IMMERSION
The language immersion process hasn’t been such a slap in the face as it was the first time around. After spending a year in French (/Spanish) immersion, not a lot has come unexpected in learning Portuguese. I go through the same types of realizations and epiphanies, and use the same learning strategies as in Spain. I’ve experienced the same range of emotions – it seems long at times and is frustrating in many ways, but is rewarding and eye-opening in the end.
In order to fully embrace words and phrases that I hear, I am constantly muttering to myself – I must seem truly crazy to people in public. I talk to myself in English too, though, so that doesn’t bother me. For me, repetition is the best way to practice pronunciation and improve the fluidity of phrases.
Nathalie and Allie have given me extremely weird looks because of this habit. I usually don’t realize that my utterances are even close to audible… evidently they are. This is something that didn’t happen in Spain, and I’m not quite sure why. I think it was because my host family didn’t think much of it when I was repeating their phrases, but in a more public environment it can be quite strange.
I’ve learned to appreciate the importance of fillers in making conversation natural. They are so fundamental to native speakers that they often go unnoticed. The word “like” in English is probably the most well-known example – most speakers say it often enough that they can’t remove it from their speech even when consciously making an effort to do so. Understanding these utterances in conversation is one of the most significant developments in second language fluency – not only for comprehension, but also for speech.
However, they are particularly difficult to grasp because they don’t usually carry any semantic meaning – rather they serve to connect and frame the meaning in a conversation. Compare this idea to a box built from popsicle sticks and glue – the glue holding everything together and maintaining structure, but going largely unnoticed.
In Portuguese, the realization that “tipo” (pronounced like “cheapoo” in English) is used similarly to “like” in English. It doesn’t convey any specific meaning, but is essential when pausing to think or compare ideas.
