How to Order Breakfast in Brazil
What I learned after my first week
Merry Christmas from Sunny Brazil.
Two weeks ago I packed all my belongings and moved to Juiz de Fora, Brazil. The plan was to be closer to my girlfriend and her family and to immerse myself in the amazing culture of the country.
All nice and easy, except for the Portuguese language, which for me is the hardest challenge. After two weeks in the country, and getting to Level 7 (840 XP) in Duolingo, I was ready to face my first exam: going to a shop all by myself and order my breakfast.
In this article you will read about the 80 / 20 rule and how that can be applied to language learning. At the end, there is a list, which I started to put together and which builds towards the 20% of a language vocabulary which makes 80% of a conversation.
But first, why not enjoy a transcript of my breakfast conversation with the cashier?
My attempt to order a breakfast in Brazil
[Original in Portuguese. Translated to English for your convenience]
Andrei (Smiling):
Good morning.
Cashier (Frowning / Bored):
Good morning.
Andrei (Trying to be enthusiastic):
I speak very little Portuguese.
Cashier (Suddenly smiling and copying my enthusiasm):
Okay
Andrei (As rehearsed on the way to the store):
Can I pay by debit card [here]?
Cashier (I guess trying to be helpful):
Sure! So here you usually pay at the other till. At this one you merely tell me what you want, I give it to you, I give you the receipt, but you then pay at the other one, ideally after you finish eating. You’d have to ask the other lady (now pointing at the lady in the distance) if the POS works, but it usually does, so there is nothing to worry about.
Andrei (Super confused and starting to slowly walking towards the other lady):
Umm…
Cashier (Still pointing at the other till):
It’s fine what would you want to have for breakfast?
Andrei (Having no idea what’s going on but looking at the other cashier):
Sorry, can I pay by debit card [here]?
Cashier 2 (Pointing at the first till):
Sure, go get your receipt
Andrei (Confused, going towards the first till again):
So… A big glass of orange juice
Cashier:
Natural?
Andrei:
Yes
Cashier:
Drink here?
Andrei (Pointing at a table):
Yes, there, at that table
Cashier:
With ice?
Andrei (Suddenly reaching the limits of the language):
Ice?
Cashier (Mimicking ice, I guess):
In the juice
Andrei (Figuring that whatever it is, I don’t want it in the juice):
No, thank you.
Cashier (Probably hoping it’s all over):
Is that all?
Andrei:
Haha, No. I want another 4 cheese-bread-balls and ….
Cashier:
The small ones?
Andrei:
Yes. And a sandwich with cheese and… umm….
Cashier:
Sandwich natural?
Andrei:
Emm… Yes? Natural with cheese and… umm…
ham?
Cashier (Confused):
Here, have a look and point me to which one
Andrei (Victorious):
That one! That’s all
Cashier (While wrapping everything):
So where are you from?
Andrei:
Romania
Cashier:
And do you live here?
Andrei:
Yes. I live at [location redacted]
Cashier:
Do you speak English or Spanish?
Andrei:
English. And now a bit of Portuguese :D
Cashier:
Great. Here is your order. Hope I will see you again soon.
The 80 / 20 rule
The 80 / 20 rule says that for any project, we spend 20% of our time on 80% of the progress and 80% of our time finishing the remaining 20%. Translating this to language learning: 20% of the vocabulary makes 80% of the conversation. The fastest way to learn a language is by focusing on those 20% of the words.
I first came up with a subset of this list when I was cycling through France. I figured that in case of emergency, it would be useful to at least know how to say “hospital” in French. I have since expanded it to the following.
The 20% list [in progress]:
- Pronouns: There are only 8 of them usually
- Verbs: Pay, Have, Want, Am, Go, Eat, Drink, Sleep
- Nouns: Money, Debit Card, Time, Way, Help, Doctor
- Phrases: Thank you, Sorry, I don’t speak Portuguese, I don’t understand, Can I do XYZ
- Clarifications: Here, There, Now, Later, Left, Right
- Greetings: Hello, Good Bye, Good Morning, Good Night, How are you?
- Numbers: 1 through 100 (things get easier after 10 or 12)
- “Wh” words: Why, How, What, When, Where, Who, How much, How many
Takeaways
- Set milestones. Ordering food is the best way to test your beginner knowledge of a language. After mastering the list, the next thing is to learn nouns. And from all the nouns, you first learn the food and the drinks. Breakfast is even better, because the menu and the conversation are limited in scope, unless they ask you if you want ice, or straws or other unexpected items that we generally take for granted.
- Always smile. Smiling and admitting you still learn the language always makes the other party be more understanding and usually is the key ingredient to having an enjoyable conversation. Most importantly, smile even when you are freaking out that the response is not in the “script”.
- Try Duolingo! As with everything, the trick to learning is to practice, practice, practice. I recently discovered Duolingo which is the next best step after mastering the 20% list. Duolingo is a mobile app where you can learn languages in a fun and interactive way. You earn badges by using it every day, which is really good for people like me who get addicted to that sort of thing. I highly recommend it!
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