Day 9 – Amelia Pilecki – Language: A Barrier or Bridge?

Today, May 20, 2025, the Global Honors students in Brazil spent the day engaging and dissecting language. We started the day by studying the Portuguese language for three hours, followed by two hours exploring and interacting with language at the Portuguese Language Museum. We learned Portuguese words and phrases to help us when ordering in a restaurant. The museum displayed how languages are connected, and where certain words originate from. Although it may seem like a long, boring day, I discovered how language is not a barrier between people, but a bridge that connects us all. 

Within the first half of the trip, I have learned how language is a connector through several instances. My host family speaks very little English, making it difficult to communicate with them. We rely on our body language and expressions to communicate how we feel or what we want to say. Although translation technology, like google translate, is very helpful in assisting our conversations, there is something that allows me to connect with my host family on a deeper level. It is that life experiences supersede language differences. I have grown so close to my host sister because I share a love for many of the same movies, books, and music artists as her. We had the time of our lives watching High School Musical 2 together and bonding over our shared love for Troy Bolton. I have also been able to bond with our Brazilian classmates over several shared interests even though we come from different cultures and speak entirely different languages. 

Lastly, I have bonded significantly with my fellow Roberts classmates, some who I was already friends with, and some who I had hardly spoken to before. Experiencing language and culture with them has allowed me to build a friendship where we share many moments of laughter, and even opening up and sharing some of our more personal details of our lives. This traveling experience has taught me so much about how important it is to share language with others and how it is able to bring people together in unforeseen ways.