Rude Awakening

So I have a friend.  A very GOOD friend.  We get together twice a week for 1 1/2 hours and chat away, just her and I.  ....So what if I happen to pay her to come over?  She is worth every penny and more!  She happens to be my Portuguese tutor, but she's SO much more than just that!  She is my window to sanity, my mediator in miscommunications, and seriously a BLAST to talk to! :)  Okay, and of course she's Brazilian, so she's LOVELY.. so really I just invite her over so I can stare at her (You wouldn't believe me if I told you her age!  If only we were all so fortunate!).

Smile?  AGAIN?!  Can you please get the hang of your new camera so you can snap one and get it out of my face??  hehehe.. what a good sport! :)

This past Thursday she gave me some rather distressing news:  "For the last 3 weeks or so, Amazing V has been "helping" you by dumbing down her Portuguese.  That's why you can communicate with her so easily, but you have a harder time with others.  I know she's doing it to help you in the short term, but if we don't tell her to stop, it is going to really hurt you long term!"  Ummm, example?  "When she talks to you she omits most prepositions and verbs to keep it simple, like "Me, kids, park, big", instead of "I am going to take the kids to the big park.""  The result?  I am having MAJOR issues remembering when and where to insert all those pesky little words!  lol.  Sweet Amazing V, always trying to make my life easier!  How silly she must think I am, and yet she tells makes me feel like one of the most fluent speakers of her time, and then tries to take responsibility if she doesn't understand me.. like it's her fault!  Silly V.. ;) 

Not wanting to make her feel bad or take the blame for any setbacks in my language progression this may have caused, I twisted the wording a bit for her cute sake when I spoke to her Friday.  "Hey Amazing V, Helpful C (that's my tutor), told me that I am not always speaking in full sentences.  My Portuguese comes out broken, and I REALLY want it to be fluid so I don't sound like a freak when I try to speak in public.  I would love it if you would correct me when I say things wrong.  Pretty pretty PRETTY please correct me!  Tell it to me straight, I can take it, I promise!"  Okay, well really it didn't come out that nice since I apparently speak in broken Portuguese.. it went more like this, "Amazing V? Helpful C falei com eu e minha Portuguese esta quebrado.  E MUITO importante para me falar muito bom Portuguese.  Eu preciso voce falei eu quando eu falar nao bom, por favor.  Muito obrigada."  And you know what??  Imperfections and all, she GOT IT!!!  The result?  The remainder of the day she corrected me constantly when I spoke.  I know it sounds funny, but I LOVED it!!!  Hopefully she keeps it up in the days to come, because I am ready to nail this language!  Look out Brasil, here I come! :)