It's been a week since I've written here -- mainly because I've been "in class" all day at BridgeBrazil. BridgeBrazil is an immersion-based Portuguese-language school. The classes emphasize conversation as opposed to reading and writing, though the latter are also included. This is a challenge for me. While I can read and write reasonably well, it takes me a lot longer to learn to speak with any degree of spontaneity. For many people, the situation is reversed: they can pick up speaking right away, but have trouble with the finer points of grammar or reading comprehension. (Case in point: we had an hour-and-a-half question and answer session yesterday on various forms of present and past tense. People who are normally fabulous at speaking just couldn't comprehend which tense to use in which time scenario. I was ready to tune out after the first five minutes -- just follow the rules! [Yes, I know it's more difficult than that.] And I digress ...)
So this week I've had four hours of Portuguese each day, sometimes lunch with friends afterwards, and an hour commute each way, from Gávea to Centro (where BridgeBrazil is located) and back again. This is approximately the same length of a typical school day in Pittsburgh, but the heat, coupled with insane busdrivers who occasionally race one another on pothole-ridden roads, and of course the energy it takes to learn a new language, make most days completely exhausting. If my Portuguese improves considerably, though, it's all worth it. Next week is my final week at BridgeBrazil and then I am on my own to pick up the language through daily interactions and from the textbooks I brought with me. The race is on!
