Originally Posted by
hubcyclist
Yeah, I'd be totally surprised that there wasn't a greater level of fluency, but I can relate to losing the fluency over time. My parents came from Portugal and my hometown is one of the larger Portuguese populations in the US, there are some in MA, Newark has a sizable population, and there are some spots out in CA where folks settled. Anyhow, because of being in a population center, I was sent to Portuguese language school during evenings from 1st-9th grade and had an advanced literature class in high school. 20 years later, my fluency is crap, I only speak with my parents and even then I tend to mix languages because a lot of times I have a hard time nailing something I can express much better in english. I'd have to spend a few months overseas to really regain fluency
I've only met one Portuguese person out here in California. This kid at my Junior High School would always get in fights because they'd call him white and he'd proclaim he's Portuguese and start punching people. Tough kid, because of him and Ronaldo I don't mess with them. He did look white though. (actually he looked like the Karate Kid).