Why I learned Portuguese, by Elena Como (in English) from new book “Ao Redor do Mundo: Leituras em Português, Vol. 1″ (part 3)

The new book we’ve just published at Atlantico Books, Ao Redor do Mundo: Leituras em Português, Vol. 1 has 16 articles from many different collaborators. Because it’s entirely in Portuguese, and because my sister asked what I wrote about, I’ve translated it here on my blog. This is the third post of 3, and please enjoy! To see the index (in Portuguese) and learn who the other collaborators are, please click here (clique aqui.).

PART 2: “Why I learned Portuguese” (Por que eu aprendi português, Elena Como, Atlantico Books) –> Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, and this is the final part!

Finally I got to know Brazil. The dollar was very strong at that time, and that’s why I was able to travel and get to know the country. My sister came to visit and we went with her former roommate (who lived in Rio) to Muriaé, in Minas Gerais, to visit her family. We spent Easter week in the tropical forest of the Pantanal, in Bonito, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. I still remember how magical it was to see a squawking flock of toucans fly over my head on Easter morning. They seemed to float by, with those giant beaks, flying under the morning sun.

After returning from Brazil, I ended up staying an extra year at the university, in order to finish two majors. My bachelor’s degrees are in math and Brazilian studies. I came to New York, because I’d always thought about living here. I live in Astoria, Queens, and we’ve got supermarkets where they sell Brazilian cheese-bread and guaraná, the national soda! We have a big community of Brazilians here.
In 2005, I opened my company, Atlantico Book Importer, Inc. I had noticed that it was hard to get books from Brazil and Portugal in the USA, so I decided to try importing them. Atlantico Books distributes and creates products in the Portuguese language, like books, CDs, DVDs, and audio and video downloads. We work with Portuguese professors, Portuguese and Latin American Studies departments, as well as bookstores at universities, translators, immigrants, Portuguese students, musicians who play Brazilian music, and others who have an interest in the Portuguese-speaking, or Lusophone, cultures. We published our first book, Missa do Galo e Outros , Vol. 1 in 2009, with collaboration by various Portuguese professors and other friends. And, with this article, which was published in the original Portuguese in the new book Ao Redor do Mundo: Leituras em Português, Vol 1, (“Around the World: Readings in Portuguese, Vol 1) I share my own experience with  of learning Portuguese with you!

I’m a Brazilophile,  a Brazilianist, student and admirer of the Portuguese-speaking cultures. I’m happy that in my work, with Atlantico Books, I get to  speak Portuguese every day. I’ve been to Portugal three times and I’ve come to know a little of that country’s culture, and I’ve also been back to Brazil, and seen a bit more: Foz de Iguaçu, Campinas and São Paulo, where there are lots of Brazilian publishers. Brazil called me when I was a teenager, and after that time, I’ve never stopped loving the Brazilian culture and the Portuguese language.

Mergulhe no universo lusófono e conheça as peculiaridades dos países falantes da língua portuguesa, por meio da leitura dos dezessete textos compilados em Ao Redor do Mundo: Leituras em Português, Vol. 1. Os textos abordam temáticas diversas, nos mais diferentes formatos: depoimento, narrativa, entrevista e artigo; acompanhados por atividades de compreensão de leitura, funcionam como excelentes ferramentas para serem utilizadas em sala de aula.  O conjunto todo fará com que o leitor entenda muito mais sobre assuntos como o Novo Acordo Ortográfico da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa, a música em Angola, o movimento sem-terra no Brasil, a culinária de Guiné-Bissau, um projeto de desarmamento e paz em Moçambique, a vida no Rio de Janeiro e muitos outros temas que farão com que qualquer pessoa se apaixone ainda mais pela língua portuguesa.

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