Itatiaia, State of Rio de Janeiro

I am doing my usual Portuguese study in this small city of Itatiaia, halfway between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. It consists of: vocabulary review, including a NEW PAGE, page 52, with some of the new words from this trip; a newspaper with a sample exam for public secondary school teachers of Portuguese; and countless conversations every day. My new mission for conversation: improve my accent. Because I look so foreign and speak “carefully” rather than “carefreely,” people have trouble understanding me. Probably they have rarely heard a foreigner speaking Portuguese, as Itatiaia is not a big tourist hub, even with Brazil’s first national park nearby. So, on goes the practice!Read more