Caffeine-Free Studies

I am now a totally uncaffeinated student of Portuguese. Four days ago I quit my morning shot of espresso. Espresso was the only source of caffeine in my life.

Studying at a Cafe Caffeine-Free

Flags of Many Nations, Rockefeller Center Today

It has not been a trouble-free trip to decaffeination, but it’s not the worst-case scenario one might have expected.

My brain is not fully functional, but evidence remains nonetheless of some function.

Because I remain in a delicate state, today I would like to confine myself to a couple of simple-minded observations.

Such as: this verb must make many Portuguese students snicker in class. Fartar-se de. That means “to get tired of.”

Subway Ad for Living Language, Kind of Silly…

…Don’t You Think?

Also, it is still hard for me to delete sounds from words I already know in Spanish. This issue comes up a lot when I look at Portuguese equivalents.

For example, limpiar in Spanish means “to clean.” In Portuguese it is simply limpar. I sincerely apologize for saying this, but limpar sounds, well, ugly to my ear.

I assume that feeling will diminish with time, but how long?