Excellent way to view Ser & Estar. I remember a Spanish teacher ages ago telling me there are books written on the subject. One of the things I love most about learning a language is how you reflect differently on your mother tongue. Yes, somethings don't make grammatical sense in the language you are learning - but then you realize how many things make absolutely no sense in English - and how do you explain that to someone who is trying to learn? Language is so much more than communication - it's a window into the culture of a people.
Sou português e não explicaria melhor a diferença entre os verbos ser e estar. Os meus parabéns! E, se me permite a ousadia, sugiro o canal do YT @marco neves cujo autor é professor e nomeadamente faz vídeos sobre a língua portuguesa. Ainda que em português e não sabendo bem o seu domínio do idioma, talvez ache interessante.
A native Spanish speaker and a native Portuguese speaker can talk to each other in their own tongues and understand most of what is being said. I cannot understand a Portuguese speaker most of the time. The verbs are really different, too! I LOVE language period, no matter which one. I asked an English teacher once about majoring in linguistics, and she told me that I should not because it was a really hard major. Now, this was a professor who had had Jeff, my son, but not me! Maybe she thought I was older (45) and was not capable, but I regret letting her influence my decision now. I LOVE Spanish, and I do not regret all of my years teaching. When I retire (I am only 78 now.), I may take some linguistic classes. I remember when I first dreamed in Spanish. I was taking two Spanish classes in Puebla, Mexico, and I did not know what the people were saying in my dream, but I knew they were speaking Spanish.
I had 2 years of Spanish in high school and 2 years of French in college and both have come back to me while learning Portuguese. The three languages are definitely connected, so knowing one helps you figure out another. BUT Portuguese sounds nothing like Spanish. When I first got here it was just a wall of sound and I despaired of ever learning. I've made progress, for sure, but still have a long way to go until fluency. My daughter, however, is nearly fluent after 2 years in public school and she's also well on her way to speaking French. I'm pretty proud of that!
Also, I think that some people have a natural gift for learning languages, and it sounds like you are one of them. You should definitely take some linguistic classes if it brings you joy!
I felt sure your daughter would pick it up quickly. I am so glad to hear that she is doing well. All of the research that I have read backs up the acquisition of language by her age is MUCH easier and faster than it is as we get older. Quicker, but not impossible! I started college at age 43 and started taking Spanish classes then. I had had it in high school, but our Spanish teacher had a nervous breakdown in November of the year-long Spanish I class, and we had subs the rest of the year. The next year we had a new Spanish teacher who was Japanese and could not pronounce an r or l. She put us back in the Spanish I book and started over. SO, 25 years later, I really did not retain much of the Spanish I had in highschool. Oh, and if you believe in Karma, I taught 6 years of high school Spanish, and I understood what my Spanish teacher had gone through.
As suas palavras são maravilhosas...as in "always". As a born-spanish-speaker, these days, constantly living in the in-between land, experiencing beauty arising when ser + estar = no difference :-). Obrigado e até à próxima vez.
Lovely text. And this is just a tiny example of how language and culture are deeply and irretrievably intertwined. As a PT teacher to (mostly) French origin students, it is amazing to see how the «value» of some 100% identical words changes when said in PT or in FR. Curiously, those words in English, most of them «follow» the same value as in PT... Go figure.
Muito bem dito, como sempre! As one who speaks Spanish, is learning português, and subject to SAD, this lesson really hits home.
"I think this is how we get up and go on—in the darkest of nights and the brightest of days. By knowing what is fixed and what is moveable. Knowing what we are made of and what we can change."
Thank you for this beautiful personal essay on how languages can help us better express our feelings. I loved learning that Portuguese has two forms of 'to be.'
There are many cultures with other languages and of course a set of verbs that don’t grasp things like past tense forms or alike simply because the concept does not exist in that culture. If I’m referring well.
This is a lovely text about all the nuances a language holds. And how rich the world is because of that.
Thank you, a challenge: “fiquei feliz ao ler este texto”
They are gone now, but at one time, one of those wee hours of morning (mourning?), I woke reflecting upon my Mom and my Dad. My early morning mind found these words, and you bring them back to me now. My Dad was a rock. My Mom was a river. Ser, estar? Does it fit? Do your thoughts stand - and - flow with mine? (One static. The other dynamic. One stoic. The other emotive.) I love(d) them both. They made me who I am. I stand upon their shoulders. I move with them. Ser, estar. (Meu pai era uma rocha. Minha mãe era um rio.)
Excellent way to view Ser & Estar. I remember a Spanish teacher ages ago telling me there are books written on the subject. One of the things I love most about learning a language is how you reflect differently on your mother tongue. Yes, somethings don't make grammatical sense in the language you are learning - but then you realize how many things make absolutely no sense in English - and how do you explain that to someone who is trying to learn? Language is so much more than communication - it's a window into the culture of a people.
Sou português e não explicaria melhor a diferença entre os verbos ser e estar. Os meus parabéns! E, se me permite a ousadia, sugiro o canal do YT @marco neves cujo autor é professor e nomeadamente faz vídeos sobre a língua portuguesa. Ainda que em português e não sabendo bem o seu domínio do idioma, talvez ache interessante.
Desejo-lhe muito sucesso.
Muito obrigada!
@marconeves?
A native Spanish speaker and a native Portuguese speaker can talk to each other in their own tongues and understand most of what is being said. I cannot understand a Portuguese speaker most of the time. The verbs are really different, too! I LOVE language period, no matter which one. I asked an English teacher once about majoring in linguistics, and she told me that I should not because it was a really hard major. Now, this was a professor who had had Jeff, my son, but not me! Maybe she thought I was older (45) and was not capable, but I regret letting her influence my decision now. I LOVE Spanish, and I do not regret all of my years teaching. When I retire (I am only 78 now.), I may take some linguistic classes. I remember when I first dreamed in Spanish. I was taking two Spanish classes in Puebla, Mexico, and I did not know what the people were saying in my dream, but I knew they were speaking Spanish.
I had 2 years of Spanish in high school and 2 years of French in college and both have come back to me while learning Portuguese. The three languages are definitely connected, so knowing one helps you figure out another. BUT Portuguese sounds nothing like Spanish. When I first got here it was just a wall of sound and I despaired of ever learning. I've made progress, for sure, but still have a long way to go until fluency. My daughter, however, is nearly fluent after 2 years in public school and she's also well on her way to speaking French. I'm pretty proud of that!
Also, I think that some people have a natural gift for learning languages, and it sounds like you are one of them. You should definitely take some linguistic classes if it brings you joy!
I felt sure your daughter would pick it up quickly. I am so glad to hear that she is doing well. All of the research that I have read backs up the acquisition of language by her age is MUCH easier and faster than it is as we get older. Quicker, but not impossible! I started college at age 43 and started taking Spanish classes then. I had had it in high school, but our Spanish teacher had a nervous breakdown in November of the year-long Spanish I class, and we had subs the rest of the year. The next year we had a new Spanish teacher who was Japanese and could not pronounce an r or l. She put us back in the Spanish I book and started over. SO, 25 years later, I really did not retain much of the Spanish I had in highschool. Oh, and if you believe in Karma, I taught 6 years of high school Spanish, and I understood what my Spanish teacher had gone through.
Wow! I am in awe of both your writing skill and your insights on life! Thank you for being you, however you say that in Portuguese :)
As suas palavras são maravilhosas...as in "always". As a born-spanish-speaker, these days, constantly living in the in-between land, experiencing beauty arising when ser + estar = no difference :-). Obrigado e até à próxima vez.
Obrigada, Ryū!
Lovely text. And this is just a tiny example of how language and culture are deeply and irretrievably intertwined. As a PT teacher to (mostly) French origin students, it is amazing to see how the «value» of some 100% identical words changes when said in PT or in FR. Curiously, those words in English, most of them «follow» the same value as in PT... Go figure.
Muito bem dito, como sempre! As one who speaks Spanish, is learning português, and subject to SAD, this lesson really hits home.
"I think this is how we get up and go on—in the darkest of nights and the brightest of days. By knowing what is fixed and what is moveable. Knowing what we are made of and what we can change."
Indeed!
The Spanish books that I have always taught out of use ESTAR for being married. I suppose that is a state of being that can change.
Yes, in Spanish it's estar but in Portuguese it's ser for being married. Estoy casada vs. Sou casada.
Thank you for this beautiful personal essay on how languages can help us better express our feelings. I loved learning that Portuguese has two forms of 'to be.'
There are many cultures with other languages and of course a set of verbs that don’t grasp things like past tense forms or alike simply because the concept does not exist in that culture. If I’m referring well.
This is a lovely text about all the nuances a language holds. And how rich the world is because of that.
Thank you, a challenge: “fiquei feliz ao ler este texto”
Beautiful, poignant and hilarious (re Portuguese verbs). Thank you.
They are gone now, but at one time, one of those wee hours of morning (mourning?), I woke reflecting upon my Mom and my Dad. My early morning mind found these words, and you bring them back to me now. My Dad was a rock. My Mom was a river. Ser, estar? Does it fit? Do your thoughts stand - and - flow with mine? (One static. The other dynamic. One stoic. The other emotive.) I love(d) them both. They made me who I am. I stand upon their shoulders. I move with them. Ser, estar. (Meu pai era uma rocha. Minha mãe era um rio.)
I had lost you, the writer from Setúbal, and now I found you again. Estabas perdida. Y te encontré.
Obrigada La Donna, yo soy bilingüe español/inglés, un poco de francés y entiendo bastante el Portugués leído.