| Pedro, I respectfully disagree. I speak Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Konkani fluently and do not use these languages daily, but I find knowing these languages very helpful at everything I do. John Sent from my iPhone On Dec 7, 2023, at 10:45 AM, 'Pedro Mascarenhas' via Goa-Research-Net <[email protected]> wrote:
In Portuguese secondary schools in Mozambique in the 60s and 70s it was mandatory to study French for 5 years and English for 3 years. Goan students gave more importance to English than French, because of Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Hollywood films. It was wasted time: French from 1st to 5th year; English from 3rd to 5th year). Nowadays, if someone learns Portuguese in Goa, in theory, and not practicing it daily, it is useless.
On Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 09:16:04 AM GMT, 'Carvalho' via Goa-Research-Net < [email protected]> wrote:
I second Sandra here. It is absolutely impossible to do research on Goa if one does not have at least a rudimentary knowledge of this language. Even seasoned translators will get translations wrong and unless you can check translations for accuracy with the benefit of context, it does not work. Having said that, it is not impossible to acquire a rudimentary understanding of this language within a fairly short time, and I suspect within two to three years of continued effort, one can become adept at this language which was most Catholic Goans is vaguely familiar and hidden in cryptomnesia.
Best, Selma
Hi Helga. For years I have been defending that unless, at least for academic purposes, Portuguese is considered as a Goan language, necessary to be learned by students/researchers of Social Sciences and Humanities, Goan capacity to research its own past, namely
its intellectual history and literature, will remain limited and its heritage will be no longer. From what I have been informed there is now an effort to have a more collaborative attitude between departments to overcome limitations, let's hope it is consistent.
Best wishes, Sandra
Sandra Ataíde Lobo
tmn. ++351 930690459
It’s quite unfortunate that many researchers are stymied because of their inability to read Portuguese. Unfortunate not only for the frustration it causes the researchers but also the loss of information to the general public especially in this
current polarized India.
Universities like Columbia where I work demand that a PhD student take courses that extend the breadth and depth of his/her knowledge.
But this isn’t the case in most universities worldwide nor is it applicable to independent researchers not affiliated to universities or institutions.
But there’s a possible solution to this problem although it would need collaboration and the breaking of silos both of which from my experience are very hard to accomplish at the Goa university.
Why don’t researchers with great ideas and enthusiasm as well as access to documents collaborate with the faculty and more importantly with students of the Portuguese Department of Goa Univ? The latter would reap in terms of multidisciplinary collaborations,
co-authorship in papers and books and exposure to a big world! This isn’t unusual in the world of science and technology. Data science students are made to work in libraries, linguistics, philosophy departments and medical and earth sciences. Data crunching,
like speaking a language, is a skill.
Currently very little research is being undertaken at Goa Univ.’s Portuguese department probably because the effort is mostly to produce more Portuguese teachers but a collaboration such as I suggest would produce historians, researchers, thinkers etc.
I hope at least one student or faculty from the Portuguese department lurking in the periphery of this group responds.
It’s time Goa moved beyond Vem Cantar and Festas do Povo.
Best,
Helga
Sent from my iPhone
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