Throughout my life, I have had little direct exposure to other cultures and languages. Although I have met people from around the world that have come to the United States, my firsthand experience of another language for the most part has been minimal. This all changed this past summer when I spent two weeks in Brazil for tennis camp. I found myself in a country that is rich in customs and traditions very foreign to me. Most importantly, in Brazil they speak Portuguese, a language I had no prior background in. My only other direct exposure to another language occurred when I took four years of high school Spanish, learning the language in the traditional classroom setting. Throughout my time in Brazil, I found myself picking up Portuguese very quickly despite the fact that the way I was learning this language is not the traditional way of doing so. Looking back on my multilingual experience, I now ponder this question: "Is learning another language by spending time in a country as legitimate a way of learning a language as the “traditional” academic means?" |
My first night in Brazil was a very interesting one. It was the opening ceremony for the tennis camp so naturally I had to meet new people, but this was very difficult for me to do considering that the only things I knew how to say in Portuguese were “hello” and “how are you”. I vividly remember one person that I talked to that night, Fernanda. She approached me with a warm smile and an "Oi!” which means hello and she also asked me how I was doing. I shaking responded, “Bom!” which means good, but before I could say anything else the few words that I knew in Portuguese escaped me and my mind went blank. I stood there
smiling for a few seconds until she hugged me and said something along the lines of, “It’s great to have you here!” Fernanda really helped to calm my nerves and for the rest of the orientation, everyone was extremely friendly to me. I came into the evening with a lot of anxiety about not being able to speak Portuguese, but this quickly went away as felt the warmth of the Brazilians around me.
smiling for a few seconds until she hugged me and said something along the lines of, “It’s great to have you here!” Fernanda really helped to calm my nerves and for the rest of the orientation, everyone was extremely friendly to me. I came into the evening with a lot of anxiety about not being able to speak Portuguese, but this quickly went away as felt the warmth of the Brazilians around me.
As the evening progressed, the camp moved to the cafeteria for dinner. I sat with the camp director, my coach Carlos, at a large round table filled with other Brazilian tennis players. This dinner was a great experience for me because I could sit there and do my best to absorb the conversation. The language sounded so strange to me, but I could make out a bit of what they were saying partially because of their hand motions, but also because every few minutes I would ask Carlos to fill me in on what they were saying. I did my best to remain invisible partially because I am a shy person, but also because when someone would ask me a question I was not able to respond.
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This first night was a lot to take in for me. I felt a bit discouraged at how little I could understand, but I was also excited for the two weeks to come because I knew I was going to learn a lot. Over the next two weeks, these dinner conversations that I was able to sit in on would prove to be
the source of much of the Portuguese I was learning. I would sit there like a sponge, absorbing everything being said, even if I couldn’t understand most of it, and do my best to follow along. I also learned a lot of Portuguese on the tennis court. Since tennis is the same anywhere you go in the world, it was easy for me to make connections between English and Portuguese words. The language began to imprint in my mind and I found myself being able to make small conversation after just a few days. By the end of the first week, I had a basic understanding of Portuguese. |
Two weeks later on my final night in Brazil, there was a big camp dinner, but this one was quite different from the one that I attended the first night. Of course my Portuguese was not perfect after just this short time, but I found myself able to understand almost everything my friends were saying and I was even able to contribute a little. At one point Fernanda was sharing a story about how she and I played a very intense doubles match. I felt comfortable enough with my Portuguese that I was able to add in my point of view, something I could have never done just a few days before.
By the end of the second week I felt my Portuguese was at a point that my Spanish was after two years of in class training. I attribute this largely to the fact that I was immersed in the language and culture for two whole weeks. It was everywhere I went, so I was picking up on it even when I wasn’t aware that I was doing so. Also, being that I was in a different country, I was forced to speak the language as it was my only means of communication. What I was lacking though was training in the use of proper grammar, something that is stressed in the classroom setting. Then again, my oral skills in Spanish are very weak as most of the work that we did was on paper or simply listening to the teacher speak. |
Over the two weeks I spent in Brazil, I found myself quickly catching onto the language and building relationships with people. There is something very
special, yet unexplainable about learning a language by spending time in another country. It happens on its own, almost effortlessly and in no time I
found myself able to understand conversation. By completely submerging myself in Brazilian culture I was able to learn a language much faster that I had over the four years I took of high school Spanish. Both methods of learning are very different though and have their own pros and cons. Although my method of learning Portuguese was not the “traditional” academic way of learning a language, I believe it to be as legitimate as the work that I did in the classroom setting to learn Spanish.
my second mode
By: Rocco English
For more information:
Watch the interview in which Rocco talks about his experience of learning Portuguese in Brazil here.
Watch the interview in which Rocco talks about his experience of learning Portuguese in Brazil here.