POB Word of the Week..... ???? .......... ???? ....... ????
'Um homem.... cortisa.... sobreiro.... ...ficar...... novos......'
They were a few of the words I managed to pick out when my local shepherd pulled me over the other morning to try and communicate something to me, in Portuguese, which I don't speak, or hear very well!
'Homen' = 'man' -OK, now he had my attention - a man (probably), but that's the only damned word I could understand - so after about 4 attempts at explaining and gesticulating at trees, I understood that a man (probably) wants to engage with me about something related to trees or wood in some way.
After those four attempts I realised this was going nowwhere so explained in my very poor Portuguese 'meu amigo fale Portguese muito, tarde, il fale come ele' - which he seemed to understand, I think I said 'my friend speaks better Portuguse and so I'll come back with him later'.
Anyway, on getting to my land, I got on Google translate (it's shit using it when you're standing there with someone), ran a few of the above words into it and thought I'd 'got it'.
'A man wants to buy my cut wood' (I'd been clearing trees recently) - OK that makes sense, firewood is a bit of a money spinner, or no HANG ON..... it might be that someone's offering to come and cut it up for me and I have to pay them, you just can't tell when you don't have the grammar structure!
So, stuff my friend, I walked back up the hill to the Shepherd, said 'Acho entende que voce disse ante' - something like 'I think I understand what you said earlier'.
NO - nothing about either, BUT after a bit more vigorous gesticulating at cork oaks I think I got him....
It was about a bloke wanting to come and decork my cork oaks which can be done every nine years.
YES - Now I defo hear him say the two works below.....
At least I think that's what he said, and I think I told him to tell 'the man' that he can come and decork mine if he wants to.
Of course when I told this to a friend of mine she said decorking hurts the trees, so what do I do now... learn how to say 'actually I'm sorry I'm a bloody English hippy with no respect for your local traditions, can you tell that bloke not to touch my trees please'...?!?
POB Word of the Week Reflections...
All of that ... .. ....... .... made me think of this.
That was me the other day, kind of fill in the gaps.
I got there in the end, at least the nouns I think I've got, the verbs and whose doing what, well I'll guess I'll have to wait and see about that!