Wordless Wednesday: International Schools

As I'm moving to Brazil to teach at an international school in the country's capital, I thought I'd show a few  pictures of international schools found worldwide. I love the idea of an international (especially bilingual) education and I celebrate diversity, multiculturalism, knowledge, multilingualism, and peace.

American International School of Costa Rica

The Lycee des Pontonniers (France)

International School of Perth (Western Australia)

Singapore American School

Marrying out (multicultural relationships)

I wrote a post recently about multiculturalism and mentioned that I had contributed to an article that was going to be published about Latinas marrying Non-Latinos. Now, while I'm not a Latina, and my husband IS a Latino, you may think that this does not include us, but in a way it does. We are in an interethnic and multicultural relationship (marriage). Consequently, the author of the article was interested in hearing my voice in regards to the issue of "marrying out" and included my input when publishing the article on NewLatina.net. 


I believe the article is interesting and informative, giving the viewpoints of people in multicultural relationships, and I think everyone should check it out (especially if you're in such a relationship). It's refreshing to read about the similarities that we have, regardless of our race, ethnicity, culture, or religion. And as the article states, "One thing is for sure:  our innate tendency is to move towards where the heart feels content, excited and peaceful…"


The article can be found at: Marrying Out: Why Latinas are Marrying Non-Latinos
Source: NewLatina (written by Angelica Perez-Litwin, PhD)

Thanks for visiting my blog and checking out the above links. as well as supporting communities like NewLatina and Multicultural Familia.


Take care,

The bilingual advantage

As an advocate of bilingual education and multilingualism in general, I was pleased to come across the New York Times: The Bilingual Advantage article today. A female cognitive neuroscientist "has spent almost 40 years learning about how bilingualism sharpens the mind" and her research demonstrates how "the regular use of two languages appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms." And this is only part of what her research has found.


Among Dr. Ellen Bialystok's findings "that bilingualism helps forestall the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease", she also says that her research shows that bilinguals...

• "manifested a cognitive system with the ability to attend to important information and ignore the less important"
• use an "executive control system" that is found in our brain that is responsible for helping us focus on what is important and ignore irrelevant details. Apparently bilinguals use this system more and therefore,  "it’s that regular use that makes that system more efficient."
• can use their knowledge and constant use of two languages to aid in multitasking (hence, the constant use of the "executive control system")

What this article does conclude is that it is the constant use of both languages that leads to cognitive advantages. 

What can we learn from this? I believe we should be proud of our multilingualism and realize the numerous benefits of our ability to communicate (fluently) in more than one language and continue to take pride in it as we pass it on to our children and encourage them. I also feel that we should not let ourselves discontinue the use of one or more languages that we have learned (if this is the case). I think parents should teach their children their native language and encourage second language acquisition. 


Thank you for your time (and check out the NYTimes article),


Gracias por su tiempo,


Obrigada pelo seu tempo,

What language do you dream in?

I remember being told by someone long ago that when you dream in your second (same could go for third or fourth) language that you have made it. Meaning you are fluent. I loved hearing that. I actually thought it was fascinating since I've been obsessed with languages for years, and that includes sign language. I've known since I was in high school that I'd be involved with foreign languages somehow in my life because I can say for sure that that and culture have long been interests of mine, hence my double major in college - Anthropology and Spanish. For years I'd wanted to know more about exchange students and when I was in 11th grade I jumped on the chance to apply to be one and adventure off to the unknown once I had graduated from high school.


I can't recall the first dream that I had in Spanish, but I know it was after I'd been living in Bolivia for some time. I imagine that it was after at least 6 months of being there. It makes sense. I spoke a lot of Spanish throughout the day - to my host families, friends, boyfriend, taxi drivers, store owners, etc. I don't remember that first dream being completely in Spanish, but I know that I was speaking Spanish as I dreamt. Once I woke up and realized what I'd done, I felt exhilarated. I had accomplished what only bilingual people do. Correct? At least I felt I could brag to people that I had dreamt in a foreign language.


Fast forward a number of years and I can say with assurance that I have dreamt in Portuguese as well. I know that I dreamt in the language while I was in Brazil and that I don't do so regularly. I mean, English is my native language and I didn't dream in a second language until I was 18 years old (while in Bolivia) so it's not a daily occurrence or anything, but it happens. Additionally, I often think and talk to myself in Portuguese. I catch myself doing this when I'm thinking about something that I want to say to my husband and I talk to my cat in both languages; I believe that comes from the fact that I'm constantly speaking Portuguese to E, so why not to the cat or to myself? It's a habit.


I remember once having a bad dream, not too long ago, that was in English. In this dream, someone was either going to hurt or kill me and I was scared, but all of a sudden E appeared and saved me. Once he entered into my dream I looked at him and spoke to him in Portuguese, thanking him of course. Once I was finished addressing him I reverted back to speaking/thinking/dreaming in English. Interesting, isn't it? It's like since I normally speak Portuguese with E on a daily basis, that transferred over to my dream and I interrupted my English language dreaming in order to respond to E's saving me, at which time I spoke Portuguese. When I turned back to speak to the other person in my dream, I must have assumed that he was an English language speaker like myself. 


For a multilingual, pseudo Anthropologist as myself this is all so interesting. I like to "study" my own language acquisition and learn from myself. I believe that it helps make me a better language teacher. I also observe my husband and those around me.


My questions now are....what language do you dream in? Do you have bilingual dreams? Does the language you're speaking in your dream change depending on who you're "talking" to (like me)? Do you speak your second/third/fourth language fluently when you dream?

Accents, Languages, and Confusion

Me (answering the phone): Hello?


Man: ochkochbogoshvendochkoshcarbogsh


Me: Excuse me?


Man: something along the line of, are you selling your car? (but this time I understood the language of the man to be Portuguese) how many miles does it have? is the price negotiable?


So I mumbled a response along the lines of, talk to my husband because he's the Brazilian, I gave him the price and answered that yes the price is negotiable. Really I didn't want to talk to the potential buyer because E knows how to negotiate, I had company over, and because my company are Spanish speakers and I had just spent who-knows-how-long speaking Spanish. I can't then be forced to switch languages, can I? And plus, he had a strange Brazilian Portuguese accent. Maybe he's from the Northeast? I know I always need to get used to the accent of a Brazilian who is from a region that I am unfamiliar with.


Have you ever tried speaking Spanish and then need to switch like a light being turned on to speak Portuguese? It's not easy. 


I started studying Spanish as an exchange student Bolivia, right out of high school. I had studied Spanish in high school, but we all know that you don't learn to say much more than "Me llamo...."  and "Tengo xx anhos [I don't have the accent mark so I cannot write this correctly]". I became quite fluent after returning from Bolivia as I majored in the language and studied and worked abroad. But then I went to Brazil after college. That's when my language skills got all messed up. I initially used Spanish in Brazil when I wasn't supposed to; but hey, it was an easier language to fall back on because people generally understood me. My neighbor once told me that I sounded like a Hispanic; that was a better compliment that being told I sounded like a gringa when I spoke Portuguese.


Now that I'm fluent in Portuguese and speak it on a daily basis, my Spanish has really suffered. In fact, I have difficulty creating a sentence in Spanish without mixing in Portuguese words. Or should I say throwing in? Either way, I speak portunhol very well. And yet I still try to speak Spanish Monday - Friday as I have a few students from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic who either don't speak English almost at all, or at least don't with me. This has forced me to be more confident and try to separate the two languages in my mind, but it's not been a walk in the park. I have to think before I speak and try to slow - that's the part I dislike the most. I want to speak quickly like I do in English and Portuguese.


That brings me back to my conversation today. I tried so hard to speak Spanish to my visitors this afternoon that stopped by because I know that my friend feels more confident speaking Spanish. Plus, her mother-in-law is visiting from Venezuela and I know she understands a great deal of what I say in English, but does not speak it. They're so patient, kind, and understanding, but I feel like a mumbling fool sometimes as I try to get my brain to transfer from English to Portuguese to Spanish. 


God knows I spoke espaporinglish (a word a Colombian student of mine created as we used to speak a mixture of the 3 languages when we had get togethers with her family and Brazilians) to the my guests today and then spoke portunhol to the Brazilian on the phone. But I guess that's all part of being a trilingual. At least I can have fun with it sometimes. You gotta laugh at yourself once in awhile :).

Brazil Through Foreign Eyes

Here are 13 questions from an on-line interview called "Brazil Through Foreign Eyes"; one that I found at Gringoes.com.  I thought I'd post the questions (only a teeny bit modified) that are asked, along with my responses. I answered them based on where I first arrived in Brazil, my initial impressions, and what I remember from being in Brazil from 2002-2007.

1. Tell us a little about yourself, where are you from, what do you do, etc?

I'm originally from upstate New York, but I've been living in central Florida for almost 6 years now. I'm a high school English teacher and have been teaching for 7 years. My first year teaching was in Manaus, Amazonas and we're now moving back to Brazil because I got a job as a 9th grade English teacher at an international bilingual school.

2. When did you arrive in Brazil and what brought you here?

I first arrived in Brazil in 2002 while I was studying abroad in Uruguay. I had been interested in Portuguese and Brazil for a couple of years, and was taking a Portuguese language class at the university in Montevideo and really wanted to "try out" the language I had used. A friend and I took a weekend trip to Porto Alegre to visit the country and practice speaking Portuguese.

3. What were your first impressions of Brazil?

My first impression of Brazil was that it was green. I remember visiting a fair in Porto Alegre in the middle of a green field. I also noticed the vast difference in the color of mate (chimarrão in Portuguese) which was a much brighter color than that drunk in Uruguay. The weather was also warmer than the winter I had been experiencing in Montevideo for the past few months. The food was delicious and the museums were nice to visit. It also rained nonstop for 3 days.

4. What do you miss most about home?

When I'm abroad I miss my family and friends, of course. I also miss superficial things like TV shows (Oprah), peanut butter, and American stores in shopping malls. I prefer to buy pants/jeans and shoes/sneakers in the U.S.

5. What has been your most frustrating experience in Brazil?

The most frustrating memory that I have from Brazil was getting my ID card while living in Manaus. I had initially taken the completed forms to get my internship visa to the consulate in NYC when applying for the visa. However, when I got to the consulate, I was told that I needed to fill out another application (which of course was the same thing). I did so in a hurry and I did not write out my parents' middle names (I wrote the initials). I had no idea this was such an error. Fast forward a couple of months to my arrival in Brazil....the federal police in Manaus were not accepting of my deletion on the application and they sent me on a trip to the local "American representative" who made me write out my own statement that said who my parents are. He signed in and I took it back to the Federal Police. That was pointless, a waste of time, and a crock of sh*t since I'm the one who wrote the statement for someone else to sign and be considered an official document.

6. What has been your most memorable experience in Brazil?

When I met and fell in love with my husband.

7. What do you most like about Brazil?

This is a hard question because I like so much. I like the affection of Brazilian people, I love the fruits, the healthy lifestyle, the laid back attitudes, the diversity and beauty of the landscape....

8. What is your favorite restaurant/place to hang out?

I didn't visit many restaurants when I lived in Manaus, but I did enjoy going out for late night snacks of tacaca, x-tudos, and other local foods with friends and family. I also really liked going out to drink guarana with açaí and granola. Ponta Negra is a beautiful area to visit in Manaus and I spent many an evening and night there with E and friends.

9. Do you have any funny stories/incidents to tell about your time in Brazil?

The funniest memory that comes to mind is when I adamantely told my best friend in Brazil that I would never fall in love, let alone marry, a Brazilian man.

10. What difference between your homeland and Brazil do you find most striking?

I'd say that Americans are too stressed, overworked, and don't know how to have a good time at a cheap price like Brazilians do.

11. How is your Portuguese coming along? What words do you find most difficult to pronounce/remember or are there any words that you regularly confuse?

Although I'm fluent in Portuguese, I still need to think twice at times when speaking due to the lack of gender in English and the complex grammatical rules in Portuguese.

12. What advice do you have for newcomers to Brazil?

Enjoy your stay because you'll have a great time! With that being said, I haven't been to Brazil since 2007 so I can only advice on what I know. I'd advice people not to be afraid of experiencing something new and to be open and ready for a good time. Take advantage of everything that's a novelty and different!

13. What are some things that you would recommend for a visitor to do in Brazil?

I'd recommend visiting the Amazon because there is nothing like it (just take a look at all of my posts on Manaus). You also can't visit Brazil without seeing Christ the Redeemer and the Sugar Loaf.

Bilingual education is where it's at

As a multilingual individual, I am an advocate and strong believer in bilingual education. My interest peaked even more after reading an article assigned in one of my graduate classes by Claude Goldenberg that CREDE (the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence) researchers "concluded that the longer ELLs [English Language Learners] received instruction in a mix of their first language and English, the better their achievement in English[i]”.

Due to this interest in bilingualism and my obvious love for education, I was thrilled to be offered a job at a bilingual school in Brazil. Turns out that this school, located in the capital, is the country's fifth largest, accredited, international, bilingual and co-ed K-12 day school! Awesome, huh? Needless to say, I think that I will feel "in my element" at such a school, one where the instruction is in both English and Portuguese.  

In order to kind of celebrate bilingualism and bilingual education, I wanted to share a little bit of information from my research on bilingual educational programs. This exert is from a paper that I wrote two years ago.

"....Educators have studied bilingual research for years and have come to the conclusion that students who develop and learn reading skills in their L1 can transfer this knowledge to their L2 to help them become better readers in English (Goldenberg 2008). Therefore, if teachers have the ability to educate their students in their L1 at the same time they instruct them in English, ELLs will be offered primary language support as needed. Goldenberg notes that students can be taught the skills to succeed academically in a bilingual or dual language education program (2008). In fact, a group of researchers have found that of all of the models created to educate ELLs, “bilingual education is consistently superior to program models that follow English-only approaches” (Honigsfeld 2009).  In educating students in both languages, educators work on scaffolding students, teaching them in their L1 in order as to not fall behind their American peers.....
In bilingual education, the students are taught their academic subjects in both languages as a means of maintaining academic achievement in all subjects. Sanchez explains that "bilingual education has been shown by sound research to be the best means for promoting the academic success of English language learners" (2008). This is ultimately the goal of all educators, to promote academic success of all students, not only those who speak English as their first language."

The question, then, that we are left with is... 

Research tells us that yes, it does.

[1] Goldenberg, Claude, (2008). Teaching English Language Learners, American Educator, p. 11

Sanchez, H, & Sanchez, M. (2008). The politics of illegal immigration, bilingual education, and the commodity of the post-technological society. The Educational Forum, 72(4) 329-338. 

Musical March Madness - Pires

I know that I've mentioned previously how much I love music, but I've decided to say, or rather show, it again by writing another blog entry and then again and another that include music. Throughout the month I will periodically post videos of Portuguese language songs (predominantly from Brazil) that I like.

In fact, one of the reasons that I became interested in Brazil in the first place was because of the music. I had studied the Spanish language and culture in South America before I took my first trip to Brazil, and Portuguese language music was everywhere, especially in the first couple years of this century.

I'd like to start off "musical March madness" with a few songs by one of my favorite Brazilian singers - Alexandre Pires. I first was exposed to his music by listening to the group So Pra Contrariar and I have been hooked ever sing. He sings in both Portuguese and Spanish, and is actually quite famous for the latter.

This video is one that is done with Gloria Estefan. It's called "Santo Santo" and I initially heard this song sung in Spanish by the duo; it's equally beautiful in Spanish:




Alexandre Pires LIVE and singing a few songs in one clip:



And finally, I'm a HUGE fan of not only Pires, but of Caetano Veloso. This is "Final Feliz" by two outstanding Brazilian artists:

Multilingual music videos

I love music. Love. Love it. I especially love music in foreign languages; so, this post is being added to "showcase" some of the music from Latin America that I love. Oh yeah, and I am a big fan of music videos, hence my obsession with MTV and VH1.

The first video is from Ivete Sangalo (Brazilian) and a singer I've been a fan of for many years, Juan Luis Guerra (Dominican Republic). I love how it's in both Portuguese and Spanish.
Here it is...."Não Tenho Lágrimas"




A song that reminds me of my husband and takes me back to the beginning of our relationship when we were together in Brazil.
Sorriso Maroto, "Pra Sempre"



And finally, another one of my favorites which was played at our wedding.
Brian McKnight (singing his hit "Back at One" in English) with Ivete Sangalo in Portuguese.
Beautiful.

Freelance Translator? Yes, please.

I've been interested in translation/interpretation since I was in high school. In fact, during my freshman year I took a sign language (night!) class with a bunch of old ladies to improve what I'd already started to learn from hearing impaired friends. At that time, I was certain that I wanted to study Speech Language Pathology while in college, and then later become an interpreter for the deaf - as my profession. However, my first study abroad experience to South America put me in a new, different direction - but only towards translation versus interpretation.

I still am fascinated with sign language, interpretation for the deaf, closed captions - you name it. I just don't know if at this time I'll pursue that career.

Instead.............I'm more interested in (freelance) translation.

I took my first translation course in my third year of college and I have enjoyed it ever since. I continued to study translation during my undergraduate years as well as participate in a translation/localization workshop the summer after I graduated (right before I moved to Manaus to teach). Most of my experience has been with non-literary work; I translate Brazilian Portuguese ->English and Latin American Spanish ->English. I also have extensive experience with proofreading and editing, of which most of those documents are written by non Native English speakers from Latin America.

So, why get back to translation/interpretation after the long hiatus, you ask? Well, I've always loved this profession (anything language/linguistics related) and now that I'm returning to Brazil, I think I'll have more opportunities to do what I love, and hopefully be well paid and respected for it. I mean, I started interpreting back in 2000 when I was living in Bolivia. I continued with it by taking undergraduate and graduate courses, and then got paid to translate while in Brazil in 2005. I've done extensive interpretation (and to some extent translation) since E arrived so that's given me a great deal of practice and has reminded me where my heart has always been. I think now it's time to get paid, and maybe add a second career. Also, just the other day I was reading a blog by a fellow translator, an American travelling back and forth between Brazil, who wrote an informative post on being a freelance translator and so I've decided to take the plunge.

Since I read that blog just days ago, I've update my resume and have applied for many jobs - both paid and unpaid. Now I guess I just have to wait and see what happens. But I'm hopeful and believe I could eventually have a career change, if not another job that I love.

Do I speak English, Portuguese, or neither?

When I left Brazil in 2005 I spoke Portuguese with only the slightest accent; however, I could barely write an e-mail. Over time, my reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills have pretty much balanced themselves out and I consider myself fluent although my Portuguese language skills are no match for my English language abilities. I don't just mean because English is my native tongue, but I am college educated in English and I know that although I can write well in Portuguese, my ability is not even close to what I can do in English.

With that being said, I feel that I confuse the two languages (and don't even get me started on my Spanish language skills). When I return to Brazil I want to devote time and energy to improving my Portuguese, especially my writing. Maybe I'll finally make some use out of the grammar book(s) I own.

I used to be so adamant about not code switching when I speak Portuguese. But as E becomes more fluent in English and I speak less Portuguese on a daily basis, it's just kind of happened and I don't bother avoiding it. Code switching can be fun. I mean, who doesn't want to say "Você vai fazer laundry?" ["Are you going to do laundry?"] or "Vou pro office". The issue I have with all of this language confusion is that I occasionally forget words that I want to use in English and I'm not even living abroad (yet). It wouldn't be such a big deal to me if I could instead remember the word in Portuguese. I can't help it - second language acquisition is very interesting to me (and part of my Master's studies). 

I guess what I need to figure out is how to separate English from Portuguese (and Portuguese from Spanish) in my brain. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy my multilingualism.