Aula de inglês (1)

LACK OF COMMUNICATION

Even very educated people, when they hear the word "soteriology", are very likely to have no idea whatsoever about what it means. No matter how strange it may sound, however, it's not, like Brazilians usually say, any "animal of seven heads". The Greek word "Soteria" means "salvation", from "Sóter", whose meaning is "saviour". Hence the fact that the inhabitants of Salvador, the capital of Bahia, are called "soteropolitanos". "Polis", by the way, is "city" in Greek.

Therefore, what, at first sight, looked difficult to understand, after an explanation becomes crystal clear to us.

Clarity is extremely necessary. And those who make speeches about any subject must bear in mind that their listeners may sometimes misunderstand many points that they are trying to teach.

ARCHITECTS WHO DIDN'T CARE FOR KIDS

One day a teacher was lecturing in a Seminary about the necessity of being sure that the audience understands all our statements. And he told the following story to illustrate his thought.

In São Paulo there is a big square, near Júlio Prestes railroad station, called "Princess Elizabeth". And right in the middle of it there's a huge monument in honor of the Duke of Caxias, the patron of the Brazilian army. The soldier is riding a horse and in his right hand he holds a sword.

If you give your back to the railway station you can see a couple of skyscrapers. The architects who made the projects of those buildings apparently hated children. Would you believe that they don't have one square centimeter for the kids? There is no see-saw, no merry-go-round, no slide, no sand box, no bars, no swings, "No Nothing!" Can you imagine a place with so many boys and girls without a playground? The kids live like in a prison in their apartments.

One of the families living there had three people, namely, father, mother, and a five-year-old son. The man worked for the Bank of Brazil, from 12 to 6 p.m. Since he had all mornings free, he used to take his boy to the square.

He bought the morning paper at the news stand, sat down in a cement bench and, with one eye he read the news and with the other he watched the child. Wow! The kid had the time of his life with his buddies : they jumped rope, they jumped horseback, they ran, they played hide-and-seek, hopscotch and God only knows what else.

One day, in order to break monotony, the father said: Look, sonny, do you see that big statue over there? That's the statue of the Duke of Caxias. From today on, every morning, when we arrive at the square, we will look up and say: "Good morning, Duke" and when we leave to go home we'll also look up and say: "Good bye, Duke". How's that?

- Fine, the boy said. It's going to be lots of fun.

From that day on they followed that routine. And they did it for months on end, day in and day out. That went on and on and on without interruption.

COMMUNICATION, A REAL ART


One afternoon that man was asked to go to the department of the personnel of the bank. He was told that he was transferred to Goiânia and he had ninety days to move. Of course, the bank would pay the additional twenty-five percent in his salary and would stand the gaff as far as moving was concerned. He had to take it or leave it. There was no choice.

Even with all the fuss due to that change in their daily life, they continued to go down to the square every morning until the last day came.

- Well, I guess we're gonna have to bid farewell to our friend, the Duke, today, said the father.

And when they were leaving the square to go upstairs, the boy looked up and said:

- Good bye, Duke. For good.

In the elevator the kid asked his father a very interesting question:

- Dad, what's the name of that soldier who is riding the Duke of Caxias?

That's that for the story. Now some comments from the professor.

During months on end the boy was thinking that the horse was the Duke. Why is that? Very simple: the words the father used were completely inadequate for a five-year-old child. What can "Duke" and "Caxias" mean to him? These strange words should be explained, of course.

No wonder the boy thought it was the animal. First of all, animals are very important in the kid's world. They love stories about frogs, mice, beavers, ostriches, deer, lions and so on and so forth. It was nothing but natural that he should be more attracted by the horse.

And let's not forget, the professor went on, that for the child the animal was nearer. The army officer was much farther from the kid's sight.

In short, it's not because something is clear to us that it's also clear to our listener. To communicate is really an art.