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. 

Backyard Bird Count: The Brazil Version

I've learned in the past few years that every February, there's an official Backyard Bird Count in North America. It's a way for amateur bird watchers to help out in counting what species are where, as some study group tracks migration patterns, and are numbers of various species increasing or decreasing or staying the same. It's a fun little thing to participate in, and it happened this past weekend.

Being in Brazil, which of course is South America, I can't go to the Backyard Bird Count website and post my results officially; it's North America only. But I can post here, and since I managed to get photos of almost all the birds I saw, I thought it would be fun to share with you.

We feed the birds in our yard, so all of these are "regulars" to our yard. We often sit out on a Saturday and just watch the birds coming and going. Some have definite personalities, and we've come to know the hummingbirds, even, as "the mean one," "the nice one," "the baby," and "the brown one."  I only got pictures of the mean one and the nice one; the baby is too fast and the brown one stays for too short a time. She's very pretty, the brown one, so I hope to someday capture her on film.

Here they are, then, for you to enjoy -- what birds frequent a yard in urban, tropical Brasil in February. You may click on any photo to enlarge it, just remember to click the back button after if it opens in the same window.

The Mean One - and above him, see the little yellow bird peeking out?

 hummingbird: we saw a total of 3 of the blue/green hummingbirds, though at most 2 at a time. 

The mean one chases off anyone else when he's around. 

two of the small yellow birds, drinking from the hummingbird feeder

We have a huge number (for us) of these small yellow birds living in the vine that shades our yard. 

The highest count I had at one time was 7+; they are hard to count, as they hide in the vine and move around a lot. I can say for sure there were 7 at one point, maybe more. Most times we can count 5 or 6 before becoming uncertain if we're re-counting the same birds, just moved around. 

The Nice One, mid-drink

"A Pool Bird" - one of the big yellow birds
We are not sure if these are adult version of the small yellow birds (yellow belly)
or a different breed. We have TONS of the small ones who hang out all the time,
and probably 3 or 4 total of the big ones who come around.
We call them "pool birds" because we first noticed them hanging around the pool at the apartment. 

 Highest count at one time this weekend was 2 for these large yellow birds. 

I'm not sure if they are adult versions of the small ones, or a slightly different breed. 

Two blue birds, eating papaya. I think male/female pair. 

 Highest count this weekend was 2 for the bluebirds; sometimes we've had 3 or 4. Usually they come in male/female pairs, as seen here. They are a bit skittish and usually do not come while other birds are present, except for the small brown birds (shown further down). 

one of the small yellow birds, after taking a bird bath. 

 We keep that little basin full of water for the birds to use as a bird bath. 

I loved seeing this one all fluffed up and messy, just out of the bath. So cute! 

2 blue birds, eating papaya; 2 large yellow/pool birds, waiting their turn.
(click to enlarge)

 High Traffic! Two blue birds, two big yellow birds. If the blue birds had seen the yellow ones, 

or the yellow ones had moved closer, the blue birds would have left. 

Most of the birds do not share the fruit or eat at the same time as other species. 

Both of these, however, have lately been feeding each other (the male feeding the female of the pair). 

two big brown birds.

These big brown birds are Mean! They chase off each other and the other species of birds who try and eat while they are there. Highest count at one time for these was 4, though I've seen up to 6 at one time in the past. They are fun to watch, as they do a lot of posturing, chasing, etc. before settling down and letting one another eat. I just don't like when they do that to the other breeds of bird, too. 

same two big brown birds

blurry, sorry, but only shot of this guy I got.
This is a small brown bird, black face and black marking on the chest. There are 2 or 3 of these who come around,
though less often than the other regulars. 

 I only saw one of these guys this weekend; there are 2 or 3 who come around, but not as frequently as our regular crowd. They are very pretty, though, and I'm disappointed I only got this very blurry shot.

Quite a crowd!
click to enlarge -- there are 3 small brown birds (not the black chested ones) and 1 blue bird
eating the papaya/waiting by the shelf, plus another small brown bird on the planter at the right. 

 The small brown birds -- highest count this weekend was 4 at one time, and they are all shown in the photo above (click to enlarge). These little ones will also come into the laundry room and use the dog's water dish as a bird bath, and they will land on our picnic table and eat crumbs. Brave little things! 

(also in the photo, one of the blue birds)

a dove on the neighbor's solar panel, behind our house. 

A lone dove; usually they are around in pairs. We are inundated with doves and pigeons; houses here spray anti-pigeon spray around the roofs and things. They make a huge mess, roosting on your eaves and, well, cleaning up what falls on the ground below them....not fun. Ick, ick, ick. 

I didn't go around looking for the pigeons, so don't have a count (can't see them from the yard, since they are on the roof) but there are tons. The doves, not as many, and not as annoying, either. 

This is a short video (really audio) clip of the small yellow birds singing in our shade vine.

Turn up your volume, and enjoy! This is our sound track most weekends, all day long. 

Did you participate? Did you even know such an event takes place each year?? What birds, if any, do you normally see in your area??

Creativity Times Three: My Three Sons

I have some really creative kids. Seriously. The things my boys come up with, it will sometimes knock your socks off. Today I want to share three of those things, one from each boy, 'cause I think they are all three pretty amazing.  The boys and the objects of creativity. I'm fairly sure you'll agree.....

The Writer's:

He'd recently been given a small magnifying glass. A lens in the hands of a 13 year old boy, mixed with tropical sunshine....I should have predicted this one, but he took "burning holes in leaves" to a whole different level. Check it out....

a bull's eye, and a smiley face burned into a leaf.
He used a magnifying glass, focusing the sun's rays, to do this. 

Next up, The Artist's:

He's been greedily snatching up all my scrap fabric, and dabbling in sewing. He made a tree shaped Christmas ornament, a blanket for one of his stuffed animals, and then this - a gift for The Chemist's birthday.  As soon as The Artist saw scraps of batting in his scrap bag, he knew just what he wanted to do. Every stitch is his, except for the binding added to the outside. He chose every color, every piece of fabric, planned exactly how to arrange it all -- this is truly his creation, start to finish. I pin for him and draw a straight line for stitching, he does the rest. Not bad for a just-turned 10 year old, is it?

front view
(he chose brown because it reminded him of chocolate pudding, and Christmas)
(no, we've never eaten chocolate pudding at Christmas....)

back view
(he wanted to use one of every fabric he had, thus pieced on both sides)

Lastly, The Adventurer's: 

This boy is full of creative fun, morning to night. All day long, every day. Sometimes it wears on me, if you want the truth. But sometimes it amazes and delights me. Like this project - "Dubloons," a board game he designed based on a Sponge Bob episode. Start at the boat, roll two dice, move the number of spaces (by jumping on the rocks) until you arrive at the "X marks the spot."  He used character legos for pieces, and even a little pick ax (lego) and golden treasure chest (also lego). When you reach "X marks the spot" your character digs with the pick ax and reveals the buried treasure. Pretty ingenious, don't you think? Remember, he won't be six until later this month....

Caught in the Act
this is right after he called me to Come see!
since I'd been cutting tape for him all morning, I was curious what he'd come up with.

"Dubloons" board game
I have to admit, I'm impressed. I think the frame around it is a nice touch.
Plus, math skills, counting all the rocks and taking turns, going the number on the dice.
Not a bad work for a morning...

Well, what'd ya think? Pretty creative, my boys. How about you and yours? What creative thing have you or your child(ren) done lately? Grown-ups, go ahead and chime in here too! All tales of creativity welcome. 

Science Quiz: Are YOU Smarter than my 4th Grader?

Okay, okay, cheesy title I know. I couldn't help it.  I'm just so proud of my boys!

Today was the last day of our science class for the 2010/2011 school year (which ran from May 2010 to Feb 2011, with various breaks throughout).  We've been studying the Human Body, using some of the materials from Sonlight's Science 5 and some additional materials from Home Science Tools science catalog. Plus Frankenstein's Human Body Book which we picked up at Barnes & Noble. It's been a fun year.

For today, our final day, we did the dreaded Reproductive System and concluded with our Major Systems Review.  We filled out charts showing dominant genes, recessive genes, and who in our family (mom, dad, boys) has which. We laughed as even five year old Adventurer tried rolling his tongue. We giggled as we compared pinky fingers to see who had straight, who had crooked/bent ones. Jokes were made about hatching from eggs, growing from seeds, cells dividing (since The Artist is just learning long division.....).  It was a seriously fun day.

At the end of it all, I handed each of the older boys a worksheet. Down one column, the names of various major body parts & internal organs. Across the top, the names of the major body systems. Their job - put a check mark or an X in the correct column for each body part, drawing only on the memory of what we've been studying all year.

They both did really, really well.  One boy got 100%, the other got 89% on the quiz. With no studying. No warning they would have this quiz. Just, "Oh, fill in this chart for me...."  And they did. Really, really well.

Here it is in case you'd like to try.  Do you know which organs go with each system? 

Systems:
Digestive; Urinary; Respiratory; Circulatory; Reproductive; Endocrine; Nervous

Organs:
Bladder; Brain; Heart; Ovaries; Liver; Pancreas; Kidneys; Spinal Cord; Lungs; Small Intestines; Diaphragm; Mouth; Nerves; Testes; Thyroid Gland; Arteries; Esophagus; Cerebellum

So, what's the verdict? Are you as smart as my 4th Grader? Or my 7th Grader? Can you correctly place these major organs? 

And, what is your favorite (or least favorite) subject in school? Science has long been a favorite in our house, what with a Chemist for a father and all. What about you?