Culture Corner #2: 5 Suprising Facts About Brazil

 Did you know that Brazilian's native language is Portuguese? No? Then you should read this post because you may learn something else.

Map of Brazil

By the way, the letters on Brazilian flag means: "Order and Progress"

1. Brazil is 5th...

...largest country on the world and its area is 8,515,767 km²

2. FIFA World Cup 2014

8 out of the 12 host cities are among the 50 most violent cities in the world.

3. Brazilian athletes in 1932 have funded their trip to Olypmicc by selling coffee along the way.

4. Vote for Rhino!!!

In 1958, a Rhino was a candidate for elections in Sao Paulo!

Source: WIKIPEDIA

5. Brazil as coffee exporter!

Brazil has been the world’s largest exporter of coffee for 150 years. It supplied around 80 per cent of the world’s coffee in the 1920s.

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Weekly Thoughts #2: 6 Reasons Why It Is Worth To Travel On Your Own

 I posted a post which contained 10 facts about the Republic of Georgia. It's time to publish a post in "Weekly Thoughts" category. I was talking to my friend from Georgia about planing my trip to her country and going there alone in 2017. She asked me if I wouldn't be bored alone in foreign country. This is why I decided to write the post with my thoughts on this topic... I present you a few reasons why it is worth to travel on your own:

1. Plan of traveling.
   When you are traveling alone, you can decide when and where you will go. The main advantage of this point is that you don't have to vote with your friends where you should go, so you can do literally what you want to.
2. Improving your language skills.
   I can bet that when you are traveling with your friends you talk in your native language instead of the foreign language you are learning. When you are alone, you will have to start talking in another language because you will be simply bored.
3. Making new friends.
   This point is connected to the previous one because it's the way to improve your language skills and to have some fun. What's more you can make friends who live in many different countries. It works great especially when you decide to stay at coed hostel.
4. Nobody knows you.
   You can act like a person you have always wanted to be because nobody knows you. You can change your behavior from day today. Just imagine yourself that one day you are kind and everything knowing survivalist and the second day you are kind, but asking about everything traveler. Isn't it awesome?
5. Time for thinking.
   You have time to sit and think about the world around you because you won't have to be kind for friends from your country and talk to them.
6. Missing closest people.
   When you are in a foreign country for a few weeks, you will get to know how worth are your parents, friends or your siblings. I think this is one of the most important points on my list. Really!

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Culture Corner #1: 10 Facts About The Republic Of Georgia

1. High Mountains

What is the highest mountain range in Europe? It's the Caucasus Mountains marking border between Russia and Georgia. The highest peak is in Russia, but Georgia lays claim to the second highest peak in Europe. It's called Shkara (5,193m) and beats Mont Blanc by nearly 400m.

2. Georgia Is In...

...Europe not in the USA.

3. Joseph Stalin

The leader of the Soviet Union was from the Republic Of Georgia. His favorite red wine was Khvanchkara which is a semi-sweet wine.

4. Uplistsikhe (უფლისციხე)

It's the oldest rock-hewn town in Georgia.

5. Georgia Is Not Georgia?

Georgians call their country as Sakartvelo. Other people may call it as Georgia or the Republic Of Georgia.

Flag Of Georgia

6. Population Of Goergia

Population of Georgia is about 5,000,000 people. What is the most interesting part of this part, about 1,200,000 people live in Tbilisi, the capital city.

7. Georgia Borders With...

Georgia borders with the Black Sea, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

8. Religion

The country of Georgia is almost 84% Orthodox Christian. Christianity became the official religion in fourth century.

9. EU and NATO?

Georgia, with its pro-western view and developing economy wants to join NATO and European Union.

10. Independence

Goergia attained independence from the Soviet Union on 9th April 1991.

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Weekly Thoughts #1: Cheers! Gaumarjos! Na zdrowie! - Learning Foreign Languages

  Words which I used in the title of this article have exactly the same meaning, but they're in three different languages. "Cheers!" is of course in English, "Gaumarjos!" in Georgian and "Na zdrowie!" in Polish. I will tell you why it is very important to learn foreign languages and how to learn them in easy, fast and enjoyable way.

  I started learning my first foreign language (English) in the second class of primary school. The system of learning totally sucked and I wasn't able to learn quickly enough because a teacher had to explain everything to students who had problems with really easy things like Present Continuous. My mother decided to pay for additional classes which I was attending after school. These lessons were different than the one in school because I had to learn a lot of words from day to day and I almost wasn't learning grammar there. It was almost the best way to learn English very quickly, but still not perfect.
  I remember when I have met the first person in my life who I had to speak in English to. It was really difficult because my English wasn't good enough and a native speaker sounded for me like he was talking without any stops... Really! After a few days of trying talking in English, I was able to talk (slowly!) about simple things like animals or music.

  This year was for me breakthrough in my history of learning English because I decided to be a host of a student from AIESEC for a week. There were four persons from AIESEC in my city. Two Georgian girls (from The Republic Of Georgia not from Georgia, USA) and two men: one Mexican and one Brazilian. I was a host of a Brazilian student, but we were hanging out everyday together with Georgians and Mexican. It was the great pleasure and a marvelous experience for me because I changed myself thanks to them (but I will tell you about it in another article). After one week I am able to speak English very quickly and almost without any serious mistakes. This is why you should use a foreign language you learning even if it's not perfect. Talking to another person in the language you want to learn definitely is the best way to learn it... believe me!

  A lot of people who are English native speakers can now ask me "but why should I learn any other language while my is the most popular and I can talk in English almost to each person?". You should learn a new languages because:

1. It's very healthy for your brain.
2. You shouldn't limit yourself.
3. You will be able to go to another country and talk to people who don't know English in their own language.
4. It's a great opportunity to spend your free time in a clever way.

 Now, you can ask me how to learn a new language when you can't attend classes/buy books/type here your own problem. You should use websites like:

1. Livemocha
2. 101languages
3. Duolingo
4. Babbel
5. Learnalanguage

So start learning a language and have fun! :D

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