Oswald Stuart Self-ASSESSMENT English Course

I think I've upgraded my speaking and writing skills  this semester. I love the writing activities, like the journal and the paragraph. I even use the technique of how to write a paragraph to one of my students. I loved the teacher feedback about our writing activities and I think it was the best of all feedback given. I also think the themes discussed in class were interesting, like stereotype, gender inequality and violence, but I don't think it added much more new information that I have already had, maybe because of my age, I'm not teenager anymore and I have a bigger cultural knowledge than the first time I studied at university. I think the course was easy, but harder than course in English schools. I think I must improve my oral skills, speak more clearly, once I'm very introvert and I had difficulty express my feeling and captivate the audience, I guess. So, I think I should research a little about public speaking. Also, teamwork was a challenge because our class has different age groups and social groups, so I feel weak connection between my groups during preparation of the presentations. Compared to my colleague, I have lot to improve, like my ease while speaking mainly and speak more naturally and spontaneously, once I'm shy. Something I wasn't good too is that I haven't done all homework and had serious doubt about correcting use of verb tense, I think I should have looked deeper in a grammar about this topic. I think I'm learning a lot in English classes and I think I will much more in the further semester.

in favor of PEC 241

After a four hour research on right-wing media on the Internet, I am basically in favor of PEC 241, thus against the occupation of schools. I even think schools occupation is an irrational act because it is an extremist form of protest and it ignores the power of dialogue and argumentation, besides being costly, as it delays the routine of thousands of students, who will have to replace their classes further while the society keeps paying teachers' wages for no given classes and schools are useless during the protest. Going back to PEC issue, I believe the government has spent inefficiently a lot of money over the last few years. An example of public financial chaos is the state of Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Minas Gerais, where governments will have difficulty paying their civil servants due to the decrease of government revenues. Moreover, Brazilians pay a lot of taxes to have a deplorable public service, so I think we have already given enough time for the government to do its job. I believe now worth betting on entrepreneurship and the private market to create wealth and make Brazil a richer country. Regarding the PEC again, it came because the government has failed to follow the Fiscal Responsibility Law when it starts using creative accounting. Therefore, a policy of limiting public spending is urgently needed so that public debt does not grow even more. Such measure is crucial to not make the country poorer in the future, in other words, not to let the bills for future generations to pay because debt is the anticipation of purchasing power in time, which sooner or later must be paid. We are letting future generations pay our current public spending and we are living beyond our means. It’s important to know PEC will keep education spending at current levels, which I believe is adequate since spending on education in proportion to GDP in Brazil is comparable to other countries. For those who think Brazilian government should invest more in education and health, they cannot be angry with CPMF returns, rising gas prices, privatizations, reduced civil servants payroll and pension reform, once to increase the income of one sector, it must reduce of another. Therefore, Brazil has to stop investing using public debt as we are leaving the bills for our present benefits to our grandchildren. PEC came precisely to bar this short-sighted financing strategy of Brazilian state gigantism.

Sou a favor da PEC 241

A princípio, sou a favor da PEC 241, portanto contrário a ocupação de escolas. Inclusive penso que a ocupação de escolas é um ato irracional, pois é uma forma de protestar extremista e que desconsidera o poder do diálogo e da argumentação, além de ser custosa, pois atrasa rotina de milhares de estudantes, que terão de repor suas aulas mais para frente e onera ainda mais a sociedade devido ao tempo de ociosidade dos equipamentos públicos durante o protesto e ao pagamento contínuo dos funcionários durante a greve. Voltando a questão da PEC, acredito que o governo tenha gastado muito dinheiro e de forma ineficiente ao longo dos últimos anos. Exemplo de caos das finanças públicas são o estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul e Minas Gerais, em que os governos terão dificuldades em pagar seus funcionários públicos devido ao aumento do gasto do governo sem base na realidade financeira dos estados.Os brasileiros pagam muito impostos para ter um serviço público de qualidade deplorável, portanto, acredito que já tenhamos dado tempo suficiente para deixar na mão do governo a prestação de serviços. Acredito que agora valha a pena apostar no empreendedorismo e na livre iniciativa para gerar riqueza e tornar o Brasil um país cada vez mais rico. A respeito da PEC, ela veio porque o governo descumpriu a Lei da Responsabilidade Fiscal por meio de contabilidade criativa e portanto agora é necessário urgentemente uma política de limitação dos gastos públicos para a dívida pública não cresça cada vez mais. Tal medida é imperativa para não tornar o país mais pobre no futuro, ou seja, deixar as contas para as gerações futuras pagar, porque dívida é isso, é antecipação de poder de compra no tempo, que mais cedo ou mais tarde deverá ser paga. Estamos deixando para gerações futuras pagar as contas dos gastos públicos no Brasil e estamos vivendo acima das nossas possibilidades. Só um comentário, a PEC vai manter os gastos da educação nos patamares atuais, o que acredito que esteja adequado, já que o gasto com educação em proporção do PIB no Brasil é comparável a outros países. Para aqueles que acham que no Brasil o governo deva investir cada vez mais em educação e saúde, então que não fiquem insatisfeito com volta de CPMF, aumento do preço da gasolina, privatizações, redução da folha de pagamento de funcionários públicos e reforma da previdência, pois para aumentar a renda de um setor, tem de reduzir de outro. O Brasil tem de parar de crescer por endividamento, pois estamos deixando na conta dos nossos netos as contas de nossos benefícios presentes. A PEC veio exatamente para barrar essa estratégia míope de financiamento do gigantismo estatal brasileiro.