I’ve been
an independent language teacher for quite a while now, and this is definitely
the job that best suits me: no boss, no paperwork, and endless possibilities to
tailor classes to the student’s needs. And what the vast majority of people
need is to speak the target language fluently and feel at ease using it in
their daily lives, at work and elsewhere. They need to understand different
forms of media and interact with them, which means being citizens of a
globalized world. A straightforward approach comes in handy, and it all becomes
very simple and right to the point.
Let me show you through three of my online Portuguese students (I’m very grateful for their consent to participate). They
fit into my schedule just like my English, French, and Spanish students, but
they have something special: they’re in my country (Brazil), they have already
had a taste of our culture, and, in fact, two of them want to become Brazilian
citizens, which adds to their interest and to the stakes of our classes.
Everything becomes communication, with a focus on the student’s development. It
must flow smoothly, even if they stutter at the beginning. We try one word, a
phrase, and then a complete sentence until the student is able to produce
fluent speech. We repeat patterns, starting with simple ones and then moving on
to more complicated forms.
It’s important to note that fluency
doesn’t mean perfection or being accent-free. In fact, the various accents are
the best part of any language. The truth is, we take our way of speaking into
our second or third language. Our accent is our identity card; it’s part of our
cultural DNA and can’t be removed. We polish it, but it never disappears. And,
in this respect, it’s particularly moving to see how foreigners adapt their
linguistic features (pronunciation, intonation, grammar, and vocabulary) to the
abilities required to speak Brazilian Portuguese well.
And all those foreigners praise our
language for its beauty, with its soft, smooth, vowel-paced rhythm, something
very often associated with music. And it presents so many regionalisms: every
state has its own variation or variations. For instance, I’m in Minas Gerais,
speaking with a soooft… and deep final “r,” and teaching, say, Hrvojer (above),
who is from Croatia and lives in Curitiba, in the southern state of Paraná. I
cannot expect the same performance from him; he’ll most likely acquire the
accent from where he lives, with a harder and more vibrant “r.” And that’s
what’s happening right now: he learns Portuguese with me and quickly fine-tunes
his speech to the local frequency!
His mother tongue has the same
sounds as Portuguese, he told me, and that certainly makes his life much
easier, because learning how to produce a new sound can be tough and tricky and
does take time. Anyway, Portuguese’s long and deep vowels remain a challenge
for him. I mean, nine oral vowels, five nasal vowels, plus a large number of
diphthongs and even some triphthongs! We’re drowning in vowels—we can’t get
enough of them!
Now let’s take a look at Shreevidya
(above), who’s from India and lives in my hometown. She had been exposed to
Portuguese for a considerable time, but had not yet started studying it
systematically until she met me. Besides, her son’s growing up, going to
school, learning Portuguese, and enjoying barbecue! That’s quite a change to
the family’s diet. As the saying goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
Welcome to the fascinating world of Brazilian Portuguese, Shreevidya!
Shreevidya
has to swap her singing consonants for our singing vowels. Our deep “o” and “e”
sounds, our round and wide nasals, our pace, always marked by vowels. Delicious
details like pronouncing Trump as “trumpi,” asking a complete question without
a verb (“Qual o seu nome?”), the “m” that sounds like “n,” the “l” that sounds
like “u,” the “e” that sounds like “i,” the various pronunciations of the
letter “x,” and constantly removing words from a sentence, changing plural to
singular to make it faster and simpler: “A que horas você vai?” becomes “Que
hora você vai?” The first one is what the student practices in class, and the
second is what she learns naturally, because this is the way people say it on
more than ninety percent of occasions!
Well, that brings us to Lucas
(below), who is from France and also lives in my hometown. You may not know
anything about “Francophonie,” so here’s a clue. French has a very soft “r,”
such as in the Portuguese “carro,” but lacks the vibrant “r” found in “caro.”
We have been working on it, and Lucas is doing fine, but he will probably keep
his accent for good.
I’m a mix of a teacher and a
language coach. I play the grammar game, use dozens of different exercises, and
bring in printed books, PDFs, audio, video, music, literature, and, most of
all, conversation with the student. Teaching and learning are communication;
they work in multiple directions. It’s possible to learn grammar by enjoying a
song and build vocabulary with a photograph (color, shape, landscape, proper
nouns and verbs, likes and dislikes, memory…). The most important thing is to
be creative, feed the student all the time, and push them to come forward. It’s
always a lot of fun.
Interested in my classes? Get in
touch:
Whatsapp: 31996323275
Email: abraobritolacerda@gmail.com