As a new member of Transparent Language I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself.
Meu nome é Ester e eu nasci no Brasil (my name is Ester and I was born in Brazil),

where I lived for the first vinte e quarto (twenty four) years of my life. When I finished my graduation in Brazilian Portuguese Language and Linguistics at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais I moved to Bray, a seaside town located south of Dublin, Ireland. I’ve been living here por dois anos e meio (for two and a half years) now with my partner Kevin, who appears to have given me an Irish accent, I swear I had nothing to do with my accent changing, it’s totally his fault!

Quick pause for a cultural aspect: Brazilians usually learn American English due to the proximity and influence of the U.S. in our cultura (culture), so when I moved to Ireland people would ask me where in the U.S. I was from. I suppose this is good for Americans who travel to Brazil, they will probably be better understood by brasileiros.

I have always had a passion for teaching as well as writing. When I started my curso (course) in Uni my plan was to become a professora (teacher) and do some writing as a hobby. I ended up getting a job as an English teacher to pay the bills during my time in University, which made me improve and adapt my teaching techniques. I loved the cinco anos (five years) I worked as an English teacher as well as my one year teaching Portuguese in two different schools in Brazil. While working as an English teacher I also had the opportunity of teaching both private and group Portuguese lessons to foreigners living in Brazil for two years. We had such a great time, especially on pronunciation lessons. Tip I picked up: talk to yourself in the espelho (mirror)! I know it will probably make you feel a bit silly, however, it will help you tons, especially if you can record yourself and listen to it later on looking for erros (mistakes). Repeating the same word or sentence a thousand of times will actually make you master the sounds, giving you the ability to use them for different words and sentences naturally. This happens because your brain makes a note for the future on what to do when those letras ou sons (letters or sounds) come together. Like everything else in life, a prática leva à perfeição (practice makes perfect).

Back to my story, after I moved to Ireland I started teaching in a escola (school) in Dublin. Because the copa do mundo (world cup) 2014 was about to take place many of my students were looking to learn Portuguese so as to be able to communicate better with people during their stay in Brazil. There were also a couple of my students who needed Portuguese for work, as Brazil’s economy has become stronger. As a Portuguese course coordinator, I started to understand where the difficulties in learning Portuguese lie, so I believe this will help me explain gramática e pronúncia (grammar and pronunciation) in an easier way.

História e cultura (history and culture) are two very important aspects of a língua (language) as they are intrinsically connected, so do expect a lot of cultural aspects from my posts. I promise the cultural aspects chosen will never be boring and will always have a point to them. I am passionate about diferenças culturais (cultural differences) and as a result I am very happy this works out in favour of my goals here: helping people understand and speak Português brasileir o (Brazilian Portuguese).