[email protected]

In a message dated 4/15/2003 7:03:06 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:

> Thanks so much for the information and the ideas! We live in East Providence
> which is a very Portuguese neighborhood, so we are surrounded - at least as
> far as being in the US! We've looked at different programs, but there's
> money and then there's effectiveness!!
> I'll call the Portuguese Consulate tomorrow. I believe we have one in
> Providence!
>

Portuguese is SOOOO hard!
A couple years ago Beth, Julian, and I made a trip for almost a month to
Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. In Spain not that many people spoke English,
but we got along pretty nicely with our phrase book (Go, Rick Steeves!) and
distant memories of college Spanish, and for Julian, his three years in a
bilingual school.

In Morocco, in Marrakesh almost everyone spoke English as well as us (as well
as French, Arabic, etc.) -- including small children begging for money on the
streets. In the High Atlas Mountains and in the Sahara, it was less so, but
most spoke French, so we did fine with our phrase books and distant memories
of high school French.

Then we got to Portugal. Most of the people there spoke English, which was a
damned good thing, because despite our phase book and despite the fact that
it LOOKS like Spanish, it was so hard. There are SH sounds where they don't
seem to belong, etc. Someone described it as a cross between Spanish and
French, spoken by a person with marbles in their mouth. But those brilliant
people mostly spoke Portuguese, English, and Spanish fluently. I'd compliment
someone on their English, and they'd humbly say, in perfect, almost
unaccented English, that they weren't very good.

I live on the outskirts of a Portuguese neighborhood, too, right near
Peabody, Massachusetts. (We're in Salem.) Janis, my grandparents lived in
East Providence, and I have an aunt and uncle in Riverside. Maybe sometime
we can connect. You could come visit, or we could come there....maybe the
zoo?
Kathryn


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

coyote's corner

Hi Kathryn,
That sounds wonderful. Actually, Brianna & I like Salem very much. I'm such a history person and Brianna is such a travel person. neither of us have ever met a place we didn't like!

I'd love to visit Portugal some day, actually, I want to visit everywhere.

A zoo sounds wonderful.
Let's do it!

Janis
----- Original Message -----
From: KathrynJB@...
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 7:56 AM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: Portuguese


In a message dated 4/15/2003 7:03:06 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:

> Thanks so much for the information and the ideas! We live in East Providence
> which is a very Portuguese neighborhood, so we are surrounded - at least as
> far as being in the US! We've looked at different programs, but there's
> money and then there's effectiveness!!
> I'll call the Portuguese Consulate tomorrow. I believe we have one in
> Providence!
>

Portuguese is SOOOO hard!
A couple years ago Beth, Julian, and I made a trip for almost a month to
Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. In Spain not that many people spoke English,
but we got along pretty nicely with our phrase book (Go, Rick Steeves!) and
distant memories of college Spanish, and for Julian, his three years in a
bilingual school.

In Morocco, in Marrakesh almost everyone spoke English as well as us (as well
as French, Arabic, etc.) -- including small children begging for money on the
streets. In the High Atlas Mountains and in the Sahara, it was less so, but
most spoke French, so we did fine with our phrase books and distant memories
of high school French.

Then we got to Portugal. Most of the people there spoke English, which was a
damned good thing, because despite our phase book and despite the fact that
it LOOKS like Spanish, it was so hard. There are SH sounds where they don't
seem to belong, etc. Someone described it as a cross between Spanish and
French, spoken by a person with marbles in their mouth. But those brilliant
people mostly spoke Portuguese, English, and Spanish fluently. I'd compliment
someone on their English, and they'd humbly say, in perfect, almost
unaccented English, that they weren't very good.

I live on the outskirts of a Portuguese neighborhood, too, right near
Peabody, Massachusetts. (We're in Salem.) Janis, my grandparents lived in
East Providence, and I have an aunt and uncle in Riverside. Maybe sometime
we can connect. You could come visit, or we could come there....maybe the
zoo?
Kathryn


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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