I am studying portuguese in a 1st yr. level class at a univ. I went to Brazil nearly 30 years ago as an exchange student, so my spoken port. is not too bad, especially once i've been speaking it for awhile - once i warm up. I am taking the class because i want to learn the proper grammar. Most people were nice, but some made fun of me, as some of the grammar in my question wasn't quite correct. It was a combo of a little carelessness, tiredness and forgetfulness and a little bit of not knowing verb tenses or correct words. Language changes over time with the intro of pop culture and slang, so i'm not really up-to-date. But i think it was a good effort on my part and i know it wasn't all wrong.
My question is, how would you react to someone who was from another country, trying to learn english and asked a grammatical question. Would you be nasty with snide remarks, or would you be helpful? What kind of person are you?
2007-02-03 20:23:47 · 5 answers · asked by jama_bc 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
I understand your predicament, I am in Brazil trying to learn Portugese and teaching english at the same time.
What I tend to do to overcome the embarassment of saying portugese incorrectly is make a joke of it. Emphasise the mistake purposely, then everyone has a good laugh, including me. I find if I become too sensitive to my mistakes then I would stop learning. Learning another language correctly can be a lot of fun if you want it to be. So forget the grammar mistakes you make and ask the other students for their help, but take time to laugh with them at your own mistakes.
2007-02-04 00:55:03 · answer #1 · answered by wheels 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi Jama !!
I know how you felt. ..My family moved to Brasil when I was 5 years old. I didn't speak any Portuguese and many children at school made fun of me...It was really hard for me. I cried many times asking my mom to go back home..( Austin, Texas).But we had to stay here... I live in São Paulo in Brasil. Well, What I've learned is that there are good people and bad people everywhere...Once, I went to visit my Uncles and cousins in NYC, and I was at the mall and an American girl made fun of my out fit ...and sometimes.. or many times, we meet not very nice people... I am sorry that you've experienced this... I've been there too... Don't give up learning Portuguese, it is a beautiful language.....I went to high school and to College here...now I write better Portuguese than English, because I studied so much here and I have been here so long...I miss USA a lot !!!
Don't give up !!!!! I am sure you are going to meet nice brasilian people.
Have a lovely Sunday !!!
Vanny
PS : if you ever want to talk, You can contact me.I would love to chat with you. we can chat in English and Portuguese !!!! I have yahoo messenger with voice.
2007-02-04 00:15:30 · answer #2 · answered by vanny_1973 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personally, I would try to help.
A lot of English grammar questions posted on the English language Y!Answers pages do cop a fair amount of snide remarks by native speakers feeling superior. So that's not a Brazilian speciality...
2007-02-03 23:31:59 · answer #3 · answered by Sterz 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-09-28 09:52:54 · answer #4 · answered by benisek 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am deeply sorry for my compatriots bad behavior. I f you have any question in this subject and if I know it, be sure, I gladly will help you. Fell free to email me
2007-02-03 22:47:42 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋