Afraid to take a samba lessons in Portuguese? Here are 7 tips to help it go smoothly.

So you love samba and want to take your playing to the next level, however you don't speak Portuguese but really wanna take a lesson with a Brazilian teacher online or in person. Maybe this teacher is your samba hero and they really inspire you but they only speak Portuguese. Perhaps you get that when you play music and rhythms from another culture it is important to go to the source and hire teachers and culture bearers from that culture. 

Are you shy to reach out to them? A little freaked out?

That's totally normal.

It's natural to feel shy. Here are 6 tips that can help it go smoothly.

1. Apps, tools, translators 

There are many many apps out there that can translate audio real-time.
NAVI - real time translation app for Apple when using Facetime. It adds subtitles live to your video call. The language translation feature on NAVI is an extra feature that you will need to purchase in app.

Google Translate - Allows you to have a conversation with someone who speaks a different language. It can translate text messages, voice messages, video calls in real time while you're in the lesson! You can even point your camera at the world around you and translate signs in another language into English.
*Note* Google Translate can work without needing to be connected to the internet if you download the app to your phone.  If you are in Brazil your SIM card may not work there if you don't have an international plan. 

Microsoft Translator - Has a phrase book of common helpful phrases and the app allows you to slow down the translation.

*Note of caution* These apps get things very wrong sometimes. We have all heard stories of folks using translator apps and the user types in something completely benign and the app goes and spits out something super weird and/or embarrassing in the other language. Yikes!

This has actually happened to me. No. I'm not giving you the details but it was SUPER embarrassing! To avoid this, go to the next tip...

2. Be literal. 

Try to be VERY LITERAL and try not to use a turn of phrase that will end up being translated weirdly. Translator apps are getting better about colloquialisms but they still suck. Try not to use phrases like "Will 10 work for you?" instead be literal and say "Is 10AM a good time of day for you to meet me on Zoom for a lesson?"

Keep in mind a good teacher can teach you w/o needing exact words. Several of the most popular samba teachers have experience teaching gringos and will not only know a few English words and phrases to make things go smoothly but they understand how we like to learn.  

4. Online lessons and timezones

Depending on where you live Brazil is several hours ahead of us here in North America and it changes depending on our Daylight savings time. To find out the difference just google. "What time is it in Rio right now?" then do the math. Remember, if you are scheduling near the daylight saving flip this time difference could change. 

5. Learn a few Portuguese words and phrases related to drumming.

See the chart at the bottom of this page for common drumming words in English and Portuguese. I verified these with Brazilian friends but if you find a mistake please let me know!

6. Learn a few grammar rules and drumming specific words.

For many parts of Brazil if a word begins with an R it is pronounced with an H sound in English. So the word "repique" is pronounced kinda like "heh PEE ke". 
The second to last syllable is emphasized in most words unless there is an accent marker in one of the other syllables. So for our example above "repique" is a 3 syllable word and the emphasis is on the second syllable. "reh PEE ke"

Practice Portuguese has many tips and grammar help.

Duolingo has a lot of great blog posts with grammar help.

7. Hire someone to translate for you.

You can always pay someone that you know to help translate for you. You could hire someone for a pretty cheap rate on iTalki. Just make sure that they actually speak english.  

Bonus tip!

Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and get out of your comfort zone a little. You may surprise yourself on how much you can communicate and learn even if you do not speak the same language. There is an incredible amount of information that these teachers have that they can share with you.

You are guaranteed to learn a lot and make a beautiful connection along the way!

Conclusion

Don't be shy or afraid to reach out to teachers and take online lessons. When we are playing music that is from another culture it is important that we go to the source for information and learning. 

Want recommendations for samba drum teachers? Reach out! I spent a lot of time in Rio and have taken a LOT of lessons and know many good teachers.

Drum related Portuguese words chart.