Comfort Zone

When I got to Montreal, I thought it would be difficult to get involved in the society and yes it is! I've been here since March and sometimes I still feel like I'm not gonna* make it. I'm a desperate** person. I stress out easily if I don't have a job or something to do, especially if I'm in a new place and I don't know people here.

A month ago I was not feeling well, I wanted to go out, do something. I got a job packing beauty products, but unfortunately almost all my coworkers were Latin*** speakers, that was nice at the beginning, but then I realized I need to push myself, try to go out with people who speak English and even if I'm not pretty good in my speaking, do it.

I really think if I try harder by the end of the year I will be better in English, but I'm also convinced I have to go out of my comfort zone. I decided to quit my job and be fully dedicated to reading, listening and speaking English.

Great job! I've added some notes below.

* "Gonna" is for spoken English, but in written English we would write "going to." We also use "gonna" in texts and casual writing. It's not a problem, just something I wanted to tell you.

** I'm not sure you want to use the word "desperate." It sounds sad and it feels negative to English speakers. You could say, "I'm an active person," because you like to be busy, right? Maybe that would work better.

*** I think you mean "my coworkers were Spanish speakers." People can be Latin, but a "speaker" needs to have a language, and I don't think you mean your coworkers were speaking Latin.

The feast day in my native town

Last summer I went back to my native town for holiday and I was there for feast day. In that period the small town has repopulated, the streets fills up with a lot of stands and many tourists come from all over Italy.
This town is prefered by tourists because it is a very relaxed place for all ages .The tourists can visit medieval buildings such as a Castle dating back to the eleventh century built by "Federico 2 Sveva." The tourists can visit the cathedral too. It is situated in the old part of town. In that period there was an interesting event called "Cavalcata padronale" which was an exhibition with horses which is followed by a procession made by people dressed in medieval clothes. At the end of the exhibition, the better knight is rewarded with the most beautiful horse. At night, the tourists can attend the concert which is in the center of town. It also always provides a show with fireworks.

Mr Perfect part 2

In Portuguese, the word for "mayor" is "prefeito". The word for "perfect" is "perfeito". I intended to start with "Mr. Mayor" but in my anxiety I changed two letters of the word. Believe me, it was a very clear mistake. Luckily, I was among one of the most chilled out reporters. So Eduardo Costa laughed, the mayor laughed, and me too. What else could I do?

I got to ask my question, but I don't even remember what it was now. I was so embarrassed that it would take years to share the story with someone. But you know what? It was kind of liberating.

I was so afraid of making mistakes when I started in journalism, that making the first big one was like crossing a portal to another dimension. I got my baptism, and now I was free to work. I mean, after that, how worse could it get?

Of course, I've made many other mistakes. I worked for a year and a half on the radio, going live from time to time, and there was no way you could escape it. But things were lighter.

I see myself in many of today's young journalists. The good ones that know the immense responsibility a reporter carries. That makes us very nervous and sometimes unsure if we are up to the task. But I can guarantee that you are. Journalism has this magic of making things happen.

I don't know if it is the deadlines, the responsibility of the job, the help of spokespersons, or the frenzy of the news but there is this urge that makes everything work out in the end. Because there is no going back with empty hands, there is no pushing the deadline, there is no way your page will go out blank tomorrow because of some obstacle. So things have to happen.

Of course that are bad days when everything falls apart, but my point is: even if you think you are not a "real" reporter, when the task in in front of you, you will find the way to make it happen. All you have to do is to care, and the world will take care of everything else.

So if you are a beginner in journalism, or even a senior reporter, go on, make your first big mistake. You can't run from it and you will feel much more relaxed after it.

Fantastic job! Your English is quite good, and the story is really interesting. Great job!

Mr. Perfect part 1

I started in journalism in 2006. I was in my third semester when I joined my first newsroom. I worked at the university radio, a place with a small team but a really forward approach. All the reporters were interns, and the goal was to make us learn the job directly from the street.

That's how I, a 20-year-old with the face of a teenager, ended up in a press conference with the mayor of one of the biggest cities in Brazil. It has only been two months since I first set foot in a newsroom and there I was, with the other "grown-up" reporters seated at an oval table in front of a powerful politician. In my head, the same question revolved around: what was my editor thinking?

I was nervous, to say the least. But I did my best to look professional and gain some credibility, despite my baby face and college-girl clothes. To demonstrate this I kept my mouth shut and nodded when everyone nodded. I didn't dare to ask a question. I thought I could reserve myself some silence in my first scrum. How wrong I was.

In the end, when all the newspaper reporters got their quotes, the radio journalists gathered around the mayor to record our own sound bites. I stood among them, trying to look like I've had been there a thousand times.

I soon found out that there are some dynamics and informal protocols in press scrums. The older and more experienced reporters (or sometimes the famous ones) get to ask first. In that case, the senior radio journalist in our group was a very famous guy in our city, called Eduardo Costa. Turns out that he is also a gentleman and one of the nicest guys in the job.

So before he began, he offered his place of "first to ask" to me.

I was shaking from head to toe. What to ask the leader of a 2.5 million resident city? The guy in front of me, Fernando Pimentel, was not just some mayor. He had power inside politics. He was the minister and today he is the governor of one of the biggest states of Brazil.

So I thought about my best question, looked him in the eyes, and called him "Mr. Perfect".

Yes, I called one of the most powerful politicians in my state "Mr. Perfect", as some stupid-completely-out-of-place-joke. But I have an explanation.

Aging of the Population

The problems related to the health system are particularly significant in relation to the aging of the population, especially in Europe. According to the Eurostat, the median age of the European population is going to increase from 42.2 to 46.4 years old in 2080 and the share of the elderly is projected to increase from 18.5% (93.9 million) in 2014 to 28.7 % (149.1 million) by 2080. For this reason, governments have to plan efficient social security systems for the future. However, the debate is heated.

To build up a welfare state able to freely cure everyone is nearly impossible. Consequently, several experts propose to invest in prevention campaigns, highlighting the huge number of pros. Effective campaigns prevent diseases from spreading in the future and characterize the ultimate expression of the right to health.
Nevertheless, some people argue that it is be better to spend more money on providing cheap and quality medical treatments to those who are actually ill.

I believe that implementing widespread prevention campaigns and policies that aim to promote healthy lifestyles, in particular among children and teenagers, is possible to reduce the future number of ills. At the same time, the hospitals and doctors can concentrate better on who is sick or has the greatest risks to be. For example, in my opinion, free sporting initiatives dedicated to kids and elderly have a great social importance: encourage aggregation and the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. Despite this, an additional problem has to be considered: without policies aimed to reduce pollution, contamination and other environmental hazards, it is impossible to hope to reduce healthcare costs and the number of ills.

Fantastic job!

Hi, Andrei. I don't know what you mean by "traineeship." It sounds like a class that you get some sort of certificate from. Generally, though, this was pretty good.

Traineeship

I am interested in a traineeship course. I have good experience in maritime. I like oceans and maritime policy regulations especially in maritime safety and the rights of seafarers.

That was my choice in the year 2000, when I chose to be a seafarer navigator. I think this profession very difficult and at the same time very interesting. I want to be valuable and share my knowledge in a variety of aspects in the Maritime field, help other seafarers and shipowners, and make this sphere more safe and protect environment.