Arriving in Portugal, I noticed that European Portuguese was indeed quite different from Brazilian Portuguese. I spent the first few days adjusting my ears. My host family spoke Portuguese really fast, and at first, it was hard to understand what they were saying. Sometimes I would use words in Brazilian Portuguese that didn't exist in Portugal, and my host mom would have to correct me. Luckily, the first two weeks of my study abroad program were dedicated to an Intensive Portuguese language class. We studied a whole semester's worth of Portuguese language in two weeks!
While I was hard at work studying Portuguese, my host family took advantage of my native English fluency to practice their own English skills. While my 16 year old host brother spoke English almost fluently with an incredible American accent, my host mother's English was less developed. Just like I had begun switching between European and Brazilian Portuguese, my host mother would randomly pronounce some words with a heavy British accent. My host brother pointed this out to her when she said the word "river". It sounded like she was from London! We broke out into laughter at the dinner table.
A perspective many American students have about studying abroad is that it is an exciting vacation where only the best of things happen. Before leaving for Portugal, I was ready to embrace the intensive academic setting. I planned on taking courses that would challenge me and contribute to my degree. While I was prepared to tackle hurdles in the classroom, I was not as aware of the challenges that I would face in my everyday life abroad. Just like at home, there are good and bad days.
