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Where the heck are you my friends?
What happened to my friends in Brazil? What the heck are they doing that they don't drop me a line or call me on the phone or even send me a text message on skype or MSN? You know, I know some of these guys for at least 20 years, we shared great moments of our lives doing some nice (or stupid) things together, and now they're just gone? That's it? Wake up guys, tell me you're alive and still breathing... Give me a clue. You know what, I just decided, I'll block you all from my MSN, skype, e-mail, and whatever, you don't deserve to be my friends anymore, bye-bye, so long. Can you hear me guys? I know it hurts but I got no other choice, sorry.
Well, if somehow you share with me these same bad feelings then I'd like to invite you to read the rest of the text...
First of, I have to make a confession... The first paragraph of this text was written at least 5 years ago when I still didn't understand what was to leave my home town and move to a new place leaving behind a significant part of my story. Now (and maybe for my own sake) I think a little different. My apologies if for a sec I have disappointed you. I kind of understand my friends (yes, they're still my friends :-) They're just living their ordinary lives, going to work, meeting new people, enjoying the beach and the good food in Brazil, and I... well, I'm just not there anymore, right? I'm kind of part of their past, worthy past hopefully. At last, after a little while I finally got the point. It was my sole decision to leave my place. I left, they stayed. For me things were constantly changing, it was like rebuilding my life from scratch, making new friendships, and so on. For my friends things changed too, they got married, had kids, found new jobs, and all this nice stuff. That's it, we're just living life separately, physically separately I hope, but still strongly connected by the nice stories of the past.
Today I have most of my friends back, I call them on the phone, send e-mails, photos, share a bit of my life, and better don't expect too much in return... they call me back sometimes (not very often I have to say :-)) and life moves on... The best part of all is that I make new friends wherever I go which kind of connects us for eternity. When I visit my lovely home town my friends are all there looking forward to gathering and have a good time. It's great to see how different they are (usually fatter and with several kids), how things have changed to them, really nice. I guess I learned how to live away from those special people but still feel their presence.
And so that's it dear friends, now after these nice words I hope we can seal our friendship forever.
Btw, see you in December guys, I'm coming, wooooooooooohhhoooo!!!
Brazil, the best team in the world...
No, no, no, I'm sorry, No! I'm not talking about the Brazilian soccer team as you might have been expecting.
Ok, I agree that Brazil is widely known by its five-time world champion soccer team and it's famous players such as Pele, Garrincha, Ronaldo, Romario, Ronaldinho, and Marcilio (just kidding, I play tennis much better than soccer), and so on. But, what you probably don't know is that our volleyball team is also exceptional. Today, June 18th, our team defeated Italy and became the champion of the World League for the 4th time (1993, 2001, 2003, and 2004). Such a great Job! If that's not enough... Well, the same team is also the current champion of the World and champion of the World Cup (different tournaments). The next step? Win the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Congratulations to all Brazilian players and their coach "Bernardinho" for the magnificent work they have been doing.
Btw, Brazil has the best beach volleyball players in the world, Adriana Behar and Shelda, but that's another story...
Link: Federation Internationale de Volleyball (http://www.fivb.org/)
Knock, Knock... Can I volunteer?
A few months ago I decided to make a particular dream come true: to be a volunteer. Why not share a bit of my privileged education with those who really need a hand? Brazil was my natural choice not only for being my home country but mainly because of the serious social problems the country has been facing in the last decades. However, after two months searching for volunteering websites in Brazil I realized how hard it is to be a volunteer in my country especially when you are not living there. I've attempted to contact some websites including "Amigos da Escola", "Portal do Voluntario", "E-Voluntarios" and a couple of others I've google-found. I not only sent e-mails to all of them but also subscribed as a volunteer and gave suggestions on how I could be of help. Unfortunately, I haven't heard from anybody so far. I am wondering if the internet is still not a popular/adequate channel for volunteering.
Anyways, gotta go now, I have to keep searching...
Brazilian English
Many of those who I speak with in Brazil come up with some degree of interest in how Brazilians that live abroad deal with the language factor. In fact this curiosity makes sense. It's intriguing how foreigners can effectively communicate in a country where the official language is not their native language. Think a bit... They have to deal with practical situations such as enrolling their kids in a school, opening a bank account, saying a polite "no" to an insistent operator who is trying to sell them something they really do not need on the phone, and so forth. Not surprisingly the first point I realized was that the casual language is much harder to understand. For example, at the university the vocabulary used is very specific and thus easier to handle. Casual situations otherwise are more challenging once natives tend to speak quickly and using slang. Booking a bowling lane or asking directions when you are lost can be a challenge :) What if someone offers you a "personal pick-up" at the supermarket as it happened to me? Would you accept it? It may sound a bit obvious to understand here but believe me change things in practice :-) Let me discuss my viewpoint on my own learning process and generalize it to "Brazilians".
First it's important to notice that in general our Brazilian accent is nice and English native speakers enjoy it. If on one hand Brazilians are normally not grammar experts on the other they are able to overcome this deficiency with a clear accent. If you wish a practical example I would suggest you to hear our "Rubinho Barrichello" speaking English. He is an excellent speaker as I could attest watching his interviews after the Formula 1 races and also compare his accent with the other non-native speaker pilots. So let us first acknowledge that our accent is a point in our favor.
Another curious point is that when one has kids he/she learns a whole lot faster. Children learn based on their daily experiences and "chaos" is actually "order" for them. Meanwhile, adults are normally trying to learn in the strict form of the language, based on thousands of grammar rules and the same amount of exceptions. Children also do not have Portuguese rooted into their brains. Oh gosh, that makes all the difference. They do not struggle to speak as we adults do. Adults generally translate on-the-fly Portuguese to English during a conversation while children just think in English. They even dream in English :-O. That's a key point yet harder to achieve: you must think in English!
Finally, don't be shy and expose yourself. If you're not scared you're not learning enough :-) Speak your bad accent and poor grammar in all possible situations that might lead you to an improvement. Shy people tend to take a long time to learn. I know of foreigners living in Canada for decades that still can't speak English either because they fear the experiences or are not exposed to them. Don't worry, Canadians will always notice your different "charming" accent. Yes, it's nice to have an accent ;) As long as you can communicate effectively there is no big deal. Haven't you ever seen government authorities speaking a poor accented English live on CNN? That's sooooo much common, more than you think. A key hint is to speak at a comfortable pace and concentrate on the topic you're discussing not on language translation issues. An immersion program could be a good way to accomplish this.
Anyways, English programs in Brazil are always helpful but if you want to gain more confidence try to get in touch with a native speaker. How? Well, opportunities to do so are becoming increasingly more accessible. For instance, you can use the internet. You teach Portuguese to your partner and she/he helps you with English in exchange. What a great deal! You can use online chat-based programs such as Skype, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, NetMeeting, and so forth. Technology is here to help! Likewise, do not forget that writing, reading, and listening are also important skills that you have to master if you intend to work in Canada.
A final remark: We are ALL improving our English (including Canadians) in a continuous lifetime process. So, why to stress out?
Hope it helps.
Marina, Menina Levada! (private text)
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