When I first heard Portuguese, I honestly didn't know what the hell I was listening to. I remember hearing it for the first time in Orlando, Florida. We all know about Brasileiros and Jizzney. The Brasilian accent makes Disney sound like a dirty word, but we all know Jizzney is a magical childhood place of pleasure (okay, I'll stop with the sexual references, for now.)
But anyway, back on topic. When hearing Portuguese for the first time, I mistook it with French. This is sad because I took French starting in Middle School all the way through High School-shows how much I learned. But I also remember it sounding more beautiful and less annoying than the uppity sound French has a lot of the time. I didn't think much of this "encounter" with the foreign language until about 4 years ago, when I finally identified what I had heard while frolicking through Jizzney years before. IT WAS PORTUGUESE!
Personally, I love the language like no other language on the planet. It is incredibly beautiful. It is extremely diverse in accent. It is a world language that is poised to grow leaps and bounds in the coming years. It can be a difficult language to learn, that's for sure. The phonology is much harder than French in my opinion. Sometimes pronunciations don't make any sense (how did de become ji?), but the quirks make it so exotic.
I love all the accents that Portuguese possesses. I love the accents of Minas Gerais. Paulistas (interior) have a goofy accent that makes me laugh. I make fun of my Paulista teacher for it! Cariocas have a gutteral French influence that sounds great in Bossa Nova and Samba. I have been mistaken by Brasilians as a Belorizontino, which is a compliment and makes me feel like my Brasilian accent is coming along quite well (tootin' my horn here.)
My questions to my blogger friends is: What do you think of Portuguese? What Brasilian accents do you like? What sotaque do you have (or try to have) when you speak Porkandcheese? I look forward to hearing what you have to say!!
Beijos!
