This is Valentina, Emma's new little Brazilian friend. (Yes, Emma is wearing a little tutu on her head. She looks like a pink Statue of Liberty!) Valentina moved here with her parents at the end of December. While Kevin worked with her dad, I didn't really know the family when we were living in Horizontina. The only contact I had with them was shortly before we moved out of our house and into our apartment. Everton and Queli (pronounced Kelly) were wanting to buy a house and came to look at ours one day.
Through a mutual Brazilian friend, Queli and I met and she asked if I would give her English lessons. Just after Christmas, I had started teaching ESL to another Brazilian, my friend Monica. Queli became my second student. As of last week, I now have a third student lined up. I had no idea I would have so much fun with what I'm doing!
My classes with Monica are fairly easy because she's been studying English for so long. She's lived her for almost 18 months so we converse a lot. I correct her grammar and teach her new words or phrases. For example, one of our last classes, we talked about phrasal verbs and idioms. So much of the way we talk doesn't translate into Portuguese the way we intend it to. "Watch out!" "Get going." "Take time." "Cheer up!" "Chicken out." When translated, those phrases just don't make sense. It's been fun to explain some of those things and help her understand the language more.
Classes with Queli have been more basic. We've studied vocabulary, verbs - past and present, sentence structure, and so much more. I am amazed at how quickly an hour can go by! While Queli and I work together, Emma and Valentina usually play in the basement or in the school room. They are becoming pretty good little amigas. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Valentina is learning English, but Emma is not learning more Portuguese! She's smart enough to know that she needs Portuguese less than Valentina needs English! Adri usually sleeps during our classes which makes it possible for me to focus on my student!
We we left Horizontina, I was so ready to leave. I needed to leave. Three years was perfect timing, but two months past that felt like too much. It took me about six months of living here again to really miss Brazil. I had very little contact with the Brazilians here and minimal contact with the friends I had left there. Now, almost eleven months later, I miss the people and the country so much. I feel like I'm finding the new me here and part of that includes having relationships with the women from Brazil. Here they are now, in my home country, away from their families and friends, and they are experiencing some of the same emotions I felt when I arrived in their country four years ago! I love that I get to help them and encourage them and now teach them how to communicate. Speaking the language of the country you live in allows you to absorb and understand the culture more and really appreciate the differences that country has to offer. I'm hoping to invest in these women in a way that helps them to have a great experience here!
Recently, Kevin started a new position within Deere. He not-so-jokingly joked that maybe we'll go back to Brazil in a few years to live. Six months ago, I would have disagreed with him. Now I find myself hoping that the opportunity comes up again! Strange, these feelings of mine! On a fun note, his new position involves working with the combine factories, so he'll be making an occasional trip to Zweibrucken, Germany, and our beloved Horizontina, Brazil!!! I'm already trying to plan how I can pack myself and the girls in his luggage:)
Through a mutual Brazilian friend, Queli and I met and she asked if I would give her English lessons. Just after Christmas, I had started teaching ESL to another Brazilian, my friend Monica. Queli became my second student. As of last week, I now have a third student lined up. I had no idea I would have so much fun with what I'm doing!
My classes with Monica are fairly easy because she's been studying English for so long. She's lived her for almost 18 months so we converse a lot. I correct her grammar and teach her new words or phrases. For example, one of our last classes, we talked about phrasal verbs and idioms. So much of the way we talk doesn't translate into Portuguese the way we intend it to. "Watch out!" "Get going." "Take time." "Cheer up!" "Chicken out." When translated, those phrases just don't make sense. It's been fun to explain some of those things and help her understand the language more.
Classes with Queli have been more basic. We've studied vocabulary, verbs - past and present, sentence structure, and so much more. I am amazed at how quickly an hour can go by! While Queli and I work together, Emma and Valentina usually play in the basement or in the school room. They are becoming pretty good little amigas. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Valentina is learning English, but Emma is not learning more Portuguese! She's smart enough to know that she needs Portuguese less than Valentina needs English! Adri usually sleeps during our classes which makes it possible for me to focus on my student!
We we left Horizontina, I was so ready to leave. I needed to leave. Three years was perfect timing, but two months past that felt like too much. It took me about six months of living here again to really miss Brazil. I had very little contact with the Brazilians here and minimal contact with the friends I had left there. Now, almost eleven months later, I miss the people and the country so much. I feel like I'm finding the new me here and part of that includes having relationships with the women from Brazil. Here they are now, in my home country, away from their families and friends, and they are experiencing some of the same emotions I felt when I arrived in their country four years ago! I love that I get to help them and encourage them and now teach them how to communicate. Speaking the language of the country you live in allows you to absorb and understand the culture more and really appreciate the differences that country has to offer. I'm hoping to invest in these women in a way that helps them to have a great experience here!
Recently, Kevin started a new position within Deere. He not-so-jokingly joked that maybe we'll go back to Brazil in a few years to live. Six months ago, I would have disagreed with him. Now I find myself hoping that the opportunity comes up again! Strange, these feelings of mine! On a fun note, his new position involves working with the combine factories, so he'll be making an occasional trip to Zweibrucken, Germany, and our beloved Horizontina, Brazil!!! I'm already trying to plan how I can pack myself and the girls in his luggage:)
No comments:
Post a Comment