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Here in California where I live the descendants of Portuguese immigrants sometimes identify as Portuguese up to four generations even those with partial ancestry even though they don't speak the language and are culturally American often times they still retain elements of Portuguese cultural identity. People often underestimate the the distinctiveness of Portuguese culture and there is a certain cohesiveness that can't be replaced by American culture in my case, Anglo cultures are just not as warm not even close by a long shot.
I understand, however many Portuguese people (born and raised in Portugal) have a hard time considering the descendents of Portuguese ancestry as Portuguese since few of them speak Portuguese or are culturally Portuguese. Do you speak Portuguese with your family or follow Portuguese news?
Well, I think you over generalize a little here. The Portuguese community in that country is now old enough to have people of 3rd and 4th generation. Nowadays many, specially among newer generations, are not full blood Portuguese and didn't receive a Portuguese education.
I agree with you there are many youngsters over there who think that wearing a football jersey, or put a flag in their cars are the only requirement to be Portuguese and do not bother otherwise to know about the country. However I was not one of those, I am a highly educated individual very knowledgeable about Portuguese language, History and literature.
Is Portuguese who wants to be and has an unconditional love the country and its culture.
I know that I did over generalize but many French people of Portuguese ancestry and other countries are like that. Also, many parents don't or are not intersted in teaching their children about Portugal. It doesn't help that the Portuguese are in not general patriotic.
I don't know for the Portuguese, but I know for the Italians, it's normal to meet someone named Jean-Claude Rossi or Lucille D'Amato here, they're French but also Italians, and many mix their two cultures together, by eating "Italian", learning Italian or something else. But that's because there is so many French of Italians ancestry, it's not the same with the Spanish and Portuguese, well not yet I guess...
I understand, however many Portuguese people (born and raised in Portugal) have a hard time considering the descendents of Portuguese ancestry as Portuguese since few of them speak Portuguese or are culturally Portuguese. Do you speak Portuguese with your family or follow Portuguese news?
I went to both French and Portuguese high school. I watch Portuguese TV, read books and newspapers.
I understand, however many Portuguese people (born and raised in Portugal) have a hard time considering the descendents of Portuguese ancestry as Portuguese since few of them speak Portuguese or are culturally Portuguese. Do you speak Portuguese with your family or follow Portuguese news?
I speak Portuguese with my parents my wife is Portuguese she lived in Portugal for 24 years we however speak English. My kids understand Portuguese fairly well their vocabulary however is limited I haven't spent time teaching them to read and write but they can pick up material and read it with fair comprehension. If they choose to improve their skills and pursue it however I'm certain they learn what they need on their own. I don't follow the news closely for the country as a whole but do subscribe to a newspaper from my hometown. Culturally I am a hybrid of two cultures American/Portuguese I'm not sure how to split it up. I don't really fit entirely in one culture or the other 100% which I'm fine with since I value uniqueness and individuality. Also I should point out that I'm not a descendant of Portuguese immigrants I was born in Portugal but immigrated at a young age.
Portugal is very different from any Spanish speaking Latin American country. If anything, Brazil inherited some cultural traits from their former colonizer, Portugal, much like the rest of us did from Spain which is Portugal's neighbor and sibling.
The closest I have ever come to experiencing Portuguese people and culture has been paying visits to the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark, NJ, which I believe still hosts one of the most important enclaves of Portuguese immigrants in the United States. Portuguese food is very similar to Spanish food (from Spain) they eat a Portuguese version of Paella, but which is slightly different but just as delicious. Their cuisine seems to focus mostly on seafood, whereas Spanish cuisine in general focuses on farm animals and seafood combined. Culturally-wise, the Portuguese bear their closest resemblance to their neighbor and brother nation, Spain, whereas their language, at first listen sounds completely different from both Brazilian Portuguese and even more different from Spanish. In fact, many Portuguese look down on BR Portuguese as "wrong Portuguese".
A typical Hispanic person, upon first encountering the Portuguese culture and language, will find it very different from their own and very distant as well. Portuguese, especially the original one from Portugal, sounds almost completely incomprehensible to us, and similar to listening to Polish. Brazilian is a bit easier but still very unintelligible when you're not used to it. Some Portuguese and Brazilian people, though, do feel some kind of closeness to the Hispanic community, so much so that they quickly learn how to speak Spanish to communicate with us, something Hispanics pretty much never do the other way around. Almost every Portuguese and Brazilian person I encounter knows how to speak Portuguese, Spanish and English whereas many Hispanics don't even bother learning how to speak English properly. This "trilingualism" is something I always envied from Portuguese and Brazilian people and it was one of the driving factors that made me learn Portuguese.
Portuguese and Brazilian immigrants in general seem to keep their shops and stores cleaner and neater than many Hispanic bodegas and supermarkets.
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