I had to change the subject, because he had nothing to do with these latest comments.
What Mary Bordi says is exactly right.
In 1992 I took my first trip to Portugal, met my father's first cousin in Angra and he was astonished that I could read the records yet not converse in Portuguese. Natives are NOT likely able to read them, but if they were read aloud to them, I am sure they would get most of it.
There are some archaic terms they won't get, but for use who know nothing else, it doesn't matter if they are new or old terms. They are simply the terms we see and must learn. And you will catch on with practice.
An earlier post by Cheri reminded me of the terrible records of Piedade, Pico. They were amongst the very first records I had to tackle, because in 1846 my ancestor was born there. And for about a 15 year period the records are a challenge. It was baptism by fire for me to learn to read them. But the great thing was I could tackle a lot of other less difficult records fairly easily after that. And my familiarity with Spanish really did help me.
So no matter your age, just hang in there and you'll get it little by little, word by word and eventually there will be no more new words to learn. Then start all over again and learn to read the death records!!!
:-)
Doug da Rocha Holmes
Sacramento, California
Pico & Terceira Genealogist
916-550-1618
Sacramento, California
Pico & Terceira Genealogist
916-550-1618
---------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] Esteves/Steves
From: Mary Bordi <busybo...@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, September 01, 2013 7:51 pm
To: "azores@googlegroups.com" <azores@googlegroups.com>
I thought I would add my experience. I learned Portuguese at the age of 40. I still lack the confidence to converse and lack the opportunity but I can read it well. That is, newspapers, Internet articles.The written documents were another thing! Just jump in, as has been mentioned. Look for names. Pretty soon you will "get" the format for the years you are looking at. Other words will jump out at you and you will learn their meanings. Padrinho for example--godfather. These will help you find your place in the document. Don't think because you aren't fluent you can't do it. Even people who can read modern Portuguese articles struggle with those documents.Do not be discouraged! It's not easy at first but it is SO rewarding!Mary Bordi
For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to azores@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
