Living in Portugal
Kerry: Moving to Portugal was such an eye-opener for me. There were so many things I’d never done before, and experiences I – and thoughts even – that I’d never had.
Kerry: Before I moved to Portugal, I’d never seen the need to learn a foreign language, and after I moved to Portugal I realised that having another language was really important, and, what with living in Portugal, that it was really important that that other language was Portuguese!
Kerry: Before I moved to Portugal I’d never stayed up all night round a camp-fire on the beach. I’d never broken Aloe vera off from the wild – I, I say the wild, I mean, you know, the clifftops near my – near my home in Portugal.
Kerry: And I had been and spent time in Portugal before I moved there, um, but I’d never done any of those things which came with spending a longer time there and getting to know the area well – I hadn’t known the terrain well when I was just going there for holidays.
Kerry: Because I hadn’t spoken the language, I hadn’t known as many people, um, and I hadn’t really understood the culture without the language because the – they come together, I think that – you know – when you learn a language, you do pick up elements of culture through it, and when you study a culture of course, you are gonna learn bits of language with that, so before I learned the language, I – I hadn’t understood the culture as well as I would say that I do now.
Kerry: And there are other experiences which I had for the first time in Portugal. So, I couldn’t say that I’d ever swum with dolphins in the UK, which I did in the Algarve.
Kerry: And I’d been living in Portugal for several years before I even went up to the North. I’d known the Algarve very well. I knew the Algarve very well, and I hadn’t ever been north of Lisbon until I went to study at a university in the – in the North. And so because I’d been in this holiday area I hadn’t really understood some of the richness of the northern parts of Portugal which I kn – I now know better.
Kerry: Yeah, I’d say taking that plunge to move to and live in Portugal, it’s gotta be the best decision I ever made.
Vocabulary:
eye-opener – a situation or experience that surprises you and teaches you something new, “Working at the busy animal shelter was a real eye-opener for the young volunteer.”
seen the need to – realized or understood that something is necessary or useful, “I had never seen the need to buy a heavy winter coat until I moved to Canada.”
what with – because of or considering a specific situation, “What with the heavy rain and the dark roads, we decided to stay at home.”
from the wild – directly from nature, rather than from a store, farm, or garden, “The survival guide teaches you how to find clean drinking water from the wild.”
getting to know the area – spending time in a place to become familiar with its streets, shops, and neighbors, “Walking around the neighborhood every afternoon helped us in getting to know the area quickly.”
terrain – the physical features or type of land in a specific place, “The bicycle is specially designed to handle rough, rocky terrain.”
pick up elements of – to naturally learn or absorb small parts of something over time without formal study, “If you watch a lot of British television, you will slowly pick up elements of the accent.”
for the first time – happening at the very beginning of your experience, never having happened before, “She saw the ocean for the first time when she visited her cousins last summer.”
richness – the high quality, deep interesting nature, or wonderful variety of something, “The history book explains the cultural richness of ancient civilizations.”
taking that plunge – making a big, brave decision to try something new or risky after thinking about it for a long time, “After years of working for a big company, he is finally taking that plunge and starting his own business.”