It is with great pleasure that I present you the first guest post of this blog, written by my dear ChanahEmiliania - a very intelligent and kind girl who's learning Portuguese. Here, she tells us more about her experiences with the language.
Thank you again, my friend!
~~~~~~~~~~
Oi gente! (Hi people!)
I’m ChanahEmiliania, a friend of BRDisney’s from YouTube. When I saw that BRDisney was seeking guest posts, I asked if I could write one about learning Portuguese. Included in the “yes” answer was a request to also write about why I became interested in learning Portuguese. So this is that post!
I’ll start at the beginning: how I became interested in Portuguese and Brazil. I grew up (and am writing this) in New Jersey near a community of Brazilian and Portuguese immigrants. There are a bunch of Brazilian and Portuguese restaurants and shops, with lots of flags from those countries. Stores are as likely to say “fala-se português” (Portuguese spoken here) as they are to say “se habla español” (Spanish spoken here). I mention Spanish because that’s what I learned in school starting in kindergarten (five years old). It was always my favorite class because I liked learning about different cultures and a different language.
When I was a sophomore in high school (16 years old), I took a career aptitude class and got a top match of “college professor of foreign languages and literatures.” I pondered the results and realized that I wanted to learn more languages, even though I could only take Spanish in school. Since Spanish and Portuguese are very similar, I decided to self-study Portuguese via the Internet. I don’t remember what the name of the website was because I gave up after a month. Quick confession: I was actually learning European Portuguese, not Brazilian Portuguese, because I was told it was easier to learn from a Spanish background. I’m not sure if that’s true.
A few years later, I was visiting the colleges where I had been accepted and was given a list of classes I could visit. On a whim, I chose “Portuguese for Speakers of a Romance Language.” I’m very happy I did! The professor was amazing and the class looked like fun. I still remember that the lesson was conditional with if clauses and we listened to “Maresia (Se eu fosse marinheiro).” I decided almost immediately to enroll at that college, hoping to study Portuguese. (To clarify: my college teaches Brazilian Portuguese, but I knew from my class visit that it wouldn’t be too hard.) Unfortunately, that didn’t happen right away due to scheduling conflicts. I did, however, go to Portuguese table once a week for dinner. Portuguese table is normal cafeteria food with conversation in Portuguese; participants include the professor (who’s actually Colombian), the Fulbright TA from Brazil, students from Brazil, students who have studied in Brazil, and anyone else learning Portuguese (that would be me). It was good practice, though it took a few months to figure out what anyone was saying because they all spoke really fast. I became very good at “portunhol” (mixing Portuguese and Spanish), slowly but surely actually learning Portuguese.
This past year was my second at college. I took Portuguese both semesters. The first semester’s class (Portuguese for Speakers of a Romance Language) met five days a week, one of which was taught by the Fulbright TA. We didn’t have to spend a lot of time on grammar because it’s so similar to Spanish, so we focused on vocabulary. We wrote three essays and did one oral presentation. I wound up with an A (highest grade possible). The second semester’s class (Portuguese Conversation and Composition) met three days a week, plus watching a movie outside of class every few weeks. We learned about culture by reading short stories and discussing the movies we watched. We also worked on grammar and vocabulary by writing six essays and doing one oral presentation. It was much more work, but I got another A.
I also lived in the Romance Language House, a special-interest dorm for people who speak Spanish, French, Italian, or Portuguese (though many of us spoke more than one of those). My two roommates and I were supposed to speak Portuguese all the time; results were mixed in that we tended towards portunhol or just plain English. One roommate had studied in São Paulo the previous semester, and the other will be studying in São Paulo in two semesters. My college’s study abroad program to São Paulo is at Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC) or Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), depending on the major. As a Spanish and German double major, it didn’t make sense for me to do either of those, though I hope to someday visit Brazil!
In August I will begin my year abroad in Spain and Germany. I hope to visit Portugal and practice Portuguese while there! When I return to the US for my final year of college, I plan to take classes on Brazilian culture and keep going to Portuguese table. I will also continue participating in Portuguese Club, which organizes a Brazilian Independence Day celebration and other events.
That’s all I can think of! Thanks for reading and let me know if you have questions! Tchauzinho!
I’ll start at the beginning: how I became interested in Portuguese and Brazil. I grew up (and am writing this) in New Jersey near a community of Brazilian and Portuguese immigrants. There are a bunch of Brazilian and Portuguese restaurants and shops, with lots of flags from those countries. Stores are as likely to say “fala-se português” (Portuguese spoken here) as they are to say “se habla español” (Spanish spoken here). I mention Spanish because that’s what I learned in school starting in kindergarten (five years old). It was always my favorite class because I liked learning about different cultures and a different language.
When I was a sophomore in high school (16 years old), I took a career aptitude class and got a top match of “college professor of foreign languages and literatures.” I pondered the results and realized that I wanted to learn more languages, even though I could only take Spanish in school. Since Spanish and Portuguese are very similar, I decided to self-study Portuguese via the Internet. I don’t remember what the name of the website was because I gave up after a month. Quick confession: I was actually learning European Portuguese, not Brazilian Portuguese, because I was told it was easier to learn from a Spanish background. I’m not sure if that’s true.
A few years later, I was visiting the colleges where I had been accepted and was given a list of classes I could visit. On a whim, I chose “Portuguese for Speakers of a Romance Language.” I’m very happy I did! The professor was amazing and the class looked like fun. I still remember that the lesson was conditional with if clauses and we listened to “Maresia (Se eu fosse marinheiro).” I decided almost immediately to enroll at that college, hoping to study Portuguese. (To clarify: my college teaches Brazilian Portuguese, but I knew from my class visit that it wouldn’t be too hard.) Unfortunately, that didn’t happen right away due to scheduling conflicts. I did, however, go to Portuguese table once a week for dinner. Portuguese table is normal cafeteria food with conversation in Portuguese; participants include the professor (who’s actually Colombian), the Fulbright TA from Brazil, students from Brazil, students who have studied in Brazil, and anyone else learning Portuguese (that would be me). It was good practice, though it took a few months to figure out what anyone was saying because they all spoke really fast. I became very good at “portunhol” (mixing Portuguese and Spanish), slowly but surely actually learning Portuguese.
This past year was my second at college. I took Portuguese both semesters. The first semester’s class (Portuguese for Speakers of a Romance Language) met five days a week, one of which was taught by the Fulbright TA. We didn’t have to spend a lot of time on grammar because it’s so similar to Spanish, so we focused on vocabulary. We wrote three essays and did one oral presentation. I wound up with an A (highest grade possible). The second semester’s class (Portuguese Conversation and Composition) met three days a week, plus watching a movie outside of class every few weeks. We learned about culture by reading short stories and discussing the movies we watched. We also worked on grammar and vocabulary by writing six essays and doing one oral presentation. It was much more work, but I got another A.
I also lived in the Romance Language House, a special-interest dorm for people who speak Spanish, French, Italian, or Portuguese (though many of us spoke more than one of those). My two roommates and I were supposed to speak Portuguese all the time; results were mixed in that we tended towards portunhol or just plain English. One roommate had studied in São Paulo the previous semester, and the other will be studying in São Paulo in two semesters. My college’s study abroad program to São Paulo is at Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC) or Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), depending on the major. As a Spanish and German double major, it didn’t make sense for me to do either of those, though I hope to someday visit Brazil!
In August I will begin my year abroad in Spain and Germany. I hope to visit Portugal and practice Portuguese while there! When I return to the US for my final year of college, I plan to take classes on Brazilian culture and keep going to Portuguese table. I will also continue participating in Portuguese Club, which organizes a Brazilian Independence Day celebration and other events.
That’s all I can think of! Thanks for reading and let me know if you have questions! Tchauzinho!
