Sunday, April 21, 2013

Where Are All the Books?: The Unique Challenges of Learning Portuguese



Portuguese is the 7th most spoken language in the world, with official status in 9 countries and Macao, pus, it’s the most spoken Romance language in all of Asia and the Pacific, particularly Japan.  This should make it fairly easy to find language resources and books.  That would make sense, right? 

Unfortunately, that’s no where near the case.  I’m having the hardest time trying to find language books, other than travel phrasebooks or beginner’s courses.  I’ve found some great grammar books to work from (I’ll eventually get around to reviewing each of them), and even some that explain both European and Brazilian Portuguese.  However, workbooks, general courses, or readers are much harder to find. 

My favorite so far is the “Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Portuguese” by Sue Tyson-Ward (which I actually managed to find in a brick and mortar Japanese bookstore!).  Each short chapter explains an important grammar lesson or verb conjugation, as well as a list of new vocabulary, and then has some exercises to help you practice what you have learned.  It’s a great way to learn basic Portuguese grammar and vocabulary (though I definitely think it’s best to have another resource to help with pronunciation and listening, and another vocabulary resource would be helpful, since some of the definitions are a bit off).  It uses European Portuguese as the standard but also explains the alternative grammar and vocabulary of Brazil, including Brazil-specific questions within each practice session.  Basically it’s the perfect beginner’s course.  However, they don’t make an intermediate level, and it's proving impossible to find a European Portuguese intermediate book, at least from Japan.  

I’m constantly searching for a good intermediate-level Portuguese reader.  Currently, I’m working through Harry Potter in Portuguese, but it’s still a bit to challenging to get through without the help of my teacher.  I recently went to a couple large bookstores in Osaka which are supposed to have great foreign language sections.  Boy was I shocked at how little they had in stock!  In Japan, there is a huge number of Brazilian residents, and Portuguese is the most spoken European language in the country, other than English.  At these bookstores, however, I found a huge number of English, French, German, and Italian books but almost nothing in Portuguese.  What I did find were books for teaching Portuguese to Japanese people, and those books were almost entirely in Japanese.  One book didn’t even write the Portuguese words in the Latin script, keeping it entire in Japanese kana!  In one bookstore, I found an entire shelf of Italian language literature and readers, and only 1 Portuguese-English dictionary.  Seriously.  1 book.

After looking online, I noticed this wasn’t just a Japanese thing.  There are almost no beginner or intermediate level Portuguese readers printed, especially when you compare it with Spanish, French, German or Italian.  I ordered the few books I could find, and hopefully they will help me increase my reading proficiency by the time I take my Portuguese exam.  Unfortunately, they are all about 20 pages each, so not particularly helpful either.

My next mission: try to find some Portuguese-language manga.  The internet says they’re out there… somewhere….

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Language Rant #2: Beginner Japanese, Year 3


I’ve now been living in Japan for 3 years, and after 3 years of living in a foreign country, you would expect to be able to at least hold a very basic conversation in the language.  I mean, I only studied German for 1 year in college before studying abroad there and living with a host family.  Even though I struggled, at least I could talk about the weather or watch the news with them.

Then I came to Japan

I’ve been taking Japanese classes for most of my time here, but I’m still stuck.  I feel like I haven’t learned anything new in years.  Last class, and we covered basic adjectives for about the 20th time, and I still don’t get it.  I can’t remember vocabulary, I still mix up some Japanese kana when trying to read quickly, and I don’t understand how the grammar works most of the time.  I dread the times when my teacher stops speaking, obviously because she just asked a question, and all I can do is stare blankly because I have absolutely no idea what was just asked.  I can’t even make a guess.  My heart just sinks, and I swear I can hear the sound of crickets in the silence, crickets that are possibly living in the empty part of my brain where Japanese should go.   That silence and helplessness are absolutely the worst feelings in the world.

Now, I’m not someone who has ever really struggled academically.  I’m used to academics just coming naturally.  I wasn’t exactly gifted in math and science in high school (AP chemistry comes to mind), but that was because I was always in the advanced classes, and I accepted being the slow girl in the advanced classes.  And by slow girl, I mean getting a B+, not exactly failing.  Even with German, where I asked for a tutor after the first week of classes, I just had to work at it a bit, and I could get through.  I lived and travel there without any problems.  But this feeling of having no idea what’s going on in class is not one I’m used to or can just accept.  Sometimes it takes all my energy not to just walk out of class in frustration, especially last class, after my teacher kept trying to pressure me into joining a Japanese speech contest. That’s just not going to happen.  No contests or public humiliation for me, thanks.

I absolutely cannot quit Japanese.  I’ve been here 3 years.  Before I leave Japan, I need to at least be able to ask for basic directions or order food on my own. Seriously.  It’s been 3 years.

At least I always have Portuguese to help boost my ego a bit.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Sakura Experiment #1: Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Angel Food Cake with Strawberries

It's sakura (cherry blossom) season, so I want to attempt some Japanese/western fusion recipes using some of the sakura extract, powder, and preserved blossoms that I've found. 




Ingredients

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup AP flour
12 egg whites 
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sakura extract
1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring (or as much as needed -- I went a little too Barbie pink here)

Directions

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.

In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, water, sakura extract, and cream of tartar. After the eggs begin to stiffen, slowly sift in sugar, beating continuously. Once you have achieved medium peaks, sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.

Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer or chop stick
. When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry.


Cool upside down on a wine bottle for at least an hour before removing from pan.  This keeps the cakes from collapsing as they set.



The cakes cooling on some bottles of wine that I just happened to have around my apartment...

Serve with macerated strawberries: Cut strawberries marinated with a pinch of salt, sugar to taste, and a tablespoon port, sherry, or yuzu sake (as I did here).  Let rest for at least 30 minutes.  

Garnish with powdered sugar and fresh or preserved sakura blossoms (rehydrated in water), if available. 







Based on the Good Eats Angel Food Cake recipe, because Alton Brown knows all...





Language Rant #1: Portuguese, but Which One?


It’s been a while since I wrote anything.  

A long while.  

As in I didn’t even have a bookmark to this site on my new computer, but I really need to write now.

Since last summer, I started a new job, still on the JET Programme in Fukui, but now as an advisor to other English teachers, and with what seems like 3 times the amount of work.  Plus, I’m in a very formal Japanese office all the time, and must be available for any emergency or counseling calls that come up, regardless of time of day or how busy I am.  I did apply for this position, and most days I really like it, but I am also constantly thinking about the next step in my life (hopefully as a Foreign Service Officer), so I need to make sure that whatever free time I do have to myself, however limited, I need to try to use it to help me get to the next step.  In practice, that means I use all of my free time during the week to study foreign languages.  My German has unfortunately gotten embarrassingly rusty, due to lack of practice (more on that later), but I do have the opportunity to take regular classes in Japanese and Portuguese. 

Portuguese is largely going pretty well for me.  It was technically my first language, though I largely refused to speak it starting around the time I learned the words “Speak English”, but I have always been surrounded by the language, no matter how much I used to try to block it out (wow, I was a stubborn kid).  I’ve been studying and taking classes now for over 6 months, and on the most part, they’ve gone pretty well.  My listening and reading comprehension are at a surprisingly high level (at least a B1 level, using the EU language standards), but unfortunately my spoken and written Portuguese is still a bit pathetic.  It’s gotten to the point that every time I freeze when speaking in class or when writing my homework, I look up or ask what the forgotten word is, I’m always frustrated because I knew the answer.  There’s still a huge mental block.  For example: “I met my new coworkers today.  They are very friendly” comes out “Eu conheci os meus novos colegas hoje. Eles são muito… friendly.”  How do I keep forgetting basic words that I do know?

I know I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself with Portuguese, but I really do need to work on it so I can pass the foreign language test once I pass the Foreign Service interview.  Plus, I have latent fluency in Portuguese, so I -- at least theoretically -- have the potential to master it to a native level.  I just need to work on producing all the vocabulary that is stuck somewhere in my brain.


I also recently decided to try for a Portuguese language proficiency exam, which leads me to a huge frustration when attempting to learn Portuguese: Which Portuguese? 

I grew up with European Portuguese, which will always be the basis for my accent and is pretty deeply ingrained in my cultural identity, but Brazilian Portuguese is much more internationally accepted now as standard Portuguese, especially due to its economic and cultural importance within Latin America.  As much as I love to tell anyone who will listen that the Portuguese are the ones who brought tempura, bread, and various popular pastries to Japan, in the modern world Portugal barely registers when compared to the global importance of Brazil as an emerging economic and cultural powerhouse. 

So I’ve pretty much accepted the fact that I should try as much as possible to learn standard Brazilian Portuguese (Brazilian slang is another issue altogether).  However, the Brazilian Portuguese exam is only available at the intermediate level, which my speaking and writing is still no where near.  There is, however, a European Portuguese test (the CAPLE) at my upper-beginner level (A2), but of course, most books and language resources that are available are Brazilian Portuguese, plus my teacher and any other Portuguese speakers I regularly find in Japan are also Brazilian.  This wouldn’t be an issue if the accents, vocabulary, and even grammar weren’t so different between the two dialects.  From what I've noticed, Portugal Portuguese tends to be somewhat excessively academic and complicated, while Brazilian Portuguese relies heavily on slang and loan words.  I really wish there was some middle ground, but for now I’m stuck attempting European Portuguese at this level, then switching mainly to Brazilian Portuguese at the intermediate level. 

All my Brazilian friends and the exam administrators will just have to deal with my Portuguese-American accent.  That’s never going to change.  And, to be honest, I’ll probably always lean a little bit toward the needlessly academic and complicated.  

It is my culture, after all.