i guess this attracted me because it's in English- "do you follow the orders?" for me, being in portugal was rather chocante, because i did not have a good handle on the language. after fatima, instead of going to the beach, i chilled @ the hotel and watched karate kid 2 with portuguese subtitles. it was very easy to understand the translations. for me, portuguese in its written form resembles spanish so much that i can understand it bastante bien. however, when it is spoken, it has this certain quality- es tan suave- that for me makes it very difficult to understand. i mentioned my uneasiness to some of my students who informed me that in spain, they felt igual. it amazed me that they lived day-in, day-out, without a good grasp of spanish and had no fear in asking people for help or directions.
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