This blog is part of the course English 5. We'll use it as a virtual learning environment for sharing our writings and materials related to the course.
I am 23 years old girl that have been studying languages since childhood. I learned Spanish when I was 8 and I try to learn English since 14, but English is so hard to me. I live with my mother and Félix, my little dog in São Gonçalo since 2000s. I study at UFF since 2011. I am majoring in Languages and my first graduation was Portuguese/Greek. Nowadays, I am studying English at the same university. In few years, I intend to go abroad. I would like to visit Greece and Russia, because in last year, I started my Russian's course.
Well, I've nothing too interesting to say, because them you would find many more interesting things on the web. But as the professor insists and as I'm a person who moves by pressure, I'm about my twenties. I'm doing this Language course because I see myself as future professor at universities. You may ask, a teacher some day? Well, who knows? I come from a small family of three brothers, originaly from Niteroi. My current interest is for sure to learn. I think the best thing we can achieve as human beings is wisdom, and wisdom, if real, comes always with the feeling of knowing nothing whatever. Studying languages for me is a tool to improve my writing and reading skills as well as my capacity to express in public. I think as a professor or teacher I would develop the skills of a good speaker not only in planned but spontaneous speaking situations. I practice in my current job, as a pre-teacher in a school in Rio de Janeiro. By now I have never published books neither written anything of real relevance. As I said before, I'm in this course to learn all the rules of the game to afterwards play this very game. During this essay, I have given some tips of what I pretend to do. My desires are for sure exchangeable, but now, in the present I want to become a professor in the long run just after finishing a master, a doc and a pos-doc at foreigning unversities.
I am twenty years old and live in this same city, Niterói, since I was born. I studied at public schools all my life and my teachers always tried to advise me about the career to follow. I always liked reading and writing (the second one, mostly), but never crossed my mind the possibility of studying these topics seriously. Only when my boyfriend advised me that if I was finding too hard to choose, then I should do something I considered as a hobby, I decided to try the Language and Literature course. This way, at least, I would enjoy the course and discover new professional options related to my interests. I chose Portuguese and English, but each one in a specific area. I prefer to study Portuguese when it comes to language, but I love English and North American literature (Jane Austen and childish books like Peter Pan and Narnia). I learnt to speak English on my own because I was curious and I am always trying to improve, although – until now – I do not want to keep studying it after college, not academically. Literature is what I love, and that is the area I am interested. I do not have professional experience, though I joined an educational project at college about public schools and interdisciplinarity. In the future, I plan to be a teacher – schools, college, as long as I can teach. I also write; that is one of my favorite things in the world (if not the favorite) and I can write about almost anything if I feel the inspiration. I just do not share it often, because it is a little private to me.
I am 22 years old and I have lived in Niterói for all of my life. My family is not very big: one grandfather, both my parents, my only sister and my boyfriend. In the house, we have four dogs, three turtles, two birds and one cat (there is never silence around here). I love to read, to study subjects that I like, especially literature and religion, and to cook. I chose the languages program, at first, thinking about translation, but after a few semesters and one internship in the field, I realized that I did not like it very much. At the same time, I discovered my passion for studying literature and it changed all of my plans. Now, instead of becoming a translator, I intend to be a Literature professor and researcher. Thinking about such plans, I went on an exchange experience to study literature in Canada and, last year, I applied for a schollorship in a research project about young-adult dystopias (PIBIC). I do not have much experience when it comes to writing, once I am only used to write academic papers. However, I am challenging myself to change that.
So ... I'm 35 years old and I live in the neighborhood called Vila Isabel, in Rio de Janeiro. Because I already have a degree (I'm a biologist), select Languages always meant much more than a way of life, a career, but a pleasure, as well as a personal challenge. In my childhood, unfortunately, I was not encouraged to read as a hobby and didn't have the financial conditions to attend a language course. Also, I just went to study English adult, after 30, and then I have some difficulty in all areas (reading, speaking, writing, listening). Due to the last experience with English I had, writing emails and talking on phone calls, I awoke the desire to improve my personal English and read more, because I believe that the lack of reading is a major impediment to good writing. Languages is a very different universe than biology and, at first, I was very scared, but now, I'm falling in love more and more. I hope this semester I can learn more about writing techniques and produce better texts. I'm committed to study for it.
Well, I'm 22 years old and I live in Olaria, Rio de Janeiro. This is my first graduation and i have changed my major recently (from literature), therefore, Im excited about english classes and discussions. I study English since 2011, it's not a long period (in comparison with some of my colleagues) but it's sufficient to make me want to be a teacher. I have a lot of hobbies as: read, play videogames, go out, dance, and, recently, i have been trying to make study become one of my hobbies, since things in UFF aren't easy. I'm planning to go abroad as soon as possible, and I believe that in 2017 i won't be in brazil anymore. It's not for ever, at a first moment, but I want to live in europe someday. I'm expecting a lot from this semester, I really want to learn new techniques, how to develop my skills and, as usual, trying to achieve my goals. I believe that this is going to be a successfull year. X
I'm really glad to hear that, Paulo. Living abroad is an amazing experience which I believe all students, and especially language teachers, should have as you learn a lot! Hope you can do that soon!
I am 23 years old and this is my second graduation, I have already graduated in Portuguese/Literature but since my first option was always English I am back. Actually, the reason that I could not do it in the past was because I was younger and did not knew how it was going to be because it is a night course and I live in Saquarema but now I am older and have a transportation so I am able to attend the classes. I have an interest in different cultures and languages since I was a teenager and I have a truly passion for literature, I really love to read – poetry, shorts stories and novels – not only texts from Brazil but from other countries so I hope it will be a great experience being able to pass along this kind of interest and love through teaching since I have no experience in it yet. I also believe that writing is a great exercise that helps a person to develop a personality and at the same time an image of the world, so much so that I write poems, which I think is the main reason for my interest in this area because of the power that words have in this type of text. Unfortunately I am still uncertain about my profession but I am searching for inspiration.
I'm 20 and I've been living in Niterói since 2014. I'm from Volta Redonda and I decided to move here to go to a federal university. I love English and I started studying it when I was 9, which made me think about majoring in Languages, because not only did I like studying it, but also I wanted to teach. I work as a teacher now and I worked as a translator before that, but what I really like is the classroom. I like reading, going to the movies, drinking beer with my friends and dancing. I hope we learn how to develop our writing skills and how to teach that to our students as well. I intend to go to England as an exchange student in the near future and try to learn more about the language and improve as a professional.
My name is Thais, I'm 29 years old, I grew up and still live in Niterói and i've been studying at UFF since 2010. I already gave up from college many times, but i always end up coming back. In 2012 i lived in Holland, as an au pair, taking care of 2 wonderful (but not so easy) kids: a girl that was 3 y.o., and a boy that was 6 y.o. It was the best experience of my life so far, and I miss my kids very much. I also had the opportunity to travel to lots of places when I was there. I came back to Brazil in the beginning of 2013 and to UFF, officially, in 2014. Now I’m focused on finishing it. When I’m not so busy with all the subjects from the course, I like to watch movies and TV Series. I also enjoy doing cross stitch and biking. The reason why I study languages is quite simple: it was the only thing I knew how to do in that time, speak English. Nowadays I don’t know what I want to do with my life concerning the course I’m in, but I already worked with translations, revisions of texts, translations of subtitles, and today I’m working as an English teacher at the IsF project. My future plan is to move out from Brazil. That’s the main reason I came back to finish my course, actually. I want to try to get a visa to Canadá, and I need a diploma in order to do this. This has been my dream since 12 years old, to move somewhere out of Brazil, as I never really felt like home here. My writing experience is basically with the jobs I already had, with translations. I also enjoyed very much to have pen pals when I was a teen. I had friends from all over the world and loved when a new mail came.
I loved to hear about your experience in Holland, Thais. Did you live in Amsterdan? That's an amazing city! What about the IsF project, how do you like working there?
I didn't live in Amsterdam (unfortunatelly), but I was always there! LOL. I lived in Bennekom (it's 1 hour by train from Amsterdam) and it's a village between Wageningen (a university city) and Ede. I loved this experience, everything was so quiet there... It reminded me a lot of those european movies with those little villages *__* I like working at IsF because we have freedom to work as we want, but people don't really value it (I think it's because it's a free course) and every end of offer (we call the mini-courses "offer") we end up with 2 or 3 students in class. =/
I'm 19 years old and I'm from Nova Friburgo, but I live in Niterói since last year, when I started to study at UFF. I love English since I was a kid and I started studing it when I was 11 years old. I'm not so good in writing English texts, but I hope I could improve this ability this semester. When I graduate, I want to work as an English teacher in schools and English courses.
I'm 19 years old and I'm from Nova Friburgo, but I live in Niterói since last year, when I started to study at UFF. I love English since I was a kid and I started studing it when I was 11 years old. I'm not so good in writing English texts, but I hope I could improve this ability this semester. When I graduate, I want to work as an English teacher in schools and English courses.
I am 22 years old I actually, I live in São Gonçalo with my parents and my brother and now, I’m studyng management at Estácio (E-learning) and Languages at UFF, beyond working for 10 hours everyday. Because of this, my life is very busy, and I don’t know how I handle this ! I wish someday work in a big company, wich I will can express my ideas and be a satisfied professional. That’s the great reason of my english’s studies: use the universal language to help me in my work. I have no experience being a teacher, but I would like to teach in a ONG’s social project to youngers who doesn’t afford to pay a English course. It could be an great experience to me, both professional and personal. But, I know that I need to improve my English languages’s skills, mainly the speaking and the writing. So, because of this, I will study hard and I hope, in the end of the English 5, be a better writer.
You do have a really busy life, Diego! Two different undergraduate courses and a job are really hard to manage. Great to hear that you'd like to work with ONG projects teaching English to poor kids. That's awesome!
I'm twenty years old and I've been living at Niterói since last year. I have studied at public schools and english courses. I like idioms since I was a teenager, so I'm studying languages because that's what I really like and what I think to work with. I have worked when I was sixteen years old, but what I really wanted was to study, so I decided to quit the job. I planed to be a translator, but I've been thinking about the teaching carreer.
Hi. My name is Vinicius and I am 25 years old. I have been living in Niteroi for the past two years or so, prior that, I used to live in São Gonçalo with my family. I study English since I was 12 years-old, first in English courses and later in college. I started going to UFF in 2009. I first enrolled in the German course, but due to a number of personal factors and issues, I abandoned it in 2010. I returned in 2012 trying to get an English major this time, but I had to quit again. Finally, after being expelled, I came back in 2014 for good. I deal with the English language since I was a kid and it always felt easy for me, so naturally when the time to choose a career came, I looked for something that would keep me close to the languages and away from the numbers. I started working as a translator, then as an interpreter and after as a teacher. I have been teaching for five years now and, along with the translations I have done, I have some experience regarding writing different texts in different styles. Right now, my only goal and plan is to graduate. After that, who knows?
Wow, Vinícius, that was great to hear about your experience. I hope you can finally graduate and wish you lots of success in your career as a teacher and translator.
Hey, my name is Maria Clara and I'm 27 years old. I've been living in Niterói for the past 3 years and before that I lived in Cordeiro, a small town in the countryside. I work as an english teacher in different programs at UFF and in my free time I study! Sometimes I play online games or vídeo game, read books but mostly the ones I have to read for college and go skateboarding with my boyfriend. I've decided to do the English course at UFF because I really want to be a teacher (mainly for kids because they are really cute) and I've been working with this for quite a while now. One of my goals in this course is to improve my English skills mainly writing. I have a huge difficulty in that and I hope I can work this out with college. Right now I'm planning an interchange, but as I am an anxious person, I try not to think a lot about it.
I'm 20 years old, I live in São Gonçalo, and I started studying foreign languages when I was 18 years old. Until 2014 the only language I could speak was Portuguese, but since then I’ve been learning English and last year, 2015, I started to study Italian and Russian. I like to travel, to dance, to watch movies and I also love poetry and prose. I study languages because I'm very fond of this field, I think it's amazing the way that languages act like bridges between us and the rest of the world. I used to write poems frequently when I was younger, but nowadays I don't do this often. I want to travel, to work and keep on studying, these are basically my future plans.
Hi! My name is Fernanda and I am 21. I live in Rio with my family since I was born. In my free time I like to go out with my boyfriend and our friends, we really like to go to the movies and theaters. I also like to study languages, I have been studying English for almost ten years and since last year I started to study German too. In 2014, I had my first experience with teaching English. At first, it was totally different for me, however now I really appreciate it and with this opportunity I could improve my English, but unfortunately I do not have much practice with my writing skill and I think that this course will help me to write better than the way I write now.
First of all, my name is Thiago Huguenin S. Cordeiro. I'm 30,I'm from São Gonçalo,I'm the oldest in my family, I have two brothers younger than me, our parents have been living in Geneve- Switzerland, so my siblings and I live alone here in Brazil. I'm the only one in college, they have finished school and they don't wanna to study right now. I speak English and Spanish, I speak French too, but I haven't talked and used this language too much. I'm an English and Spanish teacher, I've been teaching English since I was 17. Nowadays I've been working at Onyou Alcântara from Saturday to Saturday. I really like teaching, but I don't wanna die teaching in schools or English courses. I've started teaching in Paraguay on Sundays school, I managed an English course called Help for life, it was an Ong, we helped poor children, teenagers and adults to learn English, because as a philanthropic organization we believe that we can build a better world helping them to learn a new language. We were in Foz do iguaçu - PR, I had lived there from 2005-01/2015. When I was living in Foz, I've supported oneof my best friends in his new project, its name is Instituto Issacar, you can see pictures and know a little bit more about them on Facebook. Working in the 3 frontiers as a volunteer teacher was the best experience of my life so far. So, why I'm studying English languages at UFF? Because I was born to do this, you know? I didn't choose to be a teacher, when I had started teaching I did for fun. Being teacher chose me. When I'm not working or studying, I like going to the movies, watch series, going out with my friends, we like Japanese food too much.I like cooking to my family and friends too. I don't like writing, because I don't know how to do it, as in Portuguese as I English. My writing essays don't make any sense, I always get bad grades because of it. I really need to learn how to write well. These are the most important things that I could remember about myself, enjoy it.
Well, I am Virgínia, I'm 32 years old and I live in Niteroi since I was born. I have studied English all my life and always loved that. And because of that, I decided to study Languages in college and started studying at UFF in 2002. But I was also very interested in International Affairs and started a second graduation on that area in 2004. During 1 year, I did both courses at the same time, but in 2006 I had an opportunity to work as intern at IBM. I left my graduation in English to follow my path in an international bussiness career. To make a long story short, I worked at IBM for almost 7 years, but in 2011, after a tough year, I decided to take a sabbatical and left my job in January 2012. During that year, I started a training course for translators, because translation was something that I really like doing and I thought it would be an opportunity to learn something I could work with as a freelancer. And I enjoyed this so much that in 2013 I decided to come back to UFF to conclude my graduation in Languages. And here I am since 2014. Now, in addition to working with translation and proofreading, I'm an intern at LABESTRAD (the Translation Lab at UFF) and I'm also an English monitor for Tourism and Hospitality courses. And outside UFF, I teach English for kids from 3 to 5 years old, which is totally different from everything I've ever done, but it is also amazing! Except for teaching kids, I can say that all the other experiences I had allowed me to practice my writing skills. However, I still feel that Academic Writing is not yet something I can do easily and it's the writing skill I need to practice much more. Completing the whole story, I finally feel like I can do anything I want and I have the autonomy to decide what (and how) I want to do (I know it's not always like that, but we have much more possibilities to do so). And I think that the best part is actually the numerous fields of action the language area provides us. So, my life has turned 180 degrees and it wasn't easy, but I can say that it's been worth every mile of this journey.
That's a great introduction, Virgínia. I really enjoyed learning about your varied experiences and life choices. I hope this course can help you with your academic writing skills.
My name is Wagner. I am 30 years old and live in Niteroi. I am already graduated in Journalism, and work in the area since 2013. I love drawing, playing guitars, writing short stories and songs, but I keep the most things that I do in secret. I choose a second graduation to have a new professional option. Salaries in Journalism are not so good despite of the fact we always have a hard time at work. Sometimes I stay in my job more than 14 hours a day facing many kinds of different situations. At time, my goal is to improve myself academically to get a master's degree in the next few years. I love linguistic and all process related to communication and AD. I would like to develop some researches about representation of the black population to kids in movies, TV shows, books and cartoons. About my second graduation, I don’t see myself as an English teacher, but I can change my mind in the future. At time, I have been using what I learn to improve myself as a journalist and in my personal experiences.
My name is Wagner. I am 30 years old and live in Niteroi. I am already graduated in Journalism, and work in the area since 2013. I love drawing, playing guitars, writing short stories and songs, but I keep the most things that I do in secret. I choose a second graduation to have a new professional option. Salaries in Journalism are not so good despite of the fact we always have a hard time at work. Sometimes I stay in my job more than 14 hours a day facing many kinds of different situations. At time, my goal is to improve myself academically to get a master's degree in the next few years. I love linguistic and all process related to communication and AD. I would like to develop some researches about representation of the black population to kids in movies, TV shows, books and cartoons. About my second graduation, I don’t see myself as an English teacher, but I can change my mind in the future. At time, I have been using what I learn to improve myself as a journalist and in my personal experiences.
Great to hear about your experience and interests, Wagner. Your research topic is really interesting and I do hope you can investigate it in your Masters.
My name is Bruna, I'm 26 years and a few months old. Before entering the Languages course, I studied Philosophy at UNIRIO, which made me a very critic and analytical human being. That said, I frequently demand - not only of myself - a level of cinism towards mostly anything. I take my search for knowledge very seriously, even though sometimes it may not seem like it. I enrolled at UFF because I was interested in improving my English skills. Whenever I speak in a language other than Portuguese, my intent is to express precisely what it's on my mind, which is something that usually makes me look disinterested, but it's just because I'm overthinking every single thing. Besides English, I'm fascinated by Linguistics, for its ability to explain the processes through every language goes. Specifically because of this thinking process of mine, writing is, at the same time, simple and complex. I have few significative experiences in creating personal writing, since my area of interest is actually, translation. I have worked in a website, translating anime subtitles from English to Portuguese and listening to it in Japanese; and from time to time I translate academic texts. I intend to develop myself and become the best in this particular area, in order to enter the publishing industry.
My name is Juliana and I am 22 years old. I was almost born in Friburgo, where my parents were living during my mother's pregnancy, but they were in Niterói visiting their relatives when my mother gave birth to me. I lived for about one year there before they came back to Niterói, where I was raised and have been living since. I live with my mother, father and older brother. My brother always teases me saying that I was adopted because I have nothing in common with my parents, but I have the footage of my birth, so I have a proof! I enrolled in an English course when I was 10, but I had already had English lessons at school. I always enjoyed English and had a lot of ease relating to it. This skill developed a lot after I started taking the English course and I was always one of best students in the class and the one who liked it the most! I had great teachers at this course and I would look up to them and really admire them. They really liked me too; some of them even became great friends with my mother. I like to believe that, even unconsciously, they led me in this direction. I have been working at Cultura Inglesa for three years now, one of them as a trainee teacher, and I like it a lot. I have gained a great amount of experience there and that very often helps me in University. Although I like my job, I don't think that's what I'll do for the rest of my life... It does not fulfill me entirely, but I still haven't figured out what does, so I'll just keep my mind open. Some people say I should have been a vet because I am crazy about animals, I even have it tattoo on me, but I know I could never see them suffer, so I probably wouldn't fit the job. Of course there is a lot more to say about me, but I think this sums up well who I am.
Hi, my name is Mariana and I’m 21 years old and I live with my parents and my brother. In my free time I like to go out with friends, know new people and places or just watch movies alone. I have been studying languages at UFF since 2014 and I don’t have sure what to do in the future yet. Actually, I think teaching is not an option for me, but, sometimes, I think I can change my mind. If I work as a teacher, I think I would like to teach Portuguese for foreigners. I really enjoy to exchange cultures and experiences! I want to visit many countries soon and France is at the top of my list after I started my French course last year! I’m in love with this language.
Hello, my name is Rodrigo. I am nearly 30 years old (my birthday is next Friday). I live in Itaboraí with my mother, my younger sister, my stepfather, and my two black cats. I studied German at UFF, but I was not happy while doing it and, for one reason or another, I ended up expelled. I decided to pay the entrance exam again, but for the English course, this time, because English is a language that interests me more and is also much closer to our everyday lives. I never studied at English courses. I am basically self-taught. I made an effort to be able to read in English at least. Although I rarely write anything in English, I read English texts everyday (mostly Manga, Light novels, and fan fiction). I also studied at UERJ's Law School and worked as an intern in the area, but I still don't know what I want to do.
1st activity
ResponderExcluir"Who am I?"
I am 23 years old girl that have been studying languages since childhood. I learned Spanish when I was 8 and I try to learn English since 14, but English is so hard to me. I live with my mother and Félix, my little dog in São Gonçalo since 2000s.
I study at UFF since 2011. I am majoring in Languages and my first graduation was Portuguese/Greek. Nowadays, I am studying English at the same university.
In few years, I intend to go abroad. I would like to visit Greece and Russia, because in last year, I started my Russian's course.
Great to hear that! I hope you can visit these places soon! ;)
ExcluirWell, I've nothing too interesting to say, because them you would find many more interesting things on the web. But as the professor insists and as I'm a person who moves by pressure, I'm about my twenties. I'm doing this Language course because I see myself as future professor at universities. You may ask, a teacher some day? Well, who knows?
ResponderExcluirI come from a small family of three brothers, originaly from Niteroi. My current interest is for sure to learn. I think the best thing we can achieve as human beings is wisdom, and wisdom, if real, comes always with the feeling of knowing nothing whatever.
Studying languages for me is a tool to improve my writing and reading skills as well as my capacity to express in public. I think as a professor or teacher I would develop the skills of a good speaker not only in planned but spontaneous speaking situations. I practice in my current job, as a pre-teacher in a school in Rio de Janeiro. By now I have never published books neither written anything of real relevance. As I said before, I'm in this course to learn all the rules of the game to afterwards play this very game.
During this essay, I have given some tips of what I pretend to do. My desires are for sure exchangeable, but now, in the present I want to become a professor in the long run just after finishing a master, a doc and a pos-doc at foreigning unversities.
Great to hear about your plans for your career as a professor, José Paulo!
ExcluirI am twenty years old and live in this same city, Niterói, since I was born. I studied at public schools all my life and my teachers always tried to advise me about the career to follow. I always liked reading and writing (the second one, mostly), but never crossed my mind the possibility of studying these topics seriously. Only when my boyfriend advised me that if I was finding too hard to choose, then I should do something I considered as a hobby, I decided to try the Language and Literature course. This way, at least, I would enjoy the course and discover new professional options related to my interests.
ResponderExcluirI chose Portuguese and English, but each one in a specific area. I prefer to study Portuguese when it comes to language, but I love English and North American literature (Jane Austen and childish books like Peter Pan and Narnia). I learnt to speak English on my own because I was curious and I am always trying to improve, although – until now – I do not want to keep studying it after college, not academically. Literature is what I love, and that is the area I am interested.
I do not have professional experience, though I joined an educational project at college about public schools and interdisciplinarity. In the future, I plan to be a teacher – schools, college, as long as I can teach. I also write; that is one of my favorite things in the world (if not the favorite) and I can write about almost anything if I feel the inspiration. I just do not share it often, because it is a little private to me.
I'm glad to hear about your interest in writing and literature, Thayná!
ExcluirI am 22 years old and I have lived in Niterói for all of my life. My family is not very big: one grandfather, both my parents, my only sister and my boyfriend. In the house, we have four dogs, three turtles, two birds and one cat (there is never silence around here). I love to read, to study subjects that I like, especially literature and religion, and to cook.
ResponderExcluirI chose the languages program, at first, thinking about translation, but after a few semesters and one internship in the field, I realized that I did not like it very much. At the same time, I discovered my passion for studying literature and it changed all of my plans. Now, instead of becoming a translator, I intend to be a Literature professor and researcher.
Thinking about such plans, I went on an exchange experience to study literature in Canada and, last year, I applied for a schollorship in a research project about young-adult dystopias (PIBIC).
I do not have much experience when it comes to writing, once I am only used to write academic papers. However, I am challenging myself to change that.
Great to hear that, Juliana! I hope you enjoy the experience in academic writing!
ExcluirEste comentário foi removido pelo autor.
ResponderExcluirSo ... I'm 35 years old and I live in the neighborhood called Vila Isabel, in Rio de Janeiro. Because I already have a degree (I'm a biologist), select Languages always meant much more than a way of life, a career, but a pleasure, as well as a personal challenge. In my childhood, unfortunately, I was not encouraged to read as a hobby and didn't have the financial conditions to attend a language course.
ResponderExcluirAlso, I just went to study English adult, after 30, and then I have some difficulty in all areas (reading, speaking, writing, listening). Due to the last experience with English I had, writing emails and talking on phone calls, I awoke the desire to improve my personal English and read more, because I believe that the lack of reading is a major impediment to good writing. Languages is a very different universe than biology and, at first, I was very scared, but now, I'm falling in love more and more. I hope this semester I can learn more about writing techniques and produce better texts. I'm committed to study for it.
I'm really glad to hear that, Carol! I do hope you enjoy this course on academic writing and your major in languages!
ExcluirWell, I'm 22 years old and I live in Olaria, Rio de Janeiro. This is my first graduation and i have changed my major recently (from literature), therefore, Im excited about english classes and discussions. I study English since 2011, it's not a long period (in comparison with some of my colleagues) but it's sufficient to make me want to be a teacher. I have a lot of hobbies as: read, play videogames, go out, dance, and, recently, i have been trying to make study become one of my hobbies, since things in UFF aren't easy. I'm planning to go abroad as soon as possible, and I believe that in 2017 i won't be in brazil anymore. It's not for ever, at a first moment, but I want to live in europe someday. I'm expecting a lot from this semester, I really want to learn new techniques, how to develop my skills and, as usual, trying to achieve my goals. I believe that this is going to be a successfull year. X
ResponderExcluirI'm really glad to hear that, Paulo. Living abroad is an amazing experience which I believe all students, and especially language teachers, should have as you learn a lot! Hope you can do that soon!
ExcluirI am 23 years old and this is my second graduation, I have already graduated in Portuguese/Literature but since my first option was always English I am back. Actually, the reason that I could not do it in the past was because I was younger and did not knew how it was going to be because it is a night course and I live in Saquarema but now I am older and have a transportation so I am able to attend the classes.
ResponderExcluirI have an interest in different cultures and languages since I was a teenager and I have a truly passion for literature, I really love to read – poetry, shorts stories and novels – not only texts from Brazil but from other countries so I hope it will be a great experience being able to pass along this kind of interest and love through teaching since I have no experience in it yet.
I also believe that writing is a great exercise that helps a person to develop a personality and at the same time an image of the world, so much so that I write poems, which I think is the main reason for my interest in this area because of the power that words have in this type of text.
Unfortunately I am still uncertain about my profession but I am searching for inspiration.
Great to hear that, Barbara. I hope you can find your inspiration here in this course. Best wishes,
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ResponderExcluirI'm 20 and I've been living in Niterói since 2014. I'm from Volta Redonda and I decided to move here to go to a federal university. I love English and I started studying it when I was 9, which made me think about majoring in Languages, because not only did I like studying it, but also I wanted to teach. I work as a teacher now and I worked as a translator before that, but what I really like is the classroom. I like reading, going to the movies, drinking beer with my friends and dancing. I hope we learn how to develop our writing skills and how to teach that to our students as well. I intend to go to England as an exchange student in the near future and try to learn more about the language and improve as a professional.
ResponderExcluirGreat to hear that Clarissa. England is a wonderful country with lots to see and learn about. I hope you can visit it soon!
ExcluirMy name is Thais, I'm 29 years old, I grew up and still live in Niterói and i've been studying at UFF since 2010.
ResponderExcluirI already gave up from college many times, but i always end up coming back. In 2012 i lived in Holland, as an au pair, taking care of 2 wonderful (but not so easy) kids: a girl that was 3 y.o., and a boy that was 6 y.o. It was the best experience of my life so far, and I miss my kids very much. I also had the opportunity to travel to lots of places when I was there. I came back to Brazil in the beginning of 2013 and to UFF, officially, in 2014. Now I’m focused on finishing it.
When I’m not so busy with all the subjects from the course, I like to watch movies and TV Series. I also enjoy doing cross stitch and biking.
The reason why I study languages is quite simple: it was the only thing I knew how to do in that time, speak English. Nowadays I don’t know what I want to do with my life concerning the course I’m in, but I already worked with translations, revisions of texts, translations of subtitles, and today I’m working as an English teacher at the IsF project.
My future plan is to move out from Brazil. That’s the main reason I came back to finish my course, actually. I want to try to get a visa to Canadá, and I need a diploma in order to do this. This has been my dream since 12 years old, to move somewhere out of Brazil, as I never really felt like home here.
My writing experience is basically with the jobs I already had, with translations. I also enjoyed very much to have pen pals when I was a teen. I had friends from all over the world and loved when a new mail came.
I loved to hear about your experience in Holland, Thais. Did you live in Amsterdan? That's an amazing city! What about the IsF project, how do you like working there?
ExcluirI didn't live in Amsterdam (unfortunatelly), but I was always there! LOL.
ExcluirI lived in Bennekom (it's 1 hour by train from Amsterdam) and it's a village between Wageningen (a university city) and Ede. I loved this experience, everything was so quiet there... It reminded me a lot of those european movies with those little villages *__*
I like working at IsF because we have freedom to work as we want, but people don't really value it (I think it's because it's a free course) and every end of offer (we call the mini-courses "offer") we end up with 2 or 3 students in class. =/
I'm 19 years old and I'm from Nova Friburgo, but I live in Niterói since last year, when I started to study at UFF. I love English since I was a kid and I started studing it when I was 11 years old. I'm not so good in writing English texts, but I hope I could improve this ability this semester.
ResponderExcluirWhen I graduate, I want to work as an English teacher in schools and English courses.
Good to hear that you're from Friburgo, Lidia. I loved it there! I hope you enjoy this course!
ExcluirI'm 19 years old and I'm from Nova Friburgo, but I live in Niterói since last year, when I started to study at UFF. I love English since I was a kid and I started studing it when I was 11 years old. I'm not so good in writing English texts, but I hope I could improve this ability this semester.
ResponderExcluirWhen I graduate, I want to work as an English teacher in schools and English courses.
I am 22 years old I actually, I live in São Gonçalo with my parents and my brother and now, I’m studyng management at Estácio (E-learning) and Languages at UFF, beyond working for 10 hours everyday. Because of this, my life is very busy, and I don’t know how I handle this ! I wish someday work in a big company, wich I will can express my ideas and be a satisfied professional. That’s the great reason of my english’s studies: use the universal language to help me in my work. I have no experience being a teacher, but I would like to teach in a ONG’s social project to youngers who doesn’t afford to pay a English course. It could be an great experience to me, both professional and personal. But, I know that I need to improve my English languages’s skills, mainly the speaking and the writing. So, because of this, I will study hard and I hope, in the end of the English 5, be a better writer.
ResponderExcluirYou do have a really busy life, Diego! Two different undergraduate courses and a job are really hard to manage. Great to hear that you'd like to work with ONG projects teaching English to poor kids. That's awesome!
ExcluirI'm twenty years old and I've been living at Niterói since last year. I have studied at public schools and english courses. I like idioms since I was a teenager, so I'm studying languages because that's what I really like and what I think to work with. I have worked when I was sixteen years old, but what I really wanted was to study, so I decided to quit the job. I planed to be a translator, but I've been thinking about the teaching carreer.
ResponderExcluirIs that you, Karine? I'm glad to hear about your experience and plans!
ExcluirHi. My name is Vinicius and I am 25 years old. I have been living in Niteroi for the past two years or so, prior that, I used to live in São Gonçalo with my family. I study English since I was 12 years-old, first in English courses and later in college. I started going to UFF in 2009. I first enrolled in the German course, but due to a number of personal factors and issues, I abandoned it in 2010. I returned in 2012 trying to get an English major this time, but I had to quit again. Finally, after being expelled, I came back in 2014 for good. I deal with the English language since I was a kid and it always felt easy for me, so naturally when the time to choose a career came, I looked for something that would keep me close to the languages and away from the numbers. I started working as a translator, then as an interpreter and after as a teacher. I have been teaching for five years now and, along with the translations I have done, I have some experience regarding writing different texts in different styles. Right now, my only goal and plan is to graduate. After that, who knows?
ResponderExcluirWow, Vinícius, that was great to hear about your experience. I hope you can finally graduate and wish you lots of success in your career as a teacher and translator.
ExcluirHey, my name is Maria Clara and I'm 27 years old. I've been living in Niterói for the past 3 years and before that I lived in Cordeiro, a small town in the countryside. I work as an english teacher in different programs at UFF and in my free time I study! Sometimes I play online games or vídeo game, read books but mostly the ones I have to read for college and go skateboarding with my boyfriend.
ResponderExcluirI've decided to do the English course at UFF because I really want to be a teacher (mainly for kids because they are really cute) and I've been working with this for quite a while now. One of my goals in this course is to improve my English skills mainly writing. I have a huge difficulty in that and I hope I can work this out with college.
Right now I'm planning an interchange, but as I am an anxious person, I try not to think a lot about it.
It was great to hear about your hobbies and plans, Maria Clara. I hope you can get good writing practice in this course and take full advantage of it!
ExcluirI'm 20 years old, I live in São Gonçalo, and I started studying foreign languages when I was 18 years old. Until 2014 the only language I could speak was Portuguese, but since then I’ve been learning English and last year, 2015, I started to study Italian and Russian. I like to travel, to dance, to watch movies and I also love poetry and prose. I study languages because I'm very fond of this field, I think it's amazing the way that languages act like bridges between us and the rest of the world. I used to write poems frequently when I was younger, but nowadays I don't do this often. I want to travel, to work and keep on studying, these are basically my future plans.
ResponderExcluirHi! My name is Fernanda and I am 21. I live in Rio with my family since I was born. In my free time I like to go out with my boyfriend and our friends, we really like to go to the movies and theaters. I also like to study languages, I have been studying English for almost ten years and since last year I started to study German too.
ExcluirIn 2014, I had my first experience with teaching English. At first, it was totally different for me, however now I really appreciate it and with this opportunity I could improve my English, but unfortunately I do not have much practice with my writing skill and I think that this course will help me to write better than the way I write now.
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ExcluirGreat to hear about your experience, Fernanda. I hope this course helps you improve your writing skills!
ExcluirGreat to hear about your interests and plans, Melissa! It was great to learn about your interest in languages, poetry and prose.
ExcluirFirst of all, my name is Thiago Huguenin S. Cordeiro. I'm 30,I'm from São Gonçalo,I'm the oldest in my family, I have two brothers younger than me, our parents have been living in Geneve- Switzerland, so my siblings and I live alone here in Brazil. I'm the only one in college, they have finished school and they don't wanna to study right now. I speak English and Spanish, I speak French too, but I haven't talked and used this language too much. I'm an English and Spanish teacher, I've been teaching English since I was 17. Nowadays I've been working at Onyou Alcântara from Saturday to Saturday. I really like teaching, but I don't wanna die teaching in schools or English courses. I've started teaching in Paraguay on Sundays school, I managed an English course called Help for life, it was an Ong, we helped poor children, teenagers and adults to learn English, because as a philanthropic organization we believe that we can build a better world helping them to learn a new language. We were in Foz do iguaçu - PR, I had lived there from 2005-01/2015. When I was living in Foz, I've supported oneof my best friends in his new project, its name is Instituto Issacar, you can see pictures and know a little bit more about them on Facebook. Working in the 3 frontiers as a volunteer teacher was the best experience of my life so far. So, why I'm studying English languages at UFF? Because I was born to do this, you know? I didn't choose to be a teacher, when I had started teaching I did for fun. Being teacher chose me. When I'm not working or studying, I like going to the movies, watch series, going out with my friends, we like Japanese food too much.I like cooking to my family and friends too. I don't like writing, because I don't know how to do it, as in Portuguese as I English. My writing essays don't make any sense, I always get bad grades because of it. I really need to learn how to write well. These are the most important things that I could remember about myself, enjoy it.
ResponderExcluirGreat to hear about your teaching experience, Thiago. I hope you can make the most of this course as to improve your writing skills.
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ResponderExcluirWell, I am Virgínia, I'm 32 years old and I live in Niteroi since I was born. I have studied English all my life and always loved that. And because of that, I decided to study Languages in college and started studying at UFF in 2002. But I was also very interested in International Affairs and started a second graduation on that area in 2004. During 1 year, I did both courses at the same time, but in 2006 I had an opportunity to work as intern at IBM. I left my graduation in English to follow my path in an international bussiness career. To make a long story short, I worked at IBM for almost 7 years, but in 2011, after a tough year, I decided to take a sabbatical and left my job in January 2012. During that year, I started a training course for translators, because translation was something that I really like doing and I thought it would be an opportunity to learn something I could work with as a freelancer. And I enjoyed this so much that in 2013 I decided to come back to UFF to conclude my graduation in Languages. And here I am since 2014. Now, in addition to working with translation and proofreading, I'm an intern at LABESTRAD (the Translation Lab at UFF) and I'm also an English monitor for Tourism and Hospitality courses. And outside UFF, I teach English for kids from 3 to 5 years old, which is totally different from everything I've ever done, but it is also amazing! Except for teaching kids, I can say that all the other experiences I had allowed me to practice my writing skills. However, I still feel that Academic Writing is not yet something I can do easily and it's the writing skill I need to practice much more.
ResponderExcluirCompleting the whole story, I finally feel like I can do anything I want and I have the autonomy to decide what (and how) I want to do (I know it's not always like that, but we have much more possibilities to do so). And I think that the best part is actually the numerous fields of action the language area provides us.
So, my life has turned 180 degrees and it wasn't easy, but I can say that it's been worth every mile of this journey.
That's a great introduction, Virgínia. I really enjoyed learning about your varied experiences and life choices. I hope this course can help you with your academic writing skills.
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ResponderExcluirMy name is Wagner. I am 30 years old and live in Niteroi. I am already graduated in Journalism, and work in the area since 2013. I love drawing, playing guitars, writing short stories and songs, but I keep the most things that I do in secret. I choose a second graduation to have a new professional option. Salaries in Journalism are not so good despite of the fact we always have a hard time at work. Sometimes I stay in my job more than 14 hours a day facing many kinds of different situations. At time, my goal is to improve myself academically to get a master's degree in the next few years. I love linguistic and all process related to communication and AD. I would like to develop some researches about representation of the black population to kids in movies, TV shows, books and cartoons. About my second graduation, I don’t see myself as an English teacher, but I can change my mind in the future. At time, I have been using what I learn to improve myself as a journalist and in my personal experiences.
ResponderExcluirMy name is Wagner. I am 30 years old and live in Niteroi. I am already graduated in Journalism, and work in the area since 2013. I love drawing, playing guitars, writing short stories and songs, but I keep the most things that I do in secret. I choose a second graduation to have a new professional option. Salaries in Journalism are not so good despite of the fact we always have a hard time at work. Sometimes I stay in my job more than 14 hours a day facing many kinds of different situations. At time, my goal is to improve myself academically to get a master's degree in the next few years. I love linguistic and all process related to communication and AD. I would like to develop some researches about representation of the black population to kids in movies, TV shows, books and cartoons. About my second graduation, I don’t see myself as an English teacher, but I can change my mind in the future. At time, I have been using what I learn to improve myself as a journalist and in my personal experiences.
ResponderExcluirGreat to hear about your experience and interests, Wagner. Your research topic is really interesting and I do hope you can investigate it in your Masters.
ResponderExcluirMy name is Bruna, I'm 26 years and a few months old. Before entering the Languages course, I studied Philosophy at UNIRIO, which made me a very critic and analytical human being. That said, I frequently demand - not only of myself - a level of cinism towards mostly anything. I take my search for knowledge very seriously, even though sometimes it may not seem like it.
ResponderExcluirI enrolled at UFF because I was interested in improving my English skills. Whenever I speak in a language other than Portuguese, my intent is to express precisely what it's on my mind, which is something that usually makes me look disinterested, but it's just because I'm overthinking every single thing. Besides English, I'm fascinated by Linguistics, for its ability to explain the processes through every language goes.
Specifically because of this thinking process of mine, writing is, at the same time, simple and complex. I have few significative experiences in creating personal writing, since my area of interest is actually, translation. I have worked in a website, translating anime subtitles from English to Portuguese and listening to it in Japanese; and from time to time I translate academic texts. I intend to develop myself and become the best in this particular area, in order to enter the publishing industry.
It was great to learn more about you, Bruna. I hope this course can help you somehow with your translation experiences.
ExcluirMy name is Juliana and I am 22 years old. I was almost born in Friburgo, where my parents were living during my mother's pregnancy, but they were in Niterói visiting their relatives when my mother gave birth to me. I lived for about one year there before they came back to Niterói, where I was raised and have been living since. I live with my mother, father and older brother. My brother always teases me saying that I was adopted because I have nothing in common with my parents, but I have the footage of my birth, so I have a proof!
ResponderExcluirI enrolled in an English course when I was 10, but I had already had English lessons at school. I always enjoyed English and had a lot of ease relating to it. This skill developed a lot after I started taking the English course and I was always one of best students in the class and the one who liked it the most! I had great teachers at this course and I would look up to them and really admire them. They really liked me too; some of them even became great friends with my mother. I like to believe that, even unconsciously, they led me in this direction.
I have been working at Cultura Inglesa for three years now, one of them as a trainee teacher, and I like it a lot. I have gained a great amount of experience there and that very often helps me in University.
Although I like my job, I don't think that's what I'll do for the rest of my life... It does not fulfill me entirely, but I still haven't figured out what does, so I'll just keep my mind open. Some people say I should have been a vet because I am crazy about animals, I even have it tattoo on me, but I know I could never see them suffer, so I probably wouldn't fit the job.
Of course there is a lot more to say about me, but I think this sums up well who I am.
It was great to learn more about you and your experience with English, Juliana. Don't worry as you're still young to find what really fulfills you.
ExcluirHi, my name is Mariana and I’m 21 years old and I live with my parents and my brother. In my free time I like to go out with friends, know new people and places or just watch movies alone.
ResponderExcluirI have been studying languages at UFF since 2014 and I don’t have sure what to do in the future yet. Actually, I think teaching is not an option for me, but, sometimes, I think I can change my mind. If I work as a teacher, I think I would like to teach Portuguese for foreigners. I really enjoy to exchange cultures and experiences!
I want to visit many countries soon and France is at the top of my list after I started my French course last year! I’m in love with this language.
It was great to learn more about you, Mariana. France is an amazing country. You'll love it!
ExcluirHello, my name is Rodrigo. I am nearly 30 years old (my birthday is next Friday). I live in Itaboraí with my mother, my younger sister, my stepfather, and my two black cats. I studied German at UFF, but I was not happy while doing it and, for one reason or another, I ended up expelled.
ResponderExcluirI decided to pay the entrance exam again, but for the English course, this time, because English is a language that interests me more and is also much closer to our everyday lives. I never studied at English courses. I am basically self-taught.
I made an effort to be able to read in English at least. Although I rarely write anything in English, I read English texts everyday (mostly Manga, Light novels, and fan fiction).
I also studied at UERJ's Law School and worked as an intern in the area, but I still don't know what I want to do.