The Old Year has ended and the New Year has just started. Within us we renew the hope that the New Year will bring us everything that’s good and that we can finally fulfil those aspirations that we have been keeping inside a drawer…
It is common to look forward to the beginning of the year to start an activity that we have long desired to achieve, but which for one reason or another kept being put off. So, the New Year, a clean slate, seems to be the perfect moment ot start this journey.
In Portugal, on 31 st December, at midnight, we have the tradition of eating 12 raisins and asking for 12 wishes. One of the wishes most often formulated is health for oneself and one’s family and friends. Another one of the most common wishes is to lead a less sedentary life, with more physical exercise (we do not have the culture of the body and going to the gym as strongly as other cultures). It is also very frequent to wish to learn a new language.
Learning a foreign language like Portuguese becomes an objective for those who want to expand their horizons and feel more integrated when visiting the country. Isn’t knowledge of a language a more direct way of reaching the understanding and, why not, the heart of the Other? We feel less foreign and closer when we speak the same language, when we feel every foreign word as our own. It is indeed ours, because it was uttered and felt by us!
One of the great motivations for learning Portuguese is emotional bonds. Many people have Portuguese roots and want to feel closer through the language. Others are in love with a Portuguese native and want to be able to communicate in the language of their loved one as well as converse with his/her friends and family.
Professional reasons also abound. With globalization, increasingly facilitated by the Internet, and the good understanding that exists between Portugal and the rest of the world, it is natural for economic relations to become gradually stronger and for more and more people to need to speak in Portuguese with their business partners.
Portugal is in itself reason enough to learn Portuguese and I say it without arrogance. A tiny country (it is possible to travel the length of the country from North to South in less than 10 hours) and yet it takes years to discover all its beauties as well as the rich history of the people of Lusitania.
Besides all this, there is a large community of Portuguese-speaking countries, which makes this one of the 10 most talked about countries in the world. In fact, it is the fourth most spoken language!
In this New Year, one of my wishes to be able to contribute to make all those who desire to learn Portuguese feel less and less foreign in Portugal.
Happy New Year and good health for all!