Portuguese Under the Microscope

For over a year now, one of my biggest challenges of our "new life" in Brazil has been learning Portuguese. Somehow though, I've never really mentioned it in my posts....so today the day has finally come. Let me start out by saying that Portuguese is a very complicated language! Actually, English is as well, and in fact learning any language is complicated, but to start out this post, let's take a look at why Portuguese is complicated.

1. Verb Conjugations

There is so much that could be said about this, but to keep it simple I'll sum it up by saying there are A LOT of conjugations for each verb. In fact, I have a book called "501 Portuguese Verbs" and each page is dedicated to a different verb and filled from top to bottom with all of it's conjugations. Let me give you an example:

"Falar" is Portuguese for "to speak"

Present:

I speak - falo

he, she, it speaks - fale

we speak - falemos

they speak - falem

Past

I spoke - falei

he, she, it spoke - falou

we spoke - falamos

they spoke - falaram

To say I was speaking, you were speaking, he was speaking, etc

use - falava, flavamos, flavam (I won't continue going into detail saying which is which)

To speak in the pluperfect tense (such as I had spoken, he had spoken)

use - tinha falado, tinhamos falado, tinham falado,

Future (I will speak, etc)

Falarei, flara, falaremos, falarao

Conditional - such as "I would speak...."

falaria, falariamos, falariam

Imperfect subjective - such as "If I were to speak..."

falasse, falassemos, falassem

Past Perfect subjective - such as "If I had spoken"

tivesse faldao, tivessemos falado, tivessem falado

And that was a REGUALR verb, meaning it follows the grammatical rules...imagine the irregular ones!

2. Accents

Unlike English, Portuguese writing is filled with all kinds of accent markings that must be included when writing, and must be pronounced with speaking. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to type them with blogger (since I'm using the English version) so I can't give you an example and wasn't able to include them in the conjugation above. Some of the symbols are squiggles, other up slanted lines on top of letters, and a little tail having off of c's in some words. I have found it very tough to get used to this, but I'm making progress.

3. Genders for Nouns

Also unlike English, every noun is either masculine or feminine. So, when you are going to say "the pen" you have to say "A carneta" (since it's feminine) and when you say "the book" you have to say "O livro" (since it is masculine). Sounds easy right? Except for when you come to tricky words like colher (spoon) that doesn't end in an "a", but you have to remember that it is feminine. Or like the word "programa" (program) which looks like it should be feminine, but you actually have to say "o programa". And how about "grama" - which is grass or gram, depending on if you use "o" or "a" - o grama is the gram and a grama is the grass.

Fortunately, I have always found languages fascinating, so I don't mind thinking about and writing about these details...but maybe YOU don't find languages so fascinating :) So, let's get away from why Portuguese is complicated, and instead focus on what strategies I've used to learn it.

As you probably know, there are no language schools in our area, which has meant just diving in and learning from everyday living. However, as I head out the door I have to remember to pack some language learning tools in my purse - so here they are:

My number 1 most important tool is a sense of humor....without it I would become too sensitive to making mistake and never try. You have to be able to laugh at yourself and see learning a language as a game. There have been a few moments where I have forgotten to use this tool, but for the most part I am always able to laugh and have a good sense of humor about this potentially awkward and frustrating process. I just try to remember how funny it is at times when my English students say something like "I am going to eat my cat" instead of "feed my cat". I laugh with them at their mistakes, so I have to allow others to do the same with my mistakes.

My second tool is simply forcing myself to open my mouth. There is no such thing as being shy if you want to learn a language...you just have to open wide and let SOMETHING out! Jeyson has been great about helping me find opportunities to do this. In the beginning, whenever we went somewhere (such as the grocery store) he would just stand there pretending he didn't understand Portuguese and force me to step up to the plate. Of course everyone believed he didn't speak Portuguese because of his American looking features, and as a result people have even asked for me to translate for him!

Tool 3 is discovering the rules. I have learned to keep my ears open to hear rules and check with someone who speaks Portuguese to see if it correct...if it is I put it into action.

For example, I started to notice people saying "Eu gostaria ir...." or something like that. I knew eu means "I" and "gostar" means "like" and ir means "go". The only thing I didn't know was the "ia" after gostar. After talking with Jeyson, I found out that "ia" means "would" - so they are saying "I would like to go". I then put that "ia" on other verbs and was able to say comerIA (I would eat) dormirIA (I would sleep) etc. Finding a rule really opens up new doors of opportunity!

Tool 4 is GUESS - Sometimes I really don't know and am in a situation that I can't ask Jeyson, so I just make a guess. Once I remember wanting to say "toaster" but I didn't know the word and so I guessed by calling it an "electric oven" in Portuguese...thinking that maybe they would get the idea and then tell me the right word. After saying it, the person had no reaction at all. I was concerned that they hadn't understood so I asked...did you understand what I was trying to say when I said "electric oven"? The person said....what's the problem? That's what it's called! My jaw dropped - I had guessed and it was actually right!

The last tool, is asking everyone to verify if you were right. Although my friend Cinninha was my language partner, meaning we got together once a week to chat in Portuguese, I have always seen everyone has my language partners. I have learned to follow up many sentences with "Was that correct?" and try to remember any corrections they make for next time.

Well, I am DEFINITELY not there yet, but I have made a lot of progress since I arrived. I now find I can communicate in almost every circumstance, and am now really focusing on learning to communicate accurately....a big endeavour! As I forge ahead I am doing so with my bag full of tools, but really I have to give all of the praise for any progress made not to my tools, but to the Lord, who has answered prayer by enabling me to pick up the language as much as I have.

And now, on to some recent "eye-camera" shots :)

Jeyson busy working on a plane

Even after a year in Brazil, often I still feel like an alien :) (Sorry, we couldn't resist taking a picture of this strange statue outside a store in downtown Anapolis)

For the 2 following pictures, recently I was asked to take some pictures of what it looks like here in Brazil. I've done a post about specific places here (The Grand Tour) but this week as we were driving I happened to have my camera with me and took these pictures, which I think give a good overall feel about what it looks like here.

Avocados here are absolutely enormous compared to the tiny ones generally available in the Sates. They are super cheap here and we love putting them in salads and making guacamole. Interestingly, here they are mostly eaten with sugar! Jeyson also grew up eating a yummy avocado "milkshake" that is very good, too. Just put avocado, a banana, milk, sugar, and vanilla in a blender....definitely worth a try if you like avocados.


This week we also had the bittersweet moment of saying goodbye to Paulo and Cininha (left) who are leaving our mission and moving to Portugal to work with evangelism and church planting ministries. They will continue to serve as missionaries, though be "tent makers", meaning they will have jobs to help support themselves.

On Friday, we had a little goodbye get together at Asas for them.

Cininha has been a big help with my Portuguese, and Paulo and Jeyson have been together from the beginning here at Asas, back when when they were both living the rough life of bachelorhood :)

Me with Cininha and Camila

Our friends, Octinarcy, Emersson, and Rose at the get-together

And Paulo and Cininha with our friends, Joel & Michawn (& kids) who are missionaries from the States. Speaking of Joel and Michawn, last night the couple's Bible study group all went over to their house to watch the movie "Fireproof" and it was such a great time. The movie was really well done and inspirational, so if you haven't seen it I would definitely recommend it! Also, it was such a treat to enjoy some delicious American food! We had some delicious sloppy joe sandwiches, chips with onion dip and salsa, iced tea...yumm! Thanks, Michawn....we enjoyed it so much that I'm still full this morning :)

Anyway, (returning to Paulo and Cininha) it was sad to say goodbye, but we are happy that they are going where they believe God is leading and will continue to serve Him.

Indian Day, Cafe Club, and Wow! Life has Changed!

Brazilians seem to love celebrating, and around here they celebrate holidays that I didn't even know existed! This past Sunday was "The Day of the Indian", a day set aside to celebrate the tribal people living in Brazil. So, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to post some pictures taken by Asas in the northern bases that show some of the tribal people Asas serves.

Inside a church - creative seating, isn't it?

A full church

Communion at the church - bread and acai berry pulp is used, since there are no grapes :)

People gathered along the shore for a baptism service lead by the local church leaders

It is so neat to see that it is not foreigners baptizing, but the local people who are strong enough in their faith to lead others.

Evacuating a sick person in a hammock

This is a picture of a missions conference held in northern Brazil last year. Many tribal leaders gathered together to discuss strategies for sharing about the Lord with other tribes. Hopefully this will be even more common in the future!

Back here in Anapolis, this weekend our first Cafe Club took place. What is Cafe Club? It is an English outreach ministry at our church that we were asked to be a part of leading. Basically, it is a fun "hang out" environment we set up at our church where teens can come to meet people, play games, practice their English in an informal setting, and hear about the Lord. It is a way to meet people, build strategic relationships, plant seeds, all using English as a way to get people to participate. I completely forgot to bring my camera, but imagine a cozy feeling room with tables, snacks, bean bags, video games, snacks, colored lights, live music, etc. We had time for hanging out, games, a short message, small group discussion of the message, and ice cream sundaes. Including people from the church, about 40 people came - about 15 were from the community. Several of my students came out and are excited about returning and bringing others. The next Cafe Club is May 8th...please be praying!

This week we were also excited to have a great turn out for the couple's Bible study. Unfortunately, because of the lighting (or maybe a weird camera setting) the picture turned out extremely fuzzy! I posted it anyway though to give you an idea of what we're up to Wednesday nights. There is only one more lesson in the current study about stress in marriage, but we have a new book ready to go if the group is interested in continuing. The next study is called "Improving Your Mate's Self Esteem"...it sounds very interesting to us, so we are hoping others want to continue!

Above is a picture of us with one of my students, Angelina (right). The other day Angelina's mother turned 91, so she invited us to her birthday party. It was such an encouragement to know that English has allowed me to build relationships that are meaningful enough that we were the only nonfamily members invited! Angelina also came out to the "Cafe Club" English event at our church. By the way - on the tv you can see Mr. Bean...it's funny how his humor is international!

Over the past few days I have been thinking a lot about how different my life is now that I live in Brazil. Here are a few fun shots that describe some of those differences....

Getting together with my family for Easter meant using Skype to talk over the internet. Here I am with Sam (our new kitten) in a family picture from thousands of miles away!

Last night Jeyson and I went out to the store. Sometimes it is just easier to ride the motorcycle due to the traffic and extremely high price for gas (although usually Jeyson just uses it to get to the hangar). While at the store, we decided to pick up some bread for sandwiches...only it didn't fit so well into the backpack like the rest of the groceries. A few years ago I never would have imagined that I would ride around on a motorcycle...never mind with baguettes sticking out of my backpack as we drove!

Also, having a kitten has been a fun change. Sam loves to stretch out in this funny position :) Sorry...I had to include that picture for my family who LOVES posting on their blogs about their pets!

Speaking of family, this past weekend my sister-in-law, Lika, and her husband, Mario Jr, traveled to the States to raise support and attend meetings at their mission headquarters. Mario had never been to the States before and was dying to see NYC, so they wound up staying with my family a few days in NJ.

Mario especially had a great time trying out many American things for the first time. Here is a picture of him with my dad grilling up some American style bbq. They had a great time and I only wish we could have been there with them!

Now they're in the Chicago area (Winnetka) and looking to visit people and share about their ministry of evangelism and discipleship. if you live in that area and would have a chance to get together with them, I'm sure it will be an opportunity that you (and they) wouldn't want to miss! Let us know if you aren't sure how to contact them and we'll get you connected.

50 years to write 1 book!

This Easter we went to Jeyson's parents' house in Goiania and enjoyed a lunch with several missionary families.

The couple above are Brazilian missionaries (from southern Brazil) and have been serving in a tribe for 50 years! They told all kinds of stories about their experiences living among the people and even using Asas de Socorro for transportation at times. One of the most interesting things to hear about was that they recently completed translating the entire Bible into the tribal language. I cant imagine what it was like to see the finished product for the first time after 50 years of work! What an inspiration to stay dedicated to what God has called us to do!


Growing up, every year my mom has made this traditional, Italian Easter bread. Seeing these breads come out of the oven really makes it feel like Easter time. So, even though I was so far away from home, I set to work trying to carry on the tradition here....and I have to say it was NOT easy not having all of the same ingredients.

After many failed attempts, it finally came out well so I had to post the picture so my family can see that I really did it :)

On another note, this past weekend we were able to connect our ministry with the ministry that Lika, Jeyson's sister, does in Goiania. Lika is a missionary with YWAM and specifically works with a project to reach out to poor children in the area. The ministry is called "Third Space" and is just that - a place for kids to go (other than school and home) to learn, do activities, stay off the streets, and hear about the Lord. Lika decided to motivate the kids to learn Bible verses by offering a prize of a panoramic flight for the students who learn the most verses....the pilot of course was Jeyson.

Here Jeyson is checking over the plane....

and teaching the kids a little about how it works

...and of course the best part was the flight!

It was so neat to hear these kids' reactions after the flight. They couldn't get over how small the houses and everything looked. They just kept going on and on and on in amazement. These are really simple kids who have barely traveled out of their town, so this really was a very, very special experience for them that I'm sure they will remember! It was so great to be a part of it! After, the kids came over for lunch at our home and they had a second new experience...lunch that doesn't include rice and beans :)

Back on the ground, this past week we spent a lot of time at our mission's annual business meeting....3 full days worth! Those who live in the northern bases participated via Skype. It's amazing how much difference technology makes in missions!

Here is a picture of the Anapolis base in the meeting. The papers everyone is looking at contain information about what was accomplished by the mission this past year.

Above are some of the leaders of the mission

Rocindes is the president

Wander is the treasurer and he also works with on the electronic side of things with the planes....talk about 2 very diverse roles!

Rute (standing) is the head of the financial department that I work in, and Josemil (seated) overseas Jeyson's area.

And Sara, a sweet young woman who works in the medical outreach department.

Many important issues were discussed and some will continue being discussed over the next year. Although the meetings were very long and involved, it was great to see the mission's body in action, bringing together many different areas of ability and experiences to work together for His glory. We're glad to be part of a mission where each voice is heard and valued.

Glory in the Process

This blog is all about the ups and downs of our life in ministry here in Brazil, and this week is a chance to share a down. Friday we went to Brasilia for Jeyson to take his written commercial pilot's test after MUCH studying and preparation. As you might remember this very difficult test involves a total of 5 subject areas. Jeyson had already passed 3 and was taking the remaining 2 areas. On Friday Jeyson passed one of the areas well and missed the other one by 2 points :( So, sadly this means that he will have to prepare for and take all 5 areas again before moving on to the next step in his technical training. This is not an unusual situation, in fact everyone that we know of going through the training has taken the test multiple times. However, still we were bummed that Jeyson will have to go "back to the drawing board" and start all over with all 5 areas. We really were hoping that he would be able to move on at this point.

I have to admit that I was especially confused about what in the world God's purpose in this could be. Doesn't He want us to go through this as quickly as possible and get to northern Brazil to do this aviation ministry there? After discussing this for nearly the whole 2 hour trip home, our answer is no....no God's "goal" is not to get us there as quickly as possible. His plan is for us to bring Him as much glory as possible in each step along the journey, in the process. We, as humans (and especially as Americans), are often only interested in the results and see the process as only a means to an end. We forget that all of life is a process, there is never really a moment when we arrive. Our focus should be giving God glory in each moment of this journey. We should concentrate on what God has given us as a task for today and how we can do that with our whole heart for His glory. Rather than just focusing on the outcome, let's focus on giving Him glory on the journey. I know this could definitely apply to many people's situations - raising children, getting a degree, going on a short term missions trip, searching for a job, planning a new ministry at church. Really there is no guarantee that the imagined result will ever happen, so rather than looking to the future outcome thinking that will bring Him glory, keep your eyes focused on bringing Him glory right now, in each step of the process.

Other than this meaningful conversation, another joy that came out of this disappointment was the opportunity to be reminded of what a wonderful husband I have. In such a discouraging situation I imagine many people's first instinct would be to blame, be angry, give up, or shut down...but not Jeyson. This weekend I was reminded of his wonderful character that instinctively goes back to God's truths and trusting in Him, even when situations don't make sense. In fact the whole "giving God glory in the process" discussion was really him reminding me, when I was despairing :) Jeyson has such a wonderful, steady personality that is able to take each moment in stride and react calmly and thoughtfully even in stressful circumstances. I'm so glad God brought this much needed quality to me when he gave me Jeyson! Well I could keep going on and on, but really I am just so thankful for my wonderful husband and his godly character.


So, what's next? Although there is no requirement to take the next test within a certain amount of time, so we're hoping to not put this next step off for long. Jeyson will be talking with his supervisors at Asas to try to determine what to do next, so we'll keep you posted when the next test date is set.

This week is Asas's annual "business" meeting, which means lots of time in meetings and important decisions. If you remember, please pray for wisdom and God's direction for our mission. Sorry there are no pictures (of us) this week, hopefully you'll see some next week!