How can I learn Portuguese? You don't have to know Portuguese to do the movements... but you must learn it in order to more fully comprehend capoeira. Portuguese is essential for understanding the songs and also for communicating with Brazilian mestres, instructors, and students who don’t speak English. You could take a class at a local university or language school. Ideally you want Brazilian Portuguese, but European Portuguese (spoken in Portugal) is fine too – the two are like British and American English; they’re the same language but with different accents and some different words/expressions. If you can find someone in your area who speaks Portuguese, they may be willing to teach and/or tutor you. Practice whenever you can with your Brazilian friends. If Portuguese
classes aren’t available in your area, then consider buying
a computer program or CD: Finally,
check out the following free online resources: Background in a Romance language can help you learn Portuguese. Spanish is the closest (many cognates, parallel verb conjugations and sentence constructions) followed by Italian and French.
|
