Literature on Portuguese-American history on show at Tulare museum

Two new books look at the history of Portuguese Americans settling into California.

"The Portuguese Presence in California" and "My Californian Friends" were translated from earlier Portuguese publications. Both are published by Portuguese Heritage Publications of California.

The books will be presented at the Tulare Historical Museum, 444 W. Tulare Ave. The presentation is organized by the Tulare-Angra do Heroísmo Sister City Foundation, which celebrates the link between Tulare and a city in the Azores.

The Azores are a collection of islands to which many local Portuguese Americans can trace their heritage. The event is free and the public is invited. The event will feature short presentations, a book-signing by the authors and translators and a wine reception.

"My Californian Friends" is a collection of poetry dealing with Portuguese-American communities in California. The poems were written by Vasco Pereira da Costa. The book references people and places in California that have special meaning to the poet and to Portuguese-American communities. The poetry was translated by Katharine Baker and Diniz "Dennis" Borges, a Tulare resident and Portuguese-language instructor at Tulare Union High School and College of the Sequoias in Visalia.

"The Portuguese Presence in California" is a collection of writings about the history of Portuguese immigrants and their offspring in California. Written by Eduardo Mayone Dias, professor emeritus at University of California, Los Angeles, the book has chapters dealing with the dairy industry, the Portuguese language press, the tuna industry in San Diego, the Portuguese Fraternal Society movement and contributions to literature. The book was translated by Baker, Borges and Professor Bobby Chamberlain from the University of Pittsburgh.

Portugal in danger of missing out on the big stage

Over the last decade, the Portuguese have become virtual ever-presents at major finals and have impressed on the big stage on more than one occasion, finishing runners-up at UEFA EURO 2004, fourth at Germany 2006 and reaching the last eight at Austria and Switzerland 2008.

Given that impressive run, Portugal were widely tipped to qualify for South Africa 2010 at a canter. But despite boasting the reigning FIFA World Player Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Queiroz's undoubtedly talented outfit are in serious danger of missing out on the finals for the first time since France 1998.

Their most obvious shortcomings have been up front, where star performer Ronaldo has failed to repeat the club form that has taken him to the pinnacle of the world game. Ronaldo's finishing woes are not the only cause of Portugal's troubles in front of goal. "Our finishing has been very poor," lamented midfielder Duda after the recent qualifiers against Denmark and Hungary. "We've been missing a lot of chances."

Yet despite the riches at their disposal, the Portuguese have struggled to gel as a unit during their faltering Group 1 campaign. Inhibited by a lack of fluency in possession and a tendency to lose shape, their failings in front of goal are the most obvious symptom of their shaky recent form.

With only high-pressure home games against Hungary and Malta to come, the Portuguese team needs maximum points and a Swedish slip-up just to make the play-offs. It is a state of affairs few would have predicted when the Lusitanians embarked on what was meant to be a straightforward journey to South Africa.

Portuguese order ban on 'Maddie' book

A Portuguese court on Wednesday banned sales of a former police officer's book on the disappearance of girl Madeleine McCann, her parents' lawyer said.

In his book "A Verdade da Mentira" ("The Truth of the Lie") Goncalo Amaral claims that the girl, who went missing from an Algarve holiday flat where her family was staying in 2007, is dead and that her parents hid her body.

The decision by a Lisbon court came after a complaint by Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann. Amaral's book has also been adapted for television.

The former Portuguese police chief backed up his claim citing the investigation launched into the parents in September 2007. Amaral was taken off the case a month later and the McCanns were cleared by a Portuguese court. Portuguese police have since said they are no longer actively investigating.

Diversity of Portuguese food

Stretching from the Minho River on its mountainous northern frontier with Galicia to the dry Algarve in the south, Portugal occupies most of the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula. But though it once ruled half the world, it has enjoyed far less of the culinary limelight than its neighbor, Spain.

It's a pity, as Portugal is home to a diverse, soulful cuisine anchored in its austere peninsular past and seasoned by its centuries as a colonial power. Between the 15th and the 19th centuries, missionaries, sailors, and settlers carried Portuguese cooking techniques to Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, and parts of India, China, Malaysia, and Japan. There they mingled with local ingredients to create dishes bursting with flavor, like the coconut milk-enriched moquecas of Bahia and the rich curries of Goa.

To their credit, contemporary Portuguese cooks have readily incorporated the spices and hot peppers of the former colonies into their food. This is the story behin a new book by David Leite entitled 'The New Portuguese Table'.

The son of Portuguese immigrants from the Azores Islands who settled in Massachusetts, Leite gives us the fresh perspective of an unwilling insider who becomes smitten as an adult by the cuisine of his family.

The turning point in his growing culinary fascination was a trip to Portugal and its islands, Madeira and the Azores, where he found much more complex cuisines than he had imagined. It is this quest that informs his book. Beautifully illustrated, The New Portuguese Table is a smart, delicious, and highly personal travelogue through both memory and terrain.

In Leite's book, you will find not only recipes that will whet your appetite but also an endearing story of self-discovery that will send you to the kitchen - and perhaps to Lisbon to learn more about the new world of Portuguese cooking that we have been missing.

New tastes of Portuguese food

Stretching from the Minho River on its mountainous northern frontier with Galicia to the dry Algarve in the south, Portugal occupies most of the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula. And though it once ruled half of the world, it has enjoyed far less of the culinary limelight than its neighbor, Spain.

It's a pity, as Portugal is home to a diverse, soulful cuisine anchored in its austere peninsular past and seasoned by its centuries as a colonial power. Between the 15th and the 19th centuries, missionaries, sailors and settlers carried Portuguese cooking techniques to Brazil, Angola, Mozambique and parts of India, China, Malaysia and Japan. There they mingled with local ingredients to create dishes bursting with flavor, like the coconut milk-enriched moquecas of Bahia and the rich curries of Goa.

To their credit, contemporary Portuguese cooks have readily incorporated the spices and hot peppers of the former colonies into their food.

Mnemonic associations and patterns - The key to language learning

Mnemonic Association is a technique used to recall information by associating it to something we already know. To help our mind with something not so easy to remember we associate it to images, sounds, and other senses like smells, feelings and tastes; and even to places and features (which are images, too).

Language students may be encouraged to use their imagination to link new vocabulary to things they already know, words, images, sounds, etc. For example, let's say that for an ESL student who is Italian, he may associate the new English word “rat” to the one he already knows in his first language, “ratto”. Although the pronunciation is different, the words are visually similar. This association will help him to remember the English word for “ratto”.

Portuguese speakers who are learning English have trouble in memorizing the meaning of the words “push” and “pull” because “push” sounds like “puxe”, which is “pull” in Portuguese. So, it's easy to make a confusion and pull that door when the sign on it clearly says “push”! It can be embarrassing sometimes!

To remember which word is what, try to think the opposite and play with the sounds, “When you see 'push', do not 'puxe'!” If they do not “puxe”, they instinctively will pull, then! And as a miracle, the door will open! Most of the times, at least! ;-)

Mnemonic techniques add a sense of fun to the process of capturing and recalling the information. When the educator teaches and encourages the use of these techniques to their students, s/he usually promotes a more relaxed and flowing learning environment. And students certainly gain improved assimilation of the subject learned.

Identifying patterns in the (second) language almost follows the same principle of the mnemonic technique, but it can be more logic than imaginative. For example, if you tell a beginner English learner, whose first language is Spanish, that nouns which end in 'dad' in Spanish (facilidad, humanidad, capacidad, finalidad, sagacidad, etc...) can easily be remembered in English by changing the 'dad' ending to 'ity' (facility, humanity, capacity, finality, sagacity, etc), the student will have access to a great deal of words by identifying patterns like that, and he can gain confidence by using these words even without the teacher or a dictionary.

All in all, by setting a goal, working through it by memorization techniques, pattern associations, and becoming confident about themselves, the students can only be successful! If the student succeeds, the teacher succeeds. And so does the society.

Portuguese high court keeps gay marriage ban

Portugal's Constitutional Court on Friday upheld the country's ban on gay marriage, rejecting a challenge by two lesbians who are seeking to wed.
The court said its five judges ruled 3-2 against an appeal lodged by the women two years ago.

Teresa Pires and Helena Paixao, divorced mothers in their 30s who have been together as a couple since 2003, were turned away by a Lisbon registry office when they attempted to marry in 2006 because the law stipulates that marriage is between people of different genders.

The Portugueses constitution, however, also forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. The women took the case to a Lisbon court, which rejected their unprecedented challenge.

After considering their appeal against that decision, the Constitutional Court said in a statement posted on its Web site that the constitution does not state that same-sex marriages must be permitted.

The court said the question before it was not whether the constitution allows same-sex marriages, but whether the constitution compels them to be accepted, which it does not.

Paixao said she regarded the decision as "a victory" because the split decision demonstrated that attitudes are changing in Portugal.