Signs of Progress

Language is a part of life we often take for granted. We talk and write, read and comprehend, interact and communicate with others, without giving a thought to the processes involved. It is so natural and instinctive.

However, when we are talking about a second language, it often feels very unnatural; fumbling over nouns and verbs, tenses and word endings. Hoping to somehow communicate and not make a total fool of ourselves in the process. I often wonder how my words come across to a fluent Portuguese speaker. I wonder if it sounds the same as a toddler learning to speak?

I've written before about my progress in learning Portuguese - a journey I've been on for almost ten years already. Granted I really only began a marked effort when we moved here four years ago. It's hard to motivate yourself to learn a new language when you don't really need it yet.

And while I have a long long way to go before I reach fluency (if I ever do) it is nice to see some signs of progress...

Phone calls
I am not a phone person. I would much rather text, email or message someone than pick up the phone and call. And this is in English. So you can imagine that I like to delegate as much of the necessary phone calling to my hubby as I can get away with. I find it much easier to understand Portuguese when I can see the person; I'm no lip reader but it does help. These days, however, I've found I can manage quite a few basic calls; setting up doctors appointments, calling for water or cooking gas to be delivered, and of course, mastering the pizza delivery dialogue.

Dreams
Yes, I do dream sometimes in Portuguese, and I take it as a good sign that the language is infiltrating subconscious parts of my brain!

Shopping Lists
Making meal plans and a shopping list is essential in keeping our family well fed. Unfortunately, I usually find myself on the morning of my proposed shopping run scribbling out my meal plan and groceries list. Whatever word is shorter usually ends up on the list. Cucumber - too long, pepino - much better.

Word Games
I've recently found myself sucked into two word games that I play online with my hubby and other friends. Letterpress and Words with Friends. Imagine my chagrin when my Portuguese words just don't work. It's nice to see my growing vocabulary though.

Expressions
There are a lot of expressions that you hear everyday; those idiomatic phrases that just come naturally to express surprise, delight, anger, or just to fill in the pauses in conversation. As I began my language learning, I wondered if those colloquial sayings would ever enter naturally into my conversations. Now, I find that they do, most of the time, seem to flow seamlessly. Of course, I think it took me about two years before I uttered more than a few words in Portuguese.

Facebook
I have a lot more Portuguese speaking friends on Facebook now, and it's becoming easier and easier to understand the status updates, and even read articles that are linked up there. I enjoy reading a few Portuguese blogs as well. (Thanks Aline and Ariane :))

Now my days are filled with a lot more of the local language, and with Lucas and Elena attending a Portuguese-only school, we are speaking it more frequently at home as well. I still have a long way to go, but I am encouraged to see some small signs of progress along the way.

Have you learned a second language as an adult? What did you find most challenging? 

Bilingual

You know, those people; the ones who have multiple languages stuck under their belt, switching effortlessly between the two, depending on the person and situation. Those people who can start a sentence in one language and finish in another. I don't like them. Ok, that's not true. In fact, most of the bilinguals I know, I love. :) It's just that I'm jealous that they grew up speaking two languages and can't remember how they learned them. I, on the other hand, despite living 12 years in Asia, got by with English and a little bit of Bangla. Definitely not enough to be considered fluent or bilingual. And so I find myself here in Brazil, struggling to learn another language, wishing I was gifted in that area like my dad is, and raising two kids to be bilingual.

When I met my husband at university, we spoke English all the time. (He is my favorite bilingual) Admittedly he did try several times to get me to learn Portuguese in those early months/years together, but as we were living in Canada and then Bangladesh, it was hard for me to add on another language. It wasn't until we moved to Brazil in 2009 that I really started learning Portuguese. I have since forgotten any Bangla I used to know, and refuse to think about any French I once knew (having studied it for 7 years in school).

via

There's lots of differing advice out there about how to raise your kids to speak more than one language. Some suggest that each parent exclusively speak one language with their kid. In our case, my hubby would speak only Portuguese and I would speak only English. But what happens when you are all together?

Since we are living in a dominantly Portuguese culture we have done it this way; when we are at home, we all speak English. When we're out, I almost always speak English with the kids and hubby alternates.

It has been interesting to see how our kids are starting to incorporate both languages into their arsenal. Lucas only really started talking a few months after he turned two - a little delay probably because he was getting two languages, and when he started, it was all English. He started pre-school a few months before he turned three, and while the first few weeks were challenging, he adapted very well to the Portuguese-only environment. Soon he was coming home singing Portuguese songs and learning to distinguish between the two languages.

People sometimes ask me how Lucas is doing with Portuguese and it's a little hard to know exactly how much he knows because he usually speaks English with me. For a while he would come home from school speaking Portuguese and if I would respond in English, he would say, "Não, mamãe, fala português" (no, mom, speak Portuguese!) Now I think he understands that it's easier for him to speak English to me. When we are out, however, he happily speaks Portuguese to people around, at church, at the shops, to kids at the park. Sometimes when he's playing by himself I hear him switching between languages. And it's so cute.

We have a lot of books in English and Portuguese at home. 

For now I think I know a little more Portuguese than he does, but I know the day will come when he will start correcting me. :)

So I'd better get back to my language study...

Kids say the darndest things...

Everyone knows kids say a lot of cute, funny and crazy things. Now that we've got a real talker in our family, we routinely hear hilarious things from Lucas and occasionally from Elena. Here are a few for your reading pleasure:

Upon finding a peculiar piece of wood that looks like it belongs from some furniture...
Momma: Lucas, do you know where this came from?
L: It came from outer space!

Daddy is trying to give Lucas a boof kiss (raspberry) on his tummy...
L: Daddy, don't eat my belly. I need to have a baby in my belly!

Lucas has recently started asking to be carried "like a baby" but one evening after wearing an Elephant shaped tea cozy on his head, he asked,
L: Momma, carry me like an Elephant!

During our potty training, I have mentioned to Lucas that if your pee is too dark it means you're not drinking enough water...
L: Chocolate milk makes my pee white? (clear)
M: No Lucas, water makes your pee white.

And a sweet one from Elena;

After washing our hands in the bathroom, I am holding Elena up to the mirror...
M: Who's that pretty girl in the mirror?
E: Momma! ... And Eyena!

Precarious, but precious!

Linking up with {Monday Mom Musings} from Jellibean Journals

My MIL will be proud of me for this post, since she is always reminding me to write down the funny things that happen, the milestones, the progress of my kids. Leave your funny kid sayings in the comments! Always good for a smile :)

Language and Personality

Talkative. Shy. Sarcastic. Witty. Timid. Smart. Awkward. Funny. Mean. Caring. Thoughtful. Genuine. Extroverted. Outgoing. You can tell a lot from what a person says and how they say it. The words they use and the way they communicate. Their body language and expressions. We infer a lot about someone's personality from their language. You form an impression based on what you hear and how you interact.

So what happens when you can't say much? Or anything at all? When I first visited Brazil it was "smile, nod and try to look interesting." The connections I made with people here were basically limited to those who could speak English. It is very easy to forget someone who doesn't say anything.

I wonder how I came across in my early trips to Brazil when my Portuguese was non-existent? Different personality traits can come across when you can't communicate. Proud. Dumb. Introverted. Insecure. When I first started at boarding school many people thought I was snobby because I was so quiet, while in reality I was extremely shy and often intimidated by others.

So as I find myself trying to integrate into a new culture with a new language, I sometimes feel like the Facebook icon - just a featureless face, a blank canvas. I am still learning the basics of Portuguese - the phrases that all newcomers learn, the standard questions and responses. While this is all very helpful and necessary, it also feels very robotic and cliché. It is hard to really express who I am in this new language. I am able to communicate, yes, but do I really come across? Because my language feels so limited, what people can understand and know about me is also limited.

I remember having a conversation with some Brazilian friends who speak both English and Portuguese and lamenting how the "formal" Portuguese I was learning in my classes seemed so far removed from the Portuguese I heard spoken all around me. I guess this is the case in all languages - what often distinguishes the native speakers is their use of idiom, those phrases that are used so often and are so hard to translate. I find it extremely humorous that the words idiom and idiot are so similar sounding; if you don't use an idiom right, you can sound like an idiot! Of course, most people are encouraging and helpful and appreciate your efforts to speak their language.

So I press on, making mistakes daily and slowly coming closer to feeling like speaking Portuguese will one day come naturally to me and people will be able to see the full picture of who I am.

Ask before you order...

Last week, we went out for a late dinner to a diner around the corner. It's an upscale American-style diner; serving assorted appetizers, burgers, fries, milkshakes and a variety of entrees. American-style food with a Brazilian twist of course. Looking for some comfort food, I scanned the menu and was delighted to see Mac and Cheese. The menu is all in Portuguese with a few English names here and there. We've been to this place once or twice before and have always gone for burgers, but that night I wanted something else. 

When I imagined the plate of Mac and Cheese that would be placed before me, I could smell a creamy, cheddary dish of steaming oozy cheese, maybe baked so the top would be crunchy. (never mind that we don't really have cheddar cheese here!) So I quickly scanned the item description and saw a bunch of words which I supposed to be a combination of cheeses - ok, so it would be more like a four-cheese kind of dish. That was fine with me. I ended up ordering the "Louisiana Mac and Cheese" which came with spicy sausage added into the mix. That was fine with me.

When the dish actually arrived - well, it looked pretty good (not as I had imagined) and smelled pretty good, and was baked with a crunchy top, but after a few bites, I tasted something I didn't like - mushrooms. Wait a minute, I never saw mushrooms in the description! To my mind they have no place in a macaroni dish. So I asked dad, "what's the word for mushrooms?" Of course, once he told me; cogumelo, I vaguely remembered skimming over the word, assuming it to be a kind of cheese.

Two lessons learned. One; always read the menu and ask about new words before you order. Two; the Portuguese word for mushrooms is cogumelo. That's one word I won't easily forget now.

Oh, and the Mac and Cheese was pretty good (once I picked out all the mushrooms)! 
   

Lost in translation, or just lost?

Have you ever had someone talk to you in a foreign language and not give you the opportunity to explain that you really have no clue what they're saying? All you can do is smile and nod and hope that you aren't getting yourself into too much trouble?

Have you ever been in a group where everyone speaks two languages but you? You know you could speak English, but the conversation is flowing and carrying on quite well without you and you're not exactly sure when is a good time to interrupt?

These are two situations I have found myself in a lot in the past few months. As a result I have become an expert listener and observer. As my Portuguese has been improving I am able to understand a lot more but I seem to know just enough to get myself into trouble!

I have noticed one thing that differs significantly from my experience living in Asia. There is no question in India or Bangladesh of whether I am a foreigner. It is quite obvious. Also, due to the heavy influence of British colonialism there is a lot of English around and about. There was an immediate expectation that I didn't speak the local language and so many people would approach me and try to speak English. On several occasions in Dhaka I was asked if I would mind if a complete stranger practiced his English on me!

In São Paulo I have experienced something quite the opposite. Being in a large cosmopolitan city along with the already diverse racial mix of Brazilians it is not so obvious that I am a foreigner. At least if I am not a native Brazilian it is expected that I speak the language. And so I land myself in situation #1 on many occasions. On one hand this cosmopolitan nature is something I love about Brazilian culture. On the other hand, it means I have to really put myself out there to make myself understood and not being able to speak fluently seems to be perceived as a real drawback. In Asia I felt that people were more impressed by the fact that I spoke English rather than offended by my inability to speak their local language. Not quite sure what to make of that.

And so I press on, slowly working on my Portuguese knowing that the cost of not learning in the end will be far greater than the cost of time, effort, embarassment and work that must go into learning this language now. At times like this I wish I was more like my dad. He has such a gift for languages and grew up speaking two and understanding at least one other language. He also loves to talk to anyone and everyone and has no qualms about making a fool of himself trying to make himself understood. He already wants to start learning Portuguese.

I guess I have to remember the saying, "nothing ventured, nothing gained." Everyone knows we learn best through our mistakes and once you've spoken something in error, you're not likely to make the same mistake twice. If I don't say anything I won't make any mistakes but I won't learn too much either! So I pray for confidence, humility and the ability to laugh at my myself and try to step out in my dad's shoes.