I’ve been spending some time exploring other expat blogs and blogs from other countries lately. I finally found a blog of a Brazilian living in the US at Moments and Thoughts and it has been really interesting getting to see the reverse of what I’m going through.
That blog lead me to another and I eventually found a great post about why the English language is so difficult to learn.
As I’m struggling to learn Portuguese, it is helpful to remember that English isn’t exactly easy either. I’ve always tried to keep that in mind when Portuguese frustrates me. I am really motivated by all the Brazilian friends I know here who speak English so well.
However, it is easy to forget how much they probably struggled when I am knee deep in de and di that sound like g and te that sounds like ch. Then you learn that it is different in other parts of the country!
Anyway, this post at Samba Girl is a great reminder that English is a complicated language too!
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8 comments:
neat post!! Having had a few experiences try to teach English to others, I agree - English is hard. When struggling with Portuguese (yes, it still happens and I have been speaking it for 16 years now!), I remember that at least it is not a really hard language, like English (or Chinese!!).
I see total fluency as a process, not a goal and something unattainable - language is always changing and there is always something more to learn. Rather than be frustrated by this, I am challenged. Good luck and hang in there!!
Thanks, corinne! For me, I find Portuguese to be a fairly simple language. I think that is what sometimes makes it so hard to learn. It is simpler than what I am used to so I complicate it.
It is like its simplicity is the one that that makes it difficult, if that makes any sense. :)
Hi Lori, thank you for yous visit an for mentioning my blog here, hehe. Yes i had seen Vivi's post before and it's tru huh... english is complicated. I still have a lot to learn, my english will never be perfect. I started writing in english in my blog for 2 reasons, one because I thought it would help me practive writing since I am going to College and I will have to take some writing classes... and the other reason is because some of my new blog readers are americans, e not all of them can read portuguese. So I thought it would reach many more people if I wrote in english. But I confess, my posts are full of mistakes. I still need to work on my vocabulary.
Anyways, If I learned english, you will be able to learn portuguese too, don't worry. It just takes a little time and patience. hehe
:)
Ps. Vivi's blog (Samba Girl) is awesome, she writes really well, not only grammatically, but she has the gift of writing. I love it!
elaine - I was going to ask you about switching languages in your blog. I noticed that when I was looking through. I think your written English throughout it is excellent.
At this point I have no goals of fluency in Portuguese. I just want to be able to understand more when people talk to me. It still takes me about 5 minutes after someone says something for my brain to process what it was! :)
Hi Lori...
Wow... what can I say?! You "linked" me. I feel honored.
I've been trying to teach my american friends the right pronunciation for PAO DE QUEIJO. They swear I'm saying BAO, instead of PAO.
It's quite interesting to realize how many sounds you can articulate with or without an accent. My hubby still has a hard time saying my name - Viviane or Vivi. It sounds more like
ViviAAne or Vee Vee.
So, to help him and all my friends, I came up with
V - V - uh - knee.
Hope yeo have a wonderful weekend
Ha, ha. I would have never guessed that the name was pronounced so differently. I do it though. We like to ignore certain letters and sounds in English. :)
Pao de queijo is definitely one of those words that flies right out of the mouth for Brazilians. It always takes me a second to realize that is what was actually said.
Lori,
I think there are just some sounds that will always be hard for native English speakers in Portuguese. I have a really hard time with indigenous names "Vale de Jequitinhonha" ALWAYS messes me up. BUT, there are sounds Brazilians can´t pronounce either, no matter how well they speak English. Ask any Brazilian to say "world" or "entrepreneur" and you will see what I mean. When I am feeling totally tongue-tied in Portuguese, I remember this.
Corinne,
I have heard from many Brazilian friends they too have a hard time with indigenous names such as "Jequitinhonha" or Jabaquara, Araraquara, Ubatuba, Caraguatatuba...
Ray
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