SOFIA

Today, I want to talk about a very especial person, her name is Sofia. She is my sister-in-law’s cousin, she is 1 year and two months old.
Sofia was born premature of 7 months on May 16th 2008. She stayed in Hospital for one month and after she got home, she had to stay inside house for two months. Everyone was worried about her. Sofia is very small, the reason now you know. She can not walk or talk yet, her mom have to take her to Hospital once a month, there are a lot of kinds of food which are forbidden to her, we all need to be careful with her because her health is very fragile. She has a problem in her lung, so if one of us have the flu, for exemple, we can not take her. She loves chocolate but she can not eat it every day. So, sometimes when she sees another person eating something that she can not, we need to call her attention to other things and offer something else for her.
In spite of all this things, she is a very happy child. She loves laughing. When we talk to her, she laughs, when we play with her, she laughs, even when she is sleepy, she laughs. That is incredible!!!
On Saturday afternoon, she went to may mom’s house with my sister-in-low and we played a lot. And people, guess what she did all time…yes, laughed. She is really very especial. She does not care where she is or who is with her, she wants to play, to clap and sing. But, looking at her we know that, among all, she loves living.
She is a heroine.
In this picture, she is with my mom.

Pregnancy in the adolescence

One of four girls who live in the Latin America had already been pregnancy once in their life. Around 25% of Latin-American girls ,with less of 20 years old, had already got pregnant. This rate is only exceeding for African girls.
The study, who relate pregnancy in the adolescence with poverty and “desigualdade” of type shows that 5% of girls with bigger rental had already made births, against 30% of layer poorer of population. The report shows one alert: a lot of girls who gets pregnant “precociously” abandon the school and compromise their professional life, broadening the “desigualdade”.
Because these reasons this problem can not be ignored by public power. Besides, sometimes they have had children not wished, the teenage pregnants often commit her own formation and future, apart from sometimes built clumsy families and show don't able to give a solid education for their children.
This problem builts a vicious circle in that all involved are loser, including the country.
The social programmes can not forget this problem. The appropriate information, the “distribute” of “métodos contraceptivos” and the awareness to the responsibility to be father and mother have to be subject to be think and re-think with the parents and the school.
Do you agree with this study??
By Aline

ELIZABETH I OF ENGLAND

She was the yougest child of King Henry VIII. He had this child with his second wife, Ana Bolena. Elizabeth was a half sister of the others Henry’s childrem. After King Henry’s death, her son Edward VI ruled for some years until his death. Elizabeth’s sister, Mary was the next to rule. She was Catholic and Elizabeth was Protestant and because of this, the Catholic Church pressed Mary to have an heir, but she never got pregnant. In this time, Protestants were considered enemies of England country and burned to death.The government and the Catholic Church were worried about the Queen’s successor because they did not want a Protestant to rule England. Queen Mary was very ill and in a short time she died. Elizabeth was nominated the new Queen of England. With her crown, she received a lot of problems and enemies too. They tried to kill her with poison. Some people who worked with her told that she neded to get married and to have an heir to be safe. France and Spain’s governments proposed her a marriage but she refused. She was in love with a man considered inappropriated to be her husband. Later, she discovered he was already married. Than, she decided to be alone and to devote herself to England. So, with help of some advisors who she learned to know and trust, she faced the problems of her country and defeated the enemies. She ruled for 40 years end her reign is known as the Gold Age of England. Elizabeth is known as “The Virgin”.
By Evelise

The curious case of Benjamin Button

As you know I don’t like watching movies, but I was curious to watch a movie called “The curious case of Benjamin Button”. The teacher of “Fundaments Psychologicals of the Education” told us about it, when she was teaching the phases of development.
The film was directed by David Fincher and it was indicated five times to the Oscar. It is the re-reading of a romance wrote in 1920 by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The movie talked about one man, who was born old and with the pass of years he “rejuvenate”.
Benjamin was born as one baby, however with an appearance of eighty one years. With the pass of the days he was newer. During his old age, he met a little girl, who recognized that he was different.
The girl grew up, and she became ballet dancer. After years they met each other again. He said loved her, but she didn’t love him. So he went to travel. In one of the travels he met one married women and they had an affair.
In the same moment the girl, who he loved had an accident and she couldn’t more dance. When he knew of the accident, he went to look and he said had already loved her, but she refused to accept this love, because she believed to be only pity.
Every day Benjamin was more new and beautiful.
After months the girl went out of the hospital and she was looking for him. From then on they began to live a beautiful history of love. However with the time, Benjamin became more new and she older, one day she got pregnant. With this situation, the young got more worried, because he would be able to see his children grows up. When the child was two years he went away…. The end of the movie I can't tell you…… ehhheheh
The movie is great, if you can you should watch it……………
By Aline

A WARM COLD NIGHT

As you know, my parents live in Morro Reuter. Morro Reuter is situated in “Serra Gaúcha”, a place which is considered very cold. In fact, it is. This weekend I went to Morro Reuter and it was very cold but sunny. Saturday afternoon, I took my god-daughter and her cousin Jéssica to São João’s party. When we left the party, we met some friends of mine and they invited me and the girls to go to a cake shop to drink “hot chocolate”. It was in the evening and there was not sun anymore, so it was very cold outside. We got in the cake shop and there was a stove with fire inside. In a other room there was a fireplace. It was not cold anymore. We enjoyed it a lot; we drank “hot chocolate”, tea, we eat some snacks and pine nuts. We took some pictures too and, of course, we talked a lot. I met some Andreia’s friends from Dois Irmãos, they are very funny. Later, we decided to go home and when we got out the cake shop it was windy and colder. We had to walk home and I really wanted to get there. When we got home, my mother had made a pizza and there was fire in the stove. It was very warm and cozy. My family, my god-daughter, Jéssica and I had a very nice dinner. We talked and laughed a lot. It was, really, a very warm cold night.
By Evelise

Curiosities

I was looking for an interesting subject to write this week, so I found curiosities about American women and men.
In the past, it was usually the woman of the family who did the housework. Now, because more women are working at outside jobs, the men started helping out more at home. Many American men believe that they do 50% of the work at home, and perhaps some of them actually do. However, the report shows that women, when they work full time, spend twice as much time as men doing housework and taking care of the kids.
About the free time, people have about 40 free hours each week. Americans think that is less free time than what they had twenty years ago, but they are mistaken because actually it is more. The report still shows that people are working fewer hours now and have more time to play just for fun.

Can you guess what they do with 1/3 of their 40 hours of free time each week??
If you guessed watching TV, you are right. Americans spend 15 hours of the week in front of the TV set. They spend the half of time getting together with their friend and only 4 hours reading or doing outside activities. In most American homes, the television is curreny turned on for many more hour a day, even while people are doing other things. Besides other reports say that children in the United States are exposed to more than 25,000 hours of television before they are 18 years old.
I thought it was interesting. Today women and men need to work, because it is very difficult to support all "despesas" with one salary. About housework it is very nice women and men do. I think we have to lose the mentality: men work and women do the housework and take care of child. we live in the 21st century and we want equality. About free time, I think they should give more attention for their families, because the time pass very fast, beside our live is very fragile.

what do you think?? would you like to live this way???

By Aline

FREEDOM WRITERS

Today, I am going to talk about a movie which I watched a few times; Freedom Writers. This movie is based in a true history which happened in USA. I do not know why but I like movies based in true histories, maybe because it is reality, it happened and if it worked in that movie and it was real, it can work with us. What I want to say is that, sometimes someone says “it is impossible” but than, someone apears and does it. So, the story.

Erin Growel is a young teacher who starts teaching to a class which is cosider very problematic. They are consider losers and dangerous because of their social conditions and because some of them belong to gangs. Anyother teacher wants to teach them. The students are from different ethnic groups: Jews, Negros, Easterns and Latins. This difference apears in class because each one just talks and stays near a person who is from the same ethnic group. Some times a person from one group offends another group’s person and they argue or fight and Erin sees that it can becomes a real problem. So, she decides using literature to work on it. She chooses a book which talks about prejudices and racism; Anne Frank’s diary. She also buys a notebook to each one to write their own experiences. The students start reading this book, and they start writing their own diaries too. Reading this book and their diaries, they can compare their lives with Anne Frank’s life. When they start to realize it, their lives inside the classroom starts to change. They get more understanding and tolerants of each other.

Well, I won’t tell you all the movie because Rafael will be mad with me, he does not like to know the end of the stories. I just want to say that this movie shows us how lives can be changed in school if we can see our students as people who are able to do something. If we believe in our students, they will believe in themselves.
But, we are not heros. Erin got divorced and started working in a shop and in a hotel to pay the books and diaries which she bought to the students. Not everyone wants to leave their families. I think that it happened to Erin because she was alone, she was the only one teacher who was helping the students. By Evelise

Limit: Who have to impose?

I begin my text making two questions. What do you understand for limit and impunidade? and Who is responsible to impose the first and don’t tolerate that the other happen?When I think in limit comes a question in my mind: Where does it begin? I think that the limit, without doubt, begins in the family with the parents, through a structure based on: respect, affection and responsibility. So the parents have to teach their children that their right goes until the other’s right starts. Do you understand this?Giving limits to the children isn’t rigidez and repression, but affection and protection. Some times is necessary you to say the word “no” with a good explanation, even when it seems to be easier to say “yes” for it doesn’t frustrate the children or to prevent possible disputes. Children that don't or didn’t have frustrations and do what to want, don’t know limits and mainly the respect. So it is necessary to give limits, if you don’t give it is possible that they believe that there are not rules and obligations. Probably they will be people that don’t accept the “no” that the life can impose. So they have big changes to break the social rules and come future alcoholics, drug addicts, corrupts or dangerous people.Apart from home there is other place that has the role to educate: the school. Do you agree with this? According to studies the teachers must demand respect of students with all the people and don’t accept any way of discrimination and violence. Besides in both places, we need to have punidades for mistakes made.I think that freedom can’t be mixed with liberalidade.Parents and teachers are responsible to raise and to educate individuals that will go to exert the citizenship with responsibility and respect.Do you agree with this union to educate young people and children?

By Aline

THE GLOBAL HEATING

The global heating is a meteorological phenomena which is occuring in the last 150 years. Natural and human are pointed as the main causes of global heating. Natural causes or internal causes are the ones which are associated to the complex climate sistem which is not linear. Human causes or external cause are the ones caused by human or nature. The main external natural cause is the solar radiation, it means, the internal sun’s temperature. The main human cause is the pollution. Some scientists blame the human as the main cause of the global heating and others blame natural causes.
I do not know very much about the causes or “guiltied”. What I know is that something is happening in Earth. The glacier’s ice is thawing and some polar bears are dieing of hungry , our rivers are durtier, our air is more polluted and what can we say about the weather? I think some human actions, even when they do not afect the global heating, can let our lives better. Do not throw the garbage into the rivers, on the roads or streets, the factorie’s pollution has to be under control so as the pollution caused by cars. To save water is another positive action which we can do. I know that sometimes is difficult to change some habits, but it is not impossible. Some weeks ago, I watched a movie called “ The day after tomorrow”. It is about the climate but, of course, it is very radical because the climate changes very fast and the Earth gets into a new ice age.If you got curious, I recommend you to watch it. By Evelise

Love

What is love ? According to Luft dictionary, love is deep affection, beloved person, care, tenderness and others meanings.
If we think where find love, we will realize that it is early always involved in all our relationships. For example, between friends, parents and children, families, animals and couples. Of course, love is representing of different ways according to relationships.
I would like to talk about the different ways of bring couples. In the past, young got married with a person who was chose for their parents, this choice was always a contract between families. After, in big cities there was a person called “matchmaker" who looked for beautiful, rich fiancé/fiancée and after sold his/her qualities, for others families, in other words, the marriage continued being arranged.
Later young people decided to choose her/his love. But in this moment arose one problem: Where do they find the princess or prince? So appeared the relationship’s sites like orkut, parperfeito and others. I think that these sites aren’t good places to find loves, because relationships are built in distance way, not to mention that information put in these sites can’t be confirmed. So, unpleasant surprises can occur. Besides I believe that personal contact is necessary.
You remember Adão and Eva’s history, that a snake got into of intermediate, like the relationship’s site for us, and finished their beautiful relationship and created a big problem for us (of course, for who believe). I used this history to think if intermediates are good to help in new or old loving relationships.
Today, besides of the sites there are marches. Many people organize single's marches, which help them to find boyfriends/girlfriends live. I think this march is a very funny thing. Hehehhehehe.
These are different examples of how to find a love.
Do you think it's interesting look for boyfriend/girlfriend in sites or marches?
Do you think that intermediates affect the loving relationships?


By Aline

Amazing Grace

Do you know the song Amazing Grace? Probably you do. But, do you kow its History?
Around 1750, John Newton was a slave’s dealer. He used to pay the prisioners giving weapons, ammunition and liqueur to the tribe’s chief. Newton transported slaves in a ship so as others did. The slaves were tied to not to kill theirselves. Every ship trasported about 600 slaves. Every ship lost about 20% from its “human load”. When an outbreak of illness occurred, all the slaves were throwed into the sea. When they arrived in Europe, the slaves were negociated for suggar and molasses.One day, Newton was sailing through a storm when his sailor was throwed into the sea and he had to guide his vessel by himself. He said that, in this moment, he discovered how fragile was his life. Influenced by a religiuos book, he abandoned the slaves traffic, became a Christian and wrote Amazing Grace. John Newton died on December 21, 1807. He was blind at that time.
There is a movie called Amazing Grace, in Portuguese it is “Jornada pela Liberdade”, which is about Newton’s History. But not just about it. This movie is, in fact, about the fight for slave’s freedom. William Wilberforce was the main man in this fight to end the slavery. He faced the British Parliament and many British citizens who did not agree with the abolition of slavery. I am not going to tell you about this movie, but I recommend you to watch it, if you want. By Evelise

Piratini

Piratini is a small and calm town, situated in the south of Rio Grande do sul. This name is of tupy guarany origin and mean: noisy fish.
Piratini is knew for its history, because it was a of the cities used as scene of farroupilha war, that represent latterly in the independence of state, acquaintance as “Revolução Farroupilha” in 1836.
At present it is knew to be the First Capital Farroupilha.
When you walk for streets you feel come back to past. In all place you relive the feeling of have pride to be gaúcho.
In Piratini there is a museum where find guns, clothes, furniture, papers, pictures of the a story that never to get out of our minds.
Besides, all years Piratini commemorate the “Farroupilha Week” in September, that is for remember the history of people that fight to achieve its independence.
Today Piratini lives of turism and the wood’s companies.
Some are the reason for peoples like living here. Here it is calm, has little noise, the children and adults can walk without any problem at night. All people know one another, the neighbors talk and change things.
The big problem of Piratini is the distance of Pelotas, its city closer. Besides, asphalt road have had big potholes, that finish making to get round difficult.
However when you can come to visit us visit.

Morro Reuter

Morro Reuter - or just Morro, as we call It - is a small Town in Serra Gaúcha. It became a municipality in 1992 and It is situated among Dois Irmãos, Ivoti, Picada Café, Nova Hartz, São José do Hortêncio and Santa Maria do Herval. Its name is Morro Reuter because of the founder’s last name, Reuter and because there is a very high hill too, Morro. We call this hill Morro da Embratel because there is a tower of this company. Many people from many different places come to Morro da Embratel because of the view. When the weather is sunny, we can see many cities of Vale dos Sinos. The place is very nice, it is clean and is easy to get there. The problem is that some people can not to see the garbage cans, which are big, and they throw the garbage on the ground. I like Morro Reuter because my family and friends live there, because it is a very calm Town and I almost know all people who live there. If I want to go out alone at night, I can do It. The negative part for who wants to go out, for example, to parties, is that Morro Reuter does no offer many options to do it, so people need to go to other cities. But I do not see a problem in do it because the other cities are near Morro. So, what I wanted to do, was to show you why I like so much to travel to Morro.

Worker's Day

Last Friday, we celebrated the worker’s day in Brazil. We celebrate it every year on May 01st, to remember the importance of people who help the world to develop and to improve. However, at present, we are living in a big world problem which is the unemployment. Every day other people are coming into this new world of crise and many of them are family’ parents. I believe that they are worried and suffering whith it because they do not know what to do from now on. Many of this people do not even have education and it makes getting a job very difficult. Besides, we can not forget that all this people have families to support. Imagine the suffering of this parents; they do not have conditions for giving food, clothes and other necessary things to their children and family members.
Now, do we think there is something to celebrate in this date?
I believe that many people who are employed do not celebrate it as a synonymus of “to be their day”, but they celebrate it because they are employed and are facing the crise. What let me worried about this crise is the violence. With this crise, many people start to steal, to commit crimes and other things to survive.
Do you think that unemployment can encrease the rate of violence??Do you meet somebody that is unemployed? How does he/she feel?I invite you the to think about this subject.

By Aline

Curfew

This week a new low started in two cities, Itapura and Ilha Solteira, in São Paulo; the curfew. Young people who are until 13 years old, have to be at home at 8:30 p.m., young people who are until 15 years old, have to be at home at 10 p.m. and young people who are until 17 years old have to be at home at 23 p.m. In accordance with the judge and the responsible council, they did it to protect the young people to commit and to have crimes and violences. According to them, in 2008, 250 cases happened in this region involved people of this age. This new low started a big controversy. The most of parents agree with it, but the young people do not. The excuses are the same; “we were talking with our friends and forgot the time to go home…”. To parents, this low is nice because they will have theire childrem at home on time. But, do they need to have a low to have theire childrem at home? Should not be the responsible of take care children of theire parents? I believe many parents do not know where theire children are and it can be a problem because they can get envolved with drugs, alcoholism, robberies and other things. Of course, it does not happen with all young people who go out at night, but it happens. Especially at night. Some specialists agree with it because they think that it is to protect people; others, do not agree because they see it like something which takes off young people’s freedom. What about you? What do you thing about the curfew?
By Evelise

Go back to University

After four months of holiday. We are back to University. I’m very happy to meet my classmates again.
I finished last semester very worried, because I wasn’t learning English. So I decided to change my course, but in the holiday I thought again, so I decided to study one semester more.
Now I’m looking for a different and efficient way to learn English. I think that my big problem is to speak, because I get very nervous and embarrassed, however I know that the most affected person is myself.
In this semester I expect to study more and to use television, music and other things to help me. I wait to find what my problems are too and straighten them. I want to ask more and to miss the fear of speak.
I believe that all it will change when I get mature and change my attitudes like university.
About the subject I am absolutely sure that it helps all students to grow up educationally, to become good professionals in the future.

By Aline

Expectations of 2009/01

I have a lot of expectations of English classes this semester and I am going to tell you about them.
At first I heve to change myself. Change the way that I do somethings. For exemple, to write. I think I need to be more patience when I am writing, especially texts like the learning logs and tests from last semester, where I did a lot of mistakes. I have to pay attention in what I do and the way that I do it.
Another think which I want to change is to speak more English in classes. But to do it, I have to lose the fear of speak among people. I think that is because I am shy and sometimes it is difficult to speak even in Portuguese. I know that to be fluently in English, I have to speak more. This semester we are going to have classes which we will speak about Linguistics subjects and I know that it is not going to be easy for me.
Maybe the most expectation that I heve this semester is finaly to learn the “Present Perfect”. I have a problem with this tense. The problem is not about the structure but to know when to use it. It is very difficult to me realize the situation of this tense. It is not a new problem to me because when I studied at Unisinos I studied “Present Perfect” and I did not learn it. So, I want to underestand it this semester and send this “gost” away.
By Evelise