BRBRBR: Language Tip

LOCAL LIBRARIES

On my first trip to the library in England, someone saw me pick up some books in English and ‘read’ them to my children in Portuguese. I was obviously struggling to simultaneously translate the words because a fellow mum said ‘Did you know you can get bilingual books here?’. To which I replied ‘Oh, its OK, we speak Portuguese’, expecting there to only be bilingual books in Urdu, Chinese, Spanish, French - the more likely candidates. The persistent mother, however, did not listen to my reply and went to the appropriate shelf coming back with two children’s books in both English AND Portuguese. I was astonished. This was a small library, round the corner from our house with an incredible selection of bilingual books!

I have since visited many other libraries and discovered that at almost every one, you can find bilingual books in one of two places: the children’s section and the ‘community languages’ section. Additionally, you can borrow many ‘teach yourself’ books to get you started in any language, including Portuguese. This is a good suggestion for someone who cannot afford expensive courses or textbooks as this is all FREE! It is fairly easy to join a local library in England, just walk in with some proof of address. To find a library near you visit this site.

It is a shame that, in our experience, we have not found Brazilian cities to be as well equipped when it comes to libraries. If they do exist, they are pretty miserable places with a limited selection. If anyone knows of good libraries in Brazil, with a good selection of English books, let us know!

Tags: bilingual books, children bilingual books, community languages, local libraries