Comments on: Easing Into Brazilian Culture

By: Lost In Franglais | Correr Es Mi Destino

Lost In Franglais | Correr Es Mi Destino — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:21:15 +0000

[…] Even though not speaking English fluently was frustrating at times, a lot of things I didn’t understand were left to my imagination, and I love the way my brain worked faster to interpret my surroundings correctly (or not). Same as when we were in Brazil, this winter, and I had to adapt to Portuguese. […]

By: Max Coutinho

Max Coutinho — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:50:12 +0000

LOL LOL LOL you may survive the language barrier…
Girl, why don’t you just speak Spanish…they will understand (I believe it is their second language).

If you would come to Portugal (what you must, by the way) you could speak Spanish for we would understand you…or French, we understand that as well, or English…but Spanish is guaranteed!

And mind you that the Portuguese from Portugal is a bit different from the one in Brazil.

Breakfast, for example…we say “Pequeno Almoço” (pequeno: Petit; Almoço: Déjeuner).

But if one understands Italian and speaks it, then Portuguese is easy! (my husband learned Portuguese quite quickly, and he is Italian)

Off to the next article…

By: Bluefish

Bluefish — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:07:11 +0000

I totally agree with you on the language issue. I can understand a bit of Italian and Spanish ’cause I learned it at school. I did have some Portuguese friends in CEGEP and I had no clue what they’re saying. I learned one or two words from them, which is sometimes useful at work. My Brazilian/Portuguese friend speaks a different accent compared to Portugal accent…and I can’t even read the menu at a Portuguese restaurant. I’m totally clueless when it comes to Portuguese.

By: Sidney

Sidney — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 09:06:15 +0000

Well…I hope you survived the carnival !
I would love to experience it.

By: barbara

barbara — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:06:02 +0000

Salut Zhu,
Nice to read you !
Yes, I can understand, change is difficult. You feel comfortable in Spanish ( you probably are both pretty efficient after your 2 months on the road) and now a completely different language.

Yes, change can be tiring…
I’m more than sure that you are cautious. I’ve heard more than one horror story about Brasilian travel.

Love the photos & I’m looking forward to “la suite”.

Bises.

By: Bill Miller

Bill Miller — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:48:42 +0000

We hosted a Brazilian boy named Luis when my son David was a senior. Their coordinator sponsored partys for a number of exchange students from various places. Luis and a girl from Spain became friends and would jabber away at each other, she in Spanish and he in Portuguese. I asked him if the languages were very similar and he said no, but some words were, the trick was using the words that were close. English is a bit like that because we have borrowed ao many words from other languages.

I speak only English but when I was a younger man I could order a beer and ask for the toilet in a number of languages, including Korean.

By: kyh

kyh — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:39:05 +0000

I’ve always loved these language entries of yours. And the way you narrated it, it’s like an adventure!

Luckily I can understand the Spanish terms in your post, else I’d be even more lost!

So there’s some contention between the usage of Spanish and Portuguese huh? I heard people do avoid speaking Spanish in Portugal too for the same reasons.

Brazil is really beautiful. Besides Rio, do travel north to the very colonial Salvador (very beautiful too!) or into the Amazon.

By: Seraphine

Seraphine — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:48:17 +0000

hi zhu!!! i know what you mean about languages!
when i try to speak spanish– at which i’m terrible– i’ll typically find a french or german word whether its correct or not. my spanish sounds like this: “Yo mange un frustuck, por favor.” (I’d like to eat breakfast, please). i get some funny looks from people.

By: RennyBA

RennyBA — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:08:39 +0000

Yea, change of language is a real challenge. I’m okay with English and can order a beer in Deutsch — and then you have all the Scandinavian language of course (but they are very close), but then the rest is like Greek to me.

I assume you can get away quite well with body language too

I really enjoy reading all your travel posts and the pics are great too!