Language
I don't know if I've written about language specifically yet, but I figure I oughta do it fairly often since it occupies much of my thoughts and time.
Here in Mozambique, language is extremely important. Moz has a unique situation, as it's a (former) Portuguese colony surrounded by English colonies. So in schools, both languages are taught. But only Portuguese is spoken in the home, so kids only learn Portuguese. So until English becomes accepted as a language of commerce, the gates to other countries will be very difficult to open for Mozambique. Those who can speak English find better jobs, but those who are poor can't afford to learn English. It's a vicious cycle as you have to pay to go to secondary school (8th-10th grade) here. I'm not quite sure whether that makes me cheap labor or not, but I do know there's something wrong with having to pay more for what should be mandatory education.
(THIS IS MOM --- I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE NEXT WORD IS, BUT IT WAS FOLLOWED BY "ASIDE", AND THEN THE NEXT SENTENCE...)
Learning Portuguese well is the only option for someone like me who needs to teach a science.
For a Spanish speaker, Portuguese is fairly easy to understand. Unfortunately, I took less than a year of Spanish and that was five years ago. I have a sizeable French background, and I remember all the grammar concepts as it's fairly mathematical, which appeals to me. So I have trouble understanding the language, but that improves with every word or verb I learn. I've gotten to the point where my ability to speak, write and understand Portuguese are pretty much all on the same level. As I learn more, all three improve accordingly.
It can be very tiring listening and speaking the language for most of the day, but I know that it's the best way to learn. I make myself vocab lists and verb conjugations while conversing with others.
I still get lost much more easily than others when it comes to listening, just because I haven't completely grown accustomed to how Portuguese sounds yet. Plus, almost everyone speaks with a different accent. Since everyone learns at school, and non-Mozambicans typically learn as a third language, everyone has a different accent. It can make things very difficult to understand, especially in informal situations. I understand those who speak wit heavy American, Mexican or French accents the best, but native accents are very difficult.
Time is on my side, but I can't waste it. Back to the books!
Peace
John
