Reading time: 3 minutes

Inglês Rápido! Manual Prático para a Comunicação em Inglês
de Jack Scholes
Disal Editora, 2012
224 páginas, formato 14 x 21 cm, contém 2 CDs de áudio

INGLÊS RÁPIDO!

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Inglês Rápido! Manual Prático para a Comunicação em Inglês

In his introduction to Inglês Rápido!, Jack makes some important observations about the need for Brazilians to learn English for basic communication and the need to learn it FAST! Importantly, it is made clear from the outset that this book is not intended for those who already have access to regular English classes (and who have the time and money to attend them!) but rather it is aimed at those who are starting from scratch and who cannot afford to take lessons in a language course. He also points out some of the ‘good news’ for Brazilians who may feel anxious or insecure about how to set about this seemingly impossible task. Amongst such reassurances are the fact that English is already part of daily life in Brazil for a Portuguese-speaker, with words like e-mail, mouse, link, site as well as shopping center, laptop, happy hour, barman, check in etc. Furthermore, says Jack, there are many words which are similar and easily recognised by Brazilians (true cognates), such as moment, repeat, passport, service, information, credit etc. etc.

With around 1000 simple phrases and 3000 useful words in English, carefully arrived at through a corpus-based approach, but ultimately selected to reflect the most useful and relevant words for a Brazilian in specific situations, the book starts with a phrase-book for day-to-day use under functional headings like Greeting, Thanking, Apologising, Suggesting, Requesting, Expressing preference, Time and Weather, amongst others.

In the second section, a situational approach is taken, of use to any Brazilian learning to get by in English, but of particular interest to professionals working in the fields mentioned, ranging from Airports and Car Rental, through Banks, Shops and Post Offices, to Business Meetings, Immigration/Customs, Restaurants, Hospitals and Taxis, to name just a few.

Finally, there is a quick-and-easy reference section on the Alphabet, Numbers, Days of the Week, Months, Seasons, Countries and Nationalities as well as Verbs in the Past. Furthermore, at the back of the book the learner will find a mini-dictionary (both Portuguese-English and English-Portuguese) which brings 1200 useful words, not found elsewhere in the publication.

Fortunately, unlike similar phrase-books to be found in the market, the issue of pronunciation is not forgotten or left to chance, but rather there are two audio CDs for the learner to listen to for repetition, practice and familiarisation with the sounds of English words and phrases.

In summary, this would be the ideal gift for anyone who simply cannot afford the time or money for English lessons, but who is fully aware of the need to acquire at least a few hundred expressions and phrases in English to cope with situations involving a foreigner in Brazil. Just in time for the World Cup next year and Rio Olympics in 2016!

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The reviewer

Graeme Hodgson – President, BRAZ-TESOL Brasilia Chapter, Educational Partnerships Manager for Learning Factory (the publishing department of Cultura Inglesa S.A.), Dissertation Supervisor on M.A. in Applied Linguistics at the University of Birmingham, UK.