My Brazilian Accent

even though i've once in my life considered moving to Portugal for a job, i did not bother to learn the language until 2020. that happened because i met a wonderful man from Brazil who helped me realize i'd need to know Portuguese for my martial arts "career" - and because i was working for amazon, who offered language workshops starting from may.

so i started on duolingo and with the help of - dare i say my crush? - i progressed quite fucking exponentially. the workshops helped, too, but here comes the problem: the workshops taught us the European version, while my dear teacher taught me his own. i ended up learning the Brazilian pronounciation, as i find it much easier. both have their charm, obviously, but the European feels a bit harsh and fragmented, sort of like German or a Slavic language would to American ears.

short diversion: with amazon, i was trying to get relocated to Brazil, but they only had some engineering position in São Paulo, which did not fit me at all.

still, i know enough Portuguese to be able to watch the netflix series 3% almost the same way that i do with English (that is, with same language subtitles on). if (when!) i get the chance to work in an environment where people speak it, i will rapidly learn to actually think in the language and speak it without much hesitation. the problem is only the accent. this being said, maybe i'll need to add 🇧🇷 to my tiktok bio.