October 2013.
I'm waiting to board the plane to Boston for the conference. While I wait, I read the local newspaper.
An article catches my eye. A primary school is introducing Brazilian Portuguese classes for the children, as the World Cup and Olympic Games will lift Brazil's profile in the next few years.
They are also holding classes for adults.
Ooh! (sharp intake of breath).
This school is five minutes from my home. I tear out the article and keep it in a safe place to await my return.
When I get home, I phone the school. They give me a mobile phone number, but when I call it there is no answer. I also send a text message, but receive no response.
It's a dead end.
But some weeks later, Facebook serves up a post by "The Brazilian Ethic School of South Australia". They are holding classes at the primary school. I message them on Facebook, and they send me the details.
The Beginner class is on Wednesday night. I can't attend - that's when I have my singing lesson.
There is an Intermediate class on Saturday morning. I ask if I can try it, and explain that I have already taught myself some Brazilian Portuguese.
"Yes, you can try it", is the response.
On Saturday morning I arrive at the school. It's a big school, and I circumnavigate it looking for the room. Finally I find the class, and introduce myself to the teacher, Andrea, and a fellow student, Andrew. There are only two of us in the class on this day.
Andrea starts speaking in Portuguese, and I cannot understand a word. I feel tension developing inside me, and remind myself not to "block" the language. I start to breathe again and try to relax; focus on the instruction. I try hard to pronounce the words properly, and participate actively in the class. I tell myself I only have to be good enough to not get kicked out of the class.
Andrea hands out a work book, and I don't recognize any of the words on the page. I've been learning the language by ear, purely from songs and CD training programs. But when I hear the words I start to connect them with the written words.
The language is a bit like Spanish, and has similarities to French.
Because I've learned other languages previously, I know how to learn a language; I am not really starting from scratch. We learn vocabulary, verb conjugations, sentence construction.
By the end of the lesson I've learned quite a lot. I feel confident that I can learn this language.
It's amazing what can turn up in your own backyard.
I'm waiting to board the plane to Boston for the conference. While I wait, I read the local newspaper.
An article catches my eye. A primary school is introducing Brazilian Portuguese classes for the children, as the World Cup and Olympic Games will lift Brazil's profile in the next few years.
They are also holding classes for adults.
Ooh! (sharp intake of breath).
This school is five minutes from my home. I tear out the article and keep it in a safe place to await my return.
When I get home, I phone the school. They give me a mobile phone number, but when I call it there is no answer. I also send a text message, but receive no response.
It's a dead end.
But some weeks later, Facebook serves up a post by "The Brazilian Ethic School of South Australia". They are holding classes at the primary school. I message them on Facebook, and they send me the details.
The Beginner class is on Wednesday night. I can't attend - that's when I have my singing lesson.
There is an Intermediate class on Saturday morning. I ask if I can try it, and explain that I have already taught myself some Brazilian Portuguese.
"Yes, you can try it", is the response.
On Saturday morning I arrive at the school. It's a big school, and I circumnavigate it looking for the room. Finally I find the class, and introduce myself to the teacher, Andrea, and a fellow student, Andrew. There are only two of us in the class on this day.
Andrea starts speaking in Portuguese, and I cannot understand a word. I feel tension developing inside me, and remind myself not to "block" the language. I start to breathe again and try to relax; focus on the instruction. I try hard to pronounce the words properly, and participate actively in the class. I tell myself I only have to be good enough to not get kicked out of the class.
Andrea hands out a work book, and I don't recognize any of the words on the page. I've been learning the language by ear, purely from songs and CD training programs. But when I hear the words I start to connect them with the written words.
The language is a bit like Spanish, and has similarities to French.
Because I've learned other languages previously, I know how to learn a language; I am not really starting from scratch. We learn vocabulary, verb conjugations, sentence construction.
By the end of the lesson I've learned quite a lot. I feel confident that I can learn this language.
It's amazing what can turn up in your own backyard.
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