Audiobooks

If you want to improve your fluency in English language, Audiobooks are a great tip.

Audiobooks are audio-CDs from which you can listen to an actor or the author him/herself read a book. Sometimes there are even multiple voices and sound effects.

At the Alumni Libraries you have many genres to choose from: comedy, short stories, poem, history, detective and mystery stories. Most of them are accompanied by the corresponding book.

English Tips

Hello everybody!

Every day we’re gonna make an English Tip available to you. The tips are on the right side on this blog. Follow the example below:

Choose one of the tips available and click on the picture. Another site page will open and the slide tip will be there.




Preposition of time






Oneself and each other






To or for

Magazines

At the Alumni Libraries there are 39 titles of magazines that you can borrow for one week.

Music, sport, art, English language, fashion are some of the subjects these magazines bring to you. Enjoy them and improve your English.

DVD collection

The Alumni Libraries offer students a large collection of DVDs. There is a variety of genres: comedy, cartoon, drama, thriller, romance, scientific fiction and documentary. The DVDs are meant for educational use. The students can improve their listening as well as have fun.

The libraries have most of their DVD titles in book versions. Go to the libraries and ask for information about the You Can Read, You Can Watch project.

Easy Reader Books

The Easy Reader Books are written for learners of English. They have simplified texts and most of their titles are adapted from original texts, movies and tv series.

                                    

 The Easy Readers are published at levels Starter/ Beginner/ Elementary/ Pre-intermediate/ Intermediate/ Upper Intermediate and Advanced. This structure in levels allows beginner and advanced learners to read them and profit from the language they are exposed to. Most of these books are also accompanied by an audio CD or a CD-ROM which contains the complete audio recording and activities. This extra resource helps learners to improve their listening as well as their reading skills.

The Alumni Libraries have a large collection of Easy Reader Books. The librarians have classified them according to Alumni levels, so that the students can easily be aware of which book is recomended for their level.

Go to the libraries and check them out. 

English Tips

If you get confused when using TO or FOR, take a look at English Tips on the right side on this Blog.

Click on view in fullscreen to see the full document.

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is celebrated in the world most commonly on the 2nd Sunday in May.

This celebration is very old, dating back to the ancient Greeks, who worshipped Cybele (mother of the Gods). In the United States it was nationally recognized as a holiday in 1914. People gave flowers, (especially white carnations) and they prepared special cakes as a gift for their mothers.
Today Mother’s Day is celebrated with flowers, gifts and cards to mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and anyone who takes care of you like mother.

Source: Myers, Robert J. Celebrations: the complete book of American holidays. Doubleday & Company, Inc. New York, 1972.

Schaun, George; Schaun Virginia. American holidays and special days. Maryland Historical Press, Maryland, 1986

English proverbs

Do you know any American English proverbs?
Some of them are very similar to Brazilian proverbs.

Look at the American proverbs below and try to find out if they sound like the Brazilian ones that you know.

• Where there's smoke, there's fire.
• A man is known by the company he keeps.
• Do as I say, not as I do.
• Don't judge a book by its cover.
• Don't cry over spilt milk.
• Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

If you know a different one share it with us. Leave your comment.

You can find some materials at the libraries on this subject. Go to the libraries and check them out.

You can read, You can watch

We selected some books and their movie versions. Then you can experiment reading in many ways. Both books and DVDs are available at the library. Some titles are available in easy reader versions and as Audiobooks.

One Book, One School

One Book, One School is the new reading project at Alumni. Every semester, one book is selected and everyone is encouraged to read it.
Reading is a great way to improve your vocabulary and your grammar. And bestsellers (as opposed to classics) expose you to modern, everyday language.

The books are available in an easy reader version and as well as the full text at the library.

There are some online activities in the Practice Plus area of Alumni site. Click on this area e choose Readers.

Welcome

Hello, everybody!

The Alumni Libraries Blog has the objective of creating a way to keep in touch with Alumni students, teachers, employees and people who are interested in our services. Here, you’ll find information about:

•  Libraries services and projects
•  New acquisitions
•  English tips
•  Advice about the Library and Learning Center collections

 The Library staff hopes that through this blog you can let us know what you need and want from our services, so that we can improve them to better suit the needs of the Alumni community.