Visiting a country where the majority of people do not speak English is one of the most intimidating, yet thrilling experiences a person can have. Imagine simply trying to order a small coffee at Starbucks, but the barista just stares at you like you’re an alien from outer space. Once we touched down in Brazil, many students in our group were surprised at how few people knew how to speak English. However, the Portuguese language is well and alive in Brazil, and is often the only one that children learn.
After speaking to some of our new Brazilian friends at PUC-SP, we learned that only those in the upper and middle socio-economic classes have the financial means to take English classes. Considering the large gap in income here in Brazil, this excludes a large part of the population from receiving a significant part of their education. However, it does provide an exciting challenge for us gringos--or foreigners.
One of the first things we did after arriving in São Paulo was head to a food court to fuel up after the long flight. We spent about ten minutes trying to decipher the Portuguese menu before Actuarial Science student Dominique pointed out a snickering Brazilian native holding an English menu. Awkward. However, the most interesting part was having to use hand signals and point to pictures to actually order our meals. I ended up pointing to random words in my confusion and ordered something called “batata palha”, thinking it was some type of potato chip. It was much better; I was served what looked like mini french fries, but they tasted a hundred times better. We considered this adventure a success.
One night during the trip a few of us were able to experience a home cooked Brazilian meal because I have a close friend who actually lives in Sao Paulo. The meal was absolutely delicious, but we could only briefly express our gratitude because my friend's mom could only speak Portuguese. The language barrier made things difficult, but their family's friendliness and hospitality made us feel at home.
In my opinion, the most interesting exchanges yet have been with our many Uber drivers. Greeting people with “Oi” and “Bom dia” is simple enough, but of course we want to carry more in depth conversations than this. Using a mix of Portunhol (Portuguese and Spanish) and Google translate, we’ve been able to ask a range of questions, from inquiring about where people are from to discussing tastes in music on the radio.
Being forced to adapt to an entirely new language is definitely challenging, but it provides many hilarious experiences that I’m sure will turn into unforgettable memories.
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