When we started preparing for this trip, I knew that learning Portuguese would be the most difficult thing for me. I love learning new languages, but I have a horrible memory. I knew that I had to put effort in though, because language is something that unites us all. Not only is it polite to try and speak the language of the country you are visiting, but doing so provides the opportunity to connect with complete strangers. Today, May 15th 2025, I connected with people using language in three different ways.
The first was when my friends and I went out to lunch. This was our first time venturing into São Paulo without one of our buddies, and we were excited for the chance to experience the city on our own. As always, it was very clear that we do not speak a lot of Portuguese. The waiter at the restaurant was very patient and kind with us, and used google translate when we couldn’t decipher what he was saying. He helped us a lot when ordering and paying, and was so helpful when we were attempting to figure out who was owed what change. Every one of us making an effort to speak each other’s language not only made lunch successful, but left us all feeling a little more connected with one another.
The second experience was at Shopping Paulista, where we visited after classes for the day. We ordered gelato in shaky Portuguese, and again the employees were very kind to us. My roommate Sidney asked for a second spoon in Portuguese, and the employee smiled very brightly at us. As we were leaving, she told us in Portuguese that we were very beautiful (which our buddy Sophia translated for us). I don’t know what it is about speaking a similar language that makes people want to be kind to one another, but I have seen it all around me in this city.
Lastly, as we were leaving the mall, my friends and I stopped at a drugstore. While inside, we heard someone around us speaking in English. At first we didn’t register it, because that’s normal back in the USA, but then we remembered where we were. We followed the language outside, where we met a group of five exchange students. These students were from the USA and Germany, and had been living in Brazil for about ten months. We chatted about where we were from and why we were in Brazil, and they invited us to eat lunch with them. To me, this was the pinnacle example of how language connects people across all different cultures. We were invited to share a meal with complete strangers just because we spoke the same language.
These three experiences today really showed how language transcends all cultures and locations. I believe that humans always want to connect with each other, but sometimes things (like language) get in the way. By showing the effort to speak someone else’s language, it pushes through those barriers to connect us all.
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