Plurilingualism
Summary
TLDRThe 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
🌍 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.
👶 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.
📚 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.
🎓 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Plurilingual
💡Linguistic Repertoire
💡Brazilian Portuguese
💡Multilingualism
💡Language Development
💡Language Ideology
💡Cultural Identity
💡Educational Policy
💡Language Suppression
💡Fluctuating Proficiency
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
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