OUTUBRO - MIBE

 Visita a biblioteca e participa nas atividades que preparámos para ti :) 

OUTUBRO - MIBE

 Mês Internacional das Bibliotecas Escolares

Durante o mês de outubro, as bibliotecas escolares estão em festa.

Visita-nos!

WRITERS' CORNER #42

On behalf of the English department, I would like to thank and congratulate ALL the writers on this ‘corner’ - students and teachers alike - for such outstanding work. A special THANK YOU to our very special students ! 👌

We willl be back in 2020/2021 to show ESEQ’s great writing skills again!

Carla Moreira

WRITERS' CORNER #41

“Immigration is not the cause of racism; it is its cure.”

For years people have accused immigration of being the cause of racism in the world. Those who say such things argue that the mixture of cultures, ethnicities and religions is bound to generate conflict; and that if there is ever to be an end to racism, there has to be an end to immigration.

I, however, think that the proposition is incorrect. Immigration has done nothing but bring people together. When people are presented with new cultures, they learn, they adapt, they grow and they are more likely to accept different things. Immigration is not the cause of racismo - racists are the cause of racism; people with narrow perspectives are the cause of racism; lack of experience with other cultures is the cause of racism. If anything, immigration is the cure for it. The mixture of cultures, ethnicities, and religions has created a wonderful world of diversity, one of cooperation among people who are different.

I vouch for immigration and its potential not only to end racism, but to push the world forward as well.

Duarte Araújo, 11.º I

WRITERS' CORNER #40

Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose.  (G.K. Nelson)

Dreams don’t work unless you do.  (John C. Maxwell)

At this point in my life, being in a stage in which I have to decide what I want my future to be like, it is not only the job that I want that matters. For me, the most important thing is how that job is going to give me personal fulfilment and provide me the success that I aim to achieve.

That being said, I believe that success is only possible if we give hard work much higher consideration than the success that lies in the finish line. As John C. Maxwell said, “Dreams don’t work unless you do”, and if this quote sticks with you throughout your career, your work ethic and your persistence will be majorly enriched. However, you shouldn’t be too ambitious or too unambitious, simply because it is thanks to that ambition that your dreams become goals, which will eventually be accomplished.

From my perspective, if I’m not doing my best at something and I’m not working more than everyone else in the room, then it isn’t worth doing it at all. That is why I long for a career that is always changing for the better, mostly due to my evolving skill and adapting ability - because, as people often say, luck requires a lot of work.

Mariana Reina, 11ºH

A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. (Colin Powell)

I never dreamt about success. I worked for it. (Estee Lauder)

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. (Tim Notke)

The statements perfectly illustrate the challenges of the current job market.

Colin Powell's statement shows that if we have a dream, we need to work very hard to achieve it and we can't be unproductive people waiting for it to “achieve itself” like magic. This illustrates our reality since the current job market is a "hard place to enter" and if you have a dream, you need to work harder than all the others to have your place.

Estee Lauder's mentions that you can't be successful if you don't work for it. Nowadays, everyone dreams about being rich and successful, but only the strong and the hardworking ones can be it because they have given their best to a major cause.

Today, having a talent is quite ordinary; everyone has, at least, one. Therefore, if you don't work way harder than the others, your talent won't beat anyone else's talent. That reality is illustrated in Tim Notke's statement. 

To sum up, all these statements have one thing in common, and that is hard work. In the current job market, if you want to be the best and stand out from the crowd, you need to work very hard so that you can achieve your goals and, eventually, become very successful.

Adriana Pereira, 11°L

Bearing in mind the trends shaping the job market, how work-ready are you?

How can you stand out from the crowd these days?

As the years go by, the job market is shaped by trends that can change every year. For example, being a youtuber started as a trend many years ago and, even though I don´t agree with it, many people consider it a career.

In general, these trends are more and more connected with technology - from making videos for Youtube, as I have mentioned before, to working over your cellphone. Bearing in mind the types of trends that exist nowadays, I personally think that I am relatively ready for work. Like all other teenagers, I spend a lot of time on my phone or on my computer and it brings a lot of advantages because we learn more and more everyday.

To stand out from the crowd these days, I have to do something that no one has done before and, although that may not seem hard,  coming up with such ideas is really difficult.

In conclusion, to stand out and become successful in life, you have to work hard and think about things no one else does because, in some way, almost everyone wants to succeed too.

Sabine Bieltz, 11º J

WRITERS' CORNER #39

The future lingua franca

Francisca Moreira, nº21, 12ºJ

English is, no doubt, the worlds current lingua franca. Having millions of speakers all over the world, it is thanks to English that we can communicate with each other no matter where we are. However, can we really say that it will remain the lingua franca in the future?

As far as I’m concerned, that is quite unlikely and there is a myriad of reasons why.

On the one had, technology is becoming more and more advanced. Nowadays, we can already translate an entire web page with a simple click into in our native language. So, it’s not that unbelievable that one day we’ll be able to translate, in real time, what other people are saying.

On the other hand, the US is slowly being removed from it’s role as the world’s most powerful nation, as the emergence of China as an economically powerful nation is steadily spreading Chinese around the world.

Finally, technology is no longer an “English only” world. Gadgets and apps are now available in many different languages and, as such, people no longer need to know English to be able to use them.

To sum up, it’s only a matter of time until English is no longer needed as the lingua franca. The world is constantly changing and evolving and, therefore, so is the lingua franca.

WRITERS' CORNER #38

The European Union: pros and cons

Viviana Vilaça Gomes Cruz, nº22, 12ºJ

The basic principles behind the European Union are maintaining peace among the twenty-seven member states, cooperation for mutual benefit and common external action.

The benefits of the Eu are undeniable: free movement of labour and capital, which have helped create a more flexible economy and enabled people to live and work wherever they wish in Europe; people travel freely across national frontiers, making trade and tourism easier and cheaper; with the help of the Erasmus programme, many students have completed part of their studies in another member state; and the EU’s commitment to reduce its global warming emissions has been essential for a better environment.

On the other hand, one of the biggest disadvantages of the EU has to do with financial difficulties. Some EU member nations need to use tax payers money to fund financially unstable states, when those funds could be used to develop their own countries. Another disadvantage is the fact that EU institutions have too much power. They have taken away the right of individual countries to make their own decisions about political and economic issues.

I think the main negative aspect is really the fact that people have a slim chance to make their voices heard.

In my opinion, Brexit was a big mistake and the British will regret it. Despite the disadvantages, the EU has changed Europeans’ lives for the better. That’s why I am for the maintenance of the EU with a single currency, open borders and a single market.