The first stop on our road to Brazil: Monterey, California, home of the U.S. government's Defense Language Institute (DLI) at the Presidio of Monterey (an army base).
Here, all branches of the military and some civilian government employees are sent for intensive foreign language training. Twenty three languages are taught here, seven hours a day, five days a week. Courses last anywhere from six months to more than a year.
If a course has a seat unfilled by the military, DLI will allow a service member's spouse into his/her class. Luckily I got the eighth and last spot in Geoff's class. I am so grateful and appreciative to have had this opportunity to learn portuguese and know the five amazing professors who taught us. I hope I have thanked all the appropriate people for this experience.
A few observations:
Military school:
Being a civilian, it was interesting being in a military environment. A few notables: the Navy definitely has the worst uniforms; the younger the service members love to dole out the ma'am sandwich, as in "ma'am, have a nice day, ma'am;" and there is a very heavy emphasis on safety, for example requiring the use of a reflective belt and a mouth guard to run in formation, cross the street, etc.
I really did enjoy this wonderfully broadening experience. I was treated like all the other students and held to the same high standards in regards to workload, testing, etc.
Class:
What was it like? Hard. Really hard.
Geoff and I thought learning a language as our full-time focus would be a fun, enriching experience. It was, but we weren't prepared for the rigor and incredible challenge of trying to become proficient in such a short amount of time.
Our success can be directly attributed to our teachers. I cannot say enough good things about the five women, all Brazilians, who taught us their language. Our professors are such gifted teachers. I could go on and on. So I will: patient, kind, empathetic, understanding, funny, beautiful and BRILLIANT. Obrigada por tudo; eu vou te fazer se sentir orgulhosa. And thanks for letting me be on your same team.
Day-to-day:
We were in the same classroom all day, every day, with the same students. That's a lot of time to spend with the seven people, and then go home with one of them. That said, Geoff and I had a great time. It was beneficial to be learning the language simultaneously and helpful to live with a classmate with the same homework, projects, tests, etc. We also really got to know our classmates. In an effort to practice conversing and expand our vocabulary, we spent countless hours talking about our families, our childhoods, how we spend holidays, vacations and so much more. We really got creative (read: dirty) with the minutia. It was fun.
Post-DLI:
Our class graduated from DLI in May 2012. Geoff and I graduated with honors after two weeks of arduous testing in speaking, listening and reading. We both also earned an associate's degree in portuguese. We took a quickie, week-long trip to Brazil to meet with officials at our new university (more on that later) and start house hunting. During that week, we understood almost everything and communicated with relative ease. Success.
 |
| Our portuguese class, wonderful teachers, and DLI administration members. |
