Immerson

 

We say we are learning Portuguese through immersion, but that's largely not true. We are in the water but we aren't under it. All the signs we see are in Portuguese and the labels on our food and the media we consume. But the truth is, we can get by pretty well with the limited language that we have and mostly we speak in English. Last weekend, when the new car went belly-up, we got immersed. I was googling about tow trucks in Brazil and the whole mechanic process. Carol was googling words we have never studied in class, like insurance claim. When it came time to communicate, it took both of us and all of our effort. I learned to swim through the "sink or swim" method back in the 70s. It was pretty stressful. Language immersion feels the same.