THE AUTHOR Robert Harris always wanted to be a writer, but he took a career as a journalist before he could make his wish come true. He started working as a current affairs reporter and evolved to become a political editor. This has greatly influenced his writing focus. His first books were non-fictional and were … Continue reading BOOK: “Fatherland” by Robert Harris
Portuguese Language vs. Spanish Language
[Originally published on 7 September 2012] When I was living in London whenever I said I'm Portuguese people would start talking to me in Spanish. And I would say: "That's Spanish". And then they went on speaking to me in Spanish... I realize that Spanish and Portuguese are very similar to English ears but... Don't … Continue reading Portuguese Language vs. Spanish Language
The process of translating
People in general think that translating is finding the equivalent words in a different language with the help of a dictionary. They also think that it is enough to know both languages. Well, if that was truth, why would there be bachelor degrees and master’s degrees and all kinds of translation studies and training? Yes, … Continue reading The process of translating
English Language(s)
[Originally published on 15 August 2012] It's common knowledge that there is British English and American English. And Australian English for that matter. Is that just it? Well... there is now International English, what speakers of other languages use for understanding each other. Here's a summary on how it went. In the International English the … Continue reading English Language(s)
PROJECT: Fooling Hitler
In 1943, Europe had been at war for approximately 3 years. During that time the mighty army of the German Third Reich seemed invincible. They had allies, Italy and Japan, and the war had been extended to the European colonies in Asia and Africa. Fighting these “forces of evil” were the UK, the USA and … Continue reading PROJECT: Fooling Hitler
Learning a new language
[Originally published on 5 August 2012] Learning a new language is a challenge, needs hard work and takes time. If you're not motivated you will not get it, like everything else in life. Taking classes is essential for you to get the structure of the language and the basics of how it works. After that … Continue reading Learning a new language
BOOK: “The Baltimore Boys” by Joël Dicker
THE AUTHOR Joël Dicker has a very personal style as some details of his writings are based on his personal experiences. For example, his childhood summers spent in the Maine, USA, served as inspiration for the setting of some of his books, including his best known novel “The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair”, which … Continue reading BOOK: “The Baltimore Boys” by Joël Dicker
Use of Language: Verbs
Sentences are composed by a subject, a verb, and complementary information (if necessary). Verbs convey the subject’s action (1) or the subject’s state (2). For example: (1) Phileas Fogg travelled the world. Subject: Phileas Fogg Action: to travel Complementary information: the world (2) Phileas Fogg was intelligent. Subject: Phileas Fogg State: to be Complementary information: … Continue reading Use of Language: Verbs
PROJECT: Seeds of the World
Crop diversity is paramount for human food supply. However, it is getting lost for different reasons: wars, natural disasters, poor management of agriculture, for example. Therefore, gene banks were built all over the world to preserve samples of these precious seeds to ensure that humanity will be fed no matter what. The aim of these … Continue reading PROJECT: Seeds of the World
INTERVIEW: Doing a PhD Thesis
Albertina Palma is a retired Professor in Portugal, with a PhD in education politics and administration. Her PhD thesis is called “The restructure of higher education in Portugal within the framework of the Bologna Process (1999-2010): the mediators, the forums, and the edition of a referential for higher education”. ACPN: Your thesis is about … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Doing a PhD Thesis
INTERVIEW: Travelling to Sri Lanka
Katharina Pardon is a flight attendant in Germany. She travelled to Sri Lanka by herself on vacations. ACPN: Why did you choose Sri Lanka to travel alone and why did you go alone? KP: I have read articles online that it is a very safe country for backpackers to travel alone. So I researched … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Travelling to Sri Lanka
NEWS! Archaeological Excavations in Algarve
ACPN was invited to visit the archaeological excavations taking place in Cacela-a-Velha, Algarve, Portugal, between 27 June and 15 July. The aim is to provide experience to university students and discover more about this once important harbour. With the beach as background, the students are busy continuing the work that was interrupted in 2019 due … Continue reading NEWS! Archaeological Excavations in Algarve
How to choose the right chart?
Charts are very useful to visualise data, facilitating their reading and analysis. However, for a chart to be useful, it has to show us something of value. And that’s why it is important to choose the right chart. We will use data from the Gapminder website [https://www.gapminder.org/] for showing some examples and use the main … Continue reading How to choose the right chart?
BOOK: “Prisoners of Geography” by Tim Marshall
THE AUTHOR Tim Marshall is a British journalist specialized in foreign affairs. He was in the field during the Balkan wars in 1990’s, the Kosovo’s bombardments in 1999, and the “Arab Spring” in 2010. He also followed on site the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria. Besides reporting throughout Europe, USA, and Asia, he … Continue reading BOOK: “Prisoners of Geography” by Tim Marshall
Lingua Franca and Official Language
The main difference between a lingua franca and an official language is that the former is adopted in an informal way and the latter in a formal way. For example, English is a lingua franca in many parts of the world (people who are not English-speakers use it to communicate between themselves) and is the … Continue reading Lingua Franca and Official Language
PROJECT: Photo Ark
2005. Joel Sartore had just learned that his wife had cancer and his whole life collapsed. As a geographic photographer he often travelled the world, sometimes for weeks or months. Now, it was time to be with his family and think differently. In the meantime, his growing worry about species going extinct became even more … Continue reading PROJECT: Photo Ark
How to analyse data?
Data have no meaning, only information has. Data are just a list of numbers or a set of words. Information is data that has been analysed in a certain way to provide meaning regarding a certain topic. The first step to do this, the most important and probably the most difficult, is not to assume … Continue reading How to analyse data?
BOOK: “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco
THE AUTHOR Besides being a famous writer, Umberto Eco was a Professor at the University of Bologna specialized in medieval literature and philosophy. This period of history and his great interest in sign processes and meanings influenced not only his academic work, but also his work as a writer. He was also an acclaimed literary … Continue reading BOOK: “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco
Languages and Time
You are a time travel. Since you were born you have been walking on a timeline that are taking you from point A (birth) to point B (death), wishing the line will stretch as much as possible. Every time you take a step you go into the future and away from the past. The future … Continue reading Languages and Time
PROJECT: Endurance: the lost ship
Between 1897 and 1922 several expeditions to Antarctica were carried out. Ignorance combined with insufficient budget often resulted in a very deficient risk assessment and bad planning, leading to mission failing, men injuring (physically or mentally) or dying… or absolute glory. Endurance was a ship that took part in one of those expeditions. Initially built … Continue reading PROJECT: Endurance: the lost ship
How to search for information?
Information is all around us and in great supply. We just need to go to the internet and put a word in a search engine and thousands of results will appear. So, the question is not if information will be available, but which information should we pay attention to. We can guide ourselves through 4 … Continue reading How to search for information?
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