Out of hospital

Dear students,

I might have caught you by surprise when I phoned you telling you I was in hospital and had to stay for a month. In fact the doctors suspected I had a bacterium in my blood which had caused an infection in one of my heart's valves. If that was confirmed I would have to do a treatment with antibiotics for at least four weeks. Thank God but the diagnosis was not confirmed and here I am back home. It turned out that the constant fevers I had were no more than a virosis which they could not figure out. As for the heart's valve it might simply be a congenital malformation which has no cure whatsoever.

So, I am writing to let you know that all right now!!!

Regards

Electing a US President in Plain English

This video explains how the US electoral system works when electing a president. Check it out! Comments are welcome.

Stocks Skid as Sell-Off Resumes

There were new developments Tuesday in the global financial crisis, including attempts by the Federal Reserve to revive the moribund U.S. commercial paper market, along with word that the Reserve Bank of Australia cut its key interest rate 100 basis points. The move sparked speculation other central banks would follow suit, giving slumping economies a boost.

European finance ministers were meeting in Luxembourg about the crisis, and reached agreement on deposit guarantees.

The dollar was lower. Bonds were lower. Gold futures were higher. Oil futures rose, trading back above $90 per barrel for much of the session...

Click here to read more

Source BusinessWeek

Cambridge exams

For those thinking about taking any Cambridge proficiency exam, check out the Cambridge ESOL official web site at http://www.cambridgeesol.org/ . There are lots of downloadable materials and tips for the exam day.

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Story of Stuff, Full Version

The Story of Stuff is an excellent video. We certainly have to rethink some of our everyday practices which in essence make no sense if we really stop to reflect... Comments are welcome!

Biodegradable Plastics

Plastic is really a serious environmental problem nowadays. Millions of plastic bags come out of the supermarket everyday, plastic packages of all kinds fill up the shelves of shops and supermarkets... But how can we solve this problem??? Check out this interesting video and share your opinion adding a comment.

Scolari Press Conference

Check out Scolari's press conference! Basic English, but he gets his message across very effectively!! Way to go Felipão!!

New site

My new website is being designed by a web designer friend of mine. He is using Flash technology to build it, which means the layout will look clean and there will be a easy-to-use two-level menu. I intend to include some new features in the site in the near future. I am planning to create a Listening Lab which will have online listening activities. The address is http://www.marcosgazzana.com/ . The official launch is supposed to take place any time, hopefully before August.

Back!!!

I'm back! Now that I have finished my dissertation and my new site is being built by a friend of mine - so it's not taking up most of my time anymore, I'll try to keep you readers posted about what's going on and give you tips on how to learn English.

Dissertation progress

My dissertation is coming to an end. I'm currently working on the last chapter, which involves the analysis of the data and discussion. When I finish it, I'll be making it available in the downloads section of my webpage at http://www.freewebs.com/marcosgazzana