Spot the snake (answer at the end) "There's danger everywhere!" exclaimed the twelve-year-old, after her little sister told her that scorpions like to nest in dry railway sleepers of the kind they were both standing on in the backyard. The twelve-year-old retreated to the security of the house and her phone, the three-year-old found a … Continue reading Danger in nature – all snakes and no ladders
Category: Brazil
On danger in nature
I've had a note on my phone for months now called 'Dangerous nature post'. It was a reminder to me to attempt to get some coherent thoughts down about nature, danger and the unknown. In February I read a fascinating article in Inkcap Journal. 'A dark miracle in the Forest of Dean' shows how the … Continue reading On danger in nature
Birds, bins and Brazil
My obsession with Brazilian birds has definitely been growing over the last year and a half. My husband actually introduced me to the iconic Sabiá-laranjeira (Rufous-bellied Thrush) in the few weeks after we first met, but since I was in the UK for most of our relationship, and then living in favelas after we got … Continue reading Birds, bins and Brazil
New language – shape, sound and word association
I bought a book for my daughter around about the time she turned one. It was £1.99 from the British Heart Foundation and called '1000 Words and Pictures'. She can lift and carry it by herself now that she's getting on for four. This week when we were reading about the parts of a tree, … Continue reading New language – shape, sound and word association
Carrapateiros and capybaras
The gavião carrapateiro is an astounding bird. It goes by the name 'Yellow-headed caracara' in English but I much prefer the literal translation 'tick hawk'. Gavião carrapateiro - @juliano.fabricante Brazil being extremely large, and the gavião carrapateiro appearing everywhere, it has a long list of aliases: caracará-branco, caracaraí, caracaratinga, carapinhé, gavião-pinhé, pinhé, pinhém, papa-bicheira, chimango, … Continue reading Carrapateiros and capybaras
Bilingual children and language development – Interference from the weaker language
In my last post I gave some examples of moments when my bilingual daughter is clearly influenced by grammatical structure and language in her default language (Portuguese) and applies it to her weaker language (English). There have been a few moments when I have seen this happen the other way around but it seems to … Continue reading Bilingual children and language development – Interference from the weaker language
Bilingual children and language development – Interference from the dominant language
I mentioned in my last post that my daughter, who is growing up bilingual and is now three and four months, does actively translate between her languages. I'll explain a bit more here about why I think this is interesting, how I know she's doing it and I'll give some examples. Firstly, I think this … Continue reading Bilingual children and language development – Interference from the dominant language
Some thoughts on bilingualism, language acquisition and language learning
I have never studied bilingualism and I'm not bilingual so my thinking on the subject comes from what I have picked up from a few books, articles, comments and memes, connected by some personal observations and marinated in plenty of prejudice and bias. Before learning another language I used to think (and I believe this … Continue reading Some thoughts on bilingualism, language acquisition and language learning
Bilingual children and language development – Trying out new language or ‘Just us chickens!’
One of the delights of being able to observe our daughter go through a language growth spurt is being present both at the moment of her hearing new language and then hearing that new language being road-tested by her for the first time. A fortnight ago I asked our daughter (three years and three months … Continue reading Bilingual children and language development – Trying out new language or ‘Just us chickens!’
Bilingual children and language development – Confusion between first and third person in Portuguese
On the subject of the confusion that must arise between the first person singular and the third person singular for a child acquiring Portuguese - mentioned in my last post here and back by overwhelming demand - I have some further observations. Not only do the majority of Brazilians talk about themselves in the third … Continue reading Bilingual children and language development – Confusion between first and third person in Portuguese
Brazil from the outside in 