Reading & Learning
I first left Brazil, my country of origin, at the tender age of 17. Migrated? Lord, no!!!! We were being transferred, all bona fide and legal as it befits a decent, proper, hardworking, middle-class family. And one with the "best" of credentials, led by an armed forces officer who was being transferred to Madrid to be the representative of Brazil's military forces to Spain. We had position, we had status. Good heavens, we would even hold diplomatic passports. However, I had a secret, a dirty, horrid, ugly secret that, as I was led to believe, I should make every effort to keep it as hidden as possible, otherwise my life would be ruined.
We were given six months' notice of the removal. During that period, I would eagerly await for my father's return from work. No, not for him, we already had a rather fractious relationship. But every day he would bring home all the main Spanish newspapers to help him prepare for his role.
And I needed to do my own preparation: I was more than prepared to migrate. Something, somehow told me that if I moved abroad, I would be able to live with my secret, possibly not even have to hide something that was an intrinsic part of who I am. And so, I read every single corner of those papers, even the classifieds and general advertisements.
Once in Madrid, I quickly realised how helpful that reading effort had been. Portuguese and Spanish are close related languages with many similarities, and I arrived in the country rather acquainted with the vernacular. I was the only one in my family, who actually learned Spanish.
That was largely because, while my family socialised mostly with embassy staff and other speakers of Portuguese, I was young and was out practically every night of the nearly two years I lived there. Whenever I didn't, it was most likely because even the young need to, occasionally, get some rest.
But I now understand how helpful all that reading was. I had started acquiring the language even before I set foot in Spain. And I was quite fluid in Spanish by the time I left, although I only went on to study Spanish some twenty years later.
You don't, necessarily, have to study a language to become a fluent speaker. You can acquire a language and become quite functional with it without going to school or taking any lessons. People often do: children acquire language before going to school and many go on living productive and sociable lives, without ever getting a conventional education; millions migrate to foreign countries, for one reason or another, and become functional in the local language without studying it; people often learn the national language, even dialects, when enduring long sentences in a foreign prison. You can acquire a language, with a bit of effort and determination, by immersing yourself within a community that uses that language as its main means of communication.
When it comes to learning a foreign language as a second (or third, or fourth...) language, few people attain real fluence in a foreign language by studying alone. One has to live the language. Though I had been surrounded by English, from birth, while growing up in Brazil, and studied the language from age nine, the most useful, and used, vocab I had was "What?" Honestly, it felt like I knew absolutely nothing.
If you are trying to learn a foreign language and don't have the chance to immerse yourself in its community, there are things that you can do to counter this situation. I always tell my students, and the people I help in my role as a community interpreter, that they should listen to radio, the sort of station where people discuss international current affairs, or watch the news on the telly. The news on television, usually, has the added benefit that its readers tend to have a clearer diction, the pace and manner in which they pronounce words and sentences. In both cases, there is a good chance that you will be familiar with some of the content.
I also tell them that they should read, a lot. I hope they will study a bit too, but what I really, really, really, really want (to quote the Spice Girls) is that they start to read a lot, for pleasure. It will seem pretty hopeless to start with but, alongside some studying, with time it will become gradually easier.
Search for sites, online media and blogs on subjects that you like and start by reading the captions accompanying pictures. Images can give you clues to what's in the text. In addition, there's a lot of cross-overs between languages and you can start absorbing that, in context. However, you should be cautious of false friends, words that may look the same as those in your language but with different meanings or usage.
If you are trying to learn English, there are a few publishing houses that offer carefully adapted versions of classics of literature, designed specifically for learners of English as a foreign language. They are much condensed, naturally, and come graded according to their level of difficulty. Each higher level introduces a greater number of vocabulary and textual complexity. It is a really cool way of building up confidence in a foreign language.
English, however, has the disadvantage of not being a phonetic language, that is, it does not have a letter for each sound it uses. In addition, letters and combinations of letters can, and often do, have very different sounds. There are historic reasons for that but you often have to hear it from someone to figure out the correct pronunciation. And remember that pronunciation can vary enormously geographically.
From all of that comes my inspiration to set up the Book Club sessions: a more relaxed, almost casual, certainly engaging (as long as you enjoy a bit of literature) way of learning, practicing and acquiring the language. A bit of teaching, a bit of reading, pronunciation training, and discussion of what we read. A bit mixed in the lower levels but aiming for sessions conducted entirely in English as we go along.
I'm starting a beginners level Book Club at the end of this month with a text based on the Michelle Obama's autobiography, "Becoming". I will start one group on Saturday 29/10/22 and a second group starting on Tuesday 01/11/22. There's a link to the Club's description below this text. It runs for eight weeks, and you can book each session individually or, at a discounted price, in two packages of 4 sessions, or the whole programme in advance.
If you are interested in taking part in the next club, or need any further information, send me an email and I will clarify any questions you have. I am struggling a bit here in this web designer role and it will be much quicker with an email. It would be great to have you at the club.
But however you follow it, carry on learning and improving your English. And read!
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