I attended an international forum class about Brazil on the CSU Chico campus. The meeting was about higher education in Brazil and how that has changed for the better. The speaker Elisa Marchioro Stumpf, who was obviously from Brazil because of her accent, was ready to tell us the history of Brazil’s education. She asked us what we knew about Brazil as a country and what exciting events are coming. We were told Brazilians are happy to be hosting the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics; even though they do not take place for a while, it takes a long time to prepare for big events such as these. The native language in Brazil is Portuguese though they can also understand Spanish. It is the 5^th largest country in the world and the largest country in Latin America. The population of Brazil in 2010 was 190 million but only 90.3% of the population of adults can read their names. Brazil has gone through a lot of challenges includingbeing a dictatorship from 1930-1945 and then a military dictatorship from1964-1985. Finally in 1989 they were able to elect a president by popularity. Education was something that was left behind and Brazil was greatly impacted by all the students going to Portugal to get an education and sometimes not coming back home. So in 1920 they opened their first university in Brazil. This improved the development of the country and created a demand for universities and the beginning of postgraduate programs. The education system is not so different from ours; it takes 5-6 years to get a bachelor’s degree and 4 years for a teaching degree. With Brazil’s improved education program six million students were enrolled in undergraduate school in 2010. They also have great programs for their students who are studying abroad.

 I learned a lot about Brazil and their education system but I would like to know more about the beautiful culture. I have only seen pictures of Brazil and I have to say it is an incredibly beautiful place that I would want to visit someday. Even though most of the country is on or near the coast, Brazil does have a wide range of weather conditions. People from all over the world have immigrated there for good reason. They really have something for everyone and are an ever-growing country that is changing with the times.

My review for the presentation on Brazil and its education system was that it was very informative but nothing that I couldn’t have read about online. I was disappointed after looking online to find much of the same information that Elisa had talked about in class. It was a bit dull in that it was mostly a lot of facts and figures that she talked about. Brazil is such an exciting country that I would have liked to learn more about the people, their lifestyle and the country as a whole. I learned a lot about the education program but I would like to know more about the country as a whole.                  

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