Nicky is a student at Caminhos Language Centre. In a series of posts, he will describe his experience during his 16-week Portuguese course. Nick is a native English speaker and has never studied another language before. He will be in Brazil for 6 months, mainly in Rio de Janeiro. Follow Nick’s adventures each week with his learning experience, school activities, and life in Rio from the perspective of a newcomer.
Week 2
In the second week of the beginner class at Caminhos, and with a lot ahead of us. Our teacher Rubinho’s motto for the new week was: this week we’re going to see a lot of things, so let’s work hard. And he wasn’t kidding. In five days we learned demonstrative pronouns, comparisons, how to describe people, your family, the present tense, regular and irregular verbs, how to describe your daily routine, how to formulate a question, the differences between some verbs with multiple meanings and when to use them, not to mention numbers and how to talk to a shop assistant about prices and money. The pace of the class was very fast and the only way to keep up was by doing all the homework, something that wasn’t my strong suit when I was in school. Learning a new language means you have to make an effort and step out of your comfort zone. The biggest advantage of being a Caminhos student is probably that you are physically surrounded by people who speak Portuguese. Basically, you have no other option but to speak Portuguese, even if you feel uncomfortable with it at first. And the result is that their learning is certainly greater than that of a person who is studying at home, in their own country.
A maior pilha de presentes do Hemisfério Sul, no Shopping Leblon. Algumas crianças vão ficar bem felizes nesse Natal!
I had my first ‘fish out of water’ experience this week when I had to go to Shopping Leblon (a huge, super sophisticated mall in an exclusive part of Leblon). I went there to buy something for a friend when a sales assistant started asking me things like: where I was from, why I was in Brazil, etc.; all in Portuguese, of course. As with everything else, the more risk you take, the greater the reward. People are always surprised at how quickly children learn things.
I hesitated and stammered throughout the conversation, which lasted about five minutes, trying to remember all the words I could recall in those two weeks of classes I had. At the end of the conversation, I felt mentally exhausted but at the same time, very proud that I was able to communicate and have a basic conversation with a Brazilian woman entirely in Portuguese.
Brazil, and particularly Rio, is a world of two parts. Going to school, in the upscale part of Ipanema, it’s hard not to notice the contrast in its background: the ever-expanding Cantagalo favela.
The school organizes guided tours of the Cantagalo favela, but when two Australian friends who live in the favela invited me to visit their house, I accepted immediately. Here we don’t see presents piled up everywhere, but rather houses, one on top of the other. Climbing through the complex, labyrinthine paths, we arrived at a bar high on the hill with a spectacular view of the favela, the city, and the meeting of the beach with the Atlantic Ocean.
Even on a cloudy day, one of the best views in all of Rio! Just be prepared for the climb through this “urban jungle” to get there.
After a tough week and a super climb, it was time to go back and enjoy the weekend the way Brazilians do best: with a cold beer and good friends to party all night long.
See Nicky’s first week’s account here.
