Hello, everyone! I need some help, actually an advice about having a good posture to play the violin. Would someone, who plays the instrument and has long neck, help me? What's the best? Changing the chin rest for a higher one or just changing the shoulder rest for another one like Wolf secundo? #adultlatemusicaleducation #help

My family is a multicultural one: I am from Brazil and my husband is from here, Peru, where we live. We have two absolutely adorable little girls, Cibele and Sofia. As most Brazilians, my roots come from Portugal (Villa Rica and Trás - Os- Montes), Spain, Brazil (native peoples) and some African territories (Cameroon, Congo and other Bantu peoples) according to my DNA. Not a surprise at all! All this can be explained by history. My husband has basically Andean and Spanish roots, and a big surprise such as French and, believe me, Scottish match in his DNA. You had to see his face when he read his results. It was hilarious! He still asks himself how a Scottish folk could get lost in this part of the world! My extetended family, I mean, my parents, siblings, neeces, cousins, uncles and aunts live in Brazil. I do not have grandparents anymore. As people from the North East of the country, they preserve some Brazilian culture features, especially the fests, but no the way Peruvians do. Peruvian people are very linked to their land, fests, traditions, and... to the family. I used to say they do not cut the umbilical cord even when they grow up and get married. It is quite difficult to understand and treat people without any conflict. You must have planty of patience, it is possible! The hardest part of being part of a multicultural family and transit between two worlds is to educate children free of any prejudice so they can love both sides, both cultures.

I have different hobbies such as riding my bike, trying new things in the kitchen, reading a good book but one has a very emotional meaning to me: playing the violin. Learning how to play a musical instrument is absolutely amazing and it can make you be proud of yourself as soon as you notice the very small or big progress in it, especially if you are an adult student. I am so grateful for having the opportunity to play and learning how to read music, it feels like having a special power. The method that I chose is the Suzuki one and I dare say I am doing pretty well though it is late education on this matter. Suzuki method's objective is to teach people in a very "natural way" since it emulates the acquisition of languages and its philosophy is that every child is able to learn and play, all is question of discipline and perseverance. The violin course has 10 books with great selection of music, from folk to grandiose compositors of erudite music. I have listen some pieces of music from Brahms, Gossec, Bayly... Bach is my favourite one until now! All the slurs I play make me feel like I am softly swinging on a hammock (maybe I feel that way because I miss the hot climate of my natal country, Brazil). Actually were my children who took me into the music study. I just took the advantage of listening to their repertoire every day, I bought a cheap instrument and got to work. I have been having classes for 23 weeks in order to get it right and I am amused by every little progress!

Definitely eating is one of the greatest pleasures of life. I have just baked some cinnamon rolls by my own and they are divine! Happy face to me!😁

It is true everybody's life has changed but I dare to say that my family and I are privileged people. My husband still has his job, my children still have clases, not in the way they'd wish, but still are being educated, and I have time to learn new things like how to play an musical instrument, for example. Also I have the opportunity to work from home as a teacher. This pandemic came to show us that we have to change the way we live, treat the planet and other people, otherwise this world will not be able to sustain life in it. The covid showed us that there are some political questions and duties as healthcare, education and environmental preservation must not be considered as commodities, as products. They are rights and not negotiable in the business world. In Peru, the president had very good intentions to keep people save during this emergency offering economical help for people I need but the social differences, I mean, the abyss between the riches and the poors, associated to cultural customers made it impossible and now the country has the highest number of contamination and deaths per million inhabitants in the region. Fortunately my parents, siblings and extended family in my natal country are well, including my sister and brother who work in two hospitals in the city. I hope they keep going well and healthy.

I love studying languages in general. I truly believe that your mind can be changed if you know other languages, and the walls between people can be broken. I already speak Spanish fluently and that helped me understand the way of living in many Latin countries, it helped me understand their history, their thoughts. So I think English is absolutely useful since it has been taken as the international business language. I know it is kind of a filter, but it is a tool to get closer to all these cultures around the world.

Behaviour change It is not a secret that the city is a concrete jungle with the third part of the national population living here. This place is full of contrast. On the one hand we have beautiful green suburbs and on the other, new communities where almost every thing is needed. However, I do not want to write about the city but a particular behaviour change from some people that has been noticed through the last few years. Some years ago, there where institutions and people who cared about mayor adults and vulnerable women and children in many parts of the city, not only the new communities. They were individuals who donated their time and money to help who needed help. But now, the number of benefactors has dropped while more and more people are looking after abandoned animals in parks and streets of this town, even without adopting them. Those people prefer to give their money, efforts and time to feed and shelter animals. I can say it is an honourable action, I am sure about that. But how about people in need, especially in this very difficult moment of pandemic? Where have we left our humanity?

The neighbor language This is the first time I write here in italki. I must confess that I did not have idea of what to write about. Fortunatelly, I remembered a small conversation I had with a pair of good friends earlier. We were talking about the languages taught as foreign languages in schools across the countries: Peru, where I live, and Brazil, the place I come from. In some point of the discussion, Angela, who married an Italian man, said that things are very different in Europe. She told us foreing languages that are taught are languages from the borders. People should be able to communicate with their "neighbors". It was a big surprise to me and make me think over of our educational systems. Both countries have English as mandatory discipline even though the official languages are Spanish and Portuguese, respectively. So I ask you all out there. Is that true you learn right your neighbor languages? Would you comment what and how students learn foreign languages in your country?