I recently attended a presentation about justice system in US. The
presenter was Adam Foss and he was in an event Ted Talks. I love the format
of TED. The presentation are given through storytelling and the people
which are called to be a presenter, have 15 minutes to show your point of
view. It's a wonderful way of sharing stories and everyone was amazed with
his history.
First, Adam was not nice. He asked about who have been committed a small
crime when they were teenagers. After he increased the small crime until
arrived in a big crime and everybody thinks that he must be arrested. So,
he showed us that someone that has a criminal record, don't have any chance
of survive and maintain a home in US. This person is likely to commit new
crimes. So, someone helped him and today, he is a prosecutor and works with
this type of case.

Two years ago, my wife and I got a little and wonderful baby. So, my wife
stopped working to take care of our baby. She's received benefits for 6
months and after that I'd started to pay all the bills.
No problem because it was the deal that we agreed to. But everything
increased in these last two years and our buying power disappeared. The
country has been going through difficult times. Dozens of corruption cases,
the Olympics and one president removed from power.
So, my wife returned to work and I am getting some jobs as a freelancer
daily to pay the bills and save the money for the future. Things are
looking up, but we'll be thriftier for all my life.

At the beginning of the meeting, the manager said about the proposal of
adjusting our wages. In his opinion, this was one of the best proposal from
our company in the last years and it was consistent with the market.
There were only had two segments in Brazil that achieved better
readjustments, but these segments have always been strong and they didn't
get such good indexes. We all agreed with points from manager and we argued
about our position.
Finally, he asked us to vote in this wage campaign, if we are in favor or
not. These readjustments surprised me, because my segment in Brazil has
been very weird and almost, got to inflation.

Unfortunately, every year I hear talk about disasters in Petrópolis, Rio de
Janeiro. When summer is approaching, rains are more frequently and begins
the mudslides. It's an announced tragedy because it happens every year and
people don't charge for solutions by the rulers.
My brother was in a New Year's Eve 2 years ago there, when happens an
accident. On the night after party, had a huge mudslide, which passed in
the hotel where my brother slept. We didn't know where he was sleeping, but
we worried because he stayed in the city. Next day he called us and give
all details what happened. He wasn't in the hotel, but he had to came back
because the city was destroyed.

I love driving my car and move to another place, but it's happening less and less. Brazil is one of the most violent countries in the world when we talk about traffic and it brought strict laws. It's common pay an expensive fine, not counting the huge traffic jams.
I'm consider a lucky man, because I choose live near from my job. I don't take my car and go out for some place. Last week I went to São Paulo and that's outrageous! If you parking in a simple shop of the city, you will pay R$50 more or less. I preferred hang out with Uber and leave my car in hotel. Unfortunately this is a trend.

My wife and I love eat in Outback Steakhouse! This restaurant is fabulous and we've been always well attended.

Last week, we returned again to the restaurant without making reservations. We waited 10 minutes, but it was well appreciated, because we started to drink a wonderful ice-cold beer. After sitting, we asked for a Bloomin' Onion. It was unbelievable! My wife love this onion and for our main course, we both ordered a grateful Ribs on the Barbie! Then, grand finale was Chocolate Thunder. This dessert was mouth-watering! An extra generous brownie topped with rich vanilla ice cream, warm chocolate, chocolate shavings and whipped cream.

Of course, we'll go again to this restaurant.

When I was in second year of high school, I turned tutor to a class just entering at high school. This class had a beautiful blonde girl called Tammy. She was very cheerful and soon, we became friends. We'd spend hours talking and our afternoons were great.

But I had a girlfriend and one friend wanted to date her. I was jealous because of her. Then, I broke up with my girlfriend and soon as possible, I asked her when she could go out with me. She traveled on holiday and I hung out with a friend. When she arrived, I told her what's happened and she cried a lot. I finished what I had barely begun and ran into her arms.

We are married today, together for 13 years old, we have a wonderful daughter and we are very happy.

I love my Kindle for three years.
First, I bought it because I went to my work by bus and during the journey,
I'd like to take this time somehow. Until the day I saw a person using it.
I went back to see the specifications of this device and for a good price,
I ended up taking it.
This was the best thing I could do. I read one book a week. Over two years,
I read several interesting books and I've acquired a passion for reading.
Last year, the office had to change and for my lucky, it came nearer to me.
Now, I'm walking to the office and I stopped this habit. I'm frustrated
because I need more hours of readings and I don't have more time.

Regards,
Marcos

Hi, Mr. Wilson.
Last night I had a meeting with Sally Cassidy, the VP for GXC Solutions. We
went to a great steakhouse and we talked for hours. She was very happy with
the last year. She told me that she reviewed it and she came to the
conclusion that our relationship is more mature and better to do business.
GXC Solutions wants to increase their purchases from us by 20%.
All this news is very positive. Sally wants to meet again with us soon to
talk about the future. She'd like to know what's the road map for the
future and how the GXC Solutions can help us make the best solutions about
a number of future opportunities. I will give you all the details when I
get back.
Regards,
Marcos

I'm a software engineer with 6+ years experience.
I've been focused on writing better and better Java code. I've encouraged
people increase their skills. Today, I think that I did it well. But now I
want to improve myself. I want to be fluent in English in a few months and
get in groups highly qualified. I'm an hard working person and I train long
hours to be an excellent Java architect.
In next 5 years, I want a work from home and I'll continue improving my
skills to get this goal.

The office culture where I work is casual. The men wear polo shirts, blue
jeans and casual shoes. The women wear more or less the same, but their
variety of shirts are wider. They often wear skirts too.
When we talk about executives, this changes totally. Men must wear
conservative, dark colored business suits. Women must wear suits or dresses
that are elegant and feminine with good quality accessories. In both cases,
you should never dispense an excellent coffee.
It's good practice to break the ice before starting business. Always look a
person in the eyes. Then, you must be objective. Oral communication is
preferred.
Always have in your plans excellent proposals.

Enjoy,
Marcos

I've never heard about Josh Woodward, but I definitely loved this song and
his work.
It's about a guy that sold his house, bought a trailer and say things about
his life. Of course, all his sentiments is present in his music. The melody
is addictive. He has an amazing range. It had a wild and exciting feeling.
I've listened an acoustic version in youtube and is great! It's only voice
and acoustic guitar.
His job in internet is very interesting because his music is shared free.
You only should get in his site and download the musics.

Link: www.joshwoodward.com

Enjoy,
Marcos

TOPIC
A friend is considering moving to your country to study. Write a paragraph
explaining a bit about education in your country. What is an important
trend? What's typical? What's your position on these ideas?

The education in Brazil goes through terrible problems.
First, the government's expected that education in Brazil solve alone.
Second, the teacher training is very weak, beyond their low wages. Everyone
in the country is concerned about have children or not. The private school
are really expensive and all are geared for college entrance. Students from
public school suffer from neglect and constant strikes. The best
universities are public and you should be prepared for those problems
mentioned and run out other ways to complete your degree.
I'll help you!! Come here!

Hello Mom, Tammy and I dream to work from home. I hope that it will happen
in the next few months because I'll be named for the positions that I
applied for in a selection some days ago.
All employees in this company work from their homes. Working from home,
makes people happier and more motivated because of a series of advantages.
After that, I can return to Goiania/Brazil and stay near to you. I really
want to go back.
When I was there last month, I saw you, Mariana and my mother in law were
very cheerful. It made me very happy and sometimes I think I'm being unfair
to not go back.

In my country, there are too many channels from other countries on TV.
Almost all of these channels are from the US and of course, bring all
violence together.
The Brazilian government created a law to have some Brazilian program for
the wider audience on all channels. If we didn't do this, we'd watch only
programs coming from abroad countries.
I feel strongly that despite cooking shows, some TV companies have been
seeing that need to change your program grid to raise their audience. They
are creating educational programs. The cartoons has been improving too.
After Netflix, some channels are decreasing the number of commercials and
it's help a lot. It's a lot of horrible information.

Hi Josh,
My name is Marcos de Carvalho Oliveira.
I'm from Brazil and I'm writing in response to your computer programmer
opportunity.
I'm system analyst in Telefonica and I've been working for 8 years. I have
a high experience in Java Technology. I've developing through Spring, SOA
and Restful Services.
I don't have problem to change of my country and my family would like to
change to another country for improve our lives. I'm married and I have a
daughter. My English is good but I've working to improve it.
If you have any doubt about me, you can ask me. I'm available for interview
anytime.
I have attached my CV to this email.
Regards,
Marcos