First Language Limits??

Mr. Rant and I speak to each other in English. I have had just about the entire population of Brazil tell me that we should actually be speaking in Portuguese. They tell me that I would be speaking far better if we did. And every single time I just smile and inform them that we already have a challenging enough time with communication. While perfecting my Portuguese would be awesome, it would be very difficult to do if Mr. Rant and I weren’t on speaking terms.

The truth of the matter is that it is weird to speak to him in Portuguese. We have been speaking in English since the day we met! I know Mr Rant in English and that got me thinking, is there something to this? Take a Brazilian friend of mine. I met her upon her turn to Brazil after years of living abroad. She was excited to speak to me in English as that was what she was used to at the time.

Now, over a year later, we still find it odd when we speak to each other in Portuguese. We always slip back into English.

And it goes both ways. I have always spoken to my Brazilian Sister-in-law in Portuguese though she can understand, more or less, when I speak in English. Even on moments where she says to go ahead with English, I can’t. It’s weird but I feel more comfort, for many reasons, speaking to her in Portuguese.

It seems that languages aren’t merely a form of communication but also have a sort of intimacy level when it comes to who you are talking to.

Has anyone else noticed this or did I just publicly confirm my craziness?

Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Fuzzie Moments

I had a moment when I was standing with my boys at the cake table last night at Chatterbox's birthday party. We were waiting for Mr. Rant to finish rounding people up and sending them over so we could sing "Parabens" (Happy Birthday) in full Brazilian style.

I stood there looking at all the faces and cameras. I thought of all the good madness of the couple hours before. I then looked at the row of excited kid faces at the front of the cake table. Both my boys were standing there sweaty, exhausted, covered in sugar of all kind, and happier than hell. 

This is exactly the type of childhood I wanted for my children and I didn't even know it. I felt so lucky to surrounded by awesome people all there to celebrate my son's life, as well as eat some of the DAMN GOOD food we were serving. 

So when the singing started and the smiles broadened, I was on cloud nine. That's when more warm fuzzies hit. Once the Portuguese singing stopped a goof friend's super cool husband (who earned total brownie points) starting singing Happy Birthday in English! And since it is pretty much the most uninspired and simple song in the history of the universe, everyone there knew it too. The entire group, foreigners and a hell of a lot of Brazilians sang Happy Birthday to my little man in his other language. 

I suppose my little man can have it all after all! 

_________________________________

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.

Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.

Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.

Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.

Link up your post below.

Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Say What?!

I had a "Say What?!" moment this weekend.

On Sunday we all headed down to a charity Feijoada with the family. I was hanging with the kiddos making sure they only got into innocent trouble when some dude came up to chat with them. Of course he somehow knew that Chatterbox is half American. Random news travels fast when served over rice, beans, and sausage.

The funny part was his reaction. When he talked to Chatterbox, he spoke in Portuguese. Obviously Chatterbox, being surrounded by Brazilian children as well, responded in Portuguese. Then man's reaction:

"WOW! You speak Portuguese really well!"

Say what? The man knows my kid's entire Brazilian extended family.We live in Brazil. His Father is Brazilian. Of course he speaks Portuguese!

And I know maybe for some reason or other, he thought that I would completely ignore the language of my son's home country, the language of his father, and the language of his family. I get that.

But the guy continued with his amazement and then it came out that he was not surprised at all that Chatterbox speaks English. Portuguese, for the half Brazilian kid living in Brazil surrounded by a Brazilian family, was the surprise.

It's moments like these when I wish we were teaching him some random 3rd language and I could say "Sorry, he only speaks Mandarin." 

A Dubbed Life

I know I live in a foreign country but there is just something so wrong about watching things like "Juno" in Portuguese. Where is the SAP? Oh yes, I do have that except it doesn't work on 75% of the channels. It only turns the show to Spanish! It's like the television version of the cock block.

At the same time, I keep reminding myself that I do not live in the states and it is ridiculous to expect anything in English. I should be happy with the Warner Station and their willingness to use subtitles. That and the fact that SAP does switch the dubbed cartoons to English. I'm sorry but dubbed cartoons are the most annoying thing in the world!

Of course, that does exclude Dora since her "dubbed" version switches her first language to English and her speaking language to Portuguese. From my point of view, that's kind of entertaining.

Now animation movies are just painful! My kids don't care seeing that they are fully bilingual but I was a bit bummed to miss Shrek on the big screen in English. Regardless of the translations being pretty good, I still don't get all the jokes. By the way, if you want to make yourself feel like an ass go to a movie with a bunch of 4 yr olds and be the one who doesn't get the joke.

But it really comes down to the basic point that some things in Portuguese just aren't funny to me. Maybe the language and I aren't as intimate as I'd like to think. I don't know what it is but I find myself thinking "that's not that funny." or "say what?"

Then again, it goes both ways. As Mr. Rant says, you can't always trust the Brazilian reviews of American slap stick comedies. They just don't get American humor and it does not translate that well.

So far enough. One of these days I'll fully blend in. I suppose I'll have to go back to watching Brazilian soap operas. I hesitate though because they are the true crack of Brazil! Seriously! You should try calling a dedicated Brazilian soap watcher 5 minutes into the program. Even Grandma doesn't take too kindly to that. 

Cara de Pau!

I'm starting to think my waxer is mocking me. 

I went to the salon to get my feet demasculated, when I decided I should just get my legs waxed too. Nothing turns on a husband more than a painted and de-haired woman.

My waxer, being the gem she is, was available.  Of course I'm a glutton for punishment and started up the chit chat. I really shouldn't be allowed to chit chat. 

Push came to shove and it came out that I'm an English teacher by profession. Shocker, she's taking a course and has one questions. Just one!

Sure I'll take a look at it. No problem. 

Post wax and 10 minutes of free English class later, I'm doing her homework!  As we would say in Brazil 'Cara de Pau!'. I think it sounds so much better in English: Penis Face!  I'm so mature, I know.

Anyway, I really did attempt to teach her as opposed to doing her homework but she wouldn't have it.  I would start to explain, in Portuguese, and she would push the whole 'but what would I write?'.  For starters, it's against all the 3 beliefs I have to teach English in Portuguese.  Secondly, she isn't my student. I withheld my, 'you are only hurting yourself' speech because it is directly followed by the 'you are not paying me to speak to you in Portuguese' speech. She wasn't paying me at all!  Actually, I paid her to rip my hair out and cause me pain only to give her a free mini-class. 

Really, it's not a big deal. I didn't mind.  But when she pulled a second worksheet out of the chapter I had already helped her finish, I said enough! I promptly did the worksheet with little explanation. Yes, I'm a wuss. So what. She got her homework and I kept my tip. Oh yeah, I kept my R$5 as payment.  She actually sat there and waited in an awkward silence, giving me that where's the extra look. 

I do not feel awkward that easily. If I did, I'd be living in a closet at this point in my life. When it hit me what she was waiting for, I gave a little wave and went about my ex-pat way.

Nothing in life is free. Not English class and not even a paid wax.

English Conversation Class: The Truth

Most of us foreigners start our English teaching careers at English schools and slowly end up moving into private classes. Those private classes then slowly move into conversation classes. 

I know what all of you are thinking, Conversational English?!  Super easy job!  Ok, there are perks. I don't have to prep myself too much and the students do most of the talking, usually. 

But it's not as easy as it seems.  There are special students that make conversation classes particularly difficult.  For example: 

The shy student.  This one doesn't like to talk in their own language, much less a second one.  You practically have to verbally beat out their hobbies and interests in order to find things they are so passionate about that they can't help but talk about it.

The overly verbal student. Sure, this one sounds like heaven but it's hard to teach someone who doesn't shut up.  You know the guy, the one can't get a word in edgewise.  He says everything incorrectly and you can't correct him worth a damn.  Basically, you have to get annoying. You have to talk over them. The great thing about this type is that they usually aren't easy to offend.  They'll learn.

The humorless.  You joke and you confuse them.  The only thing you can do is not joke. Very dry classes.

The invisible Student.  They don't show up. How can you teach them? They pay you for flaking but it's still a bit annoying since you have organized your schedule around the class. Couldn't they just call you to let you know they are going to flake last minute and still pay you? That'd be great.

The drunk. They want to have class at the bar.  Sounds like fun but you end up spending the money you made from class on the beer you drank at class. You see the problem.

The sensitive student.  This person is embarrassed every single time you correct them. It's so bad that you, the English teacher, feel bad for correcting them!  It's an issue. You spend half the class pumping up their self esteem. I don't really see a problem in this because crying in English is still English. 

I have to say that I currently have none of the above. I love my students and enjoy having classes. Look at that!  But I want to hear from you fellow English teachers. Actually, all teachers!  Who are you special students?