Marina Sarruf*
marina.sarruf@anba.com.br
São Paulo – The teacher Leonila Zago, from the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, teaches the Portuguese language to foreigners who arrive in the Brazilian capital Brasília. She has taught male and female ambassadors, missionaries, students, and businessmen from more than 15 countries, including Tunisia. And it was thanks to her that, up until this day, Abbés Mohsen, currently the mayor of Tunis, capital of Tunisia, still speaks Portuguese.
Before being elected mayor, Mohsen was the Tunisian ambassador to Brasília – between 1998 and 2000, and it was during that period that he studied with Leonila. After returning to the Arab country, the teacher never heard of Mohsen again. But, in an article on ANBA, Leonila read that her former student still speaks Portuguese. “When I read the story I was very happy. He used to be a very hard-working, dedicated student,” Leonila stated.
According to her, she was hired by the Brazilian embassy itself. In the beginning of the course, classes were ministered three times a week. “Early on, the student takes an intensive basic course in phonetics, and then he progresses to the more difficult part, which are verbs,” said the teacher. Mohsen was Leonila’s first student of Arab origin.
According to her, communication between teacher and student does not pose any big challenges. “I use a lot of mimics, pictures and engravings during classes, which really helps,” she claimed. On Mohsen’s first day in class, the embassy had an interpreter in the room but, according to her, it was not necessary. “Besides Arabic, he also spoke French, which helped a little, because some words are similar to Portuguese.”
A fact that impressed Leonila was Mohsen’s diligence in study. “He would work really hard to learn Portuguese. I remember he made a list of the irregular verbs and spread it throughout the embassy and his house,” she recalls. Leonila also remembers that, every time she took Brazilian songs and photographs to class, the mayor became interested. “I ended up being great friends with him. He came into the country with body and soul. He was a person who really made an impression on me.”
In order to teach the Portuguese language to foreigners, Leonila uses the book “Brazilian Portuguese for Foreigners” (“Português do Brasil para Estrangeiros”), which she wrote. The book is filled with illustrations, and presents a didactic sequence with grammar exercises, daily expressions, and some texts. “By the way, Mohsen made many suggestions for improving the book, and he was the one who helped me choose the cover,” she said.
Other foreigners
Leonila, who does not speak any other language fluently, besides Portuguese, has also taught classes to ambassadors from Holland, Austria, Switzerland, South Africa, and the Cameroon. Besides the diplomats, the teacher also receives many students who come to Brazil to do exchange. “I have taught groups from Germany, the United States, Finland, Norway, France, and Mexico,” she said.
The teacher has also received groups of elderly people, including priests and preachers who came to work as missionaries in Brazil. “That was in the past, now I don’t receive those anymore,” she said. Leonila also said that lately she has been teaching many foreigners who started dating Brazilian women abroad, and then come to Brazil. “I am very happy with my work. It is rewarding to see a person arrive here unable to say a single word, and then come out talking.”
Contact
Leonila Zago
Tel. (+55 61) 3201-0768
E-mail: leonila@portugueseforeigners.com
Site: www.portugueseforeigners.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
