Plurilingualism

Summary

The story follows Angelica, a plurilingual individual whose life reflects the unpredictable and fluid nature of language acquisition. Growing up in Brazil, she navigated multiple languages, including Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and later English. Her linguistic journey is marked by moments of adaptation and discovery, influenced by cultural, political, and personal contexts. Angelica's experience illustrates the dynamic nature of being plurilingual, where language proficiency fluctuates but empowers her to connect with diverse cultures and people. Now an English teacher, she embraces multilingualism, encouraging her students to explore their linguistic backgrounds.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Plurilingualism involves a non-linear, dynamic linguistic journey, often full of improvisation and unpredictability.
• 🇧🇷 Angelica, born in Brazil, was raised with a rich linguistic background, influenced by her Italian and Spanish heritage.
• 🇵🇹 Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish are interconnected as Romance languages, contributing to Angelica's linguistic development.
• 🧠 Plurilingualism isn't about compartmentalizing languages; rather, it's about using them fluidly and interchangeably.
• 👶 Angelica was exposed to multiple languages as a child, but her formal education in Brazil required her to conform to a single language, Brazilian Portuguese.
• 📉 Angelica faced early criticism from teachers about her language development, though she was actually experimenting with multiple languages.
• 🎧 Angelica's passion for learning English sparked when she was introduced to the language in school, influenced heavily by American media like music and films.
• 💡 Despite focusing on English for academic reasons, Angelica retained her ability to speak Italian, Spanish, and other languages through family interactions and cultural exposure.
• 🌎 Angelica's plurilingualism allowed her to explore and embrace other languages and cultures, both in her travels and through her academic pursuits.
• 📚 As an adult, Angelica uses her plurilingual skills to teach English, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging and utilizing students' linguistic backgrounds.

Q & A

Who is Angelica, and where was she born?

Angelica is a plurilingual girl who was born in a suburban town called Hion Pedes, located in the southeast of Brazil.

What is the significance of differentiating between Brazilian Portuguese and Portuguese from Portugal?

The differentiation between Brazilian Portuguese and Portuguese from Portugal is a political and ideological statement, symbolizing Brazil's separation from its colonial past and affirming its own identity.

What languages did Angelica grow up learning, and how did they influence her linguistic development?

Angelica grew up learning Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish, influenced by her father's Italian heritage and her mother's Spanish background. These languages formed part of her linguistic repertoire, though she initially did not realize they were separate languages.

What challenges did Angelica face in preschool regarding her language development?

In preschool, Angelica was incorrectly told by her teacher that she had a speech problem and possibly a low IQ because she pronounced certain sounds, like the 's', differently. This was likely due to her exposure to multiple languages at home.

Why did Angelica become uninterested in learning after a few years in school?

Angelica became uninterested in learning because the school environment suppressed her ability to experiment with and use multiple languages, which made her feel trapped.

How did learning English reignite Angelica's passion for studying?

Angelica's interest in learning was reignited when she was introduced to English in fifth grade. She became excited about learning the language, partly due to her earlier exposure to it through her older sister and North American media.

How did exposure to North American media influence Angelica's learning of English?

North American media, such as music from 'New Kids on the Block' and Hollywood movies, played a significant role in Angelica's English development. She memorized song lyrics, watched movies, and even altered her TV to focus on listening rather than reading subtitles.

What does it mean to be a plurilingual, and how does Angelica identify with this term?

Being plurilingual means having a linguistic repertoire that includes multiple languages or varieties within the same language. Angelica identifies as plurilingual because her life trajectory provided her the opportunity to learn and use several languages for personal, social, and professional purposes.

How did Angelica's university years contribute to her linguistic journey?

During her university years in São Paulo, Angelica explored a wide range of languages, including Spanish, Italian, Sanskrit, Latin, Japanese, and Tupi. This period helped her expand her plurilingual abilities and rediscover her interest in languages like Spanish.

How has being plurilingual benefited Angelica in her personal and professional life?

Being plurilingual has empowered Angelica to adapt her linguistic repertoire to various social, personal, and professional contexts. It has also given her a deeper understanding of different cultures and enabled her to connect with people from diverse linguistic backgrounds.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 The Unpredictable Journey of a Plurilingual Life

The life of a plurilingual person, like Angelica, is unpredictable, dynamic, and exciting, much like navigating a winding road. Angelica’s story begins in a suburban town in Brazil, where she grew up in a multilingual household. Her father was Italian, and her mother’s family was from Spain. Angelica started learning Brazilian Portuguese alongside Italian and Spanish at a young age, unaware of the linguistic differences. This introduction to multiple languages shaped her plurilingual development, a journey where languages blend rather than stay compartmentalized.

05:02

👶 Early Language Development and School Challenges

As a toddler, Angelica learned to speak several languages simultaneously, often mixing Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. Despite her creativity with language, her school environment didn’t support this linguistic flexibility. Her teacher, Professor Ana, believed Angelica had a speech issue, suggesting she had a low IQ. However, tests showed that Angelica was a normal child with no speech issues. As she continued through school, Angelica's linguistic creativity was stifled, and she felt trapped by the pressure to conform to one language, Brazilian Portuguese.

10:02

📚 Discovering English and Expanding Horizons

Angelica’s first exposure to English reignited her passion for learning languages. Despite Brazil's geographical proximity to Spanish-speaking countries, English was introduced in schools due to its status as a global language. Angelica became obsessed with English, consuming North American music, movies, and media. She practiced diligently, memorizing lyrics and mimicking English speakers. Her devotion to English, supported by her parents, allowed her to excel academically, even as her proficiency in other languages like Italian and Spanish waned.

15:05

🎓 University Adventures and Rediscovering Linguistic Diversity

During her university years in São Paulo, Angelica’s linguistic journey expanded. She began studying a wide range of languages, including Tupi, Latin, Sanskrit, Japanese, and Esperanto, in addition to her major, English. Her Spanish, though dormant for years, was revived through travel across South America. Angelica’s exposure to new cultures and languages broadened her understanding of the world and strengthened her plurilingual identity. Her family connections and friendships enriched her linguistic repertoire, and she embraced the cultural diversity around her.

🌐 Embracing the Power of Plurilingualism

Now living in Toronto with her Canadian partner, Angelica continues her plurilingual journey. She recognizes the fluidity of language proficiency and how languages complement one another. Angelica identifies as plurilingual because of her life experiences with multiple languages, even though her fluency in each fluctuates over time. She uses her linguistic skills in her profession as a teacher, encouraging her students to embrace their linguistic backgrounds. Angelica believes plurilingualism fosters cultural understanding and promotes respect for others, a belief that continues to shape her life and work.

Keywords

💡Plurilingual

Plurilingual refers to a person who can communicate in multiple languages, often with varying degrees of proficiency. In the video, Angelica is described as plurilingual due to her exposure to different languages from her Italian father, Spanish mother, and later her experience with Portuguese, English, and other languages. This concept is central to the video as it explores Angelica's linguistic journey and how it shapes her identity.

💡Linguistic Repertoire

A linguistic repertoire refers to the range of languages and language varieties that a person can use. In Angelica's case, her repertoire includes Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and English. The video emphasizes that her understanding of languages isn't compartmentalized, but rather, all the languages she speaks are interconnected and fluctuate depending on her social and personal needs.

💡Brazilian Portuguese

Brazilian Portuguese is the variety of Portuguese spoken in Brazil, distinct from European Portuguese due to historical, cultural, and political differences. The video discusses the differentiation between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese as a post-colonial assertion of Brazilian identity. Angelica’s first language is Brazilian Portuguese, which she learned alongside other languages at home.

💡Multilingualism

Multilingualism is the ability to communicate in multiple languages. The video highlights how Angelica’s multilingualism influenced her education, social interactions, and professional life. Despite learning different languages at a young age, her proficiency in each fluctuates over time, demonstrating the fluid nature of multilingualism.

💡Language Development

Language development refers to the process by which a person acquires and refines their ability to speak and understand languages. The video traces Angelica's language development from early childhood through adulthood, showing how she learned Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and later English, with her proficiency in each language changing depending on her environment and experiences.

💡Language Ideology

Language ideology is the set of beliefs and attitudes about languages and their speakers. In the video, it is evident in the discussion about Brazilian Portuguese versus Portuguese Portuguese, where the distinction is seen as a political and ideological statement of post-colonial identity. Angelica’s experience with different languages also reflects societal attitudes toward linguistic diversity.

💡Cultural Identity

Cultural identity is the sense of belonging to a particular culture or group. Angelica’s language journey is closely tied to her cultural identity as a Brazilian with Italian and Spanish heritage. Her ability to speak multiple languages allows her to connect with different aspects of her identity, which is reflected in her interactions with family, friends, and her broader social environment.

💡Educational Policy

Educational policy refers to the decisions and laws that shape the curriculum and practices in schools. In the video, the introduction of English as the primary foreign language in Brazilian schools is discussed as a reflection of the global dominance of English. This policy significantly influenced Angelica's linguistic journey, as English became central to her academic and professional success.

💡Language Suppression

Language suppression refers to the limitation or discouragement of using certain languages in specific contexts. The video touches on how Angelica felt restricted in her ability to express herself in multiple languages while attending school, where she was expected to conform to Brazilian Portuguese. This suppression led her to feel trapped, as she could not experiment with the different languages she had been exposed to at home.

💡Fluctuating Proficiency

Fluctuating proficiency refers to the varying levels of ability a person may have in different languages over time. Angelica's language skills in Italian, Spanish, and other languages ebb and flow throughout her life based on her environment and needs. The video illustrates how this fluctuation is a natural part of being plurilingual, as people activate different parts of their linguistic repertoire based on circumstances.

Highlights

The life of a plurilingual is unpredictable, improvised, and exciting, not following a linear historical trajectory.

Angelica was born in a suburban town in southeast Brazil, with parents from different linguistic backgrounds (Italian and Spanish).

Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian are interconnected for Angelica, showing that languages from the same family blend in her linguistic repertoire.

Angelica's playful use of languages, mixing Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, allowed her to invent words as a child.

A school teacher incorrectly identified Angelica's linguistic fluidity as a speech problem, prompting an unnecessary IQ test.

Immersion in Brazilian Portuguese at school limited Angelica's ability to express herself in other languages, making her feel trapped.

In fifth grade, learning English re-sparked Angelica’s interest in studying and expanded her linguistic world.

The political decision in Brazil to prioritize English in schools contributed to Angelica's development as a plurilingual.

Angelica immersed herself in English by consuming North American media, such as music and movies, helping her to develop fluency.

Angelica’s dedication to learning English through music led her to excel academically, eventually helping her pass her university entrance exam.

University allowed Angelica to reconnect with Spanish and other languages, adding Japanese, Italian, and even Tupi to her linguistic repertoire.

Her journey to rediscover Spanish took her on travels across South America, where she practiced with locals, alongside her mother.

Angelica's social and professional environments allowed her to maintain fluency in multiple languages and use them interchangeably.

Living in Toronto with a Canadian partner who speaks English and French, Angelica continues to explore different varieties of Portuguese.

Angelica identifies as a plurilingual, using her rich linguistic repertoire to adapt to different social, personal, and professional needs.

Transcripts

life of a plural lingual is somewhat

unpredictable improvised uneven but

exciting it does not usually follow a

linear historical trajectory where all

the pieces fit together like a

pre-fabricated puzzle no actually it's

quite the opposite it's just like a

treacherous wiing road where you are

unsure about what you encounter around

the corner but when you finally get to

your destination everything will make

sense you must be wondering what is all

this supposed to mean let me start by

telling the story of a plural lingual

girl called

Angelica Angelica was born in a Suburban

town called hion pedes located in the

southeast of Brazil Brazil with an S

it's not a typo that's how it's spelled

in Portuguese I mean Brazilian

Portuguese wait what's the difference

between Brazilian Portuguese and

Portuguese Portuguese isn't it the same

language yeah it is one language but in

post Colonial Brazil some like to

differentiate between the two as a way

to affirm their Identity or to make a

point that they are not a Portuguese

Colony anymore it's certainly a

political and ideological statement as

you know the Portuguese discovered or

invaded Brazil in the year 1500

Portuguese became the most powerful

language in the

country I mean we now call it Brazilian

Portuguese I'm sorry I guess I'm

sidetracking let's go back to Angelica's

story both her parents were born in

Brazil but they came from different

linguistic backgrounds Angelica's father

was from Italy and her mother's family

was from Spain in the 1900s many

European immigrants went to Brazil to

work in the coffee plantations mainly

theal

the Spanish also immigrated there in

search of a better Economic Opportunity

this fact influenced the way Angelica

would grow as a plural lingual even

though she had no idea what a plural

lingual was and if you too don't know

what a plural lingual is no worries you

have it all figured out by the end of

the story Angelica was still a toddler

when she started learning to speak

Brazilian Portuguese her first words

were obviously Mam and papy as she

didn't yet have a choice of which words

or languages to learn in fact her

parents taught her to say those two

words in Italian and Spanish too however

when she would say mama and papa in

Italian or mama and papa in Spanish she

didn't know she was speaking different

languages if you have noticed these

three languages are similar this is not

mere coincidence Portuguese Italian and

Spanish come from the same language

family they are Roman

languages Angelica had no idea she was

speaking three different languages for

her all those words were interconnected

and part of what we call linguistic

repertoire some people naively believe

that each language appr person learns is

stored in a little box in their head and

they're all separated from each other if

they had followed Angelica's linguistic

development they would have to

conceptualize a different theory in her

mind she would use use one language or

another interchangeably and that for her

was fun she would even invent new words

once her mother gave her aara and she

immediately decided to call it

Zaza her mother kept saying it's not

Zaza it's lunja but Angelica would

ignore her mother's Corrections Zaza to

her was a better word to represent her

favorite

fruit this freedom to invent linguistic

items was allowed until Angelica started

attending preschool when she felt she

had to conform to using one language

only in her first week of school

Angelica's teacher Professor Ana bluntly

told her she had a speech problem she

didn't know how to pronounce some

phological sounds such as the s in

sapato instead she would use the th and

would

pronounce professora Anna promptly

called Angelica's mother in for a

meeting to discuss her language learning

deficit Professor Elena told Angelica's

mother that Angelica probably had a low

IQ because she was unable to learn some

sounds of Brazilian

Portuguese of course Angelica's mother

believed in Professor Elena and quickly

had Angelica's IQ tested the fact is

Angelica knew very well how to pronounce

the S as she would accurately say

sandalia instead of

Thalia what might have happened is that

Angelica's older sister was learning

English at school and she had taught

Angelica how to say obrigada in English

thank you Angelica was still in the

playful mode using the sounds of

different languages that she had had

contact with she was still a child and

that is normal at the developmental

stage it turned out that Angelica's IQ

test was not below the level of of

normal development she was a normal

child after a few years immersed in

Brazilian Portuguese at school Angelica

started to be unwilling about learning

in general unable to experiment with

other languages she would constantly

feel as if she were in a trap not being

able to expand her Horizons she still

felt the need to express herself in

other languages Angelica would still use

a few words in Italian and Spanish at

home but she felt suppressed when she

was at school finally in grade five she

was introduced to her first formal

learning of a foreign language English

all of a sudden Angelica became

interested in studying again and she was

excited about learning the language her

sister had already introduced to her

what Angelica hadn't realized at the

time was that Brazil being surrounded by

Spanish-speaking countries chose the

instruction of a foreign language that

did not meet the geog graphical needs to

communicate with its

neighbors of course English at that time

was considered the language of success

business and knowledge there is no doubt

that this idea still prevails English is

still a powerful language what is

fascinating about the spread of English

around the world nowadays is that people

from diverse language backgrounds are

appropriating English to voice their

needs to the world however the political

decision of introducing English to the

school curriculum in Brazil and in many

other countries supports and maintains

the power of English has certainly this

educational policy shaped Angelica's

plural lingual

trajectory given that no other foreign

language at the time was offered at

public schools and that Brazil was being

inundated by the constant exposure to

North American Media English became a

prominent language in the country there

is no doubt that North American music

MTV and Hollywood movies supported

Angelica's development of English at

that time her favorite band was the New

Kids on the Block a boys band from

Boston she would listen to their music

all day every day memorizing the lyrics

of the songs and looking up words in a

bilingual dictionary she would turn her

family crazy especially her sister Who

Loved have met at the time she would

also rent video tapes with North

American movies and would play them in

her

VCR but because the videos had subtitled

as in Portuguese she would tape her TV

so she didn't have to read the subtitles

enabling her to focus on listening only

her mother would always make her clean

the glue of the TV

later Angelica was so motivated to learn

English that she invested all her free

time practicing it her parents were so

proud to know she was interested in

school again that they decided to give

her what had been asking for a Walkman a

Walkman was a device where we could put

tapes in it to listen to audio

recordings mainly music but music for

Angelica was learning languages

especially English at the time her

English textbook used in her school

accompany tape so students could

practice listening and

pronunciation Angelica will listen to

her tapes all day mimicking what the

English speaker said Angelica's Walkman

was was her best friend her mother

started to worry about Angelica as she

would do nothing else but listen to her

tapes irritated she once went into her

room and

asked Angelica simply replied I don't

know it's

fun years and years went by and Angelica

was dedicated to learning only English

as a result Italian and Spanish although

still stored in her mind were spoken

less and less and became

dormant she knew she would soon need to

pass an English test to enter University

so she invested more and more in that

language acceptance to your University

was dependent on your score the higher

the score the easier access to education

at that time University entrance tests

didn't offer any other choice of foreign

language because Angelica's English was

good she passed the exam during her

University years Angelica lived in s

Paulo a megalopolis with 12 million

people her trip to University was just

like an adventure she would walk through

S Paulo's hustle and bustle take an

overcrowded bus and the fastest Transit

3 million people a day choose to take

the subway she would always get off at a

Charming station called anang

gabu after looking that word up in the

Brazilian Portuguese dictionary Angelica

found out that word was a word in Tani

one of the many indigenous languages in

Brazil aabu means

aabol naturally Angelica's Fascination

towards languages motivated her to know

more about

t after going to her University Library

she found a book called meod mod Jan

chigu by Eduardo Joma navu after

carrying this book around a colleague of

hers asked her if she was taking NAU's

course Angelica had no idea the author

of the book was teaching a course in

tupi in her second term she enrolled in

the tup Guan

course Angelica's University years were

linguistically fruitful and brought her

back to a deeper exploration of a

plurality of languages she already had

in her repertoire with the addition of a

few other languages she took Spanish

Italian Sanskrit Latin Japanese

espiranto and of course English her main

major the fact that her Spanish had been

dormant for many years didn't imped her

to redevelop it quickly especially with

the help of a few trips she took around

South America she was glad that although

she hadn't studied Spanish in her early

school years she was finally able to

study the language of the neighboring

countries she invited her mother to

accompany her journey to Uruguay

Paraguay and Argentina and they would

both engage in conversations with the

local people in each country Angelica

and her mother love South American

culture festivities rituals La mus and

laa until now they both maintained The

Language by talking to each other in

Spanish whenever possible at home she

continued to revitalize some of the

languages she had left aside while

studing English she would use some

expressions in Italian mainly with her

father as her older sister had married a

man who was a n or second generation of

Japanese born she would also speak a few

words in Japanese Angelica's Happy Metal

sister became an indigenous researcher

and they could bond speaking a few words

in toig Guan with each other in her

Social Circle she had friends who had

immigrated to Brazil from Bolivia Japan

and Germany she had never learn German

at school or university but because of

her previous linguistic experience she

didn't hesitate to learn a few words

Angelica is no longer a girl she's a

grown woman nowadays she's based in

Toronto and lives with her partner who

is Canadian he speaks English and French

the two official languages in Canada and

learns some Portuguese words from his

school friends who had immigrated to

Canada from aoris

Portugal Angelica and her partner enjoy

talking to each other in different

varieties of Portuguese learning

different varieties of the same language

is another aspect of a plural lingual oh

that reminds me the purpose of this

story is to explain what a plural

lingual is Angelica calls herself

plurilingual because her life trajectory

provided her with the opportunity to

learn several languages or varieties

within the same

language obviously she's not able to

speak them all very well her Proficiency

in her linguistic repertoire is

constantly fluctuating for example at a

point in her life she spoke Spanish

fluently other times she had to leave it

aside and learn English for academic and

professional purposes this is not really

a problem it's part of the process of

language development of a plural lingual

most importantly as a plural lingual

Angelica feels Empower to be able to

activate this repertoire according to

the needs of her social personal or

professional life having a rich

linguistic resource has given Angelica a

sense of understanding the world through

its people and and cultures she feels

that speaking other languages minimizes

the gap between one culture and the

other bringing her closer to whoever she

has contact with nowadays Angelica

teaches English to speakers of other

languages she FS privileged to have a

huge linguistic diversity in her own

classroom and she can activate her

linguistic resources on a daily basis as

a plural lingual teacher she ensures to

acknowledge and validate her students

linguistic background

and encourages them to learn each

other's languages they can access their

FA langage that is they can draw upon

the knowledge of languages they already

know to learn other languages after all

languages should not be seen as

separated rather they complement each

other not to mention that a plural

lingual person is more likely to respect

understand and appreciate other

cultures Angelica's life trajectory has

shaped her as a plural language she is

today but her journey will continue each

one of us has had contact with other

languages or varieties within the same

language we all have a linguistic

repertoire we are all

plurilingual what's your plural lingual

story