English for Brazilians

After the neighborhood documentary screening, Ana proposes a story circle to Emma and Sam where the audience asks questions, and learns to open a proposal with what if we and explain the idea before the details.

At the café next door, Ana, Emma, and Sam choose the theme for the first circle, and Ana learns to acknowledge the appeal of an idea before disagreeing and say what draws her to another.

Ana invites Rosa, a library regular with a good story, to tell it at a circle, and learns to check willingness without assuming and make it explicit that there is no pressure.

Before the first circle, Ana and Emma agree with Rosa on how to say no to a question, ask for a break, and mark an off-limits topic, and Ana learns to make the right to refuse explicit and confirm a boundary.

In the first circle, Ana invites Rosa to tell about arriving in the neighborhood and learns how to ask about lived experience and hold a pause in front of the group.

In the circle, Rosa departs from the chronological order to tell about a friendship, and Ana learns to recall a detail already heard and ask how something started.

A door slams in the hallway and covers up the year of a move, and Ana learns to state what she caught and what she missed, and reconstruct the order of events out loud for the group.

Rosa says the opening was quite a day, and Ana learns to ask if that's in a good way and suggest an emotional reading without treating it as fact.

A neighbor adds a memory and the stories intersect, and Ana learns to bring Rosa back to where she was and save the other person's memory for later.

Four new people arrive during the break, and Ana learns to summarize a story live, starting with what happened and cutting to the chase when time is tight.

In a circle about how the team was formed, Emma and Sam remember the first meeting differently, and Ana learns to attribute each version to the person who told it and to state what the two agree on.

When summarizing Grace's story for the group, Ana says lost her job, and Grace corrects her, and Ana learns to acknowledge a possible misunderstanding and replace the wording on the spot.

Luis, new to the circle, speaks with a different rhythm and different vowels, and Ana learns to ask for a rephrasing without embarrassing him and to confirm the meaning with you're saying that.

Lucy joins the circle on a call, with a connection delay, and Ana learns to hand the turn back in two words and return to the question that was interrupted.

Ana brings up the twenty years with Dona Marta, and Rosa shares that she passed away, and Ana learns to acknowledge the pain without comparing, to offer a change of subject, and to wait.

Sam makes a joke about the café's former name, half the room doesn't laugh, and Ana learns to ask if she's missing a reference and to explain the joke to newcomers.

The circle takes place during a walk through the square, and Grace shares what used to be there, and Ana learns to contrast past and present and ask how a change affected something.

In the square, a statement about the use of the space makes the rounds, and Ana learns to separate what she saw herself, what she heard without checking, and what is just an opinion.

Ana introduces Rosa to a new group and connects her story to the previous circle, and learns to attribute a quote to the person who said it, flag what is her own take, and stop before telling what belongs to the other person.

Luis's story runs long and three people are still waiting, and Ana learns to negotiate focus with the time remaining and offer a follow-up at a set time.

After a story in the square, Luis and Grace differ on the image of the neighborhood it conveys, and Ana learns to contrast lived experiences with boundaries and ask what exactly is being disagreed on.

In a circle facilitated by Emma, Ana needs to jump in after other speakers and add something to Grace's point, and learns to ask to contribute to the topic and build on what the other person said.

The library is closing an hour early in the middle of a circle, and Ana learns to link a condition to a decision and say what needs to be maintained for the plan to hold up.

Omar arrives to help at a circle having never seen one, and Ana learns to provide the necessary context in a few sentences and check whether it's making sense before continuing.

Ana rehearses the opening of the next circle with Emma, and learns to direct the group's attention with here's something to listen for and to rephrase an abstract idea on the spot with in other words.

In a larger circle, Ana invites those who haven't spoken yet to connect Rosa's story to their own lives, and learns to ask what resonated and to ask for a different perspective.

Maya asks whether the stories in the circle represent the whole neighborhood, and Ana learns to buy a second to think, limit the scope of what she does, and give an honest answer that isn't a good one.

After the circle, Luis says that tonight felt too cheerful, and Ana learns to ask for a concrete moment, acknowledge what was missing, and propose a change that can be made next time.

After a packed circle, Ana checks with Rosa whether the summary at the end conveyed what she wanted, and learns to ask if something came across as intended and to make room for a correction next time.

At the end of the circle series, Ana interviews Priya, now a volunteer, a question from the audience changes the direction, and Ana learns to follow the detour, ask for the message the person wants to leave, and check the accuracy of the summary.