Re: [GRN] Portuguese for non Portuguese researchers

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 09:06:24 -0800 

 


John

I completely agree with you when you say“knowing these languages very helpful 
at everything”. It is very useful tospeak several languages to understand “the 
other”, to break down barriers.

The difficulty arises when, a student in Goa,after studying a language (let's 
say Russian) and lives in Panaji or Mapuça anddoes not have at least one friend 
or neighbor (or neighbour) who speaks thatlanguage, how can he keep the flame 
alive?

See this example. Years ago, a cousin of mineattended an intensive Portuguese 
course taught by Instituto Camões in Panaji. WhenI went to Goa, I discovered 
that he only knew two phrases: BU DIA and UBRIGAD.(BOM DIA e OBRIGADO…Good 
morning and thank you). And he has a diploma from theInstitute hanging on the 
wall that states “Frequentou o curso de português…heattended the Portuguese 
course” The parents, siblings and neighbors speakEnglish, Konkani and Hindi and 
zero Portuguese.
I speak Konkani without ever havingstudied the language because my parents 
spoke it in Mozambique.   I'm an exception among my friends who onlyspeak 
Portuguese.
Escolac guellear puro? Ulloupak ani konnuim aslear boreak poddta, maka oxem 
dista. 







    On Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 07:21:29 PM GMT, John de Figueiredo 
<[email protected]> wrote:  
 
 Pedro,I respectfully disagree. I speak Portuguese, Spanish,  French, and 
Konkani fluently and do not use these languages daily, but I find knowing these 
languages very helpful at everything I do.John
Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 7, 2023, at 10:45 AM, 'Pedro Mascarenhas' via Goa-Research-Net 
<[email protected]> wrote:



 In Portuguese secondary schools in Mozambique in the 60s and 70s it was 
mandatory to study French for 5 years and English for 3 years. Goan students 
gave more importance to English than French, because of Elvis Presley, the 
Beatles, and Hollywood films. It was wasted time: French from 1st to 5th year; 
English from 3rd to 5th year). Nowadays, if someone learns Portuguese in Goa, 
in theory, and not practicing it daily, it is useless.

    On Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 09:16:04 AM GMT, 'Carvalho' via 
Goa-Research-Net <[email protected]> wrote:  
 
  I second Sandra here. It is absolutely impossible to do research on Goa if 
one does not have at least a rudimentary knowledge of this language. Even 
seasoned translators will get translations wrong and unless you can check 
translations for accuracy with the benefit of context, it does not work. Having 
said that, it is not impossible to acquire a rudimentary understanding of this 
language within a fairly short time, and I suspect within two to three years of 
continued effort, one can become adept at this language which was most Catholic 
Goans is vaguely familiar and hidden in cryptomnesia. 
Best,Selma

    On Tuesday, 5 December 2023 at 06:15:11 GMT, sandra lobo 
<[email protected]> wrote:  
 
 Hi Helga. For years I have been defending that unless, at least for academic 
purposes, Portuguese is considered as a Goan language, necessary to be learned 
by students/researchers of Social Sciences and Humanities, Goan capacity to 
research its own past, namely its intellectual history and literature, will 
remain limited and its heritage will be no longer. From what I have been 
informed there is now an effort to have a more collaborative attitude between 
departments to overcome limitations, let's hope it is consistent. Best wishes, 
Sandra








Sandra Ataíde Lobo 


          
Home (gieipc-ip.org)                              https://praticasdahistoria.pt/
tmn. ++351 930690459

De: [email protected] <[email protected]> em 
nome de Helga do Rosario Gomes <[email protected]>
Enviado: 4 de dezembro de 2023 23:33
Para: Goa-Research-Net <[email protected]>
Assunto: [GRN] Portuguese for non Portuguese researchers It’s quite unfortunate 
that many researchers are stymied because of their inability to read 
Portuguese. Unfortunate not only for the frustration it causes the researchers 
but also the loss of information to the general public especially in this 
current polarized India. Universities like Columbia where I work demand that a 
PhD student take courses that extend the breadth and depth of his/her 
knowledge. But this isn’t the case in most universities worldwide nor is it 
applicable to independent researchers not affiliated to universities or 
institutions.But there’s a possible solution to this problem although it would 
need collaboration and the breaking of silos both of which from my experience 
are very hard to accomplish at the Goa university. Why don’t researchers with 
great ideas and enthusiasm as well as  access to documents collaborate with the 
faculty and more importantly with students of the Portuguese Department of Goa 
Univ? The latter would reap in terms of multidisciplinary collaborations, 
co-authorship in papers and books and exposure to a big world! This isn’t 
unusual in the world of science and technology. Data science students are made 
to work in libraries, linguistics, philosophy departments and medical and earth 
sciences. Data crunching, like speaking a language, is a skill. 
Currently very little research is being undertaken at Goa Univ.’s  Portuguese 
department probably because the effort is mostly to produce more Portuguese 
teachers but a collaboration such as I suggest would produce historians, 
researchers, thinkers etc. I hope at least one student or faculty from the 
Portuguese department lurking in the periphery of this group responds. It’s 
time Goa moved beyond Vem Cantar and Festas do Povo.Best,Helga 
Sent from my iPhone

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