Libras - Brazilian sign language

Anyone who knows me or reads my blog knows that I have wanted to be a translator for many years - whether it be ASL (American sign language) or Spanish/English or Portuguese/English. I love languages, I love being able to communicate with people who are from different cultures/backgrounds, and who speak other tongues. Hence, my place in an international school in Brazil.
Speaking of my new job at the school, I have learned that there are a number of hearing-impaired staff at the school. One woman in particular reminds me a bit of a good friend's sister so I immediately liked her. She works in the library.Today I wrote to her on a piece of paper that I want to learn sign language from Brazil (I was told years ago that sign language not only differs by language, but by country) and that I know ASL. She told me that it's called libras (sign language) in Portuguese and we compared the alphabet that I know with the one she knows. I was also able to understand most of her gestures and she even taught me the sign for "friend".

I'm relieved to find out that the two alphabets do not differ much, and when they do it makes sense to me. For instance, the symbol for the letter "t" in ASL means a woman's intimate body part in Brazil, so that letter is different. The same goes for the letter "f" which is a derrogatory symbol in Brazil. The "m",  "n", and "g" are slightly different, but it's easy to learn. Soon my ASL alphabet will be replaced with a Brazilian sign language alphabet - much like how Portuguese replaced Spanish in my head.

This is what I found on-line while my co-worker was standing next to me - so she approved. If you know ASL you'll see that it's not all that different.

I believe that my co-worker will be a good teacher (to me) and she seems patient, so I'm grateful and will be trying to learn as much BSL (Brazilian sign language) as possible. She also pointed out another deaf staff member and I briefly met another one on accident; I realized when she didn't respond to me that it was because she couldn't hear me. She could read lips very well, though. I think it's wonderful how my school has hired so many hearing-impaired people, and how the hearing staff can communicate well with them. In the work place there seems to be little to no disparity between those hearing and those impaired. 

I'm so happy to be able to learn a new language and be able to make new friends. It's even more amazing how the woman who works in the library, who I mentioned above, has learned English on top of libras and Portuguese. So she's trilingual. And she is quite knowledgable about ASL, too.

I am looking forward to all that I can learn in my new position. I know I haven't written too much (yet) about my life and work here in Brasilia but I will do so as soon as I have some down time. I got my schedule for the school year today and it looks really good.

I have met some fabulous people at the school and I'm now ready to meet the kids and am excited about the novels that they'll be reading this first quarter - Tuesdays with Morrie, 1984, and Of mice and men. Back to school it is...

It's almost that time of the year again...

....and when I say "that time of year" I mean back to school. I realize that this is not the case for my far-north-North-American-residing friends, but it's true for me. I guess in all honesty I'm not too far off from what I was used to in Florida. Teachers in the Sunshine State prepare to go back for the week of pre-planning during the 2nd or 3rd week of August. Right? I'm going back the final week of July. School starts the first day of August. I think I'm almost ready.


The school year at my international school in Brazil is the same length as that of the schools I've gone to/worked in, it's just that the start/stop/vacation times don't coincide with those where I've studied/worked before. We may begin school earlier, but I'll have a month-long vacation around Christmas time versus the two-week period I've been accustomed to. It all works out in the end. I guess I just feel I need a bit of a longer break now because since I finished the school year in June, I've been busy packing and moving to Brazil and then once I got here I've been busy unpacking and settling in. However, these last couple of weeks running around preparing for work have helped me almost feel like I'm ready to go back to work. 


At least I'm going to start working here...

I am looking forward to this new adventure and after my teacher orientation last week I'm even more excited about teaching at an international school. Even though the majority of my students are of one nationality - Brazilian - they are very multicultural/international. There will be students from about 30 countries in the school - of various religions, ethnic groups, past experiences, etc. This of course is one thing that attracted me so much to the school. That and the bilingual aspect. I'm bubbling with excitement of being able to meet my students and get to know them well. I've always enjoyed teaching Brazilians (and students from other multicultural backgrounds).


Nervous as I may be (even if just a little bit, and aren't we all when a new school year begins?), I'm anxious and happy about what's to come, about meeting the other teachers, attending in-service  training, setting up my new classroom (which will be temporary because a new wing is being built for high school students, scheduled to open in September/October :), and preparing my lessons. I hope that everything goes smoothly and that I have a nice transition into this school. I became so exhausted and burned out from uninterested students, from parents who wanted nothing to do with the school and frankly couldn't care less about education, and from the lack of support from the government in the U.S. that I need to be here. Hence, part of the reason why I moved to Brazil, to work in a private school.


I am excited about the books I'll be teaching and about the opportunity I have to teach reading and writing to ESL students. I have new clothes for the new school year and already the staff and administration I've met have been fabulous, fun, and supportive. So I'm ready, right? Let the school year begin....

Wordless Wednesday: International Schools

As I'm moving to Brazil to teach at an international school in the country's capital, I thought I'd show a few  pictures of international schools found worldwide. I love the idea of an international (especially bilingual) education and I celebrate diversity, multiculturalism, knowledge, multilingualism, and peace.

American International School of Costa Rica

The Lycee des Pontonniers (France)

International School of Perth (Western Australia)

Singapore American School