of New Orleans... My husband, Flávio, just told me that this city is on the south of EUA, and that it had a french colonization.
Hi guys!!!

Unfortunatelly I don't know anything about it...
Sorry

Second task

Please, guys just write what you know about New Orleans. You don't have to research anywhere. Just tell us everything related to it that you remember.
You may also comment on your classmates' answers, right?

Hope see your answers soon.
Yours :)

Monday, November 19, 2007

Hi!!!I am Jaqueline. I'm 23 years old, blond, heavy and tall. I have a boyfriend and I love him. I live in Brazil with my family.I'm an English teacher in a private school. I studied there as well. Now I'm studying in a Master course. It's very difficult...I need do read a lot.I think that's it!ThanksKisses

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Our first class!




Hi, folks!

I'm so glad I can count on you for this experience. Thanks a lot! :)

Let me explain how it is going to work.
Well, the main idea here is that I want you to exchange some opinions about the texts I am going to post. I want you to understand the main idea and to translate some expressions by helping each other.
Our communication will be in English, although sometimes you will have to translate some words to Portuguese and you will also have to discuss about a text which is written in Portuguese, ok?
Why translation? Well, that is the main purpose of this blog. I want to see how some computing devices help you to improve your translation skills in both directions, from Portuguese to English and from English to Portuguese.
How long? Well guys, we do not have so much time. So I expect our course will take around two weeks.
IMPORTANT: We must finish it on time, so I ask you to access our blog everyday. I will only post the following activity after the three of you had answered the present one.
FIRST TASK: Well, since some of you do not know each other I want you to introduce yourselves. You can also post a picture if you want.
See ya tomorrow and thanks again for your availability.