Connecting Learning to Life

Personal Use of Language

Professional Use of Language

For the past two years, I have been able to tutor native Portuguese speakers in subjects such as Writing, English, and History. Along with this, creating videos based in Portuguese that are both professional and entertaining is a way in which I continue to use the language. To the right is an example of a video I made in a professional setting.

To reflect my personal use of the Portuguese language, I first included a poem I wrote about my home state of California. I struggled at first to find words to rhyme while still making sense, but I ultimately enjoyed the process. Along with this, I included videos I made while living in Portugal. For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to documenting memorable moments through taking pictures. In more recent years, I have found taking videos has been more effective in bringing back the emotions felt during these memorable moments. As a result of this, I decided to create one video for each week I spent in Portugal, highlighting the new places we visited. I included four of these videos. The first video titled forÉvora recaps the highlights of our trips to both Évora and Monsaraz in Eastern Portugal. Not only did I want to remember the beautiful landscape as seen from atop of the castle in Monsaraz, or the streets of Évora filled with history, but I also included candid moments like a dance battle on a boat in order to not only remember the places but also the people with whom I shared these experiences. The next video, Lisboa, highlights my first week living in Lisbon. The majority of the week was spent in awe of the beauty and history of the city, and the video gives glimpses why. The third video I included, Sintra!, recaps a day-trip to Sintra. While all of the other videos have moments spread out over weeks, this video is dedicated to the one, marvelous day spent in Sintra. Lastly, I included a video entitled Beach Days that gives a broader glance at the many beach cities we visited, including Ericeira, Setúbal, Cabo Espichel, etc. Overall, I plan to continue to make videos like this as I visit the other Lusophone countries.

To reflect my professional use of the Portuguese language, I first included an educational video that I created concerning the BOPE of Rio de Janeiro. I have found that I really enjoy making videos and being able to create videos both for personal use and for professional use will only be an advantage to me in the future. Along with this, I explained how I currently use Portuguese in a professional setting. At my job, I am lucky enough to be able to use my Portuguese skills every day, and as I won’t have this job forever, I need to make goals to continue to use my Portuguese in a professional setting. I am planning on attending law school and once I am a lawyer, I want to help underserved communities, especially those who speak Portuguese. Since I have three years of law school before this, I plan to find ways to use my Portuguese such as translation or interpretation in court rooms or for legal documents. Overall, I am confident that with hard work, I will be able to maintain my Portuguese skills so that one day I can use them to help others.