INTRODUCTION

In order to learn a foreign language in this case the English Language, we must take a deep plunge in its Culture, Music, Food, Cinema, Literature, etc. I will try to post (daily if possible) something on each of the above mentioned categories to give you a “Snapshot” on the American and the British Culture.
P.S. I'm starting some new technical sections for Lawyers, Pilots/Air Traffic Controllers, Doctors, Human Resources Personnel, Hospitality Industry, etc... please check them out and give me a feedback on them.... Thanks - I'll try to open new technical sections as time allows it....
Sections in this Blog: (to access the items just select and click on the column called "marcadores" at the right side of the page).
Barack Obama's Inaugural Address - English and PortugueseBooks: Business English for Intermediate level and up
Business English for Intermediate Level and up
- The Eightfold path for a Successful Meeting
- Some Hints for a Successful Presentation
- Learning in the News (series)
- How to write a Marketing Plan
- Write a Winning Business Plan
- Creating a Damn Good Resume and a Better One
- How to you rate as an Entrepeneur?Business English: Etiquette for Intermediate Level Students and up
- Job Interview Checklist
Business English for Lawyers- Several lessons (I'm currently posting them!!!!!)
Business English for Pilots / Air Traffic Controllers
Business Games
- (several)Grammar Points
Hong Kong City Guide- Eating in Hong Kong
- Hong Kong’s Nightlife
- Some Hints about Hong Kong
- What to see in Hong Kong
- Where to Shop in Hong KongHospitality Industry (Business English Students – Advanced Level)- How to write a Marketing Plan for a Hotel
- Writing and Designing a Hotel BrochureHospitality Industry (Business English Students – Basic & Intermediate Level) Restaurant- How to set a formal table
- Terms and Definitions for the Hotel Travel Industry
Hospitality Industry (Business English Students – Intermediate Level)- Welcome to the History of the Hospitality Industry & Lodging Overview
Hospitality Industry – Notas PessoaisHuman Resources Material
Idiomatic Expressions
- (lessons 1 to 39)Learning English in the News – Advanced Students
Learning English in the News – all levels- Learning in the News (series)Learning English in the News – Beginners and Pre-Intermediate Business Level- Learning in the News (series)Learning English in the News – Beginners and Pre-Intermediate Level
- Learning in the News (series)
Learning English in the News – Intermediate Business Level- Learning in the News (series)Learning English in the News – Pre-Advanced Business Level- Learning in the News (series)Learning English in the News – Pre-Intermediate Business Level
London City Guide
- What to do and see in London
- Shopping in London
- London Landmarks and Buildings
- London NightlifeMiami and Miami Beach City Guide- Dining in Miami and Miami Beach
- Nightlife in Miami and Miami Beach
- Shopping in Miami
- What to do in Miami and Miami BeachMP3s
New York City Guide- New Year's Eve in Times Square
- MTA - New York Subway System Map
- New York City Electronics and Technology Stores
- New York City Malls
- Shopping for Clothing and Accessories in New York City
- Department Stores
- Theme Stores in New York City
- Nightlife in New York City
- What to do in ManhattanRecipes
Sydney City Guide
- Sightseeing in Sydney
- Half Day and Day Excursions from Sydney
- Where to eat in Sydney
- Sydney’s Nightlife
- Shopping in Sydney
- Sydney City MapSlangs
Snapshot: The American Culture
- History of the Zip Code – what it stand for?
- How does the electoral system works?
- Guide to the U.S. Government
- How the American Election System WorksSnapshot: The British Culture
- Understanding the British Government System
Surfer Slang DictionaryTongue TwistersU.S. Holidays
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P.S. Please feel free to send me an e-mail with comments or suggestions, any collaboration will be appreciated!!!

Thank You,
Marco Antonio Cosentino
e-mail: focus_on_business@hotmail.com

Dicionário Técnico Inglês / Português / Inglês

Pessoal,

Depois de quase 20 anos trabalhando em traduções técnicas bem como os inúmeros trabalhos de intérprete, publiquei um Dicionário Técnico Inglês / Português /Inglês com 590 páginas, ele será muito útil pois abrange muitas

áreas como: Financeira, Administrativa, R.H., Direito, Seguradoras/Seguros, Engenharia (Mecanica, Química, etc..)

Espero que gostem e que me prestigiem adquirindo-o pelo site

http://www.agbook.com.br/book/30988--Dicionario_Tecnico_InglesPortuguesIngles

Para versão em Excel - R$ 40,00 via Paypal (https://www.paypal.com.br)  para o e-mail:
focus_on_business@hotmail.com (após efetuar o pagamento, favor enviar um e-mail com o comprovante do depósito) ou depósito bancário.

Join me on LinkedIn: http://LinkedIn.com/MarcoAntonioCosentino

175 Power Verbs and Phrases for Resumes, Cover Letters, and Interviews

175 Power Verbs and Phrases for Resumes, Cover Letters, and Interviews

While you're revamping your resume or cover letter or constructing your proof-by-example stories for interviews, you'll find you need to watch your word choice. Why? Communication is powerful if the words we use to communicate are powerful. That's not all it takes, but the right words make for a good beginning.

So as you craft achievement statements or write paragraphs that sell your skills or draft interview responses to knock the employers' socks off, consider these suggestions:

Use verbs in active tense, not passive tense.
Use verbs that convey power and action.
Use verbs that claim the highest level of skill or achievement you can legitimately claim.
Use verbs to accurately describe what you have done on the job.
Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly, but when you use them, use them well.
Use nouns that are as specific and as descriptive as possible.
Use numbers whenever possible.
Use the most impressive (and still honest) form of the number you use.
Never lie! It IS NOT worth it. It WILL catch up with you.
Proofread all your verbs and nouns for agreement, tense and appropriateness.
Here, then, are 175 powerful verbs and phrases to make use of in resumes, cover letters and interviews:
abated
abolished
accelerated
accomplished
achieved
actively participated
administered
advanced
advised
aggressively analyzed
applied
assumed a key role
authored
automated
built
hired
closed
coached
co-developed
codirected
co-founded
cold called
collected
co-managed
communicated
completed
computerized
conceptualized
conducted
consolidated
contained
contracted
contributed
controlled
convinced
coordinated
cost effectively created
critiqued
cut
dealt effectively
decreased
defined
delivered
designed
developed
developed and applied
directed
doubled
earned
eliminated
emphasized
enforced
established
evaluated
exceeded
executed
exercised
expanded
expedited
facilitated
filled
focused
formulated
fostered
founded
gained
generated
ground-breaking
headed up
helped
identified
implemented
improved
increased
initiated
innovated
instituted
instructed
integrated
interviewed
introduced
investigated
lectured
led
leveraged
maintained
managed
marketed
motivated
negotiated
orchestrated
organized
outmaneuvered
overcame
oversaw
penetrated
performed
permitted
persuaded
planned
played a key role
positioned
prepared
presented
prevented
produced
profitably
project managed
promoted
proposed
prospected
protected
provided
published
quadrupled
ranked
received
recommended
recruited
reduced
removed
renegotiated
replaced
researched
resolved
restored
restructured
reversed
satisfied
saved
scheduled
scoped out
selected
self-financed
set up
sold
solved
staffed
started
stopped
streamlined
substituted
supervised
taught
tightened
took the lead in
trained
trimmed
tripled
troubleshooted
turned around
upgraded
yielded

Roubo de Senhas..... Stolen Passwords

Prezados Leitores,

Ontem (horário +ou- 12:00hs) um hacker acessou meu computador e conseguiu todas as minhas senhas: e-mail, bancário, sites que visito, etc...  Ele primeiramente alterou todas as senhas para que eu não conseguisse impedi-lo de "bagunçar a minha vida" começou pelo  meu banco (Itaú),  como é necessário digitar numero da agencia, conta e uma senha diferente para a Internet,  ele só conseguiu travar o acesso geral ao banco. Ontem mesmo estive  na agencia e já troquei as senhas (acesso pela Internet e acesso do cartão).

Ele também acessou todos os e-mails que eu tinha cadastrado em minha conta do Yahoo e enviou um e-mail a todos os endereços cadastrados (não cheguei a ler ainda este e-mail - só tomei conhecimento porque começaram a me telefonar...) este e-mail segundo me disseram diz que eu estou na Espanha e parece que estou com algum problema e pede para que enviem dinheiro (gostaria de saber para onde - assim talvez seja possível tomar algum outro tipo de providencias).

Enfim meu e-mail do Yahoo está praticamente perdido não consegui uma resposta da Yahoo, escreveram-me com um link para abrir uma nova conta (ou seja perdi todos os meus contatos de anos....) minha conta no LinkedIn aparentemente esta perdida também pois eles nem me responderam.... caso tenham recebido o referido e-mail por favor desconsiderem, estou bem e peço desculpas  por qualquer transtorno que isto possa ter causado.

Peço ainda que qualquer  comunicação seja feita para este novo e-mail:

macosentino@uol.com.br

Obrigado pela  compreensão,

Marco Antonio Cosentino

Dear Readers,

Yesterday (around 12:00 A.M.) a hacker got into my computer and retrieved all my passwords: e-mail, bank account, sites, etc… He/she changed all my passwords so I would couldn’t even try to prevent from messing my life completely. He/she started with my bank (Itaú), to make a long story short he only blocked completely the access to the bank (that’s have been taken care already).

He/she also accessed all my e-mails and sent a message (although I haven’t read yet) saying that I was in Spain and need money.

Anyway, my Yahoo e-mail is practically lost since the only answer that I got from Yahoo directs me to another link that asks me to create an ID (new address) my LinkedIn account seems to be lost too they haven’t even answer my e-mails…

In case you have received the infamous e-mail asking for money, please disregard I’m in Brazil and fine (healthy wise) , so please forgive me for any inconvenience that this may have caused you.

Please any communication send to:

macosentino@uol.com.br

RULES FOR COMMERCIAL LETTERS

THE START                               THE FINISH


Dear Sir or Madam, (*)                Yours faithfully (*)
Dear Mr Sloan, (**)                     Yours sincerely, (**)
Mrs Sloan, (**)                            Best wishes, (***)
Miss Sloan, (**)                           AMERICAN ENGLISH
Ms Sloan, (**)                             Sincerely yours, (**)
Dear Mary-Linn, (***)                 Yours truly, (***)

NOTES:
(*) suitable if you don´t know the name of the person you are writing to.
(**) suitable if you know their name.
(***) suitable if the person is a close business contact or friend.
in "italic" is possible to change about situation

THE REFERENCE

With reference to your advertisement in the Reporter, ...
(or In reference to your) letter of 25th April, ...
phone call today, ...

THE REASON FOR WRITING
I am wrinting to enquire about ..
apologize for..
confirm ...

REQUESTING AGREEING TO REQUESTS

Could you possibly ...? I would be delighted to ...
I would be grateful if you could..

GIVING BAD NEWS ENCLOSING DOCUMENTS


Unfortunately ... I am enclosing .../attaching ...
I'm afraid that ... Please find enclosed .../attached ...
Close letters with a friendly phrase or reference to future contact.

CLOSING REMARKS

Thank you for your help.
Please contact us again if we can help in any way.
there are any problems.
you have any questions.

REFERENCE TO FUTURE CONTACT

I look forward to hearing from you soon.
meeting you next Tuesday.
seeing you next week.

Brazilian Leader’s Protégée Likely to Prevail in Election

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Mauricio Lima / Agence France - Presse - Getty Images
Silva Izquierdo/Associated Press
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, right and Workers Party presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff greeted by supporters during a campaign rally.
By Alexei Barrionuevo
Published October 2nd, 2010 - The New York Times - Sunday (online) issue
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São Paulo, Brazil - Though Dilma Rousseff is a political novice and lacks the charisma of her former boss, President Luiz Inácio da Silva, voters appear likely to make her the first woman to be president of Brazil in Sunday's election.
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Opinion surveys her leading by a wide margin and suggest that she could get more than 50 percent plus one vote of the valid vote, enough to squeak by and avoid a runoff.
Ms. Rousseff, 62, was able to ride Mr. da Silva's popularity and make the election essentially a referendum on his eight years in the office, a period of widespread prosperity that cemented the country as a rising global player.
"This turned out to be a predictable plebiscite, a thumbs-up for the Lula years," said Timothy J. Power, director of the Latin American Center at the University of Oxford.
Mr. Silva spent the better part of a year trying to introduce his chosen successor to Brazilians. She was initially unknown to the masses and not very dynamic in public. Mr. Silva joined himself to her hip, crisscrossing the country to campaign on her behalf.
He trumpeted his government's accomplishments and passed some the credit to Ms. Rousseff, who also formerly served as his minister of energy and mines and as a chairwoman of Petrobras, the Brazilian Oil Company.
Last year there was some concern that he would stick with Ms. Rousseff as the Worker's Party Candidate after she was given a diagnosis of lymphatic cancer. After chemoterapy treatment, which led her to wear a wig for several weeks, doctors said her cancer had been driven into remission.
Still, not even a scandal involving Ms. Rousseff's successor as chief of staff has been able to diminish her lead much in the polls.
Two weeks ago, media reports here accused Erenice Guerra, who took over for Ms. Rousseff in April so she could campaign, of participating in an influence-peddling scheme with her son, involving kickbacks for public work contracts. Mr. da Silva swiftly asked for Ms. Guerra's resignation and managed to contain the scandal. Ms. Rousseff was never linked to directly to any wrongdoing.
Ms. Rousseff appeared to have taken a slight dip in the polls at that time, but she has recovered. In the latest poll, conducted Sept. 28 and 29 by Datafolha, a Brazilian polling company, Ms. Rousseff was backed by 52 percent of voters, among her rivals, José Serra the former Governor of São Paulo, had 31 percent and Marina Silva, Mr. da Silva's popular former environment minister, had 15 percent. But with a marging of sampling error of plus or minus two percentage points, it is impossible for the poll to suggest that a runoff would be necessary.
Polling data showed that the scandal only seemed to resonate with upper-income voters, while her support from the poor, which benefited greatly under Mr. da Silva, held strong.
Barring any major surprises, even if Ms. Rousseff does not prevail Sunday she would be all but assured a victory in an Oct. 31 runoff, analysts said.
The campaign was devoid of big issues that divided the candidates, Mr. Serra, who ran for president in 2002, tried to campaign on his deep political experience as a governor, senator and health minister under President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. He tried to bill himself as a better continuation candidate than Ms. Rousseff. An early campaign slogan was "Brazil can do more," and he used images in his television time of him working side-by-side with Mr. da Silva.
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Analysts said that Mr. Serra's strategy was confusing, but that he never really had a change once Ms. Rousseff became better known as the president's pick.
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Mr. da Silva, whose approval ratings hover around 80 percent, deepened the economic policies begun under Mr. Cardoso, policies that have won him wide support, especially among the poor in the northeast and among a rapidly growing lower-middle class.
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Ms. Rousseff, has vowed to create millions more jobs and housing units for Brazilians, and to deepen the infrastructure development of the country.
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Whether Ms. Rousseff of Mr. Serra wins will matter little for Brazilian's economic policy direction, analysts say. While some predict that Ms. Rousseff, who was a guerrilla fighter in the 1960s battling the military ditactorship, will steer Brazi left, favoring a larger role for the state in the economy, most see her as a pragmatist in the mold of Mr. da Silva, who initially drew similar concerns.
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But few see the next president, whether it is Ms. Rosseff or Mr. Serra as having the same swagger on the international stage that Mr. Silva had.
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Despite having only a fourth-grade education, Mr. da Silva, a former union leader, used his emotional charismatic personality to win over leaders in the region and abroad.
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During his time in office, Brazil secured the 2014 Soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He engaged Brazil in Middle East politics, forging warm ties with Iran, to the chagrin of the United States.
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"Lula is a hard act to follow in terms of the public face of Brazil, "Mr. Power said. "The foreign policy goals will be the same, but the presidentially led diplomacy, the summitry, will be dialed back"
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VOCABULARY:
Protégeé: noun, feminine, a person who is protected and aided by the patronage of another person (from French: Protéger - to protect)
Likely: adj., possessing or displaying the qualities or characteristics that make something probable.
Privail: verb intransitive, to be greater in strength or influence, triumph: prevail against the enemy.
Lacks: noun, a particular deficiency or absence: Owing to a lack of supporters, the reform did not succeed.
Surveys: noun, a gathering of a sample of data or opinions, considered to be representative of a whole (can also be used as a transitive or intransitive verb).
Squeak by: idioms, manage one's existence barely: I guess I can squeeze by on this louzy salary.
Runoff: noun, an extra competition held to break a tie.
Widespread: adjective, occurring or accepted widely.
Thumbs-up: noun, an act, instance, or sign of approval.
Crisscrossing: Verb transitive, to move back and forth through or over: Crisscrossed the country on a speaking tour (it can be used as transitive verb, noun, adjective and adverb)
On her behalf: idioms, as the agent of, on the part of.
Trumpeted: Verb transitive, to sound or proclaim loudly (it can be used as a noun or intransitive verb).
Accomplishments: noun, something completed succefully, an achievement.
Chairwoman: noun, the officer who presides at the meetings of an organization.
Wig: noun, an artificial covering of human or synthetic hair worn on the head for personal adornment, as part of a costume, or to conceal baldness.
Remission: noun, the period during which the symptoms of a disease abate or subside.
Peddling: noun, the exchange of goods for an agreed sum of money.
Kickbacks: noun, part of an income paid to a person having influence over the size or payment of the income, esp. by some illegal arrangement.
Swiftly: adverb - derivative from the adjective swift - quick to act or react, prompt.
Devoid: adjective, completely lacking, destitute or empty.
Hover: verb intransitive, to remain floating, suspended, or fluttering in ther air: Gulls hoverign over the waves.
Has vowed: verb transitive, verb tense: Present Perfect of vow - to promise solemnly, to pledge.
Swagger: verb intransitive, to walk or behave in an arrogant manner.
Chagrin: verb transitive, to cause to feel chagrin, mortify or discomfit.
Summitry: noun, the practice of conducting international negotiations by summit conferences.