Did anybody see this coming?

No, the picture above is not taken in The Middle East or Afghanistan. It was in Brazil last week.

People are still coming to terms with the protests, but there are some questions I would like to hear what you have to say about them:

1. Did you ever think of seeing something like that happen in Brazil?

2. Have government leaders ever taken their constituents seriously?

3. When do you think the Brazilian population really woke up to the reality that taxpayers' money was being invested in building stadiums?

4. How often do doctors and medical staff have they need to do their jobs? What about teachers?

5. When exactly did government decide to limit the powers of the Public Ministry (Public Prosecutors)? In other words, until when exactly did government decide to limit the powers of the Public Ministry.

6. Will things get back to normal after these events?

7. Under what circumstances is police aggression considered acceptable?
  
Post your answers in the Comments Box. 

A place to feel at home in

Take your pick:

  


What do you love most about your home?

What adjectives would you use to describe your home? (Here are some adjectives that might help: luxurious, cosy, welcoming, warm, comfortable)


         

What kind of architecture do you like?

What impresses you about the architecture of a building?

Which do you prefer - classical or modern architecture? 


 
Where does the money for public architectural projects like a new subway station or airport come from?
How do they raise funds?
How effective are fundraising events?


Never before has so much money been invented in architectural projects to revitalize areas of the city. 
Is it worth it?

Is it better to revitalize or demolish and rebuild?

Why go there?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last straw

Sometimes it takes something simple and seemingly insignificant to cause an outburst of anger, dissatisfaction, despair, exasperation and aggression.

 

 

Recurrent social problems that are never dealt with by the authorities add to this mounting disapproval until it can no longer be contained:
 

1. poor living conditions
2. deficient health services
3. incompetent educational systems
4. increasing local, state and federal taxes
5. shameless corruption and fraud
6. an existential shortage of doctors and medical professionals
7. a growing number of run-down buildings and areas

 

What do we say in the light of these absurdities?

Enough is enough!

Enough of this shameless behavior

Enough is enough!

We've had enough of this!

If things were not already chaotic, the fact that politicians seem to be able to get away with murder.

Their shamelessness is enough to make anybody's blood boil 

When we learn of their outrageous acts, we just hit the  roof. (we got really angry)

The intention is not to be negative or pessimistic but there are several adjectives we can use
to talk negatively about public spaces:

1. ever-worsening
2. decaying
3. poor
4. no-go
5. dilapidated
6. overcrowded
7. run-down

Some public spaces:

1. buildings
2. neighborhoods
3. areas
4. centers
5. communities
6. streets
7. cities

One particular space that usually sparks negative associations is a shanty town or slum, a.k.a. favela in Brazil.

Cramped, dirty, noisy, overcrowded, smelly, unsafe, leaky pipes, faulty wiring. Just a few words that might come to mind.

So the question is why would someone from a developed country want to visit a favela?

Why go to a place that rises up around a posh area in Ipanema where middle-class locals would never dare to go?

Why pay to visit a place that looks like a daunting impregnable fortress?

Many people, government and press, believe they are making progress: historic buildings are being revitalized, hospitals are being refurbished, schools are being built, and public parks are being put up.

   

The answers to these questions are yet to be found.  

 

Studying the benefits of work situations

This post focuses on working at home and working in an office: the trend versus the tradition.

       

To help review the pros and cons, think of ONE of the possibilities listed below and COMMENT on it below. 

The benefits of 

1. being an employer and not an employee 
2. being a trainer and not a trainee
3. being an interviewer and not an interviewee
4. working in the public service and not in the private sector
5. working for a multinational company and not for a small business
6. commuting in public transport and not in your own car
7. working with individual projects and not with routine tasks 
8. setting up a home office and not having a workstation in an office
9. being able to exchange ideas online and not having to put up with annoying colleagues
10. being creatively idle and not having to be busy all the time
11. sending reports via email and not having to deliver face to face presentations
12. being able to innovate and not doing things the same way 

P.S. You CAN write more than ONE paragraph and talk about more than one topic.

No space like homespace

The focus of the lesson was about expressions using the word space and the home as an alternative workspace for an office.

See how fast you can remember the meaning of the words and phrases related to space in a very short space of time.

If we stare into space, we are ...
looking at nothing in particular,

traveling without moving
daydreaming 
drifting off (usually

for a short period of time)

If someone is a waste of space, the person is ...
good for nothing
useless

If we find a parking lot, it probably has many parking spaces or ...
parking places
vacancies
spots

If you need some space, you need ...
time for yourself
time alone

If you are spaced out, you are ...
wasted
exhausted

If you do something in a short space of time ...
you do it very quickly

If you leave space, you leave room for something or someone

Watch this video. What does the man say about something called "the nothing box"? Which expression above with space would you use to talk about it?

Here a few advantages and disadvantages of working at hom as opposed to an office space

- not spending time in public transport

- not being exposed to dangerous situations

- not have to put up with unpleasant smells

- increasing quality of life e.g. more flexible hours

(flexitime)

- working with deadlines

disadvantages

- losing contact with colleagues

- fewer chances of networking
- there is not much privacy

Which would you prefer - working at home or in an office? Why?

We need our space (privacy)

How important is space in the society we live today? Or better still, how important is having your own space today?

There are many kinds of spaces, each with its peculiar rules and codes.

1. workspace
2. airspace
3. parking space
4. outer space
5. inner space
6. open space
7. recreational space
8. public space
9. limited space

People make many places into a private space when they want to get away from the madness of the modern world. Some of these places may sound as a refuge or an escape

• a bus or train station
• a movie theater
• a park
• a tiny room
• a car

The concept of space and the importance we give to it changes drastically when we live by ourselves and when we live with other people. The second requires putting up with the other person's habits and not making a big deal about it 

Crowded spaces are usually depressing. Take a subway car at rush hour. It usually looks like this:



Or like this


  
In situations like these we feel
like sardines in a can
like a cattle in a truck
smashed like potatoes.

It's sad to say but this is probably going to become more and more common, although most people can't imagine being in that kind of situation every day.


It leaves with only one option: Finding and Personalizing our own spaces

Do you have a space to call your own? Tell us about it!