Revising Portuguese with Duolingo

Since I successfully defended my PhD thesis this year and left Portugal, I started to miss Portugal and hearing Portuguese. I also do not want to forget Portuguese, the language of the country that I love most. Therefore, I started practicing Portuguese with Duolingo 10 days ago. So far, good progress. Duolingo is funny with its interesting lessons and stories.

Some interesting events from Duolingo.

1. Luis is single-handedly responsible for the pineapple shortage in the world.

 

2.  and this woman who can eat eighteen! sandwiches.

 

3.  Proud to live in a world where even the cats read books.

 

4. and it gets creepier..

5. Tell me about these unfair expectations..

 
6. A vegan tiger.

7. The mythical armadillo strikes again.. :D
Well, duolingo has a thing with this tatu.

கரை வந்த பிறகே பிடிக்குது கடலை

When I finally defended my thesis in Lisboa in July this year, I decided to revisit most of Lisboa that I enjoyed during the past 7 years. I even managed to spend 3 nights in Porto, a city that I loved, but I visited only once before - in 2013 summer. I was of the opinion that this departure would make me slowly move away from Lisboa. I knew that I cannot forget Portugal completely, the country that I love the most. However, what I did not know was that I will actually grow more fond of Portugal after my final goodbye. I even started to freshen up my Portuguese knowledge since I always like to learn something and now I am not a student anymore after my Ph.D. defense. Of course, the cultural shock of moving away from Portugal - where almost everyone was nice and kind. After there for 7 years, I had well-aligned myself culturally to Portuguese culture, and arriving in the USA was indeed a cultural shock.

This brings me to the first life of the song "The Life of Ram" from the Tamil movie "96". கரை வந்த பிறகே பிடிக்குது கடலை. நரை வந்த பிறகே புரியுது உலகை. - I started to like the sea only after I reached the shore. I understood the world only after my hair turned gray (a loose direct translation).
 

7 years ago, I randomly ended up in Portugal, a country that I did not have much clue about (except they conquered the coastal towns of Sri Lanka in 1505, until 1658. Read, Portuguese Ceylon). Now I focus on Portugal. I am confident I will return to the country that I love so much, at some point in my life. Until then, I don't forget you, Portugal, and please don't forget me either. :) Ciao e beijinhos.

Lisbon - Week15

[08/12/2012] - The project deadlines are approaching the coming week. Everyone is getting busier. A few interesting events did occur during this time span.

[07/08/2012] - Tivemos o exame de português hoje. Eu estou contente que eu não desisti. Muito graças ao nosso professora por seus cuidados. I feel a bit guilty of not putting enough effort on learning Portuguese so far. I have loads of Portuguese speaking friends - I speak in English with all of them, so far. :)

[05/12/2012] - We get a student visa for 3 months, when we fly to Portugal. However, we are supposed to be present for an interview at SEF to obtain a residence card, usually covers a period of a year, for the Erasmus Mundus students, as we are going to study here for a year. SEF can be reached by metro. From the metro station Porque, turn right (when facing away from the entrance) and walk to #20. The interviews start at 8.30. I reached SEF by 8.20 and had to stay for 1.5 hours to complete the interview. It is better to reach around 8 am to be the first in the queue, and leave early.

Documents to take to SEF (information provided by IST)

1.      Passport;

2.      Proof of Residency;

One way do make  proof of Residency

                                                       I.            Declaration passed by your landlord;

                                                     II.            A copy of the identity card from your landlord (SEF needs to check if the signature on the declaration passed by our landlord is the same);

                                                   III.            A copy of the deed to the house (For SEF to check if the house is really the propriety of the person who is passing the declaration).

Or

Other way do make  proof of Residency

Certificate of Residence passed by the  parish council (you landlord will assist you  in doing this.

Or

If you are in a residence

You must tell me in which one so I can include it in the declaration, therefore you don’t need to do the steps before described

3.      Proof of means of livelihood

If you have Scholarship, the documents that prove you are receiving it.

If not, a copy of your bank account transactions for the past six months.

4.      Declaration elaborated by your institution (A formal letter/document provided by IST, in our case.)

5.      A proof that you have health insurance