Speaking Portuguese: Are We Fluent Yet?

We get asked, often, if we speak Portuguese, are we fluent, are the kids fluent, and any other variation on that question that you can possibly imagine. I was asked this again recently by fellow blogger Ray, a Brazilian living in the US.

Since I get the question all the time, and the answer is really too long for a reply comment, I thought I'd put it out here for all of you who maybe wonder but haven't asked yet.

The short answer is "Yes."  And "Not really." Any of you who currently live outside your home country, or ever have, will understand that, but for the rest of you,  let me explain a bit.

Language learning comes in waves and layers, and the first step to answering the question, "Do you speak the language?" is really understanding what the asker is actually asking. Does he mean, "Do you speak enough to get around?"  Does he mean, "Do you speak like a native?" Is he really interested in "At what point between 'not a word of it' to 'like a native' are you currently in your language learning process?" See what I mean? It's not an easy question to answer.

If we draw a line, with "not a single word" on one end and "like a native" on the other, and understand then that I'll spend most of my time somewhere between the two, creeping ever so slowly towards that elusive "like a native" endpoint, you'll understand how the answer can vary so greatly.

Most people who ask the question mean, "Can you get around in town? Do you really have to do everything in Portuguese?? Are there no English speaking people most places, really???" The answer to that one is yes, I do everything in Portuguese (outside of the home), and no, most places, there aren't English speakers to help out.

Some people then ask, "Are you fluent??" and I haven't honestly figured out how to answer that, because "fluent" can mean something totally different to each person. For me, I keep "like a native" as the ever-present, seemingly unattainable ideal. In that case, the answer is no. Not even close. But, the situations where I have to pause and admit I have no idea what word I want, or I have to use a different phrasing than I would use in English, because I can't translate exactly -- in other words, the times I find my communication skills lacking or hindered -- those are fewer and fewer every day.

Do they still happen? Do I still sometimes resort to pantomime and made up sign language? Yes, of course. Do fast talkers still hopelessly trip me up? You betcha. Do technical situations, with language I don't use in the everyday course of life, scare the bejeebies out of me?? Yep, they sure do. But, can I muddle through and successfully, even if awkwardly, navigate my way through pretty much any situation, all in Portuguese?  Yes, yes I can.

Does that make me fluent, though??? I don't know.

As for the kids, which is what Ray really asked about, the older two boys have had far more formal lessons than I have had. Their grammar is far better than mine, because I learned most of my Portuguese on the street, talking to the vendors at the fruit fair or the hippie fair. The boys, on the other hand, have had over a year's worth of lessons from a native speaker who comes to the house twice a week. Luci works with each boy for an hour at a time, two times a week. She's made sure to teach them educated Portuguese, proper grammar, and she doesn't let them slack off. In that way, they speak better than I do.

But they don't use their Portuguese as much. So, I muddle through, learning as I go, and sounding every bit the clumsy foreigner when I do speak the language. Meanwhile, my boys are quietly in the background, sometimes correcting me when I make mistakes. When the opportunity comes up, and the motivation is there, they seem to be further down that line towards "like a native" than I am. They just don't always have the motivation to actually speak in Portuguese.

The youngest, on the other hand, understands it well, pretends not to, and mostly refuses to speak Portuguese at all. Except for on the days when he asks me almost nonstop what the word for (fill in the blank) is in Portuguese, but I can never guess when those days will come. His Portuguese skills are largely based on his mood for the day, and as such, are totally unpredictable.

Oh, and as for the Chemist, he speaks and writes worlds above my level. He speaks Portuguese at work all day long, writes technical and professional emails in Portuguese, makes phone calls in Portuguese and I've not seen him stumble over understanding or expressing himself in ages. If you asked me about his level, I'd call him fluent. If you asked him, he'd say no way.

And that's the rub -- the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know and the more often you recognize your own mistakes. Which is why I'll never answer "yes" when someone asks if I'm fluent. No matter how it might seem to the person asking.

*note: this has been about my speaking ability, which is totally separate from my ability to understand the language; the distinction there and the fact there's a difference between the two is subject of a whole nother blog post, one I don't know that I'll ever write. Suffice it to say, just like young children, we often understand more than we can say, except when faced with a fast talker.