Island Teachers Study Portuguese in Brazil

By JOSHUA SABATINI

Two staff members at the Tisbury School went the extra distance this
summer to foster a more productive relationship with Brazilian students
and their parents.

Charlie Braun and Emily Broderick spent a month in Brazil, studying
both the Portuguese language and the local culture. Mr. Braun was in
Salvador, and Mrs. Broderick visited Maceio.

Mr. Braun, of West Tisbury, is in his third year as the
school's psychologist and counselor. Ms. Broderick, of Chilmark,
began as a reading teacher at the school 15 years ago, and this year was
promoted to a new position - director of curriculum and
instruction for the Islandwide school system.

Both were inspired to take the journey as a result of the increasing
number of Brazilian students.

Four years ago, nine Brazilians were a part of the student body,
said Tisbury School principal Maureen DeLoach. Last year, the number of
Brazilian students hit an all-time high of 32. This year, the number is
down slightly, at 28, but still represents almost 10 per cent of the
student body.

Over the years, Mrs. Broderick taught many children at the school
how to read, including a Russian boy and a Chinese girl, neither of whom
were fluent in English when they enrolled.

Seven years ago, she taught her first Brazilian students, two girls.
But unlike her previous foreign students, they were harbingers of more
to come: In subsequent years, the number of Brazilian students only
increased.

"At that time," said Mrs. Broderick, "the school
system had no English as a Second Language (ESL) personnel on the
staff."

Today, there is an ESL teacher in the school system as well as a
fluent Portuguese-speaking teacher, Maria Andrade, at the Tisbury
School. Ms. Andrade was hired full-time for this school year after
working part-time last year.

Mrs. Broderick and Mr. Braun took it upon themselves to help bridge
the gap between the two cultures. Both spent their own money for the
study abroad program.

"Given the fact we have this huge rise and growing Brazilian
population, and that they often come in here to my office, I thought it
would be great if I could be able to speak with them," Mr. Braun
said.

"Where the children would learn English in a year, the parents
often do not learn English easily or at all," he added.
"Kids need to learn to keep up with their peers, but parents often
have their support system and their native language at home or on their
job site."

Mrs. Broderick made the effort for a similar reason: "I felt I
could be helpful with the families and the kids if I knew Portuguese.
Plus I had been learning some just from working here and translating
things because I was teaching them to read."

Both did receive support from the school and the school district for
their effort.

"The school supported me. I left before school ended and was
put on a professional leave and received some financial
assistance," said Mrs. Broderick.

"I paid for the whole thing," said Mr. Braun.
"With a little help from the principal and school district, I got
some money back. It was a real show of support, and I appreciated
that."

Miss DeLoach said,"We feel with so many Portuguese-speaking
students in the school that there should be a two-way street. Already
Mr. Braun's experience has been so helpful. Parents need someone
to talk to, and he has filled that void."

The demand for Mr. Braun's knowledge is clear. At the start of
this school year, there were six new non-English-speaking Brazilian
students. They had come to the Island for the first time this year.

Mr. Braun feels he is making a difference in such cases. "I
really feel I am making headway with the parents and the children who
don't know English. They walk in the door, and it's my
obligation to find out who they are. There are things I want to say to
them from a counselor point of view. Now everyday I am using
Portuguese."

Mr. Braun spent his month abroad with a Brazilian family and studied
the language five days a week at the Diálogo School. He also took
samba dance, percussion and cooking lessons in the heart of the city.

After immersing himself in the culture, he said, he has returned
with a greater understanding of Brazilian ways.

"I learned about the cultural norm," said Mr. Braun.
Food, television, how Brazilians relate to each other - these are
just some of the facets of the culture he grew to understand.

Mr. Braun has on a shelf in his office a box of Brazilian candies he
brought back with him from his trip. In the corner of his room, a
Brazilian flag hangs.

He spoke about his first experiences being back in school conversing
with Brazilians in their own language. "At first, people are
surprised that Portuguese is coming out of my mouth," said Mr.
Braun. "I try to to make it as fluid as possible. When I am
searching for a verb, they know it and throw it back at me in a very
helpful way. It feels great, like a really good connection."

A year before Mrs. Broderick took her trip, she had taken Portuguese
101 and 102 at the Nathan Mayhew Seminars on the Island.

When she arrived in Maceio, her baggage was lost, she had trouble
with the phones and the school's computer didn't allow her
to access her on-line address book. As a result, she was thrown head
first into the culture.

Her reward, she said, was a better understanding of the culture
- for instance, the pace of life and what she called a lax
attitude about time.

She is now also helping to teach English to adult Brazilians, in
courses at the regional high school.

Mrs. Broderick's job this year has her mapping out what is
being taught in the Island schools from kindergarten through 12th grade,
and to point out areas were there could be further development.

"One of my goals in this new job," she said, " is
to integrate the Brazilian culture on the Island into the schools. I
think it can be done."

For example, she suggested the fourth and fifth-grade media classes
could make a bilingual video tour of the school for one of their
projects.

"Brazilians are coming to the Island and staying," said
Mrs. Broderick. "They are here to stay. The school is beginning to
gear up to start handling the numbers."