A complaint about the principal’s behavior in my school

Dear Supervisor

I am writing to seek your help in resolving a matter that I am experiencing at work. It is an issue of concern, which I have been unable to solve prior to bringing to your attention. I hope in doing so we can resolve this matter promptly and amicably.

In December, some time before my official vacation, my principal said that he would review my working arrangements in the New Year. I have been working all day long preparing my classes and I have been teaching almost twelve classes a day without any valuable break. As of late, my principal has been rather critical of my work and he has also made derogatory comments about me to some of my colleagues. Fact is, I have been at the school five days a week and at the weekend I have worked from home preparing my classes. In spite of all this, I had hoped the situation would improve in the future.

However, on 2^nd of November, when I was in the teacher’s room drinking a glass of water, my principal said that I would have to work at the school every day of the week and at the weekend preparing my classes at the school and no more in my own house. When I asked why, the principal simply said he needed the staff at the school seven days a week. I said I would try, but I found it difficult because it could be so tiresome to be at the school all the week and the weekend too. He said if I were not able to obey that order, I should consider other options. I asked what he meant, and he said I was free to go elsewhere.

I am deeply upset about this because I have been in this job for over ten years and I have not had any grievances in the past. I have maintained my level of productivity and I cannot understand why his attitude towards me has changed.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter with you at a convenient time and location. I would also request to be accompanied to the meeting by the principal.

Yours sincerely

Cristiano Lima

The importance of English language skills in securing a job in the Brazilian market

By Cristiano Lima – teacher, translator and theologian

Globalization is a fact in our world nowadays and to learn a new language is very beneficial in this globalized world. In Brazil, nowadays, it is necessary to learn English as a second language to secure a job in the Brazilian market for three main reasons: big Brazilian companies need to sell their products abroad; Brazilian employees need to grow and position themselves in the global economy; and emerging – market companies are becoming equally important global players.

Firstly, it is profoundly necessary that employees learn English to help companies just to sell their products abroad. If a company has staff who speak English as a second language, it will be easier for this company to sell their products worldwide because the English language is considered a lingua franca – a spoken language in the entire world.

Secondly, employees must be aware of the necessity of speaking English as a second language in the Brazilian companies because employees need to grow and position themselves in the global economy. It is said there is a very low English proficiency in Brazil, so it is necessary that an employee who wants to be on the top of the world in his career needs to learn English as a second language in order to make inroads into global market. It is important that workers keep their eyes on the ball having fluency in the English language in order to get their message across to the world.

Thirdly, it is so important to learn English since Brazilian companies are becoming equally important global players and because of this employees need to gain ground in big companies and one way to access a marvellous job in a company is just to learn English to help this company with its trade worldwide.

In conclusion, learning English as second language is a reward to employees who want to learn about the world and who want to maintain their jobs in this competitive world. Learning English is a marvellous adventure that can make someone bilingual giving to this person an opportunity to access better positions in the Brazilian market and in the global market.  

Why should a city’s architectural structure reflect the community’s culture?

By Cristiano Lima - teacher, theologian and translator

A city with a marvelous architectural structure can reflect its own ambition and aspirations. The city with its buildings, apartments, houses, parks, shopping malls, churches and cathedrals is the representation of a society and its values.

We need to affirm all the time that cities that do not pay attention to their architecture – physically and intellectually – are likely to come as unattractive and incapable of attracting interest and excitement as any of us would be if we showed up for an evening out wearing a sweat suit and a pair of brogues.

In that sense, cities of aspiration are not different from individuals. Cities, too, need to dress for success once appearance and a marvelous architecture can attract tourists and reveal what kind of citizens these cities have. London, New York, Paris and Dublin are examples of cities where tourists, citizens and inhabitants can admire their unique and outstanding architecture. In addition, it is necessary to affirm that a beautiful architectural structure in a city is developed gradually through planning and improvement of education in order to promote culture and knowledge to the citizens. Ideas are the solution when we want to create architectural structures in a city and we have good ideas when we have a decent education system.

Ideas matter and civic planning is about the practical expression of ideas and imagination. Planning in good faith can guarantee that these cities can achieve their full potential as cities of aspiration with their marvelous architectural structures. In conclusion, architectural structures can reflect the community’s culture regardless of the size of it. 

A review about a reliable restaurant in my area – The Democrata restaurant

By Cristiano Lima – teacher, translator and theologian
 

Few haute establishments have the same hospitable atmosphere as the Democrata. Located in Santo Amaro in Nossa Senhora do Sabara Avenue, far away from downtown, Democrata remains in the top-tier for gustatory good times and it is a mecca for foodies in the area, a foodie’s paradise, mainly for those people who have eating a tasty and  marvelous pizza at any time.

A huge variety of ingredients is available, different types of cheese, ham, bacon, pasta, tomatoes, olives, pepperoni and peas – lined up alongside delicacies such as pepperoni pizza, Portuguesa pizza, four cheese pizza, “alemã” pizza: Brazilian pizzas with an Italian influence way of cooking which creates one of the best recipes of pizzas in the world, but beyond that, it is the waiter’s service that sets the place apart and it makes customers feel comfortable. It is a restaurant to dine with clients and to enjoy with family. If you are into having pizza on a Saturday night, don’t worry, they offer you the best pizza in the region.

An ordinary dish of creamed cheese with sprinkled oregano has always been a delightful inclusion in the degustation; don’t forget to taste an excellent wine while you are checking the menu just to choose the excellent dishes which are offered to all ages and types of people.

As for the facilities, don’t worry about finding a safe place to park your car once the restaurant offers a parking facility with a driver to park your car safe. Also, it is good to consider the hygiene of the place that is perfect.

Democrata dining room is informal and relaxing. It isn’t the most expensive restaurant in São Paulo city and its prices reflect the preference of the clients for a restaurant where foodies can enjoy affordable prices and marvelous pizzas with a broader menu. 

Is the human culture evolving the process of human spiritual evolution nowadays?

By Cristiano Lima – teacher, translator and theologian

It is said that the famous quote by William Shakespeare “to be or not to be – that is the question” can be considered a philosophical question. So based on that quotation we can ask the following question: what does “to be or not to be” mean within a view of an evolutionary context? It is known that we, humans, have the abilities to create many things and we have the potential to produce culture and technology in order to advance our specie further more in the universe. Who could have imagined humans landing on the Moon or launching a prone just to step on comets and other planets as Mars or Venus?

In addition, it is necessary to answer some important questions – who are we really? How can we deal with ethics and human values? Why do we keep on making wars against each other in this twenty-first century?

It is important to understand that human beings have stopped evolving after becoming the only specie “to put halt to natural selection of its own free will”, Sir David Attenborough has said it and he predicts “the cultural evolution” in the future.

At the dawn of our civilization, humans tried to produce a cultural evolution through different languages, religions and different points of view at the world. For example, the Greek created Philosophy. Other peoples created different kinds of cultures giving us a chance to have a blend of cultures and knowledge. We, human beings, have reached the last edge of our own spiritual evolution and it is important to us.

In conclusion, the main purpose of our evolutionary cultural heritage is just to learn how we can respect each race ethically and spiritually. We need, as humans, just to be ethical not to accept that ten per cent of humans are very much richer while ninety per cent of people worldwide are trying to survive. It is unacceptable to live in a world where one billion people have plenty of food but other one billion people do not have enough food to feed their offsprings. Our last edge of our evolutionary and spiritual process is just to overcome these challenges and because of that, we need to embrace friendship, peace, dialogue and fraternity in our world.  

The Importance of Distinct Characters in Novels

By Cristiano Lima - English teacher, translator and theologian

             “The Chronicles of Narnia – the lion, the witch and the wardrobe” is a movie based on the intensively touching book from the author C. S. Lewis. The book is a masterpiece of English Literature.

               C. S. Lewis’ timeless adventure follows the exploits of the four Pevensie siblings – Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter. The siblings enter the world of Narnia through a magical wardrobe while they are playing a game of “hide and seek” in the rural country home of an elderly professor. Once there, the children discover a charming, peaceful land inhabited by talking beasts, dwarfs, fauns, centaurs and giants who live in a world cursed to eternal winter by the evil White Witch, Jadis. Under the guidance of a noble and mystical ruler, the lion Aslan, the children fight to overcome the White Witch’s powerful hold over Narnia in a spectacular climatic battle that will free Narnia from Jadis’ icy spell forever.

                The lion Aslan is considered the main character in the plot since the lion is the character who saves all four siblings, leading the people of Narnia into victory against the White Witch. The war between the lion Aslan and the White Witch Jadis reveals an ingeniously intricate interpretation and an utterly impressive characterization.

                In addition, this plot reveals the eternal fight between good and evil since the land of Narnia is facing one eternal winter caused by Jadis’ spell, and this cursed winter is destroyed only when the lion decides to act. The height of the Aslan’ role is when the lion dies on the Stone Table in the middle of the night and rises from dead before dawn to save the four siblings in a final battle against the White Witch. At the end of the movie, the White Witch and her army are destroyed and spring’ time starts in the land of Narnia.

                In conclusion, this movie is the voice of a magical imagination that is present in the imagination of everyone’s childhood, a magical childhood that adults insist on forgetting. 

The advances of technology in the medicine

By Cristiano Lima

            Nowadays we live in a world with lots of solutions in the area of medicine. The human being has found different cures for different kinds of diseases and sickness. Whether people died because of a simple flu in the fifth century or they had different kinds of heart disease – nowadays everything is totally different once medicine has changed and it has found different cures for different kinds of diseases. So we can live better nowadays because we have lots of advances of technology in the area of medicine.

            Firstly, there are real advances in medicine in the area of the surgery. For example, we can undergo surgery with the help of robots. Nowadays it is common just to see robots helping surgeons to carry out surgical procedures in patients; so robots are trustworthy when we need to undergo surgery. Medical robotic technologies can help doctors to provide safety when patients undergo surgery.

            Secondly, also there are important advances in the field of medicine when it has to do with nanomedicine. It is said that nanotechnology is the most exciting subject in the biomedical field where advances are being made in both diagnostic and treatment areas. In addition, through nanotechnology doctors can destroy cancerous tumors with heat just using a combination of gold nanoshells and lasers.

            In conclusion, it is known we can expect more from medicine and we can conclude that we have lots of cures for different diseases through the advances of technology in the area of medicine.