Our Country

A few points of view.

1- When you think about your country, which words or pictures come to your mind?

- It is very nice.
Tiago, Gonçalo, Rafael, João Caixeiro, Arsénio

- Only one word: Beach...lol...

João Costa

- One of the Words and pictures is Football, mainly because of Euro 2004, which Portugal organized and in a fine way.. And Tourism, 'cause more and more tourists are choosing Portugal as their place for a vacation...

(By the way, the first question is about what comes to your mind when the subject is our country... Saying "it is very nice", isn't an answer... Think about that... )

Hugo Batista

- It’s a very great country :P, and the word is “beach” of course. lol

João Dores

- The words which come to my mind when I think about my country are Natural Beauty.

Pedro Quintino

- The beaches and natural beauty.

Fabrice, Carlos & Pedro

- It’s the worst country in Europe and the picture that comes to our minds is the plains we have in Alentejo.

Vanessa & Sam

- There are nice landscapes in general and the climate is good.

Max

2- How would you describe your country to someone who had never visited it before?

- Great country.

Tiago & Gonçalo

- Very beautiful and interesting country.

Rafael

- It's a wonderful country for any person to visit.
João Costa

- Great country with lots of places to visit all year long, with places for all kinds of tastes.

Hugo Batista

- I think it is an interesting place with such great things to visit.

João Dores

- Our country is very beautiful, we can’t deny it. Only our politicians aren't the best, but we are trying to handle them.

Pedro Quintino

- Portugal is very beautiful due to its natural beauty, monuments, touristic places, etc.

Fabrice, Carlos & Pedro

- We just have a few words to tell them: history, beaches, climate, people. If you want to come here you are very welcome.

Vanessa & Sam

- The country is nice. It’s the government’s guilt that we have problems.

Max

- Our country is beautiful, it has green spaces and good beaches.

João Caixeiro

- It is a very beautiful country. Very beautiful beaches and green spaces.

Arsénio

3- We can all play a role in the country we live in. What do you think we can do to make our country a better place to live in?

- More green spaces.

Tiago & Gonçalo

- More places for the families to be together and for the children to play.

Rafael

- More parks, green spaces, etc.

João Costa

- What can we do to make this country better? It's those simple things that the majority of the people just don't care about, like not throwing garbage in the street, parks, etc. Recycling and all those things that are small, but very important to the country.

(Again, the answers are not the most correct, because the questions refer to what we, the common people, can do to make Portugal a better country and "we" can create more green spaces, but we are not creating them, so, instead at least we must take care of the green spaces that we already have...)

Hugo Batista

- Less pollution, more employment.

João Dores

- Better Politicians, more Jobs and Less Pollution. We have lots of green places, but more green places could be nice too.

Pedro Quintino

- Green spaces, less pollution, and better politicians.

Fabrice, Carlos & Pedro

- We can become better workers, change the government and be more responsible.

Vanessa & Sam

- We could try and improve the people’s living conditions.

Max

- Less pollution would be great.

João Caixeiro & Arsénio

Our Town

Some students had the chance to state their opinions about the town they live in.

1- Do you like living in your town? Why/why not?

- I like living in my town. It has lots of things to do and a great natural beauty. But I used to like my city more some time ago, because now I feel that it's being destroyed.

Pedro Quintino

- Yes, but...there are jerks who bring pollution to the city...

João Costa

- Yes, we do, because this is the town where we were born and we like it a lot.

Tiago and Gonçalo

- I like living in my town. It is on one of the most beautiful bays in the world.

Rafael

- Yes, I do, because we have so many places to visit : )

João Dores

- Yeah, we do, because we have a lot to see, visit and places to be!

Fabrice, Pedro & Carlos

- No. Our town is the most boring town in Portugal.

Vanessa & Samuel

- On the one hand, I like living here, but on the other hand I do not, because there are parts of the town that are very dangerous to walk alone. But there are also very pretty landscapes to see and for me it is one of the quietest towns to live in.

Max

- Yes, it's a little small, but this is where I have my friends.

João Caixeiro

- I like living in Alkmaar, because it's my home. I know my way around here.

Mellanie Verhage

- I like my village very much, because I grew op here.

Stefanie Groot

- I like living in my town, because it has one of the most beautiful bays in the world and so much more…

Arsénio


2- What do you like best about your town?

- Its natural beauty, its beaches, some people.

Pedro Quintino

- The beaches but I prefer the countryside.

João Costa

- The beaches.

Tiago, Arsénio, Fabrice, Carlos & Pedro

- The beaches, Arrabida Mountain, some people, etc.

Rafael

- The beaches, of course :P

João Dores

- We like downtown.

Vanessa & Sam

- What I like best in town is girls, XD and the beaches. All the rest is not very important to me.

Max

- What I like best is the city I live in a suburb from Alkmaar, so I like the city.

Mellanie Verhage

- Places to hang out, the café.

Stefanie Groot

- My Town doesn't have many things to spend time on, but it has great beaches and green spaces.

João Caixeiro

3- What do you think is not that good about your town?

- Some people. They are to blame for the destruction of the city.

Pedro Quintino

- The beaches but I prefer the countryside.

João Costa

- Night life is too quiet.

Tiago

- Night life, because sometimes there are many problems.

Rafael

- The pollution

João Dores

- Pollution around town, the natural environment destroyed, etc.

Fabrice, Carlos & Pedro

- We don't consider Setúbal a town, we consider it a little village. Setúbal has just a few shops and places for us to go.

Vanessa & Sam

-What it is not good in the city is the police. It does not do anything when the robberies or other types of crime happen It is rare for them to do anything.

Max

- The things which are not good about my town are: the green spaces, because there are just a few.

Mellanie Verhage

- There's one thing. Not many people live here.

Stefanie Groot

- Pollution.

João Caixeiro & Arsénio

4- If you had to advise a visitor to your town about places to go and see, which would they be?

- Our Downtown, the beaches, Arrábida mountain, etc....

Pedro Quintino

- Figueirinha beach.

João Costa

- The beaches, downtown, …

Tiago

- The beaches, Arrabida Mountain, Sao Filipe Castle and the Sado Estuary.

Rafael

- The beaches, Sao Filipe Castle, the Convent of Jesus.

João Dores

- The beaches, our monuments, etc.

Fabrice, Carlos & Pedro

- Downtown, the beaches and Arrabida mountain.

Vanessa & Sam

- It depends. There are cultural places for us to visit, for example, the fort of S. Filipe and Jesus monastery. If you want to enjoy yourself, you can go to the beach.

Max

- If I could advise someone to visit places around here, I would advise him/her to visit the cinema.

Mellanie Verhage

- There are not many things to visit, but I would tell them to go to the café and then to Alkmaar, the city next to my village.

Stefanie Groot

- Especially the beaches.

João Caixeiro

- Arrabida mountain, the beaches, etc.

Arsénio

Our School

A few of the students have expressed their opinion on the topic

1 - How do you feel about the school you are attending?

We feel that we don't like very much our school, not because of the conditions, but because of some people, some teachers and students… We prefer more modest people.

Vanessa and Samuel

At the moment, I'm feeling happy with the school I'm attending. The people are nice and we have lots of fun.
Pedro Quintino

That's oK, it's a big school.

João Costa

The school is very nice, we feel good here.

Gonçalo and Tiago

The school is fine, It's well organized, the people are nice, etc.

Fabrice

It’s a very good school.

Rafael and Max

2 - What strikes you most at this school and why?

We like very much our school canteen and the staff is very skilled compared with the staff in other schools.
Vanessa and Samuel

In general nothing strikes me especially... I just don't like its location. It's a little bit away from the city.

Pedro Quintino

I like the library, because there are lots of resources there.

João Costa

The thing we like most is the friends we have here...

Gonçalo and Tiago

The soccer field, the bar, because they are good places for us to socialize.

Fabrice

The conditions the school offers are good. The equipment and services are the best in the city.

Rafael and Max

3 - What kind of school is it (no. of students, courses provided, services, equipment, etc.)?

It's a very good school. The best in our city, we think. The school has very good conditions, and also some courses other schools don't have.

Vanessa and Samuel

It has a large number of students, excellent equipment and services. As for the courses, there are the ordinary ones each school offers and some more, like Informatics and Social Entertainment.

Pedro Quintino

This school has very good equipment, services and lots of students.

João Costa

Our school has 1,200 students, there are technological courses, humanities, arts, etc... The equipment is very good.

Gonçalo and Tiago

It's a secondary school, with about 1,200 students (I think), and the school provides courses like Informatics, Sciences, Arts, Humanities, Technological Courses, etc. This school doesn't have a gym though, but it has a soccer field, a library, and we have a lot of computers and other useful equipment.

Fabrice

It's a secondary school, but the school also has pre-intermediate students. The school has many students. It offers several courses, from technological to scientific ones. There is a library, a dining hall, a buffet, a stationary, a conference room, etc.
Rafael and Max

4- How about the area of studies you are in? What do you think about it?

We attend the technological course of computer science. It's a very good course, but a difficult one too. I (Vanessa) like to learn about hardware, software, etc. a lot.

Vanessa and Samuel

Our area of studies is the best :D. I’m enjoying the course. And my friends are great.
Pedro Quintino

That's a little bit difficult, but that's fine.

João Costa

I don't like the area I have chosen and I will definitely change to another course next year.
Tiago

I’m in the area of Informatics. I don’t like it though.

Fabrice

We study Informatics. We think it is a very good course, because there are many prospects for the future.

Rafael and Max

5- How about school/education in your country? Mention both its good and not so good aspects.

Good aspects = none. Bad ones = lots!!! Thanks to our politicians.

Pedro Quintino

In my country education is a big mess, because here there's no one who seems to get hold of it. What can we do?

João Costa

It is not the greatest education system in Europe.

Gonçalo and Tiago

Well, I don't think there are any good aspects, besides education itself! The bad aspects are like a lot, too many to mention.

Fabrice

We think it is oK. There are good aspects, but at the moment people talk more against the lessons, which have to be taught by teachers who have to replace those who miss school for some reason.

Rafael and Max